Is C2 Xianyun better than R1 Crane’s Echoing Call in Genshin Impact?

Let’s say you already have Xianyun, the premier Plunging Attack support in Genshin Impact. Aside from her artifacts, there are two primary ways to increase Xianyun’s efficacy: pull for her second Constellation or her weapon. Since both of these routes cost valuable Primogems, which one is more cost-effective?

C2 Xianyun is better than R1 Crane’s Echoing Call. Xianyun’s second Constellation doubles her buff to Plunging Attacks. It also gives her a 20% ATK bonus, making it easier to max out her buff. If you’re on the fence about where to spend your pulls, Xianyun’s character banner is the better choice for damage.

Crane’s Echoing Call grants a 28% DMG bonus to Plunging Attacks and restores some Energy to Xianyun, allowing her to build more ATK and less Energy Recharge. It’s undoubtedly good, but not as good as straight-up doubling Xianyun’s innate buffs.

How many pulls will it take?

You should also consider how many pulls you’ll need to guarantee what you want. The median pity count for a 5-star character is 75 pulls. Accounting for the 50/50 mechanic, you can expect to spend anywhere between about 150 to 300 pulls to achieve C2 Xianyun.

The weapon banner is a bit more complicated, but you should expect to spend about 64 to 192 pulls to acquire R1 Crane’s Echoing Call. In the absolute worst case scenario, it could take up to 240 pulls.

The weapon banner does appear cheaper, but if you don’t have 240 pulls on hand, then you can’t actually guarantee Crane’s Echoing Call. Epitomized Path Fate points don’t carry over between banners, so if you fail to acquire Crane’s Echoing Call, then that progress does not count toward your next desired weapon on subsequent banners. Meanwhile, pity is fully conserved between character banners, so if you fall short of C2 Xianyun, you still keep your progress toward your next desired character.

Do you really need either of them?

If you’re not heavily invested into a Plunge Attack DPS character, you should opt to save your Primogems and not pull for either of them. C0 Xianyun works perfectly fine with weapons you may already have. Vertical investment into Xianyun will result in bigger numbers, but ask yourself if you really need bigger numbers or if you’d rather save for a shiny new character instead.

As always, be aware that the gacha system is designed to suck you dry. Don’t spend money you don’t have, and don’t let anyone pressure you into “needing” stronger characters. All content in Genshin Impact can be cleared with C0 characters and free weapons, and sometimes, using weaker characters is the bigger flex.