Arlecchino

Arlecchino

5★PyroPolearmMain Damage

TL;DR

Arlecchino's Skill stamps marks on enemies, and after 5 seconds they become larger. A charged attack removes those marks and hands her a Bond of Life meter (the red section that surrounds her health bar). While it's there her normal attacks turn Pyro and hit enormously hard. Attacking drains the meter down. Skill+Charge attack to build the bar, attack to spend it. While he has the bar (so always) she can't be healed by anything except her Burst.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E) on the enemies to mark them.
  2. Swap out and let your supports do their thing. This also buys the five seconds the marks need.
  3. Swap back and charged attack to swallow the marks.
  4. Normal attack until the Bond of Life is nearly gone.
  5. Burst (Q) when she's low. It heals her and hands the Skill straight back.

Abilities

Normal attacks A six-hit polearm string. Physical and mediocre until she has a Bond of Life, at which point they become Pyro strikes and account for nearly all her damage.
Charged attack A short lunge that cleaves enemies. This is how she absorbs the marks and builds her bar (it's only used to absorb marks).
Skill (E) Pyro damage and a mark on every enemy hit, lasting 30 seconds. 30 second cooldown, but attacking shortens it and her Burst resets it outright.
Burst (Q) Big Pyro hit, then drains her whole Bond of Life bar and heals her with it. Also resets her Skill. 60 Energy.
Her health bar The red section is the Bond of Life, and it is the fuel. More of it means more damage, and each normal attack burns a little off.
Arlecchino's health bar with the right hand section filled red, marking the Bond of Life
The red chunk on the right is the Bond of Life. Every normal attack shaves a bit off it.

The one mechanic to understand

The marks upgrade after five seconds.

Wait about five seconds after your Skill and the marks visibly brighten. Absorbing an upgraded mark with a charged attack is worth roughly double a fresh one, which is roughly double the damage on everything that follows. That's why the rotation sends her off the field in the middle: your supports are casting anyway, so the wait costs you nothing. Charged attacking before your marks mature is the single easiest way to play her badly.

The same hilichurl twice, once with a dull dark red cross on its chest and once with the cross grown into a bright glowing star
Fresh on the left, upgraded on the right. Wait for the second one before you charged attack.

What actually matters

The two or three real decisions. Everything else is noise.

  • Nobody can heal her during combat. Only her own Burst. Bring a shielder if the incoming damage is a problem, and otherwise accept that she plays at half health.
  • The Bond of Life is fuel, so don't run dry. Damage scales with how much of it is left, so the last few swings before it empties are your weakest. Re-mark and re-swallow rather than grinding the bar to nothing.
  • More HP doesn't make her bar bigger. The Bond is a percentage of her Max HP not an absolute value. The damage bonus is a percentage of her attack, so while HP artifacts make her tankier, they don't make her stronger. Attack and crit.
  • Skipping the Burst is normal. It's her only heal, so use it for that. Since it spends all your bar it's a big damage loss to use it, keeping her alive is always worthwhile, but only use it when it's needed.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Crit and attack. If you're running her with a Hydro teammate, Dragon's Bane is craftable, gives Elemental Mastery and adds damage against anything wet or burning, which covers her whole team plan.
Artifacts 4-piece Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy. It pays out when her Bond of Life changes, and hers changes constantly.
Main stats Attack sands, Pyro damage goblet, Crit circlet. Elemental Mastery sands instead if you're running her with Hydro for Vaporize. No HP, no Energy Recharge.

Works well with

HydroCryoElectro

Hydro is the standard pick, since her Pyro hitting a wet enemy multiplies the damage. Cryo gets you Melt instead, Electro gets Overload. All three work.

Don't bother

  • Holding the charged attack. The long sprint it turns into is for crossing the map, not for fighting.
  • Trying to keep her health topped up. Low is where she lives.
  • Elemental Mastery with no Hydro or Cryo teammate. No reaction, no benefit.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Arlecchino on KeqingMains.