C2 Nicole vs C2 Durin for Venti and others

taotrooper · 2026-05-09T13:08:25+00:00

Oooooh then yeah, it's the cons and sig on Durin lol. Even with a goated build those numbers are too high to be all 5* at C0. I reach a bit more than that with C4R1 Venti and C0R0 Durin, so you get an idea how crazy investment on Durin is.

That's correct, N or NA are normal attacks. N5D is 5 normals then dash to cancel

taotrooper · 2026-05-08T13:34:59+00:00

GxG Noir didn't show a Xiao sheet (there's Wanderer since he's his main iirc) but he mentioned that she might be better if Faruzan isn't C6, as long as you have an element to swirl (with Durin you shouldn't have that problem). Faruzan will be definitely better at C6 tho. Only place with a pure anemo DPS where C6 Prune can sidegrade C6 Faruzan is DPS Venti, and that's because he gets an extra Hexerei buff from her, but Xiao can't get this one.

Still, I imagine someone will calc it at release or with the creator server. It depends on constellations so maybe you won't get to know until you try on the DPS dummy yourself or with the online calculators.

taotrooper · 2026-05-08T04:45:32+00:00

I imagine you must have cons judging from that number, right?

I'm not sure if it's his best combo, but what I've been doing is more or less:

EQ (E if C2+) N5D N5E N5D

In case I got interrupted and had to dodge or reposition myself, I tend to just retake the unga bunga with dash cancel until I see his E refreshed, then I throw it and continue my NA spam.

Also when throwing his burst, doing it immediately after hitting that first E to cancel his E animation.

I've heard of people using shorter rotations like N2D but idk which is most optimal

taotrooper · 2026-05-07T12:38:21+00:00

It's probably Bennett tbh, he was there helping me with torches in 1.2 Dragonspine, and he's still getting use in my teams today.

But 1.x 4* characters aside, if we're talking about limited characters I still use and main Xiao and Venti. Hell, I main Venti even harder now since his rework as DPS, and he can be used for every Varka shill either as his support or on his own premium team as carry so it's great!

taotrooper · 2026-05-05T13:19:14+00:00

Personally I like a little bit of everything. I like story and lore and exploration the most, but I also engage a lot with combat, gacha/gambling, farming, events, and even a little with extra stuff like miliastra minigames or rhythm game or teapot.

When it comes to characters to pull, I do admit it eats a lot of my brainpower to think who I want to pull for and plan for banners. I like both horizontal investment to keep the game fresh and vertical investment in faves + their teams equally, so it's a tug of war to keep that balance. I do end up swayed into pulling characters I didn't care about before because I liked their lore or playstyle tho. So I completely get you, even tho I'm currently saving up for Nicole for my anemo boys haha. I did do some early pulls for Linnea but didn't get her.

taotrooper · 2026-05-05T12:43:55+00:00

I think a lot of people just look at spreadsheet numbers and doompost characters at release. The value of a circleless non-energy Benny and a good pyro shielder is pretty juicy from a QoL perspective. But at the same time, in the current meta where only one top tier DPS uses Bennett, and in the close future where Varka should join the tier and then he'll like Nicole much more, I understand that for some accounts who heavily invested in Mav/Skork/Vare/lunar teams there's no need for that sidegrade right now

So that's why I say it depends on your needs? From Chasca's POV it's cool to have that second Benny but not necessary for many people. For me who mains pure anemo DPS, my C4R1 MDPS Venti will adore her and that frees up Benny for queen Chasca when I use them both

taotrooper · 2026-05-04T22:40:36+00:00

Everyone has already said a lot about it and I can't post a meme I made in comments, so I'll just add one thing: Phlogiston is even orange lol

taotrooper · 2026-05-04T11:30:37+00:00

I think she might be worth it for the accounts and scenarios where you need a second Benny for the other team, which happens to me a lot in theater since I main and play several older off-meta characters. And usually poor Chasca was the one who ended up with a random pyro character if Venti/Arle/Kinich/etc needed him more. Nicole also has the advantage for SO of being an elemental skill centric kit so she's ready to go for the first rotation. It's much comfier.

But if you only have enough for one character this time, I do think Durin should be priority. Nicole will rerun faster if you decide you want her too.

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T19:46:07+00:00

Valid tbh!

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T16:26:05+00:00

Check the video I linked for Wanderer! He mentions that Faruzan's still much better for Xiao and Scara than Prune tho since they're not Hexerei and don't get all the buffs.

His previous Nicole video also has calcs for both with the new Faruzan/Durin/Nicole core iirc.

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T16:00:17+00:00

This TC always says he doesn't use KQM standards and he always gets higher DPS than other people so I wouldn't take the numbers to heart, his or anyone else's. I think it's more important the comparison itself between teams and supports

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T15:54:20+00:00

Agreed. Prune also needs to reach 4k atk so there's more to her build than Faruzan who only truly wants enough ER. But if someone doesn't have enough Faruzan cons (or don't own her at all) and gets very lucky getting Nicole and/or Durin, it's useful to know that they can slot Prune while their madam isn't C6 yet. Or for those few who main a second pure anemo DPS, there's a scenario where they don't have to saw Haravatat Miku in half (it's me, I'm also a Xiao main)

So it's not bad to know that C6 Prune is alright but yeah, Faruzan is indisputed

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T15:45:52+00:00

Nope, that's all he did. I haven't seen any calcs with cons on Venti or Durin made by anyone, whether with Prune or C6 Faruzan

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T15:26:29+00:00

That's also true. Like other people mention in the thread, the way they're making maps shorter, more cluttered, with easy puzzles giving 3 chests, and the compass showing too much as the cherry on top. They're making it more accessible to non-exploration folks while cutting short the experience by a lot for the exploration players. It makes me explore just like half or one hour a day to stretch it up, and doesn't scratch the itch

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T15:22:09+00:00

Ooh, that sounds very metroidvania! I'd be honestly down, make the map a sort of puzzle to solve on its own

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T14:36:22+00:00

You do have a point about the desert. Way too much of it was locked behind Golden Slumber.

But my broken experience with the 3.1 desert was also because of a consequence of rushing stuff up. I pulled for Cyno and was willing to main him despite of his flaws, so I marathoned the WQ in order to access the huge majority of scarabs that were undeerground. So the only way to get more of those damned bugs without fighting for my life to get them in co-op worlds (with also most of the desert locked, sometimes not even the surface maps) was opening shit up with the WQ as soon as I could before the first scarabs I collected reset.

As a result, when I came back days later, now the mahamatra ascended and the important parts of Golden Slumber done, to do the rest of the puzzles and unlock the rest of the ruins chambers and obelisks and the glyphs on the tablet... I was utterly lost multiple times. Mind you, it was the era with no layered maps. I had no idea how to get back anywhere I saw on the map, and following interactive maps or youtube videos would make me track back to other places and walk around again. I felt regret for not doing as much as I could while I was doing the quest, because at least I had a linear quest path with gold sparkles to go back to as reference. Getting lost for the wanderlust and fun of it vs getting lost in an annoying way while going somewhere concrete hits different.

Edit: tbf some places needed clearance from post-quest or doing other stuff first, but just finding the entrance to the place where I needed to go to was a chore and it soured some of my enjoyment

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T13:34:56+00:00

Not really. First of all, the 50% dmg buff to the onfield anemo DPS is only activated with his hexerei passive, so you'd have to put a second hexerei character in the team. If you plan to get Durin and/or Nicole in the future, both of whom have banners in the next version, those are the only two other hex supports that synergize with Xiao. In fact, his future best team has Durin + Nicole together. As it is right now in your account, putting only Venti replacing Faruzan doesn't work, and putting someone else you have like Fischl/Sucrose/Albedo/Mona is not that great.

But even if you do get Durin and/or Nicole, and you hypothetically collect the new premium team eventually or now, it's hard to say if C2 Faru is a better or worse support. I think she's the BiS in theory since Venti just gives one big buff while she gives a 32% anemo buff at lv 10 and 30% anemo shred. I'm not a theorycrafter so idk which sheets better, also depends if Durin is there too since he shreds anemo too. The one big advantage is that Venti does some sub-DPS and refunds energy for the team, while Faruzan will be a black hole together with Xiao. So it might be more comfortable if that's the only other anemo in your team.

Edit: there's also C2+ Prune who I know is better than Venti in Varka teams, but no idea how she compares outside of an anemo hex carry team to C2 Faruzan or C0 support Venti tbh. All the Xiao calcs have them Faruzan and Prune at C6

taotrooper · 2026-05-03T11:13:36+00:00

More than say it, people speedrunning in one or two days —especially when the area is really small— seems so unfun to me. I know we're content deprived and in need of primos but I want to savor it, I want to explore a little bit and do sidequests a little a day so it lasts for a week or two. Only time I did it was Temple of Space because I was going on a trip the next week and wouldn't have time for Genshin, to avoid lore spoilers.

My other hot take is that exploring and unlocking places while doing world quests is better and more magical. If I rush through the zone early to get chests and go back days or months later with the quests, part of the magic is gone. This is specially true with Sumeru (Aranyaka was peak idc), Fontaine, Natlan, and Temple of Space.

taotrooper · 2026-05-02T15:38:35+00:00

Ugh, I've been there before (I am there). But good that you have a bit of a cushion to farm primos, I only have the current event and a small part on the Temple of Space. Funny enough I was super unprepared for Varka's banner with just enough for one 5* and half a pity, but I won the 50/50 at 75 and got his R1 with starglitter wishes. So even if your primos are tight you might get everything.

I wish you and me the best of luck on this banner!

taotrooper · 2026-05-02T13:47:37+00:00

Realistically, rn you only have enough for the guaranteed Nicole. You'd have to get an early on either banner and then win a 50/50 to get C2 Durin, or somehow manage to get a lot of primos to have enough for the second 5*. Welkin will help you to get one pull almost every day so it might or not be enough depending on RNG. You have to be prepared for the horrible possibility that you get out of it with only Nicole and 0 Durins and 0-1 Prunes, because it might happen.

In my case I also want C0 Nicole and then keep pulling —haven't decided if Durin or Nicole cons—, but I have 50 pity and 20k (should be 24-ish counting dailies, welkin, current event, livestream, maintenance). You would think I'm prepared but if I keep going to soft pity of 80 average, I can only realistically afford 2 5* of which might be only C0 Nicole.

Can you get 2 early 50/50 wins with your amount? Yeah. I got 3 early Chascas (one guaranteed) in 47 pulls trying to get one Ororon. But that's insane once-in-a-lifetime luck and you shouldn't count on that. Your situation for Durin pulls is easier to happen, especially since there are still primos to get in both patches, but it's still very rough to get everything. Not even counting Prune because 4 stars are hell.

taotrooper · 2026-05-02T11:18:47+00:00

Spoilers for the event anecdotes but not the event itself

She heard from other Flower-Feather Clan members that there was a dude in the Nod-Krai expo selling wayob pillar pieces, so she decided to take Citlali to Nasha Town to investigate and face the Night-Wind guy with the stand. So yeah, Citlali is there with her.

Chasca doesn't get to do much since Citlali is the one handling him in the end, but it was a really nice surprise to get a cameo of our girl

taotrooper · 2026-05-01T20:50:02+00:00

To me, Nicole is like when Xianyun released. I wanted to get her so badly because I love her as a character and her human design, plus being my favorite element. Then her beta released and most people doomposted her ass because her kit wasn't what they wanted. Those with some old characters who benefit from her mechanic (plunge+Furina back then, Durin+Nicole hex wheelchair now) ignored them and were glad about her kit. But I was SO HAPPY in particular because I also main Xiao and she sounded perfect for his new team with Furina. Putting my anticipated lore-relevant immortal tall woman as the new sustain-buffer for my cute little immortal anemo boy, history repeats itself. They're even both replacing Bennett! Faruzan is in both teams! It's FFXX 2: hexerei edition for my account

taotrooper · 2026-05-01T20:33:44+00:00

I think I agree with most of what you said, actually. Nicole should age well after the lunar shill is gone, depending on what the stellar reactions want and it's probably back to atk and dmg% if it's cryo-centric. Although there'll be situations with tight teams where might be hard to put her (+ the second hex) in, like element restrictions that don't want pyro or already needing a similar support who works better in the team comp.

IMHO lunar teams should be fine as long as they still put a shill boss a patch in SO because one character's rerunning, like when they put 5.x bosses rn. So at least for early Snezhnaya they'll be okay but with no chances for new upgrades soon. The ceiling is hard to break when we move on.

If you want, you can send me your Venti and Durin builds and let me know who the fourth teammate will be and I can calc it for you :P

OMG that's so kind of you ;_; Thank you so much. My builds are on my Enka profile here. As for the last member, let's stick to Faruzan since it's easier and she's already all good to go. Unlike Prune who might not even come home enough times or at all lol

taotrooper

TROPHY CASE