Which Polearm is best for Xiao
When it comes to Polearms in Genshin Impact, you basically have five substat categories to select from. They are, in no particular order, Physical Damage, Energy Recharge, Critical Damage, Critical Rate, and Attack. Note that there’s also Dragons Bane, but this is rarely selected as both the passive and substat are not effective in most situations.
In a perfect situation, your “crit damage” is the substat to select for. That said, what weapons you have available to you matters and it’s possible other weapons could make for a better choice.
Physical Damage Substat Weapons
The two weapons of note are the Crescent Pike and the Dragonspine Spear. In most situations, these weapons are not ideal for Xiao as they do mostly Anemo damage, which is less than ideal. The passives won’t benefit him much as most of his damage will be coming from his plunge and elemental skill. There are some upsides, however, as these weapons are available for free-to-play players. If you’re not interested, or ready, to plunk out real money, then they may be the right option.
Attack Substat
Choose between the Royal Spear (currently available) as well as the rumored Lithic Spear. Attack is not as good as Critical (crit) damage because attack damage is additive while crit damage is multiplicative. That said, select the Royal Spear, the passive is nothing special, however, you will be using it mostly for the attack substat.
Lithic Spear, this one is not in the game yet but it is likely coming soon (it’s been datamined). It is a great weapon and can even compete with the 5-star weapons if you can maximize the passive. The good thing about this weapon is that it gives you a 44% attack increase as well as a 28% crit rate increase at Refinement five.
The drawback to Lithic Spear is that many, if not most, of the best supports are from Mondstadt.
Crit Rate
For crit rate, Deathmatch is waiting for you. This weapon is a strange one, as this can either be the best weapon you can choose or it can just be an average weapon, it’s heavily situation-dependent. For example, if you have less than 50% crit rate, then crit rate will be a better stat to have compared to say attack or crit damage. Conversely, if you have over 50% crit rate without this weapon, then weapons with attack or crit damage will be the better choice.
Crit Damage
For crit damage, there’s only one weapon: the Blackcliff Pole. In terms of 4-star weapons, this is the best choice in most instances. Do note that the passive is entirely situational and is of no value in a 1v1 scenario. The substat, however, makes this weapon a great choice.
Energy Recharge
For this, we have two choices: Prototype Starglitter or Favonius. Ideally, you’ll need another Anemo character in your party to provide energy for him. Burst, the main source of his damage, costs 70. Although, this info is data-mined and could always be changed in the future.
Credits
| Author | Curtis Pyke |
| YouTuber | itspaikon |
| Program | Freedom! Scholarship |
| Publisher | MGN TV |
| Game | Genshin Impact |