Introduction
Baili Tusu is one of the core Echomancers of Fire teams, along with Cyros. Both have fantastic synergy together, and are able to capitalize in every source possible of Crit Rate, Crit DMG, Extra DMG and Survivability from Square Traces. This makes the choice of getting Baili Tusu ideal for those who love an extra aggressive approach, specialized in Challenge stages where the number of Elite enemies and enemies with block gauges are very high. Tusu also works well as a general breaker to have in your roster, thanks to his surprising survivability, high block gauge capability and arguably the biggest range among the current Strikers.
After using his ultimate, he’s also capable of clearing large areas of airborne enemies, which is another differential in his already unique kit. However, it must be warned that Tusu may not be for everyone. He requires more manual input than most characters, and making the most of his kit can be tricky, especially if you try to use him outside a Fire team. Despite that, much like most Echomancers in Ash Echoes, if you like his style, you’re in for a good time.
Review
The main character of the first Gujian game, Baili Tusu joins the universe of Ash Echoes with a Sci-Fi approach and a kit that still reflects well his story in both games. His core mechanic revolves around sacrificing his own HP to gain ATK, DR and shields, making him surprisingly tanky. He can also passively gain CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG and ignore a portion of the enemy’s DR, making him a formidable main carry capable of unleashing powerful bursts.
Another interesting aspect of Baili Tusu is his clone, “Dream Incarnate”. If you ever wished to have the same character twice on the field or to have one of your characters in two places at the same time, then Baili Tusu is the Echomancer for you. His first skill, “Banish Evil”, has a very long and versatile range. By changing the positioning of Tusu and his clone, you can adapt the shape and area of effect, focus fire on a single location, or even expand it to make the range twice as long.
“Gaze Ablaze” is another intriguing skill. It has a far smaller AoE, but a large range and infinite uses under a 10s cooldown, allowing Baili Tusu to keep high mobility at all times. The third and final key piece of Tusu’s kit is his Seed Skill. Similarly to Scarlett, after the damage portion, it grants a buffed state that lasts 30s and enhance all other skills. It’s under this state, called “Rekindled”, that Baili Tusu is capable of destroying large waves of airborne enemies with “Banish Evil”. Meanwhile, Gaze Ablaze no longer consumes HP while under this state and breaks 4 Block Gauges at once.
In order to master Baili Tusu’s gameplay and make the most of his potential, be sure to bring plenty of ATK and VIT to the build. For Tusu, VIT not only helps with his survivability, but his skills also scale partially with it. Thankfully, there are a lot of VIT Memory Traces and assorted Square-type skills that help both with survivability and DMG when the Echomancer has a shield or loses HP. This synergizes perfectly with Baili Tusu and his teams made mainly of Square-type fellow Echomancers.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Extremely large and versatile range across all skills.
- Skill 2 is spammable with infinite uses and doesn’t cost HP when under the Rekindled effect.
- One of the best at breaking gauges and barriers.
- Rare case of a Striker with Anti-air capabilities.
- Can easily trigger any shield-based Trace skills.
Cons
- Requires a lot of manual input to be efficient.
- Anti-air relies on the 30s window after ultimate use, and is only available through his first skill.
- Overall output falls down a bit when used outside the Fire Team.
Gameplay Tips
Dupes
Baili Tusu works fine at 0 dupes. His best cost-benefit dupe is his first one, which gives him 15 stacks of Spark after the effect of Rekindled ends. For those who want to main the Pure Fire team, the third dupe is a worth investment, as it will be an easy +24% DMG passively for Tusu once Thea is added to the roster.
Skill Upgrade Priority
- Skill 1, “Banish Evil” should be the priority if you plan on focusing Tusu’s setup for Challenge stages and bosses;
- Skill 2, “Gaze Ablaze” should be the priority for general use, especially if you’re using Baili Tusu on non-Pure Fire teams, due to its spammable nature and AoE gauge breaking.
Team Recommendation
Team 1
Leader: Baili Tusu
FIRE TEAM - REKINDLED
This team has Baili Tusu as leader and focuses on having a strong frontline with maximum exploit of stacking Elemental RES debuffs, Extra DMG and CRITs. The ideal is to have Mo Hongxiu with Dupe 1 for the 20% Fire RES reduction, but if you don’t have that, she can still hold the line and prevent Baili Tusu and Cyros from taking unnecessary damage. This allows Freda to keep her Buff mode up more often. The choice for Tusu as leader here comes from his Leader skill, “Learning from Mistakes”. It can stack up to +75% Extra DMG permanently, being a more stable version than Cyros’ Leader skill if you’re focusing the main bulk of damage on Baili Tusu.
Back-up Options:
Memory Traces
- [ATK] Emptinessor[ATK] Into A Paper Crane
- [ATK] Codename Diversity(if you don’t have Mo Hongxiu, use Roar to trigger this one)
- [VIT] Companyor[VIT] Behind The Curtainsor[VIT] Sky Fall
- [VIT] Festive Nightor[VIT] Dusk Radiance(if Dupe 1 Mo Hongxiu)
- [MST] Born From Ashes
- [TRM] Growthor[DEF] Karmaor[DEF] Lightchaser
Team 2
Leader: Cyros
A SONG OF MELT
If you like living dangerously and like the idea of melting your enemies both through Elemental Reactions and literally, this team is for you. For this team, Begonia’s role goes beyond buffing ASPD: Ice DMG on Fire Zone (or vice-versa) trigger the elemental reaction “Melt”, which can stack to up to a reduction of 60% DR on affected enemies. Add this to consistent crits and explosive bursts, and your enemies will melt in no time. Longqing is the ideal choice here to stack Inspire faster as well as to grant extra survivability through her barriers and more intensive healing.
Back-up Options:
Memory Traces
- [ATK] Emptinessor[ATK] Into A Paper Crane
- [ATK] Beneath The Deception(Lv 1 Awakening Skill only) or[TRM] Growth
- [VIT] Company
- [VIT] Behind The Curtains
- [DEF] Nightmare
- [MST] Born From Ashes
Team 3
Leader: Cyros
EXPLOSION TEAM
This team is built around the “Life Anthem” skill, which can grant lots of passive healing and insane amounts of MST to skyrocket Lydia’s overall DMG output. In addition, Cyros can provide large elemental zones to guarantee even more damage through the Explosion elemental reaction, while Baili Tusu helps split the frontline and trigger certain Trace skills through his core mechanics.
Back-up Options: Any Square-type Echomancer
Memory Traces
- [MST] Starlit Memories[CORE] (Pick the Nexus Skill “Life Anthem” at least at level 2 and fill all your backup slots with Square-type Echomancers. They don’t need to be built.)
- [MST] Born From Ashes
- [ATK] Emptinessor[ATK] Into A Paper Crane
- [VIT] Company
- [VIT] Behind The Curtainsor[VIT] Festive Night
Team Recommendation (Beginner/Budget version)
Team 1
Leader: Baili Tusu
BUDGET PURE FIRE
An option for new players who want to dip their toes on the experience of the Pure Fire team. Except for Baili Tusu, all characters here can be obtained for free. This team is also very forgiving, since Reid can revive himself once per battle, and Su Xiao can revive one ally per battle. Roar is a versatile DPS who should not be underestimated, being able to switch attack modes to adapt and charge Inspire stacks through “Codename Diversity” by herself. Finally, Su Xiao’s ultimate increases the team’s Max HP, adding extra leeway for Baili Tusu’s mechanics for free.
Back-up Options:
Memory Traces
- [MST] Happy Hours
- [ATK] Codename Diversity
- [ATK] Into A Paper Crane
- [VIT] Festive Night
- [VIT] Behind The Curtains
- [DEF] Karma
Future Synergies
[Buffer/Support] - Boreas fills in the support role for the Melt team. With his extra shields, healing, +50% Crit and Ice Attack Enhancements, he fits the team like a glove.
[DPS] - As yet another premier DPS, Feng Qingxue replaces Begonia in the Melt team later on, adding even more burst damage with her unlimited skill uses.
[DPS]- Thea ensures that you’ll never have to worry about anti-air issues with the pure fire team ever again. She brings a lot of utility in the form of Stuns, even more Fire Zones, 30% Fire Res reduction on enemies and, more importantly, crucial survivability. By rewinding time, Thea can bring back all the HP Baili Tusu sacrificed, while allowing him to keep his buffs and shields. Definitely a must-have to bring the Fire Team to the next level.