In thisGenshin Impact GuideI’m going to be showing you myGeo Empress BuildforNingguang, that utilizes Geo element to its maximum potential. We build two Geo characters for Geo Resonance, that’s good in 1.2 version, and getting buffed at 1.3. Composing a party for each situation inGenshin Impactcan be a bit of a challenge, with the limited options for those focusing on free-to-play.
In thisGuideI’ll explain just how to build theGeo Empressto face a wide variety of content, deal potent damage, and counter all situations Genshin Impact has to throw at you. On top of that, it makes a perfect team to finish the Spiral Abyss, with the current buff for Geo element which was introduced in 1.2. So it’s one build to rule them all, if you’ve been looking for a Free to Play Geo build. I’ll go through whatWeaponsto use, whatArtifactsto upgrade and which companions to pick up, so check this one out!
Genshin Impact Build: Ningguang, The Geo Empress
Ningguangis a four star character, that’s accessible through all banners, with an especially high rate when theChilde’s banner was live. After three months in the game’s lifespan, all players will have a high chance of having most of the four star characters by now. Whether you have one constellation forNingguang, or unlocked several constellations, she’s good as a Carry role. Her focus is dealing massive damage to a single target, so she needs another Geo support that focuses on AOE.
For the second Geo character,Noellecan be good. But for optimal output, we use either of the five star Geo characters,Zhongli, orAlbedo. That’s becauseNingguangis a special case, a four star character but still one of the best characters with a Geo element, and five star characters are better off supporting her. If you pulled wishes forZhongli, you will most likely have him, or if you skipped this banner, you will very likely haveAlbedo. I choseAlbedo, because he’s a better support at zero constellations, and very cheap to build. He’s the definition of free to play friendly among all five star characters.
The team for theGeo Empress Buildis composed ofNingguang, as main DPS and single target damage,Albedofor AOE and energy particles generation, thenDionaas a healer, and a wild card for the last slot. you’re able to swap the character in the last slot depending on your roster, and as the Spiral Abyss needs. Elemental combo is important, and with two party slots going for a natural element like Geo, you need a certain amount of flexibility. If you needHydrogo forXingqiu, and forPyro, pickXiangling, orXinyan. Choose eitherFischl,LisaorBeidouforElectro. That doesn’t mean you have to build all these characters for merely one slot in a party, but these are choices you can pick from.
Ningguang, The Geo Goddess Attributes
We buildNingguangas a straight forward Geo DPS. So we need aGeo Damage Bonus,% Attack,Critical Rate,andCritical Damage.Finally, use some flatAttackand choosing someEnergy Rechargewould be nice.
If we are using theRoyal Grimoireas a weapon, it would be more convenient to concentrating on building moreCritical DamagethanCritical Rate.The nature ofNingguang’s attacks is that it hits several times per attack, so you are guaranteed to score several critical hits per attack even with a smallCrit Ratebonus. This way, a relatively smallCrit Rateis acceptable, especially if you are augmented byRoyal Grimoire.
Ningguang, The Geo Empress Weapon
Ningguanguses aCatalystas a weapon, a weapon magical in nature, and all its talents are elemental by default. If you rolled enough wishes to get a five star character, you will probably have enoughMasterless Starglitterto buy a good weapon from Paimon’s Bargains. TheRoyal Grimoireis the best free to play option for her (compared to craftable Catalysts). TheRoyal Grimoirehas the highest base attack among all four stars, and adds an additional % Attack bonus as a secondary stat. Its passive provides a small Crit Rate increase bonus, per non-crit hit. So it works best with a moderate Critical Rate (20-35%), which is typical for a low investment build.
However, if you get perfect Critical stat rolls on Artifacts, this weapon falls short, so be cautious if you wanna spendMasterless Starglitterto buy it. It’s optimal only if you have another Catalyst user to pass downRoyal Grimoirefor him or her, afterNingguanggets a better weapon.
Gasha 4 Star Weapons
There are a variety of weapons that you’re able to get randomly from pulling wishes with various banners, andNingguangcan utilize many of them to an extend.The Widsithis a very good catalyst becauseNingguangcan benefit from 2 of the three different buffs it has. It also has a huge Crit Damage bonus, which allows building a Crit Rate Headpiece for good damage. It’s overall a great option, if you are lucky enough to get it.
Second to that isEye of Perception, which has a big attack bonus secondary stat, and a damage proc every 12 seconds. It only falls short because it lacks any crit stats, so it’s a little worse thanRoyal Grimoire, but if you have it, you can save yourMasterless Starglitter.
The Ultimate Weapon
Two of the five star Catalyst suitsNingguangthe best,Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, andMemory of Dust. Five star weapons have become slightly more accessible to free to play players after the 1.2 update. Hitting pity in the standard banner equals 50% chance to get a five star weapon. Though she doesn’t need either of them to function properly, as you’re able to get quite a similar performance with 4 star Battle Pass weapon,Solar Pearl. Actually,Ningguangis one of the best characters that can utilizeSolar Pearlamong all Catalyst users.Solar Pearlincreases damage of all her normal attack, her Elemental Skill, and her Elemental Burst, though it doesn’t work with her charged attack. So picking up this weapon might change the way you useNingguangattacks.
Ningguang, The Geo Empress Artifacts
Figuring out how to customize yourArtifactsets is one of, if not the hardest part of making a Build in Genshin Impact as there are a lot of components involved, and generally takes a try or two before getting it right. In this section, I want to show you how I’ve set this up for a good overall performance withNingguang.
Archaic Petra/Gladiator’s Finale
We use a hybrid Artifact build to maximize damage output. The two-piece bonus fromArchaic Petrais 15% Geo DMG, and the two-piece bonus fromGladiator’s Finaleis 18% attack. Both these stats increase the damage ofNingguangglobally, because all her talents are Geo. We don’t take any specific bonus for Normal Attack, charged attack, Elemental Skill, or Elemental Burst becauseNingguangdeals damage with every talent she has. Picking a very specialized bonus would benefit one portion of her kit, and be useless with others. So we stick withArchaic Petra/Gladiator’s Finale, or even forgo theGladiator’s Finalefor perfectly rolled two pieces.
Flower of Life & Plume of Death
These two pieces have their main stat predetermined, they are flat HP and Attack respectively. I wouldn’t focus on leveling them, unless they’re a five star artifact, and have good sub-stats to go with it. To make the decision of leveling them or not, ask yourself: How likely is it that you will get a better piece next month? If the stats are good enough, you wouldn’t get a better piece anytime soon, so the recommendation would be to max level it.
We want any combination ofCrit Rate,Crit Damage,and%Attackon sub-stats here. WithFlat Attack, andEnergy Recharge, being good bonuses, but with a lower priority.
Sands of Eon
We want% Attackas main stat on the Timepiece, because it’s the best among the various choices here. It’s easier to roll the stat we want (% Attack) on this piece than other pieces, so wait until you get some good sub-stats to go with it. These stats areCrit Rate, andCrit Damage.Second to them areEnergy RechargeandFlat Attack.
Goblet of Enotherm
We must pick up a five star Goblet with aGeo DamageBonusas the main stat, and nothing else. It’s harder to get the right main stats on the Goblet, because it can roll every type of damage, making the pool of modifiers huge. So what we do is to use our four other pieces in the set, and prioritizeGeo Damage Bonuson Goblet from any other set. This freedom allows us to pick the bestGeo Damage BonusGoblet, with some good sub-stats. These stats areCrit Rate, andCrit Damage.Second to them are%Attack,andEnergy Recharge.
Circlet of Logos
We need this Headpiece dedicated to eitherCrit RateorCrit Damageas the main stat. It’s a very important stat, you’re able to’t easily replace.Crit Rateis usually the better stat in early game, while your build lacksCrit Rateanywhere else. Unless you useRoyal GrimoireorSolar PearlCatalyst, in that case, you can shift the focus toCrit Damageon the main stat.
Get as many good sub stats as you can, such as% Attack, Crit Rate,andCrit Damage.WithEnergy RechargeandFlat Attackbeing better thanHP,Def,orElemental Mastery.
Ningguang, The Geo Empress Talent Skills
Sparkling Scatter
Normal Attack sends two Geo Gems towards enemies from a long distance, it has a very unique combo pattern. First,Ningguangwaves her hand and shoots two gems, then she twirls and shoots, then waves her hand and shoots for a third time. The first and third attack are nearly the same speed, and the second attack (the twirl) is a little faster. So if you want to pull a fast combo, you can use two attack combos, and then cancel. However, you can also cancel the animation of every attack to pull combos almost 30% faster, by holding the forward button while attacking.
The gems auto-aim towards the nearest target in the general direction you aim at. Upon hitting the enemy, they grant one “Star Jade” toNingguang, up to a maximum of three, with the First ConstellationPiercing Fragments, Gems do AOE damage in a small radius.
Charged attack
IfNingguanguses a charged attack with star jades present, she will shoot them alongside her charged attacks. Each star jade deals a separate instance of damage and has a chance to deal a critical hit. Also, each star jade procs “on hit” effects, if characters have any. With the passive talentBackup Plan,Ningguangconsumes no stamina with charged attacks.
This unique feature makes charged attacks very strong, and a must use forNingguang. Also, charged attacks with the Geo element have a strong impact on enemies, and can knock enemies several times in the air. But sometimes in a big crowd of enemies, it becomes harder to select your target, because gems and star jades auto-aim.
The ideal way to weave it into combos is debated, whether it’s [1 Normal attack –> 1 charged attack], or [2 Normal attack –> 1 charged attack]. I’d advise testing for yourself, and make your own choice. The existence of animation canceling complicates things a little, as you have to hold the “Forward” button to combo normal attacks and let go of it to do a charged attack.
Jade Screen
The signature Geo constructNingguangsummons is her Jade screen, a Geo gate with curtains that prevents enemy arrows, and allows characters to pass through. With theStrategic Reservepassive, it gives a 12% Geo damage buff to anyone passing through it. If used aggressively, the Jade screen has a wide AOE and deals some nice damage. However, I would advise placing it at a safe distance from enemies, to have enough time to pass through it, and then to use it with Elemental Burst later.
Also, if you are using another Geo construct on the field, and then cast Jade screen cast onto it, it will be shattered and not placed.Zhongli,Albedo, and Geo main character all have Geo constructs as an Elemental Skill, so be mindful when usingNingguangwith them. I prefer moving after casting any Geo construct skills, so any following skill doesn’t collide with it. EspeciallyAlbedo’s construct, because it can cancel other non-Geo skills such asBeidou’s counter.
Starshatter
Her Elemental Burst does a massive amount of damage with a short cooldown, and has little Energy cost. It fires six gems at once towards enemies, and if there’s only one enemy to deal with, they all will hit him. If theJade Screenis present, it will dissolve and fire six more gems, with a total of twelve being fired. The gems have smart auto-aim, and not all of them will hit the same target at the same time. But some will linger, to check if the target is still alive, hitting it if it hasn’t died, or will change target if it’s already dead.
At skill level 6, each gem deals 122% damage, so it has a total of 1464% potential damage, assuming all gems hit the same target. On a single target though, two gems will likely hit the ground, so more likely 1220% damage is more realistic. Against multi-target, the damage will split between enemies, unless they are clustered together for AoE to hit multiple enemies.
It’s important to remember placing theJade Screenand walking through it before using Elemental burst “Starshatter” as this will maximize the damage. It’s also advised to use it against Assassin enemies, when they go invisible, because it targets them in their invisible state, quite useful!
Ningguang, The Geo Empress Party Composition
Genshin Impact has a unique playstyle that relies on switching characters, and chaining combos across these characters. So a solid part ofNingguang’s build is knowing which characters will accompany her, and what roles they will play.
In this section, I’ll fill you in on some of the best characters that synergise well with this build. I’ll mostly use Four Star characters here, but it’s recommended you use a five star Geo support likeZhongli, orAlbedoif you have them. The Geo roster is small, and the options are limited. I had to save some of my free-to-play Primogems and aim for Pity pulls to get one of the five star Geo characters for a better Geo team.
My second Geo character isAlbedo, because he’s the easiest to use out of all the Geo characters, and also the cheapest to build. He generates elemental particles randomly with his Elemental Skill, but he’s better thanZhongliat this. Also his elemental Construct takes very small space, so he will not blockNingguang’s gem attacks. On top of that, his elevator provides a nice escape for her, when there are a lot of hostile AOEs going on.Ningguangauto aims, so the elevation provides zero problems for her. He also gives an Elemental Mastery buff, which we can make support characters utilize, to increase damage for one chosen reaction.
We useAlbedoto put his Elemental Skill down, and then switch out. His skill lasts for 30 seconds, and deals AOE Geo damage to all enemies in a huge radius every time they take damage (on 2 seconds cooldown).Ningguangis good at triggering this skill, because she hits multiple times, so she wouldn’t miss that two seconds cooldown. Also her projectiles bypass wooden, rock, and ice shields of the hilichurls. There’s nothing that can be done against Abyss Mage shields though, because these mages take zero damage while their shields are up, so players have to tackle that first.
Albedohad his own banner through December 2020, and the beginning of January 2021. So if you didn’t get him this time round, you will need to wait for the next banner.Albedowas one of the best characters released since launch, and his banner has been the best banner since Klee banner. Not only for havingAlbedo,but also for the four star characters that were possible along with it. A good banner for players focusing on free to play to pull wishes for, so I’ll make a few guides with characters from that banner in the upcoming weeks.
For pure elemental skill scaling, we only needDefstat.Albedois amazing at this because there’s no other character competing with him over this stat, so he will always get the bestDefartifacts. After that, we needGeo Damage Bonus,Critical Rate, andCritical Damage. He doesn’t even needEnergy Recharge, because his Elemental burst is less important and deals less damage. It scales with Attack, but we don’t scale for attack in this build.
Surprisingly, the best in slot weapon forAlbedoturns to be the three star weapon,Harbinger of Dawn. It’s excellent for him because it provides a massiveCritical RateandCritical Damagebonus while the character is above 90% HP. The thing isAlbedowill not be losing HP if he’s off the field 95% of the time. For the time he’s in play, he has some good invulnerability frames, so he will not take damage. If players mess up and he takes damage, he can be easily healed by food and stay healed.
The three star weapon has a small base attack, and because we don’t scale the attack, it’s irrelevant. It’s truly the best DPS weapon forAlbedo, and beats all four and five star swords by a huge margin. It’s very easy to refine as well as level, and it’s worth the investment.
Second toHarbinger of Dawn, there was a new four star sword introduced inAlbedo’s story quest, duringThe Chalk Prince and the Dragonevent. TheFestering Desiresword is a good alternative, because you were granted max refinement for free during the event. It also has a good base attack, and nice Energy recharge as a secondary stat, but we can use it for the passive multiplier for Elemental Skill damage, and Elemental skill Crit rate.
Finally, there is another three star sword, theTraveler’s Handy Sword. It can scale up to 27.5%Defstat, which is nice, but weaker than outright multipliers from previous swords.Harbinger of Dawnis just better in every way possible, even if Albedo’s HP is not over 90%.
We useDefmain stat on Timepiece,Geo Damage Bonuson Goblet, andCritical RateorCritical Damageon Headpiece. For set bonus, the ideal setup is 2 pieces ofArchaic Petrafor Geo damage and either 2 pieces ofGamblerfor Elemental Skill damage, or 2 pieces of theDefender’s Willfor Def bonus.
But I wouldn’t be too obsessed with getting the perfect Set bonus for him, as we can save our better pieces for main DPS. You can throw a couple of random artifacts with Def bonus on all slots and he will just do his job.
Similar to ourKlee build, we can useDionato provide a decent shield to makeNingguangcomfortable while using charged attacks. Geo Element will generate small crystallized shields on its own, but pick these up only afterDiona’s shield expires because shields don’t stack. The second reason why we pickDionaoverBennettas a healer is the fact that she can heal characters up to 100%, whileBennettheals little above 70%. We need 100% heals for optimal damage fromAlbedo.
The Cryo element is also nice to bring down Electro Fatui shields. It can also procFreezeif you slot Hydro, or setupMeltif used with a Pyro character.
GettingDionawas easier with the release of the same banner asNingguangduring November last year, so you could get her and some of her constellations open, with C1 being a massive energy cost reduction. She’s likely to be the sole bow user in the party, so remember to use her to solve bow puzzles, and shoot enemy weak spots to stun them.
We needHP, and then even moreHPas both her healing with Elemental Burst and shields with Elemental Skill scale with HP. So we need HP as the main stat on everything, it’s way better than the healing bonus, or anything else.Energy Rechargeis also beneficial, so get it as a secondary stat, and on her weapon.
As usual with healer support characters, we use weapons withEnergy Rechargeas a secondary stat. EitherFavonius WarbowandSacrificial Boware good at that, depending on what you have. I prefer theSacrificial Bowbecause of the ability to reset the Elemental Skill cooldown. Diona’s skill hits twice if pressed, and five times if charged, so the 40% chance to reset CD on un-refinedSacrificial Bowis close to a 100% chance. However, if you build some Crit Rate on her and use theFavonius Warbow, you can get more energy particles for a better uptime for her heal.
You are guaranteed one copy of theFavonius Warbowon every account, so you will have no problem finding the right weapon forDiona.
For the set bonus, we either go for more healing via theMaiden Belovedset, or Energy Regeneration for the party withThe Exileset. Although I’d recommend prioritizing Artifacts withHPas the main stat over the set bonus, at least until you have built artifacts for all DPS characters.Energy RechargeandCrit Rateare also nice as sub stats.
Xingqiu/Beidou/Xiangling
The good thing aboutXingqiuas a support is the multi-role he can play, as well as the diversity he brings to the team. He can heal, reduce incoming damage, and apply a good Hydro element while off-field. He can also deal some decent damage with his Elemental Skill. We had an increased chance in gettingXingqiuby using wishes on the “Klee Sparkling Steps” banner when it was available, and he has returned once more in the Ganyu banner with an up rate. He’s a solid character and his Constellations are great.
His Elemental Burst will shoot down rain swords on targets alongside normal attacks of any character on field. Rain swords are ranged, so they easily synergise withNingguang. They are also Hydro element, so they will cause Freeze if they meetDiona’s Cryo element. Geo damage fromNingguangcanShatterfrozen enemies, for small extra damage, but freeze is just a defensive stat to keep you safe. His Elemental Skill also reduces incoming damage, so it will allow shields to stay up longer, and he heals character when they take damage. Which’s a very convenient playstyle.
If you don’t haveXingqiu, or you need another element in your party, you can replace him withBeidoufor an Electro element.Beidou’s Elemental Burst works better offensively, especially if you have C2 on her, because it hits many targets. On the other hand,Xianglingwill suffice if you need a Pyro element, her Elemental skill is a turret that stays on the field for long and deals good damage. Also, you canMelta few hits if you useDiona’s skills prior to her. Overall, this last spot is more flexible, and can go in several directions.
If we need healing, we should scaleXingqiu’sHP, for maximum efficiency. But if you have enough healing fromDiona, we should sim for more damage. The most important stat in either situations isHydro Damage Bonus, because it increases both damage and damage reduction. It works when hisElemental Skillis active, and makes you take less hits, and allows shields to last longer.Energy RechargeandAttackis useful stats, unless you go full offensive where you need to also buildCrit RateandCrit Damage.
If you useBeidou, we go full offensive withElectro DamageandCritbuild. While playingXianglingrequires Pyro damage instead.
For Energy regeneration, we can use either use theSacrificial SwordorFavonius Swordfor Xingqui. TheSacrificial Sword’s major benefit is that it can reset the cooldown ofXingqiu‘sElemental Skill. A 21 seconds cooldown is a really long time in this rotation, and reducing that is great for DPS and defense increase. If theSacrificial Swordallows the use of one more Elemental Skill, it’s doubling the effect ofXingqiu.
An interesting alternative is the new sword introduced in the 1.2 update,Festering Desire.It has a nice Energy Recharge, along with a huge damage buff and Crit Rate for Elemental Skill. If you don’t useFestering Desireon Albedo, consider using it onXingqiufor better damage while keeping the Energy recharge bonus.
If you useBeidou, you are safer with using thePrototype Archaic, andXianglingneedsDragon’s Baneor a battle pass weapon such asDeathmatch.
Use two pieces ofThe Exileset and two pieces of theScholarset in early game. It’s a good way to get the Energy Recharge for the Elemental Burst, because it really increases the overall damage of the party. However, in the endgame, we seek four pieces of theNoblesse Obligeset, to increase the entire party’s damage.
Get aHydro Damage Bonusas the main stat on Goblet,% HPor% Attackon Goblet, depending on whether you prioritise offense or defense. ThenCritstat orHPon the headpiece artifact. For the secondary stats look forEnergy Recharge, HPandAttack.
In the case that you chooseBeidou, we can build 2 pieces from theThundering Furyset and two pieces fromNoblesse Oblige. Or use straight-up 4 pieces ofNoblesse Oblige.Xianglingon the other hand is better off with four pieces of theCrimson Witch of Flamesset for full damage.
We hope you found this build useful, and it gives you a better idea of how to maximizeNingguang’s potential.
Genshin Impactis available to play on PC, iOS, Android and PS4. If you enjoyed thisGenshin Impact Guidebe sure to check out more even more info on ourGenshin Impact Wiki.You can also keep an eye out for more guides for Genshin Impact 1.2, and upcoming 1.3 and be sure to not miss ourGenshin Impact Getting Started Guide, as well as ourXinyan, The Dragonspine Explorer.
