As is common with games where there are multiple playable characters, Genshin Impact is the sort of title where experiences can vary and someone could easily settle into the niche where they’re most comfortable. Folks who prefer ranged attacks could find a solid archer or mage and rely on them as their main DPS unit. You could even very easily go through life as a button-masher with someone like the Traveler or Diluc. Now that I’ve added Genshin Impact’s Keqing to my roster, I’ve finally come to appreciate the nuance she provides. The heroine is essentially the poster child for charged attacks and combos.
At an initial glance, Genshin Impact’s Keqing might not look especially notable. She’s a sword user, which everyone automatically gets two of for free (Kaeya and the Traveler). She’s also an Electro type, and people who might already have Fischl from the November 2020 event or pulled someone like Razor might be hesitant to deviate from one of them. But Keqing is incredible due to both her attack and ability to earn critical hits, and her entire kit revolves around effectively using Charged attacks with her Elemental abilities to make her even more devastating.
Everything about Keqing encourages you to avoid relying on quickly button masking her Normal attack up to five times for a combo. It isn’t that it isn’t effective. Her base attack stat is great. But her Charged attack is so much more effective, with two hits that dish out more pain than a three-hit combo. When I pulled mine, I only had enough Hero’s Wit to get Keqing to get her to level 21. Considering my Childe, Klee, and Qiqi were all between level 55 and 60 at the time, I was worried about her holding her own.
But Keqing was fine! She wasn’t doing Childe or Klee damage, of course. (Both of them are at 60 and Klee has a five-star tome, so she could easily have 400-600 damage.) Between leading into Charged attacks with one or two Normal hits, then using her Stellar Restoration Elemental Skill to close the distance after knocking an enemy back or inflicting Electro-damage on the enemies where her shard is, Keqing could actually keep up despite being behind everyone else. Once I started getting extra experience books from the Lost Riches event and got her past level 30, she could perform a Charged hit that would deal over 800 damage with ease.
The versatility that came with experimenting with her moveset made her more enjoyable to use than the other people I would rely on for DPS duty. I’m only at Ascension 1 with her, due to Genshin Impact being the sort of game that seriously zaps resources once you start collecting people, but even that makes a big difference. That gives her Thundering Penance, which gives you temporary Electro damage with her Normal and Charged attacks after using Stellar Restoration. That encourages me to think, “Maybe I don’t use the skill to immediately chase a foe. It could be best to leave the stiletto there until I deal some attacks to inflict a status, then bring in Childe or Klee for fun Hydro or Pyro reactions.”
Speaking of which, her combo opportunities with other characters are very good. I’m essentially of the belief that Frozen is the best effect in the game, due to the reprieve it offers. But Electro is a key component for reactions that deal damage to groups. If you pair it with Hydro, Electro-Charged will constantly zap foes and carry a current among enemies. It with either Cryo or Pyro will result in a great Superconduct or Overloaded reaction that, once again, inflicts damage on a group of nearby enemies. Which meant even though I tended to have Keqing focusing on one-on-one fights when not using her Starward Sword Burst or taking advantage of Stellar Restoration group attacks, it was easy to swap a compatible ally in for wider range attacks.
I can’t get over how great it feels to have a Genshin Impact character like Keqing, where I really feel like I want to put more thought into my every attack. Sure, there are times when I want to quickly blast through Daily Commissions and turn to someone like Klee for a series of quick Normal attacks. But with Keqing, I feel like I’m rewarded for being creative. By testing out patterns of Normal, Charged, and Elemental attacks that I like, as well as swapping in allies to see which reactions pair well with combos I’m already enjoying, I can’t help thinking that I’m getting more out of the general experience. (Especially since such an interesting moveset is connected to such an adorable character.)
Genshin Impact is available for the PlayStation 4, PC, Android devices, and Apple iOS devices. It will also come to the Nintendo Switch. Genshin Impact’s Keqing is one of the five-stars always available via the gacha.
