Genshin Impact Noelle guide: weapons, artifacts, and more

What anime-inspired game would be complete without Battle Maids? Noelle’s armoured French Maid get-up certainly fits the bill, and she brings the power to match her aspirations of Knighthood.

She’s an excellent support, bringing both healing and shielding to a team, but don’t dismiss her DPS capabilities either, especially at higher Constellation Levels. Let’s get into it.

Genshin Impact Noelle guide

Weapons

Noelle’s choice in weaponry is often dictated by different priorities to other Claymore wielders. Namely, while Attack and Crit are nothing to sniff at, serious consideration needs to go towards empowering her shields and Defense - a great deal of her kit hinges on how strong her Defense is, and by extension her shields. 

Whiteblind

(Picture: miHoYo)

Arguably the strongest weapon available for Noelle, at least from an all-round perspective. DEF% is an amazing sub-stat for Noelle as her entire kit scales off it, and the Infusion Blade ability only amps it more. Even more enticing is that Whiteblind is forgeable, and is therefore fairly easy to both get hold of and Refine.

As a side note, if you are going to use Whiteblind, try not to pop Noelle’s Elemental Burst until you’ve fully stacked Infusion Blade: The ATK bonus from Sweeping Time is calculated only once right when it’s activated and then stays constant, so you want to have all your damage amps activated before you activate it.

Sacrificial Greatsword

(Picture: miHoYo)

Another good option. While Sacrificial Greatsword doesn’t have the innate DEF% scaling of Whiteblind, the Energy Recharge is a good substitute. Composed also offers a good chance of reducing Breastplate’s cooldown, synergising very well with “Nice and Clean,” which also lowers the skill’s cooldown.

In other words, more abilities more of the time. Great for a support and healer build, not bad for a DPS focus.

Skyward Pride

(Picture: miHoYo)

For a more aggressive, DPS build look no further than Skyward Pride. It still brings some utility with its Energy Recharge stat, but Sky-ripping Dragon Spine makes Noelle’s  Elemental Burst DPS brutally strong. Set Breastplate and Sweeping Time going, then get spinning and watch the vacuum blades do their work.

Great for a DPS or sub-DPS Noelle that still offers good healing while she’s wailing on enemies. If you can get Noelle to Constellation Level 6, this build sky-rockets in priority because of her increased conversion of DEF to ATK.

The Unforged

(Picture: miHoYo)

All new with Patch 1.1 is The Unforged. Golden Majesty upping shield strength by 20% is a hefty boost to Breastplate’s power and smooths over some of the cracks left by such an Attack stat heavy weapon. The Unforged is all around Noelle getting shielded, then staying shielded to reap the huge damage increase the weapon provides from being protected by a shield.

If you do want to run this option, seriously consider running full Retracing Bolide as an artifact set to maximise her DPS uptime and double down on the shields = damage strat, because make no mistake, this is a DPS choice. Again, C6 heavily raises the priority of this choice.

Artifacts

(Picture: miHoYo)

Full Maiden Beloved is the go-to option for a supportive, shielding Noelle. You maximise healing output, which can sometimes need a little amping with Noelle, and ensure the most out of the 50%+ chance to heal on hit with Breastplate active. If you do have Constellation Level 1 or above, then this set also really makes use of Noelle’s 100% chance to heal on hit when both her Elemental Skill and Burst are active at once thanks to “I Got Your Back.”

Another good option is 2-piece Defender’s Will plus 2-piece Maiden Beloved. It sacrifices some healing efficacy for higher defensive stats, which means both tougher shields and higher DPS when Sweeping Time is activated.

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You can switch out Defender’s Will for 2-piece Retracing Bolide for more reliable on-field heals - a stronger shield means less chance of it getting broken, so more healing uptime - but remember the strengthening effects only affect the artifact wearer. That means the utility of Breastplate is diminished across the rest of your team when Noelle isn’t on the field, and you don’t have raw healing stats of straight Maiden Beloved.

Lastly, for a DPS Noelle, as always Gladiator’s Finale is always an effective set for melee combatants, but better still is 4-piece Retracing Bolide. As both a Geo user and a character with a shield inherently in her kit, it’s very easy for her to have a shield active (therefore benefiting from them being strengthened) and in turn really make use of the increased damage while shielded from the full set bonus.

(Picture: Cpoi/吃咖喱的poi)

Artifact Stats

With an idea of what sets you will (or want) to run on Noelle, it’s time we turned our eyes to sub-stats. While priorities do shift depending on whether you want a DPS or shield/heal focus for the Maid of the Knights of Favonius, if in doubt DEF is generally a good choice.

Supportive Stat Priorities

1. DEF (Key)
2. Heal Bonus Circlet
3. Energy Recharge
4. HP

DPS Stat Priorities

1. Crit Rate (50~%+)
2. Crit DMG
3. DEF
4. ATK
5. Energy Recharge

As already stated, Noelle really hits her stride as a DPS option from Constellation Level 6, when she begins to convert DEF into ATK more consistently, but she’s still fairly strong without it.

Play Patterns

Noelle isn’t super hard to get the most out of. You generally want her on the field when her Elemental Skill is available, even better if her Burst is too. Activate Breastplate for the shield (next to enemies, so you can both damage and activate Crystalise if you can) then either wail on enemies if you need the team healing, or switch out to another character so they can benefit from the shield while putting out damage.

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If you need more oomph, or are running Noelle as a DPS or sub-DPS option, activate Sweeping Time too to maximise her damage and healing output. This is even more effective from Constellation Level 1, where Noelle gets a 100% chance to heal on hit if both her Elemental Skill and Burst are active at once.

If you have the stamina available, Noelle’s charged attack turns her into a whirling dervish of continuous spinning attacks. Importantly, they are a). Faster than normal attacks and b). A larger AoE. That means you get more chances to heal on hit from Breastplate and also offer the most area denial with Sweeping Time’s knockback too.

(Picture: miHoYo)

Do remember that Noelle only heals when Breastplate’s shield is active. If it breaks, you aren’t healing any more. That means you do have to be wary of playing Noelle too aggressively if you want to ensure maximum healing. That’s less of a concern if you prioritise her for DPS, but still worth keeping mind.

Speaking of DPS, as mentioned previously her Constellation Level 6 ability, “Must Be Spotless,” converts an additional 50% of Noelle’s DEF into ATK with Sweeping Time. This ability turns Noelle into a DPS machine with the appropriate set-up. Stack ATK and DEF and watch heads roll.

As for teammates, Noelle is there to ensure they stay alive and well as a Support. She fits well into any team comp that already has its Elemental Reactions in place, as she doesn’t provide much worth on that front as a Geo character. If you need a healer and shielder, Noelle is a worthy candidate.

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If you are instead considering her for DPS, Noelle is actually very sufficient - she shields and heals herself, and as DPS she’s already doing good damage. Her one glaring weakness is her inability to set up damaging Elemental Reactions herself, and that is an area worth investing in. Double Pyro (Bennet and Xiangling) offering an ATK boost from Elemental Resonance, or running Cryo and Electro for Superconduct and its 40% Phys RES debuff on enemies can both be a potent buff to Noelle’s damage.

With that, you’re ready to get Noelle out into the world of Teyvat. Go on and get sweeping!