Yaoyao is actually a great addition to the 4-star roster in Genshin Impact 3.4. She fills a role that no other character can fill at the moment and she’s reliably good at her job. She’s a decently strong unit even if she’s built as a DPS and that is a testament to her balanced but effective gameplay design. Read on as we break down what she’s capable of and how to build her.
Yaoyao’s Basic Kit Explained
Yaoyao is a polearm-wielding Dendro healer. And that’s the best and most concise way of describing her. Even though her primary role is that of a healer, she also doubles up as a rather decent Dendro support for Bloom and Burgeon teams. Read on below as we explain her basic kit- because as expansive as the descriptions are- they really are not that complicated.
Normal Attacks
Yaoyao’s NAs deal negligible damage so you don’t need to level up this talent of hers. She wields the polearm as a child would and that is all you need to know about her normals. Yes, it is adorable.
Elemental Skill
Yaoyao’s E skill throws out a Yuegui (An Adeptal Device) which throws out Dendro Radishes at either enemies or you depending on your health percentage. At most two of these Yueguis can exist at the same time. These Radishes either heal or deal Dendro DMG to enemies depending on the combat situation.
If you have over 70% HP, the Yueguis will target the Radishes at nearby enemies. If you have less than 70% HP, the Radishes will come to you and you can heal. If no enemies are nearby, then the Yuegui will target you and if your health is not maxed, then it will heal you even if it’s above 70%.
Additionally, if you’re in co-op mode, and your party has members below 70% HP, then the Yuegui will target the member with the lowest HP first so that they can heal up.
Elemental Burst
In her elemental burst, Yaoyao’s Radishes will heal and deal DMG at the same time. Thus it’s recommended players keep their enemies close- literally so that they can heal up because these Radishes don’t have a large AoE explosion. Her burst also summons Yuegui though these are a bit jumpy and rather excited to help.
A maximum of 3 Jumpy Yuegui can exist at the same time. In her burst mode, Yaoyao’s Movement SPD is also increased and she gains a certain amount of Dendro RES.
Her first ascension passive also encourages players to run, jump and sprint during her burst duration as these actions will also cause Yaoyao to throw Radishes at opponents. Her second ascension passive also gives your character passive healing based on Yaoyao’s Max HP when her Radishes explode.
Her Radishes have their own duration and if they haven’t been in contact with an ally or an enemy, they’ll explode on their own when their duration is up. Otherwise, they explode on contact- which isn’t at first apparent because most of these Radishes will be automatically thrown at your character or opponents.
It’s also to be noted that her burst has an energy cost of 80 and it ends prematurely if you switch her out during the duration of it. This means that while her burst is active, Yaoyao has to be on-field. This isn’t such a bad deal as even if she’s the active character, her Radishes heal the whole party.
Constellations
We already have an article on her constellations but in short, her C2 is a good place to stop as it resolves some of her energy issues.
How to Build Yaoyao
Building Yaoyao is easy. She’s meant to be used as a support. You can now choose to build her as a dedicated healer, an overall support who provides healing and Dendro reactions or even a full on Dendro Spread DPS- though she will perform poorly compared to dedicated DPS units as that is not her intended role.
In general, you’ll want to build lots of HP on her along with as much ER as possible as she needs at least 180-200% ER even with a Dendro teammate supporting her.
Artifacts
Yaoyao is, first and foremost, a Dendro unit. Thus, even though she’s a healer, one cannot ignore the Dendro element of hers just to build her as a dedicated healer as that would waste her abilities. Her main stat in her artifacts are still supposed to be HP-focused as her healing scales off of HP. That said one also cannot ignore her ER requirements.
Her main stats in her artifact sets are supposed to look somewhat like this:
- Sands: HP or ER (in case her ER requirements aren’t met through her weapon and substats).
- Goblet: HP
- Circlet: Healing Bonus or HP (Healing Bonus only gives Yaoyao more healing).
With that resolved, here are her best artifact sets ranked:
Rank | Artifact Set | Notes |
1. | Deepwood Memories | Even with a full HP build, this set provides valuable Dendro DMG bonus and Dendro RES shred. |
2. | Tenacity of Millelith | Bonus HP for Yaoyao and Bonus ATK for teammates. |
3. | Maiden’s Beloved | Dedicated healing set. |
4. | Ocean Hued Clam | Dedicated healing set with minimal DMG from its passive. |
5. | Gilded Dreams | For Spread DPS Yaoyao. |
6. | Emblem of Severed Fate | Resolves Yaoyao’s ER issues and boosts Burst DMG. |
7. | Instructor | Bonus EM and BIS 4-star set for those below AR45. |
Weapons
Yaoyao will prefer ER weapons for the most part. If you do have enough ER from her artifacts, then you can go for HP% or EM weapons instead. Her best weapons are ranked as follows:
Rank | Rarity | Source | Weapon | Notes |
1. | 4-star | Standard Gacha | Favonius Lance | Best ER weapon as it can also battery the team. |
2. | 4-star | F2P Craftable | Prototype Starglitter | F2P option. |
3. | 4-star | F2P Craftable | Kitain Cross Spear | Has an EM main stat and refunds energy. |
4. | 4-star | F2P Fishing | The Catch | Best ER weapon but it’s better used on other characters. |
5. | 5-star | Standard Gacha | Skyward Spine | BIS 5-star option but it’s better used on other characters. |
6 | 5-star | Gacha | Engulfing Lightning | Best used on other characters. |
7. | 3-star | F2P | Black Tassel | The only HP% main stat weapon. |
8. | 4-star | F2P Craftable | Moonpiercer | BIS F2P EM weapon for DPS builds. |
9. | 4-star | Gacha | Dragon’s Bane | Best used on other characters. |
Teambuilding Options
As for Yaoyao’s teambuilding options, she’s very flexible. She can slot reliably into Bloom teams, Burgeon teams and even Nilou Bloom teams. Though she could potentially be a small reduction in that team’s overall damage, she makes up for it by being an amazing healer and increasing the survivability of that team. Some of her best teammates are:
- Nahida
- Dendro Traveler
- Alhaitham
- Tighnari
- Raiden Shogun
- Yae Miko
- Fischl
- Keqing
- Xinqiu
- Nilou
- Yelan
- Childe
- Ayato
- Kazuha
- Sucrose
- Zhongli
Noticeably healers are absent from this list because Yaoyao is meant to fill that role.
Yaoyao is a complete and solid 4-star character even in C0. You could argue that she does have blatant energy issues but we have to remember she’s still a 4-star. Considering Genshin Impact’s recent string of 4-stars, she’s contrariwise a very good addition to the 4-star roster and one desperately needed, especially for the Dendro roster of characters. We wish all players a Happy Lantern Rite and may Yaoyao appear in all your 10-pulls.