Layla is a new character in the Genshin Impact universe, unlike Nahida the Dendro Archon, who has previously featured in the story. As a result, there are several unanswered questions about her character. Genshin Impact has given a few vague hints, describing Layla as “Half-Awake, Half-Asleep, All Incredulous”. It also announced that Layla holds a Cryo Vision while giving gamers some teasers about a night-themed kit. Players were given the impression Layla would be a 4-star character capable of supporting teams with sturdy shields and energy generation, thanks to some gameplay leaks on Twitter and YouTube.
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Layla’s Character Gives Gamers More Options in Cryo Characters
The new character, Layla, is a student of Rtawahist Darshan - one of the six main schools of the Sumeru Akademiya. Acclaimed Genshin Impact leaker Ubatcha offered a short description of Layla as a studious character who suffers from insomnia. Also, Ubatcha notes that Layla’s abilities indicate she might be a Support or Sub-DPS, but issues a caveat that it is still too early to be sure of her role. She has a similar appearance to the five-star Cryo Sword character Kamisato Ayaka while keeping a unique blue-and-gold-themed appearance.
In more news coming from Ubatcha via Twitter, HP will be used as a primary stat for Layla in a similar fashion to Diona, boosting her shielding abilities. Where Diona has abilities as both a shielder and healer, Layla, from the leaks, specializes solely as a shielder. Judging from her specialization, there was some speculation that Layla might be the strongest 4-star shield in Genshin Impact Version 3.2. Layla’s weapon of choice in Genshin Impact appears to be a sword, and she showcases unique animations in the leaked gameplay videos. Her Elemental Skill - Nights of Formal Focus - is also on display, a Cryo-based shield that resembles Diona’s in Genshin Impact. Layla generates a shield called the Curtain of Slumber when her Elemental Skill is cast. Her abilities revolve around maintaining her Cryo shield as a defense and firing projectiles her Elemental Skill generates to deal Cryo damage to enemies.
The Curtain of Slumber shield is reliant on Layla’s max HP. While the Curtain of Slumber is active, the shield will create a Night Star at a recurring interval of 1.5 seconds. This ability can be boosted to two Night Stars every 1.5 seconds if characters in Genshin Impact cast Elemental Skills while under the protection of the Curtain of Slumber. Although defensive, the Curtain of Slumber also has offensive capabilities for gamers to explore. Once the Curtain of Slumber generates four Night Stars, they will transform into homing Shooting Stars for launching at enemies, capable of dealing Cryo DMG upon impact. The Curtain of Slumber has a set duration, and once the period ends or the shield gets destroyed, the Night Stars will disappear.
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Layla’s Abilities Make Farming Worth The Trouble
In addition to the Curtain of Slumber, Layla’s Elemental Burst - Dream of the Star-Stream Shaker - is a large hovering mobile decorated with a Moon in the center, an allusion to the night-themed kit for the Cryo character. Activating Layla’s Elemental Burst will create a Celestial Dreamsphere. The Celestial Dreamsphere is designed to attack nearby enemies incessantly with Starlight Slugs. These slugs deal damage to enemies based on Layla’s Max HP and are capable of generating a Night Star for use by the Curtain of Slumber whenever they make contact with an enemy, providing an alternative way to create homing Shooting Stars for Layla’s shield.
Information about Layla’s ascension materials also features in the leaks, and players are already setting about farming these materials to max her out in Genshin Impact Version 3.2. Layla’s character materials can be farmed in advance, except for her Weekly Boss talent upgrade materials. For players to max out Layla, they will need to farm for some Lotus and Jade items. These include 168 units of Nilotpala Lotus, 1 unit of Shivada Jade Silver, nine units of Shivada Jade Fragment and Shivada Jade Chunk, and six units of Shivada Jade Gemstone, to name a few.
Other materials that are required to max out Layla include; 18 units of Divining Scroll, 30 units of Sealed Scroll, 36 units of Forbidden Curse Scroll, and 46 units of Perpetual Caliber. With the information from the leaks, players are speculating that Layla has the potential to be a better Cryo Support character than Diona. Perhaps due to the common Shiny Object Syndrome, many fans of Genshin Impact dropped Diona by the Genshin Impact Version 3.2 release date. Then again, it’s not hard to see why gamers are excited about the possibilities Layla brings to a Genshin Impact team. Her animation style and unique personality hold a transfixing appeal and promise to offer a different dynamic to keep players glued to the game.
Genshin Impact is now available on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.
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