Keqing
The Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing. Keqing has much to say about Rex Lapis' unilateral approach to policymaking in Liyue — but in truth, gods admire skeptics such as her quite a lot.
This section is heavily under construction. I am currently enduring Winter Storm Uri in Texas! Yes, the conditions are as they are on the news, no power and no internet. I am in a safe place, but the connection is spotty at best.
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Preface
This guide is a shortened version of Doug’s long and comprehensive Keqing document. Most of the information found here should be all available inside Doug’s Keqing guide.
Keqing, Driving Thunder
There is a misunderstanding in the wider Genshin community that if a character cannot output the same damage profile as vaporize Diluc, then they’re weak. Keqing, despite her lack of access to practical amping reactions, is a very capable unit that can clear the abyss. Keqing's kit makes her by far the most flexible 5-star unit. She is not a weak 5-star pull, but she does not have the damage volume to propel her into hypercarry status like her friends Diluc, Ganyu, and Xiao.
Pros:
Extremely mobile.
Low cooldowns make her strong inside quickswap compositions.
Her ascensions give her 15% Crit Rate on Burst cast, and her Critical Damage ascension stat is the premier attribute to stack.
Her powerful charged attack gives her variable playstyles (Physical, Pyro, Cryo, and Electro Keqing are all possible) with a wide diversity of artifact sets based on her supports.
Because her artifact sets are so variable, her artifacts are mostly all farmable outside of Gladiator’s Finale.
Her F2P weapon options are not the worst, and The Black Sword is a strong low spender option.
Cons:
Her strongest compositions require her team to be built and well-geared to push your damage ceiling higher.
Her charged attacks are her bread and butter, so stamina management is a given.
Electro does not have access to a practical amping reaction, so Keqing’s ceiling cannot overcome Vaporize or Melt variations of hypercarry Ganyu or Diluc, and battery Xiao.
Element:
Keqing is not Pyro, not Hydro, and not Cryo, disqualifying Keqing from being able to do any sort of burst damage through amped reactions (with her base kit). Electro remains the ever disdained element because of subpar reactions:
Electrocharge - Low damage output and mostly an afterthought, never really worth focusing on with Elemental Mastery because its fickle nature of proc sources.
Superconduct - Strictly only used for the purpose of Physical Shred, it does nothing for the Electro element itself and thus is anti-synergistic with Keqing's self infusion. The only other notable use is in turbo energy comps which involve Fischl (Oz) needing to be the trigger so Keqing actually muddles that gameplan.
Overload - Low damage output as well with the additional headache of launching enemies away. While Keqing does have a gap closer in her E2 this only adds to the already existing issue of her Charged Attack sending smaller enemies flying. Should only be used in abyss for shield breaking with Bennett or Xiangling.
One upside of course to Electro being that the resonance does allow for some good energy economy, however this is team comp dependent.
Keqing Variations
Electro Keqing
Electro Keqing plays into Keqing's constellations and probably produces the strongest composition that can output the highest total team damage. At late game variations of Keqing, this composition plays mostly like a quickswap composition, rotating supports in and out to keep up with Keqing.
Pros:
Electro Keqing compositions have the highest team damage ceiling.
Plays well into Keqing's constellations.
Gives you the ability to play sustained or quickswap with different artifact sets.
Cons:
Electro Keqing requires well built team compositions in order to boost her damage ceiling further.
Walled by elemental enemies like Electro slimes and other enemies with high Electro RES.
Physical Keqing
Physical damage Keqing is primarily focused on her charged attack and prevents you from using her second cast of Stellar Restoration to avoid the Electro infusion. It has a lower damage ceiling than other variations of Keqing, but can be easier to build.
Pros:
Physical Keqing can attack all enemy types with no problems against innate elemental monsters.
Easier to build, the Prototype Rancour is a very strong option for Physical Keqing.
Superconduct is an easy buff to maintain to boost your damage compared to Viridescent Venerer.
Crit chance can be extremely available if you run Blizzard Strayer and freeze enemies.
Cons:
Can only do sustained damage, with Keqing on field constantly.
Lower ceiling for lategame, and has large problems managing stamina even with 4 piece Bloodstained Chivalry.
Deviant Keqing
Other versions of Keqing include Chongyun field infusion for Cryo Keqing and C6 Bennett field infusion for Pyro Keqing. These versions of Keqing are actually quite powerful and comparable to the standard Electro/Physical builds of Keqing. They will be examined further below in the composition section.
Pros:
Access to amping reactions.
Higher ceilings or comparable ceilings.
Cons:
Requires specific other units and deep constellations on them. C6 Bennett is not just floating around you know.
Difficult rotations to manage in order to make use of the 12 second or 15 second windows of infusion.
Credits
Artesians#0002 Hail ZΛNTO 3b00d_09 MightyThor [Neko] 派蒙不可以
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Talent Priority
Normal Attack: Yunlai Swordsmanship > Starward Sword > Stellar Restoration
Upgrading her auto attacks pushes Keqing's motion values on her charged attacks further. Starward Sword is approximately 300% MV/s per enemy, and is an excellent AoE tool on top of the 15% Crit Rate buff. Stellar Restoration becomes less valuable as Keqing deviates away from Electro builds. However, the best course of action is to typically level Normal Attack: Yunlai Swordsmanship at the same rate as Starward Sword.
Constellations
C1: Thundering Might
Recasting Stellar Restoration while a Lightning Stiletto is present causes Keqing to deal 50% of her ATK as AoE Electro DMG at the start point and terminus of her Blink.
This constellation is free damage for Electro Keqing, but it cannot reliably double dip for 100% ATK damage from doing pointblank Stellar Restoration casts. It has less value for variations of Keqing that do not want to infuse Electro.
C2: Keen Extraction
When Keqing's Normal and Charged Attacks hit opponents affected by Electro, they have a 50% chance of producing an Elemental Particle. This effect can only occur once every 5s.
This constellation is extremely powerful in Keqing's tazer compositions and for energy economy in general. It needs more exploration as we haven't been able to quantize this constellation very well.
C4: Attunement
For 10s after Keqing triggers an Electro-related Elemental Reaction, her ATK is increased by 25%.
Again, this constellation is just free damage.
C6: Tenacious Star
When initiating a Normal Attack, a Charged Attack, Elemental Skill or Elemental Burst, Keqing gains a 6% Electro DMG Bonus for 8s. Effects triggered by Normal Attacks, Charged Attacks, Elemental Skills, and Elemental Bursts are considered independent entities.
Keqing's 6th constellation is not as impactful as we would like to imagine for a C6, it's a 24% Electro DMG bonus that changes nothing about how she plays.
Weapons
Keqing is quite flexible when it comes to weaponry. Multiple 4-star options are capable of performing at a decent rate but it's probably best to check out the existing guides for more insight into this. The short of it is she's not locked into needing a specific weapon to perform well.
The numbers provided here were from ZΛNTO#4984. If you need extra information, refer to The Queen's Armaments. Differences between refinements can be calculated using his weapon calculator.
Electro Carry
Weapon | Damage Output [15s] | Percent Change | Notes |
Primordial Jade Cutter | 448,477 | 119.3% | Consistently the best option. |
Summit Shaper (Shielded) | 446,400 | 118.7% | Not plausible without Zhongli. |
Summit Shaper (Unshielded) | 417,376 | 111.0% | Miles ahead of everything below this point. |
Aquila Favonia (Passive) | 382,653 | 101.8% | Requires getting hit every 15 seconds. |
The Black Sword | 375,977 | 100% | Consistent and average option. |
Lion's Roar (75% Uptime) | 373,524 | 99.4% | Uptime will vary depending on team. |
Aquila Favonia (No Passive) | 366,455 | 97.5% | Pretty mediocre option without its passive. |
Blackcliff Longsword R1 (1 Stack) | 363,821 | 96.8% | 1 stack can be difficult to maintain on low enemy density abyss floors. |
Harbinger of Dawn R5 | 360,520 | 98.3% | Requires perfect play to maintain the 90% HP requirement. |
Prototype Rancour | 331,682 | 88.2% | Bad Aquila Favonia for Electro |
Electro carry Keqing weapon rankings should be mirrored across her deviant variations for Cryo/Pyro. The main takeaway is that The Black Sword is an extremely cost effective weapon on Keqing.
Physical Carry
Weapon | Damage Output [15s] | Percent Change | Notes |
Aquila Favonia (Passive) | 437,761 | 121.3% | Needs to get hit every 15 seconds. |
Primordial Jade Cutter | 429,083 | 118.9% | Occasionally better than Aquila Favonia. |
Summit Shaper (Shielded) | 427,096 | 118.3% | Requires Zhongli for good uptime. |
Aquila Favonia (No Passive) | 411,997 | 114.1% | Damage loss with no passive is fairly significant. |
Prototype Rancour R2 | 363,763 | 100.8% | Bare minimum weapon to use physical Keqing. |
The Black Sword R1 | 360,939 | 100% | Better than Rancour at the same refines. |
Lion's Roar (50% Uptime) | 348,169 | 96.5% | Hard to keep uptime on Electro aura. |
Blackcliff Longsword R1 (1 Stack) | 348,088 | 96.4% | 1 stack can be difficult to maintain on low enemy density abyss floors. |
The Flute (2 Procs) | 346,630 | 96% | Horrible scaling. |
For physical Keqing, Aquila Favonia edges out against Primordial Jade Cutter just barely with its passive proc'd. You could argue that Primordial Jade Cutter should take the cake because of its consistency and ability to make use of HP% substats. As refinements increase, PJC will overtake Aquila Favonia.
Quickswap
Weapon | Damage Output [7.5s] | Percent Change | Notes |
Primordial Jade Cutter | 235,205 | 125% | Consistently the best option. |
Summit Shaper (Shielded) | 234,115 | 124.4% | Shield is easier to maintain in quickswap, but again, Zhongli makes it even easier. |
Summit Shaper (Unshielded) | 218,894 | 116.3% | |
Aquila Favonia (Passive) | 200,287 | 106.4% | Difficult to get hit every 15 seconds in quickswap. |
Lion's Roar (66% Uptime) | 193,899 | 103.1% | Uptime varies, but is a strong option. |
Aquila Favonia (No Passive) | 192,183 | 102.1% | Still decent weapon without the proc. |
Blackcliff Longsword R1 (1 Stack) | 190,807 | 101.4% | Stacks are very difficult to maintain in quickswap. |
Harbinger of Dawn R5 | 189,075 | 100.5% | Pretty easy to use in quickswap. |
The Black Sword | 188,161 | 100% | Passive is useless in quickswap. |
Keqing's weapon rankings will sway between her different builds and refinements. Her best-in-slot by a large margin is definitely Primordial Jade Cutter, and The Black Sword is a strong option for all versions of Keqing except for Cryo variations.
Keqing Compositions
Due to Keqing's Kit being heavily weighted on her N1C string, it is possible to run her together with characters such as Chongyun (Cryo infusion) and Bennett at C6 (Pyro Infusion) while utilizing artifact sets such as Crimson Witch of Flames or Blizzard Strayer. Other potential builds involving Retracing Bolide and Bloodstained Chivalry are also possible. Keqing is again showing her flexibility in build options which should allow players to more easily equip her regardless of which domains they prioritized.
Electro Keqing
Keqing in Electro-focused comps can run variations of any of the above units. Primarily, Keqing is looking to abuse the high talent multipliers on Xingqiu, Fischl, Beidou, and Albedo rather than any specific type of reaction synergy. Bennett offers strong buff utility as well as healing if Xingqiu is not geared up enough. Quickswap compositions will appreciate the usage of Jean to condense as a healer and Viridescent Venerer. Zhongli offers strong RES down bonuses with his 1.3 updated Jade Shield.
Artifact set | Description |
Thundering Fury (2) + Gladiator's Finale (2) | +15% Electro DMG and +18% ATK makes this set very powerful as a generalist set for Keqing that can be used almost anywhere. |
Thundering Fury (2) + Noblesse Oblige (2) | Noblesse Oblige offers an alternate, farmable option to Gladiator's Finale. |
Thundersoother (4) | Depending on the composition that you run, Thundersoother can be an extremely potent option if you can maintain the Electro aura on enemies. |
Physical Keqing
Physical Keqing really only needs one source of Cryo application to proc Superconduct which lasts for 12 seconds, so you can take your pick amongst the Cryo units. Xingqiu offers extra damage on top of the healing and damage reduction and has the added benefit of being able to freeze enemies so they don't get knocked back by Keqing's charged attacks.
Artifact set | Description |
Bloodstained Chivalry (2) + Gladiator's Finale (2) | Doesn't rely on the 4 piece set bonus of Bloodstained Chivalry and provides consistent bonuses to white damage without exclusive bonuses to charged attacks. |
Bloodstained Chivalry (4) | Strong damage potential when you can proc the 4 piece set effect, but isn't useful in low density abyss floors or bossing. |
Blizzard Strayer (4) | This set is a strong contender with Freeze Keqing. With Xingqiu and Kaeya Cryo application, you can spam N1C without enemy knockback and a free +40% Crit Rate. |
Retracing Bolide (4) | An increase in shield strength with units like Diona or Zhongli that provide other passive bonuses for being shielded is quite valuable on top of the damage bonus while sh |
Pyro Keqing
Pyro Keqing is limited by the fact that you need access to pyro infusion, which is currently only available with Bennett's Fire Ventures with Me, his constellation 6 bonus. Bennett provides the Pyro infusion and the massive attack steroid, as well as healing. Xingqiu provides a consistent element to Vaporize. Kaeya or Ganyu can freeze enemies in between Xingqiu Hydro procs, and Sucrose pumps up the Elemental Mastery of the composition.
Artifact set | Description |
Crimson Witch of Flames (4) | +15% Pyro DMG and +15% Melt and Vaporize DMG makes this set very powerful as a set for Pyro Keqing. Keqing's casts of Stellar Restoration also count twice for increasing the bonus from the 4 piece effect of Crimson Witch of Flames for increased Pyro damage. |
Cryo Keqing
Cryo Keqing with Chongyun field is also available as a DPS option after the Blizzard Strayer set was released. Chongyun offers Cryo infusion while units like Ganyu and Kaeya can be used for more Crit Rate from the resonance bonus and extra damage. Xingqiu is there to permanently freeze. This comp appreciates Viridescent Venerer quite a bit, so slotting in Jean or Sucrose may be worthwhile.
Artifact set | Description |
Blizzard Strayer (4) | +15% Cryo DMG and +40% Crit Rate makes this set very accessible to players with weaker artifact sets. Keqing with her +15% Crit Rate on top of the bonus from Blizzard Strayer allows her to overcap on Crit Rate very easily. |
Quickswap
Quickswap refers to a type of playstyle that revolves around using units that have relatively short cooldowns or long duration skills and rotating through their kits quickly while having a strong pivot in the case their cooldowns are not synced up. Keqing is a premier unit to abuse quickswap and can be a part of several variations of team compositions.
Variations on Quickswap
Composition | Notes |
Budget version for abyss clearing when there are enemies that don't get knocked back by overload: Fatui, Mitachurls, Ruin Guards, Geovishaps, etc. | |
Classic quickswap that has room for pretty much any unit in Beidou's slot and the empty slot. Fischl works wonders. | |
One of the strongest variations of quickswap that you can assemble, but it has 4 5-star units. |
How to Play Keqing
Keqing is not too complicated to pilot as a character; her low cooldowns and and strong charged attack allow her to be pivoted easily in quickswap or as a sustained DPS. Some quick notes and FAQ's about Keqing:
Her Stiletto lasts for 5 seconds on field, giving you enough time to cast E1, use her burst or support swap, and then blink back for maximizing uptime on her Electro infusion.
Her charged attack string (N1C) boasts a hefty 282% MV/s that takes just over a second (63 frames) to execute. This is Keqing's bread and butter. It is simultaneously unaffected by hitlag (the CA portion), extremely short as a main DPS rotation, and fits well with Xingqiu.
Her Stellar Restoration allows her to avoid mechanics, escape, or gap close. Her EN1C combo is approximately 400% MV/s which is still extremely potent as a combo for non-Electro Keqing.
Upon casting her Starward Sword, Keqing will boost her Crit Rate for 8 seconds (that applies to the Burst that was just cast).
It is detrimental to raise Keqing's Crit Rate beyond 85% to avoid wasting stat points, and the 15% energy bonus is also fairly significant enough to note to cast Q before swapping out.
N1C - Charged Attack Spam Keqing's charged attack again, to reiterate, is what makes her extremely capable at being flexed into different elemental infusions. It deals hefty damage, is quick, and extremely fluid.
N4C - Stamina Conservation One of the alternative strings to perform on Keqing is her N4C which saves on stamina by quite a bit. It may not be too big of a factor if you play quickswap Keqing and cast her Burst often.
Venti, Mona, Jean, and Zhongli
These four units synergize extremely well with Keqing. I personally like to separate outstanding units and 5-star units from other evaluations (quickswap excluded) due to cost and availability.
Unit | Notes |
Zhongli | Strong in quickswap and sustained. His 1.3 buffs to his Jade Shield make Keqing and other party members just do more damage due to the RES down and unkillable. |
Jean | Strong in quickswap and sustained. Her E poke has high MV/s, she's a Viridescent Venerer user, and can heal. |
Venti | Strong in quickswap. Venti groups enemies for Keqing's Starward Sword and Stellar Restoration. Strong Viridescent Venerer user. |
Mona | Mona offers alot of power in quickswap with her Omen buff. With Ganyu, it is possible to stall the Omen buff. |
Ganyu | Honorable mention, Ganyu as a support is typically not recommended, but for players who do not like her carry potential, she can work fine as a Superconduct bot and performs well in quickswap due to her 15 second long burst. |
Changelog
2/17 - Keqing Guide rewrite, trying to make it in time for NA Keqing banner!
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