Keqing

Keqing

5★ElectroSwordMain Damage

TL;DR

Keqing throws a dagger, then presses Skill again to teleport to it. That second press is the one that matters: it puts Electro on her sword for 5 seconds. Burst goes in between the two presses. After that she's a normal sword character swinging until the Skill comes back.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E) to throw the dagger into the enemies.
  2. Burst (Q) while it's still stuck there.
  3. Skill (E) again to blink in. Her sword lights up with Electro.
  4. Normal attack into charged attack, over and over, until the Skill is back.

Abilities

Skill (E) Two presses on one 7.5 second cooldown. The first throws a dagger that sticks where it lands. The second teleports her to it and gives her sword Electro for 5 seconds.
Burst (Q) 40 Energy, back in 12 seconds. A flurry of Electro slashes with a big hit at the end. Casting it also gives her 15% Crit Rate and 15% Energy Recharge for 8 seconds.
Normal and charged attacks Ordinary sword swings. This is where most of her damage lands. The charged attack is two quick strikes for 25 stamina.

The one mechanic to understand

A charged attack will eat the dagger.

While the dagger is stuck in the ground, a charged attack detonates it instead of doing its usual thing. You get some Electro damage out of that and you lose the teleport, which means you lose the 5 seconds of Electro on her sword. It's the same button she leans on for the rest of the rotation, so the order above is the whole trick: throw, burst, press Skill (E) a second time, then start swinging.

What actually matters

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

  • The Electro on her sword runs out before your combo does. 5 seconds covers the first few swings. Everything after that is a sword hitting things, which is why her normal attack talent is worth levelling ahead of the Skill.
  • She wants something that reacts with Electro. Dendro for Aggravate is the usual answer. Hydro works too. On her own she's a melee character with no reactions and it shows.
  • Energy Recharge is a non-issue. 40 Energy on a 12 second cooldown, with the Burst handing her 15% Energy Recharge on cast. Whatever your artifacts roll is enough.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Crit first, then Attack. Lion's Roar is a standard banner 4-star that pays out against anything already soaked in Electro, which is most of what she hits. Moonweaver's Dawn is free from Nod-Krai if Lion's Roar hasn't shown up.
Artifacts 4-piece Thundering Fury in a Dendro team, since it feeds off the reactions and shortens her Skill cooldown. 4-piece Thundersoother anywhere else, which wants the enemy sitting in Electro.
Main stats Attack sands, Electro damage goblet, Crit circlet. Elemental Mastery sands instead if she's running with Dendro.

Works well with

DendroHydroAnemo

Dendro is the pairing most of her builds assume. Hydro gives you the other Electro reaction. Anemo is there to pull enemies together so a melee character isn't chasing them one at a time.

Don't bother

  • Physical damage builds. They were a real option years ago. They aren't now.
  • Holding Skill (E) in a fight. The hold is for aiming the dagger across a gap you want to jump.
  • Hanging on to the dagger. It expires on its own and the teleport is the point of throwing it.
  • Energy Recharge substats. Put them into Crit.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Keqing on KeqingMains.