On February 1 Genshin Impact released version 4.4 alongside the banner characters, Nahida and the newly released character Xianyun, the human embodiments of the adeptus Cloud Retainer with Xianyun being the second anemo catalyst user and Sucrose being the first. However, being initially overlooked with her banner having come to an end on the 20th, we are now able to see her full capabilities and her place in the Meta.
Kit Overview
First, to find out how to best use her in a team, we must analyze her kit and role.
Normal Attack – Word of Wind and Flower
- Basic attack – summons swirling winds (elemental attack) to perform up to 4 attacks, dealing a single instance of anemo damage per hit.
- Charged attack – consumes a certain amount of stamina and launches a “Breeze Bolt” in a straight line that deals anemo damage to opponents.
- Plunging Attack – gathers the power of anemo and plunges towards the ground from midair, damaging all opponents in her path. Deals area of effect damage (AoE) upon impact with the ground.
Elemental Skill – White Clouds at Dawn
- Xianyun enters the “Cloud Transmogrification” state (turns into a bird), in which she will not take Fall Damage and uses Sky Ladder once. In this state, her plunging attack will be converted into “Drift Cloud Wave” instead, which deals area of effect anemo damage and ends the Cloud Transmogrification state. This damage is considered plunging attack damage.
- Using the elemental skill grants three charges of “Sky Ladder.” Using a charge can be used while in mid-air. Xianyun leaps forward, dealing anemo damage to targets along her path.
Elemental Burst – Stars Gather at Dusk
Energy Cost – 70
Cooldown – 18 seconds
- Brings forth a sacred breeze that deals area of effect anemo damage and heals all nearby characters based on Xianyun’s attack. It will also summon the “Starwicker” mechanism.
StarWicker- Continuously follows the active character and periodically heals all nearby party members based on Xianyun’s attack.
- Starts with eight stacks of Adeptal Assistance. While Adeptal Assistance is active, nearby active characters in the party will have their jump height increased.
- When the active character completes a Plunging Attack, Starwicker will consume one stack of Adeptal Assistance and deal area of effect anemo Damage.
First Ascension Passive – Galefeather Pursuit
- Each opponent hit by Driftcloud Waves from White Clouds at Dawn will grant all nearby party members one stack of Storm Pinion for 20s (max: four stacks). These will cause the characters’ plunging attack critical rate to increase by 4%/6%/8%/10%, respectively. Each Storm Pinion created by hitting an opponent has an independent duration.
Fourth Ascension Passive – Consider, The Adeptus in her Realm
- When the Starwicker, created by Stars Gather at Dusk has Adeptal Assistance stacks, nearby active characters’ Plunging Attack shockwave damage will be increased by 200% of Xianyun’s attack. The maximum damage increase that can be achieved this way is 9,000. Each Plunging Attack shockwave damage instance can only apply this increased damage effect to a single opponent. Each character can trigger this effect once every 0.4s.
Analysis
As seen through her elemental skill and burst, she plays the role as a plunging attack buffer as well as a team-wide healer, helping characters like Xiao or Gaming who rely on plunging attacks to deal damage. Although plunging attackers are a niche category of damage characters, with her elemental burst, she can turn any character into a plunging attacker.
With a correct build, Xianyun could help your main damage characters deal some serious damage! As a buffer and a healer, she is a very valuable unit. Additionally with a great elemental skill for open world exploration, you should definitely try her out.
Building her
Artifacts:
- Her best artifact set is four Viridescent Veneer:
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- helps aid her personal Damage, as well as decreases enemies’ Elemental Resistance to the element infused in the swirl by 40% for 10 seconds. The value of the Viridescent Venerer Set comes from its flexibility as a DPS or support set.
2. Another option players have is to use four-piece Song of Days Past.
Weapon Options
- Xianyun’s best weapon option is Crane’s Echoing Call. After the equipping, the character hits an opponent with a Plunging Attack and all nearby party members’ Plunging Attacks will deal 28% increased DMG for 20s. When nearby party members hit opponents with Plunging Attacks, they will restore 2.5 Energy to the equipping character. Energy can be restored this way every 0.7s, and can be triggered off-field.
2. The next best option is using Skyward Atlas, which at max. level increases her attack by 33.1%, helping increase the amount of Health she heals with her Elemental Burst.
Conclusion
Xianyun makes a great investment for anyone who uses Xiao as a Main DPS. Although her banner is over, I totally recommend saving for her next release, planned to be before 5.0 (October, 2024). Although this game is slowly driving itself off a cliff, I would advise not to burn yourself out. Take breaks and enjoy the time you spend playing games. Don’t play games out of obligation but instead for fun!
