Keqing can focus on her physical damage, making her an auto-attack reliant character, and this build is perfect for a simple yet heavy DPS playstyle. If you would like to use Keqing for her abilities and elemental damage, you can focus on her Electro damage. This build is more complicated to play than auto-attack Keqing but can deal with heavy elemental burst damage. Auto-attack Keqing can stay in the battle for long periods of time compared to Electro-focused Keqing. The Electro-focused Keqing is perfect for creating elemental reactions and different effects. Depending on your preferred playstyle, your weapon and artifact sets will change.
Keqing’s Talents
Below is the description of Keqing’s skills and abilities, including her passives.
Yunlai Swordsmanship
Keqing’s normal attacks stack up to five rapid attacks. Her charged attack consumes stamina and does two successive strikes. Keqing’s plunging attack damages enemies from mid-air and provide AoE damage on impact.
Stellar Restoration
Stellar Restoration is Keqing’s Elemental Skill. She launches a lightning stiletto that deals with AoE Electro Damage and marks the spot with a Stiletto Mark. You can hold your Stiletto Restoration to choose which direction Keqing throws the Stiletto to. Use Stiletto Restoration once again to jump in that direction. Using Stellar Restoration for the second time, Keqing will blink to the Stiletto Mark and perform a slashing attack that deals with AoE Electro Damage. Blinking on a Stiletto Mark thrown using the Hold attack allows Keqing to leap across the terrain. If she uses Stellar Restoration for the second time and performs a charged attack, she performs a series of thundering cuts that deal with AoE Electro damage in Mark’s direction.
Starward Sword
Keqing’s Elemental Burst is the Starward Sword. Using the power of lighting, Keqing does AoE electro Damage. She also performs consecutive slashes on the enemies surrounding her and deals with Electro Damage to them. The last attack on her consecutive slashes deals 189% Attack DMG.
Thundering Penance
One of Keqing’s Passive is Thundering Penance. You can unlock this passive on Ascension level 1. When you recast Stellar Restoration, Keqing’s attacks will do Electro Damage on enemies.
Aristocratic Dignity
Aristocratic’s Dignity is Keqing’s passive that unlocks at Ascension level 4. Whenever you cast Starward Sword, her Crit Rate increases by fifteen percent, and Keqing’s Energy Recharge increases by fifteen percent as well. This effect can happen every eight seconds.
Land’s Overseer
The Land’s Overseer is Keqing’s passive that is unlocked automatically. If you dispatch Keqing on a Liyue Expedition, the expedition duration time reduces by twenty-five percent.
Recommended Builds for Keqing
Keqing’s build recommendation can be quite complicated. However, it depends on whether you would like to focus on her Physical Damage or Elemental Damage. Your weapon choices will depend on your playstyle.
Weapon
Keqing’s weapon recommendations focus either on her attack or elemental damage. Choose your weapon depending on your preferred build, whether you are going for auto-attack Keqing or Electro-damage Keqing.
Aquila Favonia
If you plan on focusing on Keqing’s Physical Damage, the best weapon choice is the Aquila Favonia. The weapon focuses on increasing Keqing’s physical damage and normal attack damage. This weapon also has a passive called Falcon’s Defiance. Keqing’s get twenty percent gains to ATK, and when Keqing receives damage, she can deal up to 200% of her ATK DMG to nearby enemies. Ascending your Aquila Favonia can be quite expensive, but its stats increase every ascension. Below are the required materials for Aquila Favonia.
Level 20: 5 x Tile of Decarabian’s Tower, 5x Heavy Horn, 3x Firm Arrowhead Level 40: 5 x Debris of Decarabian’s City, 18x Heavy Horn, 12x Firm Arrowhead Level 50: 9 x Debris of Decarabian’s City, 9x Black Bronze Horn, 9x Sharp Arrowhead Level 60: 5 x Fragment of Decarabian’s Epic, 18x Black Bronze Horn, 14x Sharp Arrowhead Level 70: 9 x Fragment of Decarabian’s Epic, 14x Black Crystal Horn, 9x Weathered Arrowhead Level 80: 6 x Scattered Piece of Decarabian’s Dream, 27x Black Crystal Horn, 18x Weathered Arrowhead
The Black Sword
For an Electro-damage focus Keqing, the best weapon would be The Black Sword. The Black Sword increases her CRIT DMG and uses her Elemental Skills to deal continuous Electro and CRIT damage on her opponents. You can only obtain this weapon on the Battle Pass. However, this weapon gives you the Justice effect that increases the damage of your normal and charged attacks by twenty percent. This weapon also heals your HP for up to 60% of your ATK whenever Keqing lands a critical hit. This effect makes Keqing a monster on boss fights and allows her to solo-carry your team. The healing effect increases her survivability in fights. To ascend the Black Sword, you need the following materials:
Level 20: 3 x Boreal Wolf’s Milk Tooth, 3 x Dead Ley Line Branch, 2 x Slime Condensate Level 40: 3 x Boreal Wolf’s Cracked Tooth, 12 x Dead Ley Line Branch, 8 x Slime Condensate Level 50: 6 x Boreal Wolf’s Cracked Tooth, 6 x Dead Ley Line Leaves, 6 x Slime Secretions Level 60: 3 x Boreal Wolf’s Broken Fang, 12 x Dead Ley Line Leaves, 9 x Slime Secretions Level 70: 6 x Boreal Wolf’s Broken Fang, 9 x Ley Line Sprouts, 6 x Slime Concentrate Level 80: 4 x Boreal Wolf’s Nostalgia, 18 x Ley Line Sprouts, 12 x Slime Concentrate
Festering Desire
If you do not have the Black Sword, you can use Festering Desire as a replacement weapon. Festering Desire is a free option for the Electro-damage build Keqing. This weapon increases Keqing’s Elemental Skill DMG by 16% and Elemental Skill CRIT rate by 6%. If you would like to refine the Festering Desire, you need the Festering Dragon Marrow. This refinement material is different compared to other weapons that need the same weapon. You can get this material by doing the Chalk Prince and the Dragon’s Event. To ascend the Festering Desire, you need the following materials:
Level 20: 3x Fetters of the Dandelion Gladiator, 3x Heavy Horn, 2x Recruit’s Insignia Level 20: 3x Chains of the Dandelion Gladiator, 12x Heavy Horn, 8x Recruit’s Insignia Level 20: 6x Chains of the Dandelion Gladiator, 6x Black Bronze Horn, 6x Sergeant’s Insignia Level 20: 3x Shackles of the Dandelion Gladiator, 12x Black Bronze, 9x Sergeant’s Insignia Level 20: 6x Shackles of the Dandelion Gladiator, 9x Black Crystal Horn, 6x Lieutenant’sInsignia Level 20: 4x Dream of the Dandelion Gladiator, 18x Black Crystal Horn, 12x Lieutenant’s Insignia
Keqing’s Artifact Set
Below are some of the recommended artifact sets for Keqing.
Thundersoother
Thundersoother is the recommended artifact if you would like to focus on Keqing’s Elemental Damage as DPS. Two pieces of this artifact set increase your Electro Resistance by 40%. Completing four pieces of this set increases your damage against enemies by 35% if they are affected by the Electro element. You can obtain the artifacts in the Midsummer Courtyard. Below are the artifact pieces for this set:
Thundersoother’s Heart Thundersoother’s Plume Hour of Soothing Thunder Thundersoother’s Goblet Thundersoother’s Diadem
Thundering Fury and Noblesse Oblige
A good artifact combination for the Elemental damage Keqing would be two Thundering Fury pieces and two pieces of Noblesse Oblige. This build generally works with most encounters and has high Elemental Burst capability. If you want to have a blend of Elemental and Auto-attack build, you can swap out Noblesse Oblige with two pieces of Gladiator’s Finale. Thundering Fury’s two-piece bonus increases Keqing’s Electro DMG bonus by 15%. You can find Thundering Fury’s artifact pieces in the Midsummer Courtyard. Equipping two pieces of Noblesse Oblige gives Keqing 20% Elemental Burst DMG. You can get Noblesse Oblige artifact pieces in the Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern. Below are some of the artifact pieces you can choose from between the two artifact sets:
Royal Flora Royal Plume Royal Pocket Watch Royal Silver Urn Royal Masque
or
Thunderbird’s Mercy Survivor of Catastrophe Hourglass of Thunder Omen of Thunderstorm Thundersummoner’s Crown
Bloodstained Chivalry and Gladiator’s Finale
For Auto-attack Keqing, a good artifact combination would be two Bloodstained Chivalry pieces and two pieces of Gladiator’s Finale. The set splits up the buff between Physical Damage and Attack Damage. Equipping two pieces of Gladiator’s Finale increases your ATK by 18%, and equipping two pieces of Bloodstained Chivalry increases your Physical DMG by 25%. You can obtain Gladiator’s Finale artifacts by defeating Elite Bosses and Weekly Bosses. The artifact pieces of Bloodstained Chivalry can be obtained in the Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern’s Level one to three. Below are some of the artifact pieces you can choose from in between the two artifact pieces.:
Bloodstained Flower of Iron Bloodstained Black Plume Bloodstained Final Hour Bloodstained Chevalier’s Goblet Bloodstained Iron Mask
or
Gladiator’s Nostalgia Gladiator’s Destiny Gladiator’s Longing Gladiator’s Intoxication Gladiator’s Triumphus
Talent Upgrade Materials
Enemy Drops/Samachurls
Whopperflower Nectar Shimmering Nectar Energy Nectar
Domain Drops every Monday/Thursday/Sunday.
Teachings of Prosperity Guide to Prosperity Philosophies of Prosperity
Dvalin Boss Drop
Ring of Boreas
Ascension Materials
Lv.20
3 Cor Lapis 1 Vajarda Amethyst Silver 3 Whopperflower Nectar
Lv.40
10 Cor Lapis 3 Vajarda Amethyst Fragment 2 Lightning Prism 15 Whopperflower Nectar
Lv.50
20 Cor Lapis 6 Vajarda Amethyst Fragment 4 Lightning Prism 12 Shimmering Nectar
Lv.60
30 Cor Lapis 3 Vajarda Amethyst Chunk 8 Lightning Prism 18 Shimmering Nectar
Lv.70
45 Cor Lapis 6 Vajarda Amethyst Chunk 12 Lightning Prism 12 Energy Nectar
Lv.80
60 Cor Lapis 6 Vajarda Amethyst Gemstone 20 Lightning Prism 24 Energy Nectar
Team Compositions
Keqing is a powerful character, and she fits well in many team compositions. Below are two team compositions depending on whether you are building an Auto-attack Keqing or Electro Keqing.
Keqing and Fischl Team
If you would like to deal with AoE Electro damage and take out multiple enemies at once, you can use Keqing, Fischl, Mona, and Venti. This team’s technique would be to group enemies into Venti’s vortex and use Keqing and Mona to make the Vortex Electrocharged. The Electrocharged vortex can take down multiple enemies quickly. This team continually activates the ElectroCharge effect. Having Fischl on your team gives you the High Volate elemental resonance. High Voltage generates an Electro Particle whenever you trigger these elemental reactions:
Superconduct Overloaded Electro-charged
Keqing and Bennett
Another team recommendation for an Electro-damage focus Keqing would be Keqing, Fischl, Bennett, and Venti. You can also use Xiangling instead of Bennett and Venti with Sucrose or Jean. The only difference of this team composition with the Keqing and Fischl Team is that it activates the Elemental Reaction called Overloaded. Overloaded deals Aoe Pyro damage on your enemies. You would typically use Bennett’s elemental skill followed by Venti’s Elemental burst to create an overloaded swirl.
Thrilling Tales
If you equip Lisa with Thrilling Tales, you get a team composition built for auto-attack Keqing. Qiqi and Kaeya provide an elemental resonance that increases your crit rate by 4%. With this, Keqing can have at least a 30% Crit rate whenever she uses her elemental burst. The addition of Thrilling Tales allows Keqing to have more energy recharge. The addition of Qiqi on the team enables Keqing to have more sustain and healing during fights.
Free-to-play Option
A free-to-play option if you have Keqing would be pairing her up with Kaeya, Geo Traveler, and Barbara. Barabara would equip the Thrilling Tales and provide healing for the team. Using the Geo Traveler’s boulders as shields, Keqing can have some elemental burst while having additional protection against enemies. The boulders are not a problem for Keqing because of her Stellar Restoration. Kaeya creates an elemental reaction called Superconduct that reduces your enemies’ physical resistance by 50%.
Summary
Keqing is a powerful DPS with great mobility. You can choose to build Keqing in two ways, Auto-attack Keqing or Electro-damage focused Keqing. Depending on your preferred playstyle, your Team composition, weapon, and artifact set changes. Auto-attack Keqing focuses on increasing ATK and Physical damage. Meanwhile, Electro-damage focused Keqing focuses on increasing her Elemental Damage. If you build Keqing focusing on her Elemental Damage, you can use Venti or the Anemo Traveler to create an Electrocharged Vortex that will take down all of your enemies. The team compositions for Electro-damage Keqing focuses on creating Elemental reactions. If you use Auto-attack Keqing, equip one of your support characters with Thrilling Tales and add a healer to give Keqing sustain during enemy fights.