His niche is as a Pyro shielder for on-field DPS units that spam normal attacks. In this role, he’s definitely great. Otherwise, he’s pretty useless. Hu Tao and Yoimiya are currently the only ones that can fully benefit from Thoma’s niche. So if you don’t play either of them, there’s absolutely no reason to pull or build Thoma. Note: This is based on meta only. If you like Thoma regardless of his power level, don’t let this stop you from using him.
Pros & Cons
Thoma Strengths
Thoma’s burst has a shield stacking mechanic. When the active character performs a normal attack during his burst, his shield refreshes. This can be triggered once every second. Plus, each new shield will be stacked with the remaining HP of the previous shields. So his shield gradually grows stronger during his burst. At maximum stacks, it’s easily the second strongest shield in-game. This is especially good for characters that can easily stack Thoma’s shield – most notably, Yoimiya and Hu Tao. It’s also viable for other characters but generally less effective.
Thoma Weaknesses
Thoma has an expensive 80 energy cost burst. This burst is the center of his kit, so it’s very important to charge every rotation. But because his skill has a very long cooldown of 15s, he only generates 3-4 Pyro particles per rotation. Plus, he’s mostly off-field, so he can’t catch many energy particles. This greatly increases his Energy Recharge (ER) requirements to nearly 250%. He would need an ER weapon and optimized artifacts with ER stats to reach this requirement – which can potentially sacrifice his HP stats and reduce his shield strength. Because of this, Thoma is generally harder to min-max. At baseline, you would need a good balance of ER and HP stats – and even good CRIT rate stats when using the Favonius Lance weapon. This becomes more difficult when using the 4pc. Instructor set, which is one of Thoma’s best sets. Since this is a 4-star artifact set, it has lower stat scaling. So it’s much harder to reach the optimal amount of ER, HP, and CRIT rate. Thoma is mainly a tailor-made Hu Tao support, but he also works well with Yoimiya. Because of this, he’s only a great unit for Hu Tao and Yoimiya teams – and not recommended elsewhere. He’s basically never the optimal option for any other team. He does work, but there are always far better units. For instance, Zhongli is an overall better character for a team that needs shielding. Elegy Amber is also a stronger option for Hu Tao teams if you want to deal more damage. So Thoma is simply never a must-pull or a must-build – even in Hu Tao and Yoimiya teams.
Are Thoma’s Constellations Good?
Thoma has great constellations! Most of them are quality-of-life buffs or further improve his supporting abilities. So each one is definitely a good upgrade. If you use Thoma often, it’s generally worth getting his constellations – especially since this brings you closer to his C6. His C6 is basically a really good buff to his support abilities. It makes him more viable for units other than Hu Tao and Yoimiya – most notably for characters that perform normal, charged, and plunging attacks.
C1: A Comrade’s Duty
When another character is protected by Thoma’s shield, his skill and burst cooldown are reduced by 3s. This can be triggered once every 20s. This is mainly a good quality-of-life buff. It’s very easy to proc this effect every rotation, so you can trigger this cooldown reduction every time. Plus, it increases his shield uptime and makes him smoother to play with shorter rotations.
C2: A Subordinate’s Skills
Thoma’s burst duration is increased by 3s. This increases his shield uptime and shield strength – it’s an overall great constellation. It effectively offers 100% burst uptime every rotation.
C3: Fortified Resolve
Increases his elemental skill talent level by 3. This directly increases his shield strength, which is always appreciated. That’s about it.
C4: Long-Term Planning
After casting Thoma’s burst, he regenerates 15 energy. C4 is his best constellation. It significantly reduces his energy requirements and burst cost to 65 energy – thus letting you focus on other stats like HP.
C5: Raging Wildfire
Increases his elemental burst talent level by 3. Like his C3, this is very straightforward. It buffs his shield strength – which is definitely useful.
C6: Burning Heart
When Thoma’s shield is obtained or refreshed, the damage dealt by all teammates’ normal, charged, and plunging attacks is increased by 15% for 6s. This is a great constellation that further buffs his supporting abilities. It also lets him work with more characters that benefit from its effects – like Xiao.
Favonius Lance vs. Black Tassel for Thoma
Favonius Lance is Thoma’s best 4-star weapon by far – and it easily pulls ahead of Black Tassel. This is simply because Thoma needs Favonius Lance’s Energy Recharge stat and passive. It greatly helps him reach his ER requirements much faster. Plus, proccing its passive also helps charge the entire team’s burst. Thoma does benefit from Black Tassel’s HP secondary stat, but it’s simply less valuable than what Favonius Lance offers. Additionally, Black Tassel’s passive is pretty useless on Thoma since he’s not meant to deal damage. So it’s always recommended to go for Favonius Lance over Black Tassel.
Is Staff of Homa Good for Thoma?
Staff of Homa is not a recommended weapon for Thoma. Although he benefits from its HP passive, Homa is mainly a DPS weapon – and Thoma isn’t a DPS. He deals incredibly low damage, so a DPS build is never recommended. Instead, it’s far better to go for Energy Recharge weapons like Favonius Lance and Engulfing Lightning.
