A Detailed Guide to Ningguang

Ningguang is the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, a position that makes her the most influential person in all of Liyue. As the first geo catalyst user, she is also one of the most hard-hitting characters in Genshin Impact. You just need to know how to use her to her maximum potential and in this guide, we’ll be covering all those points.

Attacks

Ningguang’s normal attack, Sparkling Scatter, can be used in two ways. Upon being pressed, she shoots a gem at her enemies which deals Geo Damage. If the gem meets its target, Ninnguang gains a Star Jade. When held, Ninguang consumes stamina to fire a giant gem which deals Geo Damage. If she has any Star Jades, they will be fired along with the gem and do massive damage. In case they don’t meet the target and instead hit the ground, they’ll do AOE geo damage.

While using Ningguang, you want to use three normal attacks to get the maximum number of Star Jades before using a charged attack.

Ningguang’s elemental skill, Jade Screen, when activated, much like its name, creates a jade screen that does AOE geo damage when it appears. While this screen is good for blocking projectile attacks, it’s important to remember that it isn’t a shield. Melee enemies can very easily pass through it and attack. Though the jade screen is considered a geo construct, it cannot be climbed like others.

The strongest weapon in Ningguang’s arsenal is her elemental burst, Starshatter. During this, she summons a large number of gems and fires them as projectiles that do massive AOE damage. If there is a Jade screen on the field, it will fire additional gems.

Ascension

Being a geo character, for ascension, Ningguang needs Prithiva Topaz and Basalt Pillars dropped by the geo hypostasis. She also needs insignias dropped by fatui mobs and quite a few glaze lilies. 

These are the total number of items she needs:

Talents

To enhance her active talents – normal attack, Sparkling Scatter, elemental skill, Jade Screen, and  elemental burst, Starshatter – Ningguang has three passive talents. 

Unlocked with the first ascension, Backup Plan, is one of the most important passive talents that Ningguang has. The best way to use Ningguang is to use her charged attacks to get the highest damage numbers. Unfortunately, stamina can take a while to recharge. Thanks to Backup Plan, as long as Ningguang has a star jade, her charged attacks will not consume any stamina. Just remember to hit the enemy three times with a normal attack and then switch to a charged attack. 

Strategic Reverse grants any character who passes through the Jade Screen an additional 12% geo damage bonus for 10s. For Ningguang, whose attacks all cause geo damage, this boost can be very helpful on the field. You just have to remember to trigger this passive. 

When  it comes to exploration, thanks to her third passive, Troves of Marvelous Treasure, Ningguang is a great character. As long as she’s on the team, she can spot nearby ore veins which will then appear on the mini-map. 

For levelling her talents, she needs Teachings of Prosperity which are available at the Taishan Mansion every Monday, Thursday and Sunday. Much like her ascension, she needs insignias from Fatui mobs and the Spirit Locket of Boreas dropped by Andrius.

These are the total number of materials required:

DPS Build

There is absolutely no doubt that as a main DPS, Ningguang is a force to be reckoned with. She can deal high damage numbers with her normal attacks, going up to 10k with a single hit. All you have to do is get her the right artifacts and weapon. 

Artifacts

For this build, the recommended set for her would be two pieces of  Archaic Petra paired with two pieces of Gladiator’s Finale. All of Ningguang’s attacks, from her normal attacks to her elemental ones, deal geo damage so the 20% Geo DMG Bonus from the Archaic Petra will increase her damage output. The 2-piece bonus from Gladiator’s Finale will give her a constant ATK boost of 18%. While you could always opt for four pieces of this set, to trigger the 4-piece bonus and gain 35% DMG bonus for the entire team, Ningguang has to be the one who picks up the elemental shard. Overall, she was benefit more from the Gladiators.

Weapon

One thing to remember about Ningguang is that she’s a character who scales on attack. Because of this, the best weapon for her would be the Skyward Atlas since it has an attack substat. The weapon effect also increases her elemental DMG and her normal attacks have a 50% chance of summoning another attack that deals 160% of ATK DMG for 15s. At the moment, Skyward Atlas gives Ningguang the highest DPS possible. This weapon can only be obtained from the gacha so cross your fingers and hope that the gacha gods bless your rolls. 

If you managed to roll Memory of Dust instead, you can definitely use it for Ningguang. Even without a shield, the catalyst gives an attack boost of 4% every time you hit an enemy. But, just to get the most out of what this weapon can offer, just make sure to pick up an elemental shard which will create the shield you need to get a higher ATK increase.

Alternatively, if you’re someone who can invest in the battle pass, then the Solar Pearl is a good option for your Ningguang. Having a Crit Rate substat on a weapon is never a bad thing and the weapon effect can be beneficial for Ningguang. Whether you’re using a normal attack of an elemental skill/burst, you get a constant damage increase of 20%. Since Ningguang is a character that uses her normal attacks quite a bit, triggering this weapon effect shouldn’t be an issue at all.

For an F2P option, if you were around during the Midsummer Island Adventure then you probably were able to get your hands on the Dodoco Tales as well as its refinement material. This weapon is a decent substitute for the Skyward Atlas. At refinement 5, this catalyst can increase the damage of Ningguang’s charged attacks by 32%. Paired with the Star Jades received from normal attacks, this should deal a lot of damage to the enemies. Most of all, the charged attacks will then increase Ningguang’s ATK. Since her normal and charged attacks are her best weapons, the weapon effect of this catalyst really benefits her.

Team

While forming a team best suited for a DPS Ningguang, you want to use characters that can work together to support her.

The first step is to include another geo character in the team to activate geo resonance. The best character for this would be Zhongli. He has the strongest shield in the game which can protect Ningguang and give her a 15% damage boost. When she attacks enemies with this shield on, it will also decrease their resistance to geo damage by 20%.

If you don’t have Zhongli, Noelle is a very good substitute for him. As long as she has enough defense in her artifacts, she can provide an equally strong shield for Ningguang. When on field, she can also heal her party members. Just keep in mind that the healing effect of Breastplate only works if Noelle is fighting the enemies. If you switch her out for another character, there will be no healing.

As always, Bennett is a good addition to the team. Given his abilities, he is one of the best supports in the game. His elemental burst, Fantastic Voyage, will heal your Ningguang pretty quickly and also give her an ATK boost based on Bennett’s base attack. His burst also provides constant pyro application. Paired with another element like hydro or cryo, it can cause reactions like vaporize that can do quite a bit of damage to the enemy. 

A good candidate for elemental reactions is Xingqiu. His elemental skill, Guhua Sword: Fatal Rainscreen, will increase Ningguang’s resistance to interruption and also reduce the damage she takes from the enemy. Since she relies heavily on her normal attacks, Xingqiu’s elemental burst, Guhua Sword: Raincutter, will add to her damage with the Rain Swords. This added with Bennett’s elemental burst will hurt the enemies even more.

Support Build

With this build, we put Ningguang in a more supporting role. The idea is to use her elemental skill or burst before swapping her out for your main DPS.

Artifacts

The best artifacts for this build are two pieces of Archaic Petra along with two pieces of Noblesse Oblige. These two sets work well together to increase the damage caused by Ningguang’s elemental burst. If you want, you can also opt for four pieces of Noblesse Oblige to get the bonus for the elemental burst as well as the 20% ATK bonus for your main DPS. Just ensure that you are equipping Ningguang with a Geo DMG Bonus cup.

Weapon

A good weapon to put Ningguang in more of a burst support build would be The Widsith. Since the catalyst itself has a Crit DMG substat, as long as you have a Crit Rate helmet, Ningguang will do immense damage to her enemies with her burst. The weapon effect also give her an attack increase of 60-120% for 10s. That’s enough time to switch her in, use her elemental skill or burst and then switch her out for another character.

If you want to use Ningguang as just a support and nothing else, you can use the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers. While the HP substat doesn’t do much for her, the weapon effect will increase ATK by 24% for whichever character takes the field after Ningguang. Since this catalyst is rather easy to obtain, refining it isn’t a difficult task. At refinement 5, it’ll give an ATK increase of 48% which isn’t bad at all.

Team

Since Ningguang is a geo vision holder, she can fit into pretty much any team. If you’re a Zhongli main, you can have her in the team to activate geo resonance. Along with the 15% damage increase, Zhongli can also take advantage of the geo damage bonus given due to Ningguang’s passive Strategic Reverse. All you have to do is let him pass through the jade screen before using his elemental burst.

Ningguang is definitely one of the highest damage dealers in the game, especially when it comes to the geo element. As long as you give her the right artifacts that can enhance her attack and she’ll be a monster on the field.