Xianyun Guide and Best Builds

Xianyun (Cloud Retainer) Guide and Best Builds for Genshin Impact

Xianyun (Cloud Retainer) is a 5-star Anemo Catalyst character in Genshin Impact who buffs your teams Plunge Attacks and enables other characters to now Plunge. Our Xianyun build guide will focus on her Best Artifacts, Team Comps, Ascension Materials and More.

Last updated on Jun 05, 2024 at 11:00 by Shikhu
A Rating
Anemo Element
Catalyst Weapon
Rarity
Stephanie Panisello EN Voice Actor
Nakatomi Mana JP Voice Actor
1.

Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Unlocks a new Plunge playstyle for many characters by increasing jump height and buffing Plunge DMG.
  • +Strong healing allowing them to fit many roles Jean can play while also being on a guaranteed banner.
X Weaknesses
  • -High Energy Requirements when played without other Anemo characters.
  • -C1 and C2 provide incredibly significant upgrades to her team DMG and Energy Requirements.
2.

Xianyun Plunge Support Build

Xianyun is primarily played as both a healer and also as a support who enables other characters to deal increased DMG through Plunge Attacks with Xianyun's Starwicker effect from their Elemental Burst.

BiS Weapon Crane's Echoing Call
Alternative Weapons
  1. Memory of Dust
  2. Skyward Atlas
  3. Cashflow Supervision
  4. Flowing Purity
  5. Oathsworn Eye
  6. Favonius Codex
Best Artifacts
  1. Viridescent Venerer
  2. Noblesse Oblige
  3. Song of Days Past
Main Stats
  • Sand Stats: ATK % / Energy Recharge
  • Goblet Stats: ATK %
  • Circlet Stats: ATK %
Substat Priority
  1. Energy Recharge to requirements
  2. ATK %
  3. ATK
  4. CRIT Rate with Favonius Codex
Talent Priority
  1. Elemental Burst
  2. Elemental Skill
  3. Normal Attack

Calculations for Xianyun's build comes from Xianyun Mastersheet made by jinszly.

Xianyun has many good weapon options with her signature weapon Crane's Echoing Call being her best option providing high ATK, reducing Energy requirements and buffing the teams Plunge Attack DMG. Her next best weapons can entirely depend on your team and build (we would advise checking the sheet). That being said, Xianyun wants a lot of Energy Recharge and ATK % on her weapons.

Therefore, of her 4-star / F2P weapons mainly focus on providing Energy Recharge to Xianyun. Flowing Purity and Oathsworn Eye are great options alongside weapons such as Favonius Codex.

Xianyun's best artifact tends to be Viridescent Venerer much like many other Anemo characters because of the RES Shred. However, Noblesse Oblige and Song of Days Past are both really good options. Noblesse and Songs are especially good when you cannot swirl elements or when a character is already using Viridescent such as Xiao teams with Faruzan. You may also consider changing Faruzan's artifacts to Tenacity of the Millelith instead.

As mentioned, Xianyun wants ATK % and Energy Recharge for her artifact priorities. This is because both her healing from Stars Gather at Dusk and DMG buffs from Consider, the Adeptus in Her Realm scale off of ATK. 4,500 ATK is required to hit the cap.

2.1.

Xianyun Energy Recharge Requirements

Xianyun's Energy Recharge depends on if you are playing in a team with other Anemo characters, how many uses of White Clouds at Dawn are used and if anyone is holding a Favonius Weapon.

No Favonius Weapon Favonius Weapon Xianyun Using Favonius Xianyun Using Crane Echoing
Solo Anemo | 1 Skill 230 - 250% 185 - 230% 180 - 230% 150 - 200%
Solo Anemo | 2 Skills 170 - 210% 155 - 190% 140 - 180% 110 - 150%
With Xiao | 1 Skill 135 - 150% 125 - 135% 120 - 130% 100%
With Xiao | 2 Skills 100%
100%
100%
100%
3.

Combos and How to Play Xianyun

Xianyun generally has quite low field-time only really requiring you to use your Elemental Skill for Energy and then your Elemental Burst afterwards so that your DPS can start dealing high amounts of Plunge DMG.

White Clouds at Dawn is Xianyun's Elemental Skill. When triggered, it uses the first instance of Skyladder and from there you can use 2 more times to gain additional height during exploration, deal bigger Driftcloud Wave DMG, and also generate more Energy on the plunge of the third use. Energy is only generated on the plunge not on use of the skill.

Xianyun's Elemental Burst Stars Gather at Dusk is both her healing as well as the primary way in which she supports the team. This skill summons a Starwicker allowing you to Plunge 8 times on any character to deal massive DMG.

4.

Xianyun's Best Team Comps

Xianyun brings an entirely new playstyle to many characters allowing DPS characters to instead focus on Plunging instead of their main method of DPS. This can be an overall DPS increase to the following types of characters:

The Elemental Infusion aspect is incredibly important because Plunge Attacks have no Internal Cooldown as a result of having longer animations meaning every Plunge Attack infused with an element will deal Elemental DMG and always react with any Elements already on an enemy.

It is also worth noting Albedo can be a great support in teams, but only with his C4 Descent of Divinity which buffs Plunging Attack DMG by 30%.

4.1.

Xiao Plunge

Main DPS Support Support Support
Xiao Faruzan Xianyun

This Xiao team, is one of the main ways to play Xianyun using Faruzan for increased Anemo buffs. As mentioned earlier in the guide, both Xianyun and Faruzan do not both need to be using Viridescent Venerer as the effect will be wasted. Furina is the more powerful option however Bennett is also great is Furina is being used for other teams.

4.2.

Claymore Plunging Teams

Main DPS Support Support Support
Furina Bennett Xianyun
Chongyun Furina Shenhe Xianyun
Razor Mika Rosaria Xianyun

Many Claymore characters can greatly benefit from Xianyun's Plunge Attack buff. The main 2 being Diluc and Gaming who can be supported by both Bennett and Furina. Other examples include the Chongyun and Razor teams listed where Chongyun's infusion can be buffed by Shenhe and Razor wants to generate Superconduct to deal increased Physical DMG.

4.3.

Hu Tao Plunge

Main DPS Sub DPS Support Support
Hu Tao Yelan Furina Xianyun

With the addition of Xianyun, Plunge Hu Tao is a powerful team especially when paired with Furina. This changes up her classic Charged Attack style gameplay drastically while still focusing on Vaporize reactions with Hydro SubDPS such as Yelan.

5.

Xianyun's Ascensions, Talents and Constellations

Xianyun's Ascensions Xianyun's Talents Xianyun's Constellations
5.1.

Xianyun's Ascension Passives and Materials

Unlock Ascension Passive Explanation
With Character Crane Form Increases gliding SPD for your own party members by 15%.
1st Ascension Galefeather Pursuit

Each opponent hit by Driftcloud Waves from White Clouds at Dawn will grant all nearby party members 1 stack of Storm Pinion for 20s. Max 4 stacks. These will cause the characters' Plunging Attack CRIT Rate to increase by 4%/6%/8%/10% respectively.

Each Storm Pinion created by hitting an opponent has an independent duration.

4th Ascension Consider, the Adeptus in Her Realm

When the Starwicker created by Stars Gather at Dusk has Adeptal Assistance stacks, nearby active characters' Plunging Attack shockwave DMG will be increased by 200% of Xianyun's ATK. The maximum DMG increase that can be achieved this way is 9,000.

Each Plunging Attack shockwave DMG instance can only apply this increased DMG effect to a single opponent. Each character can trigger this effect once every 0.4s.

Xianyun requires a range of materials to ascend to the 6th ascension. Starting from the second ascension she gains ATK % as she levels, giving a total of 28.8% Bonus ATK % at the final ascension. The total cost to upgrade all ascensions is:

Source Quantity
Mora 420,000 Mora
Boss Material 46x Cloudseam Scale
Ascension Material
Local Specialty 168x Clearwater Jade
Enhancement Material
  • 18x Divining Scroll
  • 30x Sealed Scroll
  • 36x Forbidden Curse Scroll
5.2.

Xianyun's Talents

Listed below is each talent and a simplified explanation of how they work.

Type Talent Name Brief Explanation
Normal Normal Attack: Word of Wind and Flower Standard catalyst Normal Attack with Anemo application on hit. Charged Attacks launch a line AoE while Plunging Attacks are normal. Normal Attacks are very rarely used.
Elemental Skill White Clouds at Dawn

Enters Cloud Transmogrification and immediately uses Skyladder. Skyladder can then be used up to 2 more times before dealing a Plunging Attack.

Each use of Skyladder increases AoE DMG of the Plunging Attack and also generates more Energy on the final attack.

Elemental Burst Stars Gather at Dusk Summons a Starwicker allowing you 8 stacks of Adeptal Assistance with 1 stack used per Plunging Attack. Adeptal Assistance increases jump height and deals AoE Anemo DMG when a stack is used. With Consider, the Adeptus in Her Realm, Plunging Attack DMG is increased drastically for your on-field character.

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 Lightless Eye of the Maelstrom
Domain Material
  • 3x Teachings of Gold
  • 21x Guide to Gold
  • 38x Philosophies of Gold
Enhancement Material
  • 6x Divining Scroll
  • 22x Sealed Scroll
  • 31x Forbidden Curse Scroll
5.3.

Xianyun's Constellations

Aloof From the World (C2) is an incredibly powerful constellation for Xianyun increasing Healing and Plunge Attack DMG and is a great stopping point. They Call Her Cloud Retainer (C6) allows Xianyun to play the role of an on-field DPS, changing up her playstyle.

# Name Explanation
C1 Purifying Wind White Clouds at Dawn gains 1 additional charge.
C2 Aloof From the World

Increases ATK by 20% after using Skyladder and buffs Consider, the Adeptus in Her Realm in the following ways:

  • Plunging attack shockwave DMG is increased by 400% of Xianyun's ATK now.
  • DMG increase cap has been increased to 18,000.
  • Effect triger cooldown is unchanged at 0.4s.
C3 Creations of Star and Moon
  • Increases the Level of Stars Gather at Dusk by 3.
  • Maximum upgrade level is 15.
C4 Mystery Millet Gourmet After using Skyladder and dealing a Plunging Attack (Driftcloud Wave). Heals party by 50/80/150% of Xianyun's ATK depending on Skyladder stacks.
C5 Astride Rose-Colored Clouds
  • Increases the Level of White Clouds at Dawn by 3.
  • Maximum upgrade level is 15.
C6 They Call Her Cloud Retainer

Increases CRIT DMG of Drifcloud Wave by 15/35/70% depending on Skyladder uses.

After Xianyun uses Stars Gather at Dusk, White Clouds at Dawn will not enter CD.

5.4.

Changelog

  • 03 Jun. 2024: Reviewed for 4.7.
  • 30 Jan. 2024: Guide added.
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