The best Genshin Impact Nilou build, weapons, artifacts, and Nilou F2P options
Take the stage with one of Genshin Impact's most distinct Hydro characters yet
The best Genshin Impact Nilou build gives your team one of the most powerful Bloom makers in the RPG.
Nilou is built to trigger Bloom and even has a passive talent that increases the damage these reactions deal.
The downside is that, to get the most from her talents, you almost have to have her signature weapon.
Genshin Impact Nilou build
What is the best Genshin Impact Nilou build?
In short, if you want to make the most of Nilou’s talents, you should plan on pushing her HP up as much as possible and using Nilou only in Dendro and Hydro parties. Despite her talents pointing at this as the right way to use Nilou, though, you can absolutely just use her as a normal Hydro character – and probably should, if you don’t want to wish on her signature weapon.
Best Nilou weapon – Key of Khaj-Nisut
Nilou's signature weapon Key of Khaj-Nisut sword is an ideal fit whether you plan on building for her passive talents or just want her Hydro skills to deal as much damage as possible. The 5-star sword’s secondary stat is HP – and it’s the only sword with HP as a stat – and the passive skill boosts HP by a further 20 percent. It also increases the user’s elemental mastery by 0.12 percent of their HP and can stack three times, though this effect is, admittedly, less impressive. Even at 30,000 HP, you’re looking at less than 100 bonus elemental mastery.
The Freedom-Sworn Sword is a much better choice if elemental mastery is your goal. At level 90, it increases elemental mastery by nearly 200, and the passive skill gives the entire party a substantial attack boost. This is a good fit if you end up using the full Tenacity of the Millelith set too.
If you have a spare Primordial Jade Cutter lying around, it also would work well for Nilou. The secondary stat is critical damage, which isn't particularly useful, but the passive skill raises the user's HP and channels that back into their attack, buffing attack by 1.2 percent of the character's max HP.
On the 4-star side, Xiphos' Moonlight is an excellent fit for either of Nilou's functions, since she'll likely be setting off reactions of all kinds. It hasn't shown up in the weapon banner too often, so you may not have had a chance to grab this one.
If that's the case, then the Sacrificial Sword is another strong pick. Nilou’s skill has a long cooldown timer, and her burst requires 70 energy. The Sacrificial Sword increases energy recharge and has a high chance of ending the user’s skill cooldown timer.
Best Nilou Artifacts – Mixed Tenacity of the Millelith and Gilded Dreams
Nilou needs HP above all else, so a two-piece Tenacity of the Millelith set is a must for her. For the other slots, you could use either Noblesse Oblige or Heart of Depth, though given the high scaling percentage of Nilou’s burst, we prefer Noblesse Oblige to help push those damage numbers even higher.
HoYoverse recommends a 2-piece Gilded Dreams set for the elemental mastery boost, though you can use Wanderer's Troupe for the same effect if you don't have any spare Gilded Dreams.
- 2-piece Tenacity of the Millelith: Increases HP by 20 percent
- 2-piece Noblesse Oblige: Increases burst damage by 20 percent
- 2-piece Heart of Depth: Increases Hydro damage by 15 percent
You want to aim for HP and Hydro damage as your primary Artifact stats if possible. At the very least, make sure to put a 5-star Flower of Life on NIlou to get the maximum HP bonus.
If you can’t challenge the right Domains for these artifacts yet, consider using Noblesse Oblige – which you can get for raising your Adventure Level – and Gambler, since its two-piece effect increases elemental skill damage by 15 percent. It's functional, though you shouldn't stick with it for long.
Some players use Gilded Dreams to increase Nilou's elemental mastery as well, which is perfect if you're using Nilou to trigger Bloom.
Nilou Artifact substatsHP is the most important Artifact substat, with elemental mastery and energy recharge close behind. If you only use one 5-star Artifact, make sure it's your Flower of Life so you get the biggest HP boost.
What is the best Nilou F2P build?
Nilou’s reliance on HP makes her a rare case where her F2P build isn’t quite as handy as her paid build, even though it still has strong potential.
Best Nilou F2P weapon – Iron Sting
Iron Sting is shaping up to be a useful free weapon if you want to deal elemental damage as Nilou. Its secondary stat raises elemental mastery, and the passive skill increases all elemental damage when the equipping character uses an elemental skill.
There's also the Sapwood Blade, a craftable weapon unique to Sumeru. This one increases energy recharge and, if the user is involved in causing a Dendro reaction, it creates a special leaf that raises elemental mastery for the character who picks it up. It's not really ideal, but if you're struggling to get a Northlander Billet for Iron Sting, it's a decent alternative.
Best Nilou F2P Artifacts – Mixed Tenacity of the Millelith
The same guidelines behind Nilou’s Artifact set in her paid build apply here. Boosting Nilou’s HP is still the most important part of her Artifact setup, with elemental and burst damage as important seconds.
Is Nilou a DPS character?
No, but she is a highly useful Hydro sub-DPS character who can function in two ways. The first is as a normal elemental sub-DPS, applying Hydro and making it easier to trigger elemental reactions. The second is much more specific to Dendro reactions and requires a heavier degree of investment in her stats and weapons than most characters need.
Nilou’s elemental skill converts her normal damage to Hydro damage and prevents her from using charged attacks. Instead, she enters the Pirouette state, where each attack deals increasingly higher amounts of Hydro damage that scales based on Nilou’s HP. The final attack creates a Whirling Water Wheel if you use the attack button, and it effects a broad area and infuses Nilou's normal attacks with Hydro for roughly 10 seconds. However, if you use the skill button, it creates a Hydro aura that follows Nilou and applies wet status to enemies it touches – but not Nilou herself, which means that, unlike with Barbara, you don’t have to worry about getting frozen.
Nilou’s burst is more straightforward, as the dancer creates a Hydro flower tha blooms and deals Hydro damage in a wide area. This damage also scales with Nilou’s HP.
What makes Nilou more interesting and potentially difficult to build is her set of passive talents. Court of Dancing Petals activates when you have a party of only Dendro and Hydro characters, with at least one of each. It lasts for 30 seconds, raising the party’s elemental mastery by 100 if they come into contact with Dendro and altering the Bloom effect.
Normally, Hydro and Dendro cause the Bloom reaction, which creates a Dendro core that stays on field and explodes after several seconds. With the Golden Chalice effect active, you create Bountiful Cores instead. These explode more quickly and can’t trigger Burgeon or Hyperbloom.
Finally is the Dreamy Dance of Aeons talent, which increases Bountiful Core damage by nine percent for every 1,000 points of health Nilou has above 30,000 HP, for a maximum of 400 percent more damage.
Should I pull for Nilou?
Whether Nilou is a good fit for your team depends on a few factors. If you’re a new player or someone with few Hydro characters or damage dealers, Nilou is an excellent choice, whether you opt for her signature weapon or not. Those with dozens of wishes saved who could reasonably hope to get the Key of Khaj-Nisut would also benefit, since a Nilou with oceans of HP can potentially deal an extensive amount of damage.
Nilou's Bloom talent gives her a slight edge over other Hydro characters and Bloom teams, but it's not essential. You can still do plenty of Bloom damage with the right Dendro character - Tighnari or Nahida, for example - and someone like Xingqiu, Ayato, Kokomi, or even Mona to trigger the reactions. Nilou is good, but not essential.
If you're saving up for future Genshin Impact banners, make sure to check out our up-do-date list of Genshin Impact codes for some free Primogems.