Xingqiu

Xingqiu

4★HydroSwordOff-field Damage

TL;DR

Xingqiu's Burst makes swords fall out of the sky every time your on-field character swings, and his Skill wraps the team in floating blades that eat some of the damage coming at you. He's a 4-star, so most accounts already have him. Press both buttons, swap to whoever you actually want to play, and he keeps working from the bench.

Rotation

  1. Skill (E) for the blades.
  2. Burst (Q) straight after.
  3. Swap to your damage dealer and normal attack.
  4. Come back and do it again in about 20 seconds.

Abilities

Skill (E) Two quick Hydro hits, and three blades start orbiting whoever is on the field. They cut incoming damage, stop you getting staggered, and heal a little when they pop. Long cooldown, about 21 seconds.
Burst (Q) For the next 15 seconds, your on-field character's normal attacks call down extra swords. This is nearly all of his damage and the reason he's in the team.

The one mechanic to understand

The swords only fall if someone is punching.

His Burst does nothing on its own. It's tied to the on-field character's normal attacks, so if the person you swapped to is standing around casting abilities or holding a charged attack, no swords. Characters who spam normal attacks get everything out of him. Characters who mostly press buttons and swap off get about half.

What actually matters

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

  • Energy Recharge, and a lot of it. His Burst costs 80 and it's the whole character. Around 200% is the honest number if he's your only Hydro, less if you've got a second Hydro or a Favonius weapon in the team feeding him particles.
  • He is a damage dealer, not a support. Build him for damage: Hydro damage goblet, crit circlet. The blades and the healing come free from his skill, they don't want stats.
  • He mostly hits one target. The swords chase the enemy your carry is on, so he's excellent against a boss and unremarkable against a room full of slimes.
  • C6 is worth having. Every third wave of swords comes out much bigger and hands him back a little Energy, which takes the edge off his Energy Recharge problem. He's a 4-star, so it happens eventually.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Energy Recharge first, crit second. Amenoma Kageuchi is craftable, has Attack on it and hands back Energy every time he uses his skill, which is exactly his problem.
Artifacts 4-piece Emblem of Severed Fate. It gives Energy Recharge and then turns that Energy Recharge into Burst damage, and his Burst is the character.
Main stats Energy Recharge sands, Hydro damage goblet, Crit DMG circlet. Swap the sands to Attack once he can cast his Burst every rotation without waiting.

Works well with

PyroElectroDendroCryo

He is the standard Hydro half of a Pyro team, and the standard water supply for Dendro reactions. Pretty much anything that wants Hydro on the enemy wants him.

Don't bother

  • Playing him on the field. His own attacks are weak and he isn't built for it.
  • Healing stats. The blades heal a trickle off his Max HP and that is not a thing you build for.
  • Counting the blades. They're a comfort bonus, not something you manage.
  • Bringing him for a carry who never normal attacks. Look at what your damage dealer actually presses first.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Xingqiu on KeqingMains.