Yangyang: Xuanling is the five-star Havoc rework of the original four-star aero support, and she plays nothing like her earlier self. She’s a Sword-wielding Main DPS whose damage comes almost entirely from empowered Heavy Attacks, fueled by a stance-switching loop and stacks of Havoc Bane. Build her around crit, attack, Havoc damage, and Heavy Attack bonus, and she becomes one of the strongest single-element carries in the roster.
Quick answer: Equip her signature sword Azure Oath, run a five-piece Song of Feathered Trace set with the Thousand-Puppet Pavilion main echo, prioritize crit rate/damage, attack, and Havoc damage on your echoes, and pair her with Chisa and Suisui to keep Havoc Bane applied.
Yangyang: Xuanling at a build level
| Rarity | 5★ |
| Attribute | Havoc |
| Weapon type | Sword |
| Role | Heavy Attack Main DPS |
| Best weapon | Azure Oath |
| Best echo set | Song of Feathered Trace (5-piece) |
| Best main echo | Thousand-Puppet Pavilion |
| Key stats | Crit rate/damage, attack, Havoc damage, Heavy Attack bonus |
The important detail is that her damage does not scale off the Havoc Bane status itself. Havoc Bane is a trigger that unlocks her self-buffs, but the numbers land through Heavy Attack damage. That means Negative Status damage boosts do nothing for her, while anything that raises Heavy Attack damage, crit, or attack pays off directly.
Best weapons for Yangyang: Xuanling
Her signature sword, Azure Oath, is the clear best-in-slot. It carries high base attack and a crit rate main stat, grants a flat All-Attribute damage bonus, and after she inflicts Havoc Bane it amplifies her Heavy Attack damage while letting those hits ignore part of the target’s defense. She applies Havoc Bane constantly, so that passive stays live through her whole rotation.
Because Wuthering Waves has no 50/50 on the weapon banner, limited swords are still not guaranteed, so it’s worth knowing the fallbacks. Sword users have deep options, and she works well with almost any attack- and crit-based blade, especially ones that stack Heavy Attack damage.
| Weapon | Rarity | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Oath | Limited 5★ | Signature sword; All-Attribute bonus plus Heavy Attack amplification and defense ignore on Havoc Bane. |
| Emerald Sentence | Limited 5★ | Strongest alternative; stacks Heavy Attack damage after Intro or Basic Attacks. |
| Emerald of Genesis | Standard 5★ | Best free-to-play 5★; crit rate stat with attack and energy regen buffs from casting Resonance Skill. |
| Red Spring | 5★ | Viable stat stick with strong attack and Basic damage scaling. |
| Lumingloss | 4★ | Best 4★ pick; raises Basic and Heavy Attack damage on Resonance Skill. |
| Somnoire Anchor / Fables of Wisdom | 4★ | Reliable budget swords that keep her damage competitive. |
Best echo sets and main echo
A full five-piece Song of Feathered Trace is her strongest set. The two-piece grants 10% energy regen for smoother stance flows, and the five-piece triggers off Havoc Bane to give her a 20% crit rate boost and a 35% Heavy Attack damage bonus for 15 seconds. Since she applies Havoc Bane throughout her combo, both bonuses stay up during her damage windows.
| Echo set | Rating | Recommended main echo |
|---|---|---|
| Song of Feathered Trace (5-piece) | Best | Thousand-Puppet Pavilion |
| Thread of Severed Fate (3-piece) + Havoc Eclipse (2-piece) | Second best | Reminiscence: Threnodian – Leviathan |
| Havoc Eclipse (5-piece) | Early alternative | Nightmare: Crownless |
Thousand-Puppet Pavilion is the ideal main echo. It’s a summon-type echo, so it does not interrupt her combo, and it gives an unconditional 12% Havoc damage and 12% Heavy Attack damage boost while dealing extra Havoc hits whenever she applies Havoc Bane. Reminiscence: Threnodian – Leviathan is the go-to when you’re running the Thread of Severed Fate split, since its bonus damage hits harder against Havoc Bane targets.
Echo main stats and substats
| Echo cost | Main stat |
|---|---|
| Cost 4 | Crit rate or crit damage |
| Cost 3 | Havoc damage bonus |
| Cost 1 | Attack % |
For substats, roll toward a balanced crit ratio first, then energy regen, Heavy Attack damage bonus, attack %, and flat attack. Aim for roughly 115% to 120% energy regen so her Resonance Liberation and stance flows stay on schedule. Because Song of Feathered Trace adds 20% crit rate on its own, keep your sheet crit rate a bit under the cap before the set activates so you don’t waste it.
Best teams for Yangyang: Xuanling
She wants teammates who either apply Havoc Bane, since it stacks her self-buffs, or provide flat damage and Heavy Attack support. Her own Outro Skill grants a Havoc damage amplification to teammates who then inflict Havoc Bane, so a Havoc-focused core rewards her the most. She does need a lot of on-field time, so she’s played as a hypercarry rather than a swap unit.
| Team | Members | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | Yangyang: Xuanling, Chisa, Suisui | Chisa and Suisui both feed and convert Havoc Bane, maximizing her multipliers and amplifying her Havoc damage. |
| Flexible | Yangyang: Xuanling, Lynae, Mornye | Buffing and support option when you lack the premium Havoc pair. |
| Budget | Yangyang: Xuanling, Mortefi, Verina | Mortefi covers Heavy Attack support cheaply, with Verina providing healing. |
Other buffers and healers slot in well too. Rebecca works as an accessible free stand-in, Iuno is a viable buffer, and Shorekeeper is a strong universal healer, though her crit-focused buffs partly overlap with Yangyang: Xuanling’s own crit sources.
Skill priority
Level her Forte Circuit first, since almost all of her damage flows through her Heavy Attacks, stance flows, and Havoc in Bloom combo. Her Resonance Liberation sits at the same top tier for its big nuke and Shadow of Xuanling summons.
- Forte Circuit and Resonance Liberation (top priority)
- Resonance Skill
- Basic Attack
- Intro Skill
How her rotation pays off the build
Her loop revolves around two resources. Basic Attacks in either stance consume Melody, and once Melody empties, her Resonance Skill turns into Sword Stance Flow. Casting Flow restores 100 Melody and grants one point of Azure Plume. At two Azure Plume, the stance’s Heavy Attack unlocks, and that’s where her damage lives.
Heavy Attack – Azure Sword Stance grants Bated Breath for a 160% crit damage boost on that hit, while Heavy Attack – Feather Sword Stance grants Streaming Storm for a 160% crit damage boost on the following Feather chain. Her Resonance Liberation, Hush of a Thousand Voices, spends all Melody for a large Heavy Attack hit, maxes Havoc Bane on everything it touches, and sets up a Shadow of Xuanling follow-up on her next Flow.
A clean opener runs like this: use the Intro Skill to enter, spend Melody with Basic Attacks while applying Havoc Bane, cast Sword Stance Flow to bank Azure Plume, fire the Heavy Attack, then drop Resonance Liberation during your buff window before a second Flow and Heavy Attack. Keeping Havoc Bane applied the whole time is what keeps her Song of Feathered Trace bonus, her weapon passive, and her Unbroken Vow damage amplification (up to 36% at higher stacks) all running at once.
Build her toward that loop and she settles in as a top-tier Havoc carry that runs well in general teams and scales cleanly as you improve her echoes and weapon.
