The five-star Hydro Sword character Nilou is back for her second banner rerun in Genshin Impact, so many players may find themselves successfully obtaining the Sumeru character and looking to build her up. One of the most important steps in character building is equipping a character with a solid weapon which likely has most Nilou players seeking the best weapon for her.
Related: Genshin Impact tier list: Best and worst characters ranked
Building any character in Genshin Impact is a rather complex process. The right build will have characters performing flawlessly while a bad build can make even the best five-star characters seem measly. Gathering essential resources for Nilou like her required Ascension Materials and Talent Materials is important, but her weapon is easily one of the most powerful aspects of all.
What’s the best weapon for Nilou in Genshin Impact?
The weapon that will function best on Nilou is—as is the case with any Genshin character— always going to depend on what the team she is on looks like and what role you want to build her for within that team. Thus, it may take a bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for your needs.
Nilou seems to be built to primarily function as the secondary damage dealer on a given team, although she is also capable of being a decent primary damage dealer too.
The Hydro character dances her way through any battle and has quite a unique movement style due to how dance is incorporated into her actions. She has a relatively solid skillset, but in our experience, she seems to be one of the weaker five-star Hydro characters in comparison to more dynamic and powerful units like Yelan and Sangonomiya Kokomi.
Best five-star swords for Nilou in Genshin Impact
A five-star character should always be matched with a five-star piece of equipment when possible. This will ensure they shine to their fullest potential and is especially important with a complex character like Nilou.
Key of Khaj Nisut
Of all the weapons available in Genshin Impact, the Key of Khaj Nisut is the best choice for Nilou. At level one of refinement, the “Sunken Song of the Sands” effect of this five-star sword will increase the wielder’s health by 20 percent. This ability may also grant the Grand Hymn secondary effect for 20 seconds after an elemental skill has been used.
The Grand Hymn ability increases the elemental mastery of the character wielding this weapon by 0.12 percent of their maximum health points. This can be activated once every 0.3 seconds and can stack up to three times.
When the maximum of three stacks has been attained or when the duration of the third stack has been refreshed, the elemental mastery of all nearby party members is increased by 0.2 percent of the wielder’s health points for 20 seconds. Because Nilou functions best as a damage dealer on a team, this weapon is perfect for building her health points, attack, and overall team function.
This sword also features buildable health points as its secondary statistic type.
Freedom-Sworn
One of Genshin’s best swords, especially for characters who primarily function as both damage dealers and support, is the five-star Freedom-Sworn. The “Revolutionary Chorale” ability of this weapon increases damage by 10 percent.
Additionally, when the character who wields this weapon triggers any elemental reaction, they then gain one Sigil of Rebellion. One Sigil may be gained every 0.5 seconds and can be attained even if the character wielding this weapon is not on the field.
When two Sigils of Rebellion have been gained, they will then be consumed and all nearby party members will gain the secondary “Millennial Movement: Song of Resistance” effect, which increases normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 16 percent. It also increases general attack by 20 percent. After this ability has been activated, new Sigils cannot be gained for 20 seconds.
Freedom-Sworn has attack as its buildable statistic, which isn’t the best statistic for Nilou but is still a decent one.
Primordial Jade Cutter
Genshin players who are looking for a relatively simple but useful sword will likely appreciate the Primordial Jade Cutter. This five-star weapon has the “Protector’s Virtue” ability that increases the wielder’s health by 20 percent. It also grants an attack bonus that is based on 1.2 percent of the wielder’s maximum health points.
Sword characters generally can attain a very high maximum amount of health points. Thus, building Nilou’s health points to also increase her attack is an excellent idea for both her damage-dealing and supporting abilities.
The Primordial Jade Cutter sword featured buildable critical rate, which is great regardless of how you plan to utilize Nilou. Critical rate and critical damage are two key aspects for building any character.
Skyward Blade
If you’re looking for a generally solid and easy-to-obtain weapon, the five-star Skyward Blade is an excellent choice for Nilou. The “Sky-Piercing Fang” ability of this weapon increases critical rate by four percent.
This weapon grants a secondary effect—called Skypiercing Might—when an elemental burst has been used. This ability increases movement speed and attack speed by 10 percent.
Skypiercing Might also causes normal and charged attack hits to deal further damage that is equal to 20 percent of attack. This ability will last for 12 seconds and this sword also has buildable energy recharge which is generally considered to be one of the most important aspects for building Nilou’s skillset.
Best four-star swords for Nilou in Genshin Impact
Obtaining both a featured five-star unit and a special five-star weapon to go with them is generally a tough process. Because of this, many players will likely need to equip Nilou with a four-star weapon until they are able to successfully gain a more powerful five-star piece of gear.
Xiphos’ Moonlight
The four-star Xiphos’ Moonlight has the “Jinni’s Whisper” effect that will trigger a special ability every 10 seconds. This ability grants the wielder of this weapon a 0.036 percent energy recharge for each point of elemental mastery that they have for 12 seconds.
All party members who are nearby will also gain 30 percent of this buff for the same duration that the equipping character does. This ability may still be activated even if the character wielding this weapon is off the battlefield.
Xiphos’ Moonlight features elemental mastery as its buildable aspect which is helpful if you plan to consistently create elemental reactions with Nilou.
Favonius Sword
Another solid option for Nilou is the four-star Favonius Sword from Mondstadt. This weapon has the “Windfall” ability which grants all critical hits a 60 percent chance of generating elemental particles. These particles then restore six energy to the equipping character.
The abilities of the Favonius Sword can only be activated once every 12 seconds. This sword also has buildable energy recharge as its secondary statistic.
Iron Sting
Iron Sting is a four-star forgeable sword, which means any player can easily obtain it after putting in a bit of work to gather the crafting materials to create it. The “Infusion Stinger” ability of this weapon increases all damage by six percent for six seconds as elemental damage is dealt. This can stack up to two times and may only occur once every second.
The Iron Sting sword comes with energy recharge as its buildable aspect that players can increase over time.
Festering Desire
Although this four-star weapon makes an excellent choice for Nilou, it is likely that many players do not have it since it was only available during “The Chalk Prince and the Dragon Event” that ran from Dec. 23, 2020, to Jan. 5, 2021.
If you do have it, this sword is certainly worth building for Nilou due to its focus on elemental mastery and general elemental abilities. The “Undying Admiration” ability of this weapon increases elemental skill damage by 16 percent. It also raises elemental skill critical rate by six percent.
Like many of the other swords that suit Nilou best, so too does Festering Desire come with energy recharge for players to build.
Nilou is currently available for the second run of her featured “Twirling Lotus” banner. She will be live from April 12 to May 2 alongside the five-star Dendro Catalyst character Nahida, so players will need to consider the duo carefully to determine which character they want to spend their Primogems wishing for.
