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Does Xiao Benefit from Raiden Shogun? A Comprehensive Guide

In short, the answer is complex. While Raiden Shogun provides significant energy recharge and off-field damage, her synergies with Xiao are not as straightforward as they are with other characters like Xiangling. Raiden’s ability to buff Elemental Burst damage doesn’t apply to Xiao because his plunge attacks during his burst are considered Normal Attack damage. However, she can still be a valuable asset in certain Xiao team compositions by addressing his energy needs. She can also help to mitigate the need of an anemo battery like Sucrose or Jean. Understanding the nuances of their interaction is key to optimizing your team building.

Understanding Xiao and Raiden Shogun Individually

To determine how well these two units function together, it’s crucial to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses.

Xiao: The Vigilant Yaksha

Xiao is an Anemo Main DPS known for his high damage potential during his Elemental Burst, Bane of All Evil. During this burst, he sacrifices HP to drastically increase his jump height and attack damage, allowing him to deal massive damage through plunge attacks. He is a selfish DPS, meaning he requires a lot of field time and doesn’t offer much support to the team when his burst is not active. His biggest challenges are:

Energy Recharge: Xiao has high energy needs (70 energy) and struggles to generate energy for himself, especially in single-target situations.
HP Drain: His burst constantly drains his HP, requiring a reliable healer.
Limited Synergy: Xiao’s damage is primarily self-buffed, limiting his synergy with traditional supports that buff Burst damage.

Raiden Shogun: The Electro Archon

Raiden Shogun excels as an Electro Sub-DPS and Battery. Her Elemental Skill, Eye of Stormy Judgment, provides off-field Electro damage and increases the team’s Elemental Burst damage. Her Elemental Burst, Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, allows her to deal significant Electro damage and regenerate energy for the entire team. Key strengths include:

Energy Generation: Raiden Shogun is arguably the best battery in the game, quickly replenishing energy for the team.
Off-Field Damage: Her Elemental Skill provides consistent off-field damage, contributing to overall DPS.
Burst Damage: Raiden Shogun can deal considerable burst damage herself.

Analyzing the Synergy (or Lack Thereof)

The perceived synergy between Xiao and Raiden comes primarily from Raiden’s energy regeneration. Here’s a breakdown of the positive and negative aspects of pairing them:

Positives:

Energy Recharge: Raiden Shogun can significantly alleviate Xiao’s energy problems, allowing him to use his burst more frequently. Raiden can battery Xiao fairly efficiently and if built well can eliminate the need for an anemo battery.
Off-Field Damage: Raiden’s Elemental Skill provides supplementary Electro damage, increasing the team’s overall DPS, especially during Xiao’s downtime.
Smooth Rotation: With Raiden’s energy generation, a Xiao team can have a smooth rotation with basically 100% burst up time for the whole team.

Negatives:

Burst Damage Buff Ineffectiveness: Raiden’s ability to buff Elemental Burst damage does not apply to Xiao’s plunge attacks, diminishing a key aspect of her support capabilities in a Xiao team.
Opportunity Cost: Using Raiden in a Xiao team might mean sacrificing a character who could provide more direct damage buffs or utility specifically tailored to Xiao’s kit (like Anemo Damage Bonus buffs).
Suboptimal Damage Contribution: Raiden is the main DPS in the team with her elemental burst damage being dependent on team members using their Elemental Burst. Xiangling and Xingqiu’s Elemental Bursts require 80 energy, which makes them best teammates of Raiden Shogun.

Team Compositions and Considerations

When incorporating Raiden into a Xiao team, consider the following:

Team Members: Choose characters that benefit from Raiden’s energy recharge and can contribute meaningful off-field damage or utility. Bennett for healing and attack buffs is almost always ideal in this situation.
Rotation: Optimize the rotation to maximize Raiden’s energy generation and Xiao’s field time. The rotation can make a Xiao team have a smooth rotation with basically 100% burst up time for the whole team.
Artifacts and Weapons: Equip Xiao and Raiden with artifacts and weapons that maximize their damage output and energy recharge.

Example Team Compositions:

Xiao / Raiden Shogun / Bennett / Xiangling: This is a strong team where Raiden batteries both Xiao and Xiangling, allowing Xiangling to consistently use her burst for off-field damage. Bennett provides healing and attack buffs.
Xiao / Raiden Shogun / Jean / Zhongli: Jean provides healing and additional battery potential for Xiao. Zhongli provides shield and resistance shred.

Conclusion: A Conditional Partnership

While Raiden Shogun can address Xiao’s energy needs and provide off-field damage, her synergy with him is not as complete as it is with other characters who directly benefit from her burst damage buff. Whether or not Raiden Shogun is a “good” support for Xiao depends on your team composition, artifact quality, and overall strategy. She is a viable option, especially if energy is a significant problem for your Xiao team. It’s best to consider your personal team building style and playtest these teams to see if Raiden provides enough energy and damage support that is useful to the whole team.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is Raiden Shogun a must-have character?

Raiden Shogun is one of the very few characters in Genshin Impact that you can consider a must-pull. She is incredibly versatile and fits into numerous team compositions. She can deal massive damage while restoring a massive amount of Energy to the entire party.

2. Is Xiao free-to-play (F2P) friendly?

Yes, Xiao is relatively F2P friendly. He unlocks his true potential at C0, and his constellations from C1-C5 do not bring any significant changes to his damage output.

3. Who are the best teammates for Xiao?

Some of the best teammates for Xiao include:

Bennett: Provides healing and attack buffs.
Sucrose: Generates energy for Xiao and provides Anemo DMG Bonus.
Jean: Provides healing and additional energy generation.
Zhongli: Provides a shield and resistance shred.
Albedo: Provides consistent off-field damage.

4. Is Raiden Shogun the strongest playable character?

In terms of raw DPS potential, Raiden Shogun has the highest potential damage out of the three archons that have been released so far.

5. Is Xiao the best DPS in Genshin Impact?

Xiao is a strong Main DPS character but needs special support. He moves around the field a lot, which doesn’t make Energy Recharge easy, and he continuously loses HP during his Elemental Burst. These weaknesses need to be compensated for.

6. Is Xiao better than Wanderer?

The decision between Xiao and Wanderer boils down to personal preference, whether players prefer plunging or charged attacks. Both characters can be built similarly and benefit from Faruzan’s Anemo support, especially if players have her sixth constellation.

7. Why should I pull for Raiden Shogun?

Raiden Shogun is highly valued because of the amount of utilities that she brings that makes her one of the most favored units for Genshin Impact’s Spiral Abyss. She’s a very flexible unit being able to deal burst damage sometimes even greater than the main DPS you’re using once she gets full stacks of resolve.

8. How strong is Xiao lore-wise?

Excluding Archons, Xiao is considered one of the strongest playable characters lore-wise. Out of the five Adepti Rex Lapis appointed to become Yakshas or specialized demon slayers, Xiao is the only one who remains alive or sane.

9. What is Xiao’s Crit Rate at level 90?

At Level 90, Xiao has a base Crit Rate of 24.2%, but with his innate Crit Rate, you get an easy 61% Crit Rate at Level 90.

10. What is Xiao’s best weapon?

Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is generally considered Xiao’s best-in-slot Polearm. The weapon grants Xiao a 22% Crit Rate in addition to the Crit Rate he gets from Ascension stats.

11. Who is stronger than Raiden Shogun?

In the lore of Mortal Kombat, Shinnok, as an Elder God, is considered more powerful than Raiden due to his status.

12. Why is Raiden Shogun considered one of the best characters?

Raiden Shogun is a great sub DPS with excellent battery capabilities. She is also a very flexible unit, being able to deal burst damage that sometimes greater than the main DPS.

13. Can Raiden be a battery for Xiao?

Yes, Raiden Shogun can be a terrific battery for Xiao, significantly quicker compared to other characters. She addresses Xiao’s energy recharge requirements.

14. Is Raiden bad for Xiao?

Raiden is definitely NOT Xiao’s ideal support character, because her ability to buff your characters’ Qs (bursts) do not apply to Xiao, as his plunge attacks are not considered burst damage.

15. Who is the weakest Archon?

Venti is considered the weakest Archon in Genshin Impact. He rules, or rather, used to rule the nation of wind and freedom, Mondstadt.

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Does Xiao benefit from Raiden?