The five-star Hydro Sword character Nilou is finally returning for her first banner rerun during the first half of Genshin Impact’s Version 3.6 update. The Sumeru dancer first joined Genshin’s always-expanding roster of playable characters in Oct. 2022 and has mastery over the Hydro element, meaning that all her abilities are water-based.
Nilou hails from Sumeru and is highly praised for her dancing prowess. She can regularly be found putting on performances for an entranced audience at the Zubayr Theater or wandering around Sumeru with an always-friendly smile.
Those who have obtained the five-star character or are seeking to do so will likely be wondering how exactly she should be built. Nilou is a rather unique character who has some special features players will need to take into consideration when building the Hydro character.
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While carefully considering build elements like the best weapon and the best artifacts for Nilou is extremely important in dictating how she will perform in battle, curating the right team is also an essential aspect of how the Hydro dancer will perform.
The right team members will help amplify Nilou’s abilities while also receiving unique benefits from the Hydro character.
The best Nilou team in Genshin Impact
Generally, the absolute best team composition for Nilou is one built around the Bloom elemental reaction. This type of team has a strict lineup that is required for maximum efficiency and is as follows.
- The first team member is the Hydro character Nilou, who focuses on dealing damage to enemies.
- The second team member is a Dendro character, who is either the primary damage dealer, secondary damage dealer, or both alongside Nilou.
- The third team member is a Hydro character, and is generally one who provides support.
- The fourth team member is a Dendro healer, who will be able to heal and support the rest of the team.
Nilou gains a powerful passive ability, which is called “Court of Dancing Petals,” after being ascended once, but this ability is only activated when all other party members wield either the Hydro or Dendro element and at least one character of each type is also present on the team. This makes her a less versatile character than most others in Genshin since her maximum potential depends on certain criteria.
Thus, the best way to maximize Nilou’s abilities is to have her on a team with only Hydro and Dendro characters with two of each element type. This is an immensely conditional and frustrating set of requirements to deal with, but they have become somewhat easier to manage as Genshin has continuously released more Dendro characters.
Because of how specific Nilou’s team requirements are, she is a rather tough character to build. Many of Genshin’s best recruits are renowned for possessing immense versatility combined with exceptional power, but Nilou is certainly not one of these recruits.
The Dendro Archon Kusanali, also known as Nahida, is one of the best characters players can have join Nilou in battle. She is easily Genshin’s strongest Dendro character, although the Dendro character Alhaitham is another solid force that can join Nilou’s team.
Baizhu from Bubu’s Pharmacy in Liyue will debut in the second half of Version 3.6 and appears to be a promising recruit that would work well with Nilou, although players will have to wait until he releases to know for sure. Kaveh, who is another Dendro unit, is also releasing alongside him and thus is another potential upcoming ally for the Hydro character,
Because the roster of Dendro characters is fairly limited, as the element only first became playable when the Sumeru Version 3.0 update launched, players will have to make do with what is currently available. Thus, the best options for fulfilling the Dendro role on a Nilou team are generally Nahida and Collei, but this may change in the future as more characters that wield this element are released.
As far as who the Hydro character alongside Nilou should be within this team composition, there are almost no wrong choices. Nilou pairs well with the five-star characters Sangonomiya Kokomi, Yelan, Kamisato Ayato, Mona, and Tartaglia and those like the four-star characters Barbara, Candace, and Xingqiu.
While Nilou is a solid character who functions well alongside the right team, she does lack the versatility many other five-star characters possess. One of her most powerful abilities is tied to players having to utilize only Hydro and Dendro characters, which is quite the conditional drawback, but this may become more doable to deal with after more Dendro characters have been released.
Best Nilou team compositions in Genshin Impact
The following team builds exemplify the previously mentioned best team composition while offering a few alternatives for those seeking other potential team lineups based on different elemental reactions.
Players should also remember the best team lineup depends on many factors, including the individual build aspects of all those who join Nilou on the battlefield.
1) Nilou, Sangonomiya Kokomi, Collei, and the Traveler (Dendro)
The objectively best team build for Nilou based on her unique skillset is built around the Bloom elemental reaction and Nilou’s first ascension passive ability. Players will want a team makeup of only Hydro and Dendro characters to focus on these aspects.
One example of this lineup includes Nilou, Sangonomiya Kokomi, Collei, and the Traveler (Dendro). This is not the most powerful version of this kind of team, but it is one of the most doable for any player since it features two exclusive five-star units alongside two easily obtainable four-star units.
Sangonomiya Kokomi is undoubtedly one of the best characters to pair Nilou with thus far, and any players looking to build Nilou should also seek also to obtain and build the five-star Hydro Catalyst character. Collei and the Traveler are solid allies, but since they are both four-star units, neither of them is as impressive as Dendro recruits of a higher star rarity will be.
Players can also consider utilizing Yaoyao since she is also a four-star recruit, but within this lineup, Collei and the Traveler seem to function better. Nahida can easily replace either character if players manage to obtain the Dendro Archon, as she is an immensely powerful and versatile asset.
Players considering this team makeup for Nilou may find themselves wondering whether the five-star Dendro Bow character Tighnari, who was the first playable five-star Dendro character to join Teyvat, would work well alongside Nilou. Unfortunately, he does not pair well with Nilou as they both have abilities that require them to be the primary character dealing damage on the battlefield.
2) Nilou, Sangonomiya Kokomi, Yelan, and Nahida
This team composition is quite similar to the last but focuses more on Hydro damage than Bloom while still ensuring that Nilou’s first ascension passive will function. Nilou works great with other Hydro characters and there are far more Hydro characters to choose from.
Thus, players may thus find that they prefer a Genshin team built with three Hydro characters and only one Dendro character. Nahida is easily the best Dendro recruit that has joined Teyvat yet and is a powerful ally for Nilou, but she might be difficult to obtain since her first rerun is occurring right alongside Nilou’s.
Players who like this team makeup but are struggling to attain five-star Hydro Bow character Yelan can instead try four-star Hydro Sword character Xingqiu while those struggling to obtain five-star Hydro Catalyst character Sangonomiya Kokomi may try four-star Hydro Catalyst character Barbara.
Both of these four-star options will function similarly, although they will be somewhat less effective because they are four-star characters.
3) Nilou, Shenhe, Kamisato Ayaka, and Kaedehara Kazuha
Players seeking a Frozen elemental reaction-based team may like teaming Nilou with five-star Cryo Polearm character Shenhe, five-star Cryo Sword character Kamisato Ayaka, and five-star Anemo Sword character Kazuha.
The Frozen elemental reaction is always a solid one to focus on for slowing down enemies and allowing players to eliminate them while they are encapsulated in ice.
But, the makeup of this team does mean Nilou’s powerful first ascension passive ability will never be activated. Players with a team makeup of this type instead focus on the Frozen elemental reaction.
Players can substitute the three characters other than Nilous, all of whom are five stars, with other options like Rosaria, Diona, or Sucrose for similar but not as strong effects.
4) Nilou, Jean, Bennett, and Xiangling
Those looking for a Vaporize-based team may like pairing Nilou with two Pyro characters. Four-star characters Bennett and Xiangling function quite well alongside Nilou, while Jean is an excellent healing character who can also create the Swirl elemental reaction.
All players need to make a decent Vaporize team is Nilou and a solid Pyro character. The other two characters and their element types are entirely fluid and can be changed to suit players’ needs or to support an additional elemental reaction.
5) Nilou, Alhaitham, Nahida, and Sangonomiya Kokomi
This lineup features double Dendro and Double Hydro, allowing for many powerful benefits. Alhaitham will act as this team’s primary damage dealer, while Nilou and Nahida will work in a secondary damage dealer capacity.
Lastly, Kokomi serves as a support unit applying Hydro wherever needed and constantly healing her allies to ensure they can keep fighting.
This can be a rather costly team since it has all premium five-star units, but it is certainly one of the best options for Nilou. If you are looking to make substitutions but retain a similar effect, there are a few options that you can consider.
For substituting either of the Dendro characters, players will want to choose Collei, the Traveler (Dendro), or Yaoyao and steer clear of Tighnari. Baizhu and Kaveh are also on the horizon and set to release in the second half of Version 3.6 and may also be suitable substitutes. Kokomi can also be replaced by Barbara, but the effects will be severely lessened.
