Xianyun swoops into battle in Genshin Impact version 4.4! Here's how you build her

Genshin Impact version 4.4 has arrived and with it comes Xianyun, aka the human form of the Adeptus Cloud Retainer! As befitting one of the mighty Adepti of Liyue, Xianyun swoops into the battlefield and delivers victory using her own powers as an Adeptus and her ingenious inventions.

Xianyun is an Anemo Catalyst user and is a powerful yet versatile character, boasting a kit that focuses on empowering her own Plunging Attacks and that of her teammates. Being an Anemo character also lets her wield the powerful Viridescent Venerer artifact set to boost her teammates' elemental attacks.

Not only that, Xianyun can also provide teamwide healing that lets her synergise with the meta-defining Furina to further empower your party.

If you were lucky enough to pull Xianyun, then read on as we break down how to best build her as well as her best weapons, artifacts, and teams!

The crane soars ever skyward

As one would expect from the Crane Adeptus, Xianyun is all about aerial superiority, flying to the sky before using her Plunging Attacks on the groundbound enemies below her while also empowering her teammates' Plunging Attacks and providing them with healing.

Xianyun's primary form of attack is through her skill, White Clouds at Dawn. Upon using her skill, she enters the Cloud Transmogrification state, in which she will not take Fall DMG, and uses Skyladder once.

While in the Cloud Transmogrification state, Xianyun's Plunging Attack will be converted into Driftcloud Wave instead, which deals area-of-effect Anemo DMG and is considered Plunging Attack DMG then ends the Cloud Transmogrification state.

Skyladder lets Xianyun leap forward in mid-air and rise higher, with each use increasing the DMG and area-of-effect of Driftcloud Wave. Xianyun can use Skyladder up to 3 times and only one instance of its DMG can be dealt to any one opponent.

Meanwhile, Xianyun's burst, Stars Gather at Dusk, lets her deal area-of-effect Anemo DMG then provide a burst of healing to all her allies based on her ATK.

Using her burst also summons the Starwicker mechanism for 16 seconds, which will continuously follow the active character, periodically heal all party members, and provide Adeptal Assistance.

Adeptal Assistance starts with 8 stacks and each stack will increase the jump height of the active character, letting them easily execute a Plunging Attack. Once the active character completes a Plunging Attack, 1 stack of Adeptal Assistance will be consumed and Starwicker will deal area-of-effect Anemo DMG.

Xianyun's passive Talents further enhance the power of the Plunging Attacks from her own skill and those performed by her teammates while her burst is active.

Xianyun's A2 passive, Galefeather Pursuit, makes it so that each opponent hit by Driftcloud Waves from her skill grant all nearby party members 1 stack of Storm Pinion for 20 seconds. Storm Pinion can have a maximum of 4 stacks and will give a stacking 4%/6%/8%/10% Crit Rate boost to the active character's Plunging Attacks.

Meanwhile, Xianyun's A4 passive, Consider, the Adeptus in her Realm, further empowers Plunging Attacks performed while her burst is active.

When the Starwicker created by Xianyun's burst has Adeptal Assistance stacks, nearby active characters' Plunging Attack shockwave DMG will be increased by 200% of Xianyun's ATK. The maximum DMG increase that can be achieved this way is 9,000.

It should be noted that each Plunging Attack shockwave DMG instance can only apply this increased DMG effect to a single opponent.

In battle, Xianyun can take on either on-field DPS or off-field support roles. Regardless of how you choose to play her, her rotation will always start with her using her skill three times to perform a powerful Plunging Attack and trigger her A2 passive.

If your Xianyun is an on-field DPS, use her burst and start spamming Plunging Attacks. Do keep in mind that any off-field supports you have for her should have used their abilities first so that Xianyun's area-of-effect Anemo DMG can both empower their elemental DMG and trigger Swirl reactions.

If your Xianyun is an off-field support, use her burst then switch to your main DPS and have them start spamming Plunging Attacks. Any other off-field supports should have also used their abilities first as with the case above.

When leveling up Xianyun's abilities, prioritise leveling up her burst first and her skill second, though both should eventually get maxed out.

If you're playing her as an on-field DPS, level up her Normal Attacks too in order to increase her Plunging Attack DMG. This isn't a requirement if you're using her as an off-field support though.

Xianyun's best gear

Weapons

Xianyun's best weapon for both on-field DPS and off-field support roles is undoubtedly her signature, Crane's Echoing Call. When maxed out, this weapon gives Xianyun a base ATK of 740 as well as a 16.54 ATK% bonus with its substat.

The passive for Xianyun's signature also increases the Plunging Attack DMG of all party members by 28% for 20 seconds after its wielder hits an opponent with a Plunging Attack. When nearby party members hit opponents with Plunging Attacks, they will also restore 2.5 Energy to the equipping character.

Energy can be restored this way every 0.7s and it can be triggered even if the equipping character is not on the field.

If you're playing Xianyun as an on-field DPS and you don't have her signature, then you have a couple of solid alternatives available.

Your best 5-star alternative will be the Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, which grants its wielder an 8% Elemental DMG bonus for every 4 seconds they are on the field that stacks up to 4 times for a 32% Elemental DMG bonus. However, this bonus will disappear if its wielder leaves the field.

Despite being a 4-star weapon, The Widsith, provides very good stats at max level, including a 510 base ATK and a 55% Crit DMG substat. It also has a strong passive, especially at high refinement levels, that randomly provides its wielder with either a 60% ATK buff, 48% all Elemental DMG bonus, or 240 Elemental Mastery bonus whenever they enter the field once every 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, Xianyun's weapon options as an off-field support — aside from her signature — include the usual repertoire for Catalyst support characters.

The ever-reliable Favonius Codex is a great pickup to sustain the energy needs of Xianyun and her teammates, especially at high refinement levels. Of course, the 3-star Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers remains a strong option despite its rarity for its accessibility and the whopping 48% ATK bonus (at R5) it provides to the character taking the field after Xianyun.

Artifacts

Xianyun's best artifact set by far for both on-field DPS and off-field support roles is the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer set. It gives her a 15% Anemo DMG bonus with its 2-piece set bonus while its 4-piece bonus increases Swirl DMG by 60% and decreases enemies' Elemental RES by 40% to the element infused by the Swirl for 10 seconds.

It's a no-brainer why Viridescent Venerer is the best pickup for a support Xianyun. But even if she's taking on a DPS role, off-field elemental DMG from her teammates will still form the majority of the entire team's damage output so boosting that over Xianyun's own damage is the better choice overall.

Xianyun's best teammates

As an Anemo character, a support Xianyun can be plugged into any team that deals Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, and Electro elemental DMG to trigger Swirls and the Viridescent Venerer set's 4-piece bonus. Her ability to boost her allies' Plunging Attack DMG also provides a good boost to your main DPS' damage output as Plunging Attacks generally have higher DMG multipliers over Normal or Charged Attacks.

Xianyun will be an especially good teammate for characters with high Plunging Attack DMG multipliers like Xiao, Diluc, Freminet, and Razor. A handy tier list of characters with high Plunging Attack DMG multipliers courtesy of /u/MrMarxist25 has been posted on the official Genshin Impact subreddit here.

With that said, Xianyun also has excellent synergy with the meta-defining Furina. Thanks to the burst and continuous healing from Xianyun's burst, she can help Furina quickly gain max Fanfare stacks from her own burst.

And because Xianyun's burst follows the active character, you won't be limited to playing in a specific area to get healing unlike Jean, who has been the Anemo character most paired with Furina.

Genshin Impact version 4.4 features two new playable characters in Xianyun and Gaming, three new skins for Shenhe, Ganyu, and Xingqiu, as well as the return of the annual Lantern Rite Festival.

After version 4.4 comes version 4.5, which features the Geo character Chiori, in March.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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