Genshin Impact: Can Yelan be Xingqiu's replacement in Hu Tao team comp?

Yelan is often called the five-star Xingqiu by the Genshin Impact community. This is not just because of their haircuts, but also because of the resembling Hydro playstyles.

Both Yelan and Xingqiu are great at applying Hydro to enemies with their off-field Elemental Bursts. Thus, it is only natural for players to think about replacing Xingqiu in their Hu Tao teams following the 2.7 patch.

This article will talk about Yelan's capabilities as a Hydro support character for Hu Tao.

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Why are Xingqiu and Hu Tao broken in Genshin Impact

Before jumping to Yelan, it is important for readers to understand why Xingqiu and Hu Tao are used together. So much so that the four-star Hydro Sword user is called the tailor-made support for the five-star Polearm DPS.

Hu Tao and Xingqiu are used together for two major reasons.

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Constant Vaporize reactions

Elemental reactions are undoubtedly the basis of the combat system in Genshin Impact. Even though Geo, Anemo, and Physical damage dealers exist, the damage output from Vaporize and Melt is unmatched.

With Xingqiu's Elemental Burst, the Normal Attacks of the active character are infused with Hydro. When players use this ability and follow it with Hu Tao's Elemental Skill, enemies will constantly be affected by reverse Vaporize reactions (when Pyro-affected enemies are hit with Hydro attacks).

Reverse Vaporize has a 1.5x damage multiplier as opposed to Vaporize (Hydro affected enemies hit with Pyro attacks) that has a 2x multiplier. However, the latter can only be triggered once, and Reverse Vaporize is far more consistent.

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Hu Tao's internal cooldowns

ICDs in Genshin Impact stop characters from constantly triggering reactions. Luckily, Hu Tao performs a Normal Attack before her Charged Attack, and both attacks have separate internal cooldowns.

As a result, she first utilizes one of Xingqiu's swords and then uses her own Pyro attack to trigger Vaporize.

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How is Yelan's Hydro application similar to Xingqiu in Genshin Impact?

Based on leaks, it has been discovered that Yelan's Elemental Burst summons an Exquisite Throw that follows the active character and deals Hydro DMG whenever they use a Normal Attack.

Since Hu Tao performs a Normal Attack before her Charged Attack, it is safe to assume that Yelan will be a great support character for Hu Tao. In fact, as a five-star unit, she might be able to deal way more damage than Xingqiu.

Gameplay footage shows how Yelan's burst works exactly like Xingqiu, and players won't miss out on Vaporize damage if they replace the four-star character with the new Hydro character in Genshin Impact version 2.7.

Having said that, the information above is purely based on leaks. Before making a decision regarding saving/spending Primogems, players are advised to wait for the official announcements.