Layla

Layla

4★CryoSwordShielder

TL;DR

Layla's Skill is a shield, and it comes off cooldown exactly as it expires, so once you get in the habit the team's shielded all fight. While it's up it quietly builds little stars that fire themselves at enemies as Cryo. Build Max HP for a fatter shield, press E, go away.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E) for the shield.
  2. Burst (Q) if it's charged.
  3. Swap out. The stars and the Burst both keep working without you.
  4. Come back and recast Skill (E) every 12 seconds.

Abilities

Skill (E) A shield off her Max HP, lasting 12 seconds on a 12 second cooldown. It stays up after you swap off her, so it's covering whoever is on the field. It's especially tough against Cryo damage. While it's up, stars gather above her and fire off in volleys of Cryo on their own.
Burst (Q) Parks something overhead that lobs Cryo at the nearest enemy every second and a half for a while. Most of her personal damage is here.

What actually matters

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

  • Max HP is the shield. Nothing she does scales off anything else, so every slot goes to HP and you can stop thinking about her build entirely.
  • Her Energy is thinner than the price tag suggests. The Burst only costs 40, which is nothing, but the shield itself makes no energy particles. Only the stars do, and only when a volley actually fires, so she can still be sat waiting on it. A second Cryo teammate or a Favonius weapon settles that and you can stop thinking about it.
  • Teammates using their skills feed her stars. Each teammate skill cast hands her two stars instead of the one she generates on her own, so an active team gets more volleys and more energy back out of her.
  • She's a flexible shielder, not a Cryo specialist. Her real job is stopping your carry getting knocked out of an attack. The Cryo is a side effect, and it's fine to bring her to a team with no Cryo plan at all.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Max HP for the shield, or Energy Recharge if her Burst keeps missing its turn. Favonius Sword solves the energy side and turns up on the standard banner constantly.
Artifacts 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith. Its HP bonus makes the shield bigger and its attack buff has near-perfect uptime on her, and you can build it out of the Strongbox rather than farming a domain.
Main stats HP sands, HP goblet, HP circlet. Energy Recharge in the sands instead until the Burst is reliable. Crit does nothing worth having.

Works well with

CryoHydroPyro

A second Cryo character gives the team the Cryo resonance crit bonus, so that's the natural pairing. Beyond that she'll shield anyone.

Don't bother

  • Building her for damage. It's possible and it's a waste of a shielder.
  • Her attacks. She has nothing to gain by staying on the field, and the stars fire themselves.
  • Bringing her to a Freeze team as the main Cryo. Frozen enemies aren't hitting you, so the shield has nothing to do.
  • Watching the star counter. It fills on its own and firing is automatic.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Layla on KeqingMains.