Two new Artifact sets have been leaked for Varesa’s gameplay kit in Genshin Impact.

HoYoverse has yet to confirm Varesa as a playable character, but leaks have shown that she will be a 5-star unit arriving in the next patch. The rumors also revealed that Iansan will be released as a 4-star unit. Both characters are said to use Electro DMG in combat, though Varesa’s leaked gameplay kit shows she will be a DPS, while rumors indicate Iansan will be a for team comps. Aside from the characters, who are the highlight of each patch, the leaks have also revealed details about other content, such as new Artifacts in Genshin Impact 5.5.

Two New Artifact Sets May Arrive With Genshin Impact 5.5

One Set Benefits Cryo Characters While The Other Enhances Plunging Attack DMG

As seen in information provided by the leaker known as Hakushin, two new Artifact sets are slated for release in Version 5.5: Finale of the Deep Galleries and Long Night’s Oath. The leak was shared in a post tagged as “Reliable” on Reddit. According to the leak, the former will provide a 15% Cryo DMG Bonus with its two-piece effect, while the four-piece bonus will increase Normal Attack DMG and Burst DMG by 40% when the ’s Energy is a 0. Once either of these DMGs is dealt, the other effect will be disabled for six seconds in Genshin Impact.

The second set, Long Night’s Oath, will allegedly increase Plunging Attack DMG by 25% with the two-piece bonus, according to the leak. Alternatively, the four-piece bonus will see that after Plunging Attacks/Charged Attacks/Elemental Skills hit an enemy, the gains 1/2/2 buff stacks. Each stack causes the two-piece effect to increase by 60% for six seconds. As seen in the leak, the buffs can be repeatedly triggered once every second, and each stack’s duration is counted independently. Because of the bonuses to Plunging Attack, this may be a worthwhile Artifact set to farm in Genshin Impact, especially for Xiao mains.

Leaked Artifacts In Genshin Impact 5.5 Could Become Xiao’s New BiS

Long Night’s Oath’s Attention To Plunging Attack DMG Could Enhance Xiao’s Value

Because of how much Plunging Attack DMG bonuses are provided by the leaked Long Night’s Oath Artifacts, this set could become Xiao’s new BiS (best-in-slot). The majority of Xiao’s damage output as an on-field DPS comes from his Plunging Attacks – more specifically, those enabled by his Elemental Burst. If the leaks about the Version 5.5 Artifact sets are correct and Xiao was to equip the new Long Night’s Oath pieces, his Plunging Attack DMG could see significant boosts, especially because it is fairly simple to trigger the buff stacks with his Charged Attacks and Elemental Skill in Genshin Impact.

After that, Xiao could use his Elemental Burst and start his sequence of repeated Plunging Attacks, taking advantage of the buff stacks set up by his Charged Attack and Elemental Skill, and consistently triggering a buff stack with his Plunging Attacks. Seeing these are at the forefront of his kit, Xiao could become even more powerful than he already is. This can be further enhanced if players are running Xiao alongside Xianyun in their team comps. With Xianyun in Genshin Impact, the party ’ Plunging Attacks deal more DMG to enemies and their Plunging Attack CRIT Rate is increased.

It’s worth noting that these leaked Long Night’s Oath Artifacts don’t seem to be designed specifically for Xiao, as much as they allegedly serve him. The aforementioned leaks about Varesa’s gameplay kit indicate that she will be a Plunging DPS. According to the rumors, the majority of Varesa’s damage output should come from Plunging Attacks. Furthermore, her kit should revolve around allowing her to execute this move more often: her Charged Attack should propel her upward, allowing her to execute a Plunging Attack, while her Elemental Skill is rumored to enable a Charged Attack without stamina consumption in Genshin Impact.

This proves that the leaked Long Night’s Oath Artifacts from Version 5.5 were designed to attend to Varesa’s rotation, which will consist of the usage of her Charged Attacks and Skill to execute Plunging Attacks, thus enabling the several buff stacks that further enhance Plunging Attack DMG. As much as this has seemingly been designed for Varesa, the rumored Artifact set should also boost Xiao’s value as a Plunging Attack DPS and, while that may seem like good news from a combat perspective, it’s actually bittersweet news for players who have been using Xiao in Genshin Impact for a while.

Farming New Artifacts For Xiao In Genshin Impact Could Be Annoying

Xiao’s Best Artifacts Have Already Changed A Few Times

As positive as the gameplay effects of this rumored new set may seem, they have a downside: grinding. Xiao is a particularly complicated character because his build has undergone quite a few changes over the years, and Artifacts have played a pivotal role in how complicated he has been. With his initial release, Xiao’s best Artifact compositions revolved around either four pieces of Gladiator’s Finale, four pieces of Viridiscent Venerer, or two pieces of each set. Over a year after his release (in Version 2.6, specifically), Xiao’s best Artifacts in Genshin Impact, Vermillion Hereafter were released.

This, in turn, prompted Xiao mains to once again start farming Artifacts for the 5-star Anemo DPS. The four pieces of Vermillion Hereafter play right into Xiao’s gameplay kit and rotation and the bonuses it provides are massive, so anyone still running the early-game sets would see Xiao’s value diminished. The problem here is that farming Artifacts in the game is extremely tough since players need to battle against randomized drops with randomized stats and sub-stats. As such, farming the best Vermillion Hereafter pieces for Xiao in Genshin Impact could have been a year-long effort if they were even obtained.

In Version 4.0, the game saw the release of the Marechaussee Hunter Artifact set. Even though it is not as strong as Vermillion Hereafter for Xiao, it is a very reliable alternative for his build, especially considering the massive CRIT Rate bonuses it can provide. If players opted to switch sets again, they likely submitted themselves to hours of farming once again. Now, if the Long Night’s Oath leaks are true, Xiao mains may see themselves once again having to farm new Artifacts for the character in Genshin Impact, which can be quite exhausting.

As reliable as the leaks may seem, they should still be considered with caution, as the information may be incorrect, incomplete, or subject to change. Nevertheless, it does seem like Xiao is getting yet another Artifact set that has the potential to become his BiS and, as exciting as that may be in of renewing his value as a 5-star Anemo DPS, the subsequent grind involved in farming these new pieces in Genshin Impact may be extremely annoying, especially for players who have already repeated this process a few times before.

Source: Reddit