Yaoyao takes the stage as a unique Dendro healer, the first of her kind, allowing her to create wholly new team compositions and fit nicely into existing teams as well. However, you’ll want to make sure you have the best Genshin Impact Yaoyao build to take full advantage of her kit.
Yaoyao is joined by two strong five-star characters in the Genshin Impact 3.4 banners. As such, there are several other characters you might be wanting to get your hands on if you’ve got the Primogems to spare, including everyone’s favourite anxious Anemo boy, Xiao, and Alhaitham, the first true on-field Dendro DPS. Check out where they rank in our Genshin Impact tier list of best characters. Throughout this guide, you’ll learn the best artifact sets for Yaoyao in Genshin Impact, as well as her stat and talent priorities, alongside her best weapons and ideal team compositions to create the best Genshin Impact Yaoyao build possible.
Genshin Impact Yaoyao best build
To give a brief overview of the best Genshin Impact Yaoyao build, here is what you’re going to want:
- Artifacts: Deepwood Memories four-piece set
- Stat priority: HP%, Energy Recharge, Crit Rate/Damage, and Elemental Mastery
- Talent priority: Elemental Skill, then Elemental Burst, followed lastly by Normal Attack
- Weapon: Favonius Lance
- Team comps: Yaoyao, Alhaitham/Nahida, Raiden Shogun, Yelan/Xingqiu or Yaoyao, Alhaitham/Nahida, Fischl, Nahida/Kazuha/Sucrose
Below you’ll find our full breakdown of each recommendation, as well as example team comps that Yaoyao slots into.
Genshin Impact Yaoyao build best artifacts
Yaoyao’s best artifact set is Deepwood Memories, available in the Spire of Solitary Enlightenment Domain in Sumeru. Given that Yaoyao will predominantly be played as a healer and Dendro support in Dendro reaction teams, Deepwood Memories works perfectly on her. Deepwood Memories will give Yaoyao a Dendro DMG bonus, but most importantly it will allow her to reduce the Dendro Resistance of targets, allowing another Dendro character such as Alhaitham or Nahida to deal increased damage. Additionally, Yaoyao can also trigger this effect off-field.
Artifact | Effect |
Deepwood Memories |
Two-piece set: Dendro DMG Bonus +15%. Four-piece set: After Elemental Skills or Bursts hit opponents, the target’s Dendro Resistance will be decreased by 30% for eight seconds. This effect can be triggered even if the equipping character is off-field. |
Tenacity of the Millelith |
Two-piece set: HP +20%. Four-piece set: When an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the ATK of all nearby party members is increased by 20% and their Shield Strength is increased by 30% for three seconds. This effect can be triggered even when the character is off-field. |
Maiden Beloved |
Two-piece set: Increases healing done by 15%. Four-piece set: For 10 seconds after casting an Elemental Skill or Burst, teammates will receive an additional 20% healing. |
Instructor |
Two-piece set: Elemental Mastery +80. Four-piece set: Upon triggering an Elemental Reaction, increases all party member’s Elemental Mastery by 120 for eight seconds. |
Yaoyao is a four-star Dendro polearm user, specialising in healing and off-field Dendro application. Yaoyao will spend much of her time off-field, though her Elemental Burst is a great panic heal that will require Yaoyao to remain on-field for the duration of the ability.
While Deepwood Memories is Yaoyao’s best artifact set, there are other options depending on your team setup. Since Yaoyao is best suited for supportive roles, she can also make great use out of a four-piece Tenacity of the Millelith set, allowing her to increase the ATK and Shield Strength of party members.
If you’re wanting a Genshin Impact Yaoyao build going all out on healing, then Maiden Beloved can also work. This set will significantly increase the healing capabilities of Yaoyao, though her role as a Dendro DPS support will be lessened without Deepwood Memories.
A four-piece set of Instructor can work for a Genshin Impact Yaoyao build, increasing Elemental Reaction effectiveness for herself and her team. However, since this is a four-star set, the stats will not be as strong overall as the five-star artifact options.
Genshin Impact Yaoyao build best stat priority
Yaoyao’s stat priority is HP%, Energy Recharge, Crit Rate/Damage, and Elemental Mastery. When creating the most optimal Yaoyao build in Genshin Impact, increasing Yaoyao’s HP will be a top priority, since her healing scales on her Max HP. Next, increasing Yaoyao’s Energy Recharge will help get her Burst back quicker, compensating her high Energy cost. Furthermore, since Yaoyao will spend most of her time off-field, she won’t be the character collecting the Energy Particles she generates, so Energy Recharge can balance this out.
Slot | Main Stat | Sub Stat |
Flower | HP | HP% > Energy Recharge > Elemental Mastery |
Feather | ATK | HP% > Energy Recharge > Elemental Mastery |
Sands | HP% | Energy Recharge > ATK% > Crit Rate/Damage |
Goblet | HP% | HP% > Energy Recharge > Crit Rate/Damage |
Circlet | Healing Bonus/HP% | HP% > Energy Recharge > Elemental Mastery |
Other than HP% and Energy Recharge, Yaoyao will also benefit from Elemental Mastery to increase her reaction damage, which is helpful given she’s a good off-field Dendro applicator. Likewise, despite damage not being Yaoyao’s main role, improving her Crit Rate/Damage will increase her overall damage, even when off-field.
If you’re wanting that extra bit of healing for your Genshin Impact Yaoyao build, then be sure to be on the lookout for a Circlet artifact with a healing bonus main stat.
Genshin Impact Yaoyao build best talent priority
Yaoyao’s talent priority is Elemental Skill, followed by Elemental Burst. Her Normal Attacks do not need to be levelled unless you intend to use her as your on-field Dendro driver.
Most of Yaoyao’s power and utility comes from her Elemental Skill which will deal Dendro damage to opponents and heal party members, even when off-field. Therefore, levelling Yaoyao’s Elemental Skill should be your first priority. From here, improving her Elemental Burst should be your next job. This will help out in those crucial moments when you suddenly find yourself in need of lots of healing or just a little bit more Dendro application. Since Yaoyao will not be on-field doing damage with her Normal Attacks, this skill does not need to be levelled.
Genshin Impact Yaoyao build best weapons
Yaoyao’s best weapon is Favonius Lance. Yaoyao’s best weapons will generally be supportive weapons. As such, Favonius Lance is excellent for increasing Yaoyao’s Energy Recharge to relieve the burden on your artifacts. With Yaoyao suffering from a high Energy cost Burst and has a hard time getting the Particles her Elemental Skill generates as she’ll be off-field, increasing her Energy Recharge is a great idea.
Weapon | Effect |
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. |
Kitain Cross Spear |
Samurai Conduct Increases Elemental Skill DMG by 6%. After an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the character loses three Energy but regenerates three Energy every two seconds for the next six seconds. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds. Can be triggered even when the character is not on the field. |
Black Tassel |
Bane of the Soft Increases DMG against slimes by 40%. |
Staff of Homa |
Reckless Cinnabar HP is 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. |
Dragon’s Bane |
Bane of Flame and Water Increases DMG against enemies affected by Hydro or Pyro by 20%. |
While Favonius Lance is Yaoyao’s best weapon for her fully supportive build, there are several other weapons that work well, especially if you’re looking for a more damage focused Genshin Impact Yaoyao build.
Kitain Cross Spear is a great craftable option for a supportive Yaoyao build, increasing her Elemental Mastery, Elemental Skill damage, and regenerating Energy over time. This weapon will help Yaoyao get her strong Elemental Burst back earlier, even when she’s not currently on the field, so long as her Elemental Skill is active.
Black Tassel is a pure ‘stat-stick’ weapon for a Yaoyao build, since its bonus effect increases Max HP. While the special effect of increasing damage against Slimes is virtually useless, the additional HP can go a long way in increasing Yaoyao’s healing output.
If you’re wanting to create a more offensive and damaging Yaoyao build, then Staff of Homa is the best option. It will also increase Yaoyao’s Max HP, increasing her healing potential as well as damage. However, there are plenty of other characters that would get better usage out of this valuable five-star weapon.
Similarly, Dragon’s Bane can work in Yaoyao builds where she is actively triggering Dendro-based reactions since it increases her Elemental Mastery. Nevertheless, damage is not Yaoyao’s main focus.
Genshin Impact Yaoyao build best team comps
There are plenty of Yaoyao team comps that you can create, though Yaoyao will mostly always serve a supportive role, healing teammates and applying Dendro to cause reactions. With her being the one and only Dendro healer, Yaoyao certainly opens up a lot of opportunities for team compositions, consolidating the roles of healing and Dendro application into one small package.
Character | Role |
Alhaitham/Nahida |
Main on-field DPS Alhaitham or Nahida will be on-field most of the time, dealing significant Dendro damage and receiving healing thanks to Yaoyao. If Yaoyao has Deepwood Memories equipped, they will be able to deal even more damage. Alhaitham or Nahida will be the main Dendro driver. |
Raiden Shogun |
Sub-DPS Raiden Shogun is one of the best characters in the game. Raiden will trigger the Hyperbloom reaction from off-field while also dealing significant Electro damage. Furthermore, Raiden also provides an invaluable Energy buff to your entire team. |
Yelan/Xingqiu |
Sub-DPS Yelan and Xingqiu fill much the same role in this team, serving as extremely powerful off-field Hydro DPS characters through their Elemental Skills and Bursts. Hydro will also react with Dendro to cause Bloom reactions. |
Yaoyao | Support |
The main Genshin Impact Yaoyao build is likely to focus on Hyperbloom. Using Alhaitham or Nahida’s devastating Dendro abilities as the on-field main damage dealer, there will be plenty of Dendro Cores created through Yelan or Xingqiu’s off-field Hydro potential. Likewise, Raiden Shogun’s excellent off-field Electro damage will trigger the Hyperbloom reaction on these Dendro Cores. Yaoyao will be a battery for Alhaitham and provide valuable healing to the team, while also dealing a fair amount of Dendro damage from off-field.
Character | Role |
Alhaitham/Nahida |
Main on-field DPS Alhaitham or Nahida will be on-field most of the time, dealing lots of Dendro damage and getting healed from Yaoyao. If Yaoyao has the Deepwood Memories set equipped, they will be able to deal even more damage. Alhaitham or Nahida will be the main Dendro driver behind Bountiful Core generation. |
Nilou |
Bountiful Core Generator Nilou’s unique skill is turning Dendro Cores into more powerful Bountiful Cores. This team is impossible without Nilou. |
Yelan/Xingqiu |
Sub-DPS Yelan and Xingqiu will be absurdly powerful off-field Hydro DPS characters via their Elemental Skills and Bursts. They also have consistent and versatile Hydro application to easily generate Bountiful Cores on Dendro afflicted targets. |
Yaoyao | Support |
This is a very unique Yaoyao build team composition, making use of Nilou’s Bountiful Cores to deal significant damage in AoE situations. Alhaitham or Nahida will act as the main Dendro applicator and on-field DPS, while Yaoyao will provide Dendro Particles, additional damage, and healing to the main on-field DPS so they don’t die from their own explosions. Yelan or Xingqiu make excellent off-field sub-DPS characters, particularly because they can apply lots of Hydro to create the heavy-hitting Bountiful Cores.
Character | Role |
Keqing/Cyno/Yae Miko |
Main on-field DPS An Electro on-field DPS such as Keqing, Cyno, or Yae Miko will be the main source of damage, and will benefit greatly from the Aggravate reaction. |
Fischl |
Sub-DPS Fischl is the best Electro sub-DPS character available. She’ll provide a hefty amount of damage while you’re using your main DPS. |
Nahida/Kazuha/Sucrose |
Sub-DPS/Support Nahida, Kazuha, and Sucrose are great supporting characters for different reasons. Nahida can help with AoE damage and Dendro application, while Kazuha and Sucrose will aid with grouping and increasing damage. |
Yaoyao | Support |
Yaoyao is great in Aggravate teams, which centre around an Electro DPS and sub-DPS who will benefit from the Aggravate reaction to deal increased Electro damage. The remaining characters will serve to further benefit the main DPS character. For instance, Nahida can apply lots of Dendro and help in situations where AoE damage is required. On the other hand, an Anemo character like Kazuha or Sucrose will be able to group enemies and increase the damage output of the DPS characters. Yaoyao in this team composition will apply Dendro off-field to create the Aggravate reaction while also healing the team.
And that’s the best Genshin Impact Yaoyao build available 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 Alhaitham build and Genshin Impact Xiao build, the two five-star characters featured in the 3.4 banners.