Best Xiangling builds, weapons, and teams in Genshin Impact

Xiangling is a 4-star Pyro Polearm DPS in Genshin Impact. Her off-field damage and high Pyro application makes her one of the best characters in the game, despite her 4-star rarity. Here are Xiangling’s best weapons, artifacts, and teams to light your enemies up!

Playstyles

Xiangling is an off-field DPS and Pyro applier. Her Burst summons a Pyronado that orbits the active character, dealing damage and applying Pyro to enemies. Notably, there is no cooldown on its Pyro application, allowing it to trigger Vaporize with every hit or reliably keep a Pyro aura on enemies. 

Xiangling is usually paired with Bennett. Bennett provides a potent ATK buff through his Burst (900-1,000 flat ATK), 4pc Noblesse Oblige (20%) and Pyro Resonance (25%). Xiangling can keep all of these buffs on her Pyronado for its full duration as long as she stands in Bennett’s Burst when she casts her own Burst. Bennett can also funnel Pyro particles to Xiangling with the following combo:

Bennett Burst > Skill > Xiangling Burst > Skill

Xiangling’s Skill summons Guoba, a bear-shaped familiar, who breathes fire at enemies. It’s possible for Guoba to deal decent damage, but his targeting can be a bit unreliable. 

Weapons

Xiangling has quite a few weapon options available to her. To make things easier, I recommend R5 The Catch as an easily accessible generalist weapon. The Catch can be obtained and refined through fishing in Inazuma. Anything in the list below works fine though, and the specific rankings will vary depending on her team.

Staff of the Scarlet Sands
This is Xiangling’s best weapon in most teams. It provides a hefty amount of CRIT Rate, Elemental Mastery, and ATK.

Engulfing Lightning / Staff of Homa / Primordial Jade Winged-Spear
These 5-star stat sticks do generally well. Engulfing Lightning in particular allows Xiangling to build quite a lot of Energy Recharge without losing too much damage, making her viable in teams without Bennett.

Wavebreaker’s Fin / The Catch / Deathmatch / Ballad of the Fjords / Dragon’s Bane
Xiangling has a wide range of 4-star options available to her. Ballad of the Fjords and Dragon’s Bane are only recommended when Xiangling can trigger Vaporize. The Catch is the easiest to obtain though, and provides the most consistent damage across all teams.

Artifacts

4pc Emblem of Severed Fate (4EoSF)
4EoSF provides 20% Energy Recharge and converts some of Xiangling’s Energy Recharge into damage. It’s still not worth building excess Energy Recharge to max out its passive, but the artifact set reduces the tradeoff between Energy Recharge and damage. This is the best generalist set for Xiangling, and what I usually recommend.

4pc Crimson Witch of Flames (4CW) / 4pc Gilded Dreams (4GD)
4CW and 4GD can technically perform better than 4EoSF in certain reaction teams. However, their performance is reduced when Xiangling is not triggering reactions.

Artifact Stats

In most situations, Xiangling’s Energy Recharge requirements vary from high (~160%) to very high (250%+). Bennett helps to keep Xiangling’s Energy Recharge requirement to the lower end of the spectrum by feeding Pyro particles to her. You can reduce this number further by adding Pyro team members or Favonius weapons. Still, I keep my Xiangling at around 200% Energy Recharge just for comfort and flexibility.

If you have enough Energy Recharge, you can opt for an ATK or Elemental Mastery sands. Elemental Mastery performs better in Vaporize or reaction soup teams, while ATK is better for mono Pyro or reverse Melt teams. Substats should focus on CRIT and ATK or Elemental Mastery as needed.

Teams

Vaporize

The classic Xiangling teams feature one or more Hydro teammates to keep a Hydro aura on enemies. Xiangling’s Pyronado reacts with the Hydro to trigger Vaporize, dealing significant damage. The combination of Xingqiu, Xiangling, and Bennett in particular make up the “National” core, and you can add a fourth member of your choice as an on-fielder.

• Bennett is non-negotiable.
• Hydro: Childe, Xingqiu, Yelan, Ayato, Kokomi
• Flex: Raiden, Zhongli, Sucrose, Kazuha, Heizou, Lynette, Furina, Wanderer

Mono Pyro

Even without reactions, Xiangling does great damage. As an off-field DPS, she can yield field time to an on-field DPS like Lyney or Klee. Kazuha is the best Anemo support for this team, but other Anemo options also work fine. You can consider someone like Zhongli instead of an Anemo unit if you need a shielder.

• Bennett is once again non-negotiable.
• Pyro DPS: Lyney, Klee
• Flex: Kazuha, Heizou, Lynette, Zhongli

Reverse Melt

Xiangling’s rapid Pyro application makes her a great Pyro DPS and support for reverse Melt teams. Xiangling’s Burst applies Pyro to enemies, allowing a Cryo DPS to trigger Melt with their hits.

• Bennett might as well marry her at this point.
• Cryo DPS: Ganyu, Rosaria, Kaeya, Wriothesley
• Flex: Kazuha, Sucrose, Lynette, Zhongli, Shenhe

Reaction Soup

Reaction soup teams combine Pyro, Hydro, Electro and Anemo to create a chaotic soup of reactions. It can be difficult to keep track of who is triggering what, but you’ll know you’re doing it correctly when your screen fills with rainbow text. There are technically ways to optimize your teams and rotations, but it’s generally sufficient to just throw whomever you like into the soup and not worry about it.

• Bennett is not required!
• Hydro: Childe, Ayato, Xingqiu, Yelan, Kokomi
• Electro: Fischl, Yae Miko, Raiden
• Anemo: Kazuha, Sucrose, Lynette, Heizou, Sayu