Genshin Impact Yaoyao Best Build Guide

Here is everything you need to best build the talkative disciple Yaoyao in Genshin Impact. After a very long wait, Yaoyao has finally arrived in Genshin Impact as a playable character, and in this guide, you will learn everything you need to know including her best weapons and artifacts, her best team compositions, an overview of her abilities and more.

Genshin Impact Yaoyao Best Build Guide

Several years after her initial appearance, Yaoyao is finally playable in Genshin Impact. First revealed back before the game was even released, Yaoyao has been highly anticipated by a large portion of the fanbase ever since. Now, finally, she is available in Version 3.4 as a 4-Star Dendro character.

Yaoyao is a self-proclaimed ‘little adult’ and she works under the Streetward Rambler as their youngest disciple after growing up amongst the Adepti in Liyue. She is a very talkative individual, constantly chattering away about this, that or the other as she goes about her day. As a fighter, Yaoyao is a Dendro Polearm user who prefers to use her rabbit companion, Yuegui, to throw radishes at either her allies or her opponents. 

Here is everything you need to best build Yaoyao in Genshin Impact. This includes knowing what her best weapons and artifact sets are, what kind of team compositions you should run her in, a general overview of all her abilities and more.

Want more Genshin Impact articles and builds? You can find more here on KeenGamer:

  1. Genshin Impact Alhaitham Best Build Guide
  2. Genshin Impact Wanderer (Scaramouche) Best Build Guide
  3. Genshin Impact: Ayamiya (Yoimiya + Ayaka) Genius Invokation TCG Deck Guide
  4. Genshin Impact: Collei Quicken Genius Invokation TCG Deck Guide
  5. Genshin Impact: Freeze Shutdown Genius Invokation TCG Deck Guide

Who is Yaoyao in Genshin Impact?

Yaoyao is our first 4-Star Dendro Polearm user in all of Genshin Impact. She specialises in being a hybrid between being able to produce a lot of Reactions as well as healing her allies effectively. 

Originally growing up in the mountains of Liyue among the Liyue Adepti like Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper, Yaoyao spends her days training under the Streetward Rambler, Madame Ping. She is both talented and inquisitive with a gentle nature. Yaoyao is doted on by her master and fellow pupils: even the Adepti, too, love Yaoyao and allows her to come and go from Jueyun Karst as she pleases.

“Yaoyao cares for others, no matter who they are.

Whether it’s her master, elders, friends, or passers-by, they can all feel her attentive care.

Please don’t take issue with her talkative nature. After all, it is highly probable that the affection and enthusiasm in her heart surpasses that of her words of concern.”

Character Demo – Yaoyao: Purity of the Blossoming Osmanthus

How Do You Get Yaoyao?

As a 4-Star Dendro Polearm, Yaoyao is technically going to be available on every Wish Banner from Version 3.5 onwards. 

Although, on Banners where she is not one of the featured 4-Star units, she will be competing against every other 4-Star character in the game each time you pull. As such, the only way to raise your chances of getting Yaoyao is to summon on any Banner where she is a featured 4-Star as her drop rate is significantly higher.

So far, Yaoyao has appeared on the following banners:

  • Caution in Confidence (Alhaitham’s First Banner): January 18th 2023 – February 7th 2023
  • Invitation to Mundane Life (Xiao’s Second Rerun): January 18th 2023 – February 7th 2023
Caution in Confidence

Caution in Confidence

Another way to get a guaranteed Yaoyao exclusive to Version 3.4 is the Liyue Lantern Rite. As has been the case in years past, if you complete enough of the event and earn enough event currency, you can invite any of Liyue’s 4-Star characters to join you on your journey. 

For this year’s Lantern Rite, Yaoyao is included in that list. So, if you don’t want to summon Alhaitham or Xiao during Version 3.4 but still want a copy of Yaoyao, hold out until the event goes live later in this patch. 

Lantern Rite Invitation

Lantern Rite Invitation

Yaoyao Ascension Materials

To get little Yaoyao from Ascension level 1 to 90, you’ll need the following materials:

  • Jueyun Chilli (Liyue Speciality)
  • Vayuda Emerald Gemstones (Dendro Elemental Gemstones)
  • Slime Consendate (Enemy Drop)
  • Quelled Creeper (World Boss Drop)

Jueyun Chillies are one of the many special resources that grow in the lands of Liyue. You will find clusters of these small red Chillies growing on brushes in batches of 3 to 5. Large abundances of them can be found in the arena surrounding Qingce Village, but they grow all over Liyue. Yaoyao asks for a total of 168 Jueyun Chilli drops to get her to level 90. If you happen to have Qiqi or Yanfei, they will make this journey far easier by highlighting the Chillies (and other Liyue Specialities) on the mini-map thanks to their Passive abilities. If instead, you want a bit more guidance on exactly where they are located, you can consult the Teyvat Interactive Map for their exact location. 

The next material is the Slime Consendate. You’ve no doubt encountered this material before as it drops from every single kind of Slime, no matter the Element. Slimes can be found all over Teyvat in every single Region, but Mondstadt seems to be where they are congregated the most. In any case, you can use the Adventure’s Handbook to track down large groups of Slimes across the world. In total, you will need 18 Slime Consendate, 30 Slime Secretions and 36 Slime Concentrate.

A Long Day

A Long Day

Quelled Creeper is the World Boss drop from the Dendro Hypostasis Cube. This boss can be found to the South of the Deshret Desert in Sumeru, hidden deep in a cave underground. Like other Hypostasis bosses, bringing characters that can effectively deal with the Element in question is important to defeating this boss: bring Pyro, Dendro and Electro characters if you can spare the slots. You will need to fight the Hypostasis enough so it drops 46 Quelled Creepers. This amounts to between 15 to 26 Resin runs depending on how lucky you are.

 

The last material required is the Vayuda Emerald Gemstones. Every character in Genshin Impact needs a certain amount of special Elemental-aligned Gemstones to Ascend, and Yaoyao is no different. She needs the Dendro variant of Gemstone, the Vayuda Emerald line specifically. You can confidently acquire these from Dendro World Bosses such as the aforementioned Dendro Hypostasis, or from getting lucky from Daily Commissions. Another option is to use the Alchemy Table to transmute either the rarity or Element type of Gemstone using the Dust of Azoth. 

To close out, you’ll also need to bring Yaoyao 420k Mora and 416 Hero’s Wit EXP Books (or their equivalent) so she can rise to the height of Ascension. 

Burgeoning Grace

Burgeoning Grace

Yaoyao Ability Overview

Yaoyao is primarily a support character and the first dedicated Dendro healer. However, she can also be very useful in triggering plenty of Dendro Reactions thanks to the speed of her companion. 

Her Normal Attack is Toss ‘N’ Turn Spear. This is a standard 4-hit combo with her Polearm, alongside a Charged Attack that sends her lunging forward at high speeds. You likely won’t be using this part of Yaoyao’s kit often, but the way she fumbles around the Polearm (which is essential twice her height) is very charming.

Yaoyao has a basic 4-hit Normal Attack combo - Genshin Impact Yaoyao Build

Normal Attack

Raphanus Sky Cluster is Yaoyao’s Elemental Skill. Upon activation, she will call upon Yuegui, her small rabbit companion, who aims to help Yaoyao solve any problem in her way. You can either press the skill to immediately throw Yuegui, or you can hold the skill to aim exactly where you want to throw him. When Yuegui is on the field, he will throw out White Jade Radishes that will explode upon hitting either a player character or an opponent. If these explosions hit an ally or player character, the Jade Radishes will heal them to an amount based on Yaoyao’s Max HP: if they hit an enemy, on the other, hand, they will deal Dendro AoE instead. 

Yuegui also prioritises certain targets over others, depending on several factors:

  • If all nearby characters have more than 70% HP remaining, Yuegui will throw White Jade Radishes at a nearby opponent.
  • If nearby characters have 70% or less HP remaining, it will throw a White Jade Raddish at the ally with the lowest HP. It will also continue to throw Radishes at allies if their HP is between 70% and 100%, so long as there are no enemies nearby. 

You can have two instances of Yuegui: Throwing Mode on the field at the same time. 

Yuegui will throw White Jade Radishes at allies and enemies - Genshin Impact Yaoyao Build

Elemental Skill

Moonjade Descent is Yaoyao’s Elemental Burst and it is essentially a powered-up version of her Elemental Skill. When triggered, Yuegui’s full Adeptus potential will be unleashed, dealing Dendro AoE DMG to nearby enemies and entering Yuegui into an Adeptal Legacy state. While this state is active, White Jade Radishes will both heal and deal Dendro DMG at the same time (with a damage and healing bonus), and up to 3 different Yuegui will continually spawn on the battlefield at set intervals. Alongside this, Yaoyao’s Dendro Movement Speed will be increased by 15% and her Dendro RES will also be increased.

In the Adeptal Legacy state, Yaoyao becomes a healing machine - Genshin Impact Yaoyao Build

Elemental Burst

Yaoyao’s Passives

Like most other Genshin Impact characters, Yaoyao has 3 main Passive Talents outside of her combat ones. The first of these is active from level 1, whereas the second and third require you to hit Ascension Ranks 2 and 4, respectively, before they become usable. 

Yaoyao’s first Passive is Tailing on Tiptoes. When Yaoyao is in the party, your characters will not startle Crystalflies and certain other animals when you approach them. Essentially, Yaoyao turns your party into a group of Disney Princesses. 

Starscatter is her second Passive ability and it affects her Burst. While the Adeptal Legacy state is active, Yaoyao will constantly throw her own set of White Jade Radishes when she is sprinting, jumping or simply walking around the battlefield. These White Jade Radishes work exactly the same as Yuegui’s, allowing her to heal and deal damage simply by moving around. 

Finally, In Others’ Shoes enhances the healing effects of the White Jade Radishes. When a Radish explodes, any ally within the AoE will begin regenerating 0.8% of Yaoyao’s Max HP as health every second for 5 seconds. This turns Yaoyao into an excellent healer capable of burst and sustained healing over time. 

Boring Spear Training

Boring Spear Training

Talent Priority Order

This next section will discuss the optimal order that you should level up Yaoyao’s combat Talents. Yaoyao will primarily serve as a healer and support character no matter what team or build you run on her, so these recommendations carry across every variant of Yaoyao. 

First, though, here is what you need to actually level up Yaoyao’s Talents:

  • Teachings/Guides/Philosophies of Diligence (Liyue Talent Books, available on Tuesday/Friday/Sunday)
  • Slime Consendate (Enemy Drop)
  • Daka’s Bell Weekly Boss Drops from the Scaramouche Puppet Boss Fight.

Now, here is the recommended priority order for Yaoyao’s Talents.

1. Moonjade Descent (Elemental Burst)

Yaoyao’s Elemental Burst should likely be your primary focus. It is simply a great Burst that interacts with several parts of her kit, turning Yaoyao into a healing, Reaction-spawning machine. However, it could be argued that the Elemental Skill has more value because it doesn’t rely on Elemental Energy to work, unlike Yaoyao’s Burst. Despite this, I still recommend focusing on the Burst because it is a significant upgrade in healing, damage and coverage, and the Energy requirement can be sidestepped by certain team compositions.

The Burst itself induces the Adeptal Legacy state for 5s. In those 5s, Yaoyao can pop out 3 different versions of Yuegui that will be healing you or throwing Jade Radishes at opponents, while also serving as a source of Radishes herself because of her A2 Talent. While it doesn’t last a very long time, the Jade Radishes themselves have higher healing and damage stats than those in Yaoyao’s Elemental Skill.

Moonjade Descent is a fun, chaotic Elemental Burst that enhances every part of Yaoyao’s primary kit as a supportive character. Focus on this Talent. 

Best Friend Yuegui

Best Friend Yuegui

2. Raphanus Sky Cluster (Elemental Skill)

Despite the insanity of Yaoyao’s Burst in terms of healing and Reaction potential, it is her Elemental Skill that will likely be your most reliable source of heals. This will be your primary way of healing yourself and your allies, as your Burst still does require energy to fuel it, at the cost of less overall healing potential. Your Elemental Skill will simply be available more often, making it a more reliable investment, whereas the Burst is more costly and more rewarding.

What you will be getting investing in the Elemental Skill is a significant increase in Yaoyao’s healing potential. The White Jade Radishes will go from healing 1.71% of Yaoyao’s Max HP at level 1 to 4.07% of her Max HP at level 10. Yuegui lasts for 10s, so having a higher level Elemental Burst guarantees that, for those 10 seconds, you are guaranteed to keep your main DPS unit alive and kicking. Levelling up Raphanus Sky Cluster does also increase the base damage of White Jade Radishes, too, but any damage from them will primarily be Dendro Reaction DMG and not direct impact damage. 

Yaoyao’s Elemental Skill is a confident and reliable source of healing that will reward you for levelling it up. 

Gazing Out

Gazing Out

3. Toss ‘N’ Turn Spear (Normal Attack)

Unlike her Elemental Skill or her Elemental Burst, Yaoyao’s Normal Attacks don’t do anything other than look cute. She isn’t a main DPS and her Normal Attacks do not synergize with any other part of her kit, leaving it pretty dead in the water in terms of investment value.

Completely ignore the Normal Attack Talent unless you plan on brute forcing content with Physical DMG Yaoyao, or want to triple Crown her.

Friend to All

Friend to All

Best Weapons for Yaoyao

Ideal Choice

Yaoyao doesn’t want for many of the high-damage weapons that most main DPS characters in Genshin Impact clamour for. Instead, you’ll want to equip her with a weapon that enhances her healing and support potential above her ability to deal more damage. Enter the Black Tassel.

Unlike most other characters, Yaoyao’s best-in-slot weapon is actually a 3-Star Polearm you’ve probably thrown away a hundred times. There is the Staff of Homa as higher damage, 5-Star option, but the Black Tassel ends up beating it out for improving Yaoyao’s damage potential – if you want to go down the route of making Yaoyao more offensive, though, the Staff of Homa will serve you well.

The Black Tassel is a 3-Star weapon that you can pull from Wishing. It has a terrible base ATK of 354 and the weapon skill, Bane of the Soft, only increased DMG against Slimes. The reason why you want this weapon on Yaoyao is for the substat, which increases the wielder’s max HP by a massive 46.9%, one of the largest HP buffs in the game. Considering that Yaoyao’s main role is healing and that, outside of her Burst, she will perform her duties off-field, the only stat that really matters is HP: the high her Max HP, the more her White Jade Radishes will heal. 

Surprising as it may be, the Black Tassel is a great pick for Yaoyao and should be your go-to option. 

Black Tassel

Black Tassel

Replacement Options

If you want to go down a different path with Yaoyao, though, there are a few other options. Considering that the Black Tassel is only a 3-Star weapon, it is extremely easy to get your hands on, so you should only try out some replacement options if you want Yaoyao to be more than just a healer. 

The recommended replacement options for Yaoyao include the previously mentioned Staff of Homa and the Moonpiercer. The Favonius Lance is another option, but it requires too much investment in a stat that Yaoyao doesn’t need (CRIT Rate).

The Staff of Homa is a 5-Star Polearm that was introduced in the first Lantern Rite and it is the signature weapon of Hu Tao. You can only obtain it from the Unique Weapon Wish Banner when it is one of the featured 5-Star options. It has a base ATK of 608 and a CRIT DMG substat of 66% with the weapon skill Reckless Cinnabar. Firstly, this increases the user’s HP by 20%, as well as providing an ATK bonus based on 0.8% of the wielder’s maximum HP. For a standard Yaoyao build, only the 20% bonus HP would be beneficial, but if you want to run Yaoyao as more offensively viable, the Staff of Homa’s extra ATK and CRIT will make her White Jade Radishes a potent threat on the battlefield. 

On the other hand, the Moonpiercer is there if you want to run a Yaoyao focused more on Dendro Reactions than healing. This 4-Star Polearm can be crafted using the Sumeru exclusive Midlander Billets. It has a base ATK of 565 and an Elemental Mastery substat of 110. Stillwood Moonshadow is the weapon skill and it creates a Leaf of Revival after you trigger a Dendro Reaction. Picking this leaf up will grant the character 16% ATK for 12s. The main benefits of this build include giving Yaoyao a way to buff the ATK of her allies (by creating the Leaf of Revival and having the main DPS pick it up) while also giving her Elemental Reactions like Spread and Bloom more kick. The White Jade Radishes will produce a lot of Reactions and this build can utilise that the most. 

Staff of Homa

Staff of Homa

Best Artifact Set for Yaoyao

There are two main artifact sets to consider for Yaoyao, depending on what route of support you want to take her. Those sets are the Tenacity of the Millelith and the Deepwood Memories sets. 

Tenacity of the Millelith is the most straightforward as it directly improves Yaoyao’s healing potential while also giving her a way to increase the ATK of all nearby party members. The 2-Piece bonus increases the wielder’s HP by 20%. Meanwhile, the 4-Piece bonus is that when the wielder hits an enemy with an Elemental Skill (in this case, Yuegui or any of his White Jade Radishes), they will provide a 20% ATK and 30% Shield Strength boost to their allies for 3 seconds. This effect can be triggered even if Yaoyao is off the field, meaning that Yugeui can continue doing his job while the main DPS gets a free 20% ATK buff. This artifact set is straightforward and very good.

The other direction you could go is with Deepwood Memories, which makes Yaoyao act as more of a debuff support. The 2-Piece simply increases Dendro DMG by 15% (a nice addition, but not vital to Yaoyao by any means) but the 4-Piece decreases a target’s Dendro RES by 30% for 8s when they are hit by a Burst or Skill. In this scenario, Yaoyao’s White Jade Radishes can debuff an enemy and set them up for some high damage if you’re running a Dendro main DPS like Alhaitham or Tighnari. 

Out of the two, Tenacity of the Milleltih is the most effective in most compositions. The bonus HP allows Yaoyao to heal more effectively and the bonus ATK she can provide makes her more versatile. If you are running Yaoyao in a comp that has a Dendro main DPS, though, it is worth considering Deepwood Memories for the potential damage increase she can provide.

Uncle and Auntie Adepti

Uncle and Auntie Adepti

Stats You Want

Here are the main stats you want on Yaoyao:

  1. HP
  2. Elemental Mastery
  3. Energy Recharge / ATK

HP is Yaoyao’s most important stat. Having high Max HP increases the amount that she can heal, after all, making it a priority target for those wishing to run a standard healer Yaoyao build. 

Elemental Mastery is next and, while not an integral feature like HP, it will improve Yaoyao’s capabilities the more EM you have. Yugeui has the potential to trigger a bunch of Dendro-related Reactions when he is throwing White Jade Radishes around the battlefield (especially when the Adpetal Legacy state is active) and having high EM would allow those Reactions to pack a pretty decent punch.

Lastly, we have a toss-up between Energy Recharge and ATK. ATK is rather simple in that it will just increase Yaoyao’s damage potential, specifically with her White Jade Radishes: despite not being a DPS unit, Yaoyao can deal some respectable damage and having higher ATK never hurts. However, if you want to guarantee that you have your Burst up as often as possible for healing (or Reactions), Energy Recharge is a much better option. 

It's Yaoyao!

It’s Yaoyao!

Best Team Compositions

Dendro Main DPS Team

This team consist of Yaoyao, Alhaitham, Yae Miko and Xiangling. 

In this composition, Yaoyao will serve as the main healer and an off-field source of Dendro to back up the main DPS, Alhaitham. With Yuegui on the field alongside Alhaitham, Yaoyao can keep him alive as well as aid in afflicting enemies with Dendro. 

Alhaitham himself is a great main DPS option, especially when paired with another Dendro character. He has multiple sources of high Dendro DMG and the ability to infuse Dendro into his Normal Attacks with his Elemental Skill, making him a Reaction popping machine. By having Alhaitham and Yaoyao on the same team, you also gain access to the Dendro Resonance buff. This boosts Elemental Mastery at the base by 50 while also granting a small additional boost after every Dendro-related Reaction. 

Next up is Yae Miko who will provide off-field damage and Reactions thanks to her Elemental Skill. Yakan Evocation: Sesshou Sakura can quickly be placed down up to three times to help support Alhaitham in dealing big damage. Not only do the Electro bolts created by Yae’s Skill do very high damage on their own, but they also allow Alhaitham and Yaoyao to trigger the Spread Reaction, boosting the team’s damage potential even further. 

Xiangling is up last and she serves as another off-field DPS. Her Elemental Skill and her Elemental Burst as both good sources of Pyro DMG for Alhaitham and Yaoyao so that the Burning Reaction can be triggered. Pyronado in particular is a great boon for Alhaitham, as it constantly swirls around him as he deals Dendro damage and can instantly apply Burn to any enemy he touches. 

Dendro Main DPS Team

Dendro Main DPS Team

Spread Team 

This team consists of Yaoyao, Cyno, Fischl and Nahida. 

Like the previous composition, Yaoyao is our main healer. With her Skill and Burst, she can also produce a good amount of off-field Dendro to help back up the main DPS, Cyno. 

As a main DPS, Cyno works very well with characters who can produce Reactions off-field (which, in this case, is both Yaoyao and Nahida) as his primary damage source comes from Electro Reactions like Aggravate. As such, Cyno works best as an Electro DPS, constantly firing off his Skill until you can unleash the power of his Burst to spawn constant, high-powered Reactions with the aid of Nahida. 

Speaking of, Nahida is a vital part of this team for a few reasons. Firstly, her Elemental Skill All Schemes to Know is a great applicator of Dendro to go alongside Yaoyao’s White Jade Radishes as both can be applied to Dendro off-field. This Skill also deals a really good amount of damage and can spread the Reactions Cyno triggers to other enemies, allowing this combo to tear down entire rooms of enemies in mere moments. Just like with the previous team, having Yaoyao and Nahida means that this team also has access to bonus Elemental Mastery from the Dendro Resonance buff  – a massive boon for Nahida and Cyno alike.

Finally, we have Fischl. She serves to provide the team with a good source of off-field Electro DMG in her Nightrider Skill, but also as a great source of Burst Energy. Yaoyao and Cyno are both very Burst hungry characters, Yaoyao so she can continually heal her allies and Cyno so he can get the most out of his damage. Fischl provides a nice, easy way to get more Burst Energy thanks to her own abilities and the Electro Resonance that’ll be active thanks to her and Cyno sharing a place on the team. 

Spread Team

Spread Team

F2P Budget Team

This team consists of Yaoyao, Lisa, Xiangling and Collei. Every single character in this team (including Yaoayo if you play during Version 3.4) is available for free and without needing to Wish. 

Spread and Hyperbloom Reactions are the main focus of this team. As always, Yaoyao will be our healing unit who can use her Elemental Skill to rain down terrifying White Jade Radishes on her foes. 

Our main DPS here will be Lisa. Despite not being a crazy powerhouse like Cyno, Shogun or Yae, Lisa is still a very powerful character when played correctly. As a Catalyst, she can instantly trigger the Dendro Reactions set up by Collei or Yaoyao, and her Burst has a wide radius that deals continuous damage over time. When paired with Yaoyao, Collei and even Xiangling, Lisa’s ability to use Reactions as a source of major damage come to light. 

Next, we have Xiangling who will be our backup DPS. Like with our first example team composition, her off-field Pyro potential allows for some very potent Reactions to pop without her needing to be present. Burning is a good damage over-time option and Overload is even better for massive amounts of chunk damage.

Last, but certainly not least, is Collei. Her main role is to play a similar role to Yaoyao in setting up Dendro Reactions for Lisa. The difference is that Collei is built to be a DPS character, with her Burst in particular dealing a very respectable amount of damage with the right investment. Pairing said Burst with Lisa’s Elemental Skill or Burst has the potential to unleash Spread Reaction chaos onto the entire arena.

F2P Budget Team

F2P Budget Team

And that is everything you need to build the best Yaoyao in Genshin Impact.

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