Layla Quick TL;DR Support/Enabler Build Guide
Table of Contents
- 1 PSA #1: A Support is someone who works overtime so their DPS can shine. They’re always tired, so take good care of them 😇
- 2 PSA #2: Both her abilities scale off HP, but don’t fret because her forte is Cryo application. Let other people focus on doing damage!
- 3 CONSTELLATIONS AND TALENT PRIORITY
- 4 WEAPON #1 (Recommended for best Support): Key of Khaj-Nisut
- 5 WEAPON #2 (Recommended for 4-star Support): Favonius Sword
- 6 ARTIFACTS (Recommended for best buffs): Tenacity of the Millelith
PSA #1: A Support is someone who works overtime so their DPS can shine. They’re always tired, so take good care of them 😇
PSA #2: Both her abilities scale off HP, but don’t fret because her forte is Cryo application. Let other people focus on doing damage!
Elemental Skill – Nights of Formal Focus
Layla’s E is fairly simple to understand, but has a level of complexity to maximize her E’s utility. Her shield is arguably strong, but requires a firm build to ensure you can get the full value.
Base stats:
- 12 second duration
- 12 second CD
- Basically a 100% uptime on her shield
Upon use, Layla will deal a small Cryo AoE attack to nearby enemies. It will also create a Cryo shield, which scales off her Max HP. The shield will also have 2.5x (250%) higher efficiency when blocking Cryo attacks!
If there are enemies around her shield, she will gain 1 Night Star stack, with max being 4 stacks. Upon reaching full stacks, the Night Stars will become Shooting Stars and deal Cryo DMG to enemies hit. Night Stars will form every 2 seconds, meaning in 1 E use, you can form 6 Night Stars max or 1 proc of Shooting Stars.
Maximizing her E:
Night Stars will form every 2 seconds, meaning in 1 E use, you can form 6 Night Stars max or 1 proc of Shooting Stars.
However, there are 2 additional ways to form more Night Stars
- Using Elemental Skills
- Layla’s Q
If Layla’s teammates use an Elemental Skill while shield is active, it will spawn 2 Night Stars. This means you can get 6 additional Night Stars, allowing you to trigger Shooting Star three times instead of once now.
Then take into consideration Layla’s Q (I’ll go into detail on her Burst), but basically when her Q hits enemies, it will grant 1 Night Star, allowing her to gain potentially 6-8 additional Night Stars.
It is important to note that when the Night Stars turn into Shooting Stars, they will no longer generate Night Star stacks UNTIL all 4 stars are done firing. Meaning that if you switch to Kazuha to use his E while the Shooting Stars are firing, then you will not gain 2 Night Stars.
Also, make sure to use Layla’s E AFTER HER BURST if allowed. Turns out that this will ensure 1 additional Night Star, compared to casting E before.
Keep in mind that if the shield breaks, or the CD ends, it will NOT fire the Night Stars. So make sure her shield is built sturdily if you want to ensure Cryo application!
Elemental Burst – Dream of the Star-Stream Shaker
Layla’s Q is a solid form of Cryo application with a massive AoE. It can definitely have potential for Freeze comps or any other reaction comp, but still leaves a lot to be desired.
Layla will chuck her crib mobile into the air, which will shoot Starlight Slugs to enemies one at a time, dealing Cryo DMG that scales off her Max HP.
It’s a fairly spammable burst, considering not only the 100% uptime potential with the duration and CD both being 12 seconds, but also due to it’s 40 energy cost.
The mobile will shoot 8 Starlight Slugs total, one every 1.5 seconds. As mentioned above, when Starlight Slugs hit enemies, it will grant Layla’s E 1 Night Star.
Keep in mind that enemies with shields are immune to these projectiles, UNLESS they are facing away from the approaching projectile. The projectiles are also extremely slow, and faster enemies often outrun or dodge them…
As mentioned prior, Layla’s goal is Cryo application — not damage.
To put into perspective, let’s take a Layla with 35,000 HP. That means each Starlight Slug will only do 2,590 DMG (35,000 x .074) or a total of 20,720 DMG per Q use…
Also factor that you will have to garner CRIT values from substats unless you plan on stacking HP% substats instead — both lead to downs and ups. You have to balance if you want a stronger shield and reliable Cryo application OR inconsistent application but higher chance at damage…
Ascension 1 Passive – Like Nascent Light
So every Night Star stack will grant 6% shield strength, capping at 24%. This is extremely helpful in ensuring Layla’s E will survive hard hits, allowing her to reliably proc Cryo.
Remember that her consistency highly depends on her E surviving, so the A1 Passive helps alleviate the problem a tiny bit.
Take the 35,000 HP Layla for example. That means at Level 8 her E shield will provide 8,005 absorption ([35,000 * .173] +1,950). However with A1 Passive, it will provide an additional 1,921.2 shield HP at max stacks. Nothing too impressive, but that’s a Mitachurl slamming you worth’s difference.
Ascension 4 Passive – Sweet Slumber Undisturbed
Originally, Layla’s Shooting Star is only scaled off her ATK total. Now, it will scale additionally to her Max HP.
So it will provide an additional 525 DMG (35,000 x 0.015)… Still nothing impressive to be sure… This is why it’s better to focus on Layla’s utility rather than her raw DPS output!
CONSTELLATIONS AND TALENT PRIORITY
While Layla doesn’t really seem to have huge self-buffs, her constellations do help alleviate a lot of the somewhat apparent weaknesses in her kit. Since she is a 4-star, it will be A LOT easier to grab her constellations than a 5-star — however still expensive for sure…
C1 serves to further Layla’s efficiency as a shielder, allowing her to not only have stronger shields, but also grant additional shielding for those who don’t have any. Makes her extremely Co-op viable!
Essentially, it provides a raw 20% Shield Strength buff to Layla’s E. This is great since Layla’s E isn’t exactly the most sturdy shield in the game.
Next, it allows her E to turn into a shield generator, creating shields for allies who currently do not have one. This is a weaker version, only 35% of the original shield, but better than nothing!
What this allows is for constant shielding, even if your shield breaks. Think of her C1 as basically a giant generator that provides new shields if broken/missing!
C2 isn’t a big game changer, but allows Layla to have a direct energy generation.
Each Shooting Star grants 1 energy, allowing her to gain 4 Energy per Shooting Star proc.
Take into equation that if we maximize her Night Star generation, via Elemental Skill use and Burst, that means Layla can potentially generate 16-20 (4 x 4/5 Shooting Star procs) Energy just from her C2.
That’s roughly 40% of her Burst energy cost from just using E… it’s pretty good!
C4 turns Layla into an NA/CA buffer, allowing her to fit great into certain comps.
For main DPS that NA or CA a lot, this is a great buff as 5% of Layla’s Max HP will be granted as additional DMG. These buffs will proc when Layla’s E shoots the Night Stars.
For characters like Ayato/Ayaka, Diluc, Itto, etc… Layla could serve to be a great addition since all of them can benefit from Cryo reactions + shields!
C6 turns Layla into a projectile machine, increasing her DPS output via DMG buffs and interval CD’s.
E’s Shooting Stars gain a 40% DMG buff — likewise with Layla’s Q’s Starlight Slugs.
However, the real kicker is from the Night Star generation CD reduction, allowing Night Stars to form 20% faster. That means rather than only forming 6 Night Stars total (if you just let the shield do it’s thing), it will generate 8 total.
This means it can trigger Shooting Stars twice rather than once, and you don’t even have to do anything. Think of it basically as another proc of Shooting Stars to all application (so if you were to use Elemental Skills and her Q, you could easily hit over 5+ Shooting Star procs)!
Talent Leveling Order: E > Q > NA (no need to level NA)
WEAPON #1 (Recommended for best Support): Key of Khaj-Nisut
How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)
Key of Khaj-Nisut is arguably her BiS in if you are able to maximize her E usage. The sword provides plenty of HP, improving Layla’s shield strength and some DPS output. However, the strength comes from getting the 3 stacks to grant additional EM to herself and her team. Keep in mind that on activation, Layla’s E does a small AoE DMG — meaning you instantly get 1 stack. Then you can cycle through your team’s Elemental Skills to trigger Shooting Stars twice for 3 stacks. Since the EM granted scales off Layla’s Max HP, it’s quite a substantial buff.
However Freedom-Sworn can also be a great sword for Layla. It provides a massive amount of EM, and the weapon skill proc is easy since Layla’s E + Q will most likely proc an elemental reaction. Just make sure you’re running it in an reaction comp.
The only other recommendation is the stat stick: Primordial Jade Cutter. It provides CRIT% which is perfectly fine to build on Layla, allowing her Q to deal a bit more damage. However, the most important being the 20% Max HP buff and the ATK buff scaling off her Max HP.
Summit Shaper is not worth getting since ATK% is not the greatest stat for Layla. The 20% Shield buff may seem nice, but the other 5-stars provide much more value!
WEAPON #2 (Recommended for 4-star Support): Favonius Sword
How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)
Favonius Sword is only recommended if you are building CRIT Values on substats (or running her Cryo DMG Goblet and CRIT Circlet). It provides plenty of ER, making it much easier to spam Layla’s 40 cost burst. However, the real benefit comes from the 6 energy that Layla can provide for her team if she CRITs — hence why it’s only useful if you build some CRIT%.
Sacrificial Sword may seem redundant due to Layla’s E duration matching her CD, but it’s actually quite practical. PLEASE READ THIS: LAYLA CAN RE-USE HER E FROM THE RESET TO GRANT HERSELF 2 NIGHT STARS. This means rather than only getting 6 Night Stars from just her team’s Elemental Skills, it means she can spawn 8 Night Stars by adding her own Elemental Skill use! Oh, it also provides a lot of ER% to Layla as well!
For F2P options, Iron Sting can be quite beneficial for the EM and E DMG it provides. Not the most valuable pick, but better than nothing. Plus with how many weekly bosses there are now, you can easily get enough billets to R5 it (if you haven’t already!)
ARTIFACTS (Recommended for best buffs): Tenacity of the Millelith
How do I get it D: ? – Ridge Watch Domain (AR 30 Locked, 20 Resin per run)
4x Tenacity of the Millelith is her best artifact set for 2 mains reasons: HP buff and ATK buff to team! The 2x bonus provides Layla with 20% more HP, boosting her shield strength and E/Q DMG output. The 4x bonus is the real kicker, because hitting enemies with her E will give even more Shield Strength and give your team a 20% ATK buff. This not only makes Layla a shielder and enabler, but now also a buffer!
If you already have someone running 4x Tenacity, then 4x Noblesse can work just fine for Layla as well. Since she has a 40 cost burst at 12s CD, you can trigger the 20% ATK buff basically 100% of the time. Not to mention it boosts her Q’s damage (while not significant, still helps!).
For early starters, feel free to just run 4x Instructor for the EM output. You don’t really have to worry about ER% for Layla as much due to her low energy cost burst!
Main stats:
| Sands | Goblet | Circlet |
|---|---|---|
| HP% (or EM) | HP% (or Cryo DMG%) | HP% (or CRIT Values) |
If you are planning on going a more DPS orientated build, just run EM Sands / Cryo DMG Goblet / CRIT Circlet!
Substats: HP% > EM > CRIT Values > ER%
If you want other characters let me know. Hope this helped. Bye.
