Keqing players love Genshin Impact’s new Dendro element

All hail the cat queen. Keqing, one of the generally owned 5-star characters in Genshin Impact, lastly has a good place within the sport’s meta. Thanks to the Dendro element, her days as an missed Electro 5-star are over… for now.

Many Electro characters in addition to Keqing can persistently set off elemental reactions. She simply stands out as a result of she’s many players’ first 5-star character and he or she’s consistently obtainable on the usual banner. Plus, the variety of Aggravate reactions she will be able to trigger together with her Elemental Burst outweigh different low-budget choices. Longtime Keqing-havers can see the drastic change in her harm output when Dendro is concerned.

In the times earlier than Dendro, the standard Keqing expertise went like this: You’d get her after shedding a 50/50 on an occasion banner, or as a 5-star from the usual banner. She may carry you thru the twelfth flooring of the Spiral Abyss, possibly even the whole sport in the event you used her proper. But, everytime you saved up sufficient gems to tug for somebody extra OP, Keqing turned previous information. Goodbye cat lady, hey sword boob girl!

“Keqing is the best Electro for any newbie. Fast cooldown. Electro infusion. Traversal. Fast attack. Can use Black Sword. Has invincibility. Kawaii,” Genshin participant John Veldad instructed Polygon. “In terms of damage, she is average. In terms of versatility, she is top-tier.”

Before the most recent replace, the Genshin Impact neighborhood typically handled Keqing like a “beginner DPS” — a personality to make use of till you can get somebody higher. In a Reddit thread that kicked off by describing her because the “worst 5-star DPS,” players listed their gripes, together with the excessive stamina price for her abilities, her tendency to knock again enemies, her undesirable constellations, and her element: Electro.

Another Genshin participant, Lowe Toserero, shared related ideas with Polygon about what it was prefer to play Keqing again in Genshin Impact’s earlier days.

“She is much more viable now compared to when players used her for Overload and Electrocute comp. Now that the Dendro reaction has been added, her lack of DPS is covered by the Dendro reaction,” Toserero mentioned. “I used Keqing around 1.2-1.3 but her Burst multiplier is quite low and her only high-output attack is the charged attack. Now, I’m using her for a longer bit of time.”

Keqing had a tough time in comparison with extra highly effective characters like Raiden Shogun, who excels in a number of crew comps due to her constant Electro software, vitality particle era, and buffs. She’s a 5-star Electro character like Keqing, however her Burst scales with the quantity of harm her teammates do with their Bursts. Keqing isn’t meant to fill the identical area of interest, although. She’s all the time been marketed as a Physical DPS or Electro DPS.

Her function as an Electro DPS can now compete with different prime picks when she’s paired with Dendro teammates. One Twitter person showcased Keqing’s synergy with Dendro Traveler versus the Magatsu Mitake Narukami no Mikoto boss. When Keqing pops her Burst, the Aggravate harm from combining Electro with Dendro eats no less than half of the boss’ remaining well being. To be extra particular, her teammates and the new Dendro reactions have unofficially “buffed” her.

“Keqing, Fischl, Dendro MC, Kazuha/Sucrose makes Keqing viable and actually quite strong due to Keqing’s attack speed. Keqing mains winning this patch fr,” mentioned Braxophone, a Genshin Impact content material creator, in a post on Twitter. However, he additionally thinks she wants Fischl to succeed in her full potential.

“Sure, she’s good on her own with Dendro now, but the reason I say she’s actually busted is because of her Fischl interactions on top of her new regular power level,” he defined in another tweet. Despite these critiques, he typically noticed the replace as a basic “win” for Keqing mains. Also, Keqing isn’t the one 5-star DPS who depends on Elemental Reactions. Many of them do, together with Hu Tao, Diluc, and Klee.

As one Twitter user put it in a latest thread about Genshin Impact’s meta: “Keqing needs Dendro the same way Hu Tao needs Hydro. If Hydro… or even if XQ didn’t exist, Hu Tao would be an awful character.” Hu Tao primarily depends on Pyro DMG from her Elemental Skill together with Hydro/Vaporize reactions. In this case, Dendro Traveler is Keqing’s Xingqiu.

It’s onerous to foretell whether or not Keqing will keep in favor with the rumored 5-star Electro polearm person Cyno over the horizon. When requested in regards to the longevity of her reputation, Keqing major Ralph Marbibi mentioned she in all probability wouldn’t final for lengthy.

“I think those who understand Dendro and those who like to try other comps would still use her,” mentioned Marbibi, who has mained Keqing since Genshin Impact 1.0, “but to be honest, a lot of people like seeing bigger numbers and I feel like a lot of people would still stick to things like Vaporize comps.”