Xiao almost made me give up... Genshin Character Review!

Xiao was one of my first DPS characters, and has always been one of my favourites.
He started off strong when he was first released, but was considered by many to have been left behind by the meta over time, and he’s often overlooked. I played with him anyway, even in the abyss.
With the release of Xianyun, and Faruzan before her, Hoyo finally gave us some characters who truly fit his playstyle.
But was he really left behind in the first place? How does he compare now? And what if you don’t have his ideal team?
00:00 Intro
00:30 First impressions
01:17 Backstory
02:53 Nightmare pulls
04:43 Kit overview
05:58 Build & alternatives
07:45 Double geo
08:48 Xiao's downfall
11:17 Faruzan
12:32 Furina
13:24 Xianyun
14:27 Are they necessary?
15:15 Conclusion
Genshin Impact is an open-world action/exploration game, available on PC, PS4, PS5 and mobile devices (iOS & Android).
I'm always happy to talk Genshin and other games, streams 3pm UK every Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun
/ saurusness
Genshin rotation app: genshin-rotation.com/
Merch: saurusness-shop.fourthwall.com/
Twitter: / saurusness
Discord: www.thatsaurus.com/discord
#genshinimpact #hoyocreators #genshin #xiao

[@ArchonKujo]

I like how Hoyoverse designed Xiao in terms of story, It's a pretty sad one, but he's definitely got a lot of fans, thus I do love how certain new characters are giving out buffs to older characters like Xianyun for Xiao and Diluc and Jean with Furina, I'd say they're doing a very solid job on keeping early characters relevant.

[@saurusness]

I agree!

[@bonyeni]

Meanwhile, Eula in the corner with her only new buff, Mika I hope she gets some justice too

[@katierat]

We all love a sneakily sneaking partner for more wishes! ❤ I know I'll be watching this over and over again as I slowly build my Xiao on my alt! He might be my favorite male character in the game.

[@saurusness]

Yass Katie!! 😁

[@ArchonKujo]

As I said before, playing for fun rather than focusing on meta is your best choice, You can pretty much play how you want, when you want and what you want, Xiao is still a strong character, And yes he's gotten buffs with Xianyun and Faruzan, he is still one of the coolest looking characters in the game and that's one of the reasons why I would pull for him, and besides he's a yearly character, so it's best to pull for him.

[@fzhs7030]

idk why playing for meta and playing for fun are seen as direct opposites, some people have fun doing the most dmg they can you know

[@Theachen7]

I got xiao as my second 5 star because I hadn't yet learned wish planning and got lucky with an early 5050 win. Unfortunately I wasn't that interested in him so he was left unbuilt for the longest time (and we don't talk about how I thought he was HP scaling due to his HP draining technique because of Hu Tao SaurusnessDisguise). After the Chasm quest however I started to really like him as a character, and thus finally began building him properly. I've only recently managed to get enough ER on him, and I now really enjoy using him! Even used him in the last abyss :D

[@saurusness]

Nice!! 😁 Kinda like me and my Hu tao who was benched for a very long time because I didn't have the teams for her nor did I initially particularly enjoy he rplaystyle, but we got the in the end! heh

[@longvu3540]

Hell yeah, you put out my favorite character reviews

[@yptrumpet]

Your videos are seriously underrated. Entertaining, informative, well edited, well written, well paced, well delivered, respects my time via duration and onscreen outline... Usually I'm very critical of these things, but over the past several months I can't remember having a single complaint across any of these dimensions. I'm gonna have to make it a point to comment more often and hopefully give your channel a boost with The Algorithm.

[@saurusness]

Thank you so much! 💜

[@IfUSeekAndy]

I 💯agree! She’s very underrated. Hope she gets 100k subs soon

[@caparashon]

I've been maining Xiao since his release in 1.3, he was my first limited 5* and I love him. I've gone in a journey these past 3 years when it comes to artifacts and teams just like you. I ended up pulling for PJWS as his first big upgrade on his first rerun because the best I could do was blackcliff. He's my first triple crowned and I've spoiled him. While I'm not getting past C1 (which took me 2 reruns to get), I do horizontally invest in his teammates a lot (we don't talk about the Faruzan Incident Of Christmas 2022). In early AR before I got Zhongli, I'd play Benny, Qiqi, Xingqiu to keep him alive. I didn't play double geo often because by the time I finally got Jean, the team felt underwhelming for hard content, so my go-to was combinations of Benny, Zhongli, Venti if mobs, Faruzan if harder content. Luckily I got my last Faruzan cons in a weapon banner! Speaking of her, I remember waiting for someone like her since they released Gorou for Itto, hoping another anemo DPS would bring the anemo Sara/Gorou character. It was sad that they constellation locked her kit so heavily, but she was finally here! Now of course I'm playing his new team, the one Xiao mains are calling FFXX. I had C2'd Furina before knowing she'd be good with Xiao, just because I loved her and wanted a broken C2 archon. I would've pulled for Cloud Retainer regardless since she was one of my favorite NPCs, so her being anemo (I collect them all) and a Xiao support was a dream come true. The leakers doomposted her so badly during her beta calling her a Jean sidegrade (maybe for non-plunge teams), or shitting on the fact her buff is only for single target (in the end it was nonsense, it's so good) or that she used to have CC like Sucrose's but got removed, but I knew she'd be top tier for Xiao if only for the fact her healing bird follows him around. Benny and Jean's circle impact and their burst durations really holds Xiao back and made me not bring him to a lot of moving bosses. But now? You can take him anywhere! Being able to run around and plunge anywhere is AMAZING. And no one has energy issues anymore as it's triple anemo! It doesn't feel punishing if a Xiao burst is wasted like before. Plus, Crabaletta and buddies can help with their sub-DPS. It really has everything going on for him to the point meta dudebros who dislike Xiao even recognize it's a super good team. But yeah, I can relate to trying to squeeze Xiao in as many abyss cycles as possible just to play him. In 2.x it was harder and I'd only take him to floors 9-10, except for things like the triple maguu kenki appearances. But in 3.x+ I made it a thing to try to do it with what I call polearm boy impact (Xiao in one side, Cyno on the other) whenever was possible. Cyno is another main of mine that had little upgrades over time that made him better, but even if he's in a good place right now he's still judged by his old worth and issues (that his current supports can deal with). But no matter, normally it's quite doable especially in 4.2+. The only problem now? Cyno's best team and Xiao's best team... both have Furina. So if I want to play them both, one has to deal without her lmao.

[@saurusness]

YES all the love to polearm boys 💜 I love Cyno as well and initially struggled to find a team/build that really worked, so for a brief moment he was the only 5 star i "regretted" pulling for.. BUT that eventually got solved as I figured out how to use him properly! Everyone and their mum wants Furina in their team now so it's become a genuine problem when you want to play specific teams in the abyss 😂

[@MusicLoverInTheSky]

100% agree on pulling for who you like rather than caring about meta. We have that luxury in Genshin and don't have powercreep, better to take advantage of that, in my opinion. Do what makes you happier. You can take that mindset when deciding between cons or a new character. Me personally, I really like Xiao and I really wanted to get Xianyun mainly for him, but I also wanna C6 him so this patch I had to ask myself: "In which case would I be happier? Having Xianyun but still C1 Xiao, maybe C2, or no Xianyun but C2-C4 Xiao (considering I already have Furina and C4 Faruzan)? When I made that question, the answer was clear. 😁 Xiao has had multiple reruns and Xianyun is new, better to seize the opportunity for his cons and get her in her rerun. Thou I wanna be clear that in the case of Xiao, if you wanna give him more power, Xianyun would have been a better choice. C6'ing Xiao is not really worth it from the research I have done. I wanna do it anyway 'cause I wanna spoil him that way, but it's not really necessary. 😆 Great video as always, Saurus. 😁

[@saurusness]

Thank you! 😊💜 I think getting Xianyun was agood choice because not only does she help Xiao indeed, she has opened up so many fun new comps! I've had a blast trying different teams with her heh

[@MusicLoverInTheSky]

@@saurusness Yeah, I can't wait for her to rerun, I also wanted to use her with Gaming and try her out with other characters, I'm sure it would be so fun! But I let Xiao's cons pass in favour of new characters too many times already and since I don't *need* Xianyun, I chose to go for her next time. Glad you could get her!

[@8rosesofthemoon8]

Xiao was very powerful back then but the problem is that lots of older characters are forgotten due to powercreeping. By the time Sznehznaya will come even Inazuma characters will be a distant memory in meta teams. In terms of what makes a character good, I prefer the lore. Cause meta only cares about numbers and overlooks the potential of each character. Like, I have seen people clearing abyss floors with Neuvilette or Tartalgia but so many of these whales or content crators do not use characters like Beidou, Sayu, Yanfei well enough to make a proper guide for them. It's not just investment, some people don't know how to use them so they only recommend what is easy then the F2Ps waste their primos on characters they do not even enjoy for meta sake.

[@raptori]

Yeah Yanfei is a perfect example! I've got most of the fancy characters like Neuvillette, but also have a fantastic Yanfei build, and I still use her regularly in the abyss. She's awesome, and the people who focus on meta are really missing out. Funny that they're also the same people who complain that the game is too easy, and has too little variety. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot and then complaining that you got your socks wet!

[@8rosesofthemoon8]

​@@raptoriExactly!!! The people that complain the game is too easy yet they play with 5 stars only that are triple crowned then they put Chongyun in D tier cause "he does not clear the abyss fast". The more I watch videos like that the more I realise that these people don't even use the low tier characters at all. I've seen crazy numbers from Chevreuse, Bennet, Sara, but I guess people will only talk about what brings them more attention. I myself would've loved a good guide for a 4 star team when starting out

[@raptori]

​@@8rosesofthemoon8 Yeah exactly! Would love that kind of content for early-game teams, though it's super hard because each person gets such a different varity of characters... super interesting to help people figure out their teams, hard to turn it into general advice which isn't "learn how it works" 😆

[@saurusness]

I agree! I pick characters first and foremost on how much I simply like them, and that like is a combination of their design, their backstory/personality, and their playstyle. So many amazing 4 stars in particular are criminally underrated, and underused! Personally if I struggle with someone's playstyle or kit I just become more determined to find a way to use them as if it's a personal challenge 😂

[@eurekadiaz3771]

i blitz through 3.4 -3.7 abyss (hardest ever to community / most fun for me) using sucrose taser, we dont really need chars youtubers considers "META", remember some CC's are paid by Hoyo as salesman, some dont try to hide it, and that doesnt make the others who dont say anything about it completely clean. it's good to able to play good using whatever we like, it's completely fine to be tied to meta, cuz everyone's experience and skill vary, it is not OK, to force others to play what we consider "good".

[@xanaviii]

I skipped Xiao for the first 3 years of the game, and just pulled him on this current banner. Originally skipped because he just seemed like an edgelord, but i really liked how they've developed his character over the years. Bro was casually flying a kite with Zhongli this year. Wut. XD I don't need to pull for meta anymore, so i really just pulled him for the fun of it. That said, Faruzan and Xianyun have definitely helped him raise his dmg potential to keep up with more modern characters.

[@raptori]

Lmao I loved the kite flying scene!

[@saurusness]

HAhahha loved the kite scene! 😂

[@Cajun_Seasoning]

we even got to go on a mini date and set off a xiao lantern with him after the lantern rite story quests

[@mennaiphone7306]

I'm too related to this hard story of trying to get Xiao just got him today After a pain of farming knowing that I have all the quests and events done all what was left for me was exploring

[@saurusness]

Ach it hurts, and doubly so because I made a mistake and accidentlaly wished on the wrong banner in my excitement, so I felt like a total potato on top of being primogem poor! I'm glad you got him though! 💙

[@mennaiphone7306]

@@saurusness I saved my guarantee for him but hoyo made ma farm double the amount of the primos we get from the second phase just to see the yellow glow

[@saurusness]

@@mennaiphone7306 very rude of hoyo >:(

[@XiaoTuZi_98]

I love Xiao way to much, since I started playing. I love his game play!! I shall follow your advice and better my Xiao!! Also thank you for you video, amazing as always!!

[@saurusness]

Thank you Xiao 🤗

[@athruncagallifan]

He's my first saved 5 star limited banner. I returned playing during end of 2.6 banner, he re run on 2.7 along with Yelan. Both of them came home early! Now he have new team mates... Furina, Xianyun and Faruzan. Previously he was always shielded by Zhongli but now he loves joining Zhongli's adeptus friend. 😊

[@82ilerya]

Ahhh Xiao, I love that Yaksha but he made me work for him! I sort of feel like everyone has a Xiao wishing story. I wished for Xiao on EVERY banner he ran and lost my 50/50 until Alhaitham's debut. I decided screw it, I'm not going to wait anymore I want him so I'm wishing. Meanwhile my Jade spear was already r3 with a spare thanks to the standard banner and wishing for the scribe's dendro stick and losing (grrrrr) so I was ready for him too. I also fully stand by the applauding of your partner buying you genesis crystals today as I did the day it happened because the joy you got from GETTING Xiao was worth it. 🥰 I can't stand Faruzan's personality so it's excellent that Xianyun brought me more joy from my Xiao because she sneakily gives him a chance to plunge without being at the mercy of cooldown times! Maybe one day we'll mesh and I can build her and try with Xiao OR my Wanderer but until then she'll sit at 20/40 and wait 😎It's nice to know that she'll work though when I do get around to it. Until then Cloud Retainer will keep him safe.

[@saurusness]

not the r3 + spare jade spear 😭 It's like me and my damn WGSs.... yeah you can definitely live without faruzan, benny still works fantastic, and I furina is especially great with xinayun as a potential buffer! 😊

[@theclassiestcass]

your videos are legit so good 😍 i love that i can get characters on their reruns and come here and get amazing advice!! also xiaos voice lines are SO funny to me for whatever reason HAHA

[@greebooki]

xiao was the character that carried me out of the mid game into late game!

[@saurusness]

He is good boy 💙

[@NaraiOskara]

I will admit, especially early on I didn't much care for Xiao personality wise. He felt a little 'too' angsty... but as a unit, he was my main DPS for probably longer than anyone even to this day. His play style is easy to learn, all he needs is a few decent supports to buff him up and he just rips things to shreds, and to top it all off, his artifacts are beyond easy to farm... (if you aren't trying to min max one of his 4pc sets).

[@malvoleus]

I've had Xiao since June '22 but just got the Jade Spear about an hour ago so he's stuck with R5 Deathmatch until I can raise the new weapon to 90. Should be interesting to see the difference in damage as he already manages 80-90K plunges with Furina, Benny & Xianyun providing buffs. Maybe one day I'll even raise my C6 Faruzan & swap her into Benny's slot.

[@saurusness]

nice! 😁

[@Cajun_Seasoning]

if ur already doing that much faruzan wil get u over 100k easy

[@malvoleus]

@@Cajun_Seasoning After levelling Faruzan to 70, getting lvl80 Elegy on her & talents to 2/7/8 then swapping Xiao to lvl 80 Jade spear I maxed at 106.4K on Asimon. Will finish raising Faruzan & both weapons over the coming week.

[@Cajun_Seasoning]

@@malvoleus Thats great to hear, good choice with Elegy its superb on her. You'll be doing bits when you have everything fully levelled :)

[@auroram8511]

ROFL @2:50. One of my biggest fears is someone walking in while Lisa is climbing a cliff.😅 Totally love your character reviews. Please keep them coming! 😊 I like Xiao's story. Esp during the Chasm story. Unfortunately I have lots of trouble with plunging attacks in general. Can't seem to get the flow going on mobile. So he is a skip for me this banner.

[@saurusness]

Hahaha please not lisa climbing 💀 Also thank you so much 💜 and yeah I can imagine - I haven't tried to play on mobile at all but I think I'd struggle a lot tbh D:

[@AoKajii]

Love him so much. He is not the best in term of meta but I feel like most people still playing him are loyal servants who are willing to go through hell to build and pull for amazing teams for him. We got Faruzan and now Xianyun. Still going strong 🙌 And still farming Vermillion... send help... 💀

[@fzhs7030]

he's one of the best carries currently

[@luzg9170]

Xiao was my 2nd 5 star, I tried his playstyle, I became a Xiao main, I dedicated my free time to build him, and I just love him so much. I got lucky this banner ang got 2 constellations, next time I hope to finally get C6 Xiao 😂

[@saurusness]

Hope so! 😁

[@raptori]

I skipped Xiao that first time because his playstyle didn't mesh well for me - I think the main issue was that I was not comfortable with dash-jumps at the time, so I would jump -> plunge -> run -> jump -> plunge, which felt very clunky. Trying him recently and just doing run&jump in one action is massively better, and he's pretty fun. If I had enough primos to spare I'd definitely get him!

[@saurusness]

I feel like a lot of characters who have mroe unique playstyles can tae a little getting used to at first!

[@raptori]

@@saurusness 100%! And now with Xianyun introducing a new playstyle for *every* character it's even weirder 😆

[@Theachen7]

Omg the jumping was a struggle for me as well XD tbh I’m still getting the hang of it, there have been so many times I’ve been plunging to my hearts content and then noticed that the enemies were all out of reach lol

[@saurusness]

@@Theachen7 LOL ok but I have also done that and sometimes still do 😎

[@owolynix3140]

I think its a good video but i miss Bennet here. In the last Xiao Team you could Chance Furina or Xianyun for Bennet and its almost the same.❤

[@saurusness]

Oh there were bennet teams! But you're right bennet would also fit into his "ideal" team very nicely to replace honestly any of the oher three 😊

[@TheOgEliza]

My favorite boy! I'm so happy that I finally got him❤

[@TheOgEliza]

Also, another extremy gpod video❤

[@saurusness]

@@TheOgEliza hehe thank you 🥰 And congrats!💜

[@rahulkambhampati5919]

"is he worthless" quite a funny title, made me laugh.

[@saurusness]

haha thank you😂

[@fzhs7030]

Currently he's definitely meta, arguably top 3 dps alongside neuv and haitham.

[@xy1xy]

My team is C0 Xianyun, C0 Zhongli, C6 Faruzan and C0 Conqueror Of Demons.

[@saurusness]

a very good team!

[@catdownthestreet]

On Xiao's most recent banner, I lost the 50/50 to Jean. I managed to get him eventually, but man, I've never been more angry at Jean. She's been forgiven since then because 1) I main her, and 2) I now direct all my anger towards Kujou Sara because I have c5 of her from Raiden's last banner and I'll never stop being salty about that. But still... That hurt. Especially since I lost to her almost immediately after my first time spending more than 20 dollars on the game at once. On the bright side, I got Kaveh during that banner run. Oh, and I still don't have Qiqi. Good for me, I guess? Though it would be nice to have her because I'm a completionist who is greedy for new characters. I don't think I want the curse of Qiqi though... Or Keqing...

[@ricofresh22]

I thought Xiao was a girl at first

[@ahmadmelhem1499]

My Xiao : 1- Xiao C0 2- Faruzan C6 3- Xianyun C0 4- zhongli C1

[@Frank_Nos]

Lament

[@alissonandre]

LAMENT

[@dachchet7385]

Xiao not zhao

[@yptrumpet]

I've been thinking about this. It's surprising how all of my favorite Genshin youtubers have long mispronounced his name (and sometimes Xingqiu, but never Xiangling or Xianyun, even though they all start with the same "sh" sound). I don't recall the game itself mispronouncing it with the English voiceovers. I wonder how that happened... Anyway, I hate to be a pedant, so I'm approaching it more as an archeological question. How did it comes to be this way?

[@yptrumpet]

Yeah, here's a clip that contains both "Xiangling" and "Xiao" being pronounced by Zhongli during version 4.4 Lantern Rite. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4HTqqmkfbOeeNUsi=-monYO4Cbl7E3CMv&t=6834.

[@raptori]

"xiao not zhao" -> idk, I'd literally read both of those exactly the same. What's the difference between the two? It might be one of those where there's a difference which sounds obvious to people who speak the language, but the two sounds are indistinguishable to speakers of a different language. For example in Finnish there are two different sounds denoted by the letters "a" and "ä"; as an English speaker I could just about perceive that there was a difference when I focused on it, but my mind interpreted both as "a" so I would always say words with one of the two incorrectly. Native languages shape not only the sounds you find comfortable to produce, but also your ability to disambiguate similar sounds. Super interesting tbh - reminds me of the thing about that tribe who struggle to see the colour blue, but who have hyper-awareness of different shades of green!