Genshin Impact Xinyan Build and Lore

Name: Xinyan

Vision: Pyro

Birthday: 16 October

Constellation: Fila Ignium

Titles: Blazing Riff, Rock n’ Roll Musician

Xinyan is a little unusual, somewhat like Eula in a few aspects. Xinyan is a Pyro user, and Eula is a Cryo user in Genshin Impact. However, both have a Physical Damage Burst instead of their respective elements. Well, okay, Xinyan gets a bit of Pyro Damage on her Burst, while Eula gets a Physical Damage nuke for hers.

At any rate, her Elemental Skill, Sweeping Fervor, makes her swipe her instrument in front of her. The action creates a shield around the active character that scales on her DEF stat. It has three levels, depending on how many enemies the attack hits.

If you miss or hit only one, you get the level 1 shield. Hit two and reach level 2 shields with higher damage absorption limits. When you hit three or more enemies, you get the strongest of her shields as well as intermittent AoE Pyro DMG.

Her first Ascension talent reduces that requirement by one. Missing will then grant level 1 shields, hitting one will create level 2 shields, and 2 or more will produce level 3. This makes her a little more helpful in battling mobs instead of bosses. That is unless the boss has multiple hitboxes that can be considered separate enemies.

Her Burst, Riff Revolution, lets her act something out of the climax of a concert. It deals AoE Physical DMG to nearby opponents. A second burst of AoE Pyro DMG follows closely after it and launches those targets into the air (if possible).

That Physical DMG benefits well from her second Ascension talent. It increases the active character’s Physical DMG bonus by 15% when shielded by Xinyan. Since it isn’t limited to her alone, just by her shields, it’s good news for any Physical DPS such as Eula or Razor.

Players dislike the split-scaling (DEF for shields, ATK for damage). Still, it allows her to be versatile and fit roles depending on her build.

Genshin Impact Xinyan Builds

Physical DPS

This build focuses on her Burst and AAs, upping Physical DMG and ATK for maximum damage output. Some energy Recharge is also needed to spam bursts, but it depends on your weapon or artifact set. Make sure to pick an appropriate weapon. It benefits the most from her C4 upgrade.

Possible Sets: Pale Flame, Bloodstained Chivalry, 2x Emblem of Severed Fate and the mentioned sets

Main Stats: ATK%/Energy Recharge, Phys DMG Bonus, Crit Rate/DMG

Substats: Crit DMG/Rate, ATK, ER

Burst DPS

If you want to keep spamming her Burst and deal significant damage while doing so, this is the build for you. With Emblem of Severed Fate, you can spam her Burst and deal bonus damage based on her ER. You can also use the sets from the above build but focus on getting a bit more ER for proper charge rates.

Possible Sets: Emblem of Severed Fate, sets mentioned above

Main Stats: ER/ATK%, Phys DMG Bonus, Crit Rate/DMG

Substats: Crit DMG/Rate, ER, ATK

Shielder/Supporter

Instead of damage, this build focuses on her more supportive abilities. Her shields scale of DEF, so that’s what we want to raise. Since the level 3 shield effects are considered Elemental Skill damage, she can use the Tenacity of the Millelith’s 4-set to buff allies. Otherwise, the staple Noblesse Oblige will do when she uses her Burst.

Possible Sets: Tenacity of the Millelith, Noblesse Oblige, 2x Husk of Opulent Dreams and Defender’s Will

Main Stats: 3x DEF or ER timepiece and 2x DEF

Substats: DEF, ER, EM

Weapons

Xinyan doesn’t have a playable signature weapon, though, in lore, her ‘guitar’ can actually be used as one. Here are the weapons she can use:

• Redhorn Stonethresher
• Skyward Pride
• Wolf’s Gravestone
• The Unforged
• Whiteblind
• Prototype Archaic
• Sacrificial Greatsword
• Serpent Spine
• Luxurious Sea-Lord
• Favonius Greatsword
• Royal Greatsword
• Snow-Tombed Starsilver
• Akuoumaru
• Debate Club
• Skyrider Greatsword
• Ferrous Shadow

Make sure to match the weapon substat and passive to your desired build!

Genshin Impact Xinyan Lore

Xinyan started out from a low-income family. Her parents put their hopes and dreams onto her and designated her as their ‘phoenix.’ Yet, even the best-laid plans don’t survive contact with the enemy (in this case, real life).

Xinyan grew taller than other girls, and her face was anything but ‘cute.’ In fact, she had a most ferocious face that children would run away or cry at the sight of her. It causes people to avoid her when in line for a snack and gives her aura an imposing flair. She tries her best not to trouble or scare other people, but it doesn’t always work.

More than that, she had no talent for the usual feminine pursuits. Cooking, cleaning, and needlework all escape her understanding. It wasn’t until she realized what rock n’ roll meant that she found the strength and motivation to keep practicing those things.

Rock’ n’ roll always had the theme of resistance or rebellion. Rockers can have various ideas (or people) to resist or rebel against. For Xinyan, she’s against ‘prejudice.’ It’s a discriminatory idea that a girl as unfeminine as her would be bad at those usual pursuits, so to rebel against that, she practiced hard. After all, ‘giving up because you don’t have talent’ is a kind of prejudice as well. That and she doesn’t like to lose.

So, you’ll never expect it from her looks, but now she can do all those things well. Yun Jin, a famous performer in Liyue and a fan of hers, visited her once in her home. The performer was surprised that the house was well-kept. The stove was recently cleaned (meaning it was used a while ago), the windows sparkled, and the ornaments were well-arranged and handmade. If Xinyan was not the one who opened the door, the house could have been mistaken for the home of a refined lady!

Her instrument is also one of a kind, as she’s the one who built it. From the blade on its one end to its various failsafes, it’s lovingly handcrafted and modeled after instruments from Fontaine. While some might think some of her more excessive modifications are useless, it’s best to watch her perform before judging.

She performs anywhere, mainly because the Millelith is on guard because she tends to burn her stage. In the interest of fire hazards and preventing her from starting a big one, the guards only want the citizens to be safe. Eventually, they were won over by her music, becoming her fans. Since nobody gets hurt from her performances, the Millelith lets her go.

Because of her fierce-looking face and air of rebellion, not many people are brave enough to befriend her. The only one Xinyan can call her friend is Xiangling, the chef from Wanmin Restaurant. She’s one of the few who can tolerate the chef’s experiments and eats it all for inspiration. However, Xiangling doesn’t know what to do about her comments about the food.

Being against prejudice, Xinyan hopes that Liyue will come to accept her and rock n’ roll in time. She thinks it’s why adults are anxious and worried and why they don’t seem to realize their potential. Her music is the method to communicate that if only they’d listen. Then again, her music can plant seeds, and eventually, it’ll grow into understanding.