Wuthering Waves: Taoqi Build Guide

Character Information
【Taoqi】

Attribute: Annihilation

Weapon Type: Long Blade

Recommended Role: Main DPS / Sub DPS

Skill Keywords: Bullet Reflection, Defense Bonus, Self-healing, Shield, Damage Reduction

Character Analysis: Taoqi is a highly functional character who can provide the team with decent shields and a certain amount of damage reduction. They also have self-healing abilities and damage resistance inherent in bullet reflection. Taoqi is a highly survivable character and is a great choice for both early and late game scenarios.

Skill Analysis
Resonance Skill 【Impregnable Fortress】

The skill itself is very simple. After activating the skill, Taoqi will recover HP and surround themselves with three 【Rock Wall Shields】, each of which reduces the damage taken by on-field characters. (Each instance of damage consumes one 【Rock Wall Shield】)

The healing amount and skill damage are based on Taoqi’s defense.

Normal Attack 【Hidden Blade Technique】

The important aspect of Taoqi’s normal attack lies in the charged attack. The charged attack has three states: 【Rock Wall Stance】, 【Normal Charged Attack】, and 【Counterattack】. When holding the charge, Taoqi enters the 【Rock Wall Stance】, during which they take reduced damage. If Taoqi is attacked or continues charging for three seconds while in 【Rock Wall Stance】, they will automatically release a 【Counterattack】. If no manual damage is dealt and the attack button is released before three seconds, a 【Normal Charged Attack】 will be performed.

It should be noted that during the activation of the resonance skill 【Impregnable Fortress】, a 【Counterattack】 will also be triggered if Taoqi takes damage, but with a shorter interval.

The damage of 【Counterattack】 benefits from defense, while the damage of 【Normal Charged Attack】 benefits from attack power (which is a low damage option for Taoqi).

Resonance Circuit 【Offense and Defense Conversion】

First of all, we need to pay attention to the 【Firmness and Flexibility】 mechanic, which is represented by the pink UI bar above the HP bar. It can have a maximum of three points, and it is obtained by consuming the 【Rock Wall Shields】 provided by the resonance skill 【Impregnable Fortress】. There are two ways to consume it: either when the duration ends and it disappears automatically, or when on-field characters are attacked.

Another mechanic is the 【Opening for Counterattacks】, which allows up to three slashes based on the number of 【Firmness and Flexibility】 points. Each slash provides a different amount of shield. There are two ways to trigger the 【Opening for Counterattacks】: either by short tapping the normal attack after using 【Counterattack】, or by short tapping the normal attack after using the variation skill.

It should be noted that the 【Opening for Counterattacks】 only consumes 【Firmness and Flexibility】 and provides shield value if it hits enemies. Therefore, it may require better timing when facing agile enemies. Additionally, when activating the 【Opening for Counterattacks】, the 【Rock Wall Shields】 can be replenished by being attacked, which is useful when having one or two points of 【Firmness and Flexibility】. While not a commonly used technique, it can often come in handy. The damage from the 【Opening for Counterattacks】 is considered as normal attack damage and does not benefit from the charge damage bonus from the Motif skill (according to the description, but I haven’t tested it).

Resonance Liberation 【Immovable as a Mountain】

The damage is quite considerable, and it also provides a certain amount of critical damage bonus within the resonance chain. The skill itself is not complex.

Motif Skill 【A Ton of Force】 / Variation Skill 【Combined Offense and Defense Formation】

These skills increase the resonance damage bonus for the next character entering the field by 38% (at least that’s how it seems to be understood, although the wording is a bit strange). It should be noted that the variation skill benefits from attack power, so it can be left at a lower level or even not leveled at all.

Recommended Skill Allocation
Sub DPS Focus: It is recommended to prioritize investing in the Resonance Circuit 【Offense and Defense Conversion】, and a few levels in the resonance skill 【Impregnable Fortress】 to enhance self-healing. The allocation for Normal Attack 【Hidden Blade Technique】 and Resonance Liberation 【Immovable as a Mountain】 can vary depending on individual damage needs.

Main DPS Focus: Resonance Circuit 【Offense and Defense Conversion】 > Resonance Skill 【Impregnable Fortress】 > Resonance Liberation 【Immovable as a Mountain】 > Normal Attack 【Hidden Blade Technique】. The choice of whether to invest in or not invest in the Variation Skill 【Combined Offense and Defense Formation】 has little impact.

Weapon and Sound Soul Selection
Weapon Selection
Since Taoqi’s skill benefits largely from defense, I recommend only one weapon, the 【Eternal Night Luminescence】. As far as I know, this is the only weapon that provides a significant amount of defense. The 5-star weapon 【Winter Moon·Long Blade】 is not as practical in terms of usability compared to the 【Eternal Night Luminescence】.

Sound Soul Selection
Sub DPS:

Sound Soul Skill: You can choose 【Tortoise of the Bell】 which deals damage based on defense and reduces the damage the character takes while increasing the damage the character deals. Of course, you can also use 【Warrior of the Rock】 to provide shields, depending on personal preference.

Resonance Effect: The preferred choice is the five-piece set 【Light Clouds and Moonlight】.

COST Allocation: It is recommended to allocate 4/3/3/1/1 personally.

Stat Selection: For the main stats, it is recommended to choose defense percentage as the main stat for each piece. For the sub-stats, it is advised to select defense percentage, defense, resonance efficiency, and other relevant stats.

Main DPS:

Sound Soul Skill: 【The Crownless】

Resonance Effect: The five-piece set 【Sunset Ravaging】

COST Allocation: It is personally recommended to allocate 4/3/1/1/1.

Stat Selection: For COST 4, it is recommended to prioritize critical rate > critical damage; For COST 3, it is suggested to prioritize annihilation damage > defense percentage; For COST 1, defense percentage should be prioritized. For the sub-stats, prioritize critical rate > critical damage > defense percentage >= normal attack damage bonus >= other damage bonuses / fixed defense / resonance efficiency.

Team Composition
Taoqi is a character with strong solo combat capabilities, so there are relatively few restrictions on team composition. Due to the limited number of characters available to players at the moment, it’s difficult to form a very well-rounded team composition. Therefore, here are some recommended compositions, but players can also experiment with the five-star characters they have obtained.

Jianxin:
Similar to Taoqi, Jianxin has a similar counter-attack mechanism and can provide decent shields and healing. Additionally, Jianxin has the ability to draw aggro and deal AoE damage, complementing Taoqi to a certain extent. While Taoqi excels in single-target damage against groups, Jianxin can draw aggro through resonance release and has an AoE skill called “Heavy Strike” in the resonance circuit, which can compensate for Taoqi’s limited AoE abilities. With both having shields and counter-attacks, they greatly enhance their survivability, helping players transition through the early and mid-game stages.

Danjin:
Danjin also possesses healing abilities but her skills cause burning damage. Therefore, Taoqi’s shields can help ease her survival pressure. Furthermore, Danjin’s Delayed Resonance skill “Bright and Dark” can provide Annihilation Damage Bonus for Taoqi, allowing them to form a dual Annihilation Damage focused team composition.