ULTIMATE Lan Yan Guide! [Best Weapons, Artifacts, Teams, and MORE] Genshin Impact 5.3

This is a guide to Lan Yan, the new four-star Anemo catalyst user introduced in Genshin Impact's Patch five point three. Lan Yan brings a unique support role to your team with her innovative anemo shield mechanic. While she might be overshadowed by the new five-star characters Citlali and Mavuika, Lan Yan offers defensive utilities that can complement various team builds. Let's dive into her abilities, build options, team compositions, and overall viability in the current meta.

Lan Yan’s normal attack is Black Pheasant Strides on Water. Lan Yan wields her Feathermoon Rings to perform up to four attacks, dealing Anemo Damage. Her normal attacks have smooth and visually appealing animations, resembling melee combat despite using a catalyst weapon.

Her Charged Attack consumes a certain amount of stamina to throw out a Feathermoon Ring, dealing Anemo Damage. This attack allows Lan Yan to engage enemies from a distance, providing versatility in combat scenarios.

Her Plunging Attack gathers the power of Anemo and plunges towards the ground from mid-air, damaging all opponents in her path. Upon impact with the ground, it deals A.o.E. Anemo Damage, making it effective for crowd control during aerial maneuvers.

Lan Yan’s Elemental Skill is Swallow-Wisp Pinion Dance. Lan Yan summons the Swallow-Wisp Shield, a secret art passed down through generations. Upon activation, she dashes forward and, upon making contact with her target, leaps back into the air. The Swallow-Wisp Shield's Damage absorption scales based on her Attack and has a two hundred fifty percent absorption efficiency against anemo damage. While in mid-air due to the effects of her Elemental Skill, pressing her Elemental Skill again or using a Normal Attack will cause Lan Yan to hurl her Feathermoon Rings at an opponent. These rings spin between nearby opponents twice upon hitting, dealing additional Anemo Damage. Holding the skill allows players to enter Aiming Mode to adjust the dash direction.

Lan Yan’s Elemental Burst is Lustrous Moonrise. Lan Yan creates the Feathermoon Swallow Array, pulling in nearby opponents and objects while dealing multiple instances of A.o.E. Anemo Damage. This ability provides significant crowd control, making it easier to manage groups of enemies during intense battles.

Lan Yan’s Passive One is Four Sealing Divination Charms. When Lan Yan's Elemental Skill interacts with Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, or Electro elements, the Swallow-Wisp Shield undergoes Elemental Absorption. The converted shield absorbs damage from the corresponding element with two hundred fifty percent efficiency. Additionally, the Feathermoon Rings Lan Yan throws deal Elemental damage equal to fifty percent of the original damage in the corresponding Elemental Type. This damage is considered part of her Elemental Skill damage.

Lan Yan’s Passive Two is Skyfeather Evil-Subduing Charm. Lan Yan's Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst deal increased damage based on her Elemental Mastery. Specifically, her Elemental Skill deals three hundred nine percent increased damage, and her Elemental Burst deals seven hundred seventy four percent increased damage of her Elemental Mastery.

Lan Yan’s Passive Three is Thought and Intent, Like Silken Scent. When Lan Yan is in the party, your characters will not startle Crystalflies and certain other animals when approaching them. This passive enhances the exploration experience by preventing unnecessary disturbances to wildlife.

Lan Yan’s ability leveling priority is first elemental skill, then elemental burst; her basic attack does not need to be leveled.

Lan Yan’s Constellation One is As One Might Stride Betwixt the Clouds. After triggering the Elemental Absorption from Passive One, Lan Yan's Elemental Skill Swallow-Wisp Pinion Dance will produce an additional Feathermoon Ring when thrown at opponents. This enhances her crowd control capabilities by increasing the number of rings in play.

Lan Yan’s Constellation Two is Dance Vestments Billow Like Rainbow Jade. While the Swallow-Wisp Shield is active, every time your active party member's Normal Attacks deal damage, forty percent of the shield's damage absorption is restored, up to its original maximum absorption. This effect can occur once every two seconds, significantly increasing the shield's sustainability during prolonged battles.

Constellation Three is On White Wings Pierce Through Cloud and Fog. Increases the level of Swallow-Wisp Pinion Dance by three. This enhances both the shield's absorption capabilities and the additional damage dealt by her Feathermoon Rings.

Constellation Four is With Drakefalcon's Blood-Pearls Adorned. After Lan Yan uses her Elemental Burst Lustrous Moonrise, the Elemental Mastery of all nearby party members increases by sixty for twelve seconds. This boost enhances the effectiveness of elemental reactions within the team.

Constellation Five is Having Met You, My Heart is Gladdened. Increases the level of Lustrous Moonrise by three, enhancing its damage output and crowd control effectiveness.

Constellation Six is Let Us Away on Slyphic Wing, the Silvered Ornaments to Ring. Swallow-Wisp Pinion Dance gains an additional charge, allowing Lan Yan to maintain her shield uptime more effectively by respawning the shield before the initial cooldown resets.

Lan Yan’s Weapon Recommendations include the five-star Jadefall's Splendor, which restores Lan Yan’s energy and gains an elemental damage bonus when creating a shield, and Memory of Dust, which increases shield strength as well as attack. Obviously, only use these weapons if you have them, but do not go out of your way to pull for them for Lan Yan.

Since there are no optimal five-star support weapons tailored for Lan Yan, the focus shifts to four-star options.

Hakushin Ring is a four-star craftable catalyst that boosts Electro damage, synergizing with teams that utilize the Electro element. It has a high base attack and provides energy recharge for Lan Yan. Oathsworn Eye is an event weapon that provides a straightforward attack percent boost, enhancing Lan Yan’s shield strength. It also increases energy recharge with its effect.

Favonius Codex converts energy from critical hits of normal attacks into elemental energy particles. It has reliable energy generation, supporting elemental burst usage. It also provides energy recharge by its base substat.

Sacrificial Fragments has a chance to reset cooldowns on elemental skills. This enables faster shield refresh for Lan Yan, though at the cost of reduced attack since it has an elemental mastery base substat.

Lan Yan's role as an anemo shielder emphasizes maximizing her shield's strength through increased attack. Her recommended artifact set is Viridescent Venerer, which has a two-piece set effect of increasing anemo damage bonus and a four-piece set effect that increases swirl damage and decreases enemies’ elemental resistance. Alternative artifact sets include a two-piece combination of any pieces with the two-piece set effect of increases attack percent, which include Unfinished Reverie, Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy, Nighttime Whispers in the Echoing Woods, Echoes of an Offering, Vermillion Hereafter, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, and Gladiator’s Finale. They provide a balanced increase to attack, enhancing shield strength.

For artifact main stats, use an attack percent sands, goblet, and circlet. While a full Elemental Mastery build is possible with Viridescent Venerer, it reduces her shield H.P. and is generally less effective compared to an attack-focused build.

For Lan Yan’s substats priority, focus on substats that enhance her primary role as a shielder. So first prioritize attack percent, then Energy Recharge, then Elemental Mastery, and lastly Critical Rate if using Favonius Codex.

For Lan Yan’s energy recharge requirements, aim for around one hundred eighty percent to two hundred percent if she is the only anemo character on your team and you use her elemental burst every rotation.

Lan Yan excels in teams that benefit from her shield and elemental interactions. Here are some viable team archetypes:

Aggravate Teams: Lan Yan, Electro main D.P.S., Dendro support, and an electro support. Lan Yan provides enhanced electro damage with Hakushin Ring and increased Elemental Mastery from Constellation Four for improved elemental reactions. An example team would be Clorinde, Lan Yan, Nahida, and Fischl.

Mono Pyro Teams: Lan Yan, Pyro main D.P.S., Pyro support, and a Geo or Anemo support. Lan Yan's shield protects the Pyro main D.P.S., allowing uninterrupted charge attacks. An example team would be Mavuika, Lan Yan, Xilonen, and Bennett.

Viridescent Venerer Vape Teams: Lan Yan, Pyro main D.P.S., hydro support, and pyro support. Defensive utility from Lan Yan protects the pyro main D.P.S., creating a balanced and resilient team. An example team would be Arlecchino, Xingqiu, Bennett, and Lan Yan.

Anemo Support Swap: Replace existing anemo supports like Sucrose with Lan Yan to incorporate additional shielding and Elemental Mastery buffs. This adds defensive layers while maintaining elemental synergy. While Lan Yan offers unique shielding, other supports like Kazuha and Jean provide more versatile buffs and healing options, making them preferable in many scenarios.

Overall, she seems to be a decent free-to-play shielder, but you should not go out of your way to get her or her constellations. Since the Mavuika is so good, and if Lan Yan is on her banner, you might pull Lan Yan and get a great shielder for your Mavuika.