Xiao is an Anemo Polearm character in Genshin Impact. Overall, he is the best Anemo DPS character in the game, the only one who manages to get to the top DPS. Xiao's playstyle is fairly unique, with players spamming his plunging attacks for massive damage. In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase a complete Genshin Impact Xiao build guide.

Table of Contents

1. Xiao Genshin Impact Overview

He is an Adeptus, under the name Alatus, and the only known remaining member of the five foremost Yakshas dispatched by Morax to subdue the demonic spirits that plagued Liyue.

He will be stronger and more useful.

Strengths

  • Unique kit, with a special Burst that allows him to strike from the air and come crashing down on foes.
  • Great Elemental Skill makes him one of the best characters for exploration
  • Fast normal attack speed makes him very easy to use.
  • Does not need any constellation to get to full DPS potential.
  • Plunging at any height with Xiao won't result in taking DMG.

Weaknesses

  • Drains HP to boost DMG during Elemental Burst.
  • Attacks can knock certain enemies back, making the fight tedious.
  • Elemental Burst ends when switching to another character, which makes playing as Xiao fairly clunky
  • No support skills for party.

2. Xiao Constellations and Talent Priority

Constellations

Xiao Constellations

Similar to other 5 star characters, Xiao's constellations are extremely powerful. However, with the low rate, it is highly unlikely that players would ever get more than C1 or C2. The best talents of Xiao are C1 and C6.
  • C1: Lemniscatic Wind Cycling's charges by 1.
  • C6: Hitting at least 2 opponents with Xiao's Plunging Attack while under the effects of his Elemental Burst immediately grants him 1 charge of his Elemental Skill, and for the next 1s, he can spam his Elemental Skill.

As Xiao's burst cost is pretty high, getting C1 on him helps a lot, as it aids with Energy regeneration. Furthermore, Xiao's skill gets more powerful the more you use it. Make sure to use Xiao's Skill outside of Burst because it won't generate any energy otherwise.

Talent Priority

As Xiao mainly deals damage using his normal and plunging attacks, maxing it first is a must. Afterward, players should go for his skill and burst later. It is definitely a great idea to max out all his talents, of course, as he is a powerful DPS character.

3. How to use Xiao effectively

Xiao's Elemental skill is a great mobility tool

Lemniscatic Wind Cycling gives Xiao unparalleled mobility - and players can get up to 3 charges to dash around. In exploration, this skill can even be used in mid-air to extend a glide.

Xiao has great mobility due to his dashing skill.

Use this skill to extend Normal Attack combos,  set up a plunge attack, gap close on distant enemies, dash through attacks to dodge, or as an air dash outside of combat.

Animation Cancel for Plunge Spam

Using a double jump as soon as Xiao lands from his plunge attack will cancel his landing animation and immediately launch him back into the air. Use this animation cancel to maximize the number of plunge attacks during Bane of All Evil.

Level Xiao's burst up to reduce the HP drain effect.

Xiao can get insane damage from his plunge attacks.

4. Genshin Impact Xiao Build

Unlike other characters in Genshin who can follow multiple roles, Xiao can do only one thing: DPS. He must be the main DPS of a team, as his Burst gets canceled on switching. Luckily, with the release of his new artifact set, Xiao DPS is stronger than ever.

Below are the best weapons and artifact sets for him:

Recommended weapon: Primordial Jade Winged-Spear (secondary stat: CRIT Rate)

  • On hit, increases ATK by 3.2% for 6s. Max 7 stacks. This effect can only occur once every 0.3s. While in possession of the maximum possible stacks, DMG dealt is increased by 12%.

Alternate weapons: Staff of Homa, Deathmatch, Blackcliff Pole.

The Primordial Jade Winged-Spear

Recommended artifact set: Vermillion Hereafter x4

  • (2 piece) ATK +18%.
  • (4 piece) After using an Elemental Burst, this character will gain the Nascent Light effect, increasing their ATK by 8% for 16s. When the character's HP decreases, their ATK will further increase by 10%. This further increase can occur this way a maximum of 4 times. This effect can be triggered once every 0.8s. Nascent Light will be dispelled when the character leaves the field. If an Elemental Burst is used again during the duration of Nascent Light, the original Nascent Light will be dispelled

Alternate artifacts: Viridescent Venerer x2 + Gladiator's Finale x2

This is the best Genshin Impact Xiao Build

5. Best teams for Xiao

As Xiao teams cannot switch much, the characters suitable to combo with him are rather limited. Below are the best lineups for Xiao.

  • Xiao + Sucrose + Xiangling + Bennett

This is a lineup geared toward dolphin or F2p players, as all other characters except for Xiao are 4 stars. Xiao is the main DPS in this lineup, and the Pyro element from Xiangling is Swirled by him.

Xiao doesn't need much support at all, as his damage doesn't come from reactions.

Sucrose provides elemental mastery bonuses to boost the damage of the whole team alongside Xiao's Swirl. She also acts as a battery for recharge of Xiao's burst. Xiangling and Bennett are burst support characters, providing damage, attack buff and healing. They also unlock Pyro resonance for some extra damage.

Outside of this lineup, Xiao can also work fairly well with healers like Jean or characters who can deal damage off-field like Albedo or Fischl.

>>> Read more: Genshin Impact Expedition Guide - Best Characters, Rewards, And More!