Clorinde

Clorinde

5★ElectroSwordMain Damage

TL;DR

Clorinde's Skill puts her in a 7.5 second state where her Normal Attacks become Electro pistol shots. Those shots fill her Bond of Life (the red bar sitting over her health) and pressing the Skill again spends it on a lunge that heals her and hits hard. Three shots then a lunge, three times over, then swap off.

Rotation

  1. Let a teammate set off an Electro reaction first. Her damage bonus keys off that.
  2. Skill (E) to go into her state. She draws the pistol and the timer starts.
  3. Normal Attack about three times. Each shot pushes the red bar further along.
  4. Skill (E) again once the bar is full. She lunges, the bar drains and she heals off it.
  5. Repeat that pair until the 7.5 seconds are gone. Burst (Q) at the end if it's up.

Abilities

Skill (E) 16 second cooldown, 7.5 seconds of the state. Her Normal Attacks turn into Electro shots that nothing can override. Charged Attacks go away. Pressing the button again while the state is up gives you the lunge instead, which doesn't wait on that cooldown.
Her shots While the red bar is short of full, every shot adds to it, pierces through enemies and does more damage for it. Once the bar is full the shots go back to being ordinary, which is the signal to lunge.
The lunge Comes in three strengths depending on the red bar. Empty is a plain stab. Partly filled heals her and widens the hit. Completely full is the version you want: most healing, most damage, biggest area.
Burst (Q) 60 Energy, back in 15 seconds. Fills the red bar off her Max HP, then a single big Electro hit around her.

The one mechanic to understand

The red bar is a magazine, not a debt.

Bond of Life normally blocks healing and feels like a penalty. Hers is the resource: shots load it, the lunge fires it off and gives her health back in the process. That's why the loop is three shots then a lunge rather than holding the attack button down. Shots past a full bar are wasted and a lunge on an empty bar is a wet slap. Once it hits full her Crit Rate climbs every time the bar moves as well, so keeping it topped up is worth more than the raw hits. Healing from teammates doesn't heal her while the state is up either. It gets turned into more of the red bar instead, which is fine by her.

What actually matters

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

  • Somebody has to trigger an Electro reaction. Her passive adds a flat chunk of damage to her shots for 15 seconds each time a teammate does, stacking three times. Without a Hydro or Dendro character setting those off she's missing a third of her damage.
  • Attack and Crit, not HP. The red bar is a percentage of her Max HP, so more HP means a bigger bar to fill rather than bigger hits. Her damage reads off Attack.
  • She is on her own for health. Outside her state healing works normally, but inside it only her lunge heals her. If she's taking real damage, lunge more often rather than waiting for the bar.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Crit and Attack. The Black Sword from the Battle Pass has Crit Rate plus a Normal Attack bonus, which is all she uses. Amenoma Kageuchi is the much easier one to get, craftable in Inazuma, plus it helps the Burst come back.
Artifacts 4-piece Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy. It pays out every time a Bond of Life goes up or down, which for her is several times a second.
Main stats Attack sands, Electro damage goblet, Crit circlet.

Works well with

HydroDendroElectro

Hydro and Dendro are the two that reliably give a teammate an Electro reaction to trigger. A second Electro character is mostly there for the Energy.

Don't bother

  • HP builds. A bigger bar is a slower bar.
  • Shooting once the red bar is already full. Those shots are the weak version.
  • Bringing a healer for her benefit. Their healing turns into red bar while she's fighting.
  • Charged Attacks. Her state removes them.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Clorinde on KeqingMains.