Genshin Impact: Gorou’s Story and How He Got His Vision

Name: Gorou

Vision: Geo

Birthday: 18 May

Constellation: Canis Bellatoris

Titles: Canine Warrior, General of the Watatsumi Army

Gorou Genshin Impact Guide

Gorou is a pure support character in Genshin Impact, it’s generally not useful to use him as a DPS. His skills revolve around buffing characters, with various effects depending on party composition

His Elemental Skill, Inuzaka All-Round Defense, sets up a General’s War Banner that buffs allies in an area around it. Effects are based on how many Geo characters there are in the party. With one, the banner increases DEF. Adding another one increases resistance to interruption. A third Geo party member increases Geo DMG Bonus by 15%.

Allies can only gain buffs from one War Banner. Buffs linger for 2 seconds after leaving the area of effect. Banners are not Geo constructs, making them safe to place without having other constructs disappear. You can choose where to place the banner by holding down the skill button. Leveling up the talent will only increase the skill’s damage and DEF bonuses. Everything else stays the same.

His Burst, Juuga: Forward Unto Victory, works much the same as his E. This time it’s mobile and follows him (or the active character) around. It also gains a Crystal Collapse ability, where it automatically attacks enemies in its AoE with Geo DMG every 1.5 seconds. It overwrites and destroys any existing War Banners when the Burst is used. If Gorou falls, the Burst’s effects disappear.

His first Ascension passive talent increases nearby allies’ DEF by 25% for 12 seconds when using his Burst. His second one increases the damage of his skills by a percentage of his DEF. For exploration, he reveals any nearby nodes for Inazuma specialties.

Various Constellation upgrades increase his skills’ effectiveness in various ways. His first upgrade decreases his E skill’s cooldown when allies hit enemies with Geo DMG. The second upgrade increases the duration of his Burst by 1 second when obtaining Crystallize shards (max 3 seconds). Getting two more upgrades (C4) lets him heal allies within his Burst by a percentage of his defense. His final upgrade increases the Crit DMG of allies’ Geo-infused attacks. This buff’s strength depends on how many Geo characters there are in the party. It maxes out at a 40% increase with three characters.

Gorou Item Recommendations

Since his kit revolves around support, you won’t have to build his ATK too much. Gorou thrives with a DEF build, so 2-set Husk of Opulent Dreams or Defender’s Will are great choices. The other 2-set he can use is Emblem of Severed Fate, for the Energy Recharge. 4-set Noblesse Oblige is also a good one, as it can increase the damage of Crystal Collapses while buffing allies’ ATK. The timepiece, cup, and hat’s main stats could be Energy Recharge (timepiece), DEF (any), Geo DMG Bonus (cup), or Crit Rate (hat).

Suggested weapons for him are the Favonius Warbow or the Sacrificial Bow. If using the former, a Crit Rate hat will help with keeping his Burst up, as critical hits will increase the energy he gets. Otherwise, the latter can help with repositioning his Banner and keeping the buffs up. The Elegy for the End bow can also be used, if only for the Energy Recharge.

Character Story

Like any other general, Gorou did not start out as a general of the Watatsumi Island army. He was once a rank-and-file soldier under the Gorgasia II unit. On a special operation, his unit fell into an unexpected crisis. Their captain fell to a stray arrow, and the remaining people of the unit were surrounded by enemies in the mountains.

They had the choice of asking for reinforcements, negotiating with the enemy, or surrendering entirely. As they waited in indecision, their supplies were used up and morale dwindled. Just when they were on the verge of giving everything up, Gorou stepped up and proposed a daring plan.

He and the larger part of the remaining unit would launch an attack to buy time for the others to call for reinforcements. Once the smaller unit was successful, they and the reinforcements could combine for a pincer attack. When asked about failing this mission, Gorou would take all the responsibility. All he wanted to do was take the chance and do all they could for Watatsumi.

It took a few days before their efforts to hold the line bore fruit. Reinforcements arrived to replace the exhausted Gorou and his fellow soldiers. It’s even more impressive that the leader of the relieving force was Sangonomiya Kokomi herself.

This led to a series of promotions that resulted in his being named general.

To his men, he is strict but humble. Gorou’s pretty straightforward and easygoing, and he treats his men like they were his family. He’s always ready to share anything with them, whether good or bad. He’s always the first to lead a charge, a banner that encourages his men to fight with fervor. He puts the safety of his men first, even at the cost of his own.

Some other people might see him as just a kid, but to his men, this kid is the best general they could ask for.

For all his accolades and accomplishments, he has one flaw that he hasn’t quite mastered yet. He has a rather finicky temper, and his blood is prone to rush to his head in the height of battle. He is rather inexperienced, but learns fast and makes an effort to make up for his failings. Among the appointed leaders of the army, Gorou is the one who could choose the right series of actions from the directives given to them.

With time, he hopes to understand the principles of the directives, so he doesn’t have to rely on them as often. By then, he believes he’d be more confident in the field.

Speaking of weaknesses, Gorou’s biggest one is most likely the Guuji Yae. Through the treaty between the Shogunate and Watatsumi, he had more interactions with Yae. He would always be defensive when talking to her, something shown in his hangout events. Some branches of the event try to figure out a way to give Gorou the upper hand, or at least to hold his own.

Despite his natural weakness to Yae’s teasing nature, he ended up agreeing to a job offered by the Guuji. Yae would send him letters from readers who are trying to ask for advice. For the privacy of either side, Yae changes the names of the readers and Gorou. To the readers, he became Ms. Hina of the advice column of “That’s Life” magazine.

That portion became popular indeed, as even Arataki Itto is a fan of ‘Ms. Hina’. Yae had a pamphlet made that depicted Ms. Hina, and ‘she’ closely resembled Gorou such that he is mistaken as a brother to ‘her’. It’s also why editors would ask about Ms. Hina when delivering royalties to him.

Before the Traveler came, Gorou would pile up or set aside his own worries to put up a serious, proper front. He’s actually worried about his tail fur, his inferior physique when compared to the others, and how he’s weak to women like Yae Miko. Most of his men were actually aware of these problems, but they played along with his front. Yet they hoped that someone he could air these worries to would appear. They breathed a sigh of relief when the Traveler came.

How He Got His Vision

Gorou once thought that being a leader meant that his leadership is the cause of every success and failure. By this principle, he practiced day and night to get stronger so he wouldn’t fail anymore. Then he observed in the field that strong warriors were isolated and captured. Then he saw a group of weaker soldiers successfully rout the enemy through unity and group tactics.

This is how he learned that the path to victory lies not in one soldier, but through teamwork and unity. Since then he pursued connections with other people and helped everyone to improve together. This action may have opened the door for him to receive his Vision.

Contracts connect people together through an exchange. Oaths are a version of a contract, and soldiers do promise to do their best to defend or fight for their cause. While there was no direct documentation or verbal confirmation of this, Gorou deciding to connect with his men could’ve been a form of a contract itself. By helping his men, they can help him and each other on the battlefield.

By ascribing to this aspect of the Geo Archon, Celestia blessed him with a Geo Vision. It’s somewhat different for the other Geo users, three of which sought knowledge. One is the Archon, and the last muddles the data (Itto has oni blood, which may have different criteria as with the adepti).

That’s all for Gorou, the Canine Warrior General of Watatsumi Island. Continue enjoying Genshin Impact and its cast of colorful characters!