Researcher Wuthering Waves Xiangli Yao, introduced in the Moonglow Festival, is a great on-field electro DPS. Players got a copy for free during the 1.2 update, but he still gets his own banners and is well worth your pulls, as is his signature gauntlets weapon. Here’s how to build him into a strong DPS using the best gauntlets, echoes, and team comps.
You can get the new Wuthering Waves codes here. Then, check our Wuthering Waves tier list to find Xiangli’s best supports. We’ve got a handy guide to all the new Wuthering Waves events coming in the next Wuthering Waves update, too, for even more astrite.
Here’s everything in our Wuthering Waves Xiangli Yao build guide:
What’s the best Wuthering Waves Xiangli Yao build?
Xiangli Yao is a five-star resonator that uses gauntlets as a weapon, and the electro element.
| Element | Electro |
| Rarity | Five-star |
| Role | DPS |
| Best weapon | Verity’s Handle |
| Best echo set | Void thunder |
| Best echo | Thundering Mephis |
| Main stats | Electro damage bonus, crit rate, crit damage, attack |
Xiangli Yao, an expert in automata mechanics and principal investigator at the Huaxu Academy, has a pretty cool robotic arm which we’re sure will feature in his animations and combat. It fits, given his job. We briefly got a glimpse of him alongside Wuthering Waves Mortefi in a cutscene, showing the two of them puzzling over a screen.
Xiangli Yao’s kit focuses on resonance liberation damage, as a lot of his skills turn into stronger versions that count as resonance liberation damage when used. He works similarly to Calcharo, in that you can use his resonance skill, and then build up stacks with basic attacks to produce a heavier instance of damage.
Xiangli works very well with Yinlin thanks to her coordinated attacks and electro-damage boost, and he’s even better if you equip him with his signature gauntlets – Verity’s Handle – and a full set of void thunder echoes.
What’s the best weapon for Xiangli Yao?
As we get Xiangli for free, it’s a good idea to pull for his signature weapon – the Verity’s Handle gauntlets – as these are tailored to his kit. You can also use the standard banner’s Abyss Surges, or a synotized Stonard to get good damage. An S5 Gauntles of Night can also add a nice boost to his attack stat.
| Verity’s Handle | Stat: Crit rate Effect: Gain a 12% attribute damage bonus. When using Xiangli’s resonance liberation, he gains a 48% resonance liberation damage bonus for eight seconds. This can extend five seconds each time he uses a resonance skill, up to three times |
Limited weapon banner |
| Abyss Surges | Stat: Attack Effect: Increases energy regeneration. When hitting a target with resonance skill, this gauntlet increases basic attack damage, lasting for eight seconds. When hitting a target with basic attacks, increases resonance skill damage by 10%, lasting for eight seconds |
Standard weapon banner |
| Stonard | Stat: Crit rate Effect: When Xiangli casts a resonance skill, his resonance liberation damage increases for 15 seconds |
All banners |
| Gauntlets of Night | Stat: Attack Effect: When casting Xiangli’s intro skill, his attack increases for ten seconds |
All banners |
What are the best Xiangli Yao team comps?
Xiangli Yao is your main DPS in your team, so you’re best using a healer or shield unit with him, and a buffer such as Yinlin to increase his damage output.
- Wuthering Waves Yinlin – Yinlin is an excellent help in any electro team. She can boost electro damage and provide coordinated attacks to up the damage whenever you’re taking down tacets.
- Wuthering Waves Jianxin – Jianxin can also be a helpful sub-DPS and supporter, as she can provide a shield, along with giving Xiangli a resonance liberation boost thanks to her outro skill.
- Wuthering Waves Verina or Wuthering Waves Baizhi – as always, we suggest taking Verina or Baizhi to provide healing. Verina can add a damage boost with her ultimate, while Baizhi at higher sequence nodes can resurrect a party member during battle, and add some extra damage. It depends on who you have, and who you prefer to use.
 Xiangli Yao |
 Yinlin |
 Verina |
Xiangli Yao |
 Jianxin |
 Shorekeeper |
Xiangli Yao |
Yinlin |
 Youhu |
What are the best echoes for Xiangli Yao?
Here are the echo sets we recommend for Xiangli:
- Five-piece set: Void thunder
- Two-piece sets: Void thunder, lingering tunes
Xiangli Yao works best with a five-piece set of void thunder echoes. If you don’t have a good five-piece set, you can use two lingering tunes and two void thunder echoes for the attack and electro buffs.
The best main echo to equip Xiangli Yao with is the Thundering Mephis. This can improve his electro damage and his resonance liberation damage, which a lot of his boosted kit moves count as.
| Thundering Mephis |
Transform into the Thundering Mephis, and perform six strikes at enemies. The first five strikes deal 95% electro damage, whereas the final strike deals 131%, with an additional attack from thunder it summons. After the last hit, Xiangli Yao’s electro damage and resonance liberation damage increase by 12% for 15 seconds |
| Violet Feathered Heron | Transform into Violet Feathered Heron and enter the parry stance. Xiangli Yao counterattacks when the stance ends, dealing heavy electro damage. If he gets attacked during the stance, you can counterattack in advance and additionally recover five energy |
Stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Crit rate/damage
- Electro damage bonus
- Energy regeneration
- Attack
Sub-stats:
- Crit rate/damage
- Energy regeneration
- Attack
What are Xiangli Yao’s ascension materials?
| 20➔40 | 5k shell credits Four LF whisperin cores |
| 40➔50 | 10k shell credits Four violet coral Three hidden thunder tacet cores, Four MF whisperin cores |
| 50➔60 | 15k shell credits Eight violet coral Six hidden thunder tacet cores Eight MF whisperin cores |
| 60➔70 | 20k shell credits 12 violet coral Nine hidden thunder tacet cores Four HF whisperin cores |
| 70➔80 | 40k shell credits 16 violet coral 12 hidden thunder tacet cores Eight HF whisperin cores |
| 80➔90 | 80k shell credits 20 violet coral 16 hidden thunder tacet cores Four FF whisperin cores |
Here’s where to find all of Xiangli Yao’s ascension materials:
- Hidden thunder tacet cores – this item drops from the Tempest Mephis boss in the Central Plains
- Violet coral – you can find these on the shores of Norfall Barrens
- LF, MF, HF, and FF whisperin cores – obtain from normal enemies, the store, the weapon shop, or forgery challenges
- Shell credits – shell credits are the in-game currency, which you can obtain via farming, enemy and boss drops, through quests, or by selling things in the in-game store
What are Xiangli Yao’s forte materials?
- 25 LF whisperin cores, 28 MF whisperin cores, 40 HF whisperin cores, and 57 FF whisperin cores
- Obtain from normal enemies, the store, the weapon shop, or forgery challenges
- 25 cadence seeds, 28 cadence buds, 55 cadence leaves, and 67 cadence blossoms
- Obtain from the Moonlit Groves forgery challenge, via the synthesizer, Jinzhou’s weapon shop, or Jinzhou’s souvenir store
- 26 Unending Destruction
- Obtain from the Scar weekly boss challenge
- 2,030,000 shell credits
What are Xiangli Yao’s skills?
Here’s a breakdown of all of Xiangli’s skills, including the boosted versions that count as resonance liberation damage when he uses them.
Active skills
| Basic attack | Perform up to five consecutive attacks that deal electro damage |
| Heavy attack | Perform a charged attack that consumes stamina, dealing heavier electro damage |
| Mid-air attack | Plunge from mid-air to the ground dealing electro damage. This consumes some stamina |
| Dodge counter | Use a basic attack after a successful dodge to attack the target with electro |
| Resonance skill | Xiangli attacks the target using electro damage |
| Resonance liberation | Xiangli attacks the target with electro damage, and enters the Intuition state. Intuition – Obtain three Hypercubes. Each time Xiangli uses his resonance skill (Law of Reigns), he consumes one Hypercube. Intuition ends when all cubes get consumed. – His basic attack and heavy attack changes to basic attack Pivot – Impale, which performs three consecutive attacks dealing electro damage. – His resonance skill (Deduction) gets replaced by Divergence, which deals heavier electro damage – Dodge counter gets replaced by Unfathomed, which counts as resonance liberation damage |
Passive skills
| Intro skill | Xiangli Yao attacks the target, dealing electro damage |
| Outro skill | Xiangli Yao calls down a laser beam on the first target the incoming resonator’s attacks hit. This deals electro damage equal to 237% of his attack in an AoE. This lasts for eight seconds and can trigger once every two seconds, up to three times |
| Forte circuit | Resonance skill – Decipher When Capacity reaches 100, Deduction changes into Decipher. This consumes 100 Capacity to deal electro damage that counts as resonance liberation damage. Xiangli can hold up to 100 Capacity at one time. Every normal attack and resonance skill grants Capacity. Resonance skill – Law of Reigns When in Intuition, and Performance Capacity reaches five, Divergence turns into Law of Reigns. This consumes five Performance Capacity to deal electro damage that counts as resonance liberation damage. Xiangli can hold five Performance Capacity at any one time. When in Intuition, he gains one stack when basic attack hits a target, when resonance skill hits a target, and when Revamp or Unfathomed hits a target. Mid-air attack – Revamp After using resonance skills Decipher or Divergence, use a basic attack to perform Revamp in mid-air that consumes stamina, and deals electro damage that counts as resonance liberation damage |
Inherent skills
| Knowing | Gain a 5% electro damage bonus after using Xiangli Yao’s resonance skill that lasts eight seconds. This can stack four times |
| Focus | When in Intuition, triggered by his resonance liberation, Xiangli’s resistance to interruption increases |
Skill priority
- Forte circuit > resonance liberation > resonance skill > basic attack > intro skill
What is Xiangli Yao’s resonance chain?
We all get one Xiangli Yao for free, but he has a banner going on, so you can get more copies of him to strengthen his build.
| Prodigy of Protégés | Resonance skill (Law of Reigns) launches six Convolution Matrices at enemies, each dealing resonance liberation damage equal to 8% of the skill’s damage multiplier |
| Traces of Predecessors | Casting resonance skill or liberation increases Xiangli Yao’s crit damage by 30% for eight seconds |
| Ruins of Ancient | Casting resonance liberation increases the damage of Xiangli’s following resonance skill by 63% for 24 seconds. This can trigger five times |
| Vessel of Rebirth | Casting resonance liberation grants a 25% damage bonus to all team members’ resonance liberations for 30 seconds |
| End of Stars | The damage multiplier of Xiangli’s outro skill increases by 222%. The damage multiplier of his resonance liberation also increases by 100% |
| Solace of the Ordinary | The Hypercubes obtained during his resonance liberation become enhanced, increasing the damage multiplier of Law of Reigns by 76% |
If you need help building up another strong DPS or support, we can help. Here are our build guides for Wuthering Waves Jinhsi, Wuthering Waves Changli, Wuthering Waves Yinlin, and the best healer in the game, Wuthering Waves Verina.