Updated for Version 5.7

Keqing is a 5★ Electro Sword character in Genshin Impact who serves as an on-field DPS to shred enemies with fast-hitting attacks. Learn about Keqing’s best builds, best weapons, best artifacts, and best teams in this quick guide.

Note that the information given may change if new discoveries are made. More extensive testing is in progress.

The full-length guide is available here. It is heavily outdated.

Infographic

Aggravate DPS

Credits to: euphorysm, cuppacote, auraolis, haafr, casdela, and KQM TC Staff

Electro DPS

Credits to: cuppacote, auraolis, haafr, casdela, and KQM TC Staff

Character Overview

Playstyles

On-Field DPS

Keqing uses her Skill to generate an Electro Infusion and deals damage through her entire kit.

Talents

Level and Talent Priority

Level 90 is highly recommended to maximize Keqing’s damage in teams where she triggers Dendro reactions.

Character Level > Normal Attack ≥ Burst > Skill

Keqing’s damage profile is split quite evenly among her Talents, and she should level them all roughly equally. If using 4pc Thundering Fury, Skill is relatively even with Burst.

Talent Overview

Constellations

Keqing is a complete unit at C0, and her Constellations do not change her gameplay. Similar to most other characters on the standard banner, Keqing’s Constellations are quite weak when compared to newer DPS units.

Combos

Non–4pc TF Combo

EQE¹ 5[N1C] (N1)²

Keqing’s default combo when not using 4pc TF.

4pc TF Combo

EQE N1C N1 E 3[N1C] (N1)²	Keqing’s default combo when using 4pc TF. Detonating the second Stiletto instead of teleporting onto it is mandatory for 4pc TF to outdamage other options.
EQE 2[N1C] N1 E 2[N1C] (N1)²	Practically interchangeable with the above combo. An Aggravate proc shifts onto a Normal Attack instead of a Charged Attack, which can be an extremely minor DPS increase when using weapons like Haran Geppaku Futsu.

Shortening Keqing Combos

The combos listed above fit as much damage as possible in an ~8s window, and swap out when Keqing’s Electro Infusion expires. However, Keqing’s field time can be quite flexible. Keqing can usually safely cut a few Normal / Charged Attacks off of the end of her combo without suffering much DPS loss, e.g. EQE 3[N1C] N1 instead of EQE 5[N1C]. This can be useful when an enemy moves outside of Keqing’s attacking range, when a wave is defeated, or when enemies are too aggressive to safely complete a full Keqing combo. Keqing’s combo can technically be shortened even further if enemies are exceptionally dangerous, where Keqing switches out essentially the second she faces too much threat. However, this often leads to cooldown issues later on in the rotation that will have to be improvised around.

Keqing’s combos can also be shortened in another fashion. In some teams (most of which are Quickbloom), Keqing performs an on-field combo twice per rotation, but optimal rotation lengths are shorter than 24 seconds. This forces Keqing to skip her Burst every other DPS window, e.g. EE 5[N1C]. While not a particularly pleasant situation, this is generally better than dragging out a rotation’s length just to fit Keqing’s full combo.

Extending Keqing Combos

Although extending Keqing’s field time is generally rarer than shortening it, Keqing can easily extend her combo by recasting her Skill at the end of her initial window, e.g. EQE 5[N1C] EE 3[N1C]. This is rarely recommended in set rotations, but can be useful when Keqing needs to buy time for teammate cooldowns, or just to kill a particularly low-health enemy. Note that casting this many Charged Attacks may lead to quite the drain on your Stamina.

A common misconception is that 4pc Thundering Fury helps extend Keqing’s combo duration thanks to the Skill cooldown reduction effect. However, because Keqing’s Skill cooldown is shorter than her basic combo duration, 4pc Thundering Fury has zero impact on Keqing’s Infusion uptime — your Skill will be available by the time your Infusion expires with or without 4TF. In fact, these combo extensions are incompatible with optimal 4TF combos, as the second Skill detonation will put Keqing’s E on cooldown. However, even if you are forced to extend off of a generic combo, 4TF will often still be of great help in syncing your cooldowns as the rotation progresses, especially if you are extending your combo out of improvisation rather than pre-planned intention.

Note that Stamina can become a noticeable issue when extending Keqing’s combos due to the high Stamina consumption of Keqing’s Charged Attacks. N4C is Keqing’s recommended combo string for when Stamina is low, but it is frankly often advisable to simply switch off Keqing instead, although this will occasionally lead to further cooldown issues.

Artifacts

ER Requirements

Due to her low-cost Burst, Energy-laden teams, and A4 buff, Keqing’s ER requirements are effectively nonexistent in the vast majority of her teams. Even in her Solo Electro teams, the rotation lengths are usually too short for her to cast Burst twice per rotation anyway, voiding the problem entirely.

However, there are a few Keqing teams where Keqing casts Burst twice per rotation and particle generation is quite low. This most commonly occurs when replacing Fischl with Sara, e.g. Keqing–Sara–Nahida–Xilonen. In these cases, Keqing’s ER requirements can become quite existent, up to heights of ~140–150%. Finding a way to cast more than two Skills per rotation slashes such requirements significantly — for example, in the given Aggravate team, Keqing can run 4pc Thundering Fury and double her particle generation per combo. This alone often cuts Keqing’s ER requirements down to the point where it can be completely covered by her A4 Passive.

In general, Keqing should not seek out ER as a stat. If you are engineering rotations where Keqing needs significant amounts of ER, you are probably best off changing the rotation entirely.

Quicken

Artifact Stats

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
ATK% / EM	Electro DMG%	CRIT

Stat Priority: CRIT > ATK% = EM*

Since Aggravate hits can crit, CRIT is exceptionally valuable in Quicken teams, even more so than usual.

*ATK% and EM are roughly equal in Aggravate, but EM’s diminishing returns mean that ATK% is generally the more valuable artifact stat, especially given that Keqing’s supports often provide her with large amounts of EM. By contrast, in Quickbloom / Quickburn, the extra Transformative Reaction damage means that EM is far superior to ATK%, although the gap will narrow the more EM Keqing has.

Keqing’s ER requirements are extremely low in most teams and should not need to be specifically built around.

Artifact Sets

4pc Thundering Fury (TF)	Keqing’s highest-damaging set in Quicken teams thanks to its Skill cooldown reduction effect allowing Keqing to cast another Skill for extra damage. Detonating the second Stiletto instead of teleporting onto it is mandatory for 4pc TF to outdamage other options. The extra particles can also help to decrease teammate ER requirements. Although 4TF is often touted for its flexibility, this tends to hold increasingly less true the more optimized your gameplay becomes. Nevertheless, the extra Skill cast can serve as a very useful bailout in emergencies or highly improvised scenarios.
4pc Gilded Dreams (GD)	Keqing appreciates both EM and ATK% in Quicken teams, making this a highly competitive artifact set in Aggravate.
4pc Thundersoother (TS)	Extremely competitive with 4pc Thundering Fury in Aggravate teams. Fares badly in teams with low Electro aura uptime.
2pc TF + 2pc ATK% / EM / MH	2pc mixed set options are reasonably competitive with Keqing’s top options in Aggravate. 2pc Marechaussee Hunter (MH) is the weakest of the options here but is close enough to win out given superior substats. 2pc combinations that do not have 2pc TF are quite noticeably behind other options and are generally not recommended unless you have exceptionally good substats on your pieces.
4pc Unfinished Reverie / 4pc Marechaussee Hunter	Hyperspecific artifact sets that are Keqing’s best options in the right conditions: Reverie in Quickburn, MH with Furina. Nonfunctional outside of these cases, but very powerful in them, easily outclassing most other options. However, the conditions required to run these sets simultaneously increase the value of 4pc Thundering Fury, due to the presence of teammates with higher ER requirements (e.g. Furina) as well as the additional Elemental Reactions that Keqing is triggering. As such, even though these options are extremely powerful, 4TF is frequently a superior option and usually only slightly behind at worst.

Overload

Artifact Stats

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
ATK%	Electro DMG%	CRIT

Stat Priority: CRIT > ATK%

Although CRIT is still easily above ATK%, the difference is notably smaller than in Keqing’s Dendro teams.

Keqing’s ER requirements are extremely low and should not need to be specifically built around.

Artifact Sets

4pc Thundering Fury is not a recommended option for Keqing outside of Quicken.

2pc Thundering Fury + 2pc ATK% / MH	2pc mixed set options are Keqing’s go-to options in Overload. 2pc MH is the weakest of the options here but is close enough to win out if the substats are exceptional. 2pc combinations that do not have 2pc TF are noticeably behind other options, although the gap narrows sharply if Keqing is using weapons with high amounts of DMG%.
4pc Thundersoother	Electro aura uptime is not excellent in Overload and may vary from team to team, but it is generally good enough to make Thundersoother a solidly competitive option. Usually falls a couple percent behind 2pc TF + 2pc ATK%.
4pc Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy	Whimsy is a stunningly powerful option in Overload, especially when compared to other fairly underwhelming competitors, but it requires the usage of both Finale of the Deep and a healer to function. Thankfully, Chevreuse is both a healer and Keqing’s most important Overload teammate.

Weapons

Quicken Keqing

Ordered for Aggravate. In Quickbloom / Quickburn teams, EM main stat weapons will greatly overperform their usual rankings thanks to the presence of Transformative Reactions.

5★ Mistsplitter Reforged	Thanks to its high Base ATK, CRIT DMG main stat, and powerful passive, Mistsplitter is generally Keqing’s best weapon across all archetypes.
5★ Haran Geppaku Futsu	Haran offers a large amount of CRIT Rate on top of a hefty chunk of DMG%. Keqing usually triggers Aggravate on all or almost all of her Normal Attacks, making Haran’s passive extremely valuable.
5★ Primordial Jade Cutter	As the highest–CRIT Rate main stat Sword in the game, combined with a strong and consistent passive, Jade Cutter is one of Keqing’s top options. Tends to overtake Haran when running 4TF, especially if you’re shortening your combos.
5★ Uraku Misugiri	Thanks to its high CRIT value and useful passive, Uraku is an excellent weapon for Keqing. Equal to Haran if running either 4TF or a Geo unit, and slightly better than Mistsplitter (!) if running both.
5★ Freedom-Sworn	The EM main stat and teamwide buff makes Freedom-Sworn a useful weapon for Keqing. Unfortunately, the passive usually only triggers every other combo. Note that the pull value of this weapon is decently helped by Kazuha being a good Keqing support.
5★ Light of Foliar Incision	A decent weapon with high CRIT DMG and an interesting quirk: thanks to the EM-scaling passive, Foliar compares increasingly favorably to other weapons the more EM Keqing has. This means that, similarly to EM main stat weapons, Foliar greatly overperforms its usual Aggravate ranking in Quickbloom / Quickburn teams.
Other 5★ CRIT Stat Sticks	Absolution, Splendor of Tranquil Waters, and Azurelight are all roughly equal to or only slightly better than R5 Lion’s Roar. Do not pull these weapons specifically for Keqing. Intentionally taking damage from enemies to stack Splendor’s passive is not a recommended strategy and only results in a small damage increase. If you’re playing Quickbloom and don’t have Key of Khaj-Nisut, put Splendor on Furina.
4★ Lion’s Roar	Keqing’s trademark 4-star option. Fares badly when its passive has low uptime, such as in some Quickbloom teams where Keqing is the only Electro unit.
4★ The Black Sword, Wolf-Fang	Battle Pass options. Assuming all weapons are at equal refinements, Wolf-Fang is slightly worse than Black Sword with non-TF artifact sets, but slightly better than Lion’s Roar when using 4TF. R1 Black Sword is usually better than R1 Lion’s Roar, but R5 Black Sword tends to perform worse than R5 Lion’s Roar. Overall, while the Battle Pass Swords are strong weapons, you should not buy the Battle Pass specifically to obtain them for Keqing.
4★ Calamity of Eshu, 5★ Summit Shaper	Weapons with passives that require a shield. Eshu is ever so slightly better than R5 Lion’s Roar in absolutely perfect conditions, but is usually worse in practice.
3★ Harbinger of Dawn	Ceases to be a competitive option if you cannot keep the passive active. Note that this weapon’s low Base ATK makes it noticeably favor an EM Sands.
4★ Toukabou Shigure, Iron Sting	Strong EM main stat weapons that serve as Keqing’s “F2P” baseline in Quickbloom / Quickburn. Solid options in Aggravate, but nothing special. Shigure’s passive only triggers every other Keqing combo outside of multiwave.
4★ Finale of the Deep	A craftable option that requires a healer to trigger the full passive. Given its flexibility as a weapon for several different on-field DPS units, Finale is more billet-efficient to refine than Iron Sting. With a healer, Finale also enables 4pc Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy, although Finale is simply not a good enough weapon in Quicken to make this combo a seriously enthralling option.
4★ Kagotsurube Isshin	Free option from Kazuha’s Story Quest. Use only if you have absolutely nothing better.

Overload Keqing

5★ Mistsplitter Reforged	Thanks to its high Base ATK, CRIT DMG main stat, and powerful passive, Mistsplitter is generally Keqing’s best weapon across all archetypes.
5★ Primordial Jade Cutter	Jade Cutter is as reliable as ever, arriving at a comfortable #2 spot in Overload thanks to its high CRIT and pleasantly strong passive.
4★ Finale of the Deep (With 4pc Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy)	Seriously? Yes! Finale of the Deep creates a Bond of Life when Keqing casts an Elemental Skill, allowing Keqing to take advantage of the exceedingly powerful 4pc Whimsy. In Overload, this combo can perform on par or slightly better than Primordial Jade Cutter + 2pc TF–2pc ATK% or 4TS. However, “on par with Jade Cutter” comes with a heavy list of caveats, as there are various possible difficulties in stacking the 4pc Whimsy passive. Chevreuse must be at least C4 if Keqing is casting Burst twice a rotation, otherwise half of Keqing’s combos will only have one stack. Keqing never fully stacks Whimsy on her first combo of a combat, so its performance falters the less rotations you take to clear. Finally, if extending Keqing’s combo beyond her basic EQE 5[N1C], Whimsy stacks will fall off entirely for the rest of the combo. Even so, in Overload, this weapon + artifact combo is a lethal option for Keqing. Even in the worst-case scenarios, it usually ends up falling equal to or only slightly behind Absolution.
5★ Azurelight, Haran Geppaku Futsu	These weapons are virtually tied in Overload — Haran is still one of Keqing’s top weapons, but Keqing’s Normal Attacks are a much less important part of her damage splits in the absence of Aggravate, making Haran sit firmly behind Mist and Jade. Conversely, Azurelight’s Energy-conditional passive is still almost entirely useless for Keqing, but its high Base ATK and decent bundle of stats make it an excellent option regardless.
5★ Absolution	Absolution becomes a solid choice for Keqing in Overload thanks to lessened competition and the increased value of ATK. You still should not pull this weapon specifically for Keqing.
5★ Light of Foliar Incision, Uraku Misugiri	CRIT DMG stat sticks with relatively weak passives. Between the lack of Geo teammates, nonviability of 4TF, and decreased Normal Attack / Skill damage, Uraku performs much worse in Overload than it does in Quicken.
5★ Summit Shaper, Splendor of Tranquil Waters	Slightly better than 4-star options. Unfortunately for Summit Shaper, Keqing does not usually run with shielders in Overload.
4★ Finale of the Deep (Without Whimsy)	There is no good reason not to use Whimsy with Finale — even in the worst of circumstances, it easily outperforms mixed 2pc sets. That being said, even if you don’t have a Whimsy set lying around, Finale is still Keqing’s best 4-star option.
4★ The Black Sword, Wolf-Fang	Battle Pass options outperform Lion’s Roar at equal refinements. Black Sword is usually better than Wolf-Fang, as Keqing’s damage splits shift away from her Elemental Skill outside of Dendro.
4★ Lion’s Roar	Keqing’s old reliable. Lessened Electro aura uptime barely damages the performance of Lion’s Roar in Overload, as its passive works on enemies affected by Pyro as well.
5★ Freedom-Sworn	EM main stat weapons are largely noncompetitive in Overload, and Keqing struggles to activate this weapon’s passive until late into her first rotation. Even so, the high Base ATK of this weapon is quite valuable, and its teamwide buff can put it roughly equal to R5 Lion’s Roar when it comes to team DPS.
4★ Kagotsurube Isshin	Kazuha’s Story Quest weapon. A fairly decent option if you have nothing better.
3★ Harbinger of Dawn	HoD’s low Base ATK hurts its performance outside of Dendro. Completely noncompetitive if you cannot maintain the passive.

Teams

Teambuilding

• Pairing Keqing with a second Electro unit often helps to lower team ER requirements, and strong off-field Electro DPS units like Fischl can take great advantage of Quicken in her Dendro teams.
• Teammates with short cooldowns on their abilities can provide gapfill during Keqing’s downtime and give her greater flexibility when performing rotations. They also generally synergize better with Keqing’s relatively short field time.
• Shielders are valuable options to preserve fluidity of gameplay and protect Keqing during her on-field combo, particularly against aggressive enemies. Even weak shields can be useful to prevent Keqing from being staggered.

Aggravate

Keqing’s most natural and synergistic archetype. Her multihit, rapid attacks are ideal for triggering many Aggravates over the course of a rotation, and her field time usually syncs exceptionally well with her Aggravate teammates.

Notable Teammates

Fischl

Fischl is Keqing’s most important Aggravate teammate and synergizes exceptionally well with both her and the archetype as a whole. Keqing drives Fischl’s A4 and C6 while on-field, skyrocketing Fischl’s personal damage. While Fischl’s 25s Skill cooldown is usually a nuisance to most DPS units, Keqing welcomes 25s rotations as they allow her enough time to Burst twice per rotation. The only remotely comparable replacement to Fischl is C6 Sara, but due to Fischl’s extremely high personal damage and Keqing’s relatively low motion values compared to other Electro on-fielders, Fischl remains Keqing’s most prominent Electro teammate.

Electro

Electro teammates take advantage of Aggravate and can provide either buffs, small amounts of sustain, or exceptional personal damage.

★ Fischl

Sara

Beidou

Kuki Shinobu

Dendro

Dendro units enable Quicken and typically provide either team buffs or defensive utility. Quicken’s long duration means that fairly little Dendro application is needed to sustain full uptime. Nahida is not outrageously ahead of other Dendro options in terms of team damage until she hits C2. Emilie is most notable in Quickburn teams.

★ Nahida

Kirara

Yaoyao

Baizhu

Collei

Emilie

Anemo

Anemo units hold 4pc Viridescent Venerer to shred Electro RES, and some can provide grouping abilities that are highly valuable in AoE. Kazuha and Sucrose are easily the strongest options for offensive buffs.

★ Kazuha

★ Sucrose

Lan Yan

Lynette

Heizou

Flex

Flex units provide team buffing or other similar value without interfering with the Quicken aura. Xilonen is a particularly appealing option — her buffs are competitive with Kazuha and Sucrose, and she provides strong healing to boot.

When using Pyro flex units, Quicken and Burning will coexist, leading to “Quickburn” team comps where Keqing triggers both Aggravate and Overload. These teams also turn Emilie into a much stronger Dendro option than usual. Note that Pyro units usually favor full EM builds over CRIT here as they can have some Overload ownership, and their Talent damage is typically completely unbuffed.

★ Xilonen

Zhongli

Mavuika

Xiangling

Pyro Traveler

Example Teams

This is not a comprehensive list of teams. The inclusion or exclusion of any given team does not necessarily reflect its power level.

Keqing’s traditional premium Aggravate team. Has excellent damage, but can be somewhat difficult to play, especially given the lack of sustain. Prototype Amber can be used on Nahida if survivability is a large concern.

This team arguably has the most flexible rotations of any Keqing team. Understand that the rotation samples given below are exceptionally flexible even by typical Keqing standards, and that the best rotation in any given situation will often be something specifically customized against the enemy lineup.

Sample Rotation 1 (Requires C6 Fischl for Swirl Setup)
(Keqing E)¹ > Kazuha tEP > Nahida E Q > Fischl E N1² > Kazuha tEP > Keqing combo > Kazuha Q > Fischl Q > Kazuha tEP > (Nahida E)³ > Keqing combo

Sample Rotation 2
(Keqing E)¹ > Nahida Q > Kazuha tEP Q > Nahida E > Fischl E > Keqing combo > (Nahida E)³ > Fischl Q > Kazuha tEP > Keqing combo

¹First rotation only.
²Fischl procs her C6 with Normal Attacks until Electro aura is established.
³Often required in multiwave to re-mark new enemies.

Xilonen lacks Kazuha’s grouping and AoE damage, but compensates with effortless full uptime on her buffs and strong healing. Rotations are slightly inflexible but fairly easy to perform. Xilonen uses Burst as necessary. With C2 Xilonen, Fischl can start the first rotation with her Skill and replace all following Skill uses with Burst.

Sample Rotation
(Fischl C)¹ > Xilonen E N2 > Nahida E Q > Fischl E > Keqing combo > Xilonen E N2 (Q) > (Nahida E)² > Fischl Q > Keqing combo

¹First rotation only. Can be replaced with Keqing E C if you need particles.
²Often required in multiwave to re-mark new enemies.

A non-Fischl option. C6 Sara compares somewhat unfavorably to Fischl in single-target but begins to even out with higher investment on Keqing and in higher-health AoE. Due to the team’s poor particle generation, 4TF is extremely desired to keep ER requirements low. Xilonen uses Burst as necessary.

Sample Rotation
(Sara E CA)¹ > Xilonen E N2 (Q) > Nahida E Q  > Sara (E CA)² Q > Keqing combo > Xilonen E N2 > (Nahida E)³ > Sara E CA > Keqing combo

¹First rotation only.
²Subsequent rotations only.
³Often required in multiwave to re-mark new enemies.

One of Keqing’s typical 4-star–only teams. Kirara and especially Sucrose are pleasantly competitive with 5-star supports.

Sample Rotation
Fischl E > Kirara shE > Sucrose E > Keqing combo > Fischl Q > Kirara shE > Sucrose ED Q > Keqing combo

An excellent option against content that requires Pyro units. This particular Quickburn team has some survivability issues against groups of enemies thanks to Burning self-damage and a lack of sustain. Prototype Amber Nahida is a viable solution, but will lead to a slight drop in team DPS. Against larger enemies (e.g. Lava Dragon Statue), you will not take Burning self-damage and the team is notably safer.

Sample Rotation
Nahida E Q > Xiangling Q ED > Fischl Q > Keqing EQE 5[N1C] EE N1C N1 > (Nahida E)² > Xiangling ED > Fischl E > Keqing Q EE 4[N1C]¹

¹If 4TF, perform EQE 2[N1C] N1 E N1C instead.
²Often required in multiwave to re-mark new enemies.

Quickbloom & Hyperbloom

When both Dendro and Hydro units are on the team, Keqing can trigger both Aggravate and Hyperbloom. High Dendro application and low Hydro application creates “Quickbloom” teams, where Keqing enjoys high Quicken aura uptime and still triggers a decent amount of Hyperblooms. The last slot is usually either a unit that provides significant personal damage or a healer to pair with Furina. Quickbloom can be somewhat lacking in damage at low investment when compared to other archetypes, but it scales very well given Constellations on Keqing’s premium 5-star supports.

As the Dendro application is lowered or the Hydro application is increased, Keqing will trigger less Aggravates and more Hyperblooms. This may eventually cause the team to drift away from the Quickbloom archetype and diverge into pure Hyperbloom, where Keqing triggers many Hyperblooms and few Aggravates. Pure Hyperbloom Keqing teams deal comparable damage to Quickbloom teams at lower investment levels, but maximizing Keqing’s Transformative Reaction damage as opposed to her Talent damage places a ceiling on the team’s damage, meaning that pure Hyperbloom teams fare noticeably worse at high levels of investment than Quickbloom teams.

Notable Teammates

The clear best options of the key Elements. They provide Keqing with strong buffs and scale excellently with vertical investment.

Furina

Thanks to her DMG% buff and excellent personal damage, Furina is the best Hydro unit available for Keqing. Her application is low enough to allow for significant Quicken uptime while also providing a respectable amount of Bloom cores, and her HP drain also allows Keqing to run 4pc Marechaussee Hunter.

Nahida

Nahida’s strong Dendro application is key to maintaining high Quicken uptime with a Hydro unit on the team, and her already valuable EM buff is even more useful now that Keqing is triggering Hyperblooms. If needed, she can run Prototype Amber to help stack Furina’s Fanfare, although it is very unsafe to rely on this as your only source of healing. Nahida should always hold 4pc Deepwood Memories in Quickbloom teams, as the Dendro RES Shred notably increases Hyperbloom damage along with Nahida’s own personal damage.

Other Dendro

These Dendro units provide Elemental application or utility, although none will be able to match Nahida’s personal damage and EM buff. Their rate of application is also much lower than Nahida’s, which will lead to Keqing triggering more Hyperblooms and less Aggravates.

Collei

Baizhu

Dendro Traveler

Yaoyao

Other Hydro

Although they do not quite compare to Furina, these Hydro units can still provide considerable buffs, utility, or personal damage. Xingqiu and Yelan have notably high rates of application and as such will make Keqing trigger more Hyperblooms and less Aggravates.

Kokomi

Yelan

Xingqiu

Electro

Offensively-oriented Electro units contribute either via personal damage or strong buffs. Some may steal a modest amount of Hyperbloom ownership. Units with high Electro application may help to stabilize Quicken aura (or simply generate more Dendro Cores for Hyperbloom) depending on the team.

★ Fischl

Sara

Beidou

Healers

Healers that stack Furina’s Fanfare. Their secondary benefits can range between Elemental Resonance, support weapons, extra Elemental application, and offensive buffs.

Hydro healers (particularly Kokomi) will lower Quicken aura uptime and skew Keqing’s damage toward Hyperbloom. By contrast, Kuki will steal most of Keqing’s Hyperbloom ownership, but she increases Quicken aura uptime and thus enables more Aggravates.

Baizhu

Xilonen

Kuki Shinobu

Kokomi

Sigewinne

Example Teams

This is not a comprehensive list of teams. The inclusion or exclusion of any given team does not necessarily reflect its power level.

A very safe team with good single-target damage. Baizhu offers teamwide healing, small shields, Dendro Resonance, and a slight buff to both Aggravate and Hyperbloom damage. Keqing only casts Burst once per rotation due to cooldown constraints, which may make the second 4TF combo quite awkward or inconsistent due to Skill cooldown concerns.

Sample Rotation (Non-TF Keqing)
Furina ED Q > Nahida E Q > Baizhu E Q > Keqing EQE 5[N1C] > (Nahida E)¹ > Baizhu E > Keqing EE 5[N1C]

Sample Rotation (4TF Keqing)
Furina ED Q > Nahida E Q > Baizhu E Q > Keqing EQE N1C N1 E 3[N1C] > (Nahida E)¹ > Baizhu E > Keqing EE 3[N1C] N1(C)² E N1C

¹Often required in multiwave to re-mark new enemies.
²Makes the combo more fluid, but runs the risk of losing full Infusion uptime.

A high-damaging but very risky team. The only source of teamwide healing is Prototype Amber Nahida, but this is not enough healing to counterbalance Furina’s drain, so your team members will be constantly hovering at around 50% HP. This team has little margin for error, as getting hit and dropping below 50% HP will greatly lower the team’s already middling Fanfare generation, not to mention the challenge of simply surviving.

However, if you happen to have C6 Furina, the team can easily and safely generate maximum Fanfare and suddenly becomes an incredibly powerful and appealing option. (Note that the “Elemental Bursts instantly restore 30% HP” card in the Spiral Abyss can also serve as a satisfactory source of healing if you luck into it.)

Sample Rotation (Non-TF Keqing)
Furina ED Q (N2)¹ > Fischl E > Nahida E Q > Keqing EQE 5[N1C] E > Fischl Q > Nahida E N1 > Keqing E² N1 Q N1C N1 E N1C

Sample Rotation (4TF Keqing)
Furina ED Q (N2)¹ > Fischl E > Nahida E Q > Keqing combo > Fischl Q > Nahida E N2(C) > Keqing combo

¹Only if Furina is C6.
²Because Stiletto was cast at the end of Keqing’s first combo, this is a teleport!

A team with far more Hydro application than Dendro application, meaning that Keqing triggers a great number of Hyperblooms and very few Aggravates. Furina and Yelan lower each other’s ER requirements and unlock Hydro Resonance to enhance their considerable personal damage. Keqing’s combos are built around proccing as many waves of Yelan’s Burst as possible.

Sample Rotation
Furina ED Q > Baizhu E Q > Yelan E Q N1 > Keqing E N1 E 4[N1C] N1 Q > Yelan N1 E N1 > Keqing E N1 E 5[N1C]¹

¹Switch out whenever Yelan’s Burst ends. 4TF can perform 3[N1C] N1 E N1C if desired.

A Quickbloom option without Furina. Kokomi provides healing and can hold TTDS, and her Hydro application is low enough that it does not interfere with Quicken uptime. Even so, running an Anemo in her place and playing Aggravate is better in most cases.

Sample Rotation
Nahida E Q > Fischl E > Kokomi E > Keqing combo > Kokomi Q > (Nahida E)¹ > Fischl Q > Keqing combo

¹Often required in multiwave to re-mark new enemies.

Chevreuse Overload

Keqing’s options outside of Dendro are limited, and she lacks much of the synergy that she usually finds in Dendro teams. Aggravate supports her damage thanks to her multihit attacks, but her relatively low motion values are somewhat apparent in the absence of Dendro units. As such, Keqing compares rather unfavorably to other Electro 5-star DPS units outside of Quicken.

Nevertheless, other options exist. Overload in particular is well worth discussing, as Keqing greatly benefits from the raw buffing power of Chevreuse, particularly if Chevreuse is C6. Overload also provides a way for Keqing to pair with Pyro units without having to reckon with Burning self-damage.

Note that the combination of knockback between Overload and Keqing’s Charged Attacks makes fighting light enemies incredibly difficult. On the flip side, this archetype enjoys uniquely excellent performance against enemies with innate Hydro auras.

Notable Teammates

Chevreuse

Chevreuse is the key to Overload Keqing as an archetype. Her Ascension 1 Passive offers crucial Electro and Pyro RES Shred as long as there are no other Elements on the team, and her A4 offers a sizable ATK% buff. Her already high value is supercharged at C6, which offers a massive DMG% buff to the team. The strength of these raw numbers makes her Keqing’s most important Overload teammate. Note that Chevreuse is quite reliant on her Constellations: she rotates quite awkwardly in some Keqing teams before C4 due to her mildly unpleasant 15s Skill cooldown, and her C6 is an extremely powerful damage spike. However, even at C0, she is still the core component of Keqing’s Overload teams.

Pyro

Pyro units provide off-field application to keep uptime on Chevreuse’s A1 Passive. Each option has slightly unique positives and negatives that make it worthwhile to explore them in individual detail.

Xiangling	Xiangling has the highest application of any Pyro off-fielder, which makes her excellent against content that requires Pyro units. As in Quickburn, an EM Xiangling build is advised in most compositions, as she is the dominant Overload trigger in her teams. However, because Xiangling’s Burst has a 20s CD and costs 80 Energy, she forces longer rotations than most other options. This may seem like a strict downside at first, but these long rotations also have the benefit of syncing nicely with units like Fischl. They also give Keqing enough time to perform two full combos.
Mavuika	Mavuika has two separate roles depending on the team composition. If she is the only Natlan unit on the team, she runs 4pc Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City and builds full EM, Bursting as available (which tends to be every 2–3 rotations). In this role, she does less personal damage than Xiangling but compensates by buffing Keqing through 4pc Scroll and her occasional DMG% buff from Burst. However, if there is another Natlan support (e.g. Ororon) on the team, Mavuika’s playstyle dramatically shifts. As the other Natlan unit can run 4pc Scroll and charge Mavuika’s Fighting Spirit, Mavuika switches to 4pc Obsidian Codex and builds full DPS, Bursting every rotation. Mavuika can also take some field time so that Keqing does not have to extend her on-field combo to uncomfortably long lengths.
Pyro Traveler	Pyro Main Character (PMC) is essentially a free version of Mavuika with drastically lower Talent damage and a lower DMG% buff. PMC plays a roughly identical role to Mavuika when there are no other Natlan units on the team and generally serves as an acceptable replacement. Unfortunately, instead of benefiting from other Natlan supports, PMC would prefer to be the only unit that can enter Nightsoul’s Blessing on the team, as the DMG% buff from 4pc Scroll does not stack and PMC does not deal enough Talent damage to justify running Obsidian Codex in the same fashion as Mavuika.
Bennett	Bennett does not apply off-field Pyro but is a worthwhile consideration as a third Pyro slot, as he is a strong buffer who fits within Chevreuse’s Element restriction. Bennett can also potentially be run in Double Electro + Double Pyro teams, as C6 Bennett can circumvent Chevreuse’s off-field application requirement by infusing Keqing’s Normal and Charged Attacks with Pyro. However, this carries the obvious downside of forcing Keqing to split her damage between two Elements, which can turn slightly catastrophic when using large buffs to Electro damage like Keqing’s C6, 4pc Thundersoother, or C6 Sara.

Electro

Offensively-oriented Electro units contribute either via personal damage or strong buffs. Ororon essentially must be paired with a second Natlan unit (preferably Mavuika) to activate 4pc Scroll given the lack of Hydro teammates.

Fischl

Sara

Ororon

Example Teams

This is not a comprehensive list of teams. The inclusion or exclusion of any given team does not necessarily reflect its power level.

A strong Overload team with classic off-field damage dealers in Xiangling and Fischl. The long rotation time makes Xiangling’s ER requirements exceedingly manageable.

Sample Rotation
(Keqing E)¹ > Chevreuse Q hE > Fischl E > Xiangling E > Keqing Q EE² 5[N1C] > Chevreuse (hE)³ > Fischl Q > Xiangling Q E > Keqing EQE 5[N1C]

¹First rotation only.
²EQE is also possible from second rotation onward.
³Skip if Chevreuse is under C4.

An Overload team with Nightsoul units. Ororon and Mavuika mutually benefit one another: Mavuika allows Ororon to enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing state and trigger 4pc Scroll, and Ororon generates enough Fighting Spirit for Mavuika to Burst every rotation.

Sample Rotation
Ororon E Q > Chevreuse Q hE > Mavuika E Q C2D > Keqing EQE 5[N1C] EE 2[N1C] N1

“Hyper” Keqing. This team has numerous advantages over the old Keqing–Sara–Kazuha–Bennett: it gives Keqing reliable access to the Finale + Whimsy combo, handles multiwave better, has a second unit who deals respectable personal damage in Xiangling, and buffs Keqing’s personal damage far more than the old team given a C6 Chevreuse. Also, because Bennett is not on the team, it avoids the problem caused by his C6 Pyro Infusion.

Note that replacing Fischl with Sara tightens ER requirements for the entire team, making it an especially bad idea to play this team without C4+ Chevreuse.

Sample Rotation
(Keqing E)¹ > Chevreuse Q hE > Xiangling E > Sara E CA > Keqing Q EE² 5[N1C] > Chevreuse hE > Sara Q > Xiangling Q E > Sara E CA > Keqing EQE 5[N1C] E N1C³

¹First rotation only.
²EQE is also possible from second rotation onward.
³Physical N1C to detonate Stiletto for particles. Higher damage than EE.

Credits

dusted wind, Mystathi, haafr, azerad79, eliza, acerbus114

Team images made with the KQM portrait generator.