Is It Worth It to Build Qiqi? A Comprehensive Guide
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The short answer? It depends on your needs and stage in Genshin Impact. Qiqi, the petite zombie from Liyue, is undeniably a potent healer, perhaps even the best pure healer in the game when raw numbers are considered. However, her kit lacks utility beyond healing, and other characters offer more diverse team support. Whether investing in her is worthwhile depends heavily on what you’re looking for in a character and your current roster.
The Strengths of Qiqi
Unparalleled Healing Output
Qiqi’s primary strength lies in her astronomical healing capabilities. Her Elemental Skill and Burst both provide substantial healing, scaling directly off her ATK stat. This makes her incredibly simple to build, as focusing on ATK% main stats and Energy Recharge substats can quickly turn her into an unkillable healing machine. Her healing is also consistent and reliable, making her a superb choice for players struggling to survive challenging content. She’s a safety net for teams, ensuring they can endure even the most devastating attacks.
Easy to Build and Use
One of Qiqi’s most appealing aspects is her ease of use and build. There’s no complex mechanic to master; simply stacking ATK and Energy Recharge will make her effective. This makes her ideal for new players or those who prefer a less demanding playstyle. The Ocean-Hued Clam artifact set synergizes exceptionally well with her, transforming her excess healing into off-field damage, further boosting her viability.
High Base Defense
Another factor often overlooked is Qiqi’s high base defense. She boasts the second-highest base defense in the entire game, making her surprisingly durable. This, combined with her healing, allows her to act as a pseudo-tank, able to withstand considerable punishment while keeping the rest of the team alive.
The Drawbacks of Qiqi
Lack of Utility
While Qiqi excels at healing, she is severely lacking in utility beyond that. Unlike many healers, she does not offer any energy generation for the team, buffs, or enemy debuffs. This limited kit can make her feel lackluster compared to more versatile healers like Bennett, Diona, or even Kokomi. This lack of utility reduces her flexibility in team compositions.
Weak Cryo Application
Qiqi’s cryo application is often described as slow and cumbersome. Her Elemental Skill has a long cooldown, and her attacks do not consistently apply Cryo, making her less effective in elemental reactions. This significantly limits her role in teams that rely on consistent Cryo reactions. She is outshone by other cryo characters, like Kaeya, who can apply more consistent cryo application and damage.
Limited Offensive Capabilities
Despite the Ocean-Hued Clam set allowing her to contribute some damage, Qiqi is not a DPS character. Trying to build her as a DPS will generally be less effective than using her as a dedicated healer. While a Physical DPS build is possible, it requires significant investment and does not reach the damage potential of other characters. She is not a character who should be considered for main DPS.
When Is Qiqi Worth Building?
Qiqi is a good option for certain situations:
- Early-Game Players: Her straightforward build and powerful healing make her invaluable for players navigating the early game and its challenges.
- Players Struggling with Survivability: If your team dies often, Qiqi can ensure your characters remain alive, regardless of the incoming damage.
- Players Who Prefer Simple Playstyles: If you dislike complex builds and rotations, Qiqi’s simplicity makes her a good choice.
- Specific Team Compositions: Certain team compositions might benefit from her consistent healing, such as those centered around Physical DPS where her ability to proc clam damage is useful.
When Is Qiqi Less Worth Building?
Consider these factors before investing heavily in Qiqi:
- Late-Game Players with Strong Rosters: If you have access to characters like Bennett, Diona, Kokomi, or even Baizhu, their diverse kits often provide better value than Qiqi.
- Players Looking for Utility: If you require buffs, energy generation, or debuffs from your healer, Qiqi will not satisfy those needs.
- Players Focused on Meta Team Compositions: Qiqi rarely fits into the most optimal meta team compositions.
- Players Who Want Strong Cryo Application: If you need a character to consistently apply cryo for reactions, look for other choices, as Qiqi is severely lacking in this department.
Conclusion
Qiqi is a powerful, easily-built healer, but her lack of utility beyond healing makes her less valuable compared to some other options, particularly at endgame. If you need a simple, dependable, and powerful healer, especially at the start of your journey, Qiqi is a viable option. However, if you have access to more versatile support characters, they might offer better overall value for your resources. Ultimately, whether to build Qiqi depends on your individual needs, preferences, and available resources.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is Qiqi worth pulling for in Genshin Impact?
Qiqi is a 5-star character, which means she is rare to obtain. If you specifically need a strong healer, she is a good choice, but she’s not worth pursuing if you’re looking for general utility or a DPS. Her healing is exceptional, but her lack of utility can be a drawback.
2. Is Qiqi worth building in 2024?
Yes, Qiqi is still worth building in 2024 if you are looking for pure healing. The Ocean-Hued Clam set has improved her value somewhat, allowing her to deal damage, but her lack of energy generation and other support skills make her less desirable in optimized team comps.
3. Is Qiqi a good character to use?
Qiqi is a good healer for casual players or early game players. Her simplicity and ease of use are beginner-friendly. However, she is not considered a top-tier character by most players due to her lack of utility beyond healing.
4. Should I use Qiqi or Kaeya?
Kaeya is generally more useful in the current meta. He provides consistent cryo application and deals more damage compared to Qiqi. Qiqi only serves as a healer, while Kaeya is useful for damage and reactions.
5. Who works best with Qiqi?
Qiqi synergizes best with characters that need consistent healing. Pyro carries like Diluc and Bennett, or other team members that require consistent healing, can work well with her. However, her lack of elemental application can hinder some reactions.
6. Why is Qiqi so hard to get?
Qiqi is a 5-star character, and the base chance of pulling a 5-star character is only 0.6%. This makes her very rare and difficult to obtain.
7. What weapon is best for Qiqi?
The Sacrificial Sword is one of the best weapons for Qiqi because it can reset her Elemental Skill’s cooldown, allowing more healing. Weapons with high ATK also work well since her healing scales off her ATK.
8. Is Qiqi better than Ganyu?
Ganyu is a powerful Cryo DPS, while Qiqi is a healer. They have different roles and are not comparable. Ganyu is better for damage, while Qiqi is better for healing.
9. Is DPS Qiqi viable?
Building Qiqi as a DPS is generally not effective. Her damage output is low compared to other DPS characters. She is best used as a dedicated healer. If you’re set on it, a physical damage build is the way to go.
10. Is Qiqi or Barbara better?
Qiqi has higher healing potential than Barbara. However, Barbara is more useful for applying hydro to enemies for reactions. Both are healers, but Qiqi’s raw healing is generally higher.
11. Is Qiqi still the best healer?
Yes, Qiqi remains one of the best pure healers in the game due to her high healing numbers. However, other healers like Bennett and Kokomi offer additional utility.
12. Does Qiqi scale off HP?
No, Qiqi’s healing scales off of her ATK. Increasing her ATK stat will improve her healing output.
13. Is Qiqi rare in Genshin Impact?
Yes, Qiqi is a 5-star character and therefore is considered rare.
14. How to make Qiqi viable?
You can use Qiqi in a team that requires consistent healing. Her Ocean-Hued Clam set can also provide some off-field damage. She can be built as a permafreeze carry by using Chongyun’s cryo infusion.
15. Is Sayu or Qiqi a better healer?
While Sayu also heals, Qiqi generally heals more. However, Sayu provides more utility because of her ability to explore quickly.