Should I Pull for Yae Miko or Raiden Shogun in Genshin Impact?

Hey friend, Jason here with some thoughts on whether you should wish for the flashy new Electro character Yae Miko or save up for Raiden Shogun‘s expected rerun banner.

After testing out Yae Miko extensively and crunching the numbers, my verdict is:

Pull for Raiden Shogun over Yae Miko for most players

While both are top-tier Electro characters, Raiden Shogun will provide more value and versatility for your teams in the long run. Here‘s why:

• Raiden is a universal battery that powers up all your characters
• She unlocks more team comps as an on-field DPS or off-field support
• Her damage scales harder with investment due to AoE attacks
• Yae Miko needs very specific teammates to truly shine

However, if you love everything about Yae Miko, her playstyle, and already have Raiden, she‘s still a very solid option. Let‘s take a deeper look at both characters!

Detailed Overview of Yae Miko‘s Kit

Yae Miko is a 5-star Catalyst user who deals Electro damage through her Elemental Skill totems and powerful AoE Burst. Let‘s break down her abilities in detail:

Normal Attack: Secret Art – Shin-shin-kutsu

• Performs up to 5 rapid attacks that deal Electro DMG

• Has short range and only single target

• Low damage scaling; mostly for applying Electro

Elemental Skill: Yakan Evocation – Sesshou Sakura

• Deploys a maximum of 3 Sesshou Sakura that attack nearby opponents

• Each totem has 30s duration and 10s cooldown

• Totems deal AoE Electro damage at set intervals

• Costs 45 Energy and starts with 2 charges

Elemental Burst: Great Secret Art – Tenko Kenshin

• Calls down lightning strikes in large AoE for big Electro damage

• Costs 90 Energy, 20s CD

• Provides AoE field that boosts Electro CRIT Rate

Passives:

• Extends totem duration when they hit opponents

• Converts ER into Electro DMG Bonus after Burst

• 15% Electro DMG Bonus when using Skill/Burst

With multi-totem attacks and high burst cost, Yae Miko is designed as an off-field sub DPS that contributes steady Electro damage from a distance. She wants to quickly cast her Skill and Burst, then swap to other characters while her totems continue attacking in the background.

A key part of her kit is managing her three totems properly to maximize their damage potential. But their limited range and positioning requirements make Yae Miko‘s playstyle a bit tricky to optimize.

Raiden Shogun‘s Powers and Playstyle

Let‘s also recap Raiden Shogun‘s versatile kit as an on-field DPS and off-field battery:

Normal Attack – Martial Soul

• 5-hit Polearm combo with good scaling

• 4th hit has AoE damage

• Useable during Elemental Burst mode

Elemental Skill – Transcendence: Baleful Omen

• Hits opponents with Electro damage

• Grants Energy for the team

• Buffs Burst DMG based on Energy Cost

Elemental Burst – Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu

• Channels the Musou no Hitotachi

• Infuses attacks with Electro; boosts Burst DMG

• Restores Energy and CD reduction for the team

Passives:

• Increases Energy recharge for party members

• Extends Burst duration based on Energy restored

• 60% DEF ignore against Electro affected enemies

Raiden Shogun is an extremely flexible on-field DPS and off-field battery hybrid. She works in a variety of team roles:

• Main on-field carry with her Elemental Burst
• Burst DPS – Swap in to use Q nuke
• Battery – Funnel Energy to hungry teammates

This versatility and cohesive kit is a large part of what makes Raiden Shogun such a universal top-tier character.

Comparing Damage Potential of Yae Miko and Raiden

Now let‘s compare the damage potential of these two Electro powerhouses using some calculated examples.

Here‘s a table estimating the Skill and Burst damage for well-invested Yae Miko and Raiden Shogun builds in a typical AoE situation against two enemies:

Example Damage	Yae Miko	Raiden Shogun
Sesshou Sakura (3 totems)	16,000 per interval	–
Tenko Kenshin	50,000	–
Musou Shinsetsu	–	400,000

Based on theorycrafter estimates, Raiden‘s Elemental Burst has significantly higher damage potential than Yae‘s Skill or Burst in AoE situations against multiple enemies.

This is due to Raiden‘s multi-hit Burst combo and quadratic scaling off of number of enemies. Yae Miko‘s damage is more limited by totem targeting and range.

In single target scenarios, a well-invested Yae Miko can potentially match or exceed Raiden‘s damage during her rotation. But most content involves fighting multiple opponents where Raiden‘s AoE capabilities shine.

Field Time and Rotation Impact

The difference in field time required is another key factor:

• Yae Miko needs only 5-8s on field to cast her Skill/Burst
• Raiden Shogun requires ~7s field time just for her Burst animation alone

Yae Miko has less field demand which allows main DPS characters like Ayaka or Hu Tao to spend more time attacking. But Raiden‘s contribution while on-field makes up for her longer Burst mode.

Scaling with Investments

Lastly, Raiden Shogun also rewards investment and constellations more than Yae Miko:

• Raiden‘s AoE Burst scales massively with talent levels
• Her C2 roughly doubles Burst damage during the 7s duration
• Yae Miko‘s main power spike is at C2; after that diminishing returns

So while both can deal huge amounts of damage, Raiden Shogun ultimately brings higher raw numbers especially in AoE situations. Her damage potential scales better with constellations and talent investments.

Raiden Shogun Provides Universal Battery & Flexibility

A key advantage Raiden Shogun has over Yae Miko is her ability to effortlessly solve energy issues for teammates.

Her Elemental Skill produces a high amount of Electro Energy particles off cooldown. When combined with her Ascension 4 passive that boosts Energy recharge, Raiden can act as a universal battery to reduce or even eliminate the Energy requirements of costly Burst reliant characters like:

• Xiangling
• Eula
• Beidou
• Xingqiu
• Noelle

Meanwhile, Yae Miko not only has high Energy costs herself, but lacks any form of energy generation for the rest of the team. She is quite reliant on teammates like Raiden Shogun to battery for her.

This battery capability makes Raiden extremely flexible and enables teams that Yae Miko struggles to fit into. You‘ll always appreciate having an Archon that recharges Bursts, while Yae Miko needs specific comps tailored to her.

Example Team Lineups For Each Character

Based on their different strengths, here are some team examples that highlight when to pick Raiden or Yae Miko:

Raiden Shogun Example Teams

• Raiden National Team – Raiden / Xiangling / Xingqiu / Bennett – Faster rotations and smoother energy

• Eula + Raiden – Eula / Raiden / Cryo / Flex – Solves Eula‘s energy issues

• Hypercarry – Raiden / Sara or Bennett / Kazuha / Zhongli – Focused on buffing Raiden‘s own damage

Yae Miko Example Teams

• Overload – Yae / Fischl (Beidou) / Bennett / Anemo – Fast Electro application for Overload spam

• Aggravate – Yae / Dendro MC / Fischl / Healer – High Electro uptime to trigger Quicken and Aggravate

• Freeze – Yae / Hydro / Anemo / Cryo – Additional off-field damage for Frozen targets

Raiden‘s battery strength lets her fit into almost any composition and improve energy cycles. Yae Miko is more limited in team building unless paired with specific elements like Dendro or Freeze.

My Personal Recommendation

So in summary, here are the key takeaways on Yae Miko vs Raiden Shogun:

• Raiden is one of the most universal and futureproof characters
• Her battery abilities enable a wider variety of team comps
• Raiden outpaces Yae Miko in AoE damage potential
• Yae Miko is still a good ST damage option if you like her
• But Raiden Shogun will provide more overall value per investment

As a veteran player, I recommend pulling for the Raiden Shogun rerun over the new character Yae Miko.

Raiden is such a flexible pick that fits into almost any account and team comp. Her ability to recharge Bursts is invaluable and she brings very high AoE damage during her 7s on-field window.

Yae Miko is solid but quite niche and tricky to optimize. I‘d only recommend wishing for her if you absolutely love her character/playstyle and already own Raiden Shogun.

Hope this detailed breakdown helps you decide whether to pull for Yae Miko or save for our Electro Archon. Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below and I‘ll try my best to help out! Cheers!