Xuanling

Quick Verdict

Build Xuanling if you like her and you are ready to build her team. She is a DPS, so personal preference matters more here than it would for a universal support. If Xuanling is a character you want to play, she is worth pulling.

Xuanling is team-dependent, but not in the usual way. She does not need one specific teammate — she needs teammates who apply Havoc Bane, because three of her own mechanics feed on it. Chisa does this best right now, but Rebecca, Mortefi, and other options are tested and works with her. Her ceiling team is premium; her floor teams are cheap.

At S0, Xuanling is already a complete main DPS. She does not need sequences to function. For low spenders, S0 is enough. If you want vertical investment, S2 and S3 are the realistic stopping points — the page's sequence chart jumps from 100% at S0 to 132% at S2 and 155% at S3. S6 is a whale ceiling at 249%, and it is priced accordingly.

How Xuanling Works

Xuanling is a stance-switching Havoc main DPS. She fights in two forms — Azure Sword Stance (her default) and Feather Sword Stance — and her Skill switches between them. Two resources run the whole kit: Melody and Azure Plume.

Melody is a gauge (max 100 points) that her Normal Attacks spend on every hit. While Melody is not empty, her Basic Attacks get 20% extra Energy Regen. When Melody runs out, her Skill transforms into Sword Stance Flow (Azure or Feather, depending on her current stance). Casting a Flow skill refills all 100 Melody, restores 1 Azure Plume, deals damage counted as Heavy Attack damage — and here is the detail that matters most: when a Sword Stance Flow skill hits the target, it consumes 1 stack of Havoc Bane on that target.

The consume only happens on a hit. If Xuanling misses her Forte Skill — the boss dashes away or leaves the hitbox before it connects — no Havoc Bane is consumed. In her premium team with Suisui, that costs twice: she loses the stack consumption itself, and Suisui's Ceaseless Landscape package (6% DEF ignore and 12% Havoc RES ignore, which activates only when a Resonator consumes Havoc Bane) never turns on. Treat Forte Skill accuracy as part of the rotation, not an afterthought.

Azure Plume (max 2 points) comes from Flow skills, her Intro, and her Liberation. At 2 points, holding Normal Attack unleashes her finishers: Heavy Attack - Azure Sword Stance (a huge cyclone) or, on the Feather side, Heavy Attack - Feather Sword Stance, which automatically launches Mid-air Attack - Feather Fall. Both finishers apply 2 stacks of Havoc Bane. Feather Fall also starts Hark the Wind (12 seconds), which replaces her Basic Attack with Havoc in Bloom — a 3-stage string that is entirely Heavy Attack damage.

Her biggest hits carry their own Crit DMG windows, each available once every 25 seconds: Bated Breath (+160% Crit DMG to the Azure Heavy) and Streaming Storm (+160% Crit DMG to the Feather-side finishers, gained when she casts Sword Stance Flow: Feather).

Havoc Bane is the engine, and the whole team feeds it:

• Her Stage 4 Basic Attacks (both stances) apply 1 stack; her Intro applies 1; her Heavy finishers apply 2.
• Her Inherent Skill Unbroken Vow amplifies all of Xuanling's damage based on the target's Havoc Bane stacks — 10% per stack at 1–3 stacks (up to 30%), and 12% per stack at 4–6 stacks (up to 36%). She wants 6 stacks on the enemy.
• Feathered Oath: when teammates apply Havoc Bane, Xuanling gains stacks of her own (up to 6), each worth +25% Crit DMG on her big hits — up to +150% while she is on the field. This is why Havoc-Bane-applying teammates are her best friends.
• Refrain: before her Stage 4 Basics or Heavy finishers land, the highest Havoc Bane count among nearby enemies spreads to all of them — her AoE answer for multi-target fights.
• Windbound / One with the Wind (her second Inherent Skill): as the team applies Havoc Bane, she stacks Windbound; at 6 stacks her next Flow skill summons Feather Release: Xuanling, applying a full 6 stacks of Havoc Bane to the target.

Her Liberation, Hush of a Thousand Voices, spends all Melody for a Heavy-Attack-classed nuke, restores 1 Azure Plume, raises the target's Havoc Bane stacks to the maximum, and primes Voice upon Voice — her next Flow skill summons the Shadow of Xuanling for an extra Heavy hit.

Her Outro, As the Wind Wills, hits for 300% of her ATK and gives every other teammate Tonal Switch for 20 seconds: when a teammate with Tonal Switch inflicts Havoc Bane, that teammate's Havoc damage is amplified by 20%. This is her gift to a Havoc sub-DPS like Chisa — note it buffs the team, not Xuanling herself.

Standard tested rotation — the same one in every tested team, about 11.33 seconds of field time:

Intro > Echo > Basic 1, 2, 3, 4 > Forte Skill > Heavy Attack into Mid-Air > Basic Bloom 1, 2, 3 > Liberation > Forte Skill > Heavy Attack > Outro

Read it as two halves. The first half runs the Feather side: Intro and a full Basic string spend Melody and stack Havoc Bane, the first Forte Skill refills the gauge, and the Feather Heavy into Feather Fall opens Hark the Wind for the Havoc in Bloom string. The second half cashes out: Liberation maxes Havoc Bane and primes the Shadow, the second Forte Skill summons it, and the Azure Heavy lands under the Bated Breath Crit window before she swaps out. The rotation is structured but not extremely hard once learned — the real discipline is making sure both Forte Skills actually hit. Tip: You can hold your Heavy Attack button after the intro and use the Forte skills and liberation on time while holding the Heavy Attack button and all the hits will be applied, it's just an easy way to play her instead of spamming Basic Attacks.

"Double Feather" rotation, around 15 seconds — situational, not the default:

Intro > Echo > Basic 1, 2, 3, 4 > Azure Skill (Forte Skill) > Heavy Attack > Mid Air > Basic 1, 2, 3 > Liberation > Feather Skill (Forte Skill) > Tune Break > Basic > Skill > Heavy Attack > Mid Air > Basic 1, 2, 3 > Outro

This route keeps Xuanling on the field for about 15 seconds and packs two finisher chains (Heavy Attack > Mid Air > Basic 1, 2, 3) into a single loop — hence the name. It is not the recommended every-rotation route: the standard ~11.33-second rotation above is the tested Team DPS route. Double Feather earns its place in two situations: in quick-swap play, where you are not running the strict support loop, and especially as a finisher when the fight is almost over — instead of casting Outro and swapping to your support character, you stay on Xuanling and keep dealing damage, because with the fight ending, more Xuanling field time is worth more than starting the next team loop. One condition to note: the Tune Break step needs the enemy's Off-Tune gauge to be full, so that hit depends on the fight.

Build Priorities

Xuanling's tested damage profile is heavily Heavy-Attack-focused:

• Heavy Attack: 87.32%
• Basic Attack: 3.63%
• Tune Break: 3.27%
• Outro: 2.69%
• Echo Skill: 2.27%
• Intro: 0.82%

Do not build or judge Xuanling like a Basic Attack carry. Almost everything she lands that matters — her Flow skills, her finishers, Havoc in Bloom, her Liberation, her Shadow hits — counts as Heavy Attack damage.

• Sub-stat priority: ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit DMG, Energy Regen, Heavy Attack DMG.
• Talent priority: Normal Attack Lv. 10, Forte Circuit Lv. 10, Resonance Liberation Lv. 10, Resonance Skill Lv. 6, Intro Skill Lv. 6.

Build targets:

Her best Echo set is Song of Feathered Trace with Thousand-Puppet Pavilion as the main Echo — the set's 5-piece Xuanling's Feather gives her 20% Crit Rate and 35% Heavy Attack DMG Bonus when she inflicts Havoc Bane, and the main Echo adds 12% Havoc DMG and 12% Heavy Attack DMG. Main stats: Crit DMG on Cost 4, Havoc or ATK on both Cost 3 slots, ATK on both Cost 1 slots. The tested comparison (with Chisa and Suisui in the team) puts Havoc/Havoc at 100%, Havoc/ATK at 98.32%, and ATK/ATK at 94.62% — close enough that sub-stat quality can decide it.

Her best weapon is Azure Oath, her signature Sword. At R1 it gives Crit Rate, 12% All-Attribute DMG Bonus, and — after she inflicts Havoc Bane — 36% Heavy Attack DMG Amplification plus 12% DEF ignore on Heavy Attack damage for 8 seconds. The page's comparison puts Azure Oath R1 at 100%, Emerald Sentence R1 at 88.49%, and Emerald of Genesis R1 at 80.23%. She is a main DPS, so the standing advice applies: get the signature weapon for your DPS characters. Sub-DPS and support weapons can often be skipped, but a DPS lives on their personal damage, and Azure Oath is built exactly for her kit. A tested (No Weapon) team variant — Xuanling on Verdant Summit and Suisui on Variation — shows she still performs without it, at least for now (see the live Team DPS section for the current numbers), but that is a backup plan, not the recommendation.

Team Fit & Account Value

Xuanling's one real requirement is teammates who apply Havoc Bane. Feathered Oath (her Crit DMG stacks), Windbound (her Feather Release setup), and Unbroken Vow (her damage amplification) all feed on Havoc Bane application — the more the team applies, the harder she hits. Her listed synergies are Suisui, Rebecca, Chisa, Iuno, Phrolova, and Shorekeeper.

Use the live Team DPS section for the current tested compositions, ordering, DPS values, equipment, and rotations. Those cards update from the validated Team DPS projection and are the only source for mutable team results on this page.

Her number 1 team is Xuanling, Chisa and Suisui — every other composition is an alternative. Chisa is her premium partner: she applies Havoc Bane quickly, deals real sub-DPS damage of her own, and she is a Havoc character — so Xuanling's own Outro (Tonal Switch) buffs her back. Suisui is the premium third slot: her Ceaseless Landscape package (6% DEF ignore, 12% Havoc RES ignore) activates exactly when Xuanling's Flow skills consume Havoc Bane, and her ATK buffs feed an ATK-scaling carry. There is also a tested variant of this core with Chisa on a healing set, for accounts that want the same team with more sustain.

For the sub-DPS slot, the tested alternatives are real: Rebecca is the strongest budget option (and free for most accounts), Mortefi works for F2P teams, and sustain slots like Shorekeeper or Verina replace Suisui when she is not available. The tested spread between the premium core and the cheap lines is significant, so set expectations honestly: the cheap teams clear, the premium team dominates.

Opportunity cost matters. Chisa and Suisui are wanted by other Negative Status teams — including Hiyuki's — so if they are already committed elsewhere, weigh that before building Xuanling's premium core. The practical rule stays the same: pull the DPS you enjoy, then build that character's team properly.

Sequence Value

Xuanling is complete at S0. Her base kit already has both stances, the Melody/Flow loop, both finishers, Hark the Wind, the Crit windows, Feathered Oath, and her Liberation setup. The page's sequence damage chart: S0 100% → S1 110% → S2 132% → S3 155% → S4 165% → S5 165% → S6 249%.

• S1 — At the wind's breath, the blossoms wake (3/5): Her Flow skills summon an extra Shadow hit (337.98% of ATK, counted as Heavy Attack damage) and Stagnate nearby enemies; her Azure Heavy and Havoc in Bloom string become immune to interruption. A comfort-and-damage node — the interruption immunity protects her two longest animations.
• S2 — River carries her song away (5/5): The first major stopping point. Her entire core chain — both Heavies, Feather Fall, Havoc in Bloom — gains 100% DMG. She also gets an out-of-combat setup: after 4+ seconds out of combat she re-enters with 2 Azure Plume, reset Crit windows, and a prepared Shadow hit. This is why her first rotation of a fight hits so much harder at S2.
• S3 — My grief follows you into the clouds (5/5): The second major stopping point. Her Liberation is amplified by 175%, her Intro and Flow skills raise the target's maximum Havoc Bane stacks by 3 for 20 seconds, and her Stage 4 Basics and Heavy finishers each apply 1 extra stack. More stacks means more Unbroken Vow amplification on top of the bigger nuke.
• S4 — Across the miles, a letter and my longing (3/5): A team luxury node. Casting her Intro or any stance switch/Flow skill gives the whole team +20% ATK for 20 seconds. Good, not a stopping point.
• S5 — Take wing. Take wing. (3/5): Survival luxury — she survives a fatal blow once every 10 minutes. No damage.
• S6 — Let the azure keep its light (5/5): Her whale ceiling. Applying Havoc Bane gives her +40% Heavy Attack DMG for 30 seconds, and after a Flow skill, teammates inflicting any Negative Status summon guaranteed-critical Shadow hits (up to 5, one per second). This is the 249% on the chart, and it turns her team into a Shadow-summoning engine — strong, but not needed for normal players.

Pull Value