Xiao is soon having a rerun alongside Alhaitham’s release banner in Genshin Impact 3.4 which is another Lantern Rite patch. With the Wanderer’s release last patch, Xiao has already gained a new life with the new Desert Pavilion Chronicle artifact set and Faruzan as the first dedicated Anemo support who can shred Anemo RES on affected enemies. While Xiao still holds strong in the meta, has his value changed since his last rerun? Here’s what we think.
Xiao’s Value in Genshin Impact 3.4
Xiao used to be the only dedicated 5-star Anemo DPS who had a hypercarry playstyle until the Wanderer dropped in Version 3.3 alongwith a new 4-star- Faruzan, who’s a dedicated Anemo support for Anemo DPS units. We also got two new artifact sets- one of which is a dedicated Anemo DPS set.
Pros
The good and the bad thing is that it really doesn’t change much. At most, Faruzan and the new artifact set will give about a 10% DPS increase to Xiao provided the artifact stats and substats are still as good as his earlier builds.
None of the artifact sets really give him an outstanding edge in terms of DPS. In that regard, he still remains rather easy to build as you can pair 2pc sets of multiple artifact sets as long as they have great stats. Unless you want to hyper-invest and make Xiao your best-built DPS, there’s no reason to build Faruzan or farm for the newer artifact sets like the Desert Pavilion Chronicle or the Vermillion Hereafter.
Xiao is also easy to play with his pogo stick playstyle but it’s understandable if it’s a bit jarring for some players. His gameplay is simple and you don’t need to invest in specific supports to make him shine. Bennett alone does most of the job.
Cons
His only problem is his Energy Recharge (ER) since he doesn’t generate many particles and this is a problem only noticeable in the Spiral Abyss. This is to say you can clear most of the overworld content without needing a 100% burst up-time. He’s still considered a burst DPS as that is his most reliable, powerful and consistent source of damage.
This problem can be easily overcome by practising your rotations well and using another Anemo in the party- preferably someone like Kazuha or Sucrose who can also buff the party and increase the overall DPS of your team.
In the Dendro meta of 3.4, Xiao still holds up strong as elemental reactions really don’t matter much to him and he can still dish out solid punishment- much like Itto. He will definitely be a meta pull even to this day so rest assured- Xiao is still worth it.