Iansan
ElectroPolearmSupportTL;DR
Iansan's Burst drops a scale that follows your active character and hands them a large attack bonus for twelve seconds. The bonus is at its best while her nightsoul meter sits at 42 points or more. The scale refills that meter based on how far your active character moves. Skill, one attack, Burst, swap off and keep moving.
Rotation
- Skill (E) to charge forward. Her nightsoul meter jumps to 54 points and the ring appears around her portrait.
- One Normal Attack straight after. She does the stomp for free, which turns on her own 20% attack for 15 seconds.
- Burst (Q) to put the scale down. Press this last, before you swap.
- Swap to your damage dealer and keep them moving for the next 12 seconds. Distance covered is what refills her meter.
Abilities
| Skill (E) | A charge forward for Electro damage. Fills her nightsoul meter to 54 points and starts her nightsoul state. 16 second cooldown. For 5 seconds afterwards, a Normal Attack gets you one stomp without paying stamina for it. |
|---|---|
| The stomp | What her Charged Attack becomes while the nightsoul state is up: area Electro damage for a chunk of stamina, or free in the window after the Skill. Landing it gives her 20% attack for 15 seconds and a better refill rate off the scale. |
| Burst (Q) | 70 Energy, 18 second cooldown. Area Electro damage, 15 more nightsoul points, then the scale for 12 seconds. The scale buffs your active character's attack and refills her meter from their movement. |
| Her nightsoul meter | Drains the whole time the state is running. Below 42 points the attack bonus is the weaker version and partly reads off the meter itself. At 42 or above it flips to the stronger version, which reads off her Attack alone. |
The one mechanic to understand
The buff is paid for by moving.
The scale keeps a running tally of how far your active character travelled in the last second and gives Iansan nightsoul points back for it. Her meter drains constantly, so a carry who stands rooted to one spot lets it slip under 42 and the bonus drops to its weaker form part way through the twelve seconds. Anyone who dashes, plunges or repositions between attacks keeps it topped up without thinking about it. The other half of this is the order of the buttons: her nightsoul state normally ends the moment she leaves the field. The one thing that keeps it alive off the field is the scale. Swap away without casting the Burst and the meter empties behind you.
What actually matters
The two or three real decisions. Everything else is noise.
- Energy Recharge, a great deal of it. 70 Energy every rotation off a character who generates very few particles herself. Roughly 240% if she's your only Electro. A Favonius Lance and a second Electro character both cut hard into that, together getting it under 180%.
- Her Attack. The stronger version of the bonus reads off her Attack and nothing else, so levelling her and stacking Attack is what makes your carry hit harder.
- The Burst goes last. Skill, attack, Burst, swap. Any other order and she loses her meter on the way out.
Gear
A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.
| Weapon | Energy Recharge first, Attack second. Favonius Lance is the pick because its passive coughs up the particles she doesn't make for herself. It sits on the standard banner, so plenty of people already have one. |
|---|---|
| Artifacts | 4-piece Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City, which turns her Electro reaction into a party wide elemental damage bonus while she's in her nightsoul state. Take 4-piece Noblesse Oblige if her Electro has nothing to react with, since 20% party attack asks for no conditions at all. |
| Main stats | Attack sands, Attack goblet, Attack circlet, or a Crit Rate circlet if you're running Favonius Lance and want its passive going off reliably. Energy Recharge sands while you're short of the number above. |
Works well with
Dendro
HydroThe attack bonus is element blind, so she fits anywhere your carry wants Attack. The elements above are just the reactions her Electro sets up on the way past. What she really asks for is a carry who moves.
Don't bother
- Her own damage. Three spear pokes and a dash, none of it worth a Crit substat.
- Her healing. It only exists when a Natlan character sets off a nightsoul burst nearby, herself included. Even then it won't keep anyone alive on its own.
- Counting her points. Press the Burst last, keep the carry moving and the meter looks after itself.
- The nightsoul sprint. Very good for crossing Natlan, does nothing in a fight.
Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Iansan on KeqingMains.