Source: HoYoverse
With the release of Genshin Impact version 5.1 comes the debut of an exciting new character: Xilonen!
Xilonen is a 5-star Geo Sword user that is set to shake up the metagame by bringing an all-new dynamic to the Geo element by having a kit designed to support the Elemental DMG of her Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, and Electro teammates.
If you were lucky enough to have pulled Xilonen, read on as we break down how to play her plus her best build, gear, and teammates.
Xilonen is a DEF-scaling Geo support that empowers her teammates by reducing the Elemental RES of enemies with her skill and providing continuous healing with her burst, all while dishing out plenty of area-of-effect (AoE) Geo DMG of her own.
Xilonen’s bread-and-butter is her skill, Yohual’s Scratch, which lets her rush forward and deal Geo DMG, gain 45 Nightsoul Points, and enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing state. In the overworld, this ability is very useful when it comes to exploration as it greatly increases Xilonen’s movement and climbing speed.
In combat, Xilonen’s skill generates three different Soundscapes based on the elemental alignment of her teammates that decrease the Elemental RES of nearby enemies when they are active. This effect remains active even when Xilonen is not the active on-field character.
The Soundscapes from Xilonen’s skill will start out as Geo but will change into either Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, or Electro elemental alignments for each party member of the corresponding elemental alignment. At level 10, Xilonen can decrease an enemy's Elemental RES by 36% for 15 seconds.
For example, if Xilonen has Pyro, Hydro, and Electro-aligned teammates, then her Soundscapes will switch to Pyro, Hydro, and Electro – with each reducing the corresponding Elemental RES of nearby enemies. It should be noted that this ability’s Elemental RES reduction effects of the same elemental type cannot stack.
While Xilonen’s offensive capabilities are largely tied to her skill, she relies on burst for her defensive utility.
Xilonen’s burst, Ocelotlicue Point!, lets her unleash Nightsoul-aligned AoE Geo DMG based on her DEF while also activating an effect based on the status of the Soundscapes from her skill.
When at least 2 Soundscapes have their elemental types changed, Xilonen will activate a continuous healing effect based on her DEF for the active character. But if fewer than 2 Soundscapes had their elemental types changed, Xilonen will instead unleash additional instances of AoE Geo DMG.
While Xilonen’s main abilities make her lean more towards a support role, her ascension passives do grant her a bit of versatility for players that want her to take on a DPS role. Netotiliztli’s Echoes lets her either gain additional Nightsoul Points when her normal or plunging attacks hit enemies or have her normal or plunging attack DMG get boosted depending on how many Soundscapes from her skill had their elemental types changed.
Meanwhile, Portable Armor Sheath, lets her trigger her Nightsoul Burst when her Nightsoul Points reach their maximum once every 14 seconds. Additionally, Xilonen will also receive a 20% DEF buff for 15 seconds when a party member triggers their own Nightsoul Burst.
When leveling up Xilonen’s abilities, prioritise her skill first then her ultimate second. You don’t need to level up her normal attacks unless you want her to take on a DPS role.
In battle, start your rotation by having Xilonen activate her skill then her burst before switching to your Main DPS. This ensures that enemies will have their Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, or Electro RES decreased while also giving your damage-dealer some protection from enemy retaliation with continuous healing.
Xilonen's best gear
Weapons
Xilonen’s best weapon is hands-down her signature, Peak Patrol Song, which has a 82% DEF substat. It also has a powerful effect that lets Xilonen gain up to 16% DEF and 20% Elemental DMG Bonus for 6 seconds after using normal or plunging attacks. It also provides an 8% Elemental DMG Bonus to Xilonen’s teammates for every 1,000 DEF she has – up to a maximum of 25.6% – for 15 seconds.
Since Xilonen scales fully off her DEF, the only 4-star weapons she can make good use of are the event-exclusive Cinnabar Spindle and the forgeable Flute of Ezpitzal. The classic Favonius Sword, while not giving Xilonen any DEF, can still be considered if she is supporting a team with energy issues.
Artifacts
Xilonen’s go-to artifact set is the 4-piece Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City. This set lets her give her teammates Elemental DMG buffs on top of her Element RES reduction capabilities, further boosting the entire team’s damage output. Here are the set’s full effects:
- 2-Piece: When a nearby party member triggers a Nightsoul Burst, the equipping character regenerates 6 Elemental Energy.
- 4-Piece: After the equipping character triggers a reaction related to their Elemental Type, all nearby party members gain a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus for the Elemental Types involved in the elemental reaction for 15s. If the equipping character is in the Nightsoul's Blessing state when triggering this effect, all nearby party members gain an additional 28% Elemental DMG Bonus for the Elemental Types involved in the elemental reaction for 20s. The equipping character can trigger this effect while off-field, and the DMG bonus from Artifact Sets with the same name do not stack.
Xilonen’s best teammates
Unlike most other Geo characters, Xilonen works best alongside other elemental alignments – specifically Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, or Electro – that can make use of her ability to reduce the enemy’s Elemental RES to those elements. But due to the fact that her Element RES reduction effects don’t stack with the same element types, it’s best to run Xilonen in teams with three other unique elemental types.
Teams built around powerful elemental reactions like Vaporize and Overload will work best. Vaporize teams can include the likes of Arlecchino, Neuvillette, Mualani, Furina, Xingqiu, Yelan, Xiangling, and Bennett while Overload can be run with the powerful pairing of the Raiden Shogun and Chevreuse.
Xilonen’s ability to provide continuous healing notably lets her synergise with another top-tier support in Furina. Xilonen’s burst can quickly help Furina’s burst gain max Fanfare stacks to greatly boost the team’s damage while the enemy’s Hydro RES is being reduced.
Genshin Impact version 5.1 dropped on October 9 with one new 5-star character in Xilonen as well as reruns for Chiori, Nahida, and Hu Tao. For more information on what’s coming in Genshin Impact version 5.1, check here. If you're still torn on whether you should pull for Xilonen or Chiori in the version's first half banners, check here and we'll help you decide.