Genshin Impact: Should You Pull For Xianyun Or Nahida?

Cloud Retainer is no stranger to Genshin Impact players who have done the Archon Quest in the Land of Contract, Liyue. She first appears in her crane form as one of the Adepti that eventually stop Liyue from falling into destruction. Of course, considering Cloud Retainer’s beautiful crane form, it’s no surprise that HoYoverse eventually designed a human form so that she could be a playable character. Under the name Xianyun, Cloud Retainer now walks among mortals and blends in like a normal human being.

Xianyun debuted in version 4.4, and her first banner comes along with the Dendro Archon, Nahida. Considering Nahida is an obvious must-have, players may be wondering if they should focus more on getting Nahida or have fun with Xianyun’s new mechanics.

Genshin Impact: Xianyun Build Guide

On top of enabling Plunge attack, Xianyun's supportive ability comes with healing, allowing Genshin Impact players to focus more on damage.

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By Nahda Nabiilah

Xianyun Or Nahida In Genshin Impact

Both Xianyun and Nahida are Catalyst characters in Genshin Impact, and they also have similar roles in battles. However, despite both units being a support, they have completely different uses, mechanics, builds, and teams. Therefore, before choosing between the two, it’s crucial for you to know what you’re signing up for with each character.

Role

Xianyun and Nahida primarily work as a support with some sub-DPS hits, but Nahida is generally better at dealing damage compared to Xianyun. Xianyun’s damage-dealing is limited to when she uses her Plunge Attack after using her Elemental Skill, while Nahida can take the role of an on-field Dendro enabler, especially in teams that play around Bloom reactions in Genshin Impact. However, despite being worse on the offensive field, Xianyun has more defensive capability as she comes with a healing ability.

Both units can buff the team, where Nahida buffs Elemental Mastery while Xianyun enhances Plunge Attack and enables Plunging even for units that don’t work around the special jump attack. This means Xianyun is more flexible compared to Nahida as the Dendro Archon doesn’t work with Elements that don’t react with Dendro.

In conclusion, Nahida is better at buffing Dendro-related reactions and offense, while Xianyun is better at buffing Plunge Attack and healing.

Build

Nahida and Xianyun have a completely different build in Genshin Impact. To start, Nahida’s artifact would either revolve around Dendro or Elemental Mastery, whereas Xianyun’s equipment should involve healing, ATK, or buffing. Here’s a list of artifacts that each character uses:

Nahida’s Artifact:

4pc Deepwood Memories
4pc Gilded Dreams
2pc EM +80 + 2pc EM +80
2pc EM +80 + 2pc Deepwood Memories
4pc Flower of Paradise Lost
4pc Tenacity of the Millelith

Xianyun’s Artifact:

4pc Viridescent Venerer
4pc Song of Days Past
4pc Noblesse Oblige
2pc ATK +18% + 2pc ATK +18%

Nahida’s best-in-slot weapon is A Thousand Floating Dreams, and she also works with Elemental Mastery and Critical Catalyst. Although she still benefits from ATK, the scaling is lower compared to Elemental Mastery, which means it’s best to steer clear of ATK weapons if possible.

best nahida build guide in genshin impact

Genshin Impact: Best Nahida Build Guide

The best build for Nahida in Genshin Impact is quite complicated as players need to balance her stat out.

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By Nahda Nabiilah

Meanwhile, Xianyun is the opposite. Her buffs and healing scales with ATK, so you should stack up on this offensive stat. Unlike Nahida who benefits from Crit since she has a top-tier offense, players can ditch Crit for Xianyun and stack more beneficial stuff like Energy Recharge instead. For that, other than Xianyun’s best-in-slot item, Crane's Echoing Call, players can also use Oathsworn Eye, Favonius Codex, Hakushin Ring, and Skyward Atlas.

In conclusion, there’s no similarity between Xianyun’s and Nahida’s build. Nahida works around Elemental Mastery and Critical, while Xianyun benefits more from ATK and Energy Recharge.

Team

There aren’t many characters in Genshin Impact that can perform Plunging Attack, but with Xianyun, anyone can now be a Plunge Attacker. However, despite enabling everyone for the role, players still need to determine which unit benefits most from this feature, especially in terms of their scalings. For instance, Diluc has a massive Plunge Attack multiplier, while units like Hu Tao can have a unique combo with Plunge, especially for those who only have her at C0.

Meanwhile, Nahida’s team in Genshin Impact is basically restricted to only Dendro reactions. Of course, there’s a vast option for a Dendro-related team, so this is no issue, but it’s important to note that Nahida simply enhances a team’s gameplay but brings no new mechanics to the table.

In conclusion, Xianyun can enable almost everyone to be a Plunge DPS, but players should still carefully choose who can fit the role. Meanwhile, Nahida doesn’t give new mechanics but is immensely powerful when Dendro reactions are involved.

Xianyun or Nahida Constellations

Those who already own Nahida C0 may be wondering if they should invest more in the Dendro Archon or get a new character instead. To put it briefly, Nahida is worth it if you can afford to get her C2. Nahida C1 is also amazing, but it’s not significant enough compared to an entirely new character.