Comprehensive Guide to Building Nilou in Genshin Impact
Nilou, a 5-star Hydro character in Genshin Impact, offers a unique playstyle and excels in specific team compositions.
Her effectiveness is expected to grow with the introduction of future characters compatible with her abilities.
This guide offers a detailed understanding of how to effectively use Nilou, focusing on her strengths in Bloom team compositions and the potential for future synergies.
Let's dive in!
Comprehensive Guide to Nilou: Best Builds and Team Compositions
Nilou's Abilities and Talents
Elemental Skill: Dance of Haftkarsvar
Nilou's Elemental Skill, "Dance of Haftkarsvar," offers two distinct modes of use:
1. Pure Red State Activation
Initiate by pressing the skill button, dealing initial Hydro damage based on Nilou's HP.
Follow-up options:
- Skill Spamming: Hit the skill button three more times for multiple Hydro damage instances and leave a Hydro-aura that persists even after switching characters.
- Normal Attack Conversion: Instead of skill spamming, normal attacks can be converted into Hydro damage for 8 seconds, resulting in a powerful final swing.
2. Skill Versatility
The skill remembers the attack sequence, even after a pause, ensuring the next activation continues from where it was left off.
Elemental Burst: Dance of Abzendegi
Nilou's Elemental Burst is a straightforward Hydro attack with unique characteristics:
Hydro Nuke: When activated, it delivers AoE Hydro damage around Nilou, scaling with her HP.
Delayed Hydro Explosion: After the initial hit, enemies are marked for a subsequent explosion that deals another round of Hydro damage.
HP Scaling Efficiency: The burst's effectiveness is tied to Nilou's HP, making HP-focused builds particularly potent.
Passive Talents
Nilou's passive talents are critical for her role in Bloom teams:
Court of Dancing Petals
Activated after completing the third dance step of the Elemental Skill.
Buffs party members with increased Elemental Mastery (100 points) when hit by Dendro attacks.
Transforms standard Dendro cores into Bountiful cores, which burst quickly, have a larger AoE, and are exclusive to Dendro-Hydro reactions.
Dreamy Dance of Aeons
Each 1000 HP over 30,000 grants a 9% damage increase to Bountiful cores.
High HP builds increased Bloom reaction damage, making HP stacking a priority.
Talent Priority
Elemental Skill
Nilou has a unique Elemental Skill that can be executed in two ways: a three-step dance dealing Hydro damage, or infusing her normal attacks with Hydro.
If you're using Nilou as a Hydro applicator in a Bloom team, this skill is crucial for setting up reactions.
Prioritize it if Nilou's role is to facilitate elemental reactions. However, if you're focusing on her as a DPS, this might be a secondary priority.
Elemental Burst
This burst deals AoE Hydro damage and leaves a mark that explodes for additional damage.
This is generally a high priority if you're building Nilou as a main DPS or if you rely on her burst for significant Hydro damage in your team's rotation.
It's less of a priority in support-focused roles where her Elemental Skill and passives play a more central role.
Normal Attack
Nilou's normal attacks can be infused with Hydro, making them versatile for various combat situations.
If you're using Nilou as a main DPS, especially in a Vaporize or Hydro-based team, prioritize her normal attack.
For support or Bloom reaction roles, this is usually the lowest priority.
Building Nilou: Artifacts
Tenacity of the Millelith (4-piece)
This set boosts HP by 20% and increases the attack of all party members when your Elemental Skill hits an opponent.
Given Nilou's scaling with HP and her role in enhancing team performance, this set synergizes well with her kit.
Deepwood Memories (4-piece)
Reduces Dendro RES of enemies hit by Dendro attacks by 30%.
This set is ideal if Nilou is part of a Dendro-heavy team focused on Bloom reactions.
One of your team members should have this set; it can be Nilou if no one else does.
Mix of Tenacity of Millelith + Other Sets
Tenacity of Millelith gives Nilou a 20% HP bonus, and you can pair this set with Gilded Dreams (Elemental Mastery +80), Noblesse Oblige (Elemental Burst Damage +20%) or Heart of Depth (Hydro Damage +15%).
Artifact Main Stats
- Sands: HP% or Energy Recharge. HP% is generally preferred to enhance Nilou's Bloom-related abilities and burst damage, but if you're struggling with energy generation, consider Energy Recharge.
- Goblet: HP%. Since Nilou’s abilities scale with her HP, maximizing this stat is crucial for both her damage output and her Bloom reaction enhancement.
- Circlet: HP% or Crit Rate/Damage (if using her as DPS). HP% remains the primary focus, but if you have her constellations and want to maximize personal damage, Crit stats can be useful.
Artifact Sub-Stats
- HP: Flat HP and HP% are the most desirable sub-stats to amplify Nilou's HP scaling.
- Energy Recharge: Helps maintain her Elemental Burst uptime, crucial for consistent Hydro application.
- Elemental Mastery: While Nilou’s kit benefits from HP, Elemental Mastery can be useful in increasing the damage of Bloom reactions she facilitates.
- Crit Rate/Damage: Only prioritize these if you're focusing on her DPS aspect, especially with higher constellations.
Building Nilou: Weapons
Signature Weapon: Key of Khaj-Nisut
Provides a significant boost to Nilou's HP, directly enhancing her abilities that scale with HP.
Additionally, it increases the Elemental Mastery of Nilou and nearby party members based on her max HP when her Elemental Skill hits an opponent.
This weapon is tailor-made for Nilou, enhancing both her damage output and team support capabilities.
The HP% stat perfectly aligns with her HP-scaling abilities, while the Elemental Mastery boost further increases her effectiveness in Bloom reaction teams.
Favonius Sword
Generates energy particles on CRIT hits, helping in faster energy regeneration for Nilou and her team.
Favonius Sword is a great alternative, particularly for players who don’t have Nilou’s signature weapon.
The Energy Recharge stat helps maintain a consistent uptime for Nilou's Elemental Burst, essential for continuous Hydro application.
Sacrificial Sword
Provides a chance to reset the cooldown of Nilou’s Elemental Skill after using it.
This weapon offers similar benefits to the Favonius Sword in terms of Energy Recharge.
Its passive ability can be particularly useful in extending Nilou’s on-field presence and enhancing her Hydro application capabilities.
Other Notable Options
Xiphos' Moonlight: Offers Elemental Mastery plus extra Energy Recharge per EM point.
Freedom-Sworn: Offers Elemental Mastery as the secondary stat and a team damage buff, aligning well with reaction-based teams.
Festering Desire: Offers extra Energy Recharge, Skill DMG and Skill Crit Rate.
Blackcliff Longsword and The Black Sword: These weapons offer CRIT-related stats and are more suited for a DPS-focused Nilou, especially at higher constellations.
Prototype Rancour: A free-to-play option that increases ATK and DEF on hit, offering some balance between offense and defense.
Nilou's Constellations
C1: Dance of the Waning Moon
Extends the duration of the "Dance of Haftkarsvar" state by 6 seconds.
Also, the third dance step will unleash the Level 2 Charged Attack.
This constellation supports an on-field DPS playstyle by allowing Nilou to maintain her Hydro-infused normal attacks for a longer duration, making it easier to execute and time her dance steps.
C2: The Starry Skies Their Flowers Rain
Opponents damaged by the bloom explosion of a Bountiful Core created by "Dance of the Lotus: Distant Dreams Listen to the Rain" have their Hydro and Dendro RES decreased by 35% for 8s.
Significantly boosts damage output in Bloom teams by reducing enemies' resistance to Hydro and Dendro, making this constellation particularly powerful for enhancing team-wide damage in reaction-focused compositions.
C4: Fricative Pulse
When characters affected by the Golden Chalice's Bounty deal Hydro DMG to opponents, Nilou's Elemental Burst CD is decreased by 1s (once every 1s) and she regenerates 3 Energy for them.
Enhances energy sustainability for Nilou and potentially for her team, allowing for more frequent use of her Elemental Burst.
C6: Frostbreaker's Melody
When characters affected by the Golden Chalice's Bounty deal Hydro DMG to opponents, their CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG are increased based on Nilou's Max HP: 0.6% CRIT Rate and 1.2% CRIT DMG for every 1,000 Max HP.
The maximum bonus is 30% CRIT Rate and 60% CRIT DMG.
Significantly boosts the DPS potential of Nilou and other Hydro characters in the team.
This constellation is particularly strong for maximizing Nilou’s personal damage output and enhancing her role in a DPS capacity.
Team Compositions with Nilou
Double Dendro & Double Hydro Composition
Bring two Dendro characters for consistent Dendro application and two Hydro characters, including Nilou, for Hydro application and healing.
For Dendro, the Dendro Traveler, Nahida, and Collei are common choices.
For the additional Hydro character, Kokomi or Barbara can be used for healing and additional Hydro application.
This composition maximizes the number of Bloom reactions, with Nilou's passives enhancing these reactions.
Dendro characters ensure a steady Dendro application, while Kokomi or Barbara offer sustained healing and Hydro application.
Triple Hydro & Single Dendro Composition
Focus more on Hydro characters with one Dendro character for triggering Blooms.
Alongside Nilou, characters like Xingqiu, Kokomi, or Ayato can be used for their Hydro abilities.
For Dendro, any available Dendro character will fit, but the Dendro Traveler is a common choice for their ease of use and accessibility.
This setup leans towards more Hydro damage but may compromise the frequency of Bloom reactions.
This composition can be effective in situations where Hydro damage is more beneficial, or when a strong Dendro character is not available.
Nilou in Vaporize Teams
Despite her niche in Bloom teams, Nilou can be incorporated into Vaporize teams, especially if players prefer using her as a main DPS.
Pairing her with Pyro characters like Xiangling or Bennett, and an Anemo support like Kazuha or Sucrose for elemental mastery buffs and crowd control.
In this setup, Nilou can focus on dealing Hydro damage, which is then increased through Vaporize reactions.
This is less optimal than her role in Bloom teams but can be a viable alternative for players without access to strong Dendro supports.
Advanced Tips and Strategies
Maximizing Bloom Reactions
Nilou's potential is maximized in teams focused on the Bloom reaction.
To leverage this, ensure constant Dendro application and adequate Hydro application without overdoing it.
The goal is to maintain the Dendro aura on enemies, allowing multiple Bloom reactions before it's removed.
Elemental Mastery Distribution
Distribute Elemental Mastery to the character primarily triggering the Bloom reactions, usually a Dendro or Hydro support.
Nilou should primarily focus on HP to boost the Bloom damage, making it crucial to balance her HP with the Elemental Mastery of other team members.
Tactical Skill Usage
Use Nilou's Elemental Skill strategically.
For support-focused play, quickly perform the dance steps and swap to another character to maintain Hydro application from the aura.
For DPS roles, integrate her normal attacks during the skill's duration for Hydro-infused attacks.
Burst Timing and Energy Management
Nilou's Burst scales with HP and offers substantial AoE Hydro damage.
Time its use to coincide with peak Dendro application for maximum Bloom effect.
Manage energy carefully, especially if not using an Energy Recharge weapon.
Final Thoughts
Nilou is a distinct and specialized character whose true potential is revealed within specific team compositions, primarily focused on the Bloom reaction.
As a Hydro character who thrives in Dendro-Hydro teams, she brings a unique playstyle to the game, offering new strategies and approaches to combat.
Her reliance on HP for scaling and her abilities to enhance Bloom reactions make her a high-tier unit in AoE scenarios, particularly against groups of enemies.
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