Wondering how best to set up the Jade Radish-hurling girl Yaoyao? Our look at the best Genshin Impact Yaoyao build ideas should be able to help. She's a simple character with great implications for another recent five-star release, but you'll need to build her right to get much out of her kit.
Years after her initial reveal, Yaoyao was released in January 2023, long into the Dendro-element shift she was initially expected to usher in during the first year of the game. As for lore implications, Ningguang mentions how Ganyu took Yaoyao under her wing, but that she's grown a little too obsessed with seafood after hanging out on The Crux.
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The best Genshin Impact Yaoyao build (January 2023)
Role | Best weapon | Alternative weapon | Best artifacts | Alternative artifact | Stats | Talent order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Healer | Black Tassel | Missive Windspear, Favonius, Kitain, Dragon's Bane | Tenacity of the Millelith | Deepwood | HP, ATK, HP, Healing Bonus | Skill, Burst, Basic |
Right now, there's a clear winner when it comes to the best Yaoyao build for launch. Most view Yaoyao as an essential component to a Dendro-focused Nilou team, where her abilities turn her into a potent healer alongside Nilou's Dendro Bloom kit.
For that, you'll want to go with Tenacity of the Mililith as your artifact set, specifically looking for HP, ATK, and Healing Bonus sub-stats on the rolls to pump her numbers.
Black Tassel will help support the team, but there are a few different weapons you can use given the popularity of Polearms from the early character releases.
What are Yaoyao's abilities?
Raphanus Sky Cluster - Elemental Skill | Aims and throws Yaoyao's Yuegui toy, sending White Jade Radishes to the target area. Radishes explode upon making contact with a target, dealing area Dendro damage and healing allies based on Yaoyao's Max HP stat. Radishes will aim for allies with the lowest HP below 70%, or enemies if allies are above this threshold. Two instances of this skill can be active at any one time. |
|---|---|
Moonjade Descent - Elemental Burst | Uses Yuegui to deal Dendro DMG to nearby opponents. Yaoyao's Movement Speed increased by 15% and increases her Dendro RES. The effect of White Jade Radishes changes to the following while this is active: White Jade Radishes will heal and deal Elemental Burst damage upon exploding. Three instances of White Jade Radishes can exist during this time. The skill will end if Yaoyao leaves the field, triggering any remaining effects. |
Yaoyao's abilities paint her as a primary support in a Dendro-focused team, with her Constellations padding out her healing abilities and energy recharge rates for the team.
For the most part, she exists to charge Elemental Energy for the team, and heal them reliably with White Jade Radishes that seek out allies or pop for significant HP restoration and damage when she leaves the field during her Elemental Burst. Paired with Nilou, she's a great switch-in/switch-out healer.
Are Yaoyao's Constellations worth it?
Though they can augment her stellar healing even more, Yaoyao's Constellations don't make or break her if part of the right team. The fourth will allow her healing to persist longer, ticking each second in a field for 0.8% of her Max HP, but her first will only really mean much if she's being used as a damage dealer. Which isn't really the best option.
Best Yaoyao team comps (January 2023)
Damage team | Yaoyao (healer) | Alhaitham | Zhongli | Beidou |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Spread team | Yaoyao (healer) | Tighnari | Fischl | Sucrose |
Hyperbloom | Yaoyao (healer) | Nahida | Yae Miko | Kamisato Ayato |
Though you can try using her as a DPS character, Yaoyao's kit really stands out as a perfect Healing setup for a number of teams. She's likely to work best in a Hyperbloom-oriented team with Nahida thanks to her Dendro toolkit, but her radishes can make other element team comps work, too; like with Alhaitham.
Is Yaoyao good?
With the right team setup, Yaoyao is a great four-star Genshin Impact character. Better yet, you can get her as a freebie during some of the early 2023 events, making it easy to unlock her Constellations, too. Not that they change her much.
In a nutshell, though, Yaoyao is a solid healer with the right team composition. If you have the characters you'll need all trained up, she's worth seeking out. She's just not essential for clearing any content right now. She'll be a staple four-star in other banners, too, so her debut shouldn't be viewed as some limited-time release.
Who is Yaoyao?
YaoYao currently is a bit of a mystery in Genshin lore. We've seen a picture of her - she appeared in an event artwork alongside Qiqi and Paimon - but nothing has been confirmed about the character.
What we do know is that she was a junior disciple of Xiangling when they studied under the same martial arts master. Yaoyao was then taken in by secretary to the Liyue Qixing, Ganyu, and assisted her with day-to-day work.
Other than that, it's been shown that Yaoyao and Qiqi are friends outside of their work, where they're known to go out and eat snacks together.
For more on Genshin Impact, check out the Xiao build that's back in rotation during Yaoyao's debut banner. And for a look at who the title character of her first banner is, our Genshin Impact Alhaitham build is worth a look.