And so the Xiao supremacy continues.
So if Cyno and Lyney are like Zelda and Link, then Lyney and Navia are maybe like Link and Navi.
Navia's voice actor is Xiaogan, the same voice actor for Sucrose. What is this supposed to be: a Wei Wuxian, Xiao Zhan reference? So if we have Xiao Zhan, Liu Haikuan, Huang Ziteng, then where is Wang Yibo?
USA media has always been criticizing Wei Wuxian for looking too feminine. Well, guess their dreams and fantasies came true with Navia.
Xiao is a manly man, like Earnshaw. It is only when he roleplays as Wei Wuxian he may look more feminine, if you think the weird USA propaganda holds any weight.
This goes back to the conversation on things like K-pop and masculinity (if you don't know what we're talking about, that's fine). So we have returned to where it all began.
Wuxian sounds like 无限 or 'infinite' in Chinese, which is ironic since Alatus Xiao is the one getting infinite E with C6, not Xiaogan.
It seems similar to Noctis, Navia runs her own mafia, the Spina di Rosula. And what mafia boss isn't complete without their muskets, guns n roses?
Earlier we discussed how Furina embodies one form of Alexandrina Victoria. In some ways, Navia embodies another form. How so? In Chinese Alexandrina Victoria is written 亚历山德丽娜·维多利亚 and Navia is written 娜维娅 so these two names share 3 characters: na (娜) found in -drina, vi (维), and ya (娅/亚) found in Alex and Victoria. Like this is legit: Navia's name in Chinese is literally taking 3 characters from Alexandrina Victoria's Chinese name. And this is relevant because of Fontaine's cultural ties to the British Empire and Victorian era.
The other character with a similar semblance is Xiao, also called Alatus, the Vigilant Yaksha. And it just so happens that Alatus and Navia (Xiaogan) are connected together via Xiao.
Navia is also a geo claymore, like Alataki Itto, and she happens to work well with Albedo. So no matter how you slice it, there is always an Al in this lady's life.
As she released around Christmas time, anybody saying Feliz Navidad?
So apparently Alhaitham's va (Umehara) also voices Seiya in the 'Cautious Hero', and Navia's va (Toyosaki Aki) voices Ristarte, the blonde girl that falls in love with Seiya. Well that's cute.
Perhaps the character Navia will be compared to most is Noctis given the similarity in combat. So it seems Noctis is no longer unique now that Xiaogan is here. The real question is who does more dps: Navia or Noctis?
Her E (Ceremonial Crystalshot) is an umbrella shotgun cannon (gunbrella), almost similar to Noctis' CA, but there are important differences. Her E does a single instance of damage, so Navi might run into the crit fishing problem (unlike how Noctis' CA is split into 8 parts). Unlike Noctis, Navia is not able to kite. Also, the aoe on Navi's E is actually quite small, making her more like a ST dps, compared to Xiao, Noctis, even Cyno who have larger aoe.
Moreover, it has a shotgun effect, firing several rosula shots in a spread, meaning that enemies further away will take less damage than enemies closer (attenuation in damage). Xiao, Noctis (and most characters and aoe effects) do not have such attenuation. So Navi's E is a simpler version of Noctis' kamehameha.
Her E has 2 charges like Alatus Xiao. The E also has a 9 second cd: one sexcond for each child Vicky had with Prince Albert. (Seriously, Queen Victoria had 9 children with that sly 花花公子 Al. Getting pregnant 9 times, truly a symbol of a powerful woman.)
Xiaogan gains stacks when she picks up crystallize shards (like how Noctis absorbs droplets). She can have up to 3 stacks of Crystal Shrapnel (indicated by golden gun bullets by her side). The more stacks she has, the more damage her E does.
Also each stack lasts 300s (5 minutes), not that this matters much anyways. May as well give it infinite duration.
An advantage Xiaogan has over Noctis is this stacking mechanism. The stacks stay with her wherever she goes ('portable') whereas Noctis usually has to be within range of droplets to use his CA immediately. Moreover the stacks last longer whereas the droplets usually disappear after 15s. Also, Xiaogan can gain stacks through her Q, not just absorbing crystallize shards.
In other words, imagine if Noctis had a stacking mechanism: his E gave him 3 stacks, and his Q gave him 6 stacks. He can consume 3 stacks for a free CA. These stacks last 300s (compared to droplets that last 15s), and he does not need to be within range of droplets for a free CA.
Like C6 Xiao (and unlike C0-C5), most of her dps is from her E. Unlike C6 Xiao, she does not get infinite uses.
Her Q does off field geo damage and gives extra stacks to her. It does not snapshot and follows her around (similar to XQ/Yelan, except it fires automatically and auto-targets like Ganyu's Q). It grants 1 stack every 2.4s and lasts 12s, so it can grant 5 stacks over the course of its duration.
A passive buffs her atk% based on the number of autumn elements on the team (up to 2 times). Note one can have double pyro or pyro + hydro to get the full atk buff. This means an optimal team for her may look like double geo with two autumn elements or even one geo with 3 autumn elements. However, double geo may benefit her due to geo resonance (res shred).
This passive is a bit similar to Lyney, Chevreuse, Noctis in that it gives buffs to certain kinds of teams, but at the same time restricts the kinds of teams she can be played in. Of these three, Lyney mono pyro is perhaps the most restricted (same with Itto mono geo), Chevreuse's passive is perhaps second most restrictive (only allowing 2 elements), Noctis 3 stack diversity is 3rd most restrictive (discouraging double hydro), even Noctis C1 2 stack diversity is restrictive (discouraging triple hydro or fewer than 3 elements), and then perhaps Navi's passive is not as restrictive as Noctis or Lyney. However, this passive is still a restriction on her team building, compared to how Xiao, Scaramouche, Wrio, Furina have no such elemental restrictions on what teams they can be played in. Also Chevreuse is not really that restricted since she is more a support rather than a dps, and her other buffing abilities can still be used outside of overload teams.
Another passive gives Navi geo infusion for 4s after using E as well as 40% geo dmg bonus. So if she has the 4.3 set of 50% dmg plus this 40% dmg plus a goblet, she can reach more than 100% dmg bonus on her AA. Her NA dmg during the 4s might be similar to if you played Xiao as a NA dps rather than plunge dps (which is to say not optimal). However, in practice the 4s window is way too short compared to other characters like Itto. So most of her dps is through her E not her AA. In fact, some may even say that spending time on field with her just to do the AA to gain crystallize shields can be a dps loss, especially if you have off-field geo options like Albedo who can do that for you.
And of course she kicks her claymore while doing her NA (and opens her umbrella). So what's the club of weapon kicking characters now (on field or in weapon selection screen)? Xiao, Alhaitham, Cyno, Navia, Yelan, Itto, Mika, Morax, etc.
Apparently her gunbrella is separate from her claymore. It must be tiring having to carry so many accessories.
Overall ok, nothing too special. C1 gives energy and cd reduction to E, up to 3s reduction from 9s to 6s (when 3 stacks consumed by E). This makes her C1 actually decent (probably better than Noctis C1 but not sure if better than Wrio C1).
Her C2 gives up to 36% cr to E as well as an extra stack when it is used. This C2 is ok (not the best). But get this, they even put Victory in the name of C2. To be fair, the C2 is fine but it is almost a disgrace to name it similarly to Queen Victoria's name. Fortunately we have other characters like C6 Alatus that compensate and save Navia here.
Her C4 makes her Q shred 20% geo res (similar to Lyney C4), so she can even be played more as a nihility support (for say Itto).
Her C6 gives 45% crit dmg to E for each extra stack consumed beyond 3. Moreover, extra charges consumed beyond 3 are returned to her. This C6 is average considered many other characters' C6 give crit dmg as well, and the refund is not too big a dps increase if you can overcap easily.
It is almost funny Xiaogan's C1 does not give her a 3rd charge like it does for Alatus, but that's why we have sac sword. Still, Xiaogan's best constellation is probably her C1. If her C6 allowed infinite E like Xiao, oh boi, now wouldn't that live up to Alexandrina Victoria's legacy like how Alatus C6 does? As they say, infinity times 400 within 1s is greater than 2 times 700 within 18s.
So in summary Xiaogan is like bang... (reload) bang... (reload) whereas C6 Xiao is like swish-swish-swish-swish... Actually C6 Xiao would probably be like nuke, swish-swish-swish-swish... nuke, swish-swish-swish-swish...
Some people might have heard of the so-called 'socialism with Chinese characterstics'. In the case of Xiaogan and C6 Xiao, it is almost like China is looking at western technology and then vastly improving/upgrading it into something distinctly Chinese and modern.
But now the Victoria connection seems ever so clearer: Alatus and Navia are a pair married and connected together via Xiao.
Her best supports are probably Albedo, Morax. In fact, we have a special name for the Albedo-Navia duo: can anyone guess based on historical references? Albert and Vicky.
Although Gorou is a def buffer, she can still benefit from crit dmg and geo dmg bonus. She can even work with Chongyun C2 for E cd reduction and generating cryo crystallize. She would also benefit from some off-field app for crystallize such as Dehya, Raiden, Charlotte, Furina, Yae, Kuki, Kokomi, possibly even Ganyu, etc.
As Navia does not have hp fluctuation in her kit (not destruction), unlike Noctis, she may not synergize the best with Furina compared to other units like Xiao, Wrio, etc. But for other harmony units, she benefits from Mona's buff and E.
Also given her passive, she probably wants to pair with an autumn element or geo, rather than anemo or dendro units. As she is atk scaling, she benefits from Bennett. So if building her as the sole dps, her team can look like: Xiaogan-Albedo/Morax-Bennett-flex (can be subdps like Raiden, Furina, etc.).
Example teams where she is played like an on-field dps include:
If you want to maximize Navi's own dps, Bennett is almost always a must. Double geo is also helpful for geo resonance and res shred.
But some say she is best played not as a hypercarry but as a subdps. Similar to burst Ayaka, she can be played as a subdps (quickswap unit), where you just switch in to use her E and swap out to your main hypercarry. In this sense, she can even serve as a subdps to Itto, Noctis, even Xiao:
And similar teams can be built with other dps like Cyno, Scaramouche, Wrio, etc.
Note she may have antisynergy with Arataki Numero Uno One and Oni Itto as he prefers mono geo, whereas Navi wants 2 autumn elements. As a sidenote, it seems Alataki Itto is another way of romanizing the oni's name, so we have Alatus Xiao and Alataki Itto.
Although she can be paired with a shielder like Morax, Noelle, Thoma, Layla, etc. it may be redundant given she will probably have a crystallize shield anyways. But this is not that big a deal.
Some other strange teams could be hyperbloom 'crunch' or Navia hyperbloom. Navia burgeon is another option. But as people remark, Navia being geo does not have greatest synergy with such bloom teams.
In practice, Xiaogan tends to work well as a geo battery E support for Arataki Itto (and this may actually and ironically be one of her better teams, so perhaps it is destined for Navi to support Arataki and join his gang). As a subdps for other dps such as Yoimiya, Ayaka, Noctis, etc. it can work but it is not the best. And if playing Navi as a hyper, then there are many other alternatives that do more damage.
But as some say waifu over meta (why not both?). We can arrange a heqin marriage between the Hanamizaka Heroics Arataki Itto and Xiaogan and relive the days of the Han dynasty during Liu Che's era. Does anybody else see Empress Chen Jiao and Consort Wei Zifu here as well? If not that's fine. History does not always repeat, but it often rhymes.
But if Liu Wei is serious about Han dynasty history, then we want to warn him about the Wang Mang rebellion. When the time comes, it will be a test to see whether Liu follows the footsteps of the Han dynasty emperors and whether he truly respects their empresses. If Liu did not successfully 'handle' the Wang Mang rebellion, then it would have been Liuover and Hanover for the Han dynasty, spelling its end.
If playing her as an on-field dps, the rotation could look like: E, NA for 4s, E, NA for another 4s. She can use 2 Es in 18s and do on-field dps for 8s. She can do more on-field dps when using a sac sword or with C1 for cd reduction. But sac sword also makes her a better battery for Arataki Itto teams.
However, calcs below show her hypercarry potential is not as high compared to other dps. The other way to play her is as subdps for say Xiao, Itto, Noctis, etc. because her Q is off-field, and she can frontload damage with her E (unlike Noctis who needs to be on-field sustained). For example, she can act as a very good battery for Arataki Itto (who has higher innate dps) by using her E three times to funnel his 70 cost burst.
For info on Navia and the state of geo, see geo.
Sac greatsword (for triple E), Redhorn, Caiduan, Skyward, WGS, Serpent Spine can all work. Reed ironically has antisynergy since she will probably be shielded by crystallize.
She can use the 4.3 geo woods set. She can even use the 4p Golden Troupe for 45% E dmg bonus (yep, that's how good golden troupe is: it is even viable for C6 Xiao). Petra could work.
Do standard atk-geo-crit build. Substats: crit, atk, er.
Assume 4p woods set (50% dmg), geo goblet for a total of 96.6% dmg bonus on E. As crystallize shields are flimsy there is a valid concern of not having 100% uptime on the 4p effect (even if effect disappears after 1s of losing shield). But for theoretical purposes, we will assume we have the 50% dmg. Just note that without crystallize shield, the actual dps may be lower than what we calculate below.
We only compute E dps (since that will be the majority of her dps). Her E (base dmg) used to have the same scaling as Itto's E, but then it got changed so that Xiaogan's E does more damage than Itto's E (although she may not get the same amount of atk as Itto can). Did someone get insecure after a recent demotion?
The point is just to emphasize that Xiaogan's dps is mainly via E. And this is something C6 Xiao has learned from Fontaine besides the destruction dao and gravity-defying jumping. In fact, all of the Fontaine dps released so far (as of 4.3) can be summarized by C6 Xiao. So Xiao is that one Chinese dude that fully mastered western culture and tech.
The base dmg is 710.6% when she fires 5 shots (in spread). When she has 3 stacks, she will fire 11 shots and deal twice as much damage 1421.2%. So somehow 2 times 5 is 11, but whatever. Nobody asked Navia to be good at math.
Say every 9s she gets 3 stacks (through whatever means) and can fire a full shot. The dps is $$x_e(3) = 1.966*1421.2/9 = 310.4532444444$$ This is greater than 0. It is also less than Mona's dps. But guess that's what happens when you insult your employer.
Let's be more generous and say she gets 6 stacks every 9s. Each stack beyond 3 gives 15% more dmg bonus for 45% more dmg. The dps is $$x_e(6) = (1.966+.45)*1421.2/9 = 381.5132444444$$ There is a certain theorycrafter on youtube that made the following comment on Navi's dps (to paraphrase): she can frontload her damage, but her dps is not broken or meta-defining. Yes, listen to what that person says in this case.
This dps is less than Kokomi's (and even XL and Rosaria's), but guess that's what happens when you play favorites at the workplace, a blunt breach of professionalism.
And the above assumes 3+ stacks each time. If one gets less than 3 stacks, the dps will be even less.
So even when they changed her E scaling, this is the case: all we can say is, how fun, but it wasn't enough. And so the answer to our original question is: Noctis tends to do more dps than Navi.
But boy is Vicky eye candy with her Victorian corset.
Some FBI/CIA shills have compared her to a certain singer, Taylor Alison Swift. Ha, how funny. But we prefer more old school comparisons, dealing with the USA's father Britain.
That said, the beta base atk (November 9) for Navia does not seem fair to the rest of the Genshin characters or those who have been following the game for several years now, especially given the treatment of Fu Xuan in Star Rail, Garvipidam for TCG, the Sumeru cast, etc. Does Itto want to prepare to have a successor for def?
Otherwise it disrupts the balance in the game: we have an anemo, geo, pyro for each stat atk, def, hp, and each had 70 energy cost.
Also this does not seem very patriotic at all. If Liyue is like China, then it is more patriotic to have Xiao with highest base atk. Second, Liu Wei is the CEO of mihoyo / hoyoverse, so we need to ask how people feel when they give Itto (Liu Zhaokun) the highest def and how they treat Navia (Na Wei Ya). Are people creating a game just to benefit themselves or the people?
Moreover, this came a bit suddenly with no prior warning. Genshin has usually had a reasonable track record when designing character kits (unlike Honkai Star Rail). However, this design for Navia in the 4.3 beta suggests something is seriously off in the world.
It is suggested that centralized authorities start a system of auditing game companies and all private equity (non-public corporations). They need the power to veto decisions they make. Otherwise these private fiefs have way too much freedom of choice, causing negative effects on society. Regulation is needed.
And if you are trying to use Alexandrina Victoria as a basis for strength, you need to remember that Victoria is not her surname. Alexandrina is closer to her surname. So if you are only basing it on Victoria without Alexandrina, then you are scamming the people.
So Alatus (Xiao) is actually more faithful. Like literally, Xiao is called Alatus, the Vigilant Yaksha. This is a much better representation of Alexandrina Victoria.
Centralized authority may want to prepare succession planning for certain game devs and leaders of companies given how hostile some of the recent version contents have been. Game developers are not above the law. And it becomes especially worrisome when these devs are so easily manipulated and brainwashed by USA media. It is honestly not much different from letting a USA colony control the media of 1 billion people. It is greatly recommended that a centralized authority regulate and audit this industry more heavily.
Another idea is to institute rotating chairmen/CEO for certain game companies.
If you think the Conqueror of Evil can be so easily charmed by a blonde hair blue eyed girl also named Xiao, you may be barking up the wrong tree.
But get how sneaky some people are: they made Navia a geo claymore like Noelle and Itto. They made Xiaogan va her. In 4.0 they showed her using a whiteblind, a def scaling claymore. And then boom 4.3 beta came out of nowhere. Who would have expected this? We thought she would be like Arataki Itto or maybe Noelle, but no. This is called sneaky. They even featured Xiao in the 4.1 flagship event along with Chongyun and others. If this is how some people want to act, then we got some serious trust issues.
You really fooled some people, didn't you. If you're wondering why things have been quite peaceful in 4.0, 4.1, the reason is mostly because of the choice of voice actors for the Fontaine main cast. The voice actors for many of the Fontaine characters are actually well-chosen compared to previous versions (not perfect but still better overall compared to previous versions).
Unfortunately, we will not be as forgiving when Natlan comes around.
And people are not naive either. On one hand, many of the Fontaine characters are basically based on different parts of Alexandrina Victoria's name. But on the other hand, we know secretly (or not so secretly) that some of the Fontaine characters are being used as a setup for what is to come in Natlan. We are looking at Furina, Navia, Neuvillette, etc. And this cardinal sin (of abusing Fontaine characters to prepare for Natlan, abusing Fontaine as a prelude to Natlan) is not something that will be forgiven.
So while 4.x lasts, we can continue this masquerade and role-playing game, viewing the different Fontaine characters as different manifestations of Alexandrina Victoria, as if she were an oceanid that split into various forms. But when the clock ticks down to Natlan's release, all of the sins and crimes committed in 3.x and 4.x will be remembered. A price will be paid, and the evaluation of Natlan's versions will suffer and be negatively impacted.