Nilou Build Guide
It’s been a while since I’ve made a guide like this. I took a hiatus from the game but I’m back and very excited to see that Nilou has grown quite a bit in popularity! Since her banner just reran and Nilou has a very unique kit I thought I’d take some time to write up a guide for her!
When I stopped playing in 3.2, Nilou and Nahida had just dropped, and people were still getting used to Dendro as an element. Now in 3.6 Nilou Bloom is one of, if not the single most popular abyss teams in the game - and for good reason! If you’re thinking of pulling for Nilou or already have her and looking for ways to build her I hope this guide can help!
Role
Nilou is an extremely unique and complex unit due to her very intricate elemental skill and Ascension 1 passive talent “Court of Dancing Petals.” There’s a lot to break down in the mechanics of Nilou, but the short version is she enables the absolute crap out of the Bloom reaction. Also, for her kit to work as intended, she can only be paired with Hydro and Dendro units. This was a big reason that Nilou wasn’t as popular on her initial release, since we only had 3 playable Dendro units at the time, none of which were healers or optimized for bloom.
Now we have Nahida, AlHaitham, YaoYao, Baizhu, and Kaveh. All of these characters slot extremely well into a Nilou core and allow more flexibility within the team comp.
Nilou is niche, but for good reason. She makes bloom so EZ mode that it wouldn’t be balanced in burgeon/hyperbloom comps and there’s more than enough reaction damage from bloom that you don’t need other elements to clear high level abyss floors. I also think that while Nilou is complex, she’s very forgiving in her damage output. So even if you’re a new player and can’t farm good artifacts/have no idea what you’re doing she’s still consistent with her personal hydro damage.
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Kit Breakdown
The in game description for Nilou’s kit is probably the most wordy in the game. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible:
Auto Attacks
Nothing fancy here. Standard sword user but you’ll only ever be using her auto attacks during her dance which is explained under her Elemental Skill.
Elemental Skill
Nilou’s elemental skill (E) is a “dance” in which she uses auto attacks (A) or the skill button (E) to preform different “steps.” Nilou can preform 3 “steps” in her “dance.” The last step of her dance will have a different effect depending if you end it with (A) or (E). If the dance is ended with an auto attack (A): Nilou’s attacks will be converted to hydro for a duration and every third hit will deal AoE hydro damage. If the dance is ended with the elemental skill button (E): Nilou will create a Ring of Tranquility, which remains around the active character and rapidly applies the wet status in its AoE.
In simple terms you have two options when ending her Dance. You can remain on field and deal Hydro DMG with her attacks or set up the Ring of Tranquility and swap to different characters. 9/10 times you’ll pretty much always do the latter and set up Ring of Tranquility, as it allows her to enable quick swap playstyle and apply hydro while off field. But it’s nice to have flexibility as both on and off field unit!
Regardless what step you end the dance with Nilou’s Ascension 1 Passive, “Court of Dancing Petals” will activate. I will explain this passive in more detail below.
All of the damage associated with Nilou’s Elemental Skill scales off of her Max HP.
Elemental Burst
Her burst is much more simple, she deals AoE hydro damage around herself and marks enemies hit with a flower that then deals additional hydro damage after a duration.
All damage in this manner also scales with Nilou’s Max HP.
Passive Talents
Ascension 1 - Court of Dancing Petals
Upon use of the third step in Nilou’s dance: When the party consists of only the elements Hydro and Dendro, all Dendro Cores created from the Bloom reaction (Dendro + Hydro) instead become Bountiful Cores. Bountiful Cores rupture immediately and deal greater damage over a larger AoE. It’s basically Bloom on steroids.
Ascension 4 - Dreamy Dance of Aeons
Math time. For every 1000 HP points Nilou posses above 30k, Nilou increases the damage of all bountiful cores, including cores she did not make, by 9%. The maximum increase from this effect is 400%, meaning it caps at 77.5k max HP.
This passive along with the fact that of all her personal hydro Dmg scales off of HP% means you want to stack HP% as much as you possibly can.
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Build Overview
In General, you want as much HP as physically possible on Nilou as well as some EM to help boost her bloom Dmg. You’ll also want some ER depending how frequently you need to use her burst. In Bloom you do not need Crit stats since Bloom can’t crit. Shoot for the following stats depending on your level of investment:
F2P Stat Goals
50-60k HP (with Hydro Resonance)
200-300 EM (with Dendro Resonance)
110-120% ER.
Invested Stat Goals
70-77k HP (with Hydro Resonance)
300 EM (with Dendro Resonance)
120-130% ER
I’d say if you’re f2p you wanna shoot for at least 50k Max HP with hydro resonance and a stretch goal of 60k. It’s really hard to get more than 50k without her weapon, though. If you have her signature weapon then shoot for 70-75k Max HP. 77.5k HP is where Nilou’s A4 party buff caps but you do not necessarily need to max the buff due to diminishing returns.
Either way, ~200-300 EM is plenty of EM since her passive provides her such a large DMG bonus in place of EM. It’s totally fine to have more than 300 EM, but don’t sacrifice HP for it.
ER totally depends on how frequently you want to use her burst. 110-130% is plenty in most comps.
Level & Talents —————————
You definitely want to take Nilou to Lv90. The extra HP significantly increases the party’s bloom damage due to her A4 passive.
On the plus side, theoretically, you don’t have to touch Nilou’s talents at all since bloom damage isn’t affected by Talent Level. I do personally recommend at least taking her Skill and Burst to Level 6 though, since her raw Hydro damage is definitely nothing to sneeze at. If you plan to use her outside of bloom comps I’d take Skill and Burst to at least Lv9. There’s quite literally no reason to touch her auto attack talent at all.
Weapons ————————————
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Key of Khaj-Nisut; Primordial Jade Cutter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Xiphos Moonlight; Toukabou Shigure; Iron Sting
No surprise, her signature weapon is absolutely busted on Nilou and if you have it you should definitely use it. It’s a massive HP stat stick and allows her to buff party EM based on her Max HP. Jade Cutter is good too since it also gives HP, but the crit is wasted in a bloom comp.
If you are f2p or just don’t have the Key, then Xiphos Moonlight, Toukabou Shigure, and Iron Sting are all great 4⭐️ options. Dark Iron Sword works too but the other options are just better.
Artifacts ———————————
Overall, Nilou is very easy to build bc HP is a common stat on artifacts. HP and EM are the most important stats with Nilou, with HP taking very high priority. You always want to run HP as the main stat on Sands, Goblet, and Circlet. 200-300 raw EM from sub stats is plenty, especially if you have the Key.
All this said, go with any of the following sets that achieve the goals I explained above:
2pc Tenacity / 2pc Vourukasha / 2pc Wanderer / 2pc Gilded / 2pc Flower of Paradise Lost
4pc Flower of Paradise Lost
4pc Vourukasha’s Glow
None of these sets are necessarily better or worse than the others. The 4pc passives from Flower and Vourukasha sets are both very useful but overall it’s better to have as much HP and EM as you can. Just go with whatever combination gives you the most HP and EM!
Constellations —————————
Nilou has very powerful constellations in c2 and c6, and her c1 gives her more uptime on her Ring of Tranquility. Despite the power level and QoL these constellations bring though, they are absolutely not necessary for her to function in her niche. She is a perfectly cracked unit at c0.
If you’re looking to roll on Nilou I personally recommend going for her weapon before going for any of her cons. The extra HP alone is reason enough and the party EM buff from the weapons passive is extremely clutch. Overall it just makes building her leagues easier. Beyond her weapon C2 is a hard stopping point imo. Only go for more cons after C2 if you just absolutely love her and want to maximize her fully.
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Team Comps
This section is pretty obvious when you understand how Nilou’s kit works, but Nilou is more flexible than people give her credit for!
Bloom
99.99% of time you will be running Nilou in a dedicated Bloom comp. This means she can only be paired with Dendro and other Hydro units in order for her A1 Talent to take effect. Her bloom comp options continue to expand as more Dendro units become playable. In general, you want consider the following in a Nilou Bloom Comp:
• Bloom rupture damages the active character. Nilou drastically increases the damage from rupture so a healer is absolutely necessary for survival, especially in abyss and if you’re driving with a squishy unit like Nahida. Kokomi and Baizhu are the premium options for this role but YaoYao and Barbara certainly work too. You can probably get around needing a dedicated healer with Kaveh and Xingqiu in the comp as long as Kaveh is the on field driver and you’re good with rotations. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference and how comfy you want the team to preform.
• Hydro Resonance increases Nilou’s max HP by 20% which in turn increases the entire party’s bloom damage. Kokomi, Yelan, and Xingqiu are the preferred hydro units for this role. Kamisato Ayato is also very effective at applying Hydro in AoE but you’ll need good enough off field dendro app to maintain dendro core generation.
• Dendro Resonance is almost as necessary as Hydro Resonance imo. It provides extra EM party wide as well as more Dendro application. Nahida is the premium Dendro unit in the game and she is no exception here. Nahida is certainly not a requirement though! Literally any Dendro character outside of Tighnari works here (and even Tighnari is good enough to get the job done). Collei is really good here if you have constellations!
• Bloom ownership can be a bit complicated due to elemental gauge mechanics which is another post in itself entirely lol. To make it simple, in most bloom comps it’s safe to assume the hydro units will be the ones triggering *most* of the blooms, so you’ll want high amount EM on your hydro characters (Nilou being the exception especially if you have her weapon.) But, it’s likely that depending on rotations etc that everyone in the comp will trigger blooms to some degree. Nilou’s A4 helps with this as it increases bountiful core damage regardless who triggers the core, but it’s still something to consider. Whoever is triggering in the team comp needs to have a lot EM and be Lv90!
Non-Bloom Nilou?
It’s not her preferred comp for obvious reasons, but Nilou’s insane amount of HP scaling and hydro application definitely allows her flexibility in other teams outside of Bloom. You can slot her into really any comp where Hydro app is needed: Freeze, Electro-Charge, Vape and even Fridge/Hyperbloom/Burgeon. Just be aware she won’t reach her full potential outside of Bloom.
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Conclusion
Nilou is a very unique character and single handedly made Bloom one of the most, if not the single most busted reaction in the game. Despite her complex kit Nilou is surprisingly very forgiving in her playstyle and can preform well even if you don’t know what you’re doing. But if you do know what you’re doing she’s just straight up busted. Overall, she’s a very strong unit within her niche and I think she’ll only get better as more Dendro and Hydro units are added to the game.
As always I hope this guide was somewhat helpful! 🪷
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flowers and unplanned proposals
xiao x gn!reader
if someone gifts an adeptus with flowers, it means you are proposing to them, and if they take it, it means they accept the proposal. unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), you weren’t aware of such a custom. or — xiao thinks you’re married, but you just thought flowers would look nice on him.
fluff. comedy-ish. accidental malewife acquisition. featuring reader being clueless, xiao being hopeless, and lumine and hu tao being your biggest supporters
It started with a walk on the road as an acquaintance accompanied you.
There’d been a wild flower by the side, with white and lilac petals that you’d thought, rather presumptuously, would suit the dour faced adeptus beside you. So, you plucked it and impulsively handed it to him, a smile on your face and a shocked one on his.
His fingers closed around the flower’s stem, the stern lines of his face softening as he gazed at the tiny petals that glittered in the sun.
You’ve never been rid of him since.
Your friend Xiao could be described as protective at best and possessive at worst. It’s not a bad thing, of course! Caring for a friend is always a good thing in your books, but sometimes, you think he takes the word ‘caring’ to an almost extreme degree.
Take, for instance, now.
“Xiao?”
He hums from his spot on the sill of your window, not even sitting, no, he’s crouched on it, balanced on the thin ledge at the tips of his toes and keeping his eyes (which oddly glowed like a cat’s) peeled for any danger. Like this, he almost looks like a bird perched on a branch.
You let out an awkward laugh. “You know, I appreciate you doing this for me, keeping me safe and all, but I think I can spend the night on my own safely.”
His head whips to you so fast you almost feared he’d get neck cramps, an expression of surprise and… hurt? on his face.
“You… don’t want me here?”
You’ve never backtracked so fast in your life. “No! I mean, yes—but not in the way you’re thinking!”
He looks forlorn now, stepping down the windowsill and shoulders hunched in a similar manner to that of a cat pulling its ears down its head. “Is this what the Traveler meant by sleeping on the couch?”
You’re not sure what to do, but it seems like he wants to sleep on the couch? Puzzled, you smile encouragingly even though you don’t quite understand his words. “Er, if you want to sleep on the couch, you’re welcome to do so?”
His face falls.
✧
“And, I don’t know, he just became all—sad? Just, I felt so bad for basically kicking him out of my room, and now that I’m thinking more on it, I should’ve just offered to let him sleep beside me. Like a, um, a sleepover!”
There’s a distinctly bashful look on your face and, oh god, you’re drawing little circles on the table with your finger, an almost dreamy glint in your eyes.
Sweet Jesus that doesn’t exist in this world, Lumine is going to barf.
She slams her hands on the table, startling you in the process as she leans down and says with an exasperated face, “Have you considered that maybe you actually like him and he—”
“What?!” you squawk, mouth open in disbelief and a mortified look contorting your features. “That’s—don’t say such things, Lumi!”
She drops back down her chair, leveling you with a look that basically said, are you for real right now?
“It’s written all over your face—”
You quickly slap both hands on your cheeks, turning your head away. “I don’t like him! How could I ever… he’s an adeptus and I…”
“And you made an adeptus sleep on your couch,” Lumine deadpans.
She can feel the way your face burned at the reminder. You slump over the table, burying your head in your arms and bemoaning your decision. “I didn’t mean to disrespect him…”
“Oh, I’m sure disrespect was the farthest thing you did to him,” she mutters beneath her breath. Broke his heart, shattered his hopes and dreams, devastated him—Lumine can name a few more.
But then, you suddenly straighten up, determination lining your face. There’s a look in your eyes that tells Lumine she should probably stop you from doing whatever idiotic thing—however in good faith it might be—that you’re about to do.
“I should give him some flowers as an apology. He always gets so… not exactly happy but—warm, that’s it. He feels warmer whenever I give him flowers.” You smile, reminiscing on whatever moments you had with him. You stand up, looking down at the empty plates all over the table before looking at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, could you foot the bill this time?”
Lumine sighs. She’s still got money from the last commission Ningguang made her do, so she supposes she can do it. Just this once. “Fine, but you’re paying for our next outing!”
You beam, thanking her before running to the nearest flower shop or wherever it is you’re going to be getting those flowers from.
“Make sure to let him sleep on your bed next time!” Lumine yells to your retreating back, ignoring the strange, almost scandalized, looks from nearby patrons.
✧
You find him at your house, completely ignoring how strange it is that a friend has complete access to your house including a spare key and extra clothes on the closet just for him. It’s simply become the norm, is all. And he’s a good—you don’t quite know what to call him, roommate? you’ll settle for friend—friend, helping you with the chores and often accompanying you to the market when you need new groceries—but only during the early mornings, of course. You know how much he dislikes crowds.
“I’m home!”
The response comes immediate and, judging by the direction, it came from the kitchen, “Welcome home.”
The large bouquet of glaze lilies interspersed with roses and qingxin flowers is heavy on your arms as you walked to the kitchen. Xiao is there, a broom in hand which he sets aside once he sees you and what you’re carrying.
“Here!” You grin, extending the bouquet forward and into his arms.
He accepts it, a flush to his cheeks and looking distinctly flustered by the gift. “I… thank you.”
“It’s an apology.”
His eyes snap to yours, iridescent gold piercing through you. There’s something almost vulnerable in the way he’s gazing at you, hands tightening around the flowers.
You fiddle with your fingers. “Well, I wanted to say sorry for making you sleep on the couch. If you’d like, you can sleep beside me tonight.”
Something in him relaxes, tension bleeding out of his posture as he smiles, small and near unnoticeable to anyone who didn’t know him so well.
For some reason, the sight of it makes your heart leap.
Lumine’s words repeat in your mind.
Have you considered that maybe you actually like him?
No, you think with dread, absolutely not.
✧
“Yes,” Hu Tao crows in delight, “You’re absolutely in love!”
“See, that’s what I tried to say yesterday, but nooo. Oh, Lumi, Xiao is just a friend,” Lumine grouches, imitating your voice and utterly failing because while she may be strong enough to fight monsters and gods, that girl has absolutely no talent when it comes to mimicking.
Your palms cover your face that feels warm to touch. “I do not sound like that. And it’s true, we really are just friends!”
“Of course, because friends do things like living together and sleeping on the same bed and holding hands—” You open your mouth to protest, but Hu Tao doesn’t let you interrupt, “—don’t deny it! I saw you last week near Liuli Pavilion, and he was holding your hand and carrying a bag of food!”
“He’s just really helpful! He’s an adeptus,” you argue, though it sounds weak even to your own ears.
“And do all adepti live with a human, do they sleep with them—”
“You make it sound so lewd, Lumi!”
“—do they hold their hands and go grocery shopping at five in the morning with them?” Lumine pierces you with those honey gold eyes of hers. “Did you know I barely have anything to do in the Adventurer’s Guild here in Liyue besides babysitting and errands because someone—namely, an adeptus who coincidentally goes by the name Xiao—keeps killing all the monsters within the area?”
Hu Tao cackles. “He always asks about you whenever I encounter him at Wuwang Hill.”
You level her with an incredulous look. “What were you even doing there?”
“Hiding bodies, duh!” At your horrified look, she winks. “Just kidding!”
You shake off Hu Tao’s laughter and pinch your lips together. “Look, it’s—we’re just friends. That’s all there is to it.”
Lumine huffs, “Yeah, sure, because friends like you two give each other flowers everyday. How does your house still have space in it for more?”
You would’ve refuted her words, would’ve argued that no, you don’t give each other flowers everyday, just on a regular basis—but Hu Tao’s sudden silence concerned you more than what Lumine said. The funeral director turns her head to you with wide eyes.
“You gave him flowers?” she asks, an odd tone to her voice.
Your brows furrow at her uncharacteristic seriousness. “Um, yes? I do it all the time.”
She leapt forward, grabbing your shoulders and lips twitching into something you could almost call glee. “And he accepted it?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Hu Tao lets go of your shoulders to tilt her head back and laugh. Not the nice little giggles she does after a successful prank, no, this is more manic. The kind that wouldn’t make you think, oh how sweet, but instead makes you think, oh this girl belongs in a facility.
Even Lumine seems confused by her reaction, joining you in watching her like she’s just grown two heads. Hu Tao takes one look at both of your expressions and dissolves into another fit of laughter.
“Oh, dear. And you don’t even know what it means!” she says in between laughs.
Lumine, having had enough of being in the dark, grabs Hu Tao’s face with both hands and forces her to look at her in the eye. “What does it mean?”
Hu Tao grins, gaze darting to you. “When you give an adeptus flowers, it means you’re proposing to them.”
You and Lumine gape, understanding dawning on your heads, though there’s horror on your part at what it could mean.
But Hu Tao doesn’t stop there, “And if they take it…”
You await her next words with bated breath, Lumine seemingly on the edge of her seat as well.
“…It means they accept your proposal.”
Lumine’s screech of delight at this newfound information drowns out the metaphorical sound of your world falling apart and being built anew.
✧
You come home in a daze, eyes blankly staring ahead and unaware of your surroundings until you blink, and suddenly, you’re sitting at the dining table, a plate of steaming shrimp balls being placed in front of you.
Xiao crouches by your chair, examining your face with worried eyes. “Are you well?”
Your throat shrivels up. All the words and arguments you’d been planning to say earlier dying on your tongue. So, instead, you nod. He doesn’t outwardly look relieved, but the softness in his touch belies his care as he places a single stemmed qingxin flower on your palm.
It’s still fresh, you notice, dew gathering on the petals and the scent still present.
Xiao sits on the chair opposite yours, looking at anything and anywhere but your eyes. “I plucked it from the highest mountains of Jueyun Karst, blessed by Cloud Retainer and said to ward away unwanted dreams.”
You stare down at it, at the white petals that feel soft against the pads of your fingers, heart beating out of your chest and hands clammy and breaths labored, a pleasant twist to your gut as you realized that he’d gone out of his way to climb a mountain and have it blessed by an adeptus just to give it to you. There’s being friends, handing each other flowers they saw on the road or bought at a shop, and then, there’s this.
Your mouth feels dry, your chest feels full, and there’s something on the tip of your tongue begging to be let out.
“Xiao,” you start, finally gaining the courage to look up and meet his eyes. “What are we?”
His lips part, eyes widening the slightest amount that tells you he’s unsure what brought this question on and how to answer it.
You shake your head. “Never mind. Just tell me this—are we… engaged?”
At this, Xiao seems to relax. “No.”
You barely have the chance to feel a mix of relief and disappointment, though why you’d feel disappointment at having proof that you and Xiao really are just friends—
He smiles, a small one but no less brighter for it. “We are married, aren’t we?”
And oh.
Oh.
It’s not until now, with the confirmation of everything you dreaded (everything you’d hoped and wanted and yearned for desperately) that you realize how much you’ve longed for something more with him—how much you’ve longed for him.
“Xiao,” you say, eyes crinkling at the corners and cheeks aching with the intensity of your smile, “I love you.”
He startles, blinking up at you with wide eyes, red creeping up his cheeks, but before he can say anything you know he’s not quite prepared to say yet, you continue, still a little indignant at discovering you’d been married without a clue.
“But I demand a proper wedding ceremony!”
word count: 2.2k
edit: the semi part 2 y’all have been asking for
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