Genshin Impact Xiao build, artifacts, and more

Community favourite Xiao, the sole surviving Yaksha sent by Morax to defeat the demonic spirits plaguing Liyue, has one of the most unique playstyles in Genshin Impact. Emphasising Plunging Attacks and being part of the rare club of Anemo hyper-carries, Xiao is quite the complex character. Though, with the right Genshin Impact Xiao build, he can truly blow away the competition.

Xiao returns once again for a rerun in the Genshin Impact 3.4 banners, which is good news for players who missed out on a high ranking character in our Genshin Impact tier list of best characters. If you’re looking to spend your Wishes on any of these great characters, then it’s worth keeping up with the active Genshin Impact codes to snag some free Primogems. Throughout this guide, you’ll learn the best artifact sets for Xiao, as well as his stat and talent priorities, alongside his best weapons and ideal team compositions that make a great Genshin Impact Xiao build.

Xiao build overview

To give a brief overview of the best Genshin Impact Xiao build, here is what you’re going to want:

• Artifacts: Vermillion Hereafter
• Stat priority: Crit Rate/Damage, ATK%, and Energy Recharge
• Talent priority: Elemental Burst and Normal Attack, then Elemental Skill
• Weapon: Primordial Jade Winged-Spear or Deathmatch (low spender option)

Below you’ll find our full breakdown of each recommendation, as well as example team comps you should absolutely slot Xiao into.

Xiao build artifacts

Xiao’s best artifact is Vermillion Hereafter, available in The Lost Valley Domain in The Chasm. Vermillion Hereafter is a perfect fit for Xiao, boosting his ATK and providing a further bonus to his ATK after using his Elemental Burst. Since Xiao is predominantly a burst main DPS, our anxious Anemo boy will use Vermillion Hereafter to the fullest extent. Additionally, during his Burst, Xiao’s health will constantly decrease, triggering the bonus damage.

Artifact	Effect
Vermilion Hereafter	Two-piece set: ATK +18%. Four-piece set: After using an Elemental Burst, this character will gain the Nascent Light effect, increasing their ATK by 8% for 16 seconds. When the character’s HP descreases, their ATK will further increase by 10%. This further increase can occur this way a maximum number of four times. This effect can be triggered once every 0.8 seconds. 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.
Desert Pavilion Chronicle	Two-piece set: Anemo DMG Bonus +15%. Four-piece set: When Charged Attacks hit opponents, the equipping character’s Normal Attack speed will increase by 10% while Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attack DMG will increase by 40% for 15 seconds.
Gladiator’s Finale Viridescent Venerer	Two-piece set: ATK +18%. Two-piece set: Anemo DMG Bonus +15%.

Xiao is a five-star Anemo polearm-user adept in on-field Anemo damage through his unique Elemental Burst which, while not dealing damage by itself, will power up all of Xiao’s other attacks. This leads to Xiao’s unique playstyle of using his Elemental Burst and increased jump height to spam Plunging Attacks, an often overlooked attack on most other characters. However, during his Elemental Burst, Xiao’s health will constantly decrease, a quirk that needs to be worked around with any good Genshin Impact Xiao build.

While Vermillion Hereafter is tailor-made for Xiao, there are several other artifact sets that will perform well in a Genshin Impact Xiao build. For instance, the Desert Pavilion Chronicle set, while designed as the signature set for a Genshin Impact Scaramouche build, can also work well on Xiao. Providing a nice boost to Anemo DMG and Plunging Attacks among others, Desert Pavilion can come close to the power of Vermilion Hereafter.

A combination of the Gladiator’s Finale and Viridescent Venerer can also work well if you don’t have a strong Vermilion Hereafter set. Taking the two-piece set bonus from each will give you a hearty +18% ATK and +15% Anemo DMG, two great stats to work on for Xiao.

Xiao build stat priority

Xiao’s stat priority is Crit Rate/Damage, ATK%, and Energy Recharge. As with most main on-field DPS characters, Xiao benefits immensely from bonus Crit Rate and Damage effects. As always, you should be looking for a 2:1 Crit DMG-to-Crit Rate ratio, with a Crit Rate at or above 50% as a baseline, so choose accordingly based on what you need. Alongside Crit stats, improving ATK% will also have a significant impact on Xiao’s damage. Lastly, since Xiao’s damage predominantly comes from his empowered Normal Attacks during his Elemental Burst, having substantial Energy Recharge also comes in handy so you can use his Burst off cooldown.

For the Sands, aim for ATK% as the main stat with as many of the best sub stats as your Genshin luck will grant you. As for the Goblet, an Anemo DMG bonus will give Xiao the best boost in performance, though an ATK% will work here as well. Finally, for the Circlet you’ll want to aim for either a Crit Rate or Crit Damage, depending on how much you have of each. An ATK% Circlet will also suffice if you haven’t got your hands on a prized Crit roll yet.

Xiao build talent priority

Xiao’s talent priority is Elemental Burst and Normal Attack, followed by Elemental Skill.

The majority of Xiao’s power comes from the effectiveness of his Elemental Burst and Normal Attacks, warranting levelling up these talents equally to deal as much Plunging Attack damage as possible. While his Elemental Skill is certainly no slouch, and proves very helpful in open-world traversal, it can be levelled after his Burst and Normal Attack talents.

Xiao build weapons

Xiao’s best weapon is the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear. Xiao’s signature weapon is no doubt his best-in-slot weapon – not only because it looks cool. The Winged-Spear will provide a stacking ATK boost, up to a maximum of 12% when fully stacked, which is a significant damage increase that Xiao can easily take advantage of. What’s more, the Winged-Spear will also offer up bonus Crit Rate as sub stat.

Weapon	Effect
Primordial Jade Winged-Spear	Eagle Spear of Justice On hit, increases ATK by 3.2% for six seconds. Max seven stacks. This effect can only occur once every 0.3 seconds. While in the possession of the maximum possible stacks, DMG dealt is increased by 12%.
Staff of Homa	Reckless Cinnabar HP increased by 20%. Additionally, provides an ATK bonus based on 0.8% of the wielder’s Max HP. When the wielder’s HP is less than 50%, this ATK bonus is increased by an additional 1% of Max HP.
Vortex Vanquisher	Golden Majesty Increases Shield Strength by 20%. Scoring hits on opponents increases ATK by 4% for eight seconds. Max five stacks. Can only occur once every 0.3 seconds. While protected by a shield, this ATK increase effect is increased by 100%.
Blackcliff Pole	Press the Advantage After defeating an enemy, ATK is increased by 12% and 30 seconds. This effect has a maximum of three stacks, and the duration of each stack is independent of the others.
Deathmatch	Gladiator If there are at least two enemies nearby, ATK is increased by 16% and DEF increased by 16%. If there are less than two enemies nearby, ATK is increased by 24%.
Favonius Lance	Windfall Crit hits have a 60% chance to generate a small amount of Elemental Particles, which will regenerate six Energy for the character. Can only occur once every 12 seconds.

While the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is by far Xiao’s best weapon, there are several other weapons that work well if you have access to them, including some better suited to free-to-play players and low spenders.

The Staff of Homa comes as a very close second to the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear for a Genshin Impact Xiao build and is one of the best weapons in the game in general. Providing you can safely remain below 50% HP, Staff of Homa will dish out heavy damage through its unique effect, though it is better suited to a Genshin Impact Hu Tao build given she scales off her HP stat.

Vortex Vanquisher is another strong five-star option, so long as you’re playing with a shield character such as Zhongli. However, given Xiao’s role as a hyper-carry, running a shield is generally the best idea anyhow to provide additional protection, so you should be able to get full use out of this weapon if you have a good team composition.

There are also a number of more accessible four-star weapon choices. The Blackcliff Pole, acquired through the Starglitter Exchange, is a great pick for Xiao, significantly increasing his ATK for extended periods of time. However, it’s worth noting that you need to defeat an enemy to trigger this effect, meaning it won’t work against single-target encounters like bosses.

Deathmatch is the best option for a low spender, being acquired through the Battle Pass. Deathmatch is a great option for a Xiao build if you don’t have a five-star weapon like the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear or Staff of Homa since it provides a large increase to Crit Rate via its sub stat, and will deal increased damage based on the number of enemies in battle.

Lastly, the Fanonius Lance is another good four-star option. Since Xiao wants to build for Crit Rate, he’ll be triggering the unique effect frequently to provide him with more Energy to use his powerful Elemental Burst.

Xiao build team comps

There are several Xiao team comps that you can create, with Xiao operating predominantly as the on-field Anemo DPS in a hyper-carry playstyle. Most team compositions will centre around Xiao as the driver, while the other characters are merely there to support him and increase his damage. Additionally, since Xiao will often be in his Elemental Burst state which continuously drains his health, running a healer and shield character is highly recommended.

This double Anemo and double Geo team is perhaps Xiao’s most iconic team composition since it synergises perfectly with the best Genshin Impact Xiao build. Xiao needs plenty of protection while he’s vulnerable during his Elemental Burst. Therefore, having Jean providing healing and Zhongli his mighty shield, Xiao becomes nigh invincible, crushing foes with devastating Anemo Plunge Attacks without interruption. Jean will also generate lots of Anemo Particles which can be used to charge Xiao’s Elemental Burst. Lastly, Albedo already does significant Geo damage as a sub-DPS character, but having two Geo characters will activate Geo Resonance to further increase Xiao’s damage in this team composition. Overall, this team is easy to use and incredibly powerful, though it is also incredibly expensive to create given the stacked five-star characters.

This is a much more free-to-play friendly Xiao team, featuring Xiangling, Sucrose, and Bennett. While being much more accessible, it won’t sacrifice damage or utility all that much. Bennett will provide a damage boost and healing during his Elemental Burst, while Xiangling does what she does best – off-field DPS – using her Skill and Burst. Additionally, having two Pyro characters will activate Pyro Resonance to further increase damage. Sucrose will act as an enabler and Anemo battery for Xiao, helping recharge his costly Elemental Burst and group enemies so they’re easier to defeat.

And that’s the best Xiao build Genshin Impact can offer right now. As always, we’ll be sure to keep this guide updated as new builds and compositions arise. In the meantime, check out a powerful Genshin Impact Ayato build or Genshin Impact Raiden Shogun build, two other incredibly strong characters.