Genshin Impact Nilou build and materials guide
Only the best Genshin Impact Nilou build enables you to use this niche character to her full effectiveness and let her shine on the grandest stage of all – the battlefield. Nilou’s elegant style of fighting, which is based on her dance techniques, is amazing to behold and to play, though she requires a certain team composition and specific gear to really come into her own.
Nilou’s Elemental Skill, Dance of Haftkarsvar, deals Hydro damage to nearby opponents based on Nilou’s maximum HP. In addition, she enters the Pirouette state, which leads to additional effects. Using Normal Attacks when in the Pirouette state will let Nilou enter the Sword Dance stance, which in turn allows her to unleash illusions that deal additional Hydro damage. Using her Elemental Skill again while in the Pirouette state will enable Nilou to enter the Whirling Steps stance. This allows her to deal Hydro damage in an area and creates an aura that applies Hydro to nearby enemies even if she’s switched out. While Nilou is in any of these stances, her attacks deal Hydro damage that can’t be overridden.
Dance of Abzendegi: Distant Dreams, Listening Spring is Nilou’s Elemental Burst and causes a lotus to bloom, which deals Hydro damage in an area around itself based on Nilou’s maximum HP. It applies an effect on all targets, which triggers after a while to deal additional Hydro damage.
Nilou’s Passive Talents are interesting as well: If her party only consists of Hydro and Dendro characters, their Elemental Mastery will be increased by 100 for ten seconds whenever they take Dendro damage. Bloom reactions create Bountiful Cores instead of Dendro Cores when Nilou is on a team. These explode quicker than Dendro Cores, dealing more area-of-effect damage. This damage is boosted by every 1,000 HP of Nilou that exceeds 30,000.
This kit makes Nilou a very unique character on the Genshin Impact roster, but also locks her into specific compositions. Outside of these, she can’t really shine.
Best Nilou weapons – Genshin Impact
Nilou's fighting style is a work of art.
HoYoverse
Nilou skills mainly scale with her maximum HP, making it a good idea to choose a weapon with that as a main attribute. Among swords, the Key of Khaj-Nisut, which is also Nilou’s signature weapon, is by far the best choice. It provides one percentage buff for maximum HP as its main stat and another one through its effect. This effect also temporarily boosts Elemental Mastery of the entire party based on the wielder’s maximum HP, which is another great boon for the team.
This makes the Key of Khaj-Nisut Nilou’s best weapon in any situation, whether she’s the Main DPS or a supporting Sub DPS.
Here are the best weapons for Nilou in Genshin Impact:
- Key of Khaj-Nisut (5-star sword)
- Freedom-Sword (5-star sword)
- Xiphos’ Moonlight (4-star sword)
- Iron Sting (4-star sword)
- Sacrificial Sword (4-star sword)
Best Nilou artifacts – Genshin Impact
Nilou is flexible when it comes to her artifact choices, at least.
HoYoverse
Aside from HP, your top priorities to build Nilou are Elemental Mastery and Energy Recharge to boost reaction damage and get your Elemental Burst up and running as quickly as possible.
To that end, you have several options, which should hopefully help you out in finding artifacts with the fitting stats. You’ll want to combine two pieces of Tenacity of the Millelith or Vourukasha’s Glow, which provide a 20% HP buff, with two pieces of a set that provides Elemental Mastery or Hydro damage. For Elemental Mastery you can use Gilded Dreams or Wanderer’s Troupe, while Hydro damage is provided by Heart’s Depth or Nymph’s Dream.
You should get the following stat distribution on Nilou’s artifacts, no matter which sets you choose:
- Flower: HP (main stat), HP%, Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery, Attack % (secondary stats)
- Plume: Attack (main stat), HP%, Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery, HP (secondary stats)
- Sands: HP% (main stat), Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery, HP, Attack % (secondary stats)
- Goblet: HP% (main stat), Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery, HP, Attack % (secondary stats)
- Circlet: HP% (main stat), Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery, HP, Attack % (secondary stats)
Best Nilou teams – Genshin Impact
Bloom teams are really the only option for Nilou to perform well in, but thanks to some additional character releases since her debut she’s not as limited in potential team mates as she once was.
A composition with three Hydro characters and a single Dendro character will ensure that all Bountiful Cores are generated by that Main DPS, which makes it simpler for you to maximize those Cores’ damage – just pump up the Elemental Mastery of the Main DPS as high as you can.
Nahida is a great replacement for Alhaitham here, while Xingqiu and Barbara could jump in for Yelan and Kokomi respectively.
- Kokomi (Main DPS), Nilou (Sub DPS), Nahida (Sub DPS), Yaoyao (Support)
Going half-and-half will enable both Hydro and Dendro Resonance and will allow for a more rapid production of Bountiful Cores. However, these will come from different characters, so you’ll have to make sure that everyone has good Elemental Mastery stats.
- Nilou (Main DPS), Nahida (Sub DPS), Collei (Sub DPS), Kokomi (Support)
Using Nilou as the primary DPS character requires you to have off-field Dendro application from characters like Nahida, Collei, or Dendro Traveler. Make sure to keep the healing from Kokomi up so that Nilou isn’t killing herself standing in the explosions of her Bountiful Cores.
Nilou ascension materials – Genshin Impact
You’ll want to quickly raise Nilou’s level when you finally get her, which means that you’ll need to farm her ascension materials. You’ll also require some material to upgrade her talents.
Here’s what you need to get Nilou to level 90:
- Varunada Lazurite Sliver x1
- Varunada Lazurite Fragment x9
- Varunada Lazurite Chunk x9
- Varunada Lazurite Gemstone x6
- Fungal Spores x18
- Luminescent Pollen x30
- Crystalline Cyst Dust x36
- Padisarah x168
- Perpetual Caliber x46
- Mora x2,092,530
Varunada Lazurite gems are available from any Hydro-affiliated boss on the world map, such as the Hydro Hypostasis. Sadly, there is no synergy to be found with any of the other materials you need for Nilou, as Fungal Spores, Luminescent Pollen, and Crystalline Cyst Dust are common loot from defeating mushroom creatures in Sumeru, which you can find pretty much anywhere in the region, and Perpetual Caliber is dropped by the Aeonblight Drake in the region. Padisarah flowers can be found in all of Sumeru as well. The best way to earn more Mora is to farm golden Ley Line Blossoms.
Here’s what you need to upgrade all of Nilou’s talents to their maximum level:
- Fungal Spores x18
- Luminescent Pollen x66
- Crystalline Cyst Dust x93
- Teachings of Praxis x9
- Guide to Praxis x63
- Philosophies of Praxis x114
- Tears of the Calamitous God x18
- Crown of Insight x3
- Mora x4,957,500
Upgrading Nilou’s talents requires additional Mora and more sacrifices from the mushroom creatures – just stay away from Bongo-Head and the rest of our Shroom Buddies, please. You’ll need to visit the Steeple of Ignorance Domain in Sumeru on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday to farm Books of Ingenuity. Tears of the Calamitous God require you to go back to Inazuma, where you need to defeat the Raiden Shogun boss.
Crowns of Insight are a rare item gained from time-limited events or regional reward mechanics like the Tree of Dreams in Sumeru or the Grand Narukami Shrine in Inazuma.
