In Honkai: Star Rail, there are numerous methods to inflict damage. However, none of the playable characters in the game quite match the unique gameplay mechanics of Qingque. Her playstyle relies a lot on luck, and players need to know how to play her and put resources in the right way to make her more effective.
In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase a complete build guide for Qingque in Honkai Star Rail.
1. Qingque character review
Qingque is an unusual character. While she is a free unit and performs adequately, she suffers from being compared to other free characters and falls short in that comparison. Her main drawback is that her primary source of damage relies on a random number generator (RNG) mechanic.
Qingque's talent involves drawing tiles during each ally turn. She can draw one tile per turn, with three possible suits. When she matches four perfectly suited tiles, her basic attack becomes enhanced, transforming into a powerful area-of-effect (AoE) attack that inflicts significantly increased damage and grants an ATK% boost. However, if the tiles do not match, one tile with the lowest number of matches is discarded. It's worth noting that unlike other basic attacks, her enhanced basic attack does not recover a skill point.
Her skill immediately draws two tiles and provides a damage increase until the end of the turn. It also grants an extra turn, allowing you to choose whether to draw again or perform a basic attack. Drawing again further stacks the damage increase, up to a total of four times. This should be the core gameplay loop, cycling tiles with her skill until you achieve a match and then unleashing the enhanced basic attack for significant damage. Unfortunately, relying on getting matched tiles is a gamble, and similar to real-world gambling, the safest move is to avoid playing.
There's a possibility that you could use Qingque's skill five times in a row, depleting all your skill points, and still not have four matching tiles. There's no safety net in place, aside from the damage increase from the skill, but even with maximum stacks, it only results in an underwhelming basic attack without enhancements. In most cases, it's too risky to rely on her skill.
How to play Qingque
To overcome this significant limitation, the strategy is to avoid using Qingque's skill altogether and focus on using her basic attack whenever it's her turn, allowing her to recover skill points for the rest of the team. This approach works because Qingque's tiles naturally cycle themselves on every ally turn, increasing the chances of obtaining an enhanced basic attack. Additionally, Qingque performs better when paired with faster teammates or those who can increase their speed, as it provides more opportunities for her tiles to cycle.
Qingque's ultimate guarantees an enhanced basic attack after its use, enabling you to skip tile searches strategically and potentially unleash consecutive enhanced basics. However, the ultimate has an extremely high energy cost, making it a luxury that can't be enjoyed frequently. Furthermore, using her skill doesn't recover any energy for Qingque, making it even riskier to rely on the gamble.
Her bonus traces offer minimal relief for these concerns. A2 refunds a skill point on the first skill usage in a fight, providing a one-time benefit per encounter. A4 enhances the stacking damage buff from her skill, resulting in a substantial boost when fully stacked. A6 increases Qingque's speed for one turn after using her enhanced basic attack, helping her rejoin the battle sooner to recover more tiles and energy.
Interestingly, Qingque's skill has an exceptionally high ratio of skill points used to output value, but this is only true if luck is on your side. If you're willing to take risks, you might occasionally experience significant victories, but the opposite outcome is equally likely.
Honkai: Star Rail Qingque Build
Qingque belongs to the Erudition unit category, emphasizing her kit's focus on inflicting area-of-effect (AOE) damage. Among the current playable characters in Honkai: Star Rail 1.0, Seele is the most similar single-target (ST) counterpart to Qingque, and both excel at breaking Quantum Toughness bars. Considering her role within the team, players should aim to enhance Qingque's damage output to the maximum extent. Here are the suggested Relics, Light Cones, and stat priorities for optimizing this character's performance:
- Core Stat Priorities: CRIT, ATK%, SPD
- Planar Ornaments: Quantum DMG, ATK%
- Relic Sets: Genius of Brilliant Stars (4PC), Space Sealing Station (2PC)
- Light Cones: Night on the Milky Way (5-Star), Today is Another Peaceful Day (4-Star), Geniuses' Repose (4-Star), The Seriousness of Breakfast (4-Star)
Players can construct Qingque's build in a similar manner to other DPS characters. It is recommended to aim for a 1:2 ratio between Critical Rate (CRIT Rate) and Damage (DMG) once Relics become obtainable through farming. Additionally, acquiring Quantum Damage (Quantum DMG) on Planar Spheres is crucial to maximize her overall attack power.
The complete Genius of Brilliant Stars set provides bonus Quantum Damage and Quantum Resistance Penetration (RES PEN), with the latter being particularly valuable due to the scarcity of RES PEN sources in the game. If necessary, players can combine this set with either Musketeer of Wild Wheat or Thief of Shooting Meteor for additional upfront damage.
When considering Light Cones, Geniuses' Repose should only be selected if Qingque already possesses a sufficient CRIT Rate. Otherwise, any other Light Cone that offers direct ATK buffs would be more favorable.
Eidolon
Qingque possesses two eidolons that have a substantial impact on her performance. E4 provides a small chance for a phantom follow-up attack to occur after using a basic attack or enhanced basic attack. This gives her the opportunity to capitalize on the significant damage bonuses she can accumulate. E6 addresses the main issue with her enhanced basic attack by enabling her to recover a skill point with it. This enhancement significantly enhances Qingque's value. However, these eidolons are obtained late in her progression, which can be considered a drawback. Despite these improvements, it is still generally recommended to avoid using Qingque's skill.
Considering all of these factors combined, Qingque proves to be an inconsistent and potentially frustrating character. Her performance can vary greatly, ranging from surprisingly good to decidedly underwhelming. As the only free Quantum character available, she can still be utilized and achieve success, even in later stages of the game. However, it's important to be aware of the potential challenges and frustrations associated with playing her.
Qingque Abilities and Trace Leveling Order
All of Qingque's abilities scale to give her more raw offensive power. As such, they should be leveled accordingly:
- A Quartet? Woo-hoo! (Ultimate)
- A Scoop of Moon (Skill)
- Celestial Jade (Talent)
- Basic attack
Qingque's ultimate ability serves as her most dependable tool. It allows players to inflict immediate damage to all enemies on the battlefield and grants an enhanced basic attack, which can hit multiple targets for amplified damage.
When it comes to leveling priorities, investing in A Scoop of Moon takes precedence over Celestial Jade. By prioritizing the advancement of this skill, players can benefit from higher self-attack buffs for Qingque without relying on random number generation (RNG). However, since her entire playstyle revolves around utilizing empowered basic attacks, players should aim to level up Celestial Jade as soon as possible. Pairing Qingque with a support character who can enhance her outgoing damage can exponentially increase her effectiveness.
Qingque's first Ascension passive, Tile Battle, allows A Scoop of Moon to refund a Skill Point upon its use. Unlocking this passive as early as possible is highly recommended, as it helps Qingque accumulate more attack bonuses before unleashing her ultimate and empowered basic attacks.
>>> Read more: Top 5 Best Light Cone For Jing Yuan In Honkai Star Rail
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