Valeriy

Valeriy

4★ElectroSwordSupport

TL;DR

Valeriy is a shield plus a buff for Electro hits. His Skill shields the party and fills a meter. Tap Normal Attack straight after and he fires a mortar shot instead of swinging. That shot gives your team 15 stacks of bonus damage. Each Electro hit from whoever is on the field uses one up. Then swap to the character doing the Electro damage.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E). He charges forward and the party gets a shield.
  2. Normal Attack straight away. He fires the mortar instead of swinging.
  3. Burst (Q) if it's ready. Shells start raining down around the enemies.
  4. Swap to your Electro damage dealer.

Abilities

Skill (E) Electro damage as he charges forward, plus 40 in his meter. The party gets an 18 second shield that scales off his Attack and is extra strong against Electro. 10 second cooldown.
Charged Attack With 40 or more in his meter, the Charged Attack becomes the mortar shot. A Normal Attack within a moment of the Skill or Burst does the same. It spends the whole meter on an Electro hit and 15 stacks that last 18 seconds. Each Electro attack from your on-field character uses a stack for bonus damage based on his Attack. One stack goes per enemy hit.
Burst (Q) 60 Energy, 15 second cooldown. Electro damage, then shells rain down for 12 seconds. While they fall, each Electro hit from the teammate on the field adds 5 to his meter, up to 80 per Burst.

The one mechanic to understand

The Burst fills his meter for the next shot.

The Skill alone gives 40, which is just enough for a shot. Every point the shot spends makes each stack hit harder. A Burst before you swap out lets your Electro teammate bank up to 80 more while the shells fall. The next Skill tops that up to the meter's cap of 100. That shot's stacks are worth about half as much again. Inside a Polestar Field the stacks only go on Stellar-Conduct hits, for about three times the bonus.

What actually matters

  • Attack. The shield and every stack scale off it. His own damage is small.
  • An Electro character on the field. Only Electro attacks use the stacks. Anyone else still gets the shield and nothing more.

Gear

Weapon Attack. Finale of the Deep is craftable in Fontaine and piles it on.
Artifacts 4-piece A Day Carved From Rising Winds. Its Attack bonus triggers off his Skill and his falling shells keep it refreshed after he swaps out. In a Stellar-Conduct team take 4-piece Heart of the Furnace instead if nobody else wears it, since it raises everyone's Stellar-Conduct damage by 50%.
Sands Goblet Circlet Substats
ATK ATK ATK ATK / ER

Attack on all three, since Crit does nothing for the stacks. Around 160% Energy Recharge keeps the Burst coming back for the bigger shot.

Works well with

ElectroCryo

Electro is what uses his stacks. Cryo plus a Snezhnaya teammate who makes a Polestar Field moves them onto Stellar-Conduct hits for the bigger bonus.

Don't bother

  • Crit. His own hits are small and the stacks don't care about it.
  • Normal Attack strings. The one tap after the Skill is the only swing he needs.
  • Saving the Skill for when you need the shield. The shot needs it, so press it whenever it's up.

Want the full deep dive? Read Valeriy on KeqingMains.

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