Diluc

Diluc

5★PyroClaymoreMain Damage

TL;DR

Diluc's Burst sets his sword on fire for about 12 seconds, and his Skill is a forward slash he gets to throw three times in a row. That's the entire character: burst, then loop two normal attacks into a slash until the fire goes out. No resource bar, no state to watch, nothing to time to the frame. He's about as straightforward as a damage dealer gets.

Rotation

  1. Let your supports go first, especially anything that soaks the enemies.
  2. Burst (Q) to light the sword.
  3. Two normal attacks then Skill (E), three times through.
  4. Keep swinging while the skill comes back, then do it again.

Abilities

Skill (E) A stepping slash that deals Pyro. You get three of them back to back. The 10 second cooldown doesn't start until you've used the last one or waited too long between them.
Burst (Q) Costs 40 Energy, back in 12 seconds. Knocks enemies away, sends a phoenix forward that explodes at the far end, and coats his weapon in Pyro for about 12 seconds along with a 20% Pyro damage bonus while it burns.
Charged attack A stamina-draining spin. He pays half the usual stamina for it, but the normals-into-slash loop beats it in almost every fight.

The one mechanic to understand

The three slashes are one cooldown.

His skill doesn't go on cooldown when you press it. It goes on cooldown after the third slash, or after you leave too long a gap between them. So the whole trick is spending all three inside the burst window where they're on fire, rather than pressing one, wandering off, and losing the other two to the timer. Two normal attacks between each one is about the right spacing: enough to squeeze real damage in, not so long that the sequence times out.

What actually matters

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

  • Something that soaks the enemies. Pyro hitting a wet enemy roughly doubles the number. Without a Hydro character in the team his damage is just fire damage, which is a very different page of numbers.
  • Energy Recharge is barely a problem. 40 Energy is cheap and the burst is on a 12 second cooldown. Somewhere around 120% covers it, less if a second Pyro character is making particles.
  • Level the normal attacks too. A good chunk of his damage in the burst window comes off swings rather than the skill, so the talent books get split between the two instead of dumped into the burst.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Crit, then attack. Prototype Archaic is craftable and perfectly fine. Serpent Spine from the battle pass hits harder if you own it and can keep the stacks alive.
Artifacts 4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames. Pyro damage bonus plus a big boost to Vaporize and Melt, which is where his damage comes from.
Main stats Attack or Elemental Mastery sands, Pyro goblet, Crit circlet.

Works well with

HydroCryoPyro

Hydro is the one that changes his numbers. Cryo does the same job the other way round, and a second Pyro is mostly there for the energy and the attack bonus.

Don't bother

  • Physical damage builds. His burst overwrites his attacks with Pyro for most of the fight anyway.
  • Saving skill charges for later. There is no later, they expire.
  • Energy Recharge past about 130%. Put it into crit.
  • Long normal attack strings outside the burst. He's waiting for the fire, not fighting without it.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Diluc on KeqingMains.