As February nears once more, another Lantern Rite is set to begin in Genshin Impact Version 4.4 and, along with it comes a highly-anticipated 5-star character: Xianyun, the human form of Cloud Retainer. Xianyun is a new 5-star Anemo Catalyst support character with a very unique spin: instead of being like most Anemo supports, who usually focus on things like Crowd Control, Xianyun specialises in buffing Plunging Attacks, a seldom used form of damage-dealing that only a few characters utilise effectively. The reaction to this news has been divisive, with some intrigued by the potential depth she can add to this niche playstyle whereas others are disappointed in how restricted that focus actually is.
Between her kit, the extreme focus on Plunging Attacks and the steep competition she faces from both the Anemo element as a whole and the other 5-stars rerunning alongside her in 4.4, you may be wondering whether or not Cloud Retainer is even worth your pulls in the first place. Maybe you should try and pull for a different, more universal support. Or, perhaps you should bite the bullet and play into Xianyun’s uniqueness for some sweet Plunging Attack action.
In this article, we’ll be diving deep into Genshin Impact’s newest 5-star character for Version 4.4, Xianyun, to see if she’s worth your precious Primogems. This will include a breakdown of her kit and play style, what her biggest strengths and weaknesses are and whether you pull her over the other characters rerunning in 4.4.
Want more Genshin Impact guides and content? Then you can find more, including our overview of everything coming in Version 4.4, here on KeenGamer:
- Genshin Impact 4.4 Livestream Overview: Lantern Rite, Cloud Retainer and New Skins
- Genshin Impact Chevreuse Build Guide | Chevreuse Best Weapons, Artifacts and Teams
- Genshin Impact Furina Build Guide | Furina Best Weapons, Artifacts and Teams
- Genshin Impact Wriothesley Build Guide | Wriothesley Best Weapon, Artifacts and Teams
- Genshin Impact: Ayamiya (Yoimiya + Ayaka) Genius Invokation TCG Deck Guide
Should You Pull Cloud Retainer in Genshin Impact 4.4.?
Xianyun Kit Overview
Xianyun is the human identity of the Adpetus Cloud Retainer, the supremely intelligent and extremely arrogant heron who raised Ganyu and Shenhe. As an expert in all things mechanical, Xianyun is a new 5-star Anemo Catalyst. Unlike Wanderer, Cloud Retainer’s playstyle is that of support, and she’s a rather special kind of support at that.
Cloud Retainer’s main gist is that she’s a support unit for Plunging Attacks, which is primarily seen through her Elemental Burst. This will summon forth one of Xianyun’s mechanisms called the Starwicker which will continually heal your whole team, increase their jump height and give them additional Anemo DMG when they land a Plunging Attack. This is only heightened by her Talents, which can increase the CRIT Rate and shockwave damage of Plunging Attacks. Interestingly, this allows Xianyun to massively buff characters who already rely on Plunging Attacks but also potentially turn characters who don’t typically use them into a Plunging Attack damage dealer.
Even though she’s supposed to be played as an Anemo supporter, Xianyun also has a really interesting Elemental Skill tailored towards offence. When activated, Xianyun will enter the Cloud Transmogrifcation state, allowing her to leap into the air and negate fall damage. She can leap a total of three times in this way, which she can end with a unique Plunging Attack where she transforms back into a crane to divebomb her enemies, dealing AoE Anemo DMG and throwing enemies skyward. Each leap will increase the damage of this attack, allowing Xianyun to serve as a great opener for certain main DPS.
Xianyun’s whole kit is just an interesting mix of different components. She belongs to arguably one of the strongest elements in the game – especially for a support – she can heal, she can buff damage, and she can enable a new style of play. On paper, she’s one of the most unique characters in Genshin Impact. In play, however, her focus on such a small niche may prove both a blessing and a curse.
Elegance and Style
Pros
First and foremost, Xianyun’s main selling point is her uniqueness. Instead of being a more traditional Anemo support built around CC or Swirl, Cloud Retainer’s main gimmick is improving a niche and underplayed form of damage dealing. Not only is this more interesting but it also lets players experience a side of the game they maybe haven’t seen before. Before now, it was difficult to make Plunging Attacks your main deal unless you were running Xiao: with Cloud Retainer, she imbues that playstyle with new life, simultaneously making it stronger for those already specialising in it and allowing it to be a potential new road to walk for other characters.
For example, Diluc is a famous example of a non-Plunging Attack character who, thanks to his high multipliers, can comfortably use Plunging Attacks as his main form of damage. Now, with Cloud Retainer by his side, Plunging Attack Diluc will be better than ever, transforming him into a completely different character than the one Hoyoverse intended. While the pool of characters this is possible with is rather shallow, Xianyun’s kit gives you room for that kind of experimentation.
The Power of an Adeptus
Another great benefit that Xianyun brings is that she’s a new kind of Anemo support, specifically a new Anemo healer. While her instant healing won’t be comparable to Jean’s, whose Burst delivers an instant shot of HP to the entire team, Cloud Retainer’s ability to heal over time gives her some unique benefits which Jean lacks, primarily when it comes to playing with more risky characters like Hu Tao or Xiao. Additionally, Xianyun’s attacks seem to work differently than most other Anemo units, blowing them up straight up into the air rather than towards or away from the player: while this may seem like a negative, it will let certain DPS shine because they won’t be chasing down their targets, allowing them to dump a ton of damage without much resistance.
Lastly, while not an inherent part of Cloud Retainer herself, her 4.4 Character Event Wish will feature the new 4-star Pyro Claymore character Gaming on rate-up. In addition, Gaming will also be available for free for all Genshin Impact players thanks to this year’s Lantern Rite, giving anyone easy access to one of Xianyun’s best pairings with no extra cost or investment. Gaming is looking like a really fun and frantic character, being a Pyro DPS capable of delivering empowered Plunging Attacks with his Skill and Burst. If you’re a veteran Genshin Impact player and are looking for a new way to play the game, Xianyun and Gaming are a very safe investment in that regard.
Soaring Above
Cons
Despite it being possibly her greatest strength, Cloud Retainer’s niche and focused kit will also be her biggest downfall to most players. While the healing from her Burst is nice and does give her value in teams which need an Anemo healer, most of her value comes from being able to enhance Plunging Attack DPS or turn damage dealers into a Plunging Attack DPS. To most players, the extra steps required to make someone like Diluc or Hu Tao work as a Plunging DPS just aren’t worth the extra effort or the high Primogem cost. Plunging Attacks, for the most part, are simply less efficient than just using Skills or Normal Attacks, making it an unattractive playstyle for many.
Furthermore, Cloud Retainer being more of a Plunging Attack support than anything else isn’t a negative because Plunging Attacks are weak – in fact, characters like Hu Tao have been able to hit ridiculous numbers by combining Plunging Attacks with certain Elemental Reactions – but because of how niche that role really is. Outside of Xianyun, there are only two dedicated Plunging Attack characters – Gaming and Xiao – and the number of DPS who can become viable Plunging Attackers is pretty shallow. For those she can benefit, Xianyun will be a breath of fresh air: for most, though, they’ll find her support capabilities lacking when compared to other Anemo units like Jean (who has better healing), Venti and Sucrose (who have better grouping and CC), or Kazuha (who is just insane across the board).
Cloud Retainer’s Starwicker
Final Verdict
Cloud Retainer is perhaps the most obvious affirmation of Hoyoverse’s current design philosophy when it comes to most modern characters in Genshin Impact. Instead of a broad, expansive kit which enables tons of variety (such as Furina, an interesting disturbance of this idea), Xianyun makes a certain niche playstyle more viable and accessible, improving the consistency and damage of Plunging Attacks while also making that style of play available for more characters. They seem to be aiming for depth instead of coverage. Depending on who you are, this will either be a big plus or a big negative.
For many, her hyper-fixation on improving Plunging Attack DMG before anything else will be a disappointment, primarily because it means that she simply isn’t as flexible as other supports: you can slap Kazuha or Jean into almost any team composition with few issues but Xianyun requires the team to be built around her in most situations, limiting the number of potential compositions and playstyles that Cloud Retainer can realistically play into.
However, if you’re willing to lean into Xianyun’s uniqueness and trust in Hoyoverse’s combat design framework, you’ll likely find a really fun, if restrictive, 5-star support who doesn’t play like anyone else in Genshin Impact. Between her awesome animations, her stylish and powerful Elemental Skill, and particularly her ability to either drastically buff Plunging Attackers like Xiao and Gaming or transform damage dealers like Diluc and Hu Tao into Plunging Attackers, Cloud Retainer is certainly an oddball when it comes to supports.
While she may not see much attention in meta circles and certainly isn’t a must-pull character, veteran players looking for a new fresh playstyle will find a ton of value in Xianyun, especially in how she enables new kinds of playstyles for characters who have been around since Genshin Impact’s first year.
Should You Pull Xianyun?
Cloud Retainer, Reruns or Save?
When comparing Xianyun to her rival rate up 5-stars in Genshin Impact 4.4, pulling for her seems a little harder to justify. Her companion in the first half of 4.4 is Xiao, one of her best pairings and one of the unique main DPS in Genshin Impact. However, no matter if you’re an old player or a new player, trying to get both of these 5-stars is going to be really difficult unless you’re willing to spend. Between the two, Xiao is the better pick for most players because he simply works in more team compositions, even with his limitations as a Plunging Attacker.
Then, in phase 2, Xianyun goes against two of the best supports in the game for their respective elements: Nahida and Yae Miko. For the Dendro Archon, she’s simply the best Dendro support across the board: her ability to spread Reactions via her Skill or drastically improve various stats, including EM, using her Burst is just absurd and a near necessity if you run Dendro-focused team compositions. Then, with Yae, you have one of the most competent off-field Electro DPS in the game, someone capable of delivering huge amounts of damage and generating tons of Energy without even needing to be on the field. When compared to them, Xianyun’s niche kit simply feels a tad bit underwhelming.
4.4 Character Event Wishes
In short, if you’re a new player wondering who to pull for this Lantern Rite, Xianyun should likely be your last priority. If you’re searching for a powerful new DPS, Xiao will be able to keep you well-served, especially because you can always grab Xianyun on her rerun, and you cannot go wrong with either Nahida or Yae, both of whom are top-tier meta support units. Unless you’re deadset on playing Plunging Attacks with Gaming, Xianyun seems like a relatively easy skip for newer Travelers.
Honestly, a lot of Cloud Retainer’s value is going to be veteran players, those who already have the characters to aid Xianyun in her quest for Plunging Attack supremacy but likely haven’t delved deep into that play style. With such a limited number of Plunging Attack units, Xianyun really opens the door for that style of play, giving lapsed Travelers a brand new way to enjoy Genshin that most of them haven’t experienced before.
Cloud Retainer and Ganyu
Of course, as always, pull for your favourites if the meta doesn’t matter to you and go whole hog on the best of the best if meta is what you aspire for. Cloud Retainer’s human form is such a highly anticipated character that I’m sure many are just excited to have her in the game, no matter what her kit is. For those chasing that meta high, though, we recommend saving your Primogems for some of Fontaine’s other characters.
That was our breakdown of the brand new 5-star Anemo support, Xianyun (or, more simply, Cloud Retainer), in Genshin Impact Version 4.4. If you want to know more about how to build Cloud Retainer to ensure she’s the best she can be, check back in with KeenGamer once 4.4 launches on the 31st of January.
