Yelan

Emiliabyss#1641, KB#1111

Last updated for 2.7 on Oct 10, 2024

“What do you think your odds of beating me are, when I have seven dice and you, only one?”

Abstract

Levelling

Level to 90 for HP. Level Skill and Burst to 9+. Burst > Skill > Normals

Constellations

C1 +26% | C2 +23% | C3 +12% | C4 +9% | C5 +2% | C6 +31%

Skill, Burst, Swap (.... Swap Back, Skill, Swap)

Artifact Set

4pc Emblem; 2pc Mix & Match (HP%, ER%, Hydro%, Burst%)

  • HP% or ER% / DMG% or HP% / CRIT% or HP% [HP/DMG/Crit preferred]
  • Substat Priority: ER% > Crit% > HP% > EM
Weapons at ~225% ER (W/O Battery / Solo Hydro Unit)
  1. Aqua Simulacra - Signature, limited 5-star weapon || ~$200+?
  2. Elegy for the End - Limited 5-star weapon - best for EM teams || $200+?
  3. Favonius Warbow - Obtained through game progress || $0
  4. Sacrificial Bow (R3+) || $???
  5. Polar Star // Fading Twilight R5 $0-200+
  6. Mouun’s Moon R5 || $???
Weapons at ~160% ER (W/ Battery and/or 2+ Hydro’s)
  1. Aqua Simulacra - Signature, limited 5-star weapon || ~$200+?
  2. Elegy for the End - Limited 5-star weapon - best for EM teams || $200+?
  3. Polar Star, Thundering Pulse, Skyward Harp - Limited 5-stars || ~$200+?
  4. Mouun’s Moon R5, Stringless R5 - 4-star gacha weapon || $???
  5. Slingshot, Fading Twilight R5 - 3-star, 4-star event weapon || $0
Teammates

Excellent battery + Anemo + On-Field DPS

  • Raiden / Kazuha or Anemo Flex / Xingqiu, Bennett, or Flex
  • Hu Tao / Kazuha or Flex / Xingqiu
  • Sucrose / Fischl / Xingqiu
  • Ayato / Fischl / Flex

Introduction

Why Should You Play Yelan?

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People who enjoy using powerful Elemental Bursts for consistent off-field damage will also enjoy the raw damage numbers Yelan provides to the team. Xingqiu players will likely feel somewhat at home with Yelan, due to their similar playstyles in supporting an auto-attacking on-field DPS. Yelan is gifted with a vast array of team compositions, and together with Xingqiu, she forms a pair as powerful on its own as Xiangling and Bennett.

In short, Yelan and Xingqiu visit the same hair stylist.

What is Yelan's role in a team?

Yelan is a Hydro-based off-field DPS, with little field time required compared to other team roles. While leveling a character to 90 is usually good, it is especially important with Yelan, as she scales with her Max HP, which benefits far more from the extra levels than ATK does.

When using Yelan on your team, she’ll mainly be dealing momentary on-field damage with her Skill and consistent off-field damage with her Burst. Teams utilizing Yelan will primarily be at least one battery/healer, a Viridescent Venerer-holder/healer, and an on-field DPS. Some teammates fulfill multiple roles, like the Raiden Shogun, who is both an on-field DPS and a powerful battery.

The biggest drawback of Yelan’s presence on your team is her obscene Energy Recharge requirements, requiring 225% or more when not paired with batteries and/or other Hydro units. When her team lowers her energy requirements, she makes up for it by maximizing her personal off-field damage.

Benefits

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  • Capable of dealing strong, consistent Hydro damage, with an extremely powerful Burst in every rotation. Basically, she has high multipliers.

  • Yelan’s best free-to-play weapon options are extremely accessible. No gacha required!

    • Her 4-star best-in-slot when she’s building tons of Energy Recharge, the Favonius Warbow, satisfies much of her Energy needs so she can run an HP% sands, on top of providing Energy for the entire party.
    • When her energy requirements are low, even the 3-star Slingshot shows up in the top five viable weapon options, which you can obtain from chests.
  • Yelan scales high with her constellations, more than doubling her damage (+150%) from C0 to C6. The jump from C0 to C2 is also a significant increase in both damage and playability.

  • Extremely flexible team compositions, with her ideal teammate, Xingqiu, being F2P-accessible. Almost any team at all can work with Yelan and Xingqiu together.

  • Does not need highly contested buffs to be viable, as her Skill and Burst do not scale off ATK. She competes with and sometimes surpasses Xingqiu when built similarly even when Xingqiu is stacking ATK buffs.

  • Can double as an excellent buffer when using Elegy of the End, combined with the ‘ramping buff’ that her Burst gives to your active character.

  • You can have the same useful Hydro application on a Burst for both Spiral Abyss teams with both Yelan and Xingqiu.

Drawbacks

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  • While Yelan is a flexible unit on her own, astronomical energy requirements force her to be paired with specific teammates (Raiden and/or Xingqiu, with Viridescent support) in order to show off her true power.

  • Yelan does not benefit at all from having an ATK stat or from receiving popular ATK bonuses that are on most teams, leaving them wasted on Yelan. The remaining outside buffs for Yelan are miniscule, mainly consisting of Hydro resistance-shred via Viridescent Venerer, Xingqiu’s constellations, Zhongli’s shield or Kazuha’s DMG% buff. The 4pc Archaic Petra set on a teammate can also be used to enhance Yelan’s damage.

  • Burst DPS Yelan is a stale playstyle, especially if you’ve been using Xingqiu all this time.

  • You can realistically get by just fine with Xingqiu and not roll for Yelan. As an individual character, Yelan is usually a “side-grade” to Xingqiu, neither objectively better nor worse; they’re balanced between each other based on a narrow range of circumstances.

    • If you don’t need a second source of off-field Hydro for your other Spiral Abyss team, or have no interest in running the Yelan+Xingqiu core in teams, she’s not going to be very exciting unless you appreciate her aesthetic qualities.
  • Yelan cannot provide the same defensive utility or level of Hydro application as Xingqiu. Xingqiu, after constellations, also has a longer-lasting Burst, which is especially important when paired with C4+ Xiangling.

  • Yelan’s damage is nearly entirely single-target.

  • She will cheat you out of everything you’ve ever loved or owned.

Character Overview

Yelan’s playstyle is heavily based on gathering enough energy to deploy her Elemental Burst

  1. Deploying her Elemental Burst to deal large amounts of consistent Hydro damage.
  2. Casting Yelan’s skill to generate energy with mild enemy-grouping.
  3. Weaving single Normal Attacks between actions to maximize the number of dice attacks from Yelan.
  4. Swapping to the on-field DPS unit to enhance that unit's damage and take advantage of her Hydro application with reactions.
  5. Using her special Aimed Shot, the Breakthrough Barb, as necessary to fill down-time or to apply extra Hydro in a pinch.

Yelan can return to the field after her Skill’s cooldown to generate energy, but it’s important to understand that this should mainly be in cases where the DPS has flexible field time. For example, Hu Tao and Raiden’s duration on the field cannot be interrupted with swapping.

At the end of the day, Yelan exists to deal damage from the background, make an appearance to roll her dice, and retreat back into the shadows while her dice and the on-field DPS do the work.

Pure HP Scaling and Why It’s Important

Yelan sets an interesting precedent in being a character who, except for her Normal Attacks, scales _completely _off HP. Previously-released characters like Hu Tao, Noelle, and Itto have abilities that convert other stats into ATK.

This has significant benefits and drawbacks. Let me explain.

The Bad

Characters like Itto and Noelle who convert their DEF into bonus ATK are capable of benefiting from common offensive buffs like Pyro Resonance, Bennett’s Elemental Burst, Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, the 4pc Noblesse Oblige artifact set, and the 4pc Tenacity of the Millelith artifact set.

Yelan, who does not convert her Max HP into bonus attack – instead scaling purely off her Max HP – cannot benefit from any of these buffs. This means that on Yelan teams, these buffs are marginally weaker, since they no longer buff the whole team. To emphasize, this eliminates most possible buff sources, forcing Yelan to rely on resistance-shredding from Viridescent Venerer supports, Zhongli’s shield, 4pc Archaic Petra, and Xingqiu’s second constellation. Aside from that, having battery teammates reduces Yelan’s energy requirements, and this is an indirect buff to her damage; the fewer stats that have to be invested in Energy Recharge, the more stats are available to invest in HP% and CRIT%. This requires being paired with specific team members – usually Xingqiu.

The Good

When a character scales entirely off a stat like HP, any ATK stat is irrelevant, including weapons’ Base ATK. Free-to-Play weapons, including 3-Star options, then, have the ability to overpower 5-Star weapons in rankings. The only thing that matters on weapon choices are the weapon’s main stat and passive effects.

Additionally, HP% main stats and substats on artifacts are both more common and less contested on characters. In Yelan’s case, most of her artifacts can be HP% main stat without significant sacrifice. This gives artifacts originally perceived as junk a new home. In short, she makes up for the drawbacks of being unaffected by ATK buffs in the form of reduced opportunity cost when it comes to weapon and artifact flexibility.

Yelan vs Xingqiu - Which is Better?

The comparison between Yelan and Xingqiu is easy to make; they have similar Bursts, similar cooldowns, and similar energy generation in the same element. There are, however, some important differences.

Xingqiu has the ability to apply extra Hydro at close range due to his Rain Sword orbitals. Yelan cannot provide the same amount of Hydro that Xingqiu does, and thus Yelan alone is not sufficient to consistently (and/or comfortably) facilitate Hu Tao’s Vaporize reactions for the average player. C2 on Yelan can help, but it might still not be enough, and it’s unreasonable to expect the average player to have constellations on a limited 5-star unit.

Yelan also does not offer damage reduction, any amount of healing, _or _interruption resistance like Xingqiu does. These are mostly valuable assets, especially interruption resistance for some characters. With that said, Xingqiu and Yelan simply have different goals on a team. In exchange for these utilities, she focuses on raw damage and offensive utility. However, in a vacuum, factoring in personal damage only and similar builds, C0 Yelan’s damage with Aqua Simulacra is only barely more than C6 Xingqiu with Jade Cutter. Factoring in her fourth ascension passive breaks this tie.

“Yelan vs Xingqiu” is fundamentally the wrong way to look at this.

If you’re trying to make Yelan a second Xingqiu, Xingqiu is just the better “Xingqiu.” When in total isolation from each other, Yelan might even come off as underwhelming sometimes.

Instead, Yelan should be viewed as Xingqiu synergy, since pairing them together on a team adds so much extra damage potential for both of them by reducing each of their energy requirements. In these cases, both characters can put full focus on what they’re designed for: Xingqiu for utility and Yelan for damage. It is here where a truly “broken” combo emerges.

Xingqiu and Yelan make a pair surprisingly similar in effectiveness to Bennett and Xiangling: Bennett is a top-tier support and can help satisfy Xiangling’s enormous energy needs in order to bring incredible damage to the team. Xingqiu, likewise, can also battery Yelan while using his Burst in tandem with hers for maximum ranged single-target damage. Both Pyro and Hydro pairs prefer a Viridescent Venerer holder or Zhongli, depending on which on-field DPS takes the fourth team slot.

These three-member team cores are often good enough as just a three-person team, meaning you can throw almost anyone into a Bennett+Xiangling or Yelan+Xingqiu team and see good results. You can even run both pairs together!

Energy Recharge Requirements

Yelan Mastersheet

When establishing Energy Recharge needs for a character, it almost entirely depends on the team composition the character is in, along with how many Skill uses are in a rotation per character, and whether or not they are equipped with a Favonius or Sacrificial weapon. It’s advised to use an Energy Recharge Calculator.

For Yelan, there is an enormous range of what her energy requirements can be.

Solo Hydro, One Skill Per BurstDuo Hydro, One Skill Per Burst
Without Fav/Sac260-270%Without Fav/Sac170-180%
Favonius Warbow210-220%Favonius Warbow150-155%
Sacrificial Bow175-185%Sacrificial Bow130-140%
Solo Hydro, Two Skills Per BurstDuo Hydro, Two Skills Per Burst
Without Fav/Sac175-185%Without Fav/Sac130-140%
Favonius Warbow150-160%Favonius Warbow115-125%
Favonius R3+135-145%Favonius R3+105-115%
Sacrificial Bow135-145%Sacrificial Bow105-115%

Most of the time, you’ll be aiming to maximize Yelan’s personal damage. There are few buffs that teammates can provide, but lowering her energy requirements can improve her damage.

The best way to reduce energy requirements is by using Yelan with teammates, such as other hydro characters or other characters with uniquely high energy generation, that provide lots of energy for her. With lower energy requirements, more stats can be invested into damage.

It is strongly recommend including at least one of the following characters in your Yelan teams to serve as a battery: Xingqiu, Raiden, Kokomi, Fischl, or Ayato.

Active Talents

Priority: Burst > Skill > Normal Attacks

Normal Attack - Stealthy Bowshot

Talent Priority: #3 or N/A

Normal and Charged Attacks

Yelan’s Normal Attacks perform up to four consecutive strikes, dealing Physical damage based on her ATK.

After being outside of combat for five seconds, Yelan enters a “Breakthrough” state, in which her next Aimed Shot becomes a “Breakthrough Barb.” Breakthrough Barb shots take 80% less time to cast and deals AoE Hydro damage.

Yelan Frame Data

Recorded in 60 FPS

Attack TypeNumber of hits/inputMultiplier at T9Execution Frame
N1174.70%17
N2171.70%20
N3194.80%39
N4259.70% x274
Charged Attack1-2210.80%94
Breakthrough Barb1 (1U Hydro)20% (HP-scaling)19

Frankly speaking, Yelan’s Normal Attacks are mediocre because they scale with her ATK. This should only be leveled if you wish to maximize Breakthrough Barb damage, as that scales off of HP.

For those absolutely insistent on using her Normal Attack chains, by themselves, N3D is the way to go unless you have C6. In that case, just do five Normal Attacks during her Mastermind state. See the Combos section for more.

Elemental Skill - Lingering Lifeline

Talent Priority: #2

When tapping Yelan’s Skill, she dashes while dealing Hydro damage based on her Max HP to the nearest target. On hold, Yelan sprints at high speeds to entangle enemies, damaging them upon the Skill’s release based on Yelan’s Max HP and pulling enemies together.

Each time an enemy is hit with Yelan’s skill, there is a 34% chance for Yelan to re-enter her Breakthrough state, granting an additional Breakthrough Barb shot. Breakthrough Barb’s damage is barely worth the frames and precision needed to fire it, unless you _need _to spend an extra second on field with Yelan, like gathering particles from her Skill before swapping.

Holding Yelan’s skill is mainly for exploring the overworld, repositioning, or grouping enemies. Tapping is often, but not always, the best option.

In-Depth Attributes

Frames are recorded in 60 FPS

AttributesDataAttributesData
Multiplier (T9)38.44% (Max HP)Particle/cast4
Execution frames44Particle/min24 (usually 12)
Max Hold Duration3 secondsElemental Gauge1U Hydro on hit
Cooldown10 secondsICDStandard (3 hits/2.5s)

Yelan’s Skill is in an awkward position, having a 10-second cooldown that starts after the damage is inflicted. On one hand, this enables her to generate particles twice per rotation with her Skill, helping her energy needs tremendously. On the other hand, even if you were able to time switch-in’s _perfectly, _the animation time alone would extend the rotation to around 22 seconds. Most players, even skilled ones, do not time swaps perfectly. The longer a rotation is extended, the lower the team’s DPS is likely to be, so this is a substantial disadvantage.There are a few ways to mitigate this disadvantage with her Skill.

  • Equip an R3+ Sacrificial Bow to use her Skill back-to-back.
  • Acquire C1 to use her Skill back-to-back.
  • Pair Yelan only with other characters that benefit from long rotation times.
  • Stack enough Energy Recharge so Yelan can function with one Skill use per rotation.

Elemental Burst - Depth Clarion Dice

Talent Priority: #1

Splash your enemies with AoE Hydro damage and create dice that attack in triplets in coordination with Normal Attacks or when her Skill hits opponents for a period of time.

Yelan’s Burst is her bread-and-butter, and entirely responsible for the comparisons to Xingqiu, as it is almost identical in play style. Depth-Clarion Dice is the reason to use Yelan on any team, and her damage with this Burst (along with Burst-related passives Yelan has) are the reasons to use her along with or instead of Xingqiu.

In-Depth Attributes

Frames are recorded in 60 FPS; single-target only

AttributesDataAttributesMultiplier @ T9
Initial DMG12.42% (Max HP)C2 4th Hit14.00% (Max HP)
Exquisite Throw8.28% x3 (Max HP)Burst Proc Rate1 per second (max)
Execution Frames124Energy Cost70
Duration15 secondsElemental Gauge1U Hydro on hit
Cooldown18 secondsICD3 hits / 2 seconds

It is critical to remember that Yelan’s Burst only attacks in coordination with Normal Attacks and Yelan’s Skill uses. Charged Attacks do not trigger Dice instances. Yelan’s Skill triggers for her Burst is on a separate cooldown from Normal Attack triggers, meaning you can sneak some extra Burst waves into her rotations.

Using her Burst alongside Xingqiu’s results in impressive damage that allows room for almost anyone to take remaining team slots. Even in teams where Yelan’s Hydro application is sufficient, the Yelan-Xingqiu pair remains just as powerful and cannot be overstated, especially with Xingqiu’s second constellation that shreds the Hydro Resistance of an opponent.

C2 allows Yelan to act as the single Hydro applicator on most teams by adding a fourth hit to every other instance of her dice attack (assuming good timing of Burst triggers), and solves her biggest issue when being compared to Xingqiu.

Passive Talents

First Ascension Passive - Turn Control

When the party has 1/2/3/4 Elemental Types, Yelan’s Max HP is increased by 6% / 12% / 18% / 30%

Most of the time, people do not use more than two of the same elemental type on a team anyways. Calculations done in this guide assume 18% as the standard buff, considering she wants to be paired with an extra Hydro character.

It makes her numbers bigger, due to her Skill and Burst scaling with her Max HP, but is not worth changing how you build your team.

Fourth Ascension Passive - Adapt With Ease

So long as Exquisite Throw is in play, your own active character deals 1% more damage. This increases by a further 3.5% each second. The maximum increase of damage dealt is 50%. The pre-existing effect will be dispelled if Depth-Clarion Dice is recast during its duration.

This is the sole aspect of Yelan’s kit that focuses on improving her teammates’ damage. This is the “ramping buff,” discussed earlier. To take maximum advantage of this buff, players should try to concentrate most of their damage during the latter half of Yelan’s burst.

However, keep in mind that many buffs, like Viridescent Venerer, will expire before the end of Yelan’s Burst, so timing your rotation placements is crucial.

Utility Passive: Necessary Calculation

Gains 25% more rewards when dispatched on a Liyue expedition for 20 hours.

This passive is the very same as Shenhe’s passive, so now every time you send party members out on an expedition, Yelan and Shenhe can go on 20-hour dates through Liyue as they efficiently farm for you.

Combos

The notation we’ll be using to describe pieces of the combo will go as such:

NotationTranslation
N#*Number of normal attacks in a single combo.
E(Elemental) Skill
Q(Elemental) Burst
DDash
JJump-Cancel
C (or CA)Charged Attack/Fully-Charged Aimed Shot

The Default Off-Field Combo

There isn’t much variety to Yelan’s playstyle. The optimal, but most complex combo is:

Q > N1 > E > N1 > CA > swap … [> swap in > E > swap out (optional)]

Yelan’s playstyle is simple. Use her Burst and Skill in order based on energy needs, weave Normal Attacks between actions, then swap out for your DPS to do the rest of the work. If you need more energy and have a rotation longer than 20 seconds, Yelan can switch in after her Skill’s 10-second cooldown. For a simpler combo, use Q > E > Swap or E > Q > Swap.

Only use Normal Attacks at C6, and only five of them. If you are aiming to use Yelan’s Normal Attacks, N3D spam works. Reference her name card to remember what’s important.

Constellations

Rolling for one copy of a 5-star unit is already expensive. My advice is to roll for constellations only based on your financial situation and level of disposable income. Yelan does not require constellations to function, and is fine at C0. However, Yelan benefits greatly from her constellations, especially C1 and C2. By C6, Yelan’s’s overall damage increases from C0 by about 150%, at the small, small cost of thousands of dollars.

In this guide, the DPS increases assume Yelan as the single Hydro unit, so numbers may change as your team further reduces her energy requirements.

Constellation 1 - Enter the Plotters

Yelan’s Skill adds 1 additional charge.

DPS increase from C0: ~25%

This constellation alone reduces Yelan’s Energy Recharge requirement from 225% as the only Hydro unit to 160%. C1 doubles Yelan’s particle generation from 4-8 when used back-to-back, and completely eliminates the need to extend your rotation or swap back to Yelan mid-rotation for more energy. This solves most of her Energy Recharge issues, much like Yae Miko’s C1 does. As always, lower energy needs means more stat investment for offensive stats.

Due to this massive decrease in Energy Recharge, non-ER% bows become stronger on Yelan, while ER% bows become weaker. 4pc Emblem of Severed Fate remains the optimal artifact set choice. Refer to the linked Mastersheet in this guide for a full rundown on how energy requirements impact the damage potential of weapons and artifacts.

Please be aware, however, that each charge has a 10-second cooldown, meaning using three skills in one rotation will throw off the following rotation. In this sense, if you were casting two E’s in your rotation anyways, this will not increase your energy generation.

If you are determined to get constellations, C1 is a good stopping point if you merely want to remove her limitations.Lastly, C1’s utility is exceptional in the overworld. This is because the cooldown of the first Skill continues counting even while holding through its second use. It effectively reduces the cooldown to 6 seconds, making this incredible for long-distance movement.

Constellation 2 - Taking All Comers

When Yelan’s Burst produces a coordinated attack, once every 1.8 seconds, Yelan’s dice will fire a fourth Hydro attack dealing 14% of Yelan’s Max HP as Hydro damage.

DPS increase from C1: ~23% || from C0: ~55%

This constellation is similar to one of Xingqiu’s. However, for Yelan, this fourth (stronger) attack only occurs every other proc of her Burst. Yelan, at C2, applies enough Hydro on her own to catch up with Hu Tao, Klee, Yanfei, and Fischl-Beidou pairs. While Hu Tao’s reactions might stumble once or twice during a rotation even with C2, this is still a massive bonus for minimal downside.

Constellation 3 - Beware the Trickster’s Dice

Increases the Level of Yelan’s Burst by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.

DPS increase from C2: ~12% || from C0: ~75%

Hydro Dice pew pew hard. Hydro Dice pew pew harder now.

Constellation 4 - Bait-and-Switch

Increases all party members' Max HP by 10% for 25s for every opponent marked by Lifeline when the Lifeline explodes. A maximum increase of 40% Max HP can be attained in this manner.

DPS increase from C3: ~8% || from C0: ~90%

This is only a modest damage increase, and Yelan is not often holding her Skill cast in combat. The extra Max HP% bonus is extra nice when paired with other HP-scaling units like Hu Tao, Kokomi, Zhongli, and Ayato. Multiple skill casts will also stack the buffs instead of refreshing, so using C1 to double tap Skill will net 20% HP at the very minimum. Don’t make this a priority, but don’t sleep on it either!

Constellation 5 - Dealer’s Sleight

Increases the level of Yelan’s Skill by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.

DPS increase from C4: ~2% || from C0: 93%

Not much to say here, other than her skill hits harder now. The caveman-speak joke from C3 only works once. Diminishing returns, one might say.

Constellation 6: Winner Takes All

After using Yelan’s Burst, she will enter the Mastermind state.__In this state, all of Yelan's Normal Attacks will be special Breakthrough Barbs. These Breakthrough Barbs will have similar abilities to normal ones and the DMG dealt will be considered Charged Attack DMG, dealing 156% of a normal Breakthrough Barb's DMG.__The Mastermind state lasts 20s and will be cleared after Yelan fires 5 arrows.

DPS increase from C5: ~31% || from C0: ~150%

This constellation allows Yelan to take slightly more field-time in order to grant a huge increase to Yelan’s personal damage. If Yelan is the team member who does the most damage and carries your team from the backline (like Xiangling often does), this constellation is worth it. Otherwise, the green numbers above may be somewhat misleading, as this field time eats into the field time of other teammates in the rotation.

It’s unfortunate that this constellation doesn’t allow her to take a full on-field role, but it is a massive power spike nonetheless. Note that you have a full 20 seconds to use up the Breakthrough Barbs, so the five Normal Attacks can be divided across two rotations, if need be. N4’s double-hit uses two Breakthrough Barbs, so a single N4 combo will suffice here.

Equipment & Gear

The full list of assumptions can be found here: Yelan Mastersheet

“Dice are always quite hard to make ‘fair.’ That goes double for dice with shoddier workmanship. The weighting on each numbered side will almost certainly be unbalanced.”

As always, it is recommended to use the Genshin Optimizer for artifact-gearing choices.

Artifact SetsNotes
4pc Emblem of Severed Fate
225% ER: (100% / BiS)
160% ER: (100% / BiS)
It is one of the most contested artifact sets for characters, and you’ll need even more now.The natural choice since the majority of Yelan’s damage is from her Burst. The 2pc bonus helps with ER requirements too.
2pc Severed Fate || 2pc Noblesse
225% ER: (84%)
160% ER: (88%)
If it’s worth losing 15-20% of Yelan’s damage, you can get by with a combination of 2pc sets. At high ER requirements, this is the second-best artifact set option. For low ER requirements, this set is not recommended, as it is in the bottom half of the rankings.
2pc Noblesse || 2pc Tenacity
225% ER: (83%)
160% ER: (96%)
The second-best choice for Yelan at 160% ER, though it requires farming the Tenacity of the Millelith and Pale Flame domain. Noblesse is easily accessible through the strong box, and both 2pc sets buff stats Yelan cares about.
2pc Noblesse || 2pc Heart of Depth
225% ER: (83%)
160% ER: (95%)
There is less than 1% difference in damage between Heart of Depth and Tenacity of the Millelith 2pc sets. The Heart of Depth domain is, thus, the most resin-efficient to farm if you need a 2pc set outside of Noblesse Oblige, due to that domain also giving artifacts in the Blizzard Strayer set, which is usable on nearly all Cryo characters.
2pc Tenacity || 2pc Heart of Depth
225% ER: (82%)
160% ER: (94%)
A fine choice, but only with low-ER builds. Again, you should mainly focus on which 2pc combinations have the best substats, as many of the combinations for Yelan are pretty close together when it comes to damage potential.
2pc Severed Fate || 2pc Heart of Depth
225% ER: (82%)
160% ER: (87%)
We’re reaching the set combinations that are middle-of-the-road or hitting the bare minimum, depending on Yelan’s ER build.There is no particular reason to farm this option unless you have the pieces already lying around and have good substats. At the end of the day, usable substat totals are King anyways.
2pc Severed Fate || 2pc Tenacity
225% ER: (81%)
160% ER: (86%)
Only if your substats are insanely good.

Mainstats and Substats

Sands: HP% or ER%

The timepiece is the most contested slot, and will depend almost entirely on your team composition and whether or not you have Yelan’s C1.

When using non-ER% bows in high-ER builds, an ER% sands is almost required, according to KQM’s standards.

At lower energy requirements, however, such as 160% or below, you can safely equip an HP% sands so long as you’re using Emblem of Severed Fate and get enough Energy Recharge substats.

Goblet: Hydro DMG% or HP%

Yelan’s not using her Normal Attacks, so all of her damage is Hydro. When there is an abundance of DMG% Bonus or Yelan is lacking some HP, HP% can cut close to DMG%.

Circlet: Crit Rate%/ Crit DMG% or HP%

As usual Crit is king, but when using any non-Tenacity-based artifact build, HP% circlets only fall 1-2% behind. For CRIT circlet, choose whatever Crit main stat that helps you balance a 1:2 crit ratio, and take substat into consideration as well. Normally the choice depends on the weapon and substats.

  • If you have a Crit Rate% weapon, then usually Crit DMG% is the correct choice
  • If you have a Crit DMG% weapon, then usually Crit Rate% is the correct choice.
  • If Yelan’s weapon gives Energy Recharge, then go with whatever will get you to a 1:2 ratio of Crit Rate%:Crit DMG%. Start by aiming for 70CR% : 140CD%. Crit rate is technically stronger, in these cases, but only barely.

Substats priority is as follows:

  1. ER% (remember, 160% when paired with Raiden or Xingqiu; 225% otherwise)
  2. Crit DMG%/Crit Rate%
  3. HP%

In-Depth Weapon Analysis

WeaponNotes
Aqua Simulacra
225% ER: (119% / BiS)
160% ER: (125% / BiS)
Holder’s MAX HP +16%. When opponents are nearby, wielder DMG% +20%, even when off-field.
[ 542 ATK || 88.2% Crit Damage ]
Yelan’s Signature Weapon: the unsurprising best-in-slot. Once again, we are gifted with a weapon granting 88% Crit Damage. Not only that, but it gives the other two bonuses Yelan cares about: HP% and DMG%. Make sure you use an ER% sands if you equip this while ER needs are high.
Elegy for the End
225% ER: (96%)
160% ER: (86%)
Increases Elemental Mastery by 60. On Skill or Burst hit, gain a stack, even if off-field. Consume 4 stacks to grant 100 EM and 20% ATK for 20s.
[ 608 ATK || 55.1% Energy recharge ]
An excellent support choice at the cost of personal damage. The ability to stack valuable buffs on the team makes this one of Yelan’s best possible weapon choices, especially for teams that care about Elemental Mastery (i.e. most of them, especially with Pyro DPS units). Do not sleep on this.
Favonius Warbow
225% ER: (108%)
160% ER: (95%)
CRIT Hits have a 60-100% (R1-R5) chance to generate 6 Energy for the character, once every 12-6s (R1-R5).
[ 454 ATK || 61.3% Energy Recharge ]
Every single player gets one by playing through the story, so there’s no way you don’t have one. Stacks a ton of ER on Yelan and has a great utility passive that further helps her (and her team’s) ER requirements. Can be used with an HP% Sands with little fuss. Our recommended 4-star choice. At 160% requirements, Fading Twilight wins out here.
Sacrificial Bow (R3+)
225% (162%) ER: (112%)
160% (126%) ER: (99%)
On Elemental Skill hit, 60-80% (R3-R5) chance to end its own CD. Can only occur once every 22-16s (R3-R5).
[ 565 ATK || 30.6% Energy Recharge ]
Yelan can use a Sacrificial weapon to take care of her ER needs. Can be used with HP% sands at high-ER. CAUTION: Lower than R3 or failing to trigger its passive can sabotage rotations due to the passive’s cooldown time. Two Skill uses also take more field time, extending rotations and lowering DPS. Favonius is usually better.
Polar Star
225% ER: (102%)
160% ER: (108%)
Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG increased by 12%. The rest is a lot to type and has no effect on Yelan’s performance.
[ 608 ATK || 33.1% Crit Rate ]
Polar Star’s other passive enhances her ATK, which sadly does nothing to improve her damage. This is second-best 5-star to the Aqua Simulacra for Yelan in both builds. Best at low energy needs.
Mouun’s Moon (R3+)
225% ER: (102%)
160% ER: (106%)
For every point of the entire party's combined maximum Energy capacity, the Elemental Burst DMG of the character equipping this weapon is increased by 0.24% (R5). A maximum of 80% (R5) increased Elemental Burst DMG can be achieved this way.
[ 565 ATK || 27.6% ATK ]
Assumes 280 total team energy.
Only at high refinements does it stay competitive with F2P options at high energy needs. An HP% goblet is better with this weapon, due to DMG% diminishing returns.
Fading Twilight (R5)
225% ER: (101%)
160% ER: (101%)
Has three states which increase DMG dealt by 12%/20%/28% (R5) respectively. When attacks hit opponents, this weapon will switch to the next state once every 7s, even if off-field.
[ 565 ATK || 30.6% Energy Recharge ]
The event weapon that accompanies Yelan is nothing particularly special, but not terrible either. It’s a fine budget option at lower ER requirements. At high ER requirements, Favonius Warbow sacrifices 1% personal damage for its insanely valuable passive, so Favonius is better at 225% ER.
Skyward Harp
225% ER: (99%)
160% ER: (100%)
Increases CRIT DMG by 20%. Hits have a 60% chance to inflict a small AoE attack, dealing 125% Physical ATK DMG. Can only occur once every 4s.
[ 674 ATK || 22.1% Crit Rate ]
A fine CRIT stat stick for Yelan. Its high ATK value is wasted on Yelan, but in a pinch, the Skyward Harp can make Yelan slightly easier to build, depending on available gear. There’s little other reason to run this over something like the event bow, Fading Twilight.
Thundering Pulse
225% ER: (97%)
160% ER: (101%)
The passive literally does nothing for Yelan.
[ 608 ATK || 66.2% Crit Damage ]
With an entirely wasted passive that grants ATK and Normal Attack DMG, this should only be used as a raw Crit Damage stick and nothing more. It is put to better use on other characters.
The Stringless (R5)
225% ER: (96%)
160% ER: (101%)
Increases Elemental Skill DMG by 48%. Increases Elemental Burst DMG by 48%.
[ 510 ATK || 165 Elemental Mastery ]
Can only really compete at R5, but still powerful regardless. It’s an alternative to R1 5-star options when Yelan’s energy needs are low. The Elemental Mastery stat could incidentally make this damage go higher, but Yelan is more about enabling reactions than triggering them.
Slingshot (R5)
225% ER: (96%)
160% ER: (100%)
If a Normal or Charged Attack hits a target within 0.3s of being fired, increases DMG by 60%. Otherwise, decreases DMG by 10%.
[ 354 ATK || 31.2% Crit Rate ]
A Crit Rate stick you can find in a chest. It is the absolute bare minimum for Yelan at 160% Energy Recharge requirement. 100% free and accessible from minute one of Genshin Impact.
Recurve Bow (R5)
225% ER: (96%)
160% ER: (98%)
Defeating an opponent restores 16% HP.
[ 354 ATK || 46.9% HP ]
A HP% stick you can find in a chest. 100% free and accessible from minute one of Genshin Impact. Crit Rate is usually a higher priority than HP%, due to the high number of HP% sources available, so Slingshot barely beats this bow out.
Below this point, go grab a Slingshot or open a chest instead.
The Viridescent Hunt
225% ER: (93%)
160% ER: (98%)
Upon hit, Normal and Charged Attacks have a 50% chance to generate a Cyclone, which will continuously attract surrounding opponents, dealing 40% of ATK as DMG to these opponents every 0.5s for 4s. This effect can only occur once every 14s.
[ 510 ATK || 27.6% Crit Rate ]
Another Crit stick, but this one requires a credit card swipe! The grouping can be helpful, but is it really worth a swipe when Slingshot does more damage?
Sharpshooter’s Oath (R5)
225% ER: (88%)
160% ER: (95%)
Increases DMG against weak spots by 48%.
[ 401 ATK || 46.9% Crit Damage ]
This weapon is purely a stat-stick, unless someone out there is trying to make Yelan an Aimed Shot DPS, but that doesn’t seem mathematically viable. Just don’t waste your Masterless Starglitter on a Blackcliff Warbow. I’m begging you. Just open a chest.
Blackcliff Warbow
225% ER: (88%)
160% ER: (91%)
After defeating an enemy, ATK is increased by 12% for 30s. This effect has a maximum of 3 stacks, and the duration of each stack is independent of the others.
[ 565 ATK || 36.8% Crit Damage ]
Blackcliff weapons are difficult to accurately evaluate, due to their high variance of performance depending on the number of present enemies and the ability to secure kills in combat.Luckily, it’s easy for Yelan! Don’t use it! 3-star bows provide more Crit Damage!
Raven Bow (R5)
225% ER: (83%)
160% ER: (88%)
Increases DMG against opponents affected by Hydro or Pyro by 24%.
[ 448 ATK || 94 Elemental Mastery ]
Assumes 75% Pyro/Hydro Aura Uptime!
Out of the possible 3-star weapons worth mentioning, Raven Bow sits at the bottom. Still better than Amos Bow, at least.
Alley Hunter
225% ER: (81%)
160% ER: (85%)
While the character equipped with this weapon is off-field, their DMG increases by 2% every second up to a max of 20%. When the character is on the field for more than 4s, the DMG buff decreases by 4% per second until it reaches 0%.
[ 565 ATK || 27.6% ATK ]
A limited 4-star weapon, but at least it gives some of what Yelan wants. The DMG% bonus is welcome, especially at higher refinements, but there simply are better options that don’t require gacha or even resources.
Mitternacht’s Waltz (R1-R5)
225% ER: (77%)
160% ER: (81%)
Normal Attack hits on opponents increase Elemental Skill DMG by 20% for 5s. Elemental Skill hits on opponents increase Normal Attack DMG by 20% for 5s.
[ 510 ATK || 51.7% Physical DMG Bonus ]
A limited 4-star bow made for Fischl, and it’s not even her best-in-slot. If you’re possessed by some kind of “Bad Theorycrafting Demon” or something, you could use it on Yelan and do one Normal Attack before using her Skill. You do you.
Amos Bow
225% ER: (76%)
160% ER: (80%)
Increases Normal and Charged Attack DMG by 12%. After one is fired, DMG dealt increases by a further 8% every 0.1s the arrow is in the air for up to 5 times.
[ 608 ATK || 49.6% ATK ]
What a shame that a 5-star weapon is overshadowed by 3-star weapons (It’s not a shame, it’s a small victory for F2P players). Throw this on any other bow user but Yelan.
Hamayumi
225% ER: (76%)
160% ER: (80%)
Increases Normal Attack DMG by 16-32% (R1-R5) and Charged Attack DMG by 12-24% (R1-R5). When the equipping character's Energy reaches 100%, this effect is increased by 100%.
[ 454 ATK || 55.1% ATK ]
Just not a good fit for Yelan. It doesn’t do anything Yelan cares about doing. This is better used on a variety of other characters.
Windblume Ode (R5)
225% ER: (76%)
160% ER: (80%)
After using an Elemental Skill, receive a boon from the ancient wish of the Windblume, increasing ATK by 32% for 6s.
[ 510 ATK || 165 Elemental Mastery ]
Technically, if Yelan vaporizes, the EM stat does help a bit compared to lower-grade weapons. Problem is, Yelan enables reactions, and doesn’t quite benefit as much in her personal damage from triggering them. The modest theoretical damage increase, then, is negligible.
Rust
225% ER: (76%)
160% ER: (80%)
Increases Normal Attack DMG by 40-80% (R1-R5) but decreases Charged Attack DMG by 10%.
[ 510 ATK || 41.3% ATK ]
Yelan doesn’t Normal Attack or care about ATK. Give it to Childe or Yoimiya or someone that actually cares. Next!
Prototype Crescent
225% ER: (76%)
160% ER: (80%)
Charged Attack hits on weak points increase Movement SPD by 10% and ATK by 36%-72% (R1-R5) for 10s.
[ 510 ATK || 41.3% ATK ]
Don’t waste your ore on this for Yelan. Great budget option for characters who use primarily aimed shots and who care about their ATK stat. Yelan does neither.
Compound Bow (R1-R5)
225% ER: (76%)
160% ER: (80%)
Normal Attack and Charged Attack hits increase ATK by 4-8% (R1-R5) and Normal ATK SPD by 1.2-2.4% (R1-R5) for 6s. Max 4 stacks. Can only occur once every 0.3s.
[ 454 ATK || 69% Physical DMG Bonus ]
Just open a chest and throw a random 3-star weapon on instead. You’ll get further.I’m done talking about bad weapon choices for Yelan now. Royal weapons do not exist.

Team Composition

Not until she begins to tug on the strings do evildoers, crooks, and scheming villains alike know that there is no escape.

The Anatomy of a Yelan Team

A good team consists of characters fulfilling a variety of _roles. _The ideal team for Yelan will typically include an on-field DPS, an appropriate battery, a buffer or debuffer of some kind, and sometimes a shielder or healer.

Important Note: Yelan is a very flexible unit and most team arrangements ‘work.’ The following advice is for those who want to maximize Yelan’ s potential for the average player.

Hu TaoYoimiyaDilucBennett
KokomiAyatoRaiden ShogunSucrose

Whenever you’re using a full 4-person team, Yelan’s first team priority is finding an on-field DPS for her to work with. It’s important that characters who take the field can Normal Attack enough to trigger waves of Yelan’s Burst. A comprehensive overview of DPS units and their ideal teammates alongside Yelan will be covered in the next major section.

XingqiuRaiden ShogunKokomiFischlAyato

Earlier in this guide, we mentioned how we strongly recommended a battery, and listed five characters. Managing Yelan’s energy is critical to maximizing her performance.

XingqiuSucroseKazuhaVentiZhongli

Once a DPS and/or a battery is decided, you should pick a character who either makes your rotation more consistent or maximizes the damage Yelan and her teammates can do. Yelan can’t benefit from many buffs or debuffs, so shredding Elemental Resistances with either Zhongli’s shield, an Anemo character, or C2 Xingqiu is your main source of damage amplification.

XingqiuJeanKokomiZhongli

Finally, many teams prefer survivability in some form, be it shielding or healing. Many of these healers satisfy two roles, making this decision fairly easy. Many of these characters double as a buffer, battery, or on-field DPS.

What if I Want to Play Yelan as the On-Field DPS Instead?

XingqiuKazuhaXingqiuFischl

Yelan can take the role of on-field DPS herself, due to her being able to buff her own Burst waves. Xingqiu offers survivability, Hydro Resistance shred, and energy. Fischl provides energy and Electro-Charged reactions. Kazuha can double-swirl for buffs and debuffs.

Choosing Yelan’s Champion

chibi Raiden is both an excellent team battery and an excellent on-field DPS, allowing her to fulfill two roles simultaneously in Yelan teams. While in her Burst form, the Raiden Shogun generates flat energy for her party based on her number of attacks and her Energy Recharge stat. She also increases the Burst damage of her teammates based on their energy cost. Yelan’s 70-cost Burst certainly benefits.

Recommended Teammates for Raiden + Yelan

By adding Xingqiu, Yelan’s energy requirements are as low as they can be. Zhongli can make the team stable and consistent with his shield or a Viridescent Venerer-user like Kazuha can push the team to be more offensive.Other options include characters that can take advantage of Raiden’s energy generation to cast powerful Elemental Bursts. Fischl is a solid standalone off-field DPS in her own right while also contributing to energy needs. It’s important to note that Yelan can also keep up Hydro application in Sunfire teams featuring Jean and Bennett.

chibi Hu Tao is the premier Pyro DPS when looking for high single-target damage. Xingqiu is her favorite teammate and Yelan’s raw firepower sends this team’s damage even higher. Hu Tao gains (at least) one new team from Yelan, including Xingqiu and Xiangling. Note that because Hu Tao can Vaporize with her Normal Attacks, Charged Attacks and Blood Blossoms, this can quickly deplete Hydro auras. Due to Yelan’s internal cooldown, however, Yelan can reset the Hydro aura on an enemy.

Recommended Teammates for Hu Tao + Yelan + Xingqiu

Xingqiu is highly advised for Hu Tao teams. The Kazuha and Zhongli are reasonable first-choices for shielding or shredding. Kazuha’s Burst can infuse with Hydro for more application. Xiangling and Xingqiu together enable a critical mass of Vaporize reactions.

Sucrose shares a portion of her Elemental Mastery with the team and uses Viridescent Venerer to maximize Vaporize reactions. Being a catalyst-wielder opens up support options in Prototype Amber and Thrilling Tales. Fischl can apply Electro, which then allows Hu Tao to use both Vaporize and Overload reactions (“Overvape”) simultaneously. Additionally, Electro-Charged reactions weaken a Hydro aura, but Overload reactions remove a Pyro aura, allowing the team to stabilize Hydro application on enemies.

chibi Sucrose is a one-woman mixing pot for Elemental reactions. If there is a team that creates a ton of reactions at once, odds are Sucrose is on the team. With Viridescent Venerer, she reduces enemy Hydro resistance for Yelan, while sharing a portion of her Elemental Mastery stat with teammates to buff reaction damage, usually Electro-Charged.

Recommended Teammates for Sucrose + Yelan

Start with Fischl. You can’t make any meaningful reactions with Sucrose and Yelan alone. When Sucrose is the on-field attacker, stick with Electro-Charged. Fischl generates energy and does respectable, consistent Electro damage.

If you need healing, take Kokomi. If you want to maximize Yelan’s damage on the team, bring Xingqiu. Otherwise, build more Energy Recharge on Yelan and pick an Electro Burst DPS. Yae Miko is most effective in large single-target scenarios like bosses. Beidou is the default choice when you predict Sucrose will be grouping mobs together.

chibi Yoimiya is an excellent single-target driver for Yelan, Xingqiu, and other characters with coordinated attacks. Her arrows help guide the ranged coordinated attacks to their target (and also feels extremely satisfying to play). Yoimiya applies Pyro at a slower rate, so as long as you can secure the third and fifth hits in Yoimiya’s Normal Attack chain, Yoimiya will happily benefit from Yelan’s buffs, damage, and Hydro application.

Recommended Teammates for Yoimiya + Yelan

While Yelan functions as the sole Hydro unit, Xingqiu is still recommended if not only for their raw power when paired together. Yoimiya, like Hu Tao, might prefer a defensive option, especially Zhongli. Kazuha is the default option for crowd control, Bennett buffs Yoimiya, generates Pyro energy and heals. His buff is wasted on Yelan, sadly. Thoma provides Pyro Resonance and can act as a budget Zhongli alternative. Yunjin grants significant buffs to Yoimiya’s Normal Attacks, and Fischl generates energy while acting as a third character with off-field damages if you like going all-out with multicolored laser beams.

chibi Kokomi can equip the 4pc Ocean-Hued Clam artifact set to maximize both her healing and on-field damage potential. Kokomi also functions as a battery, generating a consistent flow of Hydro particles through her Skill. Because her Burst refreshes the duration of her Jellyfish, she can consistently make use of 4Clam. Because Kokomi can satisfy all three team roles simultaneously, she is a solid on-field choice.

Recommended Teammates for Kokomi + Yelan

Xingqiu provides energy to both Yelan and Kokomi, and if Kokomi is driving the team, it’s best to allow her to focus on her damage by reducing energy requirements.Anemo characters provide one of the few available buffs for both Yelan and Kokomi. Kazuha is the generic best choice for raw damage. Venti allows unparalleled crowd control and slight energy refund, while Sucrose can provide Elemental Mastery support and, if needed, equip Favonius Codex for energy generation, or even Hakushin Ring for buffing.

Fischl is an all-around solid Electro character on her own who adds energy and consistently facilitates Electro-Charged reactions. Her energy production allows room for another energy-hungry DPS like Yae Miko for large bosses or Beidou for small hordes.

chibi Diluc has fallen out of favor since he was first released and hailed as the go-to DPS. With Yelan on the team, her added personal DPS can be a serious asset, whether or not she’s paired with a battery. Diluc’s greatest asset is his exceptionally forgiving gameplay. To maximize Diluc’s reactions, alternate between his Normal Attack and his Skill. This gives Yelan time to apply Hydro.

Recommended Teammates for Diluc + Yelan

Xingqiu can be replaced by Yelan without much trouble, but he remains a solid first choice. Jean reduces elemental resistance while providing much-appreciated healing. Kazuha offers excellent team buffs. Zhongli enables comfortable play with his shield.

Bennett buffs Diluc, generates Pyro energy, and heals, though his buff is wasted on Yelan. Fischl or Beidou (depending on Energy Recharge levels) can introduce Electro reactions for the team.

chibi Ayato doubles as an on-field DPS and a source of Hydro particles with his Skill. As a bonus, his partial HP scaling appreciates Yelan’s teamwide Max HP buff at C4.In a 24-second rotation where Ayato and Yelan each use their Skills twice a round, this is one of the teams with the lowest energy needs. In single skill-use, shorter rotations, energy needs are much higher and one can benefit from an extra battery.

Recommended Teammates for Ayato + Yelan

Taser teams involving Ayato involve at least one Hydro, Electro, and Anemo character. Fischl is a huge boon for both Electro application and managing Ayato and Yelan’s energy requirements. Double Hydro allows even lower ER requirements across the board. Each Anemo unit listed brings something unique to the table while shredding Elemental resistance. Jean provides healing, filling the last team slot nicely. Kazuha is the generic best choice for raw damage, Venti has unparalleled crowd control, and Sucrose can wield Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers or Prototype Amber.If you cannot or will not use any of the previously mentioned choices, Xingqiu offers energy, interruption resistance, damage reduction, and shreds enemy Hydro resistance. Kokomi is a healer that can use Tenacity of the Millelith and Thrilling Tales to buff and heal. Yae Miko and Beidou, when energy requirements are met, are potent off-field DPS’s.

chibi

Bennett was saved for the end of the guide, because everyone is sick of hearing how good Bennett is in every guide, but yes, he really is that good, even when his buff doesn’t affect Yelan at all. Here, you use Bennett as the on-field DPS, rather than purely a backline support. Grab your 4pc Crimson Witch pieces!

Recommended Teammates for Bennett + Yelan

Xingqiu can be replaced by Yelan without much trouble, but Xingqiu and Yelan remain as powerful together in Hydro as Bennett and Xiangling are in Pyro.

Xiangling, if Bennett is C6, can get away with taking the on-field DPS role due to Bennett’s C6 Pyro infusion. Whether you have Bennett at C6 or not, he batteries Xiangling’s incredibly powerful Burst, which deals heavy damage and has no internal cooldown on its Pyro application, enabling the team to Vaporize and Reverse Vaporize constantly between Yelan and Xingqiu’s combined Hydro application.

Some National team variants sacrifice one of the core three teammates for a Viridescent Venerer-holder like Kazuha. In other cases, people opt for a character to help Bennett create Melt reactions while Bennett’s on-field, like Chongyun. However, you would need to sacrifice either Xiangling or Xingqiu’s position, depending on your pick.

On one hand, you lose valuable Hydro application and energy generation that the team needs by trading Xingqiu for Kazuha’s resistance shred and damage bonuses. On the other hand, you sacrifice Xiangling’s incredible Burst damage for Chongyun’s Cryo application.

You could use other characters, but why bother when the best teammates are free (or have been for events)? Any substitution would likely be worse than just running Bennett, Xingqiu, and Xiangling together in the “National” team composition, with almost any DPS thrown into the mix. If you have these three on the same team and invest properly, you basically win the game. Yelan is just one of many other options for National’s fourth slot.

Other Teammate Details

chibi Xingqiu may seem like a redundant choice, but Xingqiu is the most effective battery for her, especially when wielding an R3+ Sacrificial Sword.

C2 reduces Hydro resistance, a rare buff for Yelan, and covers most of her weaknesses in utility. A flexible unit for all sorts of reaction-based teams.

Yelan and Xingqiu, together, deal such tremendous amounts of damage that they can carry basically any on-field unit if you bring an Anemo support.

chibi Kazuha Is the premier Anemo character for buffs, debuffs, and crowd control. The Elemental DMG bonus on his fourth ascension passive and the ability to keep Elements cycling all contribute greatly to any Elemental DPS’s damage.

With his signature weapon, Freedom Sworn, these buffs stack up. His main drawbacks are his field time and how every team wants him. Kazuha can also swirl multiple elements in a team. Be sure to use the “Hold” version of this Skill to do this, as it applies 2U of Anemo instead of 1U. This is what helps apply the ‘double-swirl’.

chibi Xiangling is a 4-star unit who outdamages many 5-star units, often carrying the team from the backline. She is often seen paired with Raiden, Xingqiu, and Bennett, and so will be a natural choice when using Yelan with Raiden.

Her Pyro application is slightly faster than Yoimiya and Diluc, so Yelan might occasionally fail to provide enough Hydro if used without Xingqiu. Without Bennett in the party, Xiangling will struggle to meet energy needs.

chibi Fischl is the next logical choice of a battery in Electro whenever Raiden is unavailable. By using her Skill to summon Oz, her raven turret, and casting her Burst to reset Oz, she deals constant, respectable Electro damage and generates a steady flow of energy.

Fischl has synergy with many of Yelan’s ideal teammates, making her a stable and flexible choice.

chibi Venti is the best choice for a Viridescent Venerer-holder when your team needs unmatched crowd control.

Some on-field DPS’s prefer everyone to be stuck in one place, and Venti’s Burst can certainly do that while debuffing, allowing Yelan’s Burst waves to hit enemies in the vortex. Raiden, Yoimiya, and Ayato especially benefit from this boon.

Venti also has an energy refund feature that helps energy needs further.

chibi Zhongli is the great stabilizer of Genshin Impact, offering a near-indestructible shield and resistance shred. Both of these benefit Yelan and her DPS partner’s damage.

Zhongli will often be used on Hu Tao teams which prefer comfort over the Viridescent debuff from Anemo units.

The 4pc Archaic Petra artifact set also grant 35% damage bonus to his teammates when not opting into 4pc. Tenacity of the Millelith, though 4AP is difficult to use effectively. Due to Yelan having so few available buffs to take advantage of, Archaic Petra is more valuable.

chibi Beidou is most at home when paired with Fischl, an Anemo character, and a hydro applicator. Yelan happens to fit right into this team. She should be used mainly when you expect two or more targets regularly in combat.

Both Beidou and Yelan have Bursts that capitalize on Normal Attacks. This allows them to synergize, as they create Electro-Charged together, and Beidou’s arc lightning bounces between enemies even when Yelan is dealing single-target damage.

chibi Jean fulfills two roles on Yelan teams: she offers the Viridescent Venerer debuff, shredding elemental resistances, and she heals.

An additional, undervalued aspect of Jean’s kit is her short Skill cooldown. She’s also commonly seen with a Favonius Sword. Any character that can use their skill twice in a rotation and wield a Favonius weapon will compensate for one battery not doing its job well enough.

chibi Yae Miko deals heavy damage via her Skill and Burst, and usually wants a battery like Fischl or the Raiden Shogun and an Anemo character. Yelan benefits from both.

It should be noted that Miko has a 22-second cooldown on her Burst, so she is best implemented when your rotation is already going to be 22 seconds, perhaps if Yelan is using her Skill off-cooldown twice per rotation.

Yelan Resources

Yelan Mastersheet by Emiliabyss, KB, and Sitri

Yelan Database by KeqingMains

100% of artwork used is official Genshin Impact promotional art.

Emiliabyss#1641 - author, calcs

KB#1111 - calcs, co-author

Change Logs

5/27/2022: Yelan v.0.1 drafted.

6/7/2022: Major update to guide, most notably team composition.

6/11/2022: Guide ready for KQM verification.

Closing Thoughts

Special thanks to KB, Sitri, and JRM for their help with frames, consulting, and management of the mastersheet, and to everyone who patiently waits for work like this to come out. Thank you also to Ayzel for helping out with our Energy Recharge numbers for Yelan, and Zajef77 for the comments on Elemental Gauge Theory.

Thank you especially to KB for working alongside me every step of creating the guide and carrying me in math and mechanics.

I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to write Yelan’s guide, and I’ve learned a lot about how I can improve my guide-writing. I hope to create even better guides in the future.

Cheers ~ ❤

– Emiliabyss

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