Cen YingBuild and Guide

The core of the Summoner team and its main DPS, Cen Ying has retained a spot for herself across the many patches of Ash Echoes CN, both in her own team and as an interception specialist. She may have spent some time in the backseat as new DPS characters drew the attention to other teams. However, the recent addition of Midas on Ash Echoes CN proves that the Summoner team is still very much alive and well.

Cen Ying is one of the most accessible main carries for beginners, all thanks to her versatility, straightforward gameplay, not having to worry about elemental reactions (while benefiting from their effects). Also a very cheap and easy build on launch, composed mostly of free Memory Traces.

A Summoner through and through, Cen Ying's basic attacks are delivered by her main drone, “Light Seeker.” This means that her basic attacks are affected by Nexus Skills and buffs that benefit summons, giving this young Archaeologist a head start even when she isn't using her skills.

Every 30 seconds, Cen Ying summons a second Light Seeker drone to aid her on her auto-attacks. This secondary drone is affected by the level of her first skill “Stellar Parade,” a skill with a whopping 8 uses which summons 5 drones that stay on the field for 30 seconds or until they have attacked 24 times. Having a long range, the drones are very versatile: they can spread out to chase different enemies and projectiles or group up to attack a single enemy. Having an army easily at her disposal, Cen Ying’s damage and utility capabilities are further amplified by her second skill, “Captured on Camera,” which makes each Light Seeker hit up to 5 enemies, dealing damage and inflicting a [Dazzle] debuff on any non-mechanical enemies. [Dazzle] only lasts two seconds but makes the target miss all their basic attacks, helping with the team’s survivability.

Finally, the cherry on top is Cen Ying’s ultimate, “Millennial Voyage.” Cen Ying summons a ship with infinite range that traverses the battlefield. Lasting 32 seconds and bombarding targeted areas every 0.8s, this is her main source of burst damage. As a Tactician, Cen Ying starts battle with her Seed Skill already 50% charged. This makes it easy for a speedy burst regardless if you are playing the Summoner team or if you have her as a backup for another team and need someone to clear up a wave fast.

However, as powerful as her kit is, no character is perfect. “Millennial Voyage” has a very long cooldown of 120s, and while Cen Ying’s damage is very stable, getting precise windows of burst damage can be tricky, especially since both her summons and her ultimate will prioritize projectiles and airborne enemies first. She also has trouble destroying barriers, breaking block gauges, and dealing extra damage to elite enemies and bosses.

Despite these shortcomings, Cen Ying still ranks among the best when it comes to dealing with big waves, and her versatility makes her a good addition to any player account—be it as the core of Physical/Summoner teams or as a powerful backup for any other element.

Gameplay Tips:

• General Tips

  • If you’re dealing with many enemies or projectiles, use “Stellar Parade” right before unleashing “Millennial Voyage” to maximize burst damage. That way, the Light Seekers from “Stellar Parade” will clear away the projectiles and Airborne units first, letting the ultimate focus all its damage potential on the true threats.

  • Cen Ying has the largest range in the game (classified as “Distant”). Take advantage of that to let her drones chase down enemies while you kite them during Nexus Encounters and to keep her safe during fights in general.

• Dupes

  • F2P players can get the full Cen Ying experience at 0 dupes. Spenders or those who really like Cen Ying and her type of team should invest all the way to the Dupe 3—“Go big or go home.” The reason behind this is because, while the first dupe gives a nice damage amplification to her ultimate and secondary Light Seekers, it’s still a small upgrade when compared to the third dupe. Dupe 3 lowers the cooldown of summoning a secondary Light Seeker from 30 seconds to 10 seconds, ensuring that Cen Ying will have multiple drones executing her auto-attacks at all times, and consequently increasing her personal damage output on the long run.

• Skill Upgrade Priority

  • Skill 1, “Stellar Parade,” takes priority when deciding which one to invest in first. Cen Ying’s combat trait and her secondary Light Seeker are affected by the level of “Stellar Parade,” which means that upgrading this skill will not only benefit her main source of steady damage, but also her auto-attacks.

  • Skill 2, (Captured on Camera), is also worth upgrading for its cost-benefit in terms of cooldown vs damage. Keep in mind that its Dazzle debuff won’t work on mechanical enemies, and this skill is more effective against large groups of enemies, while, (Stellar Parade) can adapt and flock to a single enemy if needed. If you have other high priority skills to upgrade, then focus on them first.

Tier list comment

The core of Physical and Summoner teams.  She boasts great Anti-Air and DPS abilities, with [Stellar Parade] offering extra tactical value thanks to its ample 8 uses. Cen Ying retains her value in CN; However, as her burst DMG relies on her Seed Skill, her output can get suppressed in certain environments.