Welcome back to another build guide! Today, the topic of discussion is Layla, the newest character released in the second half of update 3.2. In today’s guide, travelers, we will talk about how you can build Layla and give information on her Ascension and Talent stats, materials, and costs. We will also share our thoughts and suggestions on her talent upgrade priority, constellations, artifacts, weapons, and team comps. As with Nahida‘s build guide, let us begin with a brief introduction to Layla.
Layla, Titled: ” Fantastical Evening Star,” is a student of Theoretical Astrology, and a Rtawahist in Sumeru’s Akademiya. She is a 4-star Cryo Sword user, and Her attacks scale of both HP and ATK: her builds will heavily favor HP due to her Elemental Skill and Bursts. Primarily, she will serve as your team’s support/shield character.
A Summary
Layla makes use of her Elemental Skill to shield players; an HP-focused build on Layla will make use of the Tenacity of the Millelith artifact set. Her best-in-slot 5-star weapon could be the Key of Khaj–Nisut, with the 4-star option being the Favonius Sword for Energy Recharge.
Layla’s Ascension and Talent Costs/ Mats
Upgrading any character past their base strength is an integral part of building them; in Layla‘s case, she gains Bonus HP every few ascension phases, starting from 6% at ascension phase 2, settling at 24% Bonus HP at ascension phase 6. Leveling up your characters is the best way to increase their effectiveness in any team role, be it DPS, Sub-DPS, or Support.
Layla’s Ascension Costs
Players will have to spend a few sleepless nights farming Shivada Jade by the bucket load to begin ascending Layla. Furthermore, players will have to fish out (please don’t actually go fishing; it’s not literal) Nilotpala Lotus found in water bodies littered throughout Sumeru. Travelers will also have to exorcise some Samachurls to obtain their Seals and spend a few days farming enough resin and defeating the Aeonblight Drake to gather enough Perpetual Caliber.
Ascension Level | Materials Required | Mora Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Level 20 | x1 Shivada Jade Sliver x3 Nilotpala Lotus x3 Divining Scroll | 20,000 |
| Level 40 | x3 Shivada Jade Fragment x2 Perpetual Caliber x10 Nilotpala Lotus x15 Divining Scroll | 40,000 |
| Level 50 | x6 Shivada Jade Fragment x4 Perpetual Caliber x20 Nilotpala Lotus x12 Sealed Scroll | 60,000 |
| Level 60 | x3 Shivada Jade Chunk x8 Perpetual Caliber x30 Nilotpala Lotus x18 Sealed Scroll | 80,000 |
| Level 70 | x6 Shivada Jade Chunk x12 Perpetual Caliber x45 Nilotpala Lotus x12 Forbidden Scroll | 100,000 |
| Level 80 | x6 Shivada Jade Gemstone x20 Perpetual Caliber x60 Nilotpala Lotus x24 Forbidden Scroll | 120,000 |
| Totals | x1 Shivada Jade Sliver x9 Shivada Jade Fragment x9 Shivada Jade Chunk x6 Shivada Jade Gemstone x18 Divining Scroll x30 Sealed Scroll x36 Forbidden Scroll x46 Perpetual Caliber x168 Nilotpala Lotus | 420,000 |
Layla’s Talent Upgrade Costs
The table displays the costs of upgrading just ONE of Layla‘s THREE combat talents.
Upgrading Talents is an important part of building a character; considering Layla‘s combat talents, players should prioritize which playstyle (and hence talents) they prefer using when playing her. We say this because some of these items are difficult to obtain in bulk, so consideration is needed from the player’s end when deciding which domains to triumph.
Layla makes use of the Ingenuity series to upgrade her talents. The Ingenuity series can be selected as an award if the traveler successfully completes the Steeple of Ignorance domain in Sumeru on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The Mirror of Mushin can be obtained by defeating the new weekly boss, Shouki no Kami.
| Talent Level | Materials Required | Mora Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 | x3 Teachings of Ingenuity x6 Divining Scroll | 12,500 |
| Level 3 | x2 Guide to Ingenuity x3 Sealed Scroll | 17,500 |
| Level 4 | x4 Guide to Ingenuity x4 Sealed Scroll | 25,000 |
| Level 5 | x6 Guide to Ingenuity x6 Sealed Scroll | 30,000 |
| Level 6 | x9 Guide to Ingenuity x9 Sealed Scroll | 37,500 |
| Level 7 | x4 Philosophies of Ingenuity x4 Forbidden Scroll x1 Mirror of Mushin | 120,000 |
| Level 8 | x6 Philosophies Ingenuity x6 Forbidden Scroll x1 Mirror of Mushin | 260,000 |
| Level 9 | x12 Philosophies of Ingenuity x9 Forbidden Scroll x2 Mirror of Mushin | 450,000 |
| Level 10 | x16 Philosophies of Ingenuity x12 Forbidden Scroll x2 Mirror of Mushin x1 Crown of Insight | 700,000 |
| Totals | x3 Teachings of Ingenuity x21 Guides of Ingenuity x38 Philosophies of Ingenuity x6 Divining Scroll x22 Sealed Scroll x31 Forbidden Scroll x6 Mirror of Mushin x1 | 1,652,500 |
Layla’s Talents
In this section, we discuss Layla‘s Passive and Combat Abilities, how they work together, and how they complement the rest of her kit.
Summary
- As part of her normal attack sequence, Layla unleashes sword strikes. She also uses stamina to unleash a more powerful attack.
- Layla‘s Elemental Skill shields your active character based on her Max HP, occasionally shooting off Cryo Projectiles.
- Her Elemental Burst fires off a volley of Cryo projectiles, dealing DMG based on her Max HP.
- The character’s passive abilities allow her to give you extra Character Talent Materials, increase your active character’s shield strength, and increase your Elemental Skill’s Cryo Projectile DMG.
Layla‘s Passive Talents
Layla unlocks her two of her three Passive talents at certain levels of Ascension. Her last Passive ability is already unlocked when you first get the character.
Shadowy Dream-Sign
When Layla crafts Character Talent Materials, she has a 10% chance to receive double the product.
Being a 4-star character, Layla‘s utility is a viable replacement for Kamisato Ayaka, who offers the same incentive to the traveler.
Like Nascent Light
While the Curtain of Slumber is active, the Deep Sleep effect will activate each time the Curtain gains 1 Night Star: ·The Shield Strength of a character under the effect of the Curtain of Slumber increases by 6%. ·This effect can have a maximum of 4 stacks and persists until the Curtain of Slumber disappears.
The Curtain of Slumber, which we will discuss in greater detail soon, is Layla‘s Elemental Skill effect that provides your active character with a shield. Night Stars can be passively generated thanks to a timer and can be actively obtained when your characters who are protected by Layla‘s Skill use their Skill.
Sweet Slumber Undisturbed
The DMG dealt by the Shooting Stars fired by Nights of Formal Focus is increased by 1.5% of Layla’s Max HP.
This passive bonus, although not essential, considering Layla‘s role as a support, will encourage HP-focused builds on Layla.
Layla’s Normal Attack
The following paragraphs summarise Layla‘s Normal and Charged Attacks.
Normal Attack: Sword of the Radiant Path
Her Normal Attack performs a 3-sequence strike on your opponents, and her Charged Attack consumes 20 stamina to unleash a stronger attack. This ability is not very relevant to Layla’s overall kit, so we recommend saving your Mora and leaving it at Level 1.
Layla’s Elemental Skill
This Ability is the most important part of her Kit; try prioritizing it above other upgrades.
Nights of Formal Focus
For the skimmers, activating her Skill creates a shield, Curtain of Slumber, around your active unit and can pass onto any character in your party. This shield’s absorption is based off Layla‘s Max HP. Also, as your party performs any of their Elemental Skill abilities, Layla will accumulate Night Star projectiles, shooting them as Shooting Stars off once their total count reaches 4.
For people interested in the details, activating Layla‘s Skill also deals AoE Cryo DMG to nearby enemies. It creates a shield, the Curtain of Slumber, surrounding your active character and protecting them from harm, depending on how much HP you’ve stacked onto your Layla. This shield absorbs Cryo DMG with 250% effectiveness and applies Cryo to Layla for a brief period. The Curtain of Slumber has a duration of 12s.
While the Curtain is active, it will continuously gain Night Stars every 1.5s or when your active character uses their Elemental Skill. The latter increment can only occur once every 0.3s These Night Stars can accumulate till their count reaches 4. Once this happens, these Night Stars will turn into Shooting Stars that can home in on enemies.
If your Curtain of Slumber is destroyed because it’s time for school, the accumulated Night Stars will be null, but if these stars are already being fired off as Shooting Stars, these Night Star stacks will persist till they are exhausted.
With that said, new Night Star stacks can not accumulate until the previous wave is completely fired off.
This ability has a CD of 12s.
Is Layla’s Skill Better Than Diona’s?
It depends; if you’ve already pulled Diona and have her at a high Constellation, it may be worth just keeping her as your main shielder (unless you also have Zhongli). However, Layla‘s constellations and overall Elemental Skill Scaling do have some edge over Diona‘s
Shield Scaling
For a test HP value of 30,000 on both characters, we have determined that at Lv.8, Layla‘s shield has a base absorption of 7134.4 HP. Meanwhile, Diona‘s shield has 4755.1 HP base shield absorption.
From this data, we can determine that, on average, Layla‘s shield is 1.5x stronger than Diona‘s.
Combat Buffs from Passives/ Constellations
Diona has better Passive Talents than Layla; she can increase your team’s mobility and also make your enemies weaker.
- Diona‘s Passive, Cat’s Tail Secret Menu, increases your character’s Movement SPD and decreases Stamina Consumption. She can also Debuff your enemies, making use of Drunkards’ Farce, decreasing their ATK when they enter her Elemental Burst’s AoE.
- Layla‘s passive, Like Nascent Light, increases your character’s shield strength, and her Sweet Slumber Undisturbed passive increases her own Skill’s DMG based on her HP.
But what about their constellations?
- Layla‘s C1 increases her shield absorption by 20%; her C2 can give her some extra energy thanks to her Shooting Stars; her C4 increases your party’s Normal and Charged Attack DMG based on the character’s Max HP. Her off-field DMG capabilities are greatly enhanced thanks to her C6.
- Diona‘s C1 gives the character some extra energy, and her C2 increases her shield absorption by 15%. The unit’s C6 can give your team additional health in emergencies and in normal circumstances, a 200-point Elemental Mastery bonus.
If it comes down to the character’s constellations, honestly, it depends on what sorta characters you play; if your Physical, Normal Attacking DPS team needs a good Cryo applier and a shielder, Layla is your best bet. On the other hand, if your team needs a Cryo applier, healer, and shielder all in one who also buffs your team’s Elemental DMG, Diona is an excellent choice.
The following is a graphical representation of where Layla generally stands compared to other shielders under general circumstances. Exact rankings and placement may differ based on individual travelers’ artifact sets and sub-stats.
Layla’s Elemental Burst
A good Sub-DPS ability, players are recommended to upgrade it after they’re done with their Elemental Skill Upgrades.
Dream of the Star-Stream Shaker
Layla‘s Burst summons forth a Celestial Dreamsphere that discharges Starlight Slugs at your opponent within an AoE. Furthermore, each Starlight Slug can regenerate 1 Night Star for your on-field Curtain of Slumbers every 0.5s
Layla’s Constellations
A quick pause.
Disclaimer
A brief note is necessary here… Please do not feel forced to roll for a character’s constellations. They are nice to have and can boost a character’s effectiveness, but they aren’t worth spending real-world currency on unless you have a large reserve of expendable income.
However, if you do end up getting more constellations for our dozy astrologist, congratulations! Let us get you familiar with Layla‘s Stella Fortuna.
A Summary of Layla’s Constellations
- The character’s C1 buffs her shield, also allowing other party members from Co-Op to get some extra protections.
- Layla‘s C2 can give her some extra energy.
- The unit’s C3 and C5 upgrade her Elemental Skill and Burst.
- C4 can give her accompanying party to do extra Normal/Charged/Plunging Attack DMG based on her HP.
- Layla‘s C6 buffs her Cryo Projectiles DMG from her Skill and Burst, also reducing her Nightstar generation CD.
Being a 4-star character, Layla gives the traveler a relatively easier wishing-for-constellations session. Although the exact rates depend on your luck with the RNG mechanisms, obtaining the character’s C4 and C6 will empower your team’s DPS capabilities, making them her most important constellations.
Constellation Lv.1: Fortress of Fantasy
Obtaining this constellation increases Layla‘s shield absorption by 20%, also allowing her to generate a shield for any nearby party members if they don’t already have one. This shield will inherit 35% of her original shield’s absorption and will last for 12s. Just like the parent shield, the inherited Curtain of Slumber will absorb Cryo DMG with 250% effectiveness.
Considering the constellation position (i.e. c1, c2, c3,c…), and the fact that she’s a 4-star, Layla‘s C1 is a surprisingly good constellation and will help travelers get an extra base absorption for the same amount of HP. Alternatively, players trying to reach a certain absorption quota can make good use of this 20% bonus.
Constellation Lv.2: Light’s Remit
A quality of life upgrade, activating this constellation on your character allows them to generate 1 extra Energy point from every opponent hit by a Shooting Star. Each Shooting Star can only provide one extra Energy to Layla.
Layla‘s C2 is not the most useful or breathtaking constellation in the game, but it can help get you out of those annoying pinch situations where you need more energy in your Elemental Burst bar.
Constellation Lv.3 + Lv.5: Secrets of the Night + Stream of Consciousness
These two constellations buff the talent level of every character in the Genshin world. In Layla‘s case, her C3 adds 3 levels to her current Elemental Skill talent level, and her C5 adds 3 levels to her current Elemental Burst talent level.
Constellation Lv.4: Starry Illumination
Layla‘s C4 can give any nearby party members the Open Mind effect when their Curtain of Slumber begins firing Shooting Stars. The Open Mind effect increases your party member’s Normal and Charged Attack DMG by 5% of Layla‘s Max HP and lasts for 3s. After attacking either of the two ways, the effect will persist for 0.1s before being cleared. To regain this effect quickly, players will have to rapidly unleash their Elemental Skills for enough Nightstars to accumulate.
Constellation Lv.6: Radiant Soulfire
I like how Layla‘s kit gives her DPS capabilities some consideration as well, not focusing solely on her niche as a shield support.
Finding the final star in Layla‘s constellation in the skies will enable her Cryo projectiles (Shooting stars and Starlight Slugs) to deal 40% increased DMG. Also, reducing her Nightstar generation CD from 1.5s to 1.2s.
Layla’s Best Artifact Sets
Sets complimenting Layla‘s HP and off-field Skill DMG mechanics will serve her wonderfully; Zhongli may have found his match because the best artifact set for the ideal Layla build is the 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith artifact set. However, we understand that players may want to equip her with a Cryo and Shield Support build, so the 2-piece Blizzard Strayer (also called the Icebreaker) set is also good on Layla in some situations.
Tenacity of the Millelith and Ice Breaker
The 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith set is going to be your best artifact build option for Layla; the 2-piece set bonus increase’s your equipping character’s HP by 20%. Also, when your equipped character’s Elemental Skill DMGs nearby opponents, the 4-piece effect increases all nearby party members’ ATK by 20% and their Shield Strength by 30% for 3s. This effect can be triggered from off-field and can be triggered once every 0.5s.
This set is perfect for Layla; her shield scales of HP, her Nightstars can accumulate from off-field, and her Shooting Stars can deal DMG from off-field, making full use of the 2 and 4-piece bonuses. Highly Recommended.
On the other hand, players may feel the need to buff their Layla‘s Cryo DMG. For that reason, we recommend you go ahead with the 2-piece Blizzard Strayer/Icebreaker set alongside a 2-piece Tenacity of the Millelith build. This set combination will offer a generalized use case for Layla, allowing her to shield and deal moderate DMG from on/off-field.
Layla’s Best Stats on Artifact Sets
A Support focused build on Layla should focus on stacking as much HP on the character as possible, which means HP Sands, Goblet, and Circlet. If you want to go the extra mile, you can try ensuring that the sub-stats on these artifacts have as much HP% as possible.
However, players may find it useful to make use of some of her combat capabilities in the form of her Elemental Skill and Bursts’ Shooting Stars and Starlight Slugs. For this purpose, we recommend going for a Cryo-Support build on Layla, which uses Cryo DMG% Goblet and HP/CRIT Circlet.
Layla’s Best Weapons
These are some of our recommendations; we suggest the Traveler experiment and play around with any build option that comes to their head.
Key Of Khaj-Nisut
A Support Layla‘s Best-In-Slot weapon, the Key of Khaj-Nisut, as a part of its passive ability, Sunken Song of the Sands, increases your equipping character’s HP by 20% unconditionally. When the unit’s Elemental Skill hits opponents, they obtain the Grand Gymn effect for 20s, increasing your character’s Elemental Mastery by 0.12% of their max HP. This effect can stack up to a maximum of 3 and can be procced every 0.3s.
Furthermore, when your total stacks reach 3, all nearby party members gain bonus Elemental Mastery based on 0.2% of the equipping characters’ max HP. This bonus can favor your team for 20s.
This weapon (if you end up pulling for it in Nilou‘s banner) is going to complement your Layla‘s Support Builds wonderfully; the massive 66.2% HP boost plus the unconditional 20% increase will favor Layla‘s DPS and shield support capabilities, and the Elemental Mastery boost she gives to your teammates will benefit any Elemental-DMG based team comps.
Favonius Sword
The Favonius Sword is an excellent 4-star, free-to-play option for any sword user in Genshin Impact. It is an excellent choice if your equipping character is in need of some extra Energy Recharge % to get their burst back on cooldown.
Windfall, the passive bonus players can get from this sword, provides players with some extra Energy when their CRIT attacks hit opponents. This passive has a 60% chance to activate at Refinement Rank 1 and can go up-tp 100% at Refinemenk Rank 5.
Festering Desire
The Festering Desire is a decent 4-star option that can empower any build playstyle that revolves around her Elemental Skill, proccing Shooting Stars and dealing Cryo DMG.
The weapon’s passive, Undying Admiration, increases Layla’s Elemental Skill DMG by 16%, and her skill’s CRIT Rate by 6% at Refinement Rank 1.
This weapon was released during Genshin Impact’s version 1.2 event, The Chalk Prince and the Dragon, so it isn’t accessible to everyone; so for players looking for alternatives, we recommend the next weapon on this list.
Sacrificial Sword
The Sacrificial Sword‘s passive, Composed, has a chance to reset your Elemental Skill’s cooldown, ensuring Layla‘s Elemental Skill’s availability; we recommend players to use this weapon at high refinement; this will ensure consistency when proccing the passive bonus that the weapon provides.
Layla‘s Skill has a duration and CD of 12s; this may mess up some team rotations if the Skill ends prematurely, i.e., when facing foes with strong attacks, so the traveler may find it useful to have the skill ready for use whenever they need it.
Layla’s Best Teams
We always encourage players to experiment with their own play styles and combos. Remember, there are 57 and counting characters in Genshin Impact, with countless possible combinations that can exist; we urge players not to get locked in the meta of team composition.
Layla is best used in your teams as a shield support and for proccing occasional Cryo reactions. So, keeping in mind her shield capabilities and the normal attack boost provided by her C4, let us discuss some potential team comps for Layla!
Pyro Support
Layla works excellently with Hu-Tao. Recall Xingqiu, who can continuously inflict the enemy with Hydro from off-field, enabling Hu-Tao to, quite literally, Vaporise your enemies. Cryo characters like Layla can be a wonderful substitute for and even work alongside Xingqiu to supplement such teams. Enabling Cryo–Pyro Melt reaction alongside Vaporise and the occasional Freeze will allow your Hu-Tao to dish out some ridiculous numbers.
Of course, it would be unwise to restrict this team composition to Hu-Tao. We must mention that she can work just as well with Pyro DPSs’ like Diluc, Yoimiya, and for the heck of it, Xinyan.
Perma-Freeze
One example could be a Perma-Freeze team, using Xinqiu’s Rain Swords and Layla‘s Shooting Stars and Starlight Slugs to constantly deal Hydro and Cryo DMG from off-field. Teammates like Sucrose and Kazuha can be used to group enemies, making them easier to finish off with someone like Yelan, Kamisato Ayato, or Kamisato Ayaka.
Physical Razor DPS
Razor is an Electro character who deals excellent physical DMG, which can be boosted by reacting Electro with Cryo (and vice versa) to proc Superconduct. Team members like Rosaria or Layla can aid your main-DPS unit, Razor, to proc said reactions. Your 3rd and 4th slot can be someone like Raiden Shogun and Bennett. These two characters will buff Razor‘s overall DMG, and the Raiden Shogun can also hold her own in a fight.
Modified Morgana
Morgana is one of the most popular team comps in Genshin Impact. The team consists of Mona, Ganyu, Venti, and Diona. In some cases, players can use the extra DMG that Layla provides; replacing Diona in this team comp will provide a better shield option and some extra Cryo Application via her Shooting Stars and Starlight Slugs.
Since Layla‘s shield is so powerful in the first place, Players can substitute Diona‘s healing capabilities for more Cryo DMG and a stronger Shield. The exact use case depends on whether your characters are adequately built and your own preferences/ domain niche etc.
Conclusion
That is it for our Layla build guide! Would you happen to have any suggestions? Is there anything we can do to add to our articles? What did you think about the 3.2 update? If you’re already done with it, why not check out what’s coming in version 3.3? Thank you for reading. See you in another article!
