this is another in-depth guide, this time for xiao

it'll be long so keep that in mind if you'll read all of it.

So with xiao being released not too much ago, a lot of ppl have him including myselff so i decided i could write a guide on how to make him strong

the guide is for xiao as a Main DPS; his optimal role

Here's a list of everything i'll talk about:

•Leveling

•Weapon

•Artifact sets

•Artifact stats

•Constellation

•Talents

•Team building

let's beginn

:black_small_square: Leveling

Xiao's ascension stat is crit rate so ascending him is key to making him strong. getting him to level 90 is completely worth it, this also applies for just about every Main DPS character.

:black_small_square: Weapon

Xiao has a bunch of good polearms to choose from. here are most of them:

I'll try to rank these and give short explanations to why they work the best on Xiao.

1 :black_small_square: Staff of Homa/Primordial Jade Winged-Spear

These are the two 5☆ dps polearms in the game, and they are both the best weapons on Xiao. Homa has crit damage, but Jade Spear has crit rate. It's your choice which to use between them since they are about as good, and they're both amazing. Their abilities are also great

2 :black_small_square: Blackcliff Pole/Deathmatch/Lithic Spear

The best 4☆ polearm options for Xiao. Blackcliff pole has crit damage while Deathmatch has crit rate, though it requires you to buy the battle in order to have it. Lithic spear has atk%, but the ability is its strong suit. If you can use some liyue characters alongside him(Xiao already counts as one), the spear competes with these two.

3 :black_small_square: Crescent Pike/Prototype Starglitter/White Tassel

These work, but don't compare to the ones above. Crescent pike has physical damage, and this isn't a stat you want on Xiao since his main sources of damage are all elemental(anemo). Prototype starglitter has energy recharge, which isn't as good of a stat on him compared to other polearms, and though White tassel has crit rate and a good ability, this is a 3☆ weapon.

:black_small_square: Artifact sets

there aren't really many set options when you use xiao, the best choice is:

2-Piece Gladiator's Finale+

2-Piece Viridescent Venerer

These sets increase both his attack and his anemo damage. 4-piece versions aren't worth it because swirl dmg isn't something you want on Xiao, and you'd rather take anemo dmg% over normal attack damage with him.

:black_small_square: Artifact stats

Xiao is an anemo dps. the stats you want on his artifacts are:

HP | ATK | ATK% | ANEMO DMG% | CRIT DMG%

In this case, crit dmg will be more neccessary than crit rate because Xiao already has a nice ammount with his ascension stat. Do make sure your substats are good though, they make a huge difference.

:black_small_square: Constellation

Here's Xiao's constellation:

A pretty good constellation, his strongest ones are c1 and c6. c4 is his weakest.

if you manage to get any constellation levels of Xiao, he'll become much stronger.

:black_small_square: Talents

this is Xiao's 1st ive:

a very strong ive that makes keeping his ult up rewarding.

this is his 2nd one:

another great talent, this time making his skill much stronger. also has 3 stacks in case your xiao is at c1

Which talents to level first?

honestly, all of xiao's talents are amazing, but to maximize his ult's dps you can upgrade both his normal attacks and his ult itself. I'd prioritize both of them over his skill

:black_small_square: Team Building

Xiao is a pretty selfish main DPS; he requires a lot of uptime to deal high damage (specially using his ult). It's best to pair him with strong healing/shielding and good s, and another strong anemo character to work as a burst battery for him if possible.

Here's a team example with Xiao:

Xiao | Sucrose | Bennett | Xiangling

Though very situational, this team works amazingly arround Xiao; Sucrose is a great burst battery for him and provides useful crowd control while bennett heals Xiao and boosts his attack with his burst, then Xiangling helps increase the damage with her skill and burst. This team also has two amazing resonances; Pyro and Anemo, increasing everyone's ATK, movement speed, and energy recharge.

Here's a list of characters that work well when paired with Xiao:

:black_small_square: Venti(Battery, Anemo Resonance, Crowd control)

:black_small_square: Bennett(ATK boost, Healing)

:black_small_square: Zhongli(Shielding, Enemy Anemo dmg Resistance decrease)

:black_small_square: Jean(Battery, Anemo Resonance, Healing)

:black_small_square: Sucrose(Battery, Anemo Resonance, Crowd control)

:black_small_square: Qiqi(Healing)

:black_small_square: Diona(Healing, Shielding)

:black_small_square: Barbara(Healing, if using Thrilling tales: ATK boost)

:black_small_square: Xiangling(, Pyro swirl)

:black_small_square: Anemo Traveler(Battery, Anemo Resonance, Crowd Control)

aaaand that's all. these take time to make so i hope it was useful to somebody. thanks for reading :)