Electro element who uses the Gauntlets type weapon.
Huaxu Academy's Principal Investigator, Xiangli Yao, displays exceptional expertise in various research fields despite his young age. He is a gentle yet rational soul, embracing unique insights and commitment to the research of Automata Mechanics.
To learn more about Xiangli Yao check the sections below. Use the tabs to quickly switch to the kind of information you're looking for.
Video guide
Xiangli Yao has at least one video guide available, so if you prefer this sort of medium to learn more about a character, check it out:
Last updated
Xiangli Yao profile has been last updated on September 7th, 2024.
To learn more about Xiangli Yao check the sections below. Use the tabs to quickly switch to the kind of information you're looking for.
Profile
Review
Build
Gameplay and teams
Calculations
Profile
Skills
Active skills
Passive skills
Concerto skills
Basic Attack
Probe
Basic Attack
Perform up to 5 consecutive attacks, dealing Electro DMG.
Heavy Attack
Perform a charged attack at the cost of STA, dealing Electro DMG.
Mid-air Attack
Perform a Plunging Attack from mid-air at the cost of STA, dealing Electro DMG.
Dodge Counter
Use Basic Attack after a successful Dodge to attack the target, dealing Electro DMG.
Lv. 1
Stage 1 DMG
16.65%*2
Stage 2 DMG
50.10%
Stage 3 DMG
20.00%*3
Stage 4 DMG
26.68%*2 + 13.34%
Stage 5 DMG
100.00%
HA DMG
41.65%*2
Mid-air Attack DMG
62.00%
Dodge Counter DMG
120.00%
HA STA Cost
25
Mid-air Attack STA Cost
30
Resonance Skill
Deduction
Attack the target, dealing Electro DMG.
Lv. 1
Skill DMG
100.00%
Cooldown
5
Concerto Regen
7
Resonance Liberation
Cogitation Model
Attack the target, dealing Electro DMG. Enter Intuition.
When in Intuition:
Obtain 3 Hypercube(s). Each time Resonance Skill Law of Reigns is cast, consume 1 Hypercube(s). Intuition ends once all Hypercubes are consumed.
Basic Attack and Heavy Attack are replaced with Basic Attack Pivot - Impale, which performs up to 3 consecutive attacks, dealing Electro DMG.
Resonance Skill Deduction is replaced with Resonance Skill Divergence, which deals Electro DMG.
Dodge Counter is replaced with Dodge Counter Unfathomed, considered as Resonance Liberation DMG.
Lv. 1
Cogitation Model DMG
737.42%
Pivot - Impale Stage 1 DMG
60.19%
Pivot - Impale Stage 2 DMG
30.65%*4
Pivot - Impale Stage 3 DMG
67.03%*2
Divergence DMG
24.94%*3 + 87.29%*2
Unfathomed DMG
19.53%*2 + 156.22%
Intuition Duration
24
Cogitation Model Cooldown
25
Divergence Cooldown
7
Resonance Cost
125
Cogitation Model Concerto Regen
20
Divergence Concerto Regen
10
Forte Circuit
Forever Seeking
Resonance Skill - Decipher
When Capacity reaches 100, Resonance Skill Deduction is replaced with Resonance Skill Decipher.
Consume 100 Capacity to cast Resonance Skill Decipher, dealing Electro DMG, considered as Resonance Liberation DMG.
Resonance Skill - Law of Reigns
When in Intuition triggered by Resonance Liberation and Performance Capacity reaches 5, Resonance Skill Divergence is replaced with Resonance Skill Law of Reigns.
Consume 5 Performance Capacity to cast Resonance Skill Law of Reigns, dealing Electro DMG, considered as Resonance Liberation DMG.
Mid-air Attack - Revamp
Shortly after casting Resonance Skill Decipher or Resonance Skill Divergence, use Basic Attack to perform Mid-air Attack Revamp at the cost of STA, dealing Electro DMG, considered as Resonance Liberation DMG.
Capacity
Xiangli Yao can hold up to 100 Capacity.
Every Normal Attack Probe on hit grants Capacity.
Every Resonance Skill Deduction on hit grants Capacity.
Performance Capacity
Xiangli Yao can hold up to 5 Performance Capacity.
When in Intuition triggered by Resonance Liberation:
Obtain 1 Performance Capacity when Stage 1 of Basic Attack Pivot - Impale hits a target.
Obtain 2 Performance Capacity when Stage 2 or 3 of Basic Attack Pivot - Impale hits a target.
Obtain 2 Performance Capacity for every Resonance Skill Divergence on hit.
Obtain 3 Performance Capacity for every Mid-air Attack Revamp on hit.
Obtain 2 Performance Capacity for every Dodge Counter Unfathomed on hit.
Lv. 1
Decipher DMG
200.10%
Law of Reigns DMG
48.15%*4 + 128.40%
Revamp DMG
11.00%*4 + 33.00%*2
Revamp STA Cost
30
Decipher Concerto Regen
7
Law of Reigns Concerto Regen
10
Revamp Concerto Regen
5
Inherent Skill
Knowing
Gain 5%Electro DMG Bonus after casting Resonance Skill for 8s, stackable for up to 4 times.
Inherent Skill
Focus
When in Intuition triggered by Resonance Liberation, Xiangli Yao's resistance to interruption is enhanced.
Intro Skill
Principle
Attack the target, dealing Electro DMG.
Lv. 1
Skill DMG
50.00%*2
Concerto Regen
10
Outro Skill
Chain Rule
Xiangli Yao will call down a laser beam upon the first target the incoming Resonator's Basic Attack hits, dealing Electro DMG equal to 237.63% of Xiangli Yao's ATK to an area. This effect lasts for 8s and can be triggered once every 2s, up to 3 times.
Resonance Chain (Dupes)
S1
Sequence Node 1
Resonance Skill Law of Reigns additionally launches 6 Convolution Matrices at enemies, each dealing Resonance Liberation DMG equal to 8% of the skill's DMG Multiplier.
S2
Sequence Node 2
Casting Resonance Skill or Resonance Liberation Cogitation Model increases Crit. DMG by 30% for 8s.
S3
Sequence Node 3
Casting Resonance Liberation Cogitation Model increases the DMG of the following Resonance Skill moves by 63% for 24s: Decipher, Deduction, Divergence, and Law of Reigns. This effect can be triggered up to 5 times.
S4
Sequence Node 4
Casting Resonance Liberation Cogitation Model grants a 25% DMG Bonus to all team members' Resonance Liberation for 30s.
S5
Sequence Node 5
The DMG Multiplier of Outro Skill Chain Rule is increased by 222%. The DMG Multiplier of Resonance Liberation Cogitation Model is increased by 100%.
S6
Sequence Node 6
The Hypercubes obtained from Resonance Liberation Cogitation Model are enhanced, increasing the DMG Multiplier of Resonance Skill Law of Reigns by 76%.
Minor Fortes (Total)
CRIT DMG
+16%
ATK%
+12%
Stats
Include minor fortes
Lv. 90
HP
10625
ATK
425
DEF
1222
Max Energy
125
CRIT Rate
5%
CRIT DMG
150%
Healing Bonus
0%
Electro DMG
0%
Upgrade Materials
Character Ascension (total)
4xLF Whisperin Core
12xMF Whisperin Core
12xHF Whisperin Core
4xFF Whisperin Core
46xHidden Thunder Tacet Core
60xViolet Coral
170 000Shell Credits
Skill Upgrades (total)
25xLF Whisperin Core
28xMF Whisperin Core
40xHF Whisperin Core
57xFF Whisperin Core
25xCadence Seed
28xCadence Bud
55xCadence Leaf
67xCadence Blossom
26xUnending Destruction
2 030 000Shell Credits
While the source of the materials can be quickly found in the game, when it comes Violet Coral you will have to gather them from the map. Check our Ascension material map guide to find them quickly:
Xiangli Yao is a 5-star Electro Gauntlet wielder who specializes in unleashing devastating combos during his Ultimate burst window. What sets him apart from other Ultimate-focused characters is his unusually long burst duration, which grants him ample time to execute intricate combos without the pressure of haste. This generous window allows for Dodging, Swapping, and even a few mistakes, making his gameplay more forgiving and accessible. Additionally, Xiangli Yao gains Interruption Resistance while his Ultimate buff is active, eliminating one of the most frustrating issues faced by burst-centric characters: being interrupted mid-combo. This resistance significantly reduces his reliance on Swap-Cancels—a challenge that plagues some of his counterparts like Calcharo. To better grasp his abilities and unlock his full potential, let’s dive into the intricate workings of his kit.
As an Ultimate-centric character, Xiangli Yao largely overlooks his non-Ultimate abilities in favor of hastening access to his Ultimate. However, one critical exception is his Resonance Skill: Deduction. This ability delivers a swift Electro attack that generates a substantial amount of Concerto/Resonance energy, is Swap-Cancellable, and has an impressively short cooldown of just 5 seconds. Xiangli Yao's main combo falls slightly short of producing the required 100 Concerto to consistently execute his Outro. To bridge this gap, weaving in one or two uses of Deduction during your team’s rotations is highly advised. This not only ensures smooth combo execution but also contributes to additional Resonance energy, providing even greater opportunities for extended burst windows.
Xiangli Yao’s Ultimate: Cognition Model serves as the centerpiece of his kit. Upon activation, Xiangli Yao summons a large cube projection, delivering substantial Electro damage while generating a significant amount of Concerto and placing him into the Intuition buffed state for 24 seconds. During this phase, all his abilities—Basic Attack, Resonance Skill, Dodge Counter, Heavy Attack, and Mid-Air Attack—are enhanced, alongside his Forte gauge. One of the key elements introduced by the Ultimate is the acquisition of 3 charges of Hypercube, a unique resource that fuels his immensely powerful attack, Law of Reigns. While the instinct might be to use as many Ultimate-enhanced attacks within the 24-second window as possible, the true focus is on efficiently expending all 3 Hypercube charges on Law of Reigns instead. Maximizing the usage of this skill is crucial for delivering the highest damage per second. Once all 3 charges are consumed, the Intuition buffed state immediately ends, regardless of the remaining time, setting the stage for Xiangli Yao to recharge and repeat his 3-cube burst sequence.
Xiangli Yao’s Forte Gauge is a critical aspect of his kit, with two distinct variations—one being essential to his gameplay (Ultimate empowered) and the other largely secondary (Standard).
His first and Standard Forte Gauge, called Capacity, is active whenever his Ultimate-enhanced state is not. Capacity rapidly fills when Xiangli Yao uses his standard Resonance skills or Basic Attacks. Once the gauge is full, his Resonance Skill: Deduction is replaced with Resonance Skill: Decipher, a more powerful attack with a separate cooldown. Decipher generates the same Concerto energy and similar Resonance energy to Deduction, but does not significantly contribute to Xiangli Yao’s primary strategy. For this reason, the standard Forte Gauge is generally considered less impactful, merely offering a bit of bonus damage. Occasionally, the Deductions used to generate Concerto and Resonance energy will be converted into Deciphers, but they should be treated similarly—Swap-Cancel them quickly to focus on building towards his Ultimate.
Xiangli Yao’s second Forte Gauge becomes available only after using his Ultimate, Cognition Model, and while the Intuition buff is active. In this state, his Capacity is upgraded to Performance Capacity, transforming it into a 5-point charge system. These charges are accumulated by landing hits with any of his Ultimate-enhanced abilities.
As previously discussed, during Xiangli Yao's Ultimate, the primary objective is to consume all three Hypercube charges by executing three Law of Reigns attacks as swiftly as possible. However, there is a caveat—Law of Reigns requires and consumes 5 Performance Capacity charges to activate. Therefore, the updated goal is to efficiently generate 5 Performance Capacity and spend it on Law of Reigns three times ensuring minimal downtime. The optimal approach to achieving this is by utilizing a series of enhanced abilities that generate Performance Capacity quickly while dealing significant damage. The most effective combo to begin with involves using Xiangli Yao’s Ultimate-enhanced Resonance Skill - Divergence, followed by his enhanced Mid-Air Attack: Revamp and ultimately following up with Law of Reigns.
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Consumes 5 Performance Capacity)
This combo completes one Hypercube, leaving two more to go. However, since Divergence has a 7-second cooldown, it cannot be spammed consecutively to complete all three cubes. To address this, a secondary combo must be employed, utilizing Xiangli Yao’s enhanced 3-part basic attack sequence, which is the next most efficient in terms of Performance Capacity generation.
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Consumes 5 Performance Capacity)
Once the basic attack combo is executed, Divergence should be off cooldown, allowing you to repeat Combo 1 for the final Hypercube. After expending the last cube, Xiangli Yao's Ultimate will end, and the cycle resets, with a focus on using Deduction and other abilities to build resonance energy and Concerto for the next Ultimate.
Additionally, while performing Xiangli Yao’s ultimate combos, you will have ample time to incorporate Dodge Counters or Character Swaps, all of which may generate extra Performance Capacity. Ultimate-enhanced Dodge Counters, in particular, generate 2 Performance Capacity. If these additional charges are available, you can choose to either continue with the standard combo or integrate them, thus skipping some portions of the usual Performance Capacity building sequences to accelerate the burst process.
Xiangli Yao's Inherent Skills significantly bolster his performance, providing both offensive and defensive advantages. His first inherent skill grants a stackable Electro DMG% boost whenever a Resonance skill is used, accumulating up to four stacks. Each stack provides a 5% damage increase, and the effect lasts for 8 seconds. Given that Xiangli Yao frequently employs resonance skills—Deduction, Decipher, Divergence, and Law of Reigns—this buff will remain active throughout most of his combo without difficulty. The second Inherent Skill serves as an exceptional defensive tool, granting Xiangli Yao Interruption Resistance while the Intuition State is active. This ability is vital, as many of Xiangli Yao’s powerful attacks come with long animations. Without this skill, he would need to rely on Swap-Cancels, much like characters such as Calcharo. However, with this ability, Xiangli Yao can execute his attacks freely, without the constant concern of being interrupted mid-combo, allowing for smoother and uninterrupted gameplay.
Xiangli Yao stands out as a formidable electro-damage dealer, offering a level of accessibility that surpasses many other Ultimate-buff-based characters, without compromising on raw damage potential. His versatile and well-rounded kit makes him a reliable choice, with strong team synergies available right from his release. One of his greatest advantages is his accessibility, as he is available for free for a significant duration following his banner drop, making him an attractive investment for anyone in need of a powerful electro-damage dealer. His easy-to-learn playstyle combined with his potent damage output makes him a standout option in his role.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Incredibly long and very forgiving burst window, allowing dodging, mistakes, and switching if desired,
Main Combo combines ground and aerial combat which can sometimes allow Xiangli Yao to avoid attacks mid-combo increasing his safety even without dodging,
Incredibly powerful amplification options via team building lead to big opportunities during his ultimate burst window - stacking Verina + Yinlin outros right before ultimate is very potent,
Has great energy and concerto efficiency between his high-generation main combo and incredibly spammable standard Resonance Skill and Forte: Resonance skill (Outside of Ultimate) abilities,
Gains interruption resistance (not immunity) during his Ultimate state (Intuition) which should be most of his field time,
He's free at the time of his release!
Cons
Main combo takes some getting used to, to pull off in the heat of combat but is manageable when you learn how,
All main combo animations are very long leaving Xiangli Yao vulnerable to taking damage (even if he is rarely interrupted).
Ratings
This tier list assesses characters based on their combat potential in Wuthering Waves current most demanding content Tower of Adversity (ToA). ToA is a mode similar to Genshin Impact’s Spiral Abyss or Honkai Star Rail’s Memory of Chaos and requires multiple teams, strong Echoes and good Weapons. This mode offers a reasonable mix of Boss encounters (single target), Elite packs (2-3 targets) and AoE scenarios (5+ Targets), allowing multiple characters to find a niche but in the end, there's a bias toward single target focused characters at the top-end.
Please keep in mind Wuthering Waves is a skill-based game and each character has a different playstyle, difficulty level and even special tricks and combos. Wuthering Waves is also a team based game and it's only by combining both these factors to the highest level a character can reach optimal performance.
T0.5
Tower of Adversity
Video guides
Build
Best Weapons
118.76%
Stats at Level 90: ATK: 587 | CRIT Rate: 24.3%
Xiangli Yao's signature and an ideal weapon for any Resonance Liberation based Gauntlet user. Grants a tremendous 24.3% CRIT RATE boost and 12% generic DMG% boost all permanently and on top of that also grants an incredibly convenient 48% Resonance Liberation DMG% lasting 8 seconds on use of the wearers Liberation. Due to the timing of when this buff activates, it is almost always up when you need it most and the duration can also be extended up to 3 times for 5 seconds each time whenever you use a resonance skill. This extends the total duration of this buff to a whopping 23 seconds.
100%
Stats at Level 90: ATK: 587 | ATK: 36.4%
One of the top Gauntlets options in game with the only competitors being 4★ Weapons with multiple dupes. Offers high base ATK, ATK%, a good amount of Energy Regen to save at least 1 sub-stat on gear to be reallocated to better uses and a conditional bonus boosting Resonance Skill damage and Basic Attacks that is very easy to satisfy.
95.79%
Stats at Level 90: ATK: 412 | CRIT Rate: 20.2%
Specialist Gauntlets for Resonance Liberation scaling users, thanks to its passive that grants increased Resonance Liberation DMG% after using a Resonance Skill. Still useable by characters who don't focus specifically on Liberation damage as a big part of their kit, thanks to the reasonably high base stats but more importantly CRIT RATE main stat.
87.38%
Stats at Level 90: ATK: 412 | ATK: 30.3%
Strong generic option for all Gauntlets users, offering an ATK% and DEF% after using Resonance Liberation in the form of 3 charges. Since most characters include their Liberation in their rotation in the endgame you can expect this bonus to be applied quickly and consistently. Unfortunately, whenever you are hit you'll lose 1 charge so to use this weapon effectively, you must minimize how many times you're hit. Calculations assume you can maintain your rotation without getting hit - if you think you will be lower your expectations of this weapon and it's position in the ranking.
78.09%
Stats at Level 90: ATK: 325 | ATK: 24.3%
Easily accessible 3★ weapon that despite having lower base attack makes up for it with a high ATK% bonus at higher dupes. It does not have enough stats to compete with 4-star weapons but is a reasonable option if it's all you have. The only downside is that the buff only lasts 10 seconds, meaning it may fall off in the hands of a Main DPS character who takes up more field time.
Best Echo Sets
100%
2 Set:Electro DMG increases by 10%.
5 Set: Upon using Heavy Attack or Resonance Skill, Electro DMG increases by 15%, stacking up to 2 times, each stack lasting for 15s.
101.15%
2 Set: ATK increases by 10%.
5 Set: While on the field, ATK increases by 5% every 1.5s, stacking up to 4 times. Outro Skill DMG increases by 60%.
95.51%
2 Set:Electro DMG increases by 10%.
5 Set: Upon using Heavy Attack or Resonance Skill, Electro DMG increases by 15%, stacking up to 2 times, each stack lasting for 15s.
2 Set: ATK increases by 10%.
5 Set: While on the field, ATK increases by 5% every 1.5s, stacking up to 4 times. Outro Skill DMG increases by 60%.
Best Main Echoes
Echoes in Wuthering Waves are an essential part of the character rotations, granting a large amount of Resonance Energy and damage but at the cost of high field time for the most powerful ones. But by using some Echoes right before you're about to switch out on the character, you're able to move to your next character while your previous one is still in the echo animation - it’s what we call an Echo Swap Cancel.
Echo Swap Cancel is almost always the optimal way to use Echoes, and will result in big reductions in character field time and large increases to DPS, but not all of the most powerful Echoes can be swap cancelled in this way. For example, the Feilian Beringal (Aero), Dreamless (Havoc), Tempest Mephis (Electro), Mourning Aix (Spectro), and Infernal Rider (Fusion) Echoes can all be Swap Cancelled.
The remaining element, so Glacio while having powerful Echoes has none powerful enough that can be swap cancelled, and to make things worse, no Echoes that generate sufficient Energy and damage for their field time investment.
The result of this is that you can expect Glacio characters to have higher field time and lower DPS in calculations than their other elemental counter parts until they receive better Echoes to use.
Void Thunder
Strong all around choice specifically when using 5P Void Thunder. Can be immediately swap cancelled on use for burst damage in which the Echo will deal damage equal to 4 tail swipes but no claw damage. Alternatively, can be fully cast or swap cancelled as soon as the claw attack starts to gain a 12% Electro, Heavy DMG boost and more resonance energy at the cost of higher field time.
Option 1 offers higher echo dps but Option 2 offers a little more resonance energy and a buff. Which will be more effective for you will depend on playstyle, team and the fight you're up against.
Thundering Mephis is most effective when fully used for its entire duration. Fully using this Echo demands a tremendous amount of field time making it unsuitable for many players, teams and situations so only use it if it makes sense for you. If you do decide to use it, this echo will generate a very large amount of Resonance Energy, deal reasonable total damage (much less when compared to a DPS's burst window in similar time) and upon the final strike grant a 12% Electro and Liberation DMG% bonus.
Void Thunder
Lingering Tunes
A more challenging echo to use that requires the user press and hold the echo attack button to channel a beam which deals good damage, and generates resonance energy and concerto energy. This echo can be fully channelled - or if timed just right can be swap cancelled - while still yielding most of it's effect. At a minimum this echo will deal 3 instances of damage but the longer you channel before swap cancelling it the more it will deal. Not as easy or popular as either Mephis or Mech Abomination.
Lingering Tunes
Very easy echo to use that should be used at the very beginning of the burst window right after the Intro. Thanks to its instant cast there is no thinking required and you can enjoy your ATK% boost and some nice burst damage.
Important! CRIT DMG has base value of 150% and Energy Regen has a base value of 100% when you check them in game. The recommended values below don't include the base value but rather show how much on top of it you need to obtain.
ATK: 1900 - 2500+
HP: 15000+
DEF: 1200+
ELECTRO DMG%: 30% - 70%+
CRIT RATE%: 60 - 85%+
CRIT DMG% 120 - 170%+
Energy Regen: 0% - 30%+ (Optional depending on playstyle and team composition)
In Xiangli Yao's most common teams, he doesn't specifically require any energy regeneration in order to gain access to his ultimate in a timely manner or perform his rotation. With that said if you want to be safe and ensure you always have it on hand acquiring 25% - 30% energy regeneration on gear should smooth things out especially when your team's rotations don't go quite as planned.
Skill Priority
Below you can find the order of leveling the abilities for Xiangli Yao.
Res. Liberation
Forte Circuit
Res. Skill
Intro Skill
Basic Attack
Gameplay and teams
Rotation
This is the optimal rotation for the character. The total time needed to perform it is 13.12 seconds. When selecting the rotations we prioritized achieving 100 Concerto as fast as possible and once that condition was fulfilled, we focused on maximizing the damage output. As or if new and more optimal rotations are found, we'll update the characters calculations as needed.
Warm Up
Xiangli Yao requires you use at least 1 standard Resonance Skill before executing his burst in order to have enough Concerto to cast his outro. Fortunately his Resonance Skill is incredibly fast to use, is swap cancellable and generates a good amount of resonance energy. The skill also has an incredibly short cooldown of 4 seconds opening up the opportunity to weave it in between other characters actions to accumulate even faster ultimates. If Xiangli Yao's ultimate is still on cooldown and you have field time or a switch available doing so is recommended.
Skill: Deduction (Swap Cancel)(Use atleast 1 per ultimate combo)
BURST COMBO
The majority of Xiangli Yao's field time and your teams attention should be focused on his ultimate burst window as that is where the majority of his and your teams damage will come from. Before starting ensure you line up all of your teams kit and echo buffs/amplifications, Xiangli Yao's intro and cast at least 1 Deduction.
Below is Xiangli Yao's most optimal combo (without switching mid-ultimate) it may looking confusing or convuluted at first but here are the basics:
Using Xiangli Yao's ultimate places him in the Intuition state for 24 seconds. While it's active, all his abilities are enhanced - this ability will end after you execute Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns 3 times.
Xiangli Yao's most powerful ability after activating his ultimate is Forte: Skill Law of Reigns, but it requires 5 Performance Capacity to use (Ultimate Forte Gauge). Your goal is to build Performance Capacity as fast as possible, execute 3 Law of Reigns and work towards the next ultimate.
The fastest way to build 5 Performance Capacity is to use Ultimate: Skill: Divergence followed by a Forte: Mid-Air Atk: Revamp. But you can't repeat this 3 times for all 3 Law of Reigns as it has a cooldown of 7 seconds.
To get around this we must use the next best way of generating Performance capacity while the cooldown expires - casting 3 Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impales.
Combining all this forms Xiangli Yao's combo. You start with the optimal Performance Capacity combo of Divergence + Revamp followed by a Law of Reigns then use 3 Pivot's followed by another law of Reigns while you wait for the cooldown then finish off the final Law of Reigns once again with Divergence + Revamp.
This combo may need to be altered in some combat scenarios to incorporate dodge counters if you find yourself needing them against the enemy you're facing.
Combo
Echo (Use before combo but refer to echo recommendations for exact specifics for your chosen echo)
Intro
Ultimate: Cogiation Model
Ultimate: Skill: Divergence
Forte: Mid- Air Atk: Revamp
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Optionally Swap Cancel)
Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impale P1
Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impale P2
Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impale P3
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Optionally Swap Cancel)
Ultimate: Skill: Divergence
Forte: Mid- Air Atk: Revamp
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Swap Cancel)
Outro
Many of Xiangli Yao's abilities within his burst combo are swap cancellable and benefit heavily from doings so. But this comes at a cost, a lot of the most powerful team buffs (outro amplifications) only apply to the entering character while they remain on field. This means you must choose between swap cancelling and amplification outro buffs and which is best will depend on your choice of team mate. Yinlin for example offers Xiangli Yao 20% Electro amplification and 25% Liberation amplification for not switching out, something that is very much worth considering giving up swap cancel for. Changli on the other hand offers far less outro amplification options and benefits far more from swap cancels to power up her damage dealing rotation. Xiangli Yao is capable and does well using both playstyles, we recommend trying out both with the characters on your account to find what feels right for you.
Yinlin is one of the most synergistic characters with Xiangli Yao at the time of his release, primarily thanks to her tremendously powerful Outro ability which grants both 20% Electro DMG amplification and 25% Liberation DMG amplification for 14 seconds. This buff is a tremendous boost to Xiangli Yao's ultimate burst window with all of his damage being Electro and over 50% of it being Liberation, the duration is also just right to fully buff the entirety of it assuming you don't make any mistakes. Yinlin also does respectable damage of her own and can run the Moonlit Clouds set if desired to further boost Xiangli Yao's burst damage potential.
As a quick swap specialist Changli very much prefers to be constantly switched in and out and can dish out some serious damage when played in this style correctly. Xiangli Yao has both the option to stay on field during his ultimate to take advantage of powerful amplification Outros but also to swap cancel any of his incredibly long attack animations for massive damage gains. Changli specifically excels at option 2 and is easily able to weave her attacks and combos throughout Xiangli Yao's ultimate burst window without you having to worry thanks to his tremendously long ultimate burst window. Changli also has a Liberation DMG% bonus on her Outro but it's generally far more productive to focus on her quick swap potential instead. Combining Changli and Xiangi Yao forms a fast paced double damage power house team which requires a bit of practice but is a satisfying duo.
Sanhua doesn't offer anything crazy in the personal damage department or any tremendously powerful Outro amplifications for Xiangli Yao but she is one of the best and most efficient carriers of the Moonlit Clouds set, something which absolutely will make a difference to your Xiangli Yao's damage. On top of the Moonlit set Sanhua also takes up very little field time and generates a substantial amount of resonance energy for the team, something which might make the difference between Xiangli Yao gaining his ultimate just a bit faster or saving you needing to chase down any energy rolls on gear. Finally of course Sanhua gains a considerable increase to her supportive capabilities with Sequences so if you have those her supportive capabilities only further increase (specifically her S6).
Verina as a healing support can easily accommodate running the 5P Rejuvenating Glow set alongside a Bell-Borne Geochelone echo, offering the team a wide array of offensive and defensive buffs already bringing a tonne of worth just from that alone.
Additionally Verina's many rotational options to access her Ultimate and Concerto are all fast and relatively easy to execute, leaving ample field time for the rest of team mates to execute their combos. Verina's Outro is by far the most flexible and powerful Outro in the game granting all allies 15% generic DMG% "Deepen" for 30 seconds. Most units only grant 1 type and only for the very next unit to switch in locking them into staying on field less they lose the buff but Verina grants it to all allies completely unrestricted.
On top of this Verina grants an additional 20% ATK and a Cheat Death ability preventing one death every 10 minutes. She's universal, flexible, takes little field time and outstanding in every team.
If you don't have Verina, Baizhi is a good alternative with very similar buffs and capabilities albeit in a much more restricted fashion. Her Outro instead of buffing all units only buffs the next unit, her ATK% boost is only 20% and requires the on field character interact with a special collectable dropped by Baizhi on the ground, she takes up more field time, generates less concerto and resonance energy and heals less.
A downgrade across the board but still a potent option for all the same reasons of Verina just on a smaller scale. Verina can only be in one team if you have her at all so Baihzi is a good next pick.
Don't use the damage output calculations as an indication on who is worth pulling or investing as those are just simulations and in day-to-day gameplay there's a lot variables and also the skill of the player is important - if you can't consistently perform the character's rotation, their damage will suffer.
As usual, don't compare the numbers between characters - especially between Main DPS and Hybrids as they fulfill different roles in the team.
Additional information
The numbers below show the character's DPS (Damage Per Second) and DMG (total damage done). When selecting the rotations we prioritized achieving 100 Concerto as fast as possible and once that condition was fulfilled, we focused on maximizing the damage output. As or if new and more optimal rotations are found, we'll update the characters calculations as needed. Listed character calculations are done without buffs or any damage contribution from teammates (full solo). They only include what the character, their Weapon, Echo and gear are capable of during their ideal Burst or Concerto rotation when starting with their Intro and Resonance Liberation available.
Xiangli Yao in 1 Target scenario
Rotation time: 13.12s
Xiangli Yao (S6)
983,803 DMG (75,002 DPS)232.87%
Xiangli Yao (S5)
780,962 DMG (59,538 DPS)184.86%
Xiangli Yao (S4)
632,537 DMG (48,223 DPS)149.73%
Xiangli Yao (S3)
597,163 DMG (45,526 DPS)141.35%
Xiangli Yao (S2)
525,178 DMG (40,038 DPS)124.31%
Xiangli Yao (S1)
479,108 DMG (36,526 DPS)113.41%
Xiangli Yao (S0)
422,465 DMG (32,207 DPS)100.00%
Details about the calculations
Here's the rotation we have used to calculate the DPS (Damage Per Second) shown above. The total time needed to perform the rotation is 13.12 seconds.
Combo
Echo (Use before combo but refer to echo recommendations for exact specifics for your chosen echo)
Intro
Ultimate: Cogiation Model
Ultimate: Skill: Divergence
Forte: Mid- Air Atk: Revamp
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Optionally Swap Cancel)
Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impale P1
Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impale P2
Ultimate: Basic: Pivot - Impale P3
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Optionally Swap Cancel)
Ultimate: Skill: Divergence
Forte: Mid- Air Atk: Revamp
Forte: Skill: Law of Reigns (Swap Cancel)
Outro
And here are the Echoes and Weapons used in the calculations.
Stats at Level 90: ATK: 587 | ATK: 36.4%
2 Set:Electro DMG increases by 10%.
5 Set: Upon using Heavy Attack or Resonance Skill, Electro DMG increases by 15%, stacking up to 2 times, each stack lasting for 15s.
Echoes in Wuthering Waves are an essential part of the character rotations, granting a large amount of Resonance Energy and damage but at the cost of high field time for the most powerful ones. But by using some Echoes right before you're about to switch out on the character, you're able to move to your next character while your previous one is still in the echo animation - it’s what we call an Echo Swap Cancel.
Echo Swap Cancel is almost always the optimal way to use Echoes, and will result in big reductions in character field time and large increases to DPS, but not all of the most powerful Echoes can be swap cancelled in this way. For example, the Feilian Beringal (Aero), Dreamless (Havoc), Tempest Mephis (Electro), Mourning Aix (Spectro), and Infernal Rider (Fusion) Echoes can all be Swap Cancelled.
The remaining element, so Glacio while having powerful Echoes has none powerful enough that can be swap cancelled, and to make things worse, no Echoes that generate sufficient Energy and damage for their field time investment.
The result of this is that you can expect Glacio characters to have higher field time and lower DPS in calculations than their other elemental counter parts until they receive better Echoes to use.
