Best Yelan Genshin Impact build: Artifacts, weapons, more

Yelan is an extremely powerful 5-star Hydro character in Genshin Impact. If you’re looking to build her, check out our recommended Artifacts, weapons, and more.

Yelan is a mysterious individual who allegedly works for the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, she also claims she works for Liyue’s Yanshang Teahouse.

Yelan has consistently scored high on Genshin Impact’s tier list for sub-DPS units. This character’s Elemental Burst can improve the DMG of active units, but the ability does have a high energy cost. She can also become a main DPS depending on Constellations.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about effectively building Yelan in Genshin Impact.

Best Yelan build in Genshin Impact

Weapon	Artifacts	Stats	Team Comp
Aqua Simulacra	Emblem of Severed Fate	Circlet: Crit Rate or Crit Damage Goblet: Hydro DMG Bonus Sands: HP% or Energy Recharge Substats: Crit Rate, Crit DMG, HP%, Energy Recharge	Hu Tao, Yelan, Xingqiu, Zhongli

Best Yelan Artifacts

We recommend placing the 4-piece Emblem of Severed Fate set on Yelan if you wish to use her as a sub-DPS. These Artifacts will increase her Energy Recharge by 20% and then improve her Elemental Burst DMG by 25% of her Energy Recharge.

If you want to run Yelan as a Main DPS, we suggest using the 2-piece Tenacity of the Millelith alongside the 2-piece Heart of Depth. This combination will not only boost Yelan’s HP by 20%, but will also improve her Hydro DMG Bonus by 15%.

Artifact	Set Bonuses
Emblem of Severed Fate	2-piece: Energy Recharge +20% 4-piece: Increases Elemental Burst DMG by 25% of Energy Recharge. A maximum of 75% bonus DMG can be obtained in this way.
Tenacity of the Millelith	2-piece: HP +20% 4-piece: When 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. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s. This effect can still be triggered even when the character who is using this artifact set is not on the field.
Heart of Depth	2-piece: Hydro DMG Bonus +15% 4-piece: After using Elemental Skill, increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 30% for 15s.

Best Yelan weapons

The best weapon choice for Yelan is the 5-star Aqua Simulacra due to the Bow increasing her HP by 16%. Yelan will need this effect, considering almost all of her attacks scale with her HP percentage. Aqua Simulacra will also improve Yelan’s DMG by 20% if there are opponents nearby, even if Yelan isn’t on the field.

Another option is running the 5-star Polar Star to increase Yelan’s Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG by 12%. This weapon will also trigger the Ashen Nightstar effect to convert stacks into ATK boosts.

If you don’t have either 5-star option, we suggest going with The Stringless to improve your Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG by 24%.

Weapon	Details
Aqua Simulacra	HP is increased by 16%. When there are opponents nearby, the DMG dealt by the wielder of this weapon is increased by 20%. This will take effect whether the character is on-field or not.
Polar Star	Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG increased by 12%. After a Normal Attack, Charged Attack, Elemental Skill or Elemental Burst hits an opponent, 1 stack of Ashen Nightstar will be gained for 12s. When 1/2/3/4 stacks of Ashen Nightstar are present, ATK is increased by 10/20/30/48%. The stack of Ashen Nightstar created by the Normal Attack, Charged Attack, Elemental Skill or Elemental Burst will be counted independently of the others.
The Stringless	Increases Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG by 24%

Yelan Talent Level-up and Ascension Materials

Talent level-up materials

Yelan’s talents in Genshin Impact need Teachings of Prosperity and its upgrades, Recruit’s Insignia and its upgrades, and Gilden Scale. The exact number of materials you need for Yelan’s talents are as follows:

Talent level-up materials
Talent level-up materials	Teachings of Prosperity x9	Guide to Prosperity x63	Philosophies of Prosperity x114
Common Ascension Materials	Recruit’s Insignia x18	Sergeant’s Insignia x66	Lieutenant’s Insignia x93
Weekly Boss Material	Gilded Scale x18

Where to farm Yelan’s talent level-up materials

Teachings of Prosperity and its upgrades

Teachings of Prosperity and its upgrades can be farmed from Taishan Mansion in Liyue. The said materials are available on Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday. Taishan Mansion is located near Jueyun Karst.

Recruit’s Insignia and its upgrades

Recruit’s Insignia and its upgrades are dropped by Fatui enemies in Genshin Impact. You can locate them through the Adventurer’s Handbook. All you need to do is open the menu, look for Adventurer’s Handbook, go to enemies, click on the one you want and the game will guide you automatically.

Gilded Scale

Gilded Scale is dropped by the Azdaha weekly boss in Genshin Impact. This boss is unlocked as part of Zhongli’s questline in the game.

Ascension materials

Yelan in Genshin Impact needs Varunada Lazurite Silver, Runic Fang, Recruit’s Insignia, and Starconch. The exact number of materials she needs has been listed below:

Ascension Level	Mora	Materials
1	20000	Varunada Lazurite Silver x1		Recruit’s Insignia x3	Starconch x3
2	40000	Varunada Lazurite Fragment x3	Runic Fang x2	Recruit’s Insignia x15	Starconch x10
3	60000	Varunada Lazurite Fragment x6	Runic Fang x4	Sergeant’s Insignia x12	Starconch x20
4	80000	Varunada Lazurite Chunk x3	Runic Fang x8	Sergeant’s Insignia x18	Starconch x30
5	100000	Varunada Lazurite Chunk x6	Runic Fang x12	Lieutenant’s Insignia x12	Starconch x45
6	120000	Varunada Lazurite Gemstone x6	Runic Fang x20	Lieutenant’s Insignia x24	Starconch x60

Where to farm Yelan Ascension materials

Varunada Lazurite Silver and its upgrades

Varunada Lazurite Silver and its upgrades can be farmed from the Hydro Hypostasis in Genshin Impact. You can locate it very close to Sangonomiya Shrine in Watatsumi Island in Inazuma.

Runic Fang

Runic Fang is dropped by the Runic Serpent in Liyue. You can find it in the lower depths of the Chasm.

Starconch

Starconch is a local specialty of Liyue that can be found spread all over the region. The areas where it can be found in abundance are Guyun Stone Forest and Yaoguang Shoal.

Best Yelan team comp

We suggest running Yelan on a team focused on the Hyperbloom Elemental Reaction. Therefore, we suggest using Yelan alongside Kokomi, Nahida, and Ayato. This team composition would take advantage of off-field element application while Kokomi continues to provide heals for the party.

HoYoverse

Alternatively, you could place Yelan on a Vaporize team with party members like Hu Tao, Xingqiu, and Zhongli. You won’t need a healer on this team, considering Zhongli’s shield and the way Hu Tao’s kit works.

Finally, Yelan also works quite well with Yoimiya, YunJin, and Bennett. Yoimiya is the only character who can make the most out of Yelan’s 50% bonus damage.

Yelan abilities in Genshin Impact

Normal Attack: Stealthy Bowshot

Ability Name	Description
Normal Attack	Performs up to 4 consecutive shots with a bow
Charged Attack	Aimed Shot with increased damage: deals Hydro damage when fully charged
Plunging Attack	A “shower of arrows” dealing AoE damage
Breakthrough	After spending 5s out of combat, Yelan enters “Breakthrough” state in which her next Charged Aimed Shot cooldown is reduced by 80%, and it fires a “Breakthrough Barb” dealing AoE Hydro damage based on her Max HP

Elemental Skill

Ability Name	Description
Lingering Lifeline	Fires a “Lifeline” that marks opponents in its path. Yelan can move rapidly forward, after which the Lifeline explodes and deals Hydro damage to marked opponents based on her Max HP.

Elemental Burst

Ability Name	Description
Depth-Clarion Dice	Yelan’s Elemental Burst deals AoE Hydro damage and creates an “Exquisite Throw,” which deals Hydro damage based on Yelan’s Max HP: Once every second when the active character uses a Normal Attack When Yelan’s Lifeline explodes and hits opponents

Passives

Ability Name	Description
Necessary Calculation	Gains 25% more rewards when dispatched on a Liyue Expedition for 20 hours.
Turn Control	When the party has 1/2/3/4 Elemental Types, Yelan’s Max HP is increased by 6%/12%/18%/30%.
Adapt with Ease	So 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 to DMG dealt is 50%. The pre-existing effect will be dispelled if Depth-Clarion Dice is recast during its duration.

Yelan Constellations in Genshin Impact

Lucky enough to pull multiple copies of Yelan? Here are the buffs you’ll receive from her Constellations:

• Level One – Enter the Plotters: +1 Lingering Lifeline charge.
• Level Two – Taking All Comers: Exquisite Throw attacks fire +1 water arrow dealing 14% of Yelan’s Max HP as Hydro damage, once every 1.8 seconds.
• Level Three – Beware the Trickster’s Dice: +3 Depth-Clarion Dice Level. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
• Level Four – Bait-and-Switch: For every opponent marked by Lifeline when it explodes, +10% to all party members’ Max HP for 25 seconds up to a maximum of 40% Max HP.
• Level Five – Dealer’s Sleight: +3 Lingering Lifeline Level. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
• Level Six – Winner Takes All: Yelan enters the Mastermind state after using Depth-Clarion Dice. Yelan’s Normal Attacks become enhanced Breakthrough Barbs that deal 130% of a regular Breakthrough Barb’s damage as Charged Attack damage. The state lasts 20 seconds and expires after 6 arrows are fired.

Yelan pros and cons

While Yelan is one of the best units in the game, she has a few disadvantages:

Pros	Cons
Damage buffs through ultimate	High investment unit
High personal damage	Energy requirements are very high
Functions with a wide range of units

Yelan trailer

In May 2022, HoYoverse posted a character demo of Yelan on its official YouTube channel. You can check it out below:

For more on Genshin Impact, check out our guides on banners and codes. You can also check out our character guides for Raiden Shogun, Neuvillette, and Furina.