The best Genshin Impact Noelle build, weapons, artifacts, and Noelle F2P options
Just sweeping up
The best Genshin Impact Noelle build gives your team a dutiful defender who can heal, block damage, and even dish some out in return. Noelle is potentially one of the first characters you’ll get after starting Genshin Impact, and if you like to play it safe and need shields for your party, few can do it better than she.
Noelle’s setup lets her block a substantial amount of damage and heal the party simultaneously, and the same stat that powers her shields also boosts the strength of her burst.
Just make sure to brush up on Valberry locations, since Noelle needs this rare resource to level up.
Is Noelle a DPS character?
No, Noelle functions best as a defender and Geo sub-DPS, and she can even pitch in with some healing while her skill is active. Noelle has a decent attack stat of 16, but most of her damage comes from her elemental burst, which deals Geo damage that increases her attack and scales based on her defense.
Her skill creates an impenetrable shield whose strength also scales based on defense. Every hit Noelle lands while the shield is active has a chance of restoring HP to the entire party as well, though the healing portion is set and doesn’t scale with any stat. In short, defense is Noelle’s most important stat.
As you often find with Genshin Impact’s older characters, Noelle is pretty straightforward. Her passive talents don’t do much to augment her kit or encourage a particular playstyle, but the Devotion talent does make her one of the RPG’s best defenders. If your active character’s HP drops below 30 percent when Noelle is in the party, but not on the field, a shield generates that absorbs damage equal to up to 400 percent of Noelle’s defense.
This flexibility and focus on support means Noelle fits into any party, whether it’s a dynamic elemental team built around reactions, a Geo-only team, or a free-to-play team. The only downside is that her Breastplate shield skill has a lengthy 24 second cooldown timer. Her final passive talent shortens the timer by one second for every four attacks you land, but in general, just plan on relying on her off-screen shield as often as you do her skill shield.
What is the best Genshin Impact Noelle build?
As mentioned, Noelle’s defense is her most important stat, but since two Artifact sets exist that can buff defense or shields, you have a bit more freedom when it comes to her weapon.
Best Noelle weapon – Redhorn Stonethresher
Arataki Itto’s signature weapon works wonderfully on Noelle. Its passive skill increases the user’s defense by 28 percent at its base refinement level and buffs normal and charged attack by 40 percent. All of that suits Noelle, but the drawback is that Noelle is a 4-star support character. Even if you don’t have Itto, you probably have another claymore user who would benefit from the sword more than Noelle.
The Unforged is a defense-oriented alternative that boosts the user’s shield strength by 20 percent and their attack by four percent. The attack buff happens each time the user lands a hit and can stack five times, and if a shield is active, the buff increases by 100 percent.
On the four-star side is Serpent Spine, obtainable through the battle pass. This claymore buffs the user’s damage by six percent for every four seconds they’re on the field, and the effect stacks five times. It also increases the amount of damage they receive by three percent, but considering that Noelle will likely be on field just to user her burst – and she’ll likely have a shield anyway – the incoming damage debuff isn’t a significant concern.
Finally is the Sacrificial Greatsword, perfect for giving Noelle a second chance to use her skill by resetting its cooldown timer and for generating energy particles to help meet her burst’s steep 60 energy requirement.
Best Noelle Artifacts – Husk of Opulent Dreams
Noelle didn’t have a strong Artifact choice before Inazuma showed up, but now, Husk of Opulent Dreams from the Slumbering Court Domain should be your go-to set.
- 2-piece effect: Raises defense by 30 percent
- 4-piece effect: A character equipped with this Artifact set will obtain the Curiosity effect in the following conditions:When on the field, the character gains 1 stack after hitting an opponent with a Geo attack, and when off the field, the character gains 1 stack every 3 seconds.
- Max is 4 stacks, and each confers a 6 percent defense and Geo damage bonus.
If you haven’t arrived in Inazuma yet, you should aim for the Retracing Bolide set from the Domain of Guyun in Liyue.
- 2-piece effect: Raises shield strength by 35 percent
- 4-piece effect: While the active character is protected by a shield, gain 40 percent damage increase for normal and charged attacks
What is the best Noelle F2P build?
Noelle’s F2P build is arguably better than any of her paid builds thanks to a craftable claymore designed for defense-oriented characters such as herself.
Best Noelle F2P weapon – Whiteblind
Whiteblind has defense as its secondary stat, and its passive skill buffs attack and defense by six percent when a normal or charged attack land. This buff stacks four times.
Since you can forge Whiteblind with White Iron and Northlander Billets, it’s comparatively easy to reach Whiteblind’s final refinement rank and get a 48 percent defense buff on top of the secondary stat buff.
Best Noelle F2P Artifacts – Husk of Opulent Dreams
Since defense is still Noelle’s most important stat in this build, Husk of Opulent Dreams is your best choice for this setup as well.
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