Our Genshin Impact Xinyan build guide tells you exactly which weapons and artifacts are best when you use the claymore-wielding pyro rockstar in both a sub-DPS and main DPS role. We also outline what each of her skills does, let you know exactly what items you need to ascend her to the max level, and which other characters compliment her.
If you’re feeling out of the loop on the comings and goings of Teyvat, check out our Genshin Impact next banner and Genshin Impact codes guides. If you’re unsure which characters to use, head over to our Genshin Impact tier list, or visit our guides to Genshin Impact’s Kachina, Genshin Impact’s Albedo, and Genshin Impact’s Kinich for more powerful characters.
Let’s get rocking ‘n’ rolling with everything you need to know about Genshin Impact’s Xinyan.
What’s the best Genshin Impact Xinyan build?
Genshin Impact’s Xinyan is a four-star pyro claymore-wielder who excels at dishing out pyro damage and shielding her teammates. Her build can be a little tricky to get used to due to her split-scaling, so make sure you pay attention.
Here’s a quick overview of our Genshin Impact Xinyan build:
| Best weapon | Redhorn Stonethresher |
| Weapon substitutes | Serpent Spine |
| Best artifact set | Physical DPS: Bloodstained Chivalry and Pale Flame Pyro DPS: Lavawalker Shield support: Tenacity of the Millelith |
| Artifact substitutes | Physical DPS: full set of Pale Flame Pyro DPS: Emblem of Severed Fate and Crimson Witch of Flames Shield support: Noblesse Oblige |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats |
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Xinyan’s best weapon is Redhorn Stonethresher thanks to its defense passive and crit buffs. Pair this with a combination of Bloodstained Chivalry and Pale Flame for physical DPS Xinyan or a full set of Lava Walker for her pyro DPS build to boost her pyro attack. For stats, focus on attack%, physical damage, and crit rate and damage. If you’re building her purely as a shield support, we recommend Tenacity of the Millelith with plenty of defense%.
One of the biggest issues with getting the perfect Xinyan build is her split-scaling. Essentially, while her shield scales based on her defense, her burst scales off of her attack. This means you have to choose between building her with a passable shield and mediocre burst damage, or high burst damage and a pretty useless shield. For most circumstances, it’s best to go with the latter. Her defense scaling isn’t really worthwhile, whereas with the right attack-focused build, she can dish out some super strong damage.
How should I use Xinyan?
You should use Xinyan in a quickswap team to maximize her burst potential. As we’ve already discussed, her shield skill is pretty useless in an attack-focused build, so use your other units to lay down damage and energy recharge, then swap her in to blast them into oblivion.
What are the best Xinyan weapons?
Xinyan’s best-in-slot weapon for both of her builds is Redhorn Stonethresher as it contributes to her desired crit ratio, buffs her shield, and is more reliable than KQM‘s second choice of Serpent Spine as it doesn’t rely on stacks and you don’t need to reach R5. However, it’s hotly contested by many strong claymore characters including Genshin Impact’s Itto and Genshin Impact’s Gaming, so Serpent Spine might be a more achievable choice.
For a physical build, Wolf’s Gravestone is a great choice as with the amount of attack it gives you, you can forgo physical damage on your goblet and replace it with energy recharge. Alternatively, the energy recharge given by both Skyward Pride and Sacrificial Greatsword, plus their handy skills, give some great utility to her kit.
When it comes to DPS weapons for Xinyan, Wolf’s Gravestone and Song of Broken Pines are about on par with each other. Their damage output is pretty close, but Song of Broken Pines’ skill is easier to trigger, making it just a touch handier. Skyward Pride is still great for its energy recharge, and really helps Xinyan’s burst damage potential, and at higher ranks it becomes even more powerful.
| Redhorn Stonethresher | Bonus stat: crit damage Skill: defense increases by 28%. Normal and charged attack damage is increased by 40% of defense |
Weapon event gacha |
| Serpent Spine | Bonus stat: crit rate Skill: every four seconds a character is on the field, they will deal 6% more damage and take 3% more damage. This effect has a maximum of five stacks and will not be reset if the character leaves the field, but will be reduced by one stack when the character takes damage |
Battle pass |
| Wolf’s Gravestone | Bonus stat: attack Skill: Increases Xinyan’s attack by 20%. On hit, attacks against opponents with less than 30% HP increase all party members’ attack by 40% for 12 seconds. This can only occur once every 30s |
Gacha |
| Skyward Pride | Bonus stat: Energy recharge Skill: Increases all damage by 8%. After using an elemental burst, normal or charged attack, on hit, Skyward Pride creates a vacuum blade that does 80% of Xinyan’s attack as damage to opponents along its path. Lasts for 20 seconds or eight vacuum blades |
Gacha |
| Song of Broken Pines | Bonus stat: Physical damage bonus Skill: Increases attack by 16%, and when Xinyan’s normal or charged attacks hit opponents, she gains a Sigil of Whispers. This effect can be triggered once every 0.3 seconds. When Xinyan possesses four Sigils of Whispers, she consumes all of them and all nearby party members obtain the “Millennial Movement: Banner-Hymn” effect for 12 seconds. “Millennial Movement: Banner-Hymn” increases normal attack speed by 12% and increases attack by 20%. Once Xinyan triggers this effect, she will not gain Sigils of Whispers for 20 seconds |
Weapon event gacha |
| Sacrificial Greatsword | Bonus stat: Energy recharge Skill: After Xinyan deals damage to an opponent with her elemental skill, the skill has a 40% chance to end its own cooldown. This can only occur once every 30 seconds |
Gacha |
What are the best Xinyan artifacts?
Picking artifacts for Xinyan is an interesting one. A combination of Bloodstained Chivalry and Pale Flame is the best way to max out her physical damage and works for a variety of playstyles.
KQM recommends a full set of Lavawalker as pyro Xinyan’s best-in-slot set, especially alongside Genshin Impact’s Bennett at the controversial C6, as you can guarantee 100% uptime on its four-piece buff.
You can use either Emblem of Severed Fate for high energy recharge sub-DPS build, or Noblesse Oblige for a team-wide attack buff, though these trade out some hefty damage for utility. If you’re leaning fully into her shielding capabilities, try out a full set of Tenacity of the Millelith.
When building Xinyan as a sub-DPS, it’s important to focus on energy recharge and strong physical damage, so you can whip her out and hit as hard as possible with her elemental burst, then pop her away while she recharges.
| Bloodstained Chivalry | Two equipped: physical damage +25% Four equipped: increases the equipping character’s charged attack damage by 50% after they defeat an opponent, and reduces the stamina cost of their charged attack to zero for ten seconds |
Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain in Minlin, Mt. Aozang, or from the Bloodstained Chivalry Artifact Strongbox |
| Pale Flame | Two equipped: physical damage +25% Four equipped: increases attack by 9% for seven seconds when an elemental skill hits an opponent. This effect stacks up to two times, and you can trigger it once every 0.3 seconds. Once two stacks are reached, the two-set effect is doubled |
Ridge Watch domain on Bishui Plain in Liyue |
| Lavawalker | Two equipped: pyro resistance +40% Four equipped: increases damage against pyro-affected opponents by 35% |
Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula on Wuwang Hill in Liyue |
| Emblem of Severed Fate | Two equipped: energy recharge +20% Four equipped: increases elemental burst damage by 25% of energy recharge. You can obtain a maximum of 75% bonus damage in this way |
Momiji-Dyed Court domain on Yashiori Island in Inazuma |
| Noblesse Oblige | Two equipped: elemental burst damage +20% Four equipped: increases all party members’ attack by 20% for 12 seconds after using an elemental burst. This effect cannot stack |
Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain in Minlin, Mt. Aozang, or from the Noblesse Oblige Artifact Strongbox |
| Tenacity of the Millelith | Two equipped: HP +20% Four equipped: When an elemental skill hits an opponent, the attack 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 once every 0.5 seconds. This effect can still be triggered even when Xinyan is not on the field |
Ridge Watch domain in Bishui Plain, Liyue, or from the Tenacity of the Millelith Artifact Strongbox |
| Gladiator’s Finale | Two equipped: attack +18% Four equipped: as Xinyan is a claymore wielder, increase her normal attack damage by 35% |
Obtained from world and weekly bosses, Gladiator’s Finale artifact strongboxes, and Adventure rank up and journal rewards |
Artifact stat recommendations
DPS main stats:
- Sands: Attack and attack%
- Goblet: Physical damage or pyro damage
- Circlet: Crit damage/crit rate
DPS sub-stats:
- Energy recharge
- Physical damage
Sub-DPS main stats:
- Sands: Attack and attack%
- Goblet: Physical damage
- Circlet: Crit damage/crit rate
Sub-DPS sub-stats:
What are the best Xinyan team comps?
Picking the best team for Xinyan depends on how you want to use her. Fitting her into the right comp can be a bit tricky, due to her weird status as a physical pyro damage dealer. Here are some recommendations for characters to team her up with, and why they work with Xinyan.
- Genshin Impact’s Zhongli – arguably the best shield in the game, Zhongli can make up for Xinyan’s weak shielding abilities and has the potential to offer high burst damage in her downtime
- Genshin Impact’s Bennett – Bennett activates pyro resonance alongside Xinyan, as well as offering heals and a hefty attack buff when built properly
- Genshin Impact’s Noelle – like Zhongli, Noelle’s shield can make up for what Xinyan lacks. At C6, she also makes a great DPS when burst characters are taking a moment to recharge
- Genshin Impact’s Fischl – one of the best batteries in Genshin Impact, Fischl generates plenty of energy particles while also providing consistent off-field electro damage for overload reactions
- Genshin Impact’s Diona – once again, Diona’s shield can help Xinyan while also offering decent healing. Of course, their abilities can also cause melt interactions, but due to their inconsistent elemental application, they aren’t something to rely on
- Genshin Impact’s Kazuha or Genshin Impact’s Sucrose – both of these offer abilities that group enemies together, apply plenty of anemo damage, and increase the damage of the whole team
- Genshin Impact’s Xingqiu – offers additional damage, helps the durability of Xinyan’s shield, and his hydro helps with some great elemental interactions
- Genshin Impact’s Raiden Shogun – another awesome battery, Raiden deals great damage while also enhancing her team’s burst damage, which aids our burst-reliant rockstar significantly
Here are some examples of strong Xinyan team comps using some of these characters:
What are Xinyan’s abilities?
Active skills:
| Normal attack | Dance on Fire Normal: Performs up to four consecutive strikes Charged: Slowly drains stamina to perform a spinning attack. At the end of the attack, she performs a slash Plunging: Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground, dealing AoE damage on impact |
| Elemental skill | Sweeping Fervor Deals AoE pyro damage and forms a shield. The shield’s damage absorption scales to Xinyan’s defense and the number of enemies hit.
When the shield is unleashed, Xinyan is infused with pyro. The shield also has 250% pyro damage absorption |
| Elemental burst | Riff Revolution Launches nearby enemies, dealing physical damage and causing explosions that deal AoE pyro damage |
Passive skills:
| “The Show Goes On, Even Without an Audience…” | The number of enemies you must hit to activate Sweeping Fervor’s shields is decreased.
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| “…Now That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll!” | Characters shielded by Sweeping Fervor get a 15% damage increase |
| A Rad Recipe | When pulling off a perfect cook on a defense-boosting dish, Xinyan has a 12% chance to obtain double the product |
What are Xinyan’s constellations?
To level up Xinyan’s constellations, you need to receive her as a duplicate when making a wish. C2 is important for increasing her crit rate and making her shield more viable, and with both C2 and C4 she has the potential to become one of the highest-burst characters in the game.
As mentioned above, she’s a very constellation-dependent character in general, with only her C6 feeling a little lackluster. Therefore, it’s important to get as many constellations for her as possible if you want her to be a valuable unit in your team. Here’s every bonus you receive from Xinyan’s constellations.
| C1 | Fatal Acceleration Critical hits increase the attack speed of Xinyan’s normal and charged attacks by 12% for five seconds. This can only occur once every five seconds |
| C2 | Impromptu Opening Riff Revolution’s physical damage crit rate is increased by 100%. It will also form a shield at Shield Level three: Rave when cast |
| C3 | Double Stop Increases the level of Sweeping Fervor by three |
| C4 | Wildfire Rhythm The swing damage of Sweeping Fervor decreases the enemy’s physical resistance by 15% for 12 seconds |
| C5 | Screaming for Encore Increases the level of Riff Revolution by three |
| C6 | Rocking in Flaming The stamina consumption of charged attacks is decreased by 30%. Xinyan’s charged attack also gains an attack bonus equal to 50% of her defense |
What are Xinyan’s ascension materials?
If you want Xinyan to be as strong as possible, you’ll need to ascend her with the following materials:
| Level | Mora | Ascension materials |
| 20+ | 20k | One agnidus agate sliver, three violetgrass, three treasure hoarder insignias |
| 40+ | 40k | Three agnidus agate fragments, two everflame seeds, ten violetgrass, 15 treasure hoarder insignias |
| 50+ | 60k | Six agnidus agate fragments, four everflame seeds, 20 violetgrass, 12 silver raven insignias |
| 60+ | 80k | Three agnidus agate chunks, eight everflame seeds, 30 violetgrass, 18 silver raven insignias |
| 70+ | 100k | Six agnidus agate chunks, 12 everflame seeds, 45 violetgrass, 12 golden raven insignias |
| 80+ | 120k | Six agnidus agate gemstones, 20 everflame seeds, 60 violetgrass, 24 golden raven insignias |
Here’s where to find all of Xinyan’s ascension materials:
- Agnidus agate – drops from normal and weekly bosses
- Violetgrass – sold in Liyue and Sumeru, found on cliffs in Liyue, or grown in the Serenitea Pot
- Everflame seeds – drops from the Pyro Regisvine normal boss in Liyue
- Treasure hoarder insignias / silver raven insignias / golden raven insignias – drops from Treasure Hoarder enemies
What are Xinyan’s talent materials?
Here are all the talent materials you need to turn one of Xinyan’s talents up to ten:
| Talent level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12.5k | Six treasure hoarder insignia, three teachings of gold |
| Three | 17.5k | Three silver raven insignias, two guides to gold |
| Four | 25k | Four silver raven insignias, four guides to gold |
| Five | 30k | Six silver raven insignias, six guides to gold |
| Six | 37.5k | Nine silver raven insignias, nine guides to gold |
| Seven | 120k | Four golden raven insignias, four philosophies of gold, one tusk of monoceros caeli |
| Eight | 260k | Six golden raven insignias, six philosophies of gold, one tusk of monoceros caeli |
| Nine | 450k | Nine golden raven insignias, 12 philosophies of gold, two tusks of monoceros caeli |
| Ten | 700k | 12 golden raven insignias, 16 philosophies of gold, two tusks of monoceros caeli, one crown of insight |
Here’s where to get each of Xinyan’s talent materials:
- Treasure hoarder insignias / silver raven insignias / golden raven insignias – drops from Treasure Hoarder enemies
- Gold talent books – rewards from the Taishan Mansion domains on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
- Tusks of monoceros caeli – drops from the Childe weekly boss in Liyue
Talent priorities
When leveling up Xinyan’s talents, we recommend this order of priority:
Physical Xinyan
- Normal attack > elemental burst > elemental skill
Pyro DPS Xinyan
- Normal attack > elemental skill > elemental burst
That’s it for our Genshin Impact Xinyan guide. Once again, a massive thank you to the hard-working fans over at KQM who helped us look at this rockin’ and rollin’ pyro queen in a new light. While you’re here, why not get acquainted with Hoyoverse’s new game in our Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail codes guide? We’ve got build guides for those characters too, including Honkai Star Rail’s Firefly, Honkai Star Rail’s Lingsha, and Honkai Star Rail’s Kafka.