Background
Xingqiu is the second son of the Feiyun Commerce Guild and is known to be smart yet mischievous. He would often read books about chivalrous heroes and has made it his life’s mission to be like the heroes from his books. As a result, chivalry has become a part of Xingqiu’s mindset and impacts his everyday decisions. Xingqiu has a strong sense of justice and will not tolerate any shady dealings in his presence. He will often deal with any underhanded tactics he finds personally, but will not take credit for it He loves collecting rare books and would often go around Liyue to seek them out.
Fun Fact: Xingqiu has mastered the Guhua Clan’s martial arts style at a young age.
A lot of parents in Liyue Harbor would wish for their children to turn as studious and polite as Xingqiu. On the surface, he may appear calm and collected, but underneath that lies an adventurous and wild spirit. Not even his father and older brother know this side of him. The Feiyun Commerce Guild would often be caught up in controversy because of his antics and pranks, but he somehow always manages to get away with it.
Xingqiu is a 4-star Hydro character from Liyue that wields a sword as his weapon of choice. He first appears within the story to help the Traveler and Paimon find the Liyue volume of the Teyvat Travel Guide.
Fun Fact: Xingqiu and Chongyun are good friends. However, Xingqiu loves to play pranks on the Chongyun.
Xingqiu Skill Talents
Xingqiu’s skill set offers a variety of ways to deal Hydro DMG to the enemy with the use of his Rain Swords. Xingqiu’s primary use will be to use his elemental skill and burst then switch out to another character.
His normal attack talent, Guhua Style, will perform up to 5 strikes with his sword on an enemy. This attack doesn’t offer anything special that will go well with a support build. Building up this skill is optional if you plan to attack using Xingqiu.
Xingqiu’s elemental skill, Guhua Sword – Fatal Rainscreen, allows him to deal twin Hydro strikes to the enemy. After using his elemental skill, Xingqiu will summon the maximum amount of Rain Swords to orbit the current character. When a character gets damaged, the sword will shatter to reduce the damage taken. The Rain Swords will also decrease the chance of a character getting interrupted with knockback when protected with his swords. 20% of Xingqiu’s Hydro Attack Bonus will be converted to additional DMG reduction that can go up by an additional 24%. The cooldown for this skill is 21 seconds, but the swords will last 15 seconds if not shattered beforehand. From a glance, this skill is useful for applying the wet statues to enemies. However, it is paired with a long cooldown that makes using it limited. In battle, the swords will often be used up before the cooldown is over. Its main use will be to provide DMG reduction to your DPS character, supply energy for his burst, and apply the wet status to enemies for reactions. His Rain Swords will also remove the current existing element your character is affected with and replace it with Hydro.
Xingqiu’s elemental burst, Guhua Sword – Raincutter, will summon the maximum number of Rain Swords. The burst will last for 15 seconds, with a cooldown of 20 seconds. It does have a high energy cost of 80, making energy recharge a necessity for his artifact stats to use this as often as possible. His burst is a powerful support skill that can reduce the damage taken with the use of his Rain Swords and deal Hydro DMG to the enemies as well. Since it applies to other characters as well, this skill helps provide Hydro reactions and pairs nicely with Cryo Character to maintain freeze on the enemy. His burst will also allow the normal attacks of the current character to deal Hydro DMG with his Rain Swords that will carry over until the duration of the burst ends. This effect can deal massive amounts of Hydro DMG at high constellation levels. It works with other DPS characters like Childe and will allow every one of their normal attacks to deal Hydro DMG. It can also be used to trigger powerful reactions like vaporize when using Diluc or Klee. This skill will be the main focus for a lot of his builds.
Read an in-depth analysis on his skill and how his Rain Swords work: Click here
For maximum damage, it is best not to use his elemental skill and burst at the same time.
In co-op play, Xingqiu’s damage output won’t be as high as other characters if built as a support character. His Rain Swords doesn’t apply to other players, so his DMG reduction won’t work on other characters in 4 player co-op. Xingqiu’s main role will be to apply the wet statues to enemies for Hydro reactions and deal Hydro attacks.
Note: Xingqiu’s elemental skill will give him the Hydro element making him weaker toward Electro attacks.
Xingqiu Passive Talents
Xingqiu’s ascension talent brings an impressive array of support for his burst and skill talents.
Xingqiu’s first talent, Flash of Genius, has a 25% chance to refund some of the crafting material when he is used to craft Character Talent Materials. This talent is useful for saving resources when upgrading your character’s skills. Compared to other skills, it has a better chance of activating and could potentially save you on the resin you would need to clear the domains for these materials. Xingqiu is also the only current character with this passive talent, making him a good character to roll for, regardless if he has a role in your team.
His Ascension 1 talent, Hydropathic, allows Xingqiu to heal the current character when his Rain Sword is shattered or the duration expires. This skill pairs nicely with his DMG reduction and can heal back the damage that was dealt. It will also only activate when the sword is shattered, making every heal count. The maximum sword count is 3, but his C1 effect will upgrade it to 4 swords. Both Xingqiu’s elemental skill and burst give him three swords at C0 when they are used, giving him a variety of ways to heal using this talent. The health regenerated is only 6% of Xingqiu’s Max HP and is limited by the number of swords Xingqiu can have. This talent pairs nicely when used with his elemental burst, as its effects will keep him at a maximum number of swords during the duration of his burst. If you want to build Xingqiu as a healer, focus on HP and Healing Bonus on your artifact set.
Xingqiu’s Ascension 4 talent, Blades Amidst Raindrops, grants him a Xingqiu a 20% Hydro DMG Bonus. As a support character, Xingqiu won’t be your main damage dealer, but it will power-up both the damage output from both his skill and burst, including his Rain Sword attacks. This talent will also boost the DMG reduction of his elemental skill. 20% of Xingqiu’s Hydro DMG Bonus will be converted into additional damage reduction when his skill is used. This allows Xingqiu to further reduce the damage taken for other characters. This talent will net you an additional 4% of DMG reduction. It is important to note that the additional damage reduction can only go up to 24%.
Note: Xingqiu gets a boost to his ATK% based on his ascension rank.
| Flash of Genius Unlocked Automatically When Xingqiu crafts Character Talent Materials, he has a 25% chance to refund a portion of the crafting materials used. |
| Hydropathic Unlocked at Ascension 1 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. |
| Blades Amidst Raindrops Unlocked at Ascension 4 Xingqiu gains a 20% Hydro DMG Bonus. |
Xingqiu Constellations
At his base constellation level, Xingqiu has the basic kit to support your team with damage reduction and health regeneration. However, at C2, he becomes an amazing support character for Hydro DPS characters like Tartaglia. C1 is the recommended level to have him because it will give you an additional sword that can be used with his skill and burst, but he is still a powerful support at C0.
C1: The Scent Remained grants Xingqiu one extra Rain Sword, increasing the maximum number from 3 to 4. This constellation gives your team extra protection and healing when the swords are shattered. Having an extra sword will overall increase his support potential in your party.
C2: Rainbow Upon the Azure Sky will increase the duration of Xingiu’s elemental burst by 3 seconds. It will also decrease the Hydro RES of enemies hit by his sword’s rain attack by 15% for 4 seconds. This constellation will allow Xingqiu to increase the time he can have the max number of swords on the field, boosting his DMG reduction and healing potential. The Hydro RES reduction makes Xingqiu and any Hydro DPS character a deadly combo that can rip apart enemies when Xingqiu uses his burst.
C4: Evilsoother increases the damage of Xingqiu’s elemental skill during the duration of his elemental burst. This constellation improves Xingqiu’s damage output from his elemental skill. However, both his skills have a high cooldown, allowing Xingqiu to only benefit from the buff once every time he uses his burst.
C6: Hence, Call Them My Own Verses will boost the damage dealt from his third sword attack from Xingqiu’s burst after 2 of his swords are activated. This constellation is helpful in boosting the passive damage dealt by his Rain Sword when attacking with another character. It will also give Xingqiu additional energy when his sword rain attacks hit an enemy, allowing him to recharge his ultimate faster.
| Constellation Levels | Effects |
|---|---|
| C1: The Scent Remained | Increases the maximum number of Rain Swords by 1. |
| C2: Rainbow Upon the Azure Sky | Extends the duration of Guhua Sword – Raincutter by 3s. Decreases the Hydro RES of enemies hit by sword rain attacks by 15% for 4s. |
| C3: Weaver of Verses | Increases the Level of Guhua Sword – Raincutter by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| C4: Evilsoother | Throughout the duration of Guhua Sword: Raincutter, the DMG dealt by Guhua Sword: Fatal Rainscreen is increased by 50%. |
| C5: Embrace of Rain | Increase the Level of Guhua Sword – Fatal Rainscreen by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| C6: Hence, Call Them My Own Verses | Activating 2 of Guhua Sword – Raincutter’s sword rain attacks greatly increases the DMG of the third. Xingqiu regenerates 3 Energy when sword rain attacks hit enemies. |
Recommended Builds
Support Build
This build focuses on Xingqiu’s elemental skill and burst and its support potential. Xingqiu works well with a DPS character like Diluc that can take advantage of his DMG reduction and Hydro application on the enemies. At C2, Xingqiu will also be an incredible support for a Hydro DPS character like Tartaglia due to his Hydro RES reduction on enemies. Bennett is useful to increase the damage dealt and activate the Pyro party bonus along with Diluc. He can also act as a healer when Xingqiu’s swords are not enough to cover the damage taken. Fischl is there for Electro reactions and can be replaced with other characters if needed. A Cryo character like Diona or Chongyun will also work with a Xingqiu support build, especially Diona whose shield can offer extra protection. For the skills, you will want to max out his elemental burst and skill, as they both will activate his Rain Swords. His normal attack can safely be ignored unless you plan to use Xingqiu to attack. This build works well for Xingqiu at C0, but will be fully maximized when he is C2.
For Xingqiu’s recommended weapon, the Sacrificial Sword is the best weapon for a support build. It is a 4-star weapon that can be obtained from wishing and has energy recharge as its secondary effect. This sword has a chance to end the cooldown of his elemental skill after damaging an enemy. The energy recharge sub-stat combined with its effect allows Xingqiu to generate more energy for his burst. The Skyward Blade is another good option, but falls flat compared to the energy recharge of the Sacrificial Sword. It is also a 5-star weapon, which doesn’t pair well with a support Xingqiu as you won’t be using Xingqiu’s normal attack often.
The Favonius Sword won’t be better than the Sacrificial Sword, but is a decent substitute. It has an energy recharge sub-stat and can generate particles for the entire team whenever Xingqiu lands a critical hit. However, his weapon does require Xingqiu to stay on the field and attack to reap the benefits of its secondary effect.
The Festering Desire is another decent option that will increase the power of his elemental skill. It also has an energy recharge sub-stat and was easily obtained from the Chalk Prince Event. Xingwiu’s elemental skill cooldown is long, so this weapon is not optimal for him in the long run.
For the early game, I recommend using the Skyrider Sword because of its energy recharge and its ability to increase Xingqiu’s ATK and Movement Speed after using his burst.
Xingqiu’s recommended artifact set for a support build is the Noblesse Oblige. This set will increase the power of his elemental burst by 20% and grant his team an increase to their attack for 12 seconds. This is the perfect set for Xingqiu because he will primarily use his burst or skill and then switch to another character to deal damage. The effects of Noblesse Oblige does not stack, so a 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth will also work if Bennett is already using a 4-piece Noblesse Oblige.
For the early game, a 2-piece The Exile and Scholar will give Xingqiu an increase of 40% to his energy recharge. A 4-piece The Exile can also work to generate more energy for the entire party. If you want to increase the damage from his elemental reaction, a 4-piece Instructor is a viable option.
You can also go for a more healer based build, with a 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Maiden’s Beloved. This set will increase his healing effectiveness and boost the power of his burst. A 4-piece Maiden’s Beloved will also work if you want to make him a full healer for your team, but isn’t recommended since it will hinder his damage output from his burst and skill. Having two hydro characters will also increase healing by 30% as well.
The stats you should focus on are Energy Recharge on the Sands and Hydro DMG Bonus% on the Goblet. ATK% is a safe option for the Circlet, but Crit DMG or Crit Rate can also work to boost his damage output from his burst. You can also build up Xingiu’s Elemental Mastery on the Circlet to boost the power of his reactions. For the sub-stats, look for Energy Recharge, ATK%, ATK, and EM. HP is also important to build if you want to heal more from his swords. The most important stat to focus on is Energy Recharge so Xingqiu can use his burst as often as possible. Crit Rate and Crit DMG will also work for his build, but isn’t the main focus for a support build.
Burst
This build is similar to the first one, but emphasizes more on Crit Rate and Crit DMG to deal critical damage with his Rain Swords. This build will still work for a support Xingqiu, but capitalizes on Xingqiu’s burst and unleashing as many Rain Swords as possible. Like the other build, Xingqiu won’t be on the field often, but his Rain Swords can still deal critical damage. This build will also work well with a higher constellation level Xingqiu, especially at C6 when his Rain Swords will deal greater damage every third sword shatter. Like the other build, you will want to max out his burst and skill. Xingqiu’s normal attack is optional for this build unless you equip him with a 5-star weapon like the Skyward Blade.
The Sacrificial Sword is the recommended weapon for this build because it will allow you to recharge his burst more often. It has energy recharge as its secondary stat and has the chance to end the cooldown of his elemental skill after damaging an enemy. Use his weapon for more consistent use of both his burst and skill. However, it will require you to build Crit Rate and Crit DMG in his artifact sets. The Skyward Blade is another good option and can increase Xingqiu’s energy recharge and Crit Rate. However, this weapon does require Xingqiu to use his normal attack and stay on the field.
Xingqiu’s other weapon choice is the Harbinger of Dawn, a 3-star weapon that will increase CRIT DMG. Its secondary effect can increase Xingqiu’s Crit Rate when his health is 90% or more. This works well with Xingqiu, as he can switch to another character to avoid taking damage and stay healthy until it is time to use his burst again. At max refinement level, Xingqiu will have an increase of 28% to his Crit Rate! The Festering Desire can also work, but the Harbinger of Dawn will outperform it. The Festering Desire does give you extra Energy Recharge, but sacrifices the damage output from his Rain Swords that the Harbinger of Dawn provides. The Festering Desire‘s effects also only work on his elemental skill and not his burst.
You can also use the Blackcliff Sword, which can be earned at the Starglitter Exchange. This weapon increases Xingqiu’s Crit DMG. Currently, this is the only 4-star weapon that will increase the wearer’s Crit DMG. It will also increase Xingqiu’s ATK after defeating an enemy. The Black Sword from the battle pass will also work to increase his Crit Rate. Both of these weapons require Xingqiu to stay on the field and attack.
For his recommended artifact set, a 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth will increase Xingqiu’s elemental burst and Hydro DMG. This set will boost the power of his swords when they hit an enemy. A 2-piece Heart of Depth will also give Xingqiu an additional 3% of DMG reduction for his Rain Swords. A 4-piece Noblesse Oblige will also work to provide more ATK% for your DPS character when they are switched in. A 4-piece Heart of Depth isn’t recommended as Xingqiu won’t benefit from its buff if he doesn’t use his normal attack.
Read more about the Heart of Depth artifact set: Click Here
For his artifact’s stats, go for Energy Recharge Sands and Hydro DMG Bonus% on Goblet. This will ensure Xingqiu recharges his burst more efficiently while boosting the power of both his skill and burst. For the Circlet, aim for Crit DMG or Crit Rate. This will depend on what your sub-stats look like. If you already have 50% Crit Rate from your artifacts, then it is safe to go for a Crit DMG Circlet. For the sub-stats, focus on Energy Recharge, Crit Rate, Crit DMG, ATK%, and ATK. EM will also work to power the damage from his reactions. Energy recharge will be the most important stats you should focus on as Xingqiu’s burst is viably important for this build. Crit Rate and Crit DMG will also be necessary to maximize the damage dealt from his critical hits.
Recommended Party Members
Diluc is a powerful Pyro DPS unit that can benefit from the damage reduction and Hydro support of Xingqiu to trigger the reaction vaporize.
Bennett is another powerful support character that can enhance everyone’s attack and heal with his burst. Having two pyro units will also grant everyone an 18% buff to their ATK.
Tartaglia is a powerful Hydro DPS unit that works well with a C2 Xingqiu. Having two Hydro characters will also increase the healing from Xingqiu’s Rain Swords and recharge both their bursts faster.
Diona can provide Cryo reactions and heal the team. She can also debuff enemy attacks to further reduce the damage taken with Xingqiu’s Rain Swords.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Can consistently apply Hydro on enemies | DMG reduction only works on your character in co-op |
| Good support for DPS characters in single player | Long cooldown on both his elemental skill and burst |
| Passive talent allows you to save talent books when crafting | Normal attack’s damage output is low |
Recommended Domains: Clear Pool & Mountain Cavern, Taishan Mountain, Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula, Pyro Regisvine
Conclusion
Xingqiu is a powerful support character that can provide DMG reduction and reliable Hydro DMG in both his elemental skill and burst. He does have a few shortcomings with his long skill cooldown and weak normal attack output. However, Xingqiu works best in the background as his skills can provide other characters DMG reduction and health regeneration. Overall, he is a solid character that can work well in many teams. Xingqiu is decent to use at C0, but should be at C1 to maximize his support potential.
What do you think of Xingqiu? Is there anything I missed? Let us know in the comments below! You can also reach out through our Twitter or my Discord handle Seyfrid#2589.
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*Images of gameplay owned by miHoYo
The Informal Gamer 