Table of Contents
Overview
Taoqi is a 4★ melee broadblade user attempting to combine the qualities of a damage dealer with the utility of a support role by granting moderately strong shields and extra damage reduction on top. Uniquely, her Forte revolves around parrying enemies, which allows her to use stacks of Resolving Caliber granted either by her Intro Skill or expiring Rocksteady Shields from her Resonance Skill to enhance her attacks after a successful parry or Intro Skill.
Unfortunately, Taoqi is not that great. She is riddled with design problems ranging from a lengthy skill cooldown to being reliant on enemy AI acting in a predictable way to actually use her Forte in the first place. On top of that, she does not completely nullify damage taken when parrying, merely reducing it by a fixed percentage instead, which can create serious problems for her in the endgame where enemies (especially bosses) are more powerful. Nevertheless, calling her “useless” and “unsalvageable” is an over-exaggeration - Taoqi’s kit provides just enough value to still find herself a niche, proving that no character is truly without any saving graces if you’re determined enough to use them.
Pros
- Can quickly provide team-wide shields with no additional resource cost, as well as a whopping 38% Resonance Skill Deepen effect on her Outro
- The simplistic and safe nature of Taoqi’s kit can be a good entry point when learning the game’s combat system
Cons
- Has a noticeably longer and more impractical rotation than her peers
- Her kit-defining features are wasted in the roles of sub-DPS and support, and her damage output is far from ideal for the main DPS role due to her kit’s split scaling
- As of 1.1, the pool of characters she can effectively support is limited
Taoqi Rotations
Rotation should always be taken with a grain of salt. Enemies are NOT sandbags and WILL ATTACK YOU. Several factors such as Parries, Dodge Counters, and being knocked back will affect how you approach the rest of your rotation.
Sub-DPS Switch-in
This is Taoqi’s primary rotation. It focuses on filling her Concerto gauge as quickly as possible while still getting full value out of her kit. Please note that it is extremely important to hit your enemy with every attack, as missing a single strike will force you to extend the rotation with additional Basic Attacks to compensate for the Concerto energy loss.
| • Intro Skill • Forte: Timed Counters 1~3 • Heavy Attack • Skill: Fortified Defense • Resonance Liberation • Basic Attack 1~4 • Heavy Attack • Echo - use it to cancel Heavy Attack's recovery; can itself be switch cancelled • Outro Skill |
Note: If using Discord at rank 1 or Beguiling Melody at rank 5, both Heavy Attacks in the sequence can be skipped. Additionally, Discord at rank 5 will let you skip Basic Attack 4 as well.
Support Quick Switch
If Taoqi’s Outro is not needed for any reason or if you are playing a quick switch team, Taoqi can use a shorter, more niche rotation designed to limit her time on the field as much as possible. Realistically, the following cycle should only ever be used if Taoqi is fulfilling the team's support role under those conditions - in all other cases it’s better to use her sub-DPS attack sequence.
| • Intro Skill OR Strategic Parry • Forte: Timed Counters 1~3 • Resonance Liberation OR Basic Attack 1 • Skill: Fortified Defense • Echo - use it to cancel Fortified Defense's recovery; can itself be switch cancelled • Switch Out |
Note: Using this rotation will make Taoqi’s Concerto fill up on every other switch. Plan accordingly!
Parry Windows
Disclaimer: This is a work-in-progress section and will be updated as we learn more.
As a melee character, Taoqi can parry with Basic Attacks 1, 2 and 4, Dodge Counter and plunge attack. Curiously, Basic Attack 3 seems to be incapable of parrying attacks.
Taoqi’s intro can be used to parry an attack if timed correctly, but attempting to do so deliberately is impractical at best.
Her Resonance Liberation (Unmovable) can be used to parry incoming attacks. Her Resonance Skill (Fortified Defense) on the other hand, while incapable of doing so, can be used to trigger her Strategic Parry mechanic instead.
Finally, Taoqi’s Forte attack (Timed Counters) can be used to parry incoming attacks, but doing so should be avoided as it’s beyond impractical and can be actively dangerous.
Character Synergies
 | Verina | |
| Verina, being an universally strong support, synergises well with all main and sub-DPS characters, and Taoqi is no exception to that. The All DMG Deepen effect that she offers on top of the ATK buff from the Rejuvenating Glow set has the potential to push Taoqi into acceptable margins of performance if you wish to run her on your team. | ||
| Buffs | ||
| 15% Team-wide All DMG Deepen 20% Team-wide ATK buff Rejuvenating Glow and Bell-Borne Geochelone | ||
 | Danjin | |
| Danjin sits in an interesting synergy spot with Taoqi, as they can support each other interchangeably. While Taoqi provides her with the Resonance Skill DMG Deepen effect that she can use to a great effect, Danji can in turn buff Taoqi with a more universal Havoc DMG Deepen if one wishes to increase her individual damage-dealing performance. A match made in heaven. | ||
| Buffs | ||
| 23% Havoc DMG Deepen 20% Team-wide ATK buff (Resonance 6) Moonlit Clouds and Impermanence Heron | ||
 | Chixia | |
| With Chixia’s damage coming primarily from her Forte, which counts as Resonance Skill damage, Taoqi can use her Outro’s Resonance Skill DMG Deepen to increase Chixia’s damage output. | ||
| Buffs | ||
| 25% Team-wide Basic Attack DMG (Resonance 6) | ||
 | Sanhua | |
| While the in-game description might not make it very obvious, all three of Sanhua’s icy spikes - Ice Thorn, Ice Prism and Glacier - deal damage that’s counted as Resonance Skill when detonated. Taoqi can further increase Sanhua’s potential damage burst thanks to her Outro granting Resonance Skill DMG Deepen. In return, Sanhua can boost Taoqi’s Timed Counters by a surprising margin thanks to her own Outro’s Basic Attack DMG Deepen effect. | ||
| Buffs | ||
| 38% Basic Attack DMG Deepen 20% Team-wide ATK buff (Resonance 6) Moonlit Clouds and Impermanence Heron | ||
Team Comps
As sub-DPS
As Support
Skill Priority
For sub-DPS role
- Resonance Liberation
- Forte Circuit
- Resonance Skill
- Basic Attack
- Intro Skill
For Support role
- Forte Circuit
- Resonance Liberation
- Resonance Skill
- Basic Attack
- Intro Skill
Weapons
Weapon comparison
Taoqi’s best-in-slot weapon is a matter of deciding how you wish to use her.
If you’d prefer that your Taoqi works as a sub-DPS or support that’s focused on buffing your main damage dealer with the Moonlit Clouds or Rejuvenating Glow sonata effect and spending as little time on the field as possible, then her best choice of a broadblade would be Discord, as it lets you maximise your team’s performance at the cost of Taoqi’s admittedly mediocre individual numbers. Additionally, it massively increases Taoqi’s Resonance Energy regeneration, eliminating the need for other ER% sources (like from Echoes) and lets her potentially close the gap between other options with extra offensive bonuses.
An alternative to Discord would be Beguiling Melody, newly released in version 1.1. At rank 5, it serves as a 3-star alternative to Discord, albeit with an ATK% bonus instead of ER%. This in turn means that while it still serves the purpose of limiting Taoqi’s field time, it has a lower potential performance ceiling compared to Discord.
On the other hand, if you wish to maximise your Taoqi’s individual performance, the selection of broadblades expands dramatically - and not in the most predictable fashion either. From the 5-star options, Jinhsi’s and Jiyan’s signatures fight for the title of best-in-slot, with Verdant Summit offering stronger critical strikes and Ages of Harvest making them happen more consistently.
If neither of the two are available, the next best alternative would ironically be Dauntless Evernight. With its hefty DEF% bonus on both substat and Intro Skill effect, it further boosts Taoqi’s already high defence to increase her Forte, Skill and Liberation damage with the ATK bonus being just a tiny cherry on top. An alternative to Dauntless Evernight is Autumntrace, from the battle pass weapon box. While it doesn’t increase her damage output directly, its crit chance secondary stat allows for critical strikes to occur more frequently. However, it scales extremely poorly with ranks on Taoqi and is better given to somebody else given the chance.
Finally, if no mentioned option is available, Originite: Type I proves to be a surprisingly solid (and cheap!) stand-in, thanks to its secondary statistic being DEF%. This puts it very slightly ahead of more premium options like Helios Cleaver or even Lustrous Razor in terms of raw damage. Despite this, the latter of the two weapons still should not be slept on - the extra energy regeneration granted frees up to two extra slots on your Echoes to be occupied by offensive substats instead, giving it a higher performance ceiling.
| Weapon Name | Comparison | Notes |
| Ages of Harvest | 128.28% | The best offensive option for Taoqi even if she is not able to effectively utilise its active effect, with its only shortcoming being its acquisition cost compared to Dauntless Evernight. |
| Verdant Summit | 120.99% | An outstanding choice in terms of pure damage thanks to its critical damage secondary stat, with its only downside being its acquisition cost compared to Dauntless Evernight. |
| Dauntless Evernight | 116.16% | Taoqi’s best budget option if neither 5-star broadblade nor Discord is available. Boosts Taoqi’s DEF by an absurd percentage for a singular stat source. |
| Autumntrace | 111.93% | A more premium option of a broadblade. While a really good stand-in for a 5-star for most broadblade users, in Taoqi’s case the only thing it provides is the critical strike chance as the secondary statistic - which proves to be just enough to compete with Dauntless Evernight. |
| Originite: Type I | 100.67% | Taoqi’s best low-budget option thanks to its DEF% secondary stat. |
| Helios Cleaver | 100.49% | A generic ATK broadblade that provides Taoqi with slightly more ATK than most other options after the buff gets to stack. Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t scale with ATK very well. |
| Lustrous Razor | 100% | An overall really good generic 5-star broadblade that in Taoqi’s case proves to be mediocre due to her scalings. |
| Guardian Broadblade | 99.86% | A usually-terrible weapon that proves surprisingly decent for Taoqi as it buffs her Timed Counters strikes. |
| Broadblade of Night | 97.16% | A reasonably strong 3-star ATK-buffing broadblade that proves to not be the best choice for a character scaling primarily with DEF. |
| Broadblade#41 | 95.02% (assumes you stay above 80% HP) | A reasonably strong option that suffers from Taoqi not scaling well with her ATK stat. Offers a source of energy regeneration while you’re working towards your desired build and should be replaced soon after. |
| Beguiling Melody | 93.94% | A utility-focused broadblade for speeding up character rotations via extra Concerto and Resonance energy generation. The more easily accessible version of Discord, offering a slightly higher individual damage floor but a massively decreased damage potential ceiling. Requires rank 5 to fill in for Discord. |
| Discord | 89.45% | A utility-focused broadblade for speeding up character rotations via extra Concerto and Resonance energy generation. Has the potential to shorten Taoqi’s rotation to reduce the team's main DPS’ downtime. |
| Broadblade of Voyager | 88.09% | An easily accessible supportive option, able to plug up Resonance energy deficiencies every twenty seconds. Only useful in the early game where you lack energy regeneration sources and should be swapped out at the earliest convenience. |
Explaining the results
…So what the hell happened here?
The bulk of Taoqi’s damage - namely her Forte, Resonance Skill and Resonance Liberation - scales with her DEF stat, meaning that Taoqi interacts with her ATK statistic only on her Intro, Basic/Heavy Attacks and potentially active Echo. Because most broadblades focus on providing more ATK to the wielder, and Taoqi’s base ATK is the second lowest in the game (behind Baizhi), this creates an anti-synergy with the vast majority of weapons.
Additionally, while the game does not state it directly, Timed Counters (and the “pulse” released on a successful parry if they’re triggered with one) are treated as Basic Attack DMG, despite scaling with her DEF. This means that usually-mediocre blades like Guardian Broadblade suddenly find themselves to be very competitive on Taoqi thanks to their passive effects that don’t interact with her ATK stat, or bonuses that stack on landing Basic/Heavy Attacks.
Echoes
Sonata effects
Utility
The only major difference between the following sets for Taoqi is the requirement of an additional Energy Regeneration substat on the Rejuvenating Glow set to meet the energy regen quota.
| Set Effect | Comparison | Notes |
| Moonlit Clouds 5p | N/A | Taoqi’s primary choice of Echo set, used in the sub-DPS role to buff the main damage dealer of the party on Outro. |
| Rejuvenating Glow 5p | N/A | Taoqi’s secondary choice of Echo set, used in the support role. The set effect will trigger even if no health is actually healed as the condition for it is only for the effect to occur. |
Damage
While attempting to increase Taoqi’s individual damage output is not recommended, those that nevertheless wish to explore alternative playstyles can refer to the following Echo set comparison:
| Set Effect | Comparison | Notes |
| Sun-Sinking Eclipse 5p | 117.61% | The best option when attempting to increase Taoqi’s individual damage numbers. It offers a sizable Havoc% bonus when stacked. |
| Sun-Sinking Eclipse 2p + Lingering Tunes 2p | 108.89% | While better than pure Lingering Tunes, this combination should only ever be used as a transition set. |
| Lingering Tunes 5p | 107.79% | A very mediocre choice of a set that suffers from both Taoqi’s low base ATK and her not interacting much with the statistic in question. |
Active Echo Recommendation
Moonlit Clouds: Impermanence Heron - the ideal choice when using Taoqi in the sub-DPS role. While it does nothing to buff Taoqi herself, it doubles down on the buffing aspect of the Moonlit Clouds set, providing more ATK to the next character you’ll be switching her to.
Rejuvenating Glow: Bell-Borne Geochelone - a universally strong choice of an Echo, and the only 4-Cost option for the Rejuvenating Glow set. It provides a team-wide buff of 10% All-DMG Deepen effect and 50% reduction in damage taken for 15 seconds or until three hits are taken. It does not stack with itself if multiple characters use its effect.
Sun-Sinking Eclipse: Dreamless - the ideal choice when building Taoqi for her individual damage output. Despite not offering any kind of damage buff on use, it makes up for it by being a quick burst of AoE damage that’s potentially large enough to immediately get rid of smaller enemies near your primary target.
Mainstat and Substats
| Cost | Stat |
| 4 | Critical Rate% / Critical DMG% / DEF% |
| 3 | Havoc Bonus Damage% |
| 3 | Havoc Bonus Damage% |
| 1 | DEF% |
| 1 | DEF% |
As opposed to the vast majority of characters, Taoqi prefers DEF% over ATK% on her 1-Cost Echoes due to how her attacks scale.
If using your Taoqi as pure support, it is better to consider DEF% over critical rate or damage on 4-Cost Echoes to increase the size of the shields she provides with her Forte.
| Sub Stat Priority |
| Energy Regeneration (until 35%) > Crit Rate = Crit DMG > DEF% > ATK% > Flat ATK > Resonance Liberation DMG > Resonance Skill DMG > Basic Attack DMG = Heavy Attack DMG |
For a smoother Support Quick Switch rotation, it’s recommended to have over 60% Energy Regen from extra stats.
