Qiqi
CryoSwordHealerTL;DR
Qiqi's Skill puts a frost spirit over her shoulder for 15 seconds. While it's out her sword swings heal the whole party, so unlike most healers she has to stand there and swing. Her Burst marks enemies so that hitting them heals whoever landed the hit. Skill, attack a few times, swap.
Rotation
- Skill (E). The spirit appears and stays for 15 seconds.
- Normal Attack three or four times. Every hit heals the party.
- Swap off. The spirit still tops up whoever is on the field at intervals.
- Burst (Q) instead of all that when the team is in real trouble, or when you want healing left behind on the enemies.
Abilities
| Skill (E) | 30 second cooldown, 15 second duration. Cryo damage on cast, then the spirit follows the active character, hitting things in their path with Cryo and topping them up periodically. While it's out, Qiqi's own normal and Charged Attack hits heal the whole party off her Attack. |
|---|---|
| Burst (Q) | 80 Energy, back in 20 seconds. Cryo damage and a mark on nearby enemies for 15 seconds. Whoever damages a marked enemy gets healed for it, whichever character that happens to be. |
The one mechanic to understand
She heals by hitting things.
Most healers press a button and leave. Qiqi's Skill turns her attacks into party healing, so the big numbers only arrive while she's on the field with the sword out. The spirit does keep working after she swaps away, topping up the active character every few seconds, but that trickle is the small half. The Burst is the way out when you cannot spare the field time: mark the enemies and every hit your carry lands heals them instead.
What actually matters
The two or three real decisions. Everything else is noise.
- Attack, since all her healing reads off it. Max HP does nothing, which catches people out.
- The 30 second Skill cooldown. It's twice its own duration, so there is a stretch of every fight where the spirit is simply gone.
- Energy Recharge is a grind on her. 80 Energy and very little particle generation, so the Burst is an emergency button rather than something you plan a rotation around.
Gear
A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.
| Weapon | Attack, then Energy Recharge. Sacrificial Sword is a standard banner 4-star that sometimes refunds the Skill outright, which is the one thing that fixes the 30 second gap. |
|---|---|
| Artifacts | 4-piece Maiden Beloved. More healing from her, plus 20% more healing received by everyone for a few seconds after she casts either button. |
| Main stats | Attack sands, Attack goblet, Healing Bonus circlet. |
Works well with
Hydro
PyroHydro if you want things frozen, since the spirit reapplies Cryo as it follows your carry around. Pyro if you would rather melt them.
Don't bother
- Max HP or Healing Bonus in the sands. Attack is the stat her healing is written against.
- Building her for damage. The Cryo hits are there to apply the element.
- Saving the Burst. If the team needs healing, that is what it is for.
- C6 as a plan. It revives fallen characters, once every fifteen minutes.
Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Qiqi on KeqingMains.