Emilie

Emilie

5★DendroPolearmOff-field Damage

TL;DR

Emilie plants a case on the ground that fires Dendro shots at whatever is near it, then you swap away and leave it running. Bring a Pyro character, because Burning enemies are what upgrade the case and what her passives pay out on. Skill, swap, then press Burst when you happen to have it.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E) to plant the case. It stands for 22 seconds on a 14 second cooldown, so it never has to come down.
  2. Swap to your Pyro character and set the enemies on fire.
  3. Swap to whoever is doing your damage. The case fires by itself. After it picks up two scents it levels up and starts firing an extra shot.
  4. Come back for Burst (Q) whenever it's charged. It puts your case away for a shade under 3 seconds of heavy rain, then hands the case back with its timer reset.

Abilities

Skill (E) Dendro damage where it lands, then the case stands for 22 seconds on a 14 second cooldown. Only one of her cases exists at a time. Planting one also drops a piercing thorn in front of her, no more than once every 10 seconds.
Burst (Q) 50 Energy, 13.5 second cooldown. Stows your case, drops a top level one for just under 3 seconds that rains Dendro on one enemy at a time very fast, then gives your old case back with a fresh 22 seconds on it.
The case Sits at level 1 or level 2. Burning enemies give off scents and the case collects them. Two of them level it up. At level 2 it fires an extra shot, hits harder and covers more ground. Eight seconds without a scent and it drops back to level 1.

The one mechanic to understand

Burning is the whole character.

Enemies only give off scents while they're Burning, which means your Pyro character lighting up something her case has already put Dendro on. The first two scents level the case up. Every two after that get spent on an area attack that hits harder than anything else she does. Her passive stacks on top of it: up to 36% more damage against a Burning enemy, scaling off her Attack. With no Pyro in the team none of that happens and you're left with a case plinking away one shot at a time. The upside of living in a fire is handled for you, since the party takes 85% less Burning damage while her case is out.

What actually matters

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

  • Attack, not Elemental Mastery. Everything she does is direct Dendro damage rather than a reaction she triggers. The Burning bonus reads off her Attack too. Elemental Mastery is a dead stat here.
  • Keep the case out. 22 seconds of duration against a 14 second cooldown means it should never be missing. The party's protection from Burning damage leaves with it.
  • Energy Recharge is optional. The Burst is cheap at 50 and it's the smaller part of her damage. If you'd rather have Crit substats than cast it every rotation, take the Crit.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Attack and Crit. Deathmatch out of Paimon's shop is the easy pick.
Artifacts 4-piece Unfinished Reverie, the set from her own domain. Its damage bonus climbs while a Burning enemy is nearby and drains away when there isn't one, which is the same condition the rest of her kit runs on. Take 4-piece Deepwood Memories instead if nobody else on the team is holding it.
Main stats Attack sands, Dendro goblet, Crit circlet.

Works well with

Pyro

Pyro and not much else. She supplies the Dendro half of Burning herself, so the slot her kit actually asks for is someone who can apply Pyro off the field.

Don't bother

  • Staying on the field with her. Two buttons and she's finished.
  • Counting scents. Burning enemies produce them on a timer and the case collects them on its own. Watch the case level instead.
  • A Hydro character as part of the plan. Hydro puts the Burning out, which is the one thing she needs kept lit.
  • Treating the Burst as the point. It's a short spike of damage and a free timer reset on the case.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Emilie on KeqingMains.