Genshin Impact Yelan Build Guide: Weapons, Artifacts, Ascension Materials, Teams

Yelan is a 5-star Hydro character in Genshin Impact who was introduced to the game in patch 2.7. She is an excellent off-field character and enables teams like Hyperbloom, Taser, Vaporize, and more. Whether you are free-to-play or spend money on Constellations, Yelan is a must-have character for every account thanks to her stellar off-field damage and elemental synergies. In our Genshin Impact Yelan build guide, we will go over her best weapons, artifacts, ascension materials, and teams so you can get the most value out of her kit.

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Who is Yelan in Genshin Impact?

Yelan is an enigmatic character from Liyue. She is a strategist working under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. She is also affiliated with the Yanshang Teahouse, where she gathers intel and takes up missions.

Yelan is one of the most resourceful individuals in Liyue, and there is a lot of mystery surrounding her. She collaborates with Ningguang, who is part of the ruling council of Liyue Harbor.

Genshin Impact Yelan Abilities 

Yelan’s kit is designed for an off-field playstyle, meaning you want to use her abilities and switch to a different character. While her Elemental Burst is active, she will deal coordinated damage to anything you attack for 15 seconds. Her Elemental Skill is used to deal quick bursts of damage and regenerate energy for her Burst.

➡️ Stealthy Bowshot (Normal Attack)

Normal Attack: Performs up to 4 consecutive shots with a bow.

Charged Attack: Performs a more precise Aimed Shot with increased DMG. While aiming, flowing water will accumulate on the arrowhead. A fully charged torrential arrow will deal Hydro DMG.

Breakthrough: Yelan enters a “Breakthrough” state after spending 5 seconds out of combat, which will cause her next Charged Aimed Shot to have 80% decreased charge time, and once charged, she can fire a “Breakthrough Barb” that will deal AoE (area of effect) Hydro DMG based on Yelan’s Max HP.

Plunging Attack: Fires off a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground, dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

➡️ Lingering Lifeline (Elemental Skill)

• Duration: 3 seconds 
• Cooldown: 10 seconds

She fires off a Lifeline that allows her to move rapidly, entangling and marking opponents along its path. The Lifeline will explode when this rapid movement ends, dealing Hydro DMG to the marked opponents based on Yelan’s Max HP.

Tap: Moves a certain distance forward swiftly.

Hold: Engages in a continuous, swift movement, during which Yelan’s resistance to interruption is increased. During this time, Yelan can control this rapid movement and end it by using this Skill again.

Additionally, each opponent marked by the Lifeline when it explodes grants Yelan a 34% chance to reset her Breakthrough state.

➡️ Depth-Clarion Dice (Elemental Burst)

• Duration: 15 seconds 
• Cooldown: 18 seconds

Yelan’s Elemental Burst deals AoE Hydro DMG and creates an “Exquisite Throw”, which aids her in battle.

Exquisite Throw: Follows the character around and will initiate a coordinated attack under the following circumstances, dealing Hydro DMG based on Yelan’s Max HP:

• Can occur once every second when your active character uses a Normal Attack.
• Will occur each time Yelan’s Lifeline explodes and hits opponents.

➡️ Ascension Passives

Turn Control (Passive 1): When the party has 1/2/3/4 Elemental Types, Yelan’s Max HP is increased by 6% / 12% / 18% / 30%.

Adapt With Ease (Passive 2): As long as an Exquisite Throw is in play, your own active character deals 1% more DMG. This increases by a further 3.5% DMG every second. The maximum increase in DMG dealt is 50%. The pre-existing effect will be dispelled if Depth-Clarion Dice is recast during its duration.

Necessary Calculation: Gains 25% more rewards when dispatched on a Liyue Expedition for 20 hours.

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Best Weapons for Yelan in Genshin Impact

Yelan’s signature weapon is one of the strongest bows ever released in Genshin Impact. However, if you do not want to spend a bunch of Primogems on the weapon banner, you can still get value out of her kit using free-to-play 4-star weapons. Here are our picks for the top five weapons for Yelan. 

➡️ Aqua Simulacra (Signature)

Aqua Simulacra gives Yelan a massive 88% CRIT DMG, 20% DMG Bonus and bonus HP. The buffs offered by the weapon are unconditional, synergizing perfectly with her kit.

➡️ Hunter’s Path (Alternate 5-Star Option)

Hunter’s Path is not great on characters who scale with HP, but things are different in Yelan’s case. She scales with HP, and the low base attack of the weapon does not affect her damage output. You get a massive 44% CRIT Rate and a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus to boost your damage. 

➡️ Skyward Harp (Standard Banner Pick)

Unlike Hunter’s Path and Aqua Simulacra, you can obtain Skyward Harp from the Standard Banner, and if you are a veteran player, there’s a decent chance that you have at least one copy of the weapon. The CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG bonuses offer a decent damage boost to any character.

➡️ Favonius Warbow (Best Free-to-Play Option)

Favonius Warbow is a great option if you want to generate Elemental Particles for the whole team. It gives Yelan a massive Energy Recharge % bonus and helps other characters in your party get some free energy every time you activate the weapon passive.

➡️ Viridescent Hunt (Best Battle-Pass Weapon)

The Viridescent Hunt offers a decent 27.6% Crit Rate that any character can take advantage of. It also has some built-in crowd control, which can be situationally useful. Like Hunter’s Path, Viridescent Hunt has a low base attack but does not affect Yelan’s damage output as she scales with HP instead.

Best Artifacts for Yelan in Genshin Impact

The Emblem of Severed Fate set is the only relic set you should use. The 2-piece bonus gives you a 20% Energy Recharge while the 4-piece bonus gives you a damage bonus based on your Energy Recharge %. 

Try to focus on building as much HP %, CRIT Rate, and CRIT DMG as possible. These are the recommended main stats for her artifacts: 

Sands: Energy Recharge % if you are not using an ER % weapon. HP % if you are using an ER % weapon.

Goblet: Hydro Damage Bonus is the way to go, but you can also use HP % goblets without losing too much damage.

Circlet: CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG. You want to have a 1:2 CRIT Rate to CRIT DMG Ratio with at least 60% CRIT Rate and 120% Crit DMG. 

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Genshin Impact Yelan Ascension Materials

Here are all of Yelan’s Ascension Materials that you need. You can get Hydro Gemstones from Weekly Bosses, the Primo Geovishap, and any Hydro Boss. The Insignias can be obtained from Fatui Skirmishers, Pyro Agents, and Cicin Mages. 

Starconches are available in the beach areas in Liyue. We recommend checking out the official Teyvat Interactive map to locate them. Finally, you can obtain Runic Fangs from The Chasm’s Ruin Serpent Boss.

Genshin Impact Yelan Talent Materials 

You need all the talent materials to level up Yelan’s abilities. We recommend leveling her Elemental Burst first before moving on to other abilities. If you do not use her on-field, consider leaving her Normal Attack at level 6.

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Genshin Impact Yelan Build: Best Teams

Yelan works very well with Xingqiu in a double Hydro setup. You can add any on-field character into the mix and have a fully functional team. She also synergizes well with Pyro units like Hu Tao and Yoimiya as a Vaporize enabler. Here are some team examples that you can refer to and build your own Yelan team:

➡️ Raiden National 

Team: Raiden Shogun, Yelan, Xiangling, Bennett

Xiangling and Bennett are very accessible 4-star characters, and you can enable powerful Vaporize reactions using Yelan. Raiden Shogun is in the team to generate energy for everyone in the party, and you can replace her with Sucrose, Kazuha, or Xingqiu if you want a more free-to-play version of the team.

➡️ Hu Tao Vaporize

Team: Hu Tao, Zhongli, Yelan, Kazuha/Xingqiu

Hu Tao needs an off-field Hydro character to dish out massive Vaporize damage, and Yelan fits the role perfectly. If you do not have Zhongli, you can run other shielders, but you might run into survivability issues. Kazuha and Xingqiu are replaceable in the final slot, and you cannot go wrong with either option.

➡️ Hyperbloom

Team: Yelan, Yaoyao, Fischl, Sucrose 

Alternate Team: Yelan, Alhaitham, Nahida, Kuki Shinobu

Hyperbloom teams are very accessible to new players thanks to stellar 4-star characters like Fischl, Yaoyao, and Sucrose, synergizing well with each other. If you have premium 5-star options, you can consider using Kuki Shinobu, Nahida, and Alhaitham for a massive damage upgrade.

Conclusion

Yelan is a fantastic character and can fit into a variety of teams. Even if you do not care about the Spiral Abyss or the game’s “meta”, she is fun to use in the overworld. She can save you hours of exploration thanks to her fast movement.

Also, if you liked this build guide for Yelan, you can also check out our Genshin Impact Razor Build guide!