Genshin Impact Xingqiu DPS Support In-Depth Guide

by Not-Casuals

Xingqiu is a character that has been neglected heavily by most of the Global community due to a lot of miss informed tier lists ranking him badly, as well as having a pretty unique Set that most people did not understand at first. Meanwhile, he is most likely the best performing DPS Support Character in the game and is definitely worth of an S+ Tier Support role as he is probably the character with the most Burst Damage and Elemental Combo Enabling Potential in the game.

In this guide, I will focus on his BURST DPS SUPPORT Build, since that is what he does best and how his Kit is designed, though this character can also make a very decent Main DPS if built appropriately (and some stat/weapon priorities would obviously be different). I will go over his Kit and Abilities and explain how to make them work for your team, as well as talk about his talents which to level first. I will also talk about his constellations and note his power spikes. Next, I will go over his Stat Priorities, his Weapon Choices and his Best Artifact Sets. Lastly, I will give some Gameplay Tips on how to use him and some great Team Comp options!

Abilities

• The way Xingqiu works as a support is quite straightforward. His Kit will allow you to summon Water Swords that will basically grant you a buff/aura for a certain period of time, and will transfer to other characters when switching. That Sword Aura will then grant your characters with different bonuses, such as damage reduction and some healing. During his ult, those sword will attack with your characters and will enable tons of Hydro Related Elemental Combos, as well as do incredible high damage!

1. His Normal/Charged Attacks are quite standard, with pretty decent scaling. In a support build, you will not really use these much though.
2. His Elemental Skill (E) is a very powerful Hydro Damage Burst attack that will activate an Aura of Swords around you. Those rain swords will help you resist interruptions as well as break, one at a time, when you take damage and reduce the damage you take. This scales with Hydro Damage as well (up to 24% More Dmg Reduction) and is a VERY good Defensive ability against big burst damage in the Abyss for example. This ability will make your character “wet” and will summon 3 Swords as well as generate a lot of energy for your Ult so it should be used on cooldown for that purpose! Note that it does not stack with the Ult so try not to use them both at the same time if possible for optimal uptime on the sword aura. This aura lasts for 15 seconds and has 21 seconds of cooldown.
3. His Elemental Burst Ult (Q) will summon your Sword Aura around you again, which will mirror the effects of the Elemental Skill completely for the full duration of the Ult. Note that swords will NOT break while the Ult Aura is active so it will make you take reduced damage for the whole 15 seconds. Additionally, those swords will now attack with your Active Characters Normal Attacks. This adds a LOT of damage as well as procs Water Elemental Combos like crazy and is the entire reason why Xingqiu is so powerful as a support, basically giving you tons of extra DPS and Combo Possibilities. This is the ability you want to use before going in for a burst phase on a boss or strong monster, just make sure you are actually going to be doing normal attacks afterwards to maximize its potential, as it only triggers from those attacks, not from charged attacks or skill use.
4. His First Talent Hydropathic, will heal the current character by 6% of Xingqiu’s Max HP when one of the Swords from the Aura Breaks or Expires, which is a very nice amount of extra healing on top of the damage reduction!
5. His Second Talent Blades Amidst Raindrops, simply adds 20% Hydro Damage Bonus, a very powerful buff to his Damage.
6. His Passive Talent is actually one of the most amazing ones in the game, as it will let you get extra free Talent Upgrade Material Books when crafting them, which basically saves you Resin!

• When Leveling up the Talents, Prioritize the Ult First, then the Elemental Skill. You do not really need to level up the Normal Attack Talent if using him purely as a support.

Constellations

• The First Constellation increases the amount of Swords in his Aura from 3 to 4, which is a very powerful buff to both his Damage Reduction and Healing!
• The Second Constellation increases the duration of the ult by 3 seconds, which is a big buff, as well as reduces the Hydro Resistance of enemies by 15%, which is VERY STRONG for some team comps, or just for his own damage.
• The Fourth Constellations makes it so that your Elemental Skill (E) Damage is increased by 50% while your Ult is active. This is also absolutely amazing as you will be casting that ability during the ult at least once or twice in order to regenerate Energy!
• The Sixth Constellation is completely busted. It will make your ult do insane damage every 3 proc, while also regenerating 3 energy every time the enhanced swords attack with your character. This will make it so your Ult Cooldown regen quite a bit faster as well as boost its damage like crazy. If you have this unlocked, level this character up right away.

Stat Priority

• Energy Recharge is the most important since it allows you to have your Ult more often and generate more Energy when using your E, which is what allows him to be a great support enabler. 200/250% Energy Recharge is what you want to aim at! Hydro Damage is also a very important Stat to have on him, as it boost his Ult Damage but also the Damage Reduction the swords give you. Crit Rate/DMG is also very good as it will enhance the damage he does by a lot! Elemental Mastery could be valuable as well if your swords are often the ones creating Elemental Combos.
• You will want to make sure to have Energy Recharge on the Sands, Hydro Damage on the Goblet and Crit or Crit Damage on the Circlet
• For Secondary Stats, Energy Recharge is the highest priority, then Crit Rate/DMG and lastly ATK/ATK%/Elemental Mastery can all be okay. As always, it will be best to try and keep a ratio of 1:2 Crit Rate/Crit DMG.

Weapons

1. Skyward Blade is going to be the obvious best option since it is a 5 star, which means more Base DMG and higher scaling ult, and also has Energy Recharge which is obviously amazing! The Extra Crit rate and Effects can also prove very good!
2. Sacrificial Sword is most likely his best 4 Star option, due to the fact that it gives Energy Recharge as well as the effect which gives you a chance to reset the cooldown on the Elemental Skill. This allows him to basically fully charge his Elemental Burst ULT if you get a proc on the sword, which is insanely valuable, specially because of how long the cooldown is on the E usually!
3. Favonius Sword is another great option, since it also has Energy Recharge and the Passive Effect can really help with energy Recharge as well!
4. Even though Energy Recharge is optimal, other options could involve literally any of the weapons with Crit Rate and Crit Damage such as the BP Weapon, or the Starglitter Weapons and some of the Weapons with ATK will also be decent, such as the Flute, but, because you will be using him only for his supportive abilities, you will almost NEVER use his Normal Attacks, or stay on the character for very long, so the vast majority of the effects on these weapons will be completely wasted.
5. If you manage to get very powerful gear with a lot of Energy Recharge and you are in the late game switching to a Crit Damage or Crit Rate weapon can provide you with a lot of damage increase and could be more viable than Energy Recharge Weapon, though it will be hard to make any weapon better than Sacrificial Sword on him and you will have to make sure you have enough Energy Recharge to have you ult uptime at almost 100% before it will be worth it in my opinion.
6. For F2P Options**, Iron Sting** is probably the best Craftable Option, but using that you will have to try and make sure Xingqiu’s Sword Effects are the ones triggering elemental combos, or the elemental mastery on the sword would be wasted. Sadly, when playing him as a support, any weapon without Energy Recharge will be quite lackluster, so as a 3 Star Option, Skyrider Sword will actually be viable for that reason!

Artifacts

1. 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige is most likely the best option for him, the 2-Piece bonus does work with increasing his Ult DMG, and because of how often you use the ult, the 4-Piece Bonus is applied constantly and is amazing to have in any party.
2. 4-Piece Exile, 4-Piece Scholar, or 2-Piece of each set will all be quite viable options, depending on what your party needs are, as they all provide different types of Energy Recharge Mechanics, but sadly, as these items do not have 5 Star Version, they will not be the best options in the late game. Until then, though, feel free to use them as they are more than good enough!
3. Other Options could include a mix of 2-Piece Noblesse with 2-Piece Gladiator or 2-Piece Exile/Scholar.
4. When there is a Hydro Set Available, 2-Piece Noblesse and 2-Piece Hydro Set will most likely be the best option.
5. Note that there are certain builds that will try and focus on Xingqiu as a healer, and Maiden Beloved could be a set that works on him in that situation, though there are better characters to use as healers in your party and Xingqiu’s best potential is always goind to be as a DPS Support due to the nature of his Kit.

Team comps and Tips

• Xingqiu’s best potential Comps are going to be when pairing him with a Main DPS with Fast Attack speed who also triggers a lot of elemental reactions. Great Candidates include Keqing, Fischl, Klee as well as Diluc, Razor and Beidou. There are MANY more characters that could be included, but these are the ones who can apply their elements very often while also using their Normal Attacks a lot.
• He also pairs extremely well with Chongyun for a Freeze/Shatter Comp, it is basically a must for that comp!
• If you are pairing him with Characters such as Tartaglia or Mona, having the 2nd Constellation unlocked will provide an incredible boost by reducing enemies Hydro Resistance, as well as provide Hydro Resonance which will increase healing!
• One of the best way to use the Water Element is by utilizing the Vaporize Effect. Note that if a Fire Ability Triggers Vaporize, it will do 150% Damage, while if a Hydro Ability Triggers Vaporize, it will do 200% Damage, but in any situation, its free extra damage so its amazing, and he is one of the best support for Main DPS Pyro Characters for that reason.
• The great thing about Him is that there is almost no Character that would not Benefit from having him in the team, and it is one of the reason he is so crazy powerful. He enables Freeze and Shatter with Cryo Characters, Electro-Charge with Electro Characters, Vaporize with Pyro Characters and even Crystallize with Geo Characters. With certain Anemo Characters, he can also provide a great tool, though not many of them are usually built in a way that they use their Normal Attacks, other than Jean.

Let me know what you think of Xingqiu so far! He has been underestimated by many, but he is part of most top players team comp in the Abyss for a reason! Hope you enjoyed this guide!