Genshin Impact Layla Best Build Guide

Layla is a sleepy new 4-star Cryo character who joins the cast of Genshin Impact in Version 3.2. As a student of the Akademiya, Layla is often stressed by the constant tests and exams she must endure. Despite her sleep deprivation, however, she always seems to manage to get through one way or another. 

As a character, Layla takes a unique stance as a Support-centric Cryo character focused on Shields. She has the potential to be very powerful and a very useful asset to a lot of teams who want to stay alive and benefit from potent Cryo Reactions.

Here is everything you need to know to best build Layla, the Fantastical Evening Star, in Genshin Impact. This includes her best weapons, her Talent order priorities, required Ascension Materials, best team compositions and more.

Want more Genshin Impact Guides and articles? You can find more here on KeenGamer:

1. Genshin Impact Nahida Best Build Guide
2. Genshin Impact Cyno Best Build Guide
3. Genshin Impact Candace Best Build Guide
4. 6 Secret Genshin Impact Achievements and Chests You Likely Missed in Sumeru
5. Genshin Impact: All Sumeru City Riddle Answers and Locations

Who is Layla from Genshin Impact?

Layla is a Rtawahist student from Sumeru’s Akademiya. She studies Theoretical Astrology, an art practised by other memorable characters around Teyvat, and constantly finds herself overwhelmed by exams and studying. That worry has developed into an unhealthy bout of insomnia and sleep deprivation, resulting in Layla’s constant aura of exhaustion and tiredness.

She often gets so worked up over her tests and papers that she cannot even focus on them, instead wasting away until she passes out. Upon waking up, her work is often strangely finished and complete – an unusual and constant phenomenon that suggests that maybe sleep is Layla’s companion after all. Only the stars can tell.

“There is nothing uncommon for a student working hard in the Akademiya to experience some insomnia. Yet, in Layla’s case, the severity of her sleep deprivation is indeed extremely rare. On the bright side though, if slumber is not on the to-do list tonight, why don’t we observe the starry sky?”

Character Demo – Layla: Radiant Star Trail

How do you get Layla?

Genshin Impact’s Layla is a new 4-star character so, technically, she will be available on every Banner going forward (both Unique and Standard). However, she will be competing with every other 4-star character and weapon so the chance of actually pulling Layla is incredibly low. 

Your best chance is to pull on a Banner when Layla is one of the three featured 4-star characters. This will be your very best chance.

So far, Layla has appeared on the following Banners:

• Everbloom Violet (Yae Miko’s First Rerun): November 18th 2022 – December 6th 2022
• Farewell of Snezhnaya (Tartaglia’s Fourth Rerun): November 18th 2022 – December 6th 2022

Layla the Evening Star

Layla Ascension Materials

To Ascend Layla from level 1 to level 90, she requires the following items:

• Nilotpala Lotus (Sumeru Speciality)
• Shivada Jade Sliver (Cryo Elemental Gemstone)
• Divining Scrolls (Enemy Drop)
• Perpetual Calibre (World Boss Drop)

Layla shares a Sumeru speciality requirement with the Forest Watcher, Tighnari, as she needs Nilotpala Lotuses. These tiny yellow flowers only bloom along waterfronts and lakesides around Sumeru’s rainforests. Any of the larger bodies of water are likely to hold a few of these flowers for Layla’s needs and you’ll need to gather a fair few of them. Layla needs 168 Nilotpala Lotus flowers in total to finish her Ascension. You can find their exact locations on the Teyvat Interactive Map or the Genshin Impact Interactive World Map. 

Divining Scrolls are the common tier drop from the Samachurl enemies. These are the Element wielders of the Hilichurl forces, often using the likes of Cryo, Dendro and Hydro against you. Samachurls dwell all over Teyvat, usually congregating around other Hilichurls in groups – you can easily pick them out using the Adventurer’s Handbook. Layla asks for 18 Divining Scrolls, 30 Sealed Scrolls and 36 Forbidden Curse Scrolls. 

Sleepy Student

The Perpetual Calibre (or Perpetual Caliber) is an overworld boss material dropped by the Aeonblight Drake boss. This boss is a massive form of the Ruin Drake enemies, similar in enhancement and appearance to the Ruin Grader. It dwells in the depths of the Devantaka Mountains to the East of Sumeru. 46 Perpetual Calibres are required to fully Ascend Layla.

The final material that Layla needs are the Shivada Jade Gemstones and Gems. Every character in Genshin Impact needs these and Layla needs the Cryo variant. The easiest way to pick up Shivada Jade Gems is to battle Cryo-aligned world bosses like the Cryo Hypostasis. They can also be obtained randomly from completing all 4 Daily Commissions, although this is a far lower chance. Transmuting at the Alchemy Table is another option, allowing you to create high-rarity Gems from lower ones or Transmute other Elemental Gems into Shivada Gems. Layla needs 1 Shivada Jade Sliver, 9 Shivada Jade Fragments, 9 Shivada Jade Chunks and 6 Shivada Jade Gemstones.

As with all Genshin Impact characters, Ascension costs Mora and EXP Books. Be ready with 420k Mora and 416 Hero’s Wit EXP Books (or their equivalent). 

The Mysterious Helper

Layla Ability Overview

As a Sword unit, Layla is quite interesting in that she doesn’t typically conform to the standard DPS playstyle. Like other characters such as Kuki Shinobu, Layla leans more towards Support. Specifically, Layla is built as a Shielding character (something rarely seen outside of Geo characters). 

Her Normal Attack is called Sword of the Radiant Path. This is a simple 3-hit combo of rapid sword strikes where Layla uses both hands to swing her weapon about wildly. Her Charged Attack is a rapid dual sword slash and this Talent also affects her Plunging Attack damage. As she is a Support character first and foremost, this will be the least of your concern with Layla.

Normal Attack

Meanwhile, Layla’s Elemental Skill is called Nights of Formal Focus. When activated, Layla will momentarily fall into slumber on the spot, dealing Cryo AoE damage around her and creating a shield known as The Curtain of Slumber. This shield’s strength and damage absorption are based on Layla’s Maximum HP and will absorb Cryo damage at 250% efficiency thanks to Layla’s native Cryo Vision. 

While the Curtain of Slumber is active, the Night Star and Shooting Stars effects will begin. Night Stars are a special kind of effect that spawns around the shielded character which can be created in several ways:

• For every 1.5s that passes, 1 Night Star will be created.
• When the shielded character uses an Elemental Skill, 2 Night Stars will be created.

A maximum of 4 can be created at any one time. Once all 4 have been created, they will morph into Shooting Stars. These blast out from the shield and home in on any nearby enemies, dealing Cryo DMG. New Night Stars will only begin spawning after the last volley of Shooting Stars has ended. 

Finally, her Elemental Burst is Dreams of the Star-Stream Shaker. When you pop her Burst, Layla summons a Celestial Dreamsphere in an AoE around her. This Dreamsphere will constantly fire Starlight Slugs at opponents within the AoE, dealing Cryo DMG on hit. If you have the Curtain of Slumber active from her Elemental Skill, each Starlight Slug hit will generate an additional Night Star for the shield. 

Elemental Burst

Layla’s Passives

Like most other Genshin Impact characters, Layla only has 3 Passive Talents available. The first is always active from level 1, whereas the second and third are unlocked via Ascension. Upon reaching Ascension Rank 2 (levels 20-40) and Rank 4 (levels 70-80), the new Talents will become available. None of these Talents can be levelled up, unlike the ones above.

Her first Passive is Shadowy Dream-Signs. When Layla crafts Character Talent Materials, she has a 10% chance to receive double the product. This is a pretty common Passive which is shared by a few other characters, or those with similar effects. 

Next is Like Nascent Light. While the Curtain of Slumber effect is active from Layla’s Elemental Skill, a new effect called Deep Sleep will trigger whenever a Night Star is created. This increases the shield strength of the active character by 6% for each Night Star activation, stacking up to 4 times for a total of 24% extra shield strength that disappears when the Curtain does. 

Lastly, Sweet Slumber Undisturbed increases the damage dealt by Layla’s Shooting Stars from her Elemental Skill. Specifically, each Shooting Star has its damage increased by 1.5% of Layla’s Maximum HP. 

Twinkle Twinkle

Talent Priority

This is the order in which you should prioritise levelling up Layla’s Talents and Skills to get her best build. The priority order is shared no matter what path you try to take Layla down – either her more direct and approachable path of Support or even a sub-DPS route. 

In order to level up Layla’s Talents, she needs the following Materials: 

1. Teachings/Guides/Philosophies of Ingenuity Talent Books
2. Divining Scrolls (of common and higher rarities)
3. The Mirror of Mushin Weekly Boss item from the Scaramouche Puppet Boss.

1. Nights of Formal Focus (Elemental Skill)

Layla’s Elemental Skill should be the highest priority target for your Talent materials. No matter what path you are planning on taking Layla down, her main utility and power come from her Skill. For Support, she has the Shield and the ability to create a lot of Cryo Reactions. Paired with her high HP, this makes Layla comparable to some of the more defensive Geo units. Meanwhile, the Shooting Stars and Night Stars effects of the Curtain of Slumber are what allow Layla to take a more proactive role in battle. The extra damage and the Cryo application of the Shooting Stars and how quickly the Night Stars accumulate are both good reasons to bring Layla into a team.

Investing in this Talent will only make her Supportive abilities (shielding and protecting the team) and her damaging potential (her Shooting Stars) more potent. Additionally, parts of her Elemental Burst synergies and interact with the Curtain of Slumber mechanic of Layla’s Elemental Skill. Without proper investment, these benefits will be quite lacklustre and fail to make the impact they could. Night of Formal Focus should certainly be the main priority when it comes to levelling Layla’s Talents.

Playing with the Stars

2. Dreams of the Star-Stream Shaker (Elemental Burst)

Layla’s Elemental Burst is her most direct form of damage and Cryo application. It is perhaps the best part of her kit that utilises her high HP stat. The Starlight Slugs from the Burst can take advantage of Layla’s max HP to deal a good amount of damage. They also deal considerable and continuous Cryo, good for Reactions and application. Additionally, the bonus Night Stars accrued during the Burst makes Layla’s Skill even greater. 

The 12s duration paired with the 12s cooldown means that this Burst can theoretically be up very often with the right team composition and constant flow of Elemental Energy. In a way, this Burst acts similar to a character like Ganyu with a wide AoE and a focus on damage, with the additional side effect of being a great catalyst for Cryo-Elemental Reactions like Melt or Freeze. However, Layla’s Elemental Skill still edges it out with its pure versatility: it does damage, applies Cryo on activation, grants a protective shield and gives Layla a direct option for damage. Compared to that, her Burst is pretty ‘All-or-Nothing’. As such, this should be your second priority behind Nights of Formal Focus. 

Dancing on the Stars

3. Sword of the Radiant Path (Normal Attack)

Simply put, Layla’s Normal Attack Talent is pretty worthless to invest in. Not only does her main role of Support not gel with high levels of Normal Attack investment, but even her damaging potential comes from the other parts of her kit. The Shooting Stars of Nights of Formal Focus and the Starlight Slugs of Dreams of the Star-Stream Shaker hold far higher potential for damage than her Normal Attack ever will. Her Normal Attack isn’t tied to any other part of her kit, either, which would require continuous use. Ignoring Layla’s Normal Attacks is perhaps the best way to play her.

If you are playing Support or Sub-DPS Layla correctly then your utility and damage will come solely from your Skill and Burst. When those aren’t available, switching to another character until they come off of cooldown is far more worth your time than trying to plink away at an enemy using Layla’s poor Normal Attack damage. It’s just not worth any form of investment or engagement over either her Burst or Skill. Only level Sword of the Radiant Path if you’re aiming to triple-crown Layla.

Surprised Shock

Best Weapons

Layla has a lot of good options for weaponry, mostly geared towards a Supportive stance. Despite this, many of these options still benefit a sub-DPS Layla, even though they may be a little less impactful.

The Ideal Choice

The best option for Layla is the 5-star Sword Key of Khaj-Nisut. This weapon was first introduced in Version 3.2 and is a Limited Weapon from the Unique Weapon Banner. 

The Key of Khaj-Nisut has a base ATK of 524 at level 90, with a bonus addition of 66% HP. The first weapon skill benefit is increasing the user’s HP by another 20%. When an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the user gains the Grand Hymn buff for 20s. This increases their Elemental Mastery by 0.12% of their maximum HP. This buff can stack 3 times and when it hits 3 stacks, the EM of nearby party members will also be increased by 0.2% of the equipped character’s maximum HP.

For Layla, every part of this weapon benefits her in one way or another. First, the bonus HP will be instrumental in making her more powerful. Higher HP gives her a better Shield, increases the damage of her Burst, and ties into her A4 Passive Sweet Slumber Undisturbed. You cannot have enough HP on Layla so this weapon is perfect. Alongside that, the additional EM from the weapon skill may allow Layla to play into Elemental Reactions more than she otherwise could. Everything about the Key of Khaj-Nisut fits Layla to a ‘T’.

If you have this weapon and can pry it from the hands of your Nilou, Layla would be much appreciated. 

Key of Khaj-Nisut

Replacement Options

But what if you don’t have the Key of Khaj-Nisut and need something else? You’re in luck because Layla has plenty of other options that will do the trick. 

All of the following weapons are 4-star or lower in terms of rarity. 5-star weapons like Freedom-Sworn or Primordial Jade Cutter will often be far stronger and better options due to having higher base stats or more interesting weapon skills. If you happen to have any 5-star options, test them out on Layla before committing to a 4-star option. 

The replacement options recommended for Layla are The Sacrificial Sword, Favonius Sword and The Harbinger of Dawn. 

Sacrificial Sword

The Sacrificial Sword is part of the Sacrificial line of 4-star weapons that are available from Wishing. It doesn’t have anything particularly flashy about it, but it can greatly enhance either a Support Layla or a damage-centric Layla. This Sword has a base ATK stat of 454 with a 61% Energy Recharge substat (at level 90). Composed is the name of its weapon skill and it has a percentage chance (40%-100% depending on refinement) of ending the Elemental Skill CD after damaging an opponent with said Skill. For Layla, this would mean constant access to her Shield (even if it breaks) and another avenue to gain Night Stars without having to switch to another character. While it may be a bit more reserved, you can’t go wrong with the Sacrificial Sword on Layla.

Next is the Favonius Sword, the mainstay of many characters who rely on their Bursts. Like the Sacrificial Sword, this 4-star weapon comes from Wishing and is a part of the Favonius series. It has a base ATK of 454 with an Energy Recharge stat of 61%. Its weapon skill is called Windfall. CRIT Hits have a percentage chance (60%-100% depending on refinement) to generate a small number of Elemental Particles. This weapon means that Layla will have must more constant access to her Burst, a very useful part of her kit for dealing damage and for enhancing her Elemental Skill. You will have to focus on the CRIT Rate to make this weapon most effective, but it is a small trade-off for such a good boon. 

Lastly, we have The Harbinger of Dawn. Right off the bat, yes, this is a 3-star weapon that players can obtain via Wishing. You’ve probably collected hundreds of these across your playtime. Surprisingly, for certain characters, this is a monster of a weapon that can drastically improve the damage potential of characters like Albedo (and, now, Layla too). It has a base ATK of 401 and a 46.9% CRIT DMG substat with the weapon skill Vigorous. When the equipped characters’ HP is above 90%, the CRIT Rate is increased by {14% – 28% depending on refinement}. This is a great option for a damage-heavy Layla as her Shield and high HP stat will mean that she almost always has enough HP to make use of the extra CRIT Rate. Pair that with her Skill and Burst and Layla will be dealing some surprisingly meaty hits. 

The Harbinger of Dawn

Best Artifact Set for Layla

There are only a few decent options for Layla if we’re being honest. Her niche is very specific and situational and so there are only a few ways to effectively take her. However, no matter which you pick, they are very likely to enhance every part of her kit.

The two main sets you will be looking out for are the Tenacity of the Millelith and Blizzard Strayer. In some compositions, Noblesse Oblige can work but this is more situational. 

If you are going all-in on Support Layla, 4-piece Millelith is likely the best way to go. 2-piece Millelith increases maximum HP by 20%, increasing the potency of many aspects of Layla’s kit. Meanwhile, 4-piece Millelith makes it so that whenever an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the ATK of all nearby party members is increased by 20% and their Shield Strength is increased by 30% for 3s. While this is already pretty nice, the equipped character doesn’t have to be on the field to trigger it, allowing Layla’s Shooting Stars and initial Elemental Skill cast to trigger this additional ATK bonus for the rest of the team. This set makes Support Layla much stronger and able to appropriately buff her team outside of just her Shield.

Meanwhile, if you want something a bit more fierce, 2-piece Millelith and 2-piece Blizzard Strayer will be better. Once again, 2-piece Millelith will boost Layla’s HP by 20% for more damage, more Shielding and more utility. 2-piece Blizzard Strayer boosts Cryo damage by 15%, which would allow all of Layla’s most potent abilities and attacks to deal even more damage. Her Starlight Slugs, Shooting Stars and even the activation of her Shield would all become boosted and allow Layla to step into a more offensive position while still maintaining a good hold on some of her Supportive capabilities. This a good set if you want to be in control of Layla more instead of having her hang back. 

Layla

The Stats You Want

The main stats that you’ll be looking for on Layla are the following:

1. HP
2. CRIT DMG / CRIT Rate
3. Energy Recharge / Elemental Mastery

HP is the most obvious choice here. As we discussed at length, the higher Layla’s maximum HP, the more utility and the more damage she will deal. Having high HP will relieve some of the burdens from having to have high ATK while still keeping her powerful and able to deal nice chunky hits with her Skill and Burst. More than that, HP plays into so many of her abilities and Talents from her Burst to her Skill to Sweet Slumber Undisturbed that it feels like a waste to not capitalise on that potential. If you’re going to be playing Layla as primarily a Support unit, consider having just HP% on your artifacts. 

CRIT DMG and CRIT Rate will never be bad on any character (aside from Kokomi) and the same is true here. Even if your Layla is going to be more Support than DPS, having her Shooting Stars and Starlight Slugs be capable of decent CRIT DMG at high Rates will make her more useful. Whether that just be in pure damage or Elemental Reaction potential, having a decent amount of CRIT will never be bad and is a good pick after HP. 

Lastly, you have a choice. Energy Recharge is a stat that will benefit Layla’s Burst and Cryo application more than anything else. On the other hand, Elemental Mastery would make those Reactions far more potent and capable of dealing some good damage – without them, their utility merely comes from their effects such as Freeze or Super-Conduct. Either one is good and they will both enhance Layla but the choice of which to focus on depends on your path and team compositions. 

Holding up the Night

Best Layla Team Composition

The following section has 3 different potential team compositions for Layla. In the majority of these, Layla will be acting as her primary role of Support or sub-DPS. The F2P budget team is where every character can be earned for free in one way or another. 

Freeze Team Support

This team consists of Layla, Ayaka, Barbara and Yelan. 

Layla will be acting as Support in terms of Shielding, but also in applying Cryo for Reactions. She can deal okay damage in this team but her main roles will be protecting everyone, keeping them alive and giving them a continuous source of Cryo for Freeze via her Burst and Shooting Stars. You’ll be switching her in and out when her cooldowns reset to recreate her Shield or Burst AoE.

Ayaka is the main DPS of the team who also happens to share the Cryo element with Layla. This grants the entire team the Cryo Resonance buff, increasing the CRIT Rate against enemies affected by Cryo or Freeze by 15%. This benefits the entire team as this composition is built around the Freeze Reaction with every character having some part to play. Aside from that, Ayaka has good sustainable damage with her Skill and Burst and a quick way to apply Cryo via her unique sprint. Ayaka’s damage has the potential to be very high and, especially with the bonus to CRIT Rate, can be a powerful damage dealer. 

Barbara is our Healer and one part of the Hydro side of this team. As a Catalyst she can instantly apply Hydro to any enemy she hits, opening them up for a good Freeze. Her main role as Healer will keep the team topped up and pairing her Skill with Layla’s Skill will only increase the potential for Freeze across the entire battlefield. 

Last but not least we have Yelan. She will serve as a sub-DPS, dipping in and out of combat with her Skill and Burst to deal massive damage and apply Hydro. Additionally, because she and Barbara share the Hydro Element, this team gets access to a second Resonance. The Hydro Resonance increases Max HP by 25%, benefiting Layla’s Shield and damage as well as Barbara’s Healing potential. There are a lot of ways to deal damage in this team as well as keep enemies locked down and unable to act. 

Freeze Support Team

Physical Team Support

This team consists of Layla, Eula, Raiden Shogun and Dori. 

Once again, Layla steps in as a way to keep the team alive with Shields as well as apply Cryo for Reactions. However, instead of focusing on Freeze, we will instead be focusing on Super-Conduct. As always, Layla’s high Max HP and numerous ways to deal Cryo damage will make her invaluable. This is especially true when paired with the team’s main DPS.

That DPS is Eula. Despite being a Cryo character (which does mean that the team gets access to the Cryo Resonance) most of Eula’s big damage comes in the form of Physical DMG from her Burst and Normal Attacks. Her Skill does deal a good amount of Cryo with decent damage but the main attacking force is in her Burst and Physical DMG potential. Layla allows Eula to stay alive and act as a more consistent applicator of Cryo while Eula focuses on hitting things and hitting them hard. 

Raiden Shogun acts as the team’s sub-DPS. Her Skill means that Electro DMG will almost always be going off, which when paired with Layla and Eula’s Cryo will create numerous openings for Super-Conduct. This increases the team’s overall Physical damage by lowering enemy RES. Alongside that, Shogun is just a great character and a big damage dealer in her own right.

Finally, we have Dori. She has two main purposes on this team. The first will be healing and keeping everyone in top form alongside Layla’s Shield. Second is her ability to grant the team the Electro Resonance alongside the Shogun. This means that Dori will be keeping everyone alive as well as providing them with a sustainable source of Energy and Bursts, allowing Layla to continue applying Cryo and Eula to do massive damage. 

Physical Support Team

F2P Budget Team / DPS Layla

This team consist of Layla, Kaeya, Barbara and Xingqiu. 

In this team, Layla will be stepping up a bit and filling in more positions as a DPS. While she may not be as powerful as a sole main DPS, her plethora of ways to deal Cryo DMG puts her at a good advantage. On the whole, this F2P team acts a lot like the Freeze Support Team only with Layla at the forefront. With her Skill and Burst, Layla can be switched in and out to deal very respectable damage as a sub-DPS.

Kaeya is the second Cryo character in this team. He will be the one that you are often switching between whenever Layla’s cooldowns reset. You will also be getting access to the Cryo Resonance, which works very well with the other Hydro members of the team. Kaeya himself can deal some very respectable damage and provide a constant Cryo field with his Burst, synergising well with Barbara’s Skill and Layla’s Skill. 

Barbara serves the same role here as she did in Freeze Support Team. She heals, provides one-half of the Hydro Resonance and can instantly apply Hydro to ready an enemy for Freeze. There’s not much to Barbara but she is consistently good and you won’t regret having her on your team. 

Lastly is Xingqui. He is another Hydro healer which may seem redundant. However, as another Hydro character, he gives the team the second half of the Hydro Resonance, buffing his and Barbara’s Healing as well as Layla’s damage and Shield. That alone makes him a great pick as he can enhance 3/4 members of the team just by existing. That isn’t all, though, as he provides a good amount of damage on his own with his Burst as well as Hydro application. Overall, Xingqui is a good pick because he is both a good means of extra damage as well as security in keeping the team alive and afloat.

F2P Budget Team

That was everything you need to know to best build Layla, the Fantastical Evening Star, in Genshin Impact.