Xiao Guide and Best Builds for Genshin Impact

Strengths

• Simple gameplay with higher skill combos available.
• Incredible AoE damage with a wide radius.
• Great build options especially with artifacts.

Weaknesses

• Drains HP during their Elemental Burst which can cause Xiao to be fragile.
• Certain enemies are hard to hit such as flying enemies.
• Builds are investment-heavy due to Xiao being a hypercarry.

Xiao's is primarily built as a Hypercarry, using various supports available to increase his personal damage. Unlike many other Anemo characters, Xiao does not incorporate swirling various elements into his gameplay.

Xiao's best weapons are ATK scaling with the best weapon to build Xiao being Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, Staff of Homa and Vortex Vanquisher are relatively similar in the overall DMG they provide to Xiao's build. Deathmatch and Lithic Spear are Xiao's best 4-Star options, Lithic can be better but only at 3+ stacks which limits your team compositions heavily.

Xiao's best artifact set is Vermillion Hereafter with Marechaussee Hunter being a strong alternative while also being an artifact set used on a lot of characters' builds while Vermillion is not. Therefore while Vermillion is better for Xiao builds, it is not resin efficient.

Xiao's build should focus on CRIT Rate and DMG and only needs around 130% Energy Recharge depending on your team composition. Xiao's teams often have a lot of Anemo characters meaning you do not need to build a lot of Energy Recharge.

Xiao's gameplay revolves around using Bane of All Evil to apply his Yaksha's Mask and increase his jump height, Plunge damage and turn his attacks into Anemo Damage. To play Xiao optimally however, start by using both of his Elemental Skills, Lemniscatic Wind Cycling before his Burst. This is because Lemniscatic Wind Cycling will not generate Energy while under the effects of Bane of All Evil.

Afterwards, you can begin your plunge attacking, You also want to throw in the occasional normal/charged attack to animation cancel between plunges which varies depending on if you are fighting 1 enemy or multiple enemies.

• Single Target — Plunge > Normal Attack > Charged Attack > Repeat
• AoE — Plunge > Normal Attack > Plunge

Xiao has several benefits and techniques you can use to help your exploration of the open world.

• Transcension: Gravity Defier reduces stamina consumption while climbing.
• Lemniscatic Wind Cycling can be used in the air helping you cover a lot of distance without losing any height.
• Using Lemniscatic Wind Cycling will also result in restoring a small amount of stamina which can be useful while gliding and especially climbing helping you get further.

Because Xiao is the Main DPS of your team and by far the primary source of damage, using characters that increase his damage is the way to go. Characters such as Faruzan, Furina and Xianyun are key players in Xiao teams.

Xiao will need a healer to help mitigate his constant HP loss while under the effects of Bane of All Evil. A shielder such as Zhongli or character with interruption resistance can also help but is less important compared to having a healer.

Faruzan, Xianyun, Furina and Bennett are there to provide huge damage bonuses. Zhongli is regularly used for comfort while Jean tends to be a battery or at C4 also reduces Anemo RES by 40%.

Instead of characters that aim to support Xiao, Pyro characters can be used for the additional 25% Attack from Pyro resonance as well as any other support they provide.

The main 2 Pyro options here are Xiangling and Mavuika. Both Xiangling and Mavuika provide off-field damage while Bennett brings ATK buffs and healing which is incredibly important. Faruzan is still your best option here although Lynette and Sucrose are viable options bringing different utility.