Xingqiu is a Hydro Sword Support known for enabling the most Elemental Reaction-based teams out of any character currently in the game. Despite being a 4* character, he is easily one of the most powerful, most useful, and most impactful units for any account. Freeze teams, Melt teams, Electro-Charged teams—they’re all at their best when Xingqiu’s on the team. This is why he sits comfortably in the S-Tier in our Character Tier List.
But, to get the most value out of him, it’s crucial that you know how to build him. This means prioritizing his talents, knowing which constellations to aim for, and which weapons and artifacts to equip him with. We’d say it’s also important which teammates you pair him with, but honestly, that’s not such an important step for Xingqiu since he can quite literally support anyone and be great at it.
In any case, here’s a step-by-step guide in which we’ll cover all of this and more, starting with his talents.
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Xingqiu’s Talent Priority
| Talent | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Attack (Guhua Style) | Normal Attack Perform up to 5 rapid strikes. Charged Attack Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash 2 rapid sword strikes. Plunging Attack Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact. | Xingqiu may be a great support in any team, but in none of them does he serve as the on-field attacker. So this is easily his least important talent. |
| Elemental Skill (Guhua Sword: Fatal Rainscreen) | Xingqiu performs twin strikes with his sword, dealing Hydro DMG. At the same time, this ability creates the maximum number of Rain Swords, which will orbit your active character. The Rain Swords have the following properties: • When a character takes DMG, the Rain Sword will shatter, reducing the amount of DMG taken. • Increases the character’s resistance to interruption. 20% of Xingqiu’s Hydro DMG Bonus will be converted to additional DMG Reduction for the Rain Swords. The maximum amount of additional DMG Reduction that can be gained this way is 24%. The initial maximum number of Rain Swords is 3. Using this ability applies the Wet status onto the character. | Overall, this is a solid Elemental Skill. It provides DMG reduction and generates a ton of Energy. Not only that, it hits like a truck. For this last reason, it’s worth leveling up, but it’s still only his second priority talent. |
| Elemental Burst (Guhua Sword: Raincutter) | Initiate Rainbow Bladework and fight using an illusory sword rain, while creating the maximum number of Rain Swords. Rainbow Bladework • Your active character’s Normal Attacks will trigger consecutive sword rain attacks, dealing Hydro DMG. • Rain Swords will remain at the maximum number throughout the ability’s duration. | This Elemental Burst is single-handedly the reason Xingqiu is so amazing. When activated, it will make it so that the active character’s Normal Attacks cause Xingqiu’s Rain Swords to fall down at the same time, dealing Hydro DMG. This is where the magic happens, as these Rain Swords will continuously set up devastating Elemental Reactions. Plus, the Swords do a fair bit of DMG on their own. The game only shows you the multipliers for a single Sword, but their rain down in groups of two or three. This is, by far, Xingqiu’s most important talent. |
Xingqiu’s Passive Talents
| Talent Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Flash of Genius | When Xingqiu crafts Character Talent Materials, he has a 25% chance to refund a portion of the crafting materials used. | This is essentially free Resin. There’s no context in which this passive isn’t useful. |
| Hydropathic | When a Rain Sword is shattered or when its duration expires, it regenerates the current character’s HP based on 6% of Xingqiu’s Max HP. | In addition to dealing DMG, providing DMG reduction, and generating loads of Energy, this passive makes it so that Xingqiu’s Elemental Skill also heals the active party member. The healing isn’t massive by any means, but every bit is useful when you’re trying to get by without using a proper healer. |
| Blades Amidst Raindrops | Xingqiu gains a 20% Hydro DMG Bonus. | You could say it’s bland or uninspired, but it’s hard to argue with an unconditional 20% Hydro DMG Bonus. Xingqiu does a ton of off-field Hydro DMG, so the impact of this passive is always felt. |
We’ve mentioned it already, but Xingqiu’s Elemental Burst is what makes the character so amazing. The Rain Swords he summons can be used to facilitate a huge number of Elemental Reaction-based teams.
For example, most Pyro DPS use Xingqiu to effortlessly Vaporize their hits and significantly amplify their DMG. Without Xingqiu, you might argue that Pyro characters wouldn’t have been so dominant in the early days of Genshin Impact.
Any character with decent Cryo application can be paired with Xingqiu to keep enemies permanently Frozen. Freeze teams don’t rely on Xingqiu as much as Vaporize teams do, but even then, the other Hydro applicators don’t offer nearly the same DMG as he does.
And unless you’ve got Childe or Kokomi, Xingqiu is necessary to even be able to make the so-called Taser Teams—which function off of Electro-Charged—work.
All in all, Xingqiu’s kit is a blessing from the gacha gods themselves. And believe it or not, you can make it even better by strategically aiming for some of his key constellations.
Xingqiu’s Constellations
| Constellation Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| The Scent Remained | Increases the maximum number of Rain Swords by 1. | This constellation is very forgettable. It increases your DMG reduction by a bit, which isn’t the reason why you play Xingqiu. |
| Rainbow Upon the Azure Sky | Extends the duration of Guhua Sword: Raincutter by 3s. Decreases the Hydro RES of opponents hit by sword rain attacks by 15% for 4s. | Now this here is incredible. Getting more uptime on his Burst would’ve been amazing on its own, but the fact that it also significantly reduces the enemies’ Hydro Resistance makes it even better. All in all, Xingqiu’s C2 is amazing. |
| Weaver of Verses | Increases the Level of Guhua Sword: Raincutter by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | As we’ve mentioned, the DMG Xingqiu’s Burst does is no laughing matter. So this constellation is very impactful. |
| Evilsoother | Throughout the duration of Guhua Sword: Raincutter, the DMG dealt by Guhua Sword: Fatal Rainscreen is increased by 50%. | Basically, the longer Xingqiu’s Burst lasts, the more DMG his Rain Swords do. And the DMG buff is quite significant. Definitely a worthwhile constellation. |
| Embrace of Rain | Increases the Level of Guhua Sword: Fatal Rainscreen by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | As mentioned, Xingqiu’s Elemental Skill doesn’t just provide utility—it also packs quite a punch. It’s not the most important part of his kit, but increasing its DMG is neat. |
| Hence, Call Them My Own Verses | Activating 2 of Guhua Sword: Raincutter’s sword rain attacks greatly enhances the third sword rain attack. On hit, the third sword rain attack also regenerates 3 Energy for Xingqiu. | This is arguable the best C6 out of any 4* unit. Not only does it, again, significantly boost Xingqiu’s Burst DMG, but it also provides him with extra Energy. They couldn’t have made this constellation better if they tried. |
Xingqiu is often mentioned in the context of his Hydro application that people tend to forget how much off-field DMG his Elemental Burst provides. And that’s at C0. Four out of six of his constellations directly increase his overall Burst DMG. We normally categorize Xingqiu as a Hydro-applicator rather than off-field DPS, but with constellation, he becomes an off-field DPS that can go toe to toe with the best of them.
In case you’re unsure as to how his C6 works, Xingqiu’s Rain Swords don’t attack one by one. Instead, they attack in groups of two and three. Well, with C6, you’ll sometimes see five Rain Swords fall down on enemies at the same time. And since all Rain Swords deal the same DMG, you can see how this constitutes a huge DMG increase.
But in any case, here’s the consensus on Xingqiu’s constellations. His C1 is garbage, but his C2, C4, and C6 are all top tier. C3 and C5 are also nice to have. In other words, so long as you can get past his C1, each and every additional constellation you get will be worthwhile. To this end, we suggest purchasing Xingqiu duplicates from the Starglitter Shop whenever he is featured there.
Best Weapons For Xingqiu
| Weapon Rarity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Sacrificial Sword 4* | Regardless of weapon rarity, Xingqui’s BiS weapon is Sacrificial Sword. The two weapons below this one can both deal more DMG if your Xingqiu has godly artifacts, but the most important thing for Xingqiu is maintaining uptime on his Burst, and for that, generating Energy is paramount. Sacrificial Sword not only increases his Energy Recharge but also allows him to cast his Skill—which otherwise has a cooldown longer than most Elemental Bursts—twice in a row. And in addition to dealing massive DMG, his Skill generates a ton of Energy. |
| Primordial Jade Cutter 5* | If you can manage to provide him with ample Energy Recharge by means other than his weapon, Primordial Jade Cutter becomes amazing for boosting the potential of Xingqiu’s Off-Field Hydro DMG through the roof. |
| Mistsplitter Reforged 5* | While less powerful than Primordial Jade Cutter, Mistsplitter Reforged is still amazing on Xingqiu as far as maximizing his Off-Field DMG potential goes. |
| Favonius Sword 4* | Players who haven’t been lucky enough to get the Sacrificial Sword will likely be able to use Favonius Sword as a condolence weapon. This weapon also provides Energy Recharge and can generate extra Energy for the active character whenever Xingqiu CRITs. And with how frequently his attacks land, even when he’s off-field, you can expect him to CRIT a lot. |
| Festering Desire 4* | Festering Desire is another great 4* weapon for Xingqiu, for those who’ve been playing the game long enough to have this patch 1.2 exclusive Event Reward can put it to great use on this character. It gives Energy Recharge and greatly increases the DMG of his Elemental Skill which, as mentioned, hits quite hard. |
Best Artifacts For Xingqiu – 4-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate
As far as artifact set bonuses go, Xingqiu is one in a long line of characters who can make amazing use of the 4-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate. He needs Energy Recharge and most of his DMG comes through his Elemental Burst, so what’s there not to love.
Just make sure not to go ham on Energy Recharge, as this is one mistake players tend to make when using this set. So long as you’ve got enough Energy Recharge that you can cast his Burst as soon as its cooldown ends, you should focus on other stats. With that in mind, let’s look at what main stats you should give you Xingqiu.
In most cases, you’ll want ATK% on the Sands, Hydro DMG on the Goblet, and CRIT DMG/CRIT Rate on the Logos. You could put Energy Recharge on the Sands, but just remember that this won’t net you more DMG than an ATK% Sands if you’ve already got enough Energy Recharge from other sources, like weapons or substats.
In terms of substats, you should aim for Energy Recharge, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK%.
If you don’t have a solid 4-Piece Emblem of Sever Fate, you could either give him the 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige set or go with a combination of 2-Piece Noblesse Oblige and 2-Piece of Depth set.
Elemental Synergies
In order to help you create your own team compositions for Xingqiu, we’ll take this opportunity to explain how his kit synergizes with each Element.
The three Elements that gain the most benefit from Xingqiu, in this order, are:
- Pyro: There will never be a Pyro DPS character whose DMG can’t be greatly amplified by Xingqiu’s Elemental Burst. Most main DPS Pyro units are evaluated by how many of their big hits they can Vaporize when paired with Xingqiu.
- Electro: Electro-Charged—the Elemental Reaction caused by combining Electro and Hydro—is unique in that it’s the only Elemental Reaction that doesn’t clear both Elements when procced. This means you can add a third Element to proc several reactions at once, or just continue to proc Electro-Charged in rapid succession. Xingqiu is essential to making this happen.
- Hydro: As mentioned, Xingqiu makes Freeze teams effortless to pull off. Even though Freeze teams are way more popular than Electro-Charged teams, we’ve ranked his Hydro synergy a bit lower as there are plenty of other characters who can be used for this, whereas Xingqiu is the go-to support for most Pyro and Electro units.
If you’re looking to buff Xingqiu’s DMG, then the Element you should turn towards is:
- Anemo: This Element is unique in that it can be used to enhance Xingqiu’s DMG, rather than the other way around. This is thanks to the Viridescent Venerer set, which all Anemo characters can use to reduce Hydro Resistance by a massive 40%.
The only Element that in no way affects Xingqiu directly is:
- Geo: While Geo characters can benefit Xingqiu through their Skills and Bursts, the Geo Element on its own has no worthwhile synergy with Xingqiu.
Best Team Composition For Xingqiu
Free-to-Play Taser Team
- Xingqiu
- Fischl
- Beidou
- Sucrose
Fischl is one source of Off-Field Electro DMG. She’s also there to provide loads of Energy to Beidou, whose Burst has a hefty 80 Energy cost. Technically, you could replace Fischl with Electro Traveler, but she just works so much better in this team.
Beidou is the second source of Off-Field Electro DMG and covers the team’s lack of AoE. What’s more, she unlocks the Electro Resonance which, while lackluster, does ensure this Energy-hungry team gets access to their Bursts more consistently. To account for the lack of alternative character options for this team, we’ll provide another F2P team that’s just as great.
Sucrose is, believe it or not, the main on-field Normal Attacker in this team. This isn’t to say that she deals the most DMG. But all the other characters—Xingqiu, Fischl, and Beidou—provide off-field Hydro or Electro DMG. As mentioned previously, Electro-Charged doesn’t cause the Elemental afflictions to be cleared from enemies. This means that, when Sucrose does her Normal Attacks, she can Swirl both Elements. There’s no replacing Sucrose in this team if you want to Swirl this consistently, as she is the only Anemo Catalyst user in the game.
Free-to-Play National Team
- Xingqiu
- Xiangling
- Bennett
- Chongyun
Xiangling deals loads of off-field Pyro DMG with her Burst. In this team, it doesn’t matter who procs Vaporize reactions.
Bennett is there for his massive ATK buff, as well as the Pyro Resonance. What’s more, both Xiangling’s and Xingqiu’s Bursts can snapshot, meaning that, if you cast them inside of Bennett’s Burst, they’ll benefit from the extra DMG for their entire duration, even after Bennett’s Burst ends or you leave its field.
Chongyun is there to provide a source of steady Cryo DMG thanks to his Cryo infusion. Not to mention, the Melt DMG you can do with his Burst is bonkers. If you happen to proc some Freeze reactions—don’t worry. They’ll soon get Melted. For a more powerful version of this team, you can replace Chongyun with Raiden Shogun, for the so-called Raiden National Team. In this case, Raiden not only deals massive amounts of DMG but also batteries the whole team to smooth out their rotations.
For Whales
- Xingqiu
- Hu Tao
- Kazuha
- Zhongli
Hu Tao is the main DPS in this team. The goal is to Vaporize her hits with Xingqui’s Elemental Burst. The small bit of healing provided by Xingqiu is also just what the doctor ordered for Hu Tao, who doesn’t want too much healing.
Kazuha is used to increase Hu Tao’s Pyro DMG and reduce the enemies’ Pyro Resistance thanks to the Viridescent Venerer set.
Zhongli is here to keep Hu Tao safe since you never want to have her at max HP. The extra Elemental Resistance shred benefits both Hu Tao and Xingqiu. However, an arguably better shielder for Hu Tao is C4 Yanfei with the Prototype Amber weapon. Yanfei not only unlocks the Pyro Resonance for more DMG, but she also makes it easier to apply the Viridescent Venerer debuff on enemies. However, she must be at C4 as that’s when she’s able to generate a massive Pyro shield that scales off of her HP whenever she casts her 15-second cooldown Burst. And Prototype Amber is a craftable 4* weapon that grants HP%, restored Energy to Yanfei, and allows her to heal the entire team. The HP scaling makes her shield stronger, the Energy restoration makes it so that she can apply the shield more consistently, and the healing amount is just right to help Hu Tao without hindering her.
Is Xingqiu Worth It?
For a character to make it into the S-Tier, they have to be worth it. And we doubt Xingqiu’s place in the S-Tier will ever be challenged.
Along with Bennett and Xiangling, he is one of the three most powerful and most universally useful 4* characters in the entire game. So many current team compositions depend on him, and it’s hard to imagine future characters will stop synergizing with his Burst.
So yes—Xingqiu is worth it, and his constellations are worth it as well.
