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Best teams for Nilou in Genshin Impact

Make sure you have a healer.

Nilou teams are capable of significant damage, but there’s a catch. Nilou’s ability to turn everyday Dendro Cores into potent bombs only works when her teammates are all Dendro or Hydro. So, given this strict team restriction, what are Nilou’s best teams?

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Teambuilding advice for Nilou

Nilou’s best teams are usually double Dendro, double Hydro. This means there should be a total of two Dendro characters and two Hydro characters, including Nilou herself. Having two of each element means you can trigger Bloom more often, resulting in more Dendro Cores and more explosions. While you can try to increase Bloom damage by building Elemental Mastery on your characters, it’s often better to just maximize the sheer number of Blooms by applying as much Dendro and Hydro as possible.

You should also remember to bring a healer. When Dendro Cores explode, they deal damage to everyone in their blast radius, yourself included. While you take reduced damage from Dendro Cores compared to enemies, it’s easy to accidentally die from self-damage.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Best Dendro teammates for Nilou

Pick two Dendro characters from this list. Remember that you need a healer in your team, and try to only have one dedicated on-fielder in total. This list is in general order of recommendation.

CharacterNotes
NahidaCan apply lots of off-field Dendro. Not good for multi-wave content.
Dendro TravelerApplies good off-field Dendro. Recommended for multi-wave content.
Baizhu*Applies some off-field Dendro, potent healer.
Yaoyao*Applies some off-field Dendro, but requires field time to do bulk of her healing.
ColleiApplies some off-field Dendro, but her Skill targeting is janky.
AlhaithamMust be played on-field, but applies lots of Dendro.
KiraraMust be played on-field and is unable to use Normal Attacks. Has a strong shield, though.
*Healer

Best Hydro teammates for Nilou

Pick one Hydro character from this list. Remember that you need a healer in your team, and try to only have one dedicated on-fielder in total. This list is in general order of recommendation.

CharacterNotes
XingqiuApplies lots of off-field Hydro and provides damage reduction.
YelanApplies lots of off-field Hydro.
Kokomi*Applies good Hydro in an AoE and can heal your team. Can be either on-field or off-field.
FurinaApplies decent off-field Hydro, but her HP drain can make survival more difficult.
Kamisato AyatoApplies good Hydro, can be played on-field or off-field.
Tartaglia/ChildeApplies lots of on-field Hydro, but must be played on-field in strict rotations.
CandaceOnly recommended at Constellation 6. Provides decent off-field Hydro.
Barbara*Hydro application is unreliable, but can heal your team.
Sigewinne*Hydro application is unreliable, but can heal your team.
*Healer.
Screenshot by Destructoid

Can Nilou be used outside of Bloom teams?

Optimally, Nilou should not be played in anything other than pure Bloom teams. While it’s possible to play Nilou in Hyperbloom or Vaporize teams, these teams don’t make full use of Nilou’s kit. Vaporize teams, in particular, require a heavily invested Nilou with high Constellations. Nilou is optimized to turn Bloom into a powerful reaction. Take advantage of her unique kit and fill the world with green explosions.

That said, if you’re dying to try out a nontraditional Nilou team, go for it! These guidelines are just based on what’s optimal and are not intended to police your gameplay. However you decide to play your Nilou, I hope you have a great time with her.


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Author
Image of Christine Choi
Christine Choi
Contributing Writer - Christine has been gaming since she first stole her brother's Game Boy as a kid. She's come a long way since then and has been creating content for Genshin Impact since 2021.