Thoma

Thoma

4★PyroPolearmShielder

TL;DR

Thoma's Skill gives you a shield. His Burst is the better version: for 15 seconds, whoever is on the field gets another shield every time their Normal Attacks land, so the protection tops itself up while your damage dealer does their job. Skill, Burst, swap off. Build him for Max HP and Energy Recharge.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E) for a shield and a flying kick on the way in.
  2. Burst (Q) so that everyone who follows keeps generating their own shields.
  3. Swap to your damage dealer and attack normally. Each second of attacking refreshes the shield.
  4. Come back for Skill (E) when it's up. Shields stack rather than replace each other.

Abilities

Skill (E) 15 second cooldown. A flying kick for Pyro damage and a shield that lasts 8 seconds, sized off his Max HP. It also puts Pyro on himself, which is handy for shrugging off Cryo. The shield soaks Pyro damage two and a half times as well as anything else.
Burst (Q) 80 Energy, back in 20 seconds. 15 seconds during which your active character's Normal Attacks each throw out a Pyro hit and another shield, once a second.
The shields Whatever is left of an old shield gets added to a new one instead of being thrown away, then the timer restarts. That's why his protection gets thicker the longer a fight runs rather than flickering on and off.

The one mechanic to understand

Somebody else has to be attacking.

His Burst produces nothing on its own. It turns your active character's Normal Attacks into shield generators, so the shields only arrive while somebody is swinging. A team that spends the window casting rather than hitting things gets the one shield from his Skill and nothing else. It also means his Pyro is going onto the enemy roughly once a second through your carry's attacks, which is a gift in a vaporize team and a nuisance if that carry wanted a clean aura to work with.

What actually matters

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

  • Max HP. Both shields are sized off it. His Burst damage takes a slice of it too. Nothing else on his sheet matters for the shielding.
  • Energy Recharge, a lot of it. 80 Energy for the ability that does the work. Roughly 180% if he's your only Pyro.
  • Level the Burst, not the Skill. The Skill shield is a top-up. The Burst is the character.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Energy Recharge, then Max HP. Favonius Lance is a standard banner 4-star that hands out extra particles, which is exactly what an 80 cost Burst needs.
Artifacts 4-piece Noblesse Oblige. He casts his Burst every rotation, so the 20% party Attack bonus is up whenever your damage dealer is out.
Main stats Energy Recharge sands, HP goblet, HP circlet. Swap the circlet to Crit Rate if his lance is a Favonius, which needs roughly 30% to trigger.

Works well with

HydroCryoElectro

The Pyro he applies through your carry's attacks is the reason to pick him over another shielder. Hydro and Cryo turn it into a reaction on every swing, Electro into Overloaded.

Don't bother

  • Attack or Crit stats. He's a wall with a spear.
  • Staying on the field to attack with him. His own Normal Attacks trigger nothing that matters.
  • The Burst in a team of casters. No Normal Attacks, no shields.
  • Waiting for the shield to break before recasting. Stacking on top is strictly better.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Thoma on KeqingMains.