Layla Guide and Best Builds for Genshin Impact
Layla is a 4-star Cryo Sword character who primarily functions as a support with good shielding and decent Cryo application. This Elemental application also allows players to use her as an off-field DPS.
Layla Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Stone Shielding with great uptime.
- Low Energy requirements for her Elemental Burst.
- Easy to build due to scaling on HP.
Weaknesses
Elemental Skill can accidentally Freeze yourself on use.
- Needs later Constellations to unlock further supportive and damage capabilities.
- Losing the shield ends her Elemental Skill early and stops Energy generation.
Layla Build Guide, Best Artifacts, Weapons and Talent Priority
Layka can be built as both a Shielder and a Sub DPS which can impact Layla's best builds alongside how she is played. Select one of the buttons below to see either Layla's Main DPS Build or Sub DPS Build.
Layla's Build Options
Shielder Layla Build Guide
The main way to play Layla is by focusing on her shielding and ensuring you can able to consistently shield your team. This means focusing on HP to increase shield strength so that it lasts until your Elemental Skill cooldown is back.
| BiS Weapon | Key of Khaj-Nisut |
| Alternative Weapons |
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| Best Artifacts |
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| Main Stats |
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| Substat Priority |
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| Talent Priority |
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In a shielder Build, Layla should be built with HP scaling weapons such as Key of Khaj-Nisut and The Dockhand's Assistant or weapons that provide additional Energy Recharge such as Favonius Sword which supports the entire party.
Layla should be built with Tenacity of the Millelith as her artifact set which is best artifact set due to further increasing both Layla's HP and shielding.
Recommended Endgame Build Stats for Shielder Layla
Build recommendations assume a "decently built" level of artifact rolls alongside Layla's best weapon. Using other weapons may increase or decrease certain stats relative to these recommendations.
- HP: 40,000 - 50,000
- ATK: 1000 - 1200
- Energy Recharge: See Below
Sub DPS Layla Build Guide
Playing Layla as a Sub DPS sacrifices some of her Shielding capabilities to improve her damage. This can be beneficial in situations where you simply do not need such a powerful shield and would rather improve your party's DPS. This is common in team compositions that have multiple supports/healers for example Bennett.
| BiS Weapon | Primordial Jade Cutter |
| Alternative Weapons |
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| Best Artifacts |
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| Main Stats |
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| Substat Priority |
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| Talent Priority |
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With regards to Layla's weapons, your best options can change depending on your needs. Primordial Jade Cutter is great for damage and shielding but will require you to build using a CRIT DMG Circlet when used with Blizzard Strayer.
You can maintain 2 stacks on Mistsplitter Reforged using your Elemental Burst making it a strong option. Favonius Sword is a great general option lowering your entire teams energy requirements.
Blizzard Strayer is Layla’s best set in a Sub DPS build especially with Freeze teams and even synergises well with Favonius Sword. Emblem of Severed Fate however is a great artifact set helping buff your teams damage instead.
Recommended Endgame Build Stats for Layla
Build recommendations assume a "decently built" level of artifact rolls alongside Layla's best weapon. Using other weapons may increase or decrease certain stats relative to these recommendations.
- HP: 25,000 - 30,000
- ATK: 1200 - 1500
- Energy Recharge: See Below
- CRIT Rate: 50 - 60%
- +20% for Blizzard Strayer with Cryo, +20% more when frozen
- +15% for Cryo Resonance When Applicable
- CRIT DMG: 160 - 180%
- Cryo DMG: 61.6%
With Layla, it is incredibly easy to overcap on CRIT so be considerate. Most bosses cannot be frozen either so it is important to consider the type of enemies Layla would be facing.
Energy Recharge Breakpoints
Listed below are several suggestions for Layla's Energy Recharge depending on if you have Light's Remit as well as how many Cryo characters are in your party.
| Team Composition | C0 | C2 |
|---|---|---|
| Solo Cryo | 200% | 140 - 170% |
| Double Cryo | 130 - 160% | 100 - 130% |
| Triple Cryo | 100 - 120% | 100% |
Combos and How to Play Layla
Layla's gameplay focuses on her ability to generate Night Stars and Shooting Stars using Nights of Formal Focus. When you use this Elemental Skill, it creates a Night Star every 1.5 seconds and 2 Night Stars when a character protected by Layla's shield uses their Elemental Skill.
After creating 4 Night Stars, they transform into Shooting Stars that attack opponents, dealing damage and applying Cryo. When a Shooting Star hits an enemy it generates Energy.
Be Careful with Your Shield
Most mechanics surrounding Layla's gameplay require her shield to be available. If your shield breaks you lose any related effects such as the Shooting Star damage and Energy generation. This therefore lowers your damage and limits your Elemental Application.
Layla's shield will also only last for 12 seconds but does have a cooldown of 12 seconds making it possible to have 100% uptime on said shield. The problem however is that most team compositions will not have 12 second rotations. This does mean you will need to use Nights of Formal Focus a second time.
Layla's Best Team Comps
While having slightly weaker shields than Zhongli, Layla still provides some incredibly powerful shields making her flexible in a wide range of teams. Because she is able to provide Cryo to the party, Elemental Reactions are something you do need to consider when slotting her in.
Layla Freeze Teams
| Main DPS | Sub DPS | Support | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neuvillette | Escoffier | Furina | Layla |
| Skirk | Escoffier | Furina | Layla |
| Kamisato Ayaka | Mona | Kaedehara Kazuha | Layla |
Freeze teams benefit from Layla due to the survivability she brings alongside the Cryo Resonance that she can enable. Additionally, Layla can even function as a battery for a Cryo Main DPS such as Kamisato Ayaka and Skirk ensuring they can consistently deal damage.
Wanderer Freeze Team
| Main DPS | Sub DPS | Support | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanderer | Yelan | Faruzan | Layla |
This is currently one of Layla's most popular teams using Wanderer almost like a Hypercarry by primarily buffing them but with Hydro and Cryo in the background helping to keep enemies in place and creating additional reactions. Layla provides not only elemental application and shielding but also interruption resistance helping Wanderer stay in the sky.
Mono Cryo Team Example
| Main DPS | Sub DPS | Support | Shielder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ganyu | Shenhe | Kaedehara Kazuha | Layla |
Layla is great in Mono-Cryo teams which entirely focus on Cryo damage, which works great for bosses or enemies that you can not freeze. Mono Cryo teams allow you to more efficiently utilise Layla by often having shorter rotations and easier Energy Regeneration making it easy for Layla to always have 100% uptime on her shields. Ganyu or Kamisato Ayaka being some of the perfect Cryo DPS examples with Shenhe providing damage buffs.
Layla's Ascensions, Talents, and Constellations
Layla Ascension Passives and Materials
| Unlock | Ascension Passive | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| With Character | Shadowy Dream-Signs | When Layla crafts Character Talent Materials, she has a 10% chance to receive double the product. |
| 1st Ascension | Like Nascent Light |
While the Curtain of Slumber (created by Nights of Formal Focus) is active, the Deep Sleep effect will activate each time the Curtain gains 1 Night Star.
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| 4th Ascension | Sweet Slumber Undisturbed | The DMG dealt by the Shooting Stars fired by Nights of Formal Focus is increased by 1.5% of Layla's Max HP. |
Layla requires a range of materials to ascend to the 6th ascension. Starting from the second ascension they gain additional HP as their bonus stat giving a total of 24% increased HP at the final ascension. The total cost to upgrade all ascensions is:
| Source | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Mora | 420,000 Mora |
| Boss Material | 46x Perpetual Caliber |
| Ascension Material | |
| Local Specialty | 168x Nilotpala Lotus |
| Enhancement Material |
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Layla's Talents
Listed below is each talent and a simplified explanation of how they work.
| Type | Talent Name | Brief Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Sword of the Radiant Path | 3 Normal Attack strikes. 2 Charged Attack strikes. |
| Elemental Skill | Nights of Formal Focus | Applies Shield and gains Night Stars periodically or when an Elemental Skill is used on another character. At 4 Night Stars, turn into Shooting Stars to deal Cryo Damage. |
| Elemental Burst | Dream of the Star-Stream Shaker | AoE that fires at opponents. When attacks hit, gain an additional Night Star. |
To upgrade a single talent to level 10, it costs:
| Source | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Mora | 1,625,500 Mora |
| Special Material | 1x Crown of Insight |
| Boss Material | 6x Mirror of Mushin |
| Domain Material |
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| Enhancement Material |
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Layla's Constellations
Layla's most important constellations are Light's Remit and Radiant Soulfire. Light's Remit significantly reduces Energy Recharge requirements making her much easier to build therefore allowing you to focus your stats on either Shields or Damage. On the other hand, Radiant Soulfire provides a huge DPS increase to Layla.
| # | Name | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| C1 | Fortress of Fantasy | Using Nights of Formal Focus will now generate stronger shields and additionally create weaker shields for online co-op players. |
| C2 | Light's Remit |
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| C3 | Secrets of the Night |
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| C4 | Starry Illumination | For each Shooting Star, buff party members Normal and Charged Attack damage for 3 seconds or until an Attack has happened. |
| C5 | Stream of Consciousness |
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| C6 | Radiant Soulfire |
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Changelog
- 13 Jul. 2025: Updated for 5.7.
- 03 Jun. 2024: Reviewed for 4.7.
- 31 Jan. 2024: Guide reviewed for Patch 4.4.
- 29 Nov. 2023: Guide added.
This guide has been written by Shikhu (Discord - Shikhu), an avid Genshin Impact player who has been exploring Teyvat since the game has launched. He has experienced all the game has to offer from building his favorite characters, exploring the world to clearing Spiral Abyss each rotation. His favorite character being his C6 Furina.