Feng QingxueBuild and Guide

Feng Qingxue is a heavy-hitter hyper-carry with infinite skill uses. This sentence should be enough to summarize her position as the best of the best when it comes to reaching big numbers per hit. She’s very versatile when it comes to Memory Traces, but not so much with her core team composition, requiring Boreas to be present at all times. Aside from the infinite skill uses, Feng possesses other unique qualities, such as a first skill that allows her to switch between shooting modes, a cartridge mechanic, and the fact that her weapons are considered summons. This last fact allows Feng to take advantage of Boreas 100% CRIT Rate to summons, as well as access to some very useful summoner-only buffs and skills. She’s recommended for players who enjoy following the meta and/or who like characters that require more control but deliver satisfying results for the extra effort.

Tier list comment

The absolute best solution for long-term combat, her skills can be released almost infinitely. Because her damage multipliers are so high, she's also capable of dealing with situations of high burst in a short period of time.

To nobody’s surprise, as a sniper, Feng Qingxue has a very long attack range. Her first skill, “Icicon” is a Selection skill with two modes: Recon and Coordination. Recon attacks in a round area, and focuses on ASPD. Coordination, on the other hand, hits on a long straight line, knocking back targets and ignoring 20% of their basic DR. While the former is ideal for dealing with large waves and airborne enemies, the latter is a specialized tool for tougher enemies, especially bosses. If used in a Wet environment, this skill creates an Ice Zone in the area it hits. Make sure to use it first before creating Melt stacks with a Fire Echomancer’s attacks or skills. If the stage takes place in a Dry or Neutral environment, however, then the ideal gameplay order switches to the other way around: place the Fire zone first, and then use Feng’s attacks and skills.

Her second skill, “Cloudburst”, is an interesting case. This skill is intertwined both with Feng Qingxue’s basic attacks, and her ultimate. Each basic attack generates a stack of [Charged Magazine]. At 9 stacks, [Charged Magazine] generates one [Cloudburst Bullet]. This is when you can use this second skill. By default, Feng is able to hold up to 2 [Cloudburst Bullet]s, but if you get her third dupe, that number increases to 3. For bossing and speedruns, it’s advised to hold onto the maximum amount of bullets and unleash them all at once after using Feng Qingxue’s Seed Skill: “Cerulean Skies”.

“Cerulean Skies” is at first a simple and straightforward damage ultimate. Yet, at closer inspection, it’s possible to notice that it has the [Barrier PEN] trait, as well as a Lv 3 displacement strength (the strongest among playable characters). This combo of extra utility is useful to keep enemies at bay and to trigger the Nexus Skill “Keep Out - Triangle” (from the Memory Trace “Home”). If you ever used the cheese strategy of Sambheka with the Memory Trace “Dawn”, you may already be familiar with the benefits of displacement. Feng’s first skill, “Icicon”’ in its Coordination variant also has displacement built in (albeit at Lv 2 strength only). Being a quick and spammable skill, it opens the possibility for a fun and effective strategy.

Despite the godlike numbers in damage output, this adorable sniper does have one big flaw. Feng Qingxue has the lowest base ASPD in the game, being almost half of the average when compared to other Echomancers. This can be a problem considering that she needs to attack 9 times to get a single [Cloudburst Bullet] charge. Thankfully, everything has a workaround. Feng has great synergy with Begonia, one of the most commonly used Echomancers when it comes to offering ASPD buffs and filling the Sub-DPS role. Nexus skills like “Winning Chase” also help with this issue, and using her first skill, “Icicon” in its Recon form as an opener, is yet another way to speed up Cartridge stacks.

When it comes to team building and gameplay, the elemental reaction “Melt” is Feng Qingxue’s best friend. Capable of permanently lowering the target’s Basic DR to up to 60%, Feng will almost always be paired with an Echomancer adept atb creating Fire zones, such as Cyros, Mo Hongxiu, Thea, or Reid if you need a budget option.

Dupes

Feng Qingxue’s first dupe has the best cost-benefit. Her third dupe is also fantastic to increase the overall output of her burst windows. If you’re a spender or really like Feng Qingxue, she’s one of the best characters to invest on max dupes. Not only her Seed skill will gain a significant increase in its multipliers, but the buff to her second skill, “Cloudburst” will also increase.

General Tips

• Try to save your [Cloudburst Bullets] to use *after* unleashing Feng Qingxue’s ultimate, as the ultimate will buff Cloudburst.

• While “Icicon” can be spammed due to its unlimited uses, timing Feng’s burst windows is essential. Boreas’ buff only has 3 uses, and depending on your build, it may take a bit for [Charged Magazine] to fill.

• Take advantage of Feng Qingxue’s skills to reposition her whenever you want. Having infinite skill uses provides the unexpected quality of high on-demand mobility.

Skill Upgrade Priority

• The skill 2, “Cloudburst” is the easy choice for priority, as it’s an essential part of Feng Qingxue’s burst window and tied to her Seed skill.