Best F2P weapons for Nilou in Genshin Impact: 3-star and 4-star Swords list

Much to the community's delight, Nilou will be making a reappearance in Genshin Impact in the upcoming version 3.6 of HoYoverse's popular gacha game. Nilou is a five-star Hydro Sword character who's typically used in Bloom team compositions. Her abilities are influenced by her HP, making them far more effective as her HP increases.

Players will find Nilou available on the banners starting on April 12. As such, there are several teams where she can be utilized effectively, but her build has to be designed accordingly. At the moment, there are several strong weapons for Nilou, including the five-star gacha one and F2P options.

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Best F2P Swords for Nilou in Genshin Impact

Nilou's BiS (best-in-slot) weapon in Genshin Impact is her signature weapon, Key of Khaj-Nisut. As expected, Nilou benefits greatly from the passive ability of this Sword, which utilizes a portion of the wielder's HP to provide Elemental Mastery buffs.

At the same time, several decent four-star and three-star weapons for Nilou also exist. Five of the best F2P Swords for Nilou have been listed below.

This article reflects the personal views of the author.

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1) Festering Desire

The Festering Desire was available in v1.2 (Image via Genshin Impact)

The Festering Desire sword was exclusively obtainable for early players who participated in The Chalk Prince and the Dragon event during version 1.2 of Genshin Impact.

Its passive skill can enhance the Elemental Skill DMG of the wielder by up to 32% when refined to its maximum level. Considering that Nilou's damage primarily relies on her Elemental Skill, this sword's buffs are particularly advantageous for a four-star weapon. Furthermore, it boosts the Elemental Skill CRIT Rate as well.

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2) Xiphos' Moonlight

Xiphos' Moonlight (Image via HoYoverse)

The Xiphos' Moonlight is a weapon in Genshin Impact's last Nilou banner that can only be obtained through the gacha system. Essentially, it's a four-star weapon that possesses a sub-stat of Elemental Mastery.

One of its unique features is its passive skill, which can grant the team an Energy Recharge buff, something that's rather uncommon amongst other swords in the game. The Xiphos' Moonlight is one of the best F2P weapons for Nilou in a Bloom team.

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3) Iron Sting

Iron Sting (Image via Hoyoverse)

The Iron Sting is yet another decent free-to-play sword option for Nilou and the best part of this weapon is that it's craftable. It provides a sub-stat of Elemental Mastery that can be beneficial in Elemental Reaction teams, making Nilou a great support with this Sword.

Furthermore, dealing with elemental DMG increases all DMG and this has a good buff even at low refinements.

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4) Favonius Sword

Favonius Sword (Image via HoYoverse)

The Favonius Sword has long been recognized as a useful free-to-play support weapon in Genshin Impact, particularly if the team includes characters who require a substantial amount of Energy to unleash their Elemental Bursts.

Although Nilou doesn't rely too heavily on her Burst, having additional Elemental Particles can certainly benefit other party members, particularly Dendro units, by ensuring that they have enough Energy to continuously use their Bursts before leaving the field.

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5) Harbinger of Dawn

Harbinger of Dawn (Image via Genshin Impact)

Undoubtedly, the Harbinger of Dawn is the best three-star weapon for several Sword-wielding characters and is better than some four-star weapons as well. When the HP of the sword bearer is above 90%, the Harbinger of Dawn's passive ability increases CRIT Rate by 28% at max refinement.

Furthermore, it offers a good amount of CRIT DMG as its substat. The only downside of it being a three-star weapon is the low base ATK. Nevertheless, it's still one of the best sword options for Nilou and can be refined quite easily.

As such, several options for Nilou's build exist for both F2P players and spenders. Teams can be customized based on what the player needs Nilou for, with Bloom teams being an amazing option in general.

Nilou will be making a return to the banner soon and it will be interesting to see how many players will be willing to pull for her this time around. She will be featured on the banner alongside Nahida.