- Xianyun is a five-star Anemo character in Genshin Impact and Cloud Retainer's human form.
- She scales off of Attack and works well with artifacts like Viridescent Venerer and Desert Pavilion Chronicle.
- Her talents and passives can both buff and heal your team, which makes her a flexible character.
One has finally arrived to bestow players a new character, one will be arriving in Genshin Impact as Xianyun. Cloud Retainer is a fan-favorite, and she’s finally coming to Genshin Impact in her human form – Xianyun. If you have played Liyue’s Archon Quest, you might be aware there are many adepti and among them, Cloud Retainer is associated with Anemo. Xianyun is a five-star Anemo character expected to arrive in the upcoming Genshin Impact 4.4 update. If you plan on wishing for her, here are the best builds for Xianyun, akaCloud Retainer in Genshin Impact.
Note: Xianyun release is really far and Genshin Impact 4.4 is still in Beta. Hence, the contents of this article are subject to change.
Best Xianyun Builds in Genshin Impact
The best build for Xianyun is the “Viridescent Venerer” artifact set combined with her signature weapon “Crane’s Echoing Call.” Xianyun is both a healer/ support and damage dealer so, at the end of the day, choosing the right artifact set for her depends on how you want to use her.
For general Anemo and Swirl damage buff with the right main and sub-stats, Viridescent Venerer should be a fine artifact set. We’ve mentioned the alternatives below.
Cloud Retainer scales off of Attack and needs lots of energy recharge for her burst. Hence, it’s advisable to stack as much Attack as possible while also keeping her Energy requirements in mind. An Energy Recharge Goblet with an Attack% Sands and a weapon with Attack% and/or Energy Recharge passive should do wonders.
Here are all the artifacts that work well with her kit:
- Viridescent Venerer (Great for Attack + Healer focused-builds)
- Ocean-Hued Clam (For healer build)
- Song of Days Past (Replacement for Ocean-Hued Clam)
- Nobless Oblige (Pure Damage Build)
Viridescent Venerer is great if you want a support/damage dealer build but you can also use Ocean-Hued Clam, Song of Days Past for a healer build, or Nobless Oblige for a bump in Elemental Burst Damage and Attack of all party members.
Xianyun Main and Sub-Stats Priority
Most players will play Xianyun as a Damage Dealer + Healer. For Xianyun’s kit, Attack and Energy recharge are the 2 most important stats followed by Crit Rate and Damage. Therefore, the priority would be ATK% > Energy Recharge > Crit Rate ≡ Crit Damage.
Artifact Main / Sub-Stat Flower Flat HP | ATK% > ER% > Crit Damage ≡ Crit Rate Feather Flat ATK | ATK% > ER% > Crit Damage ≡ Crit Rate Sands ATK% | ER% > Crit Damage ≡ Crit Rate Goblet ER% or ATK% (Depending on the weapon) | ATK% or ER% (Depending on the weapon) > Crit Damage ≡ Crit Rate > Circlet Crit Damage ≡ Crit Rate / ATK% > ER%
Depending on the weapon you are using, you can go with Attack or Energy Recharge on the Goblet. If your team has Xiao and you are using Xianyun to enhance his attack damage, having more ATK% should be a priority. However, if you won’t use plunging attacks, Energy Recharge is the way to go on the Goblet.
Xianyun Talents
Xianyun’s Elemental Skill involves jumping in the air and plunging to deal damage and crowd control. Her Elemental Burst allows all party members to jump higher and deal their respective elemental damages. Here are more details about her talents.
- Normal Attack (Word of Wind and Flower): Xianyun performs four consecutive attacks, a charged attack that consumes stamina, and a plunging attack, all dealing Anemo damage.
- Elemental Skill (White Clouds at Dawn): Xianyun enters the “Cloud Transmogrification state” and uses a “Skyladder” to jump in the air twice and dive, all actions deal Anemo damage bonus, pulling the enemies. The “Skyladder” can also be used mid-air and if it’s not used in a short period, it will enter cooldown. The cooldown of the skill will decrease by 3 seconds if the plunge “Driftcloud Wave” is not used.
- Elemental Burst (Stars Gather at Dusk): Xianyun deals AoE Anemo damage and summons a mechanism called Starwicker. The burst heals all characters based on Xianyun’s Attack. Starwicker follows characters and starts with 8 stacks of “Adeptal Assistance.” The same will increase the jump height of characters and when a character completes a plunging attack, the Starwicker consumes one stack and deals AoE Anemo Damage.
Xianyun Passives
- Galefeather Pursuit: Xianyun’s plunge at the end of her elemental skill will unleash a vortex, pulling all the nearby enemies and objects.
- Consider, the Adeptus in Her Realm: Active Character’s plunging attack shockwave damage will be increased by 170% of Xianyun’s attack if the Starwicker is active. The maximum obtainable damage this way cannot be more than 8,500. The shockwave damage applies to a single opponent, and each character can only trigger this once every 0.4 seconds.
- Crane Form: Increases gliding speed of party members by 15%.
Best Weapons for Xianyun
Xianyun’s signature weapon, Crane’s Echoing Call is the best weapon for her in Genshin Impact. It has a high base attack, ATK% as a sub-stat, and increases both the damage and energy regeneration of Xianyun which are exactly what she needs.
However, if you don’t want to pull her signature weapon, we have listed other weapons that should do well on her.
- Crane’s Echoing Call (Best weapon for Xianyun)
- Oathsworn Eye (R5) (Best free-to-play weapon for Xianyun)
- Favonius Codex (R5) (Another best free weapon)
- Hakushin Ring (R5)
Xianyun Build: Constellations
C1: Purifying Wind: Elemental Skill gains an extra charge.
C2: Aloof From the World: After using Elemental Skill, Xianyun’s ATK will be increased by 20% for 15 seconds. Her passive “Consider the Adeptus in Her Realm” will also be enhanced to 306% plunging attack shockwave damage from 170% and 15,300 additional damage from 8,500.
C3: Creations of Star and Moon: Increases her Elemental Burst level by 3. The maximum upgrade level is 15.
C4: Mystery Millet Gourmet: After using the Skyladder 1/2/3 times, the wave that appears after Xianyun plunges will heal all party members for 50%/80%/150% of Xianyun’s ATK. This can be triggered once every five seconds.
C5: Astride Rose-Colored Clouds: Increases her Elemental Skill level by 3. The maximum upgrade level is 15.
C6: Cloudkeeper’s Spirit: After using the Skyladder 1/2/3 times, the Crit Damage of the plunge will be increased by 15%/35%/70%. After Xianyun plunges, if her Starwick has Adeptal Resistance stacks, one stack will be consumed and her Elemental Skill will not enter cooldown.
When the same instance of Cloud Transmogrification state triggers Starwicker’s attack with a Driftcloud Wave, no Adeptal Assistance will be consumed. When Driftcloud wave AKA the Plunge hits an opponent, the Starwicker gains one Adeptal Assistance Stack. This effect can be triggered once in 8 seconds.
