Genshin Impact Xiao

An in-depth guide on how to build Genshin Impact’s Vigilant Yaksha, Xiao.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Xiao is a 5-star Anemo Polearm character who specialises as a Main DPS, and is only available on the Character Event Wish banner while he is featured character. Keep reading to find out what materials are needed to Ascend Xiao, his best builds and an overview of how to use him effectively.

Xiao Ascension Stat

All characters in Genshin Impact have a particular stat that levels up alongside their base stats. For Xiao, this extra stat is CRIT Rate. This makes him more flexible to build in terms of Artifact and Weapon substats.

Xiao Ascension Materials

Once you have obtained Xiao and maxed him to Level 20, he can be further levelled up through Ascension. The materials you will need to Ascend Xiao are as follows:

Level 20

• Vayunda Turquoise Sliver x 1
• Qingxin x 3
• Slime Condensate x 3

Level 40

• Vayunda Turquoise Fragment x 3
• Juvenile Jade x 2
• Qingxin x 10
• Slime Condensate x 15

Level 50

• Vayunda Turquoise Fragment x 6
• Juvenile Jade x 4
• Qingxin x 20
• Slime Secretions x 12

Level 60

• Vayunda Turquoise Chunk x 3
• Juvenile Jade x 8
• Qingxin x 30
• Slime Secretions x 18

Level 70

• Vayunda Turquoise Chunk x 6
• Juvenile Jade x 12
• Qingxin x 45
• Slime Concentrate x 12

Level 80

• Vayunda Turquoise Gemstone x 6
• Juvenile Jade x 20
• Qingxin x 60
• Slime Concentrate x 24

Vayunda Turquoise Slivers, Fragments, Chunks and Gemstones can be obtained by defeating the Anemo Hypostasis, located in Liyue, and Maguu Kenki, located in Inazuma.

Juvenile Jade can be obtained by defeating the Primo Geovishap, located in Liyue.

Qingxin can be found growing high up on mountains in Liyue. They grow in abundance in Jueyun Karst, Qingyun Peak and the mountains near Qingce Village.

Slime Condensate, Secretions and Concentrate can be obtained by defeating Slimes, which can be found all over Teyvat.

Xiao Talent Materials

In order to make Xiao stronger, you’ll need to upgrade his talents. The materials you will need are as follows:

• Recruit’s Insignia
• Sergeant’s Insignia
• Lieutenant’s Insignia
• Teachings of Resistance
• Guide to Resistance
• Philosophies of Resistance
• Dvalin’s Plume

The Teachings, Guide and Philosophies of Gold can be obtained by completing the Domain of Mastery: Frozen Abyss every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Meanwhile, Dvalin’s Plume is a potential drop from the Weekly Boss Stormterror.

Xiao Best Weapons

Given Genshin Impact isn’t short on Polearms, Xiao has a few good options:

• Primordial Jade Winged-Spear (5*)
• Staff of Homa (5*)
• Calamity Queller (5*)
• Deathmatch (4*)
• Blackcliff Pole (4*)
• White Tassel (3*)

Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, aside from just looking cool on him, is his best in slot. It’s passive stacks very well with his Elemental Burst, and the added CRIT Rate, coupled with the CRIT Rate he inherits from Ascension, will give him a decent amount – meaning you can mainly focus on CRIT DMG substats with his Artifacts. Staff of Homa, being as broken as it is, also works great on Xiao as it bestows plenty of CRIT DMG on him. Calamity Queller is another great option, as it gives him a massive amount of ATK whilst also having a passive which he can stack easily.

Unfortunately, Xiao doesn’t have many good 4-star weapons besides Deathmatch and Blackcliff Pole. These will give him a good amount of CRIT Rate and DMG respectfully, with passives that are easy enough to make use of. Alternatively, the 3-star weapon White Tassel can be good on him if you can’t get any other weapons; it has a CRIT Rate substat, and a passive which boosts his Normal Attack DMG. Ideally though, you want a 4-star or above weapon on him if you can.

Xiao Best Artefacts

Xiao’s best Artifact set is 2-Piece Viridescent Venerer with either 2-Piece Gladiator’s Finale or 2-Piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence – both do the same thing. This set will increase both his Anemo DMG and ATK%, which will fully maximise his Burst’s DMG. You might be tempted to swap out Gladiator’s Finale / Shimenawa’s Reminiscence with Noblesse Oblige – but you shouldn’t. Xiao’s Burst doesn’t snapshot, and it doesn’t count as Elemental Burst DMG either; instead, his Burst infuses his Normal Attacks with Anemo and boosts his attacks, so it’s better to just increase his overall ATK.

For low-level players, 2-Piece Martial artist and 2-Piece Berserker work well until you’re able to get higher level Artifacts.

For your Artifact main stats, you will want to run:

• ATK% Sands
• Anemo DMG Bonus Goblet
• CRIT DMG / Rate Circlet

In terms of Artifact substats, you’ll want to focus on ATK%, Energy Recharge and both CRIT DMG and CRIT Rate. Some Elemental Mastery can also be nice, but it’s not a priority.

Generally, if you have a CRIT DMG weapon on him, you’ll want to give him a CRIT Rate Circlet. Similarly, if he has a CRIT Rate weapon, you’ll want to give him a CRIT DMG Circlet. However, depending on your Artifact substats this may not always be the case.

How to Use Xiao

Xiao’s Elemental Skill, Lemniscatic Wind Cycling, involves lunging forward, dealing Anemo DMG to opponents in Xiao’s path.

Xiao’s Elemental Burst, Bane Of All Evil, dons his Yaksha’s Mask. This greatly increases Xiao’s jumping ability, increases his attack AoE and attack DMG, and converts attack DMG into Anemo DMG, which cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion. In this state, Xiao will continuously lose HP, and these effects end when Xiao leaves the field.

Xiao’s main role is to be a hypercarry, dealing high DMG with his Elemental Burst and staying on-field for as long as possible. His Elemental Skill is great for charging up his Burst, so you should be able to activate your Burst semi-regularly, depending on your team composition and overall Energy Recharge. The main way you’ll be dealing DMG with Xiao is by using his Burst, and then proceeding to jump into the air and use a Plunge Attack, rinse and repeat until the duration of his Burst ends.

One potential comp you can use is Xiao, Jean, Zhongli and Albedo. Jean will act as a battery for Xiao, as well as keep him healthy with her heals. Zhongli will do what Zhongli does best: provide an incredibly strong shield. This shield will keep Xiao safe while he is doing his Burst Plunge Attacks, during which he is vulnerable due to steadily losing HP. Finally, Albedo provides further DMG thanks to his Skill, and also helps set up Geo Resonance, which increases shield strength by 15%, increases DMG dealt by shielded characters by 15%, and decreases enemies’ Geo Res by 20%. Given this team is quite expensive, you could substitute Jean for Sucrose, Ningguang for Albedo or Noelle for Zhongli for a more F2P team, although it won’t be as optimal.

A slight variation of this team is Xiao, Bennett, Zhongli and an Anemo unit such as Sucrose, Kazuha, Venti or Jean. Essentially, the only difference is that you’ll have Bennett to use his Burst and buff Xiao’s Plunging Attacks. The catch with this, though, is you’ll need to keep your enemies within Bennett’s Burst’s AoE to get the buff, which can be a little tricky. Therefore, having an Anemo character to pull your enemies together is very handy, and what you’ll need to do before using Bennett and Xiao’s Bursts.