Genshin Impact Xiao build: Demon hunter
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Looking for a great Genshin Impact Yelan build? Version 2.7 has just launched and Yelan and Xiao's banners have arrived alongside. The five-star Hydro archer is Liyue's answer to a secret agent, hunting down ne'er do wells and administering justice. Her playstyle is all about getting in opponent's faces and tying them up with her Lingering Lifeline.
It's her most flashy ability for sure as she runs through enemies, evading them before unleashing her attack. That said, her Depth-Clarion Dice is also extremely good and basically an upgraded version of Xingqiu's already amazing Raincutter burst. It makes her a sub-DPS character capable of supporting and buffing damage-dealers, while also repositioning for optimal advantage.
If you've just jumped into Genshin Impact 2.7 you might have come across the world quest that requires you to craft some Red Dye, or you might be wondering when Kuki Shinobu is going to show up. Either way, here's one of the best Genshin Impact Yelan builds, along with her abilities, and ascension materials.
Builds
The best Genshin Impact Yelan build
Yelan is all about running rings around opponents with her evasive Lingering Lifeline skill, using the distance to fire her Breakthrough Barb aimed shots, and her Exquisite Throw to support other damage-dealers as with Xingqiu's Raincutter burst. Most of her damage scales with HP, so she isn't too complex to build.
Hydro sub-DPS
- Weapon: Aqua Simulacra or Polar Star
Unsurprisingly, the best bow choice for Yelan is the five-star featured alongside her. Aqua Simulacra buffs crit damage and increases her HP by 16 percent. When enemies are nearby, her damage is increased by 20%, whether she's on the field or not. This gives her Exquisite Throw a big damage boost when supporting other characters, which adds to the buff it already provides with Yelan's Adapt With Ease passive. The HP boost also helps increase all of her ability damage.
A second choice is the recent Polar Star bow. This five-star weapon buffs crit rate, but also elemental skill and burst damage by 12 percent. When you hit an opponent with any attack or ability, you gain a stack of Ashen Nightstar for 12 seconds. This stacks up to four times, incremently buffing attack by 10/20/30/48 percent. As you'd imagine, this adds some pretty universal value in terms of strengthening Yelan's offensive capabilities.
That said, you might be looking for a no-spend option instead of throwing your wishes into the weapon banner. Slingshot is the best three-star weapon for Yelan due to its crit rate, and proximity-based attack buff, while a good four-star choice is Mouun's Moon, since it buffs burst damage based on your party's energy recharge: pretty useful when you'll want to use Yelan's burst a lot.
- Artifact: (4) Emblem of Severed Fates
One of the best artifact sets for a sub-DPS Yelan is Emblem of Severed Fates. Two-pieces grants 20 percent increased energy recharge, while four-pieces increases damage by 25 percent of energy recharge. A maximum bonus of 75 percent is available this way. Considering you'll want to build Yelan's energy recharge so you can use her amazing burst more, this set is pretty darn perfect.
An alternative would be two-pieces of Heart of Depth for its 15 percent Hydro damage bonus, and two-pieces of Noblesse Oblige for its 20 percent burst damage bonus. In terms of stats, most of Yelan's ability damage strengthens with HP, so you'll want to build lots of that. Energy recharge will also be very important in using her burst lots, and crit rate, and crit damage would help take advantage of Aqua Simulcra's crit damage boost. Finally, an artifact with a Hydro bonus substat would be very good if you have one lying around.
How to unlock
How to get Yelan in Genshin Impact
You can currently wish for Yelan as part of the "Discerner of Enigmas" banner that released alongside version 2.7. This will run for three weeks, concluding around June 21, when Arataki Itto and Kuki Shinobu arrive. The boosted four-stars on Yelan's banner are Barbara, Noelle, and Yanfei.
Abilities
Yelan's abilities
Here are Yelan's abilities, constellations and passives:
| Normal | Performs up to 4 consecutive shots with a bow. |
| Charged | Perform a more precise Aimed Shot with increased DMG. While aiming, flowing water will accumulate on the arrowhead. A fully charged torrential arrow will deal Hydro DMG. |
| Breakthrough | Yelan will enter a "Breakthrough" state after spending 5 seconds out of combat, which will cause her next Charged Aimed Shot to have 80% decreased charge time, and once charged, she can fire a "Breakthrough Barb" that will deal AoE Hydro DMG based on Yelan's Max HP. |
| Plunging | Fires off a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground, dealing AoE DMG upon impact. |
| Lingering Lifeline | Fires off a Lifeline that tractors her in rapidly, entangling and marking opponents along its path. When her rapid movement ends, the Lifeline will explode, dealing Hydro DMG to the marked opponents based on Yelan's Max HP. |
| Tap | Moves a certain distance forward swiftly. |
| Hold | Engages in continuous, swift movement. During this time, Yelan can control her sprint direction and can end this quick movement by using this skill again. Additionally, each opponent marked by the Lifeline when it explodes grants Yelan 34% chance to reset her Breakthrough state. |
| Depth-Clarion Dice | Deals AoE Hydro DMG and creates an "Exquisite Throw" which aids her in battle. |
| Exquisite Throw | Follows the character around and will initiate a coordinated attack under the following circumstances, dealing Hydro DMG based on Yelan's Max HP: Can occur once every second when your active character uses a Normal Attack. Will occur each time Yelan's Lifeline explodes and hits opponents. |
| Lengthy Consideration | Gains 25% more rewards when dispatched on a Liyue Expedition for 20 hours. |
| Turn Control | When the party has 1/2/3/4 Elemental Types, Yelan's Max HP is increased by 6%/12%/18%/30%. |
| Adapt with Ease | So long as an Exquisite Throw is in play, your own active character deals 1% more DMG. This increases by a further 3.5% DMG every second. The maximum increase to DMG dealt is 50%. The pre-existing effect will be dispelled if Depth-Clarion Dice is recast during its duration. |
| Enter the Plotters | Lingering Lifeline gains 1 additional charge. |
| Taking all Comers | When Exquisite Throw conducts a coordinated attack, it will fire an additional water arrow that will deal 14% of Yelan's Max HP as Hydro DMG. |
| Beware the Trickster's Dice | Increases the Level of Depth-Clarion Dice by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Bait-and-Switch | Increases all party members' Max HP by 10% for 25 seconds for every opponent marked by Lifeline when the Lifeline explodes. A maximum increase of 40% Max HP can be attained in this manner. |
| Dealer's Sleight | Increases the Level of Lingering Lifeline by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Winner Takes All | After using Depth-Clarion Dice, Yelan will enter the Mastermind state. In this state, all of Yelan's Normal Attacks will be special Breakthrough Barbs. These Breakthrough Barbs will have similar abilities to normal ones and the DMG dealt will be considered Charged Attack DMG, dealing 130% of normal Breakthrough Barb's DMG. The Mastermind state lasts 20 seconds and will be cleared after Yelan fires 6 arrows. |
Ascension materials
Yelan's Ascension materials
Character
Like other characters, Yelan needs specific Ascension materials to level her up. The Varunada Lazurite items are dropped by Oceanids and Hydro Hypostases. Meanwhile, Runic Fangs are dropped by level 30+ Ruin Serpents found in the Chasm in Liyue.
- Recruit's/Sergeant's/Lieutenant's Insignia
- Starconch
The Insignias are dropped from Agents and Electro Cicin Mages found in both Liyue and Mondstadt, though the lowest "Recruit" version can also drop from Skirmishers. And lastly, the Starconch items are found along the beaches of Liyue.
Talents
There are more Ascension materials to collect if you want to level up Yelan's talents. These are:
- Teachings/Guide/Philosophies of Prosperity
- Recruit's/Sergeant's/Lieutenant's Insignia
- Gilded Scale
- Crown of Insight
The Prosperity items are rewarded for completing the Taishan Mansion domain on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays. As mentioned above, the Insignia variants are dropped by Skirmishers, Agents, and Electro Cicin Mages, and the Gilded Scale drops from the weekly boss, Azhdaha.
The Crown of Insight is a reward from various seasonal activities, like Midsummer Island Adventure or Thunder Sojourn. You can also get this item as a one-off reward by upgrading the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine or the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma.
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