Layla and Diona are 4-star Cryo shielders with other support utilities and in this article, we will see how they compare and who you should build.
Layla is the latest 4-star character in Genshin Impact 3.2 and she’s released in the second half of Version 3.2 alongside Heizou and Thoma in Yae and Tartaglia’s rerun banners. She plays the role of a Cryo shielder like Diona but unlike her, she has a much stronger shield and better Cryo application. New players are confused as to who is better and veteran players wonder how they compare so here we are with some analysis.
Layla and Diona are Equally Great
Layla has a stronger shield than Diona but Diona also has reliable healing to make up for her average shield. Both have short CDs on their shield abilities so you can reliably have an almost 100% up-time on both of their shields. Layla’s shield is in fact the strongest 4-star shield in the game and the second-strongest shield in the game at base form- only challenged by a fully stacked full-HP Thoma shield and the emergency shield of Noelle. The only shield clearly better than hers is Zhongli’s shield.
On the topic of energy, both Diona and Layla have issues. Diona has a high burst cost of 80 and so to reliably use her as a healer you will need a ton of ER without sacrificing your HP which is possible thanks to ER weapons. As for Layla, even though she has a surprisingly low burst cost of 40, she usually doesn’t catch the particles of her own shield so she also needs a moderate amount of ER (about 140-160) unless she’s got Cryo Resonance from another Cryo teammate.
When it comes to consistent Cryo application Layla wins due to her Skill and Burst both of which consistently fire Night Stars and or Starlight Slugs at enemies. These have a very small AoE so if enemies are closely grouped together, you can affect multiple enemies at once. Diona isn’t seen for her Cryo application but it is nice when her E skill targets multiple enemies and hits them with Cryo to form her shield.
Both units can serve as reliable energy batteries provided they have a decent amount of ER built according to their needs. Layla doesn’t usually catch the particles from her own shield but this means that other characters who are protected by it do. As for Diona, since you won’t always be needing the healing from her burst, once her burst is charged up, she can serve as a reliable battery for your other units.
Constellations
This is where both units differ. A C6 Diona is arguably more valuable than a C6 Layla.
Layla’s kit revolves around her Night Stars and a C6 Layla will get more damage and energy out of her Night Stars. At C4 she will also buff the NA of her teammate within her shield but this buff lasts only half a second. By C2 she shares a weaker shield with other teammates in the field and she solves her energy issues.
By C2, Diona does the same. Her C4 is useless as it decreases the charging time of her charge shot but her C6 makes her a powerful support for elemental teams as it gives characters within the AoE of her elemental burst a flat 200 EM provided they have above 50% HP. Thus her burst becomes more than just a healing circle.
Diona’s C6 also makes one of her passive talents vastly useful. One of her passives gives characters protected by her shield a 10% increased Movement SPD and a 10% decreased Stamina Consumption. With her C6 this buff becomes noticeably valuable as you can now do more elemental attacks, sprints and charged shots for maximum damage. Since her other passive also decreases the ATK of enemies within her burst by 10%, this means more damage.
Final Verdict
If you already have a C6 Diona then you won’t really need Layla. If you need a healer and a shielder then Diona is your pick. If you instead want a stronger shield which won’t break after taking 2-3 hits- then Layla is your calling.
Layla is a focused shielder meanwhile Diona’s role is to reliably multitask shielding, healing and buffing your team. A C6 Diona is very powerful and is generally better than a C6 Layla but if you’re pulling for constellations you can safely stop at C2 for both characters if you want a feel for their playstyle.
