The five-star Hydro Sword character Nilou is about to make her official debut in the world of Teyvat. After being leaked alongside many other Sumeru characters, teased when Sumeru was officially unveiled, and appearing in numerous promotional materials, players will finally be able to wish on the Hydro character and recruit her to their roster.
Building Nilou requires players to gather numerous Ascension Materials, carefully choose a sword to build her statistics, obtain a plethora of Talent Materials, and select which artifacts to equip the Hydro character with.
What are the best artifacts for Nilou in Genshin?
While some Genshin Impact characters require a strict and precise build that limits the artifacts players can choose from when building them, Nilou is a fairly versatile character who will function well with many different artifact builds. Generally, the best aspects to focus on when building Nilou are her health points, Hydro abilities, and damage output.
Related: Genshin Impact tier list: Best and worst characters ranked
Heart of Depth
When building any Genshin character, focusing on their specific element is one of the best ways to increase their effectiveness in battle. Thus, the Heart of Depth artifact set is an excellent choice for Nilou because it focuses on the Hydro element.
The two-piece set grants a 15 percent Hydro damage bonus. The full four-piece set increases normal and charged attack damage by 30 percent for 15 seconds after an elemental skill is used.
Noblesse Oblige
One of the best artifact sets in Genshin is Nobless Oblige, a powerful set that is excellent for building Nilou’s elemental abilities. The two-piece set increases elemental burst damage by 20 percent.
Following the usage of an elemental burst, the four-piece set will then increase all party members’ attacks by 20 percent for 12 seconds. This ability cannot stack.
Gilded Dreams
Although it can be a rather complex set to understand, Gilded Dreams is undoubtedly one of Genshin’s most versatile and useful Artifact sets. The two-piece set is simple and grants the character it is equipped to an elemental mastery increase of 80.
The complexities of this set arise from the full four-piece version. Within the eight seconds that follow an elemental reaction being activated, the character that the four-piece set is equipped to will gain a buff that is dependent on the element of the other party members.
- For each party member who has the same element as the character this set is equipped to, which would be Hydro with Nilou, attack is raised by 14 percent.
- For each party member who has a different element than the character this set is equipped to, which would be any element other than Hydro when this set is equipped to Nilou, elemental mastery is increased by 50.
These buffs will count on up to three different characters and can be activated once every eight seconds. The character that this set is equipped to may also trigger this effect even when they are not the character actively taking on foes on the battlefield.
Emblem of Severed Fate
Energy recharge and elemental abilities are two of the best aspects to focus on when building Nilou and the Emblem of Severed Fate Artifact set is an excellent choice for building this. The two-piece set grants a simple but effective 20 percent energy recharge increase.
The four-piece set increases elemental burst damage by 25 percent of energy recharge. Up to 75 percent bonus damage can be attained through this set.
Tenacity of the Millelith
The two-piece Tenacity of the Millelith artifact set grants a simple 20 percent health points increase. The full four-piece set increases the attack of all nearby party members by 20 percent after an elemental skill has hit an enemy.
With the full four-piece set, shield strength is also increased by 30 percent for three seconds following an elemental skill hitting an opponent. These abilities may be triggered once every 0.5 seconds regardless of whether the character that this set is equipped to is on the field.
Wanderer’s Troupe
A great set for building Nilou’s elemental mastery is Wanderer’s Troupe. The two-piece set grants an elemental mastery increase of 80.
The full four-piece set increases charged attack damage when the character it is equipped to utilizes a bow or catalyst. Because Nilou wields a sword, the full four-piece set is useless for her and players should thus stick to only utilizes the two-piece set alongside a different two-piece set.
With these artifacts in mind, there are also a plethora of solid compositions that can be made by mixing and matching between various Artifact sets.
There is no one best combination because the best artifacts depend on the rest of Nilou’s build, but here are a few excellent options.
- Players may equip the two-piece Heart of Depth set alongside the two-piece Emblem of Severed. Fate set. This will grant a 15 percent Hydro damage bonus and a 20 percent energy recharge increase.
- Players may combine a two-piece Wanderer’s Troupe and a two-piece Tenacity of the Millelith for an elemental mastery increase of 80 and a 20 percent health points increase.
- Players may equip the two-piece Emblem of Severed Fate set and the two-piece Gilded Dreams set. This will grant Nilou a 20 percent energy recharge increase and an elemental mastery increase of 80.
Depending on the team you are having her join and the weapon you choose to equip her with, you may simply want to try various combinations until you find the one that works best for her and her teammates.
No one build is correct for a character as it always depends on numerous other aspects including your gameplay style, the other party members, and the weapon a character is wielding.
Nilou’s featured “Twirling Lotus” banner will be live from Oct. 14 to Oct. 31. Players hoping to recruit the five-star Hydro Sword character should wish on her during this time period as she will likely not be available again for at least six months after her debut banner ends.
