Genshin Impact: Arlecchino Cultivation Guide

Source: MiHoYo Forum Author: James, the Little Thunder Dragon

Life Covenant
The Life Covenant is a blood debt health bar; when receiving healing, the debt must be repaid before normal healing can occur. When under the Life Covenant, if one continues to lose health without being healed in time, it may lead to sudden death due to inability to heal back in time; this is the negative impact of the Life Covenant. Therefore, when under the Life Covenant, encountering enemies like the Bleeding Dog (Beast Realm Hunting Hound) that have a blood loss mechanism ignoring shields can be extremely dangerous.

Character Introduction

Arlecchino’s basic level 90 attributes are similar to Kokomi’s, with equal attack power and critical damage bonuses from ascensions. Arlecchino has slightly more HP than Kokomi but lower defense, making her a character focused on attack power.

Normal Attack
The damage multiplier is decent; the first four hits have around 4% higher multipliers compared to Sayu, but the charged attack per point of stamina has a lower multiplier than Sayu by 2%. Continuous holding of the charged attack allows for swift movement for up to 5 seconds (possessing the ability for long-distance traversal). When the Life Covenant is ≥30% of the maximum HP, normal attacks, charged attacks, and plunging attacks will become non-enchanted Pyro damage. In this state (referred to as “Crimson Feast”), only normal attacks will increase damage based on a certain percentage of the current Life Covenant, similar to Yun Jin’s burst and Shen He’s elemental skill, operating in the base multiplier area, and will reduce the skill cooldown by 0.8 seconds. Note that normal attacks in this state will also deplete the Life Covenant. Therefore, the damage of normal attacks will decrease over time until the Life Covenant is depleted below 30% of the maximum HP. The maximum limit of the Life Covenant is 200%, and its natural depletion rate is quite slow, so there’s generally no need to worry about Arlecchino’s Life Covenant depleting during combat.

Elemental Skill
In terms of damage, it is not significant; its primary function is to place marks on enemies in an area, with the mark lasting for 30 seconds, and the skill cooldown is also 30 seconds. The mark inflicts Pyro damage on enemies every 5 seconds, but a maximum of 2 times during the duration (hence, Arlecchino cannot function as a Pyro support). By using Arlecchino’s charged attack or Elemental Burst, you can reclaim the marks placed and obtain Life Covenant. Each mark grants 65% of the maximum HP as Life Covenant, allowing for a maximum acquisition of 145% Life Covenant through this method within the duration of one skill, meaning that one skill can provide enough Life Covenant by placing marks on up to three enemies and then reclaiming them.

Elemental Burst
It deals AoE Pyro damage, retrieves the marks placed by the Elemental Skill, refreshes the skill cooldown, and heals. The healing amount is constant at 150% Life Covenant + 150% ATK, unaffected by level advancements. Its damage multiplier is average (not as high as Linni, La Signora, or Keqing’s Burst), with a cooldown of 15 seconds and an energy requirement of 60. Currently, the situation of generating particles with the skill is unknown, but considering the 30-second cooldown of the skill, even if normal attacks reduce the cooldown by 0.8 seconds each, assuming an 8-second rotation, maximum estimated hits would be around 16, reducing the cooldown by approximately 12.8 seconds. Excluding the rotation time of 8 seconds, there would still be nearly over 9 seconds of skill cooldown remaining, meaning relying on particle generation for energy replenishment might not be feasible. It is uncertain whether her normal attacks can generate particles, but regardless, Arlecchino’s Elemental Burst energy regeneration could potentially present some challenges.

Combat Passive 1
Marks on defeated enemies increase Arlecchino’s Life Covenant by 130% (according to the description, Arlecchino gains Life Covenant whenever an enemy is defeated, not necessarily by Arlecchino herself). Alternatively, when marks have been placed for 5 seconds and subsequently reclaimed, Arlecchino receives 130% Life Covenant. In other words, with this passive, even placing marks on just one enemy and reclaiming them once will almost fill Arlecchino’s Life Covenant, and placing marks on two enemies and reclaiming them will ensure it’s filled.

Combat Passive 2
For every 100 points above 1000 in ATK, Arlecchino gains 1% All Resistance, up to a maximum increase of 20%. This passive is beneficial for Arlecchino because the Life Covenant significantly affects survivability, and Arlecchino’s skill set leans towards a berserker style, requiring some resistance for margin of error.

Exploration Talent
This talent provides a 40% Pyro damage bonus during combat but only allows healing through the Elemental Burst. This talent prompts players to consider Arlecchino’s energy regeneration, as relying solely on the Burst for healing can pose challenges, especially against enemies that drain elemental energy such as the Thunder Abyss Mage.

Summary
Arlecchino is a Pyro main DPS reliant on her Elemental Skill for initiation, suitable only as a main DPS with variable uptime. She performs well against individual enemies. For group encounters, since her main damage output comes from normal attacks, the range and feel of her normal attacks, as well as the presence of quality AOE teammates, can significantly affect efficiency against groups. Pay attention to energy generation. Skill leveling priorities should focus on normal attacks, followed by the Burst, and lastly the Elemental Skill.

Constellations
Constellation 1 provides interruption resistance at C6 levels, not as potent as Verr Goldet’s version—being hit thrice by Ruin Guards’ windmill attack will still launch the character. It boosts the Crimson Feast status bonus by 100%, enhancing specific skills; for instance, if the base level 10 normal attack bonus ratio is 238%, with Constellation 1, it becomes 338%. The damage increase from the normal attack is calculated as follows: Increase = ATK x Current Life Covenant Percentage x Crimson Feast Bonus Ratio. Operating within the base multiplier area, this is quite favorable.

Constellation 2 upgrades the marks directly without the 5-second delay, providing considerable AOE Pyro damage upon mark reclamation, but this effect triggers only once every 10 seconds.

Constellation 3 adds +3 to normal attack hits.

Constellation 4 enhances Elemental Burst energy regeneration and reduces its cooldown. While this constellation is quite powerful, casual players may not need to prioritize it.

Constellation 6 increases Burst damage and boosts crit rate and crit damage for normal attacks and Bursts after using the Elemental Skill.

Constellation Summary: Constellation 1 may not fully unleash the potential of shield supports. The additional damage from Constellation 2 activates every 10 seconds, whereas marks typically take 5 seconds to grant team members time to buff up, making Constellation 0 viable for casual players if opting for a shield support playstyle.

Weapons
The exclusive weapon (Moonlit Mirror) provides a critical rate bonus, complementing Arlecchino’s ascension critical damage boost. Every 14 seconds, the charged attack can provide 25% Life Covenant, serving as a rare additional source of Life Covenant. With the Life Covenant active, it offers a boost in the bonus damage area, making Arlecchino’s bonus damage more comprehensive. From a damage perspective, the special weapon offers a more holistic approach compared to Constellation 1.

For other 5-star weapons, dual-crit types aside from the Staff of Homa are suitable, with the Amos’ Bow being considered one of the best options; those focusing on attack power are also viable, as well as the Skyward Spine for energy recharge.

Regarding 4-star weapons, all are usable except for the Surveyor’s Drill, life-based weapons, and physical damage-boosting types.

Weapon Summary: If possible, try to obtain the exclusive weapon as it not only enhances overall performance but also comes with unique scythe effects. 4-star weapons either have low base attack or lack critical rate, making them somewhat deficient.

Artifacts
Focus on obtaining the new exclusive artifact set (Harmony in Dissonance) for Arlecchino. This 2-piece set boosts attack power, and the 4-piece set increases character damage based on changes in the Life Covenant. The main stats should prioritize ATK%, Pyro DMG Bonus, and Crit Rate if not using Bennett’s Burst support. The target for base ATK should be around 3000.

Here’s a breakdown of other artifact sets:

The second set of the new artifact domain (Undying Thoughts) provides a general boost damage artifact set triggered by Burning status, suitable for Pyro or Electro characters focused on attack mods, including Arlecchino. For grass element users like Arlecchino, make sure there is no vacuum period exceeding 6 seconds. Apart from Arlecchino, this set can also benefit characters like Diluc, Yoimiya, Eula, and other Pyro mains. However, the damage of Burning reactions depends on Elemental Mastery rather than the set bonus damage, so prioritizing skill damage over reaction damage is essential.

Sets like the Witch Set, Wanderer’s Troupe, Gladiator’s Finale, Viridescent Venerer, and Thundering Fury can be used situationally. The 4-star sets Berserker or Brave Heart can serve as transitional options.

Artifact Summary: If you have Arlecchino, it’s essential to farm the new artifact domains; otherwise, it might not be necessary.

Arlecchino vs. Hu Tao

Similarities: Both are Pyro polearm characters functioning as main DPS initiators, both rely on their Elemental Skill to place marks on enemies and develop their skill combos, both gain additional Pyro DMG bonuses passively, both see benefits from Constellation upgrades, and both have a burst that deals AoE Pyro damage and healing potential.

Differences: Arlecchino scales with attack while Hu Tao scales with HP; Arlecchino uses normal attacks, while Hu Tao focuses on charged attacks; Arlecchino has traversal capabilities, while Hu Tao does not; Arlecchino’s talents focus on self-buffs, whereas Hu Tao supports her teammates with crit rate buffs; Arlecchino operates under the Life Covenant mechanic, while Hu Tao relies on the Blood Blossom effect.

Both characters share similar playstyles, with Arlecchino having lower difficulty in execution but higher overall damage multipliers compared to Hu Tao.

Team Composition
The team composition strategy for Arlecchino is similar to Hu Tao, primarily focusing on amplifying reactions. Given Arlecchino’s decent damage output, a pure Pyro team is also viable. Shield support is crucial for Arlecchino as her only source of healing is through her Elemental Burst. Teammates should assist in energy regeneration to facilitate Arlecchino’s Burst usage effectively.

Recommended 5-star Characters
Yanfei (a great partner for grouping enemies for Arlecchino’s attacks), Diona (provides attack speed and movement speed buffs), Xiangling (allows Arlecchino to deal Pyro DMG during plunging attacks), Zhongli (excellent shield support and debuffs enemies’ resistance), Mona and Ningguang (Mona enhances burst damage while Ningguang offers long-term synergy), Diluc (offers Pyro resistance for the team), Raiden Shogun (assists in energy regeneration and pairs well with another Electro character for Overloaded reactions), and Bennett and Nidhogg (suitable companions for a team with the Burning artifact set).

Regarding Fischl:
If Arlecchino uses a Pyro DMG cup, she already receives significant bonus damage from artifacts and passives, resulting in minimal additional benefits when paired with Fischl. Moreover, Fischl’s Bloodletting Effect may increase Arlecchino’s survival pressure, making the partnership less favorable. Therefore, it is not recommended to pair Arlecchino with Fischl.

Recommended 4-star Team Compositions
Arlecchino + Xingqiu + Rosaria/Kaeya + Sucrose/Bennett
For Arlecchino with Constellation 1, Xingqiu’s interruption resistance ability is sufficient. If Arlecchino is at Constellation 0, it is best suited for low-pressure environments. Xingqiu should focus on increasing energy regeneration, making him an ideal partner for a team where he can taunt enemies post-Burst to reduce pressure on the DPS. Xingqiu can also apply Hydro elements for additional damage. Rosaria brings utility and Cryo resonance benefits, while Kaeya contributes with cryo shields and reduces enemy resistance. Sucrose can provide Anemo support for grouping enemies and reducing resistance, while Bennett functions as an attack buffer and healer. Bennett can also use the Tales of Dragon Slayers book to enhance energy generation and facilitate Arlecchino’s Burst usage effectively.

Arlecchino + Xingqiu + Beidou + Lisa/Diona
The four-element team provides elemental and physical resistance bonuses. With Xingqiu’s post-Burst attack buff, Beidou’s high-frequency application of Electro, and Lisa or Diona providing support, this team combination ensures versatility and survival for Arlecchino.

Arlecchino + Childe + Barbara/Bennett
Utilize the Vaporize reaction for Arlecchino’s Melt build. Childe boosts normal attacks and can bring utility, while Barbara or Bennett ensures healing and support. The double Hydro resonance increases crit rate for the team, enhancing Arlecchino’s damage potential.

Arlecchino + Xiangling/Noelle + Hu Tao + Fourth Slot Fire/Electro
This setup aims to capitalize on the Overload reaction initiated by Xiangling or Noelle. High-frequency applications of Pyro or Electro elements can disrupt enemies and protect Arlecchino from interruptions. The fourth slot can be filled with characters like Beidou, Fischl, or Lisa for effective elemental reactions.

Arlecchino + Xiangling + Double High-Frequency Electro Characters
In continuation of the Overload team strategy, this lineup includes two high-frequency Electro characters like Beidou and Fischl to maximize the Overload reactions and ensure consistent damage output. However, this strategy may not be effective against certain enemies with high resistance.

Arlecchino + Kaeya/Chongyun + Sayu + Sucrose/Barbara/Bennett
Introducing the Burning artifact set opens up new gameplay possibilities, allowing Kaeya or Chongyun to act as sub-DPS with the Burning set. Sayu offers additional damage and buffs, while Sucrose can provide Anemo support, and Barbara or Bennett can provide healing and utility.

Gacha Advice It is recommended to aim for a 1+1 pull if you are a spender, as it provides a complete setup for Arlecchino. If you are not a spender, consider pulling 0+1; however, before pulling, consider the following questions:

1. With Natlan approaching, do you have resources to pull for the upcoming powerful Pyro character during that version, potentially overshadowing Arlecchino?
2. Can you accept that the upcoming Pyro character in Natlan may offer more cost-efficient features than Arlecchino?
3. Do you have a suitable shield support in your character roster to ensure Arlecchino’s survival?
4. Does your current character pool require a Pyro main DPS like Arlecchino?
5. Are you willing to refresh the artifact domains? Their drop rates are not universally beneficial.

Regarding pity pulls for Arlecchino’s constellation, a rational approach would be to use selective pulls and go for the exclusive weapon if obtained. Not pulling Arlecchino is not a significant loss, as the upcoming Natlan version will likely introduce strong Pyro characters.