There are plenty of other characters that are miles ahead of her in all three of those roles. Because of this, it’s never recommended to build Xinyan for meta reasons. Instead, she’s more of a unit that you use because you like her, not because she’s strong. Note: This is based on meta only. If you like Xinyan regardless of her power level, don’t let this stop you from using her.
Pros & Cons
Xinyan Strengths
Xinyan has three different playstyles: Physical DPS, Pyro DPS, and support. Each one has a different build, gameplay, and team. As such, she does have a wide variety of comps that she can fit into. Here’s a deeper comparison between her playstyles.
Xinyan Weaknesses
Xinyan’s damage pales in comparison to most DPS units in the game. Xinyan is among the weaker Physical DPS units in-game, but she is viable. Without a C6 Bennett, Xinyan can just be an off-field DPS that occasionally deals Pyro damage through her skill and burst. This playstyle is less effective since her damage output is significantly less. Alternatively, she can also use a hybrid build between Physical and Pyro for this setup. It’s less efficient, but it works. As a DPS, this is Xinyan’s best build. It effectively lets her benefit from really strong teammates – namely, Bennett, Kazuha, and Xiangling. These include: shielding, cleanse, Pyro battery, off-field Pyro application, Physical damage bonus, Physical resistance shred, and 4pc. Tenacity of the Millelith ATK buffs. Almost all of these heavily rely on Xinyan’s level 3 shield. This can only be proceed through her burst (at C2) or when her skill hits 2+ opponents. This means that it has significantly lower uptime without C2 – or no uptime at all against single-target at C0. As a Physical DPS, her damage is decent at best. She greatly falls behind other Physical DPS units like Eula and Razor. As a Pyro DPS, she’s very often carried by her teammates – especially in Mono Pyro with Bennett, Xiangling, and Kazuha. So although the team is good, it’s really not because of Xinyan’s damage – it’s her 3 other teammates being really strong units. Xinyan’s skill has a relatively long cooldown of 18s. This poses two main problems: lower shield uptime (at C0) and less energy particle generation. Her lower shield uptime is mainly a problem for support builds. This is because most of her supporting abilities heavily rely on having her shield active. Without it, she loses a significant amount of utility. Plus, her shielding is weaker than most shielders in-game, so it’s pretty easy to break. And when it does, you have to wait for her long cooldown to end before recasting. There’s simply no other way of proccing her shield (at C0). Energy-wise, this also means that she has to build a bit more Energy Recharge (ER) for her burst. Since Xinyan can only cast her skill once per rotation, her particle generation is generally not enough to charge her burst every rotation. She would need a slightly higher ER of around 150%. This weakness is very similar to her having underwhelming damage. Xinyan can fill many roles and fit into many teams. But if she deals lower damage than other units that could also fit in that team, there’s simply no reason to use her. This also applies to her role as a support – she’s basically very inconsistent. Xinyan heavily relies on her level 3 shield to provide buffs to her teammates, but (1) it needs at least 2 opponents for it to proc, (2) it needs C2 to have decent uptime, and (3) it’s weaker compared to most shields in-game. Her skill also has a bug where hitting 2+ opponents can still not proc her level 3 shield.
Are Xinyan’s Constellations Good?
Xinyan has many good constellations that mainly serve as quality-of-life and damage buffs. Her best one is C2, which is an early constellation – thus making it more accessible to players. This is a highly recommended pull. The rest of her constellations are also situationally good but underwhelming compared to C2. Because of this, they’re not worth actively pulling. You’ll just naturally get them while playing the game and pulling on gacha banners. Additionally, here’s a closer look at each one of her constellations.
C1: Fatal Acceleration
Upon dealing a CRIT hit, Xinyan’s normal and charged attacks gain a 12% increased attack speed for 5s. This can only occur once every 5s. This is a nice quality-of-life constellation that also gives a tiny damage gain. It’s especially useful for an On-field DPS Xinyan.
C2: Impromptu Opening
The Physical damage of Xinyan’s burst has its CRIT rate increased to 100%. And it will form a level 3 shield when cast. This is Xinyan’s strongest constellation – and it benefits all of her different playstyles. Plus, C2 effectively increases her C1’s uptime by scoring a guaranteed CRIT hit. It also increases her shield uptime.
C3: Double Stop
Increases her elemental skill talent by 3. This effectively increases Xinyan’s skill damage and shield strength. It’s most beneficial for her support build.
C4: Wildfire Rhythm
The initial hit of Xinyan’s skill decreases the opponents’ Physical resistance by 15% for 12s. In a Physical DPS build, this benefits her own damage. In a support build, it benefits her teammates’ damage. C4 doesn’t affect her as a Pyro DPS.
C5: Screamin’ for an Encore
Increases her elemental burst talent by 3. This directly buffs her burst multipliers, which is a nice damage gain for a DPS build.
C6: Rockin’ in a Flaming World
Decreases the stamina consumption of her charged attacks by 30%. Her charged attacks also gain an ATK bonus equal to 50% of her DEF. This is an especially good constellation for an On-field DPS Xinyan. The stamina reduction effectively lets her perform more charged attacks. Plus, the DEF to ATK conversion serves as a direct damage buff.
