Each new Genshin Impact update usually starts off with the debut of a new five-star recruit, but for Version 3.6, the update is instead beginning with a rerun banner matchup. Two Sumeru characters, which are the five-star Dendro Catalyst character Nahida and the five-star Hydro Sword character Nilou, are receiving featured banner reruns when the update launches which means that Travelers will need to decide which of the two they want to wish on.
Both recruits have only had one banner run so far and will thus be recruitable for only the second time. This makes them especially appealing assets since many Travelers likely haven’t had a chance to recruit them just yet.
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Wishing is the most costly and precarious aspect of Genshin, which is why Travelers always consider every set of banner runs carefully before pulling on them. Players have to spend Primogems, which is the most precious currency in all of Teyvat, to purchase wishes and have a very small chance of actually obtaining their desired character or weapon due to the gacha system.
Because of all of these factors, players take wishing very seriously and often save up for months in advance if not longer to try and recruit their favorite character. And considering each banner matchup that occurs, players will always want to analyze both five-star recruits carefully and also consider whether either character is worth wishing for at all.
With Nahida and Nilou, the choice is much easier than most others.
Is Nahida worth pulling for in Genshin Impact?
Nahida is one of Teyvat’s Archons, which means that she is a god and member of The Seven that rule over the vast region. The Dendro Archon lives up to her godly status and is an immensely powerful recruit generally considered to be one of Genshin’s best characters so far.
The Dendro character’s skillset is best suited to have her function as either a secondary damage dealer or a support character but she is also a supremely solid primary damage dealer. Nahida is one of just a few characters that have unmatched versatility combined with immense power. She possesses such an impressive and dynamic skillset that players who have her on their team will truly feel that she is too good to be true.
Nahida excels at applying Dendro, which makes it exceptionally easy to activate powerful Dendro-related elemental reactions. Her elemental burst encompasses a massive area and has a fairly low cost in comparison to most other elemental skills out there.
The Dendro character also wields a catalyst which might be the best type of weapon in all of Teyvat because it is effective at both long-range and short-range damage. While the role that characters play is determined by their skills rather than the weapon that they wield, the way that catalysts function is especially useful within characters like Nahida who can swap between a variety of roles.
Depending on what type of characters are on a team with her, Nahida will also obtain various buffs that benefit the entire party when her elemental burst is active. This means that players hoping to maximize her abilities will want to carefully construct a team composition for her, but these restrictions are fairly general in comparison to most others of this type which still allows players a fair amount of versatility for Nahida’s team composition.
There are three different buffs that may be obtained when Nahida’s elemental burst is active:
- When a Pyro character is present on her team, the Shrine of Maya that is created by Nahida’s elemental burst will grant a damage increase to the Tri-Karma Purification from her elemental skill as long as she remains within its bounds.
- When an Electro character is present on her team, the duration of time between each Tri-Karma Purification from Nahida’s elemental skill is decreased as long as she remains within the effective area of the Shrine of Maya.
- When a Hydro character is present on her team, the duration of Nahida’s Shrine of Maya which is created by her elemental burst is increased.
When at least two characters of the previously mentioned elemental types are present then the buffs will increase even further. These buffs can also activate whether or not Nahida is active on the battlefield which means that they are powerful no matter the role that she plays on your team.
Nahida will shine regardless of whether players place teammates that meet these elemental requirements on a team with her but doing so will just make her that much more effective.
The sole drawback that Nahida has is an easily fixable one which is that she comes with a low amount of health points to start. As players ascend her and equip her with powerful artifacts, this is easily fixable and even more manageable when she has a solid team composition to back her up.
Overall, Nahida is easily one of Genshin’s strongest recruits and is a character that every player should wish on if they have the means to do so. Even if you don’t necessarily have the right team for her at the moment, obtaining Nahida and then working toward a team to suit her is still worth doing because of how impressive she is.
Is Nilou worth pulling for in Genshin Impact?
The Hydro dancer Nilou wields a sword and has a skillset that converts the regular Dendro Cores into her own special Bountiful Cores. The role that she functions best within is as the secondary damage dealer on a team, but she will only truly excel within this role when she has a very specific team composition.
Nilou absolutely requires a team that features Hydro and Dendro otherwise she is immensely lackluster. She also really needs a healer alongside her because of how her skillset is utilized which means that there are two rather annoying constraints that players must take into consideration when utilizing her.
Nilou’s Bountiful Cores are on a basic level more powerful than regular Dendro Cores with the added bonus of being immensely effective at dishing solid damage against multiple foes. The immense build precision that Nilou requires for her weapon and team makes, however, her an extremely difficult asset to build, especially for newer Travelers, and in comparison to most other Teyvat recruits she is simply more work than she is worth.
Because of all these factors, Nilou is generally not worth pulling for when there are much more powerful options available.
Should you wish for Nahida or Nilou in Genshin Impact?
Most banner matchups feature an immensely difficult decision between two incredibly powerful and different units, but in the case of Nahida and Nilou, most would agree that the choice is easy.
Regardless of how you compare these two Sumeru recruits, Nahida absolutely surpasses Nilou in every regard.
Nahida is one of Genshin’s most versatile characters and has immense power to match it while Nilou requires a very specific build to find success. The Dendro Archon can also freely work well in a wide variety of roles while Nilou’s skillset only functions well when she is the secondary damage-dealing force on a team.
Choosing a character like Nilou that comes with so many caveats and restrictions is especially difficult to rationalize when many more powerful Hydro recruits are available. The five-star Hydro Bow character Yelan and the five-star Hydro Catalyst character Sangonomiya Kokomi also wield the power of water and far outperform what Nilou is capable of whilst also possessing immense versatility.
Even if you are seeking a Hydro unit for your team, it is a much better idea to hold on to your Primogems instead of wishing for Nillou. Kokomi is rumored to make a grand return in the Version 3.7 update and players will find that she is a much more versatile and powerful recruit than Nilou.
In addition to the many other benefits Nahida possesses, she also has a skill that is a huge asset during exploration around Teyvat. Nahida’s elemental skill allows her to obtain resources from afar thanks to its Dendro aiming ability. Nilou possesses no helpful exploration ability which gives Nahida yet another feature that makes her more useful than Nilou.
The only reason that you might want to choose Nilou over Nahida or another character is if you love her design and are planning to obtain her because you love her as a character rather than as a playable asset. If this is the case, it is essential to build a team based entirely around her or you will find that she is quite weak.
Nilou certainly is not a bad recruit, but in comparison to most of Genshin’s other five-star assets, she features immense complexity for a low payoff. Because of this, players planning on spending their Priomgems during the first half of Genshin’s update should pull for Nahida or save for another banner beyond it over wishing for Nilou.
Nahida’s “The Moongrass’ Enlightenment” featured banner and Nilou’s “Twirling Lotus” featured banner will be live as soon as the Version 3.6 update launches. Both banners begin on April 11 or 12 depending on your timezone and will then be active for around three weeks.
After Nahida and Nilou’s banners come to an end, the five-star Dendro Catalyst character Baizhu will make his grand Teyvat debut alongside a rerun for Ganyu during the second half of the update. After all four banners come to an end, these four will likely be unobtainable for at least six months which means that players will want to consider all four characters carefully when deciding who to spend their Primogems on.
