Sumeru’s Nilou has now joined the roster of playable characters in the second half of Genshin Impact 3.1 content, but she is complicated to build. Nilou does come at a rough time for her as the first half of 3.1 saw the long-awaited Cyno make his appearance, while the Dendro Archon Nahida should be coming in 3.2. This puts Nilou in a tough spot where players want her, but they also know stronger and more flexible characters will be just around the corner, meaning they need to understand exactly where she fits into both the game’s narrative and, more importantly, their team compositions.
In Genshin Impact lore, Nilou is the shining star of Sumeru and one of the most famous artists in the region. Players first met her in the 3.0 update but had little interaction with her outside of helping plan the festival to honor Genshin Impact’s leaked Nahida. Gameplay-wise, she is another 5-Star Hydro sword user, who elegantly moves across the battlefield to dispatch opponents. Her kit is powerful in causing reactions but falls short in some categories compared to other characters.
Based on the multitudes of info gathered by Game8, Nilou is releasing into a very niche state, where the only position truly maximizing her kit is as a sub-DPS is HyperBloom teams. Her kit benefits from only having Hydro and Dendro characters on her team as she increases the damage Dendro cores will do. Teams built around these limitations allow Nilou to shine and bring significant damage to a team, but situations where that team is the best option are few.
With that said, when it comes to upgrading her talents, players will want to start with her Elemental Skill, which she will use most while on the field in her short bursts as a sub-DPS. After that, leveling her Elemental Burst, which is not in contention for best bursts in Genshin Impact but holds its own, will benefit Nilou the most. Her normal attacks can be saved for last or even ignored outright, as they won’t really factor into her rotations except for scuff scenarios.
Genshin Impact: Nilou’s Best Weapons, Artifacts, And Constellations
Nilou has three options for weapons: two from the gacha and one free-to-play option. Nilou’s signature weapon, the Key of Khaj-Nisut, is her best weapon, as it increases her Health and Elemental Mastery. All of Nilou’s kit scales with her max Health and since she is looking to cause most of her damage with elemental reactions, having high stats for both categories is best. Her second-best option would be the Freedom Sworn, which will boost her Elemental Damage and reaction damage, though this is best for players who have it and do not wish to try for the signature weapon. If players have neither, an Iron Sting will suffice as a free-to-play version of Freedom Sworn, though the drop-off in effectiveness might be significant enough it’s not worth jumping through the many hoops required to make Nilou an effective character in Genshin Impact 3.1.
For Artifacts, one combination that is simple and not as big of a grind problem in Genshin Impact would be to get two pieces of Tenacity of the Millelith for the 20% Health increase and then two pieces of Gilded Dreams for the Elemental Mastery boost. The last piece is a player preference, and all sub-stats should focus on giving Nilou Health and Elemental Mastery. Nilou can work with zero constellations; however, much like other characters, if players get her to C2, she will get a massive power spike. At C2, Nilou’s abilities will shred opponents’ Hydro and Dendro resistance and boost her teams’ damage even more.
Overall, Nilou is a beautifully designed character who currently suffers from a lack of Dendro options to maximize the Bloom reaction of Hydro and Dendro resonance in Genshin Impact. Her damage can work for players who don’t care about being Meta, but building the right team around her will be complicated and will likely change as more characters are released. Nilou is still a great pickup and investment in Genshin Impact for players who want to use Dendro reactions or like her character, but that investment will likely take a while to pay off.
