Even in 2026, one look at Changli’s burning coat and confident smirk is enough to make a player forget they were saving for the next banner. Released in the latter half of version 1.1, this 5★ Fusion sword user specializes in area-of-effect damage and can juggle both main DPS and sub-DPS roles—provided the player can manage her True Sight state and Enflamement stacks. The hype before her release was deafening. Kuro Games dangled her during the Mt. Firmament storyline like a free sample of premium arson, and wallets practically opened themselves. And boy, did Kuro deliver.

The Forte That Sounds More Complicated Than It Is

Classic Kuro Games: Changli’s Forte reads like a legal document but boils down to a few joyful pyrotechnics. Whenever she casts her Intro skill, Resonance Skill, or Basic Attack 4, she enters True Sight for twelve seconds. While in True Sight, her next basic attack either blinks her toward an enemy for a sword smack when grounded, or turns her into a phoenix when airborne. Both actions consume True Sight and grant one Enflamement stack. Once four stacks fill the Forte bar, a heavy attack triggers a stylish self-immolation that deals Resonance Skill damage in an area and resets the bar.

And yes, with every Enflamement stack she burns away more of her jacket until it is completely gone. Surely nobody will read anything into that detail. 😏

Inherent Skills: Kuro’s Favorite Riddles

Changli’s Inherent Skills work in ways the game barely explains. The first, Sweeping Force, grants 20% Fusion DMG Bonus and allows her to ignore 15% of enemy defence when casting her Forte attack or Resonance Liberation. That sounds like a buff, but it is not. These are skill-specific enhancements, so they have no duration—they simply apply to those moves. The second, Secret Strategist, works the same way: it grants 5% Fusion DMG Bonus per Enflamement stack, but only to her True Sight attacks. Nothing else. The attack-increasing effect listed in her Resonance Liberation? Also not a general buff—it only boosts her Forte attack. Does this make building her confusing? Absolutely. Does it make her weak? Not at all.

Main DPS or Sub-DPS? Why Not Both?

Changli arrived with the unfortunate luck of following Jinhsi, and some players branded her mediocre because her damage spreads evenly across her rotation instead of landing in one six-digit nuke. That take did not age well. Changli is strong, and more importantly, fun to play in Tower of Adversity, Illusive Realm, and the open world.

Her pros and cons break down like this:

Pros 😈	Cons 💀
Works as main DPS or sub-DPS	Optimal main DPS play needs input buffering
Smooth animations and even damage spread	Picky with Echo substats
Future-proof thanks to her two-part Outro buff	Fusion Echo options feel annoying to use

How to Rotate Without Becoming Enemy Food

Rotations should always be taken with a grain of salt. Enemies are not sandbags, and they will attack. Parries, Dodge Counters, and knockbacks will force adjustments.

In the main DPS role, Changli’s primary rotation demands input buffering: the player holds the heavy attack key during another attack’s animation. This avoids True Sight: Charge and instead lands True Sight: Conquest, which deals more damage, regenerates more Resonance Energy, and still provides all Forte benefits. It takes practice, but the payoff is real.

For sub-DPS, the combo flips. True Sight: Charge becomes desirable because it is faster, and speed matters when swapping. Her Resonance Liberation becomes an afterthought—generally available only every other rotation. In the overworld, the sub-DPS rotation already melts most enemies, including bosses.

Is input buffering annoying? A little. Is it worth learning? If a player wants maximum fire, absolutely.

Parry Weirdness: The Good, the Bad, and the Misleading

Changli can parry with all four basic attacks, her Dodge Counter, and her plunge attack. A successful dodge chains into Basic Attack 3. Her aerial basic attacks can also parry, though the hitbox is less forgiving.

Both portions of her Resonance Skill, True Sight: Capture, can parry incoming strikes. Her Resonance Liberation is a contact skill and can parry normally, despite its flashy animation suggesting otherwise. Her Intro can technically parry if timed perfectly, but deliberately fishing for that is wildly impractical.

Now for the strange part: True Sight: Charge and True Sight: Conquest play the deflect sound effect but cannot parry attacks. Kuro’s hitbox jank remains undefeated.

Skill Priorities and Weapons

Changli’s True Sight attacks take their multipliers from her Resonance Skill node, even if descriptions call them Basic Attacks. Therefore, skill priority should be:

1. Resonance Skill

2. Resonance Liberation

3. Forte Circuit

4. Basic Attack

5. Intro Skill

For weapons, Blazing Brilliance is unsurprisingly the best. High base attack, crit damage secondary stat, and a ridiculous Resonance Skill DMG bonus make it the top DPS sword. If pulling is not an option, Emerald of Genesis is a fine backup.

Among 4★ options:

• Commando of Conviction – best budget sword, strong ATK%.

• Lunar Cutter – better for quick-swap playstyles, buff is not tied to Intro skill.

• Lumingloss – scales poorly on Changli because she rarely uses real basic attacks.

• Sword#18 – usable base stats, active effect not relevant.

• Sword of Night – reasonable stand-in until something better arrives.

Echoes: The Sad State of Fusion

The Echo menu for Changli is less exciting than watching paint dry, but choices exist.

Echo Set & Main Echo	Verdict
Molten Rift: Inferno Rider	Technically best for Molten Rift, but the 3-hit combo animation is painful. Pre-buff during another character’s combo if used.
Molten Rift: Viridblaze Saurian	Convenient alternative, does not interrupt actions, but damage is mediocre and it is not true AoE.
Lingering Tunes: Mech Abomination	Decent damage, 12% ATK buff for 15 seconds, no field time cost.
Moonlit Clouds: Impermanence Heron	Only if running sub-DPS Moonlit. Buffs the next character, not Changli herself.

For Echo main stats, a 4-Cost Echo should use Critical DMG% if the weapon has crit rate, and Critical Rate% otherwise. With Blazing Brilliance, an ATK% 3-Cost Echo can sometimes beat double Fusion% because the sword already provides so much Resonance Skill DMG. The golden rule remains: keep Crit Rate and Crit DMG at a 1:2 ratio.

Still Worth the Pull?

Several patches later, the prediction that Changli would stick around has held up. She may not be the newest toy on the shelf, but her blend of damage, support, and smooth gameplay makes her one of the most satisfying Fusion characters ever released. If a player wants to set the world on fire and look unreasonably good doing it, Changli remains a worthy investment.