Plus Xiangling can also fill a lot of other roles aside from being a DPS, and she works well in each one. She simply excels in almost every battle content – both single-target and AOE. One of her only downsides is her high energy requirements, which is unfavorable for early-game players that can’t get a lot of Energy Recharge. Additionally, a lot of her potential is locked behind constellations – particularly, her C4. So although she’s already strong at C0 and baseline, higher investment is very valuable. Note: This is based on meta only. If you like Xiangling regardless of her power level, don’t let this stop you from playing her.
Pros & Cons
Xiangling Strengths
Xiangling is a free unit that you can easily obtain at the start of the game. And this is by clearing floor 3-3 of Spiral Abyss – don’t worry, it’s still a relatively easy floor even with low-leveled characters. So every player likely has Xiangling in their account – which is great, you already have a powerful DPS at your disposal. One of the things that make Xiangling really good is her strong damage output. So she’s great against both single-target and AOE. But aside from good multipliers in her burst, she works well with a lot of powerful units that further buff her damage. The most notable one is Bennett. Bennett is Xiangling’s staple teammate thanks to their incredible synergy. He provides a significant ATK buff that Xiangling can snapshot, has good energy generation that helps charge Xiangling’s burst, and enables Pyro resonance. Xiangling also synergizes well with a variety of Anemo support units, Raiden, and Hydro units with good Hydro application – all of these contribute to her high DPS output. Basically, having access to a lot of good supports makes her even better. Xiangling has multiple strong F2P weapons and plenty of artifact options. One of her best 4-star weapons is The Catch R5, which is a free polearm obtained from fishing. This is an incredible weapon that many polearm users can also use, so it’s always nice to have. Similarly, her best artifact set – 4pc. Emblem of Severed Fate (4EoSF) – is also very versatile. It works well with any DPS character that mainly deals damage through their burst, such as Xingqiu, Beidou, and Yelan – and these characters are also really strong units. Plus, 4EoSF is placed in a very resin-efficient domain. It shares the same domain as Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, which is another good artifact set that a variety of characters can use. But Xiangling can also use a mix of other artifact sets like Crimson Witch of Flames, Noblesse Oblige, Wanderer’s Troupe, and any ATK set. It’s basically easy to build her – you have a lot of options. Xiangling has plenty of team options. This is mostly thanks to her strong off-field damage and Pyro application. So she can easily enable and trigger Pyro-related reactions. Some of her many teams that benefit from these are: Vaporize teams, Overvape teams, Mono-Pyro, and Reverse Melt teams.
Xiangling Weaknesses
Xiangling needs a lot of energy to charge her expensive 80-cost burst. This includes having upwards of 200% Energy Recharge and Bennett to help generate more Pyro energy particles. And energy management is often needed to make sure she gets her burst every rotation. Building a bit more ER can also make her feel more comfortable to play and require less energy management – but it can nerf her damage. Having high energy requirements is especially difficult in early-game when you can’t get a lot of ER. Because of this, Xiangling can feel like a bad unit to play for early-game or more casual players. Her gameplay is straightforward, but there are still nuances on how to play her effectively. And this includes having some knowledge of her rotations – specifically on how to funnel energy into her burst. Xiangling’s high energy requirements ties her to a Pyro battery, usually Bennett. The synergy between these two is really good, so this isn’t much of a problem. However, Bennett is a highly contested unit that also benefits a lot of other characters. Because of this, you can have a difficult time drafting Spiral Abyss teams if both of your teams want Bennett. Still, most teams around patch 3.0 have grown less reliant on Bennett, so you now have plenty of Bennett-less team options. C4 is a significant damage and quality-of-life for Xiangling. It extends her burst duration and makes it fit her rotations better. Plus it just makes her feel better and smoother to play. She is still a good unit before C4 but not that good. Instead, C4 is a very valuable constellation for unlocking most of her potential. However, this can take some time to unlock since specific 4-stars can be harder to get than 5-star units.
Are Xiangling’s Constellations Good?
Xiangling has great constellations! They’re highly recommended pulls if you plan on playing her – most notably her C4. Xiangling’s C4 extends her elemental burst duration by 40%. This is a significant damage and quality-of-life buff that basically unlocks most of her potential. So C1-C3 are also worth pulling simply because they bring you closer to C4 – but these three are also pretty good constellations in their own right. Regardless, Xiangling is a 4-star whose constellations you’ll naturally get while playing. Plus you can even purchase her constellations from the Starglitter Exchange shop every six months.
C1: Crispy Outside, Tender Inside
Guoba’s attacks decrease 15% Pyro resistance of the opponents hit. This lasts for 6s. It’s a good constellation that serves as a damage boost to all Pyro units in your team.
C2: Oil Meets Fire
The last attack of Xiangling’s normal attack string applies an Implode status onto the opponent for 2s. This triggers an explosion once its duration ends and deals 75% ATK as AOE Pyro damage. You will rarely reach the last attack of her normal attack string, so this effect is pretty irrelevant. Plus the damage gained from C2 isn’t enough to justify changing your rotations just to use it.
C3: Deepfry
Increases her elemental burst talent level by 3. This increases her burst’s damage multipliers. It’s a great constellation that serves as a direct, unconditional damage boost.
C4: Slowbake
Increases her burst duration by 40%. This is Xiangling’s best and strongest constellation by far. It’s a significant damage gain and quality-of-life upgrade. It also smoothens her rotations with units that have longer uptimes – like Xingqiu’s burst. So there’s no longer an awkward gap where Xiangling’s burst immediately ends while other abilities are still there. Plus it improves her off-field Pyro application. This makes her overall better as a Pyro enabler in teams like Reverse Melt.
C5: Guoba Mad
Increases her elemental skill talent level by 3. This is a small damage gain overall, but it’s a nice buff to Guoba’s damage.
C6: Condensed Pyronado
During Xiangling’s burst duration, all party members receive a 15% Pyro damage bonus. Her own burst doesn’t benefit from this, so it’s not a notable buff for Xiangling. However, it does buff other Pyro units in your team – so it’s great for Mono-Pyro teams or Double-Pyro DPS teams.
