In Genshin Impact, Harlequin is a 5-star character who belongs to the Pyro element and uses a spear in battle. In a team, she can play the role of the main damage dealer-hypercarry. In this guide you will learn about her best builds, weapons and artifacts, as well as recommended units with her
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Note: Harbinger of Fatui has not yet been officially released, so the information presented here is based on information obtained through beta testing. If necessary, we will update the guide when the heroine appears in the game.
Main features of Harlequin
How to get Harlequin
In the first phase of Update 4.6, this powerful Servant will appear in the banner, increasing its drop rate. In the future, it will be possible to obtain this character only with the help of Prayers. Unfortunately, HoYoverse has never held an event where the reward would be a 5-star fighter, so you definitely won’t be able to get the Harbinger for free.
Progression characteristics of Harlequin
The table below shows how the basic parameters of the heroine change as her level increases.
| Level< /th> | Base HP | Base Attack | Base Defense | Critical Damage Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1020 | 27 | 60 | 0% |
| 20 | 2646 | 69 | 154 | 0% |
| 40+ | 5889 | 154 | 344 | 9.6 % |
60 | 8500 | 222 | 496 | 19.2% |
| 80 | 11561 | 302 | 675 | 28.8% |
| 90 | 13103 | 342 | 765 | 38.4% |
Standard critical damage and critical hit chance are 50% and 5%, respectively.
Advantages and disadvantages of Harlequin
With her unique abilities, the Harbinger can deal Huge Pyro damage to both single and multiple targets. Its advantages also include:
- It has an unusual strengthening mechanic, tied to the use of Life Debt, which is not consumed over time and does not disappear if you leave the battlefield, which significantly simplifies rotation, since you do not need to guess the right moment to use abilities – you choose it yourself. This kind of gameplay will certainly appeal to veterans of the game who are tired of monotonous damage dealers.
- Capable of causing a Pyro infusion when a certain value of Life Debt is accumulated, and then extending it with the help of regular attacks (reduces the cooldown of E-shocks), causing increased damage. In addition, she will not disappear if she switches to another character.
- Pairs well with Hydro and Electro (with a small caveat) characters, helping her create Steam and Overload reactions. With it, you can also assemble a mono Pyro pack with more comfortable gameplay.
- Can independently heal itself with an explosion of elements.
- Along with elevation, critical damage increases, which makes building a build somewhat easier, since more attention can be paid to the chance of crit and attack power.
- Able to independently increase your resistance to elemental and physical damage while increasing attack power thanks to the passive “Only strength will protect.”
- To perform well as the main damage dealer, she does not require Constellations, which will certainly appeal to F2P players.
- Even the Gladiator's End set, which many players have probably accumulated in huge quantities, will significantly simplify the selection of the necessary stats.
- When you hold down the charged attack button for a long time, it begins to float above the surface, making it easier to overcome certain obstacles , for example, rez and lakes. Flight can be accelerated by food or passive talents.
However, it is still impossible to call Harlequin an ideal character, since she also has her own disadvantages:
- Due to the passive talent “Only Ashes Will Satisfy,” she cannot receive healing from the outside, that is, be treated by healers and the dishes won't work. It is possible to remove Life Debt and restore health only with the help of an ult.
- Many newcomers may find the gameplay of the harbinger difficult due to the need to constantly monitor the heroine’s health and Life Debt scale.
- Although the elemental explosion costs relatively little (60 units), it will have to be used quite often for regular healing of the heroine. For this reason, care must be taken to increase its energy recovery. The weapon Favonia, the 4th Constellation and the second Pyro character can slightly improve this situation.
- Due to the lack of support from healers and low resistance to interruption (if C1 is not open), it is highly recommended to take a good shieldman into your team.< /li>
- Steam is preferable to Overload for Harlequin. It is recommended to select the second reaction only if Chevreuse is available. Of course, not all players have this character.
- Only the signature weapon Outline of the Scarlet Moon is ideal for the heroine’s abilities. The remaining spears will be noticeably worse. In addition, only it will turn into a full-fledged scythe in the hands of the harbinger.
Harlequin's abilities
When performing a regular attack, “Invitation to Execution,” the heroine performs up to 6 strikes with a spear, and when charged, she dashes to the nearest enemy and strikes, spending a small amount of stamina. While performing a fall kick, she quickly rushes to the ground, hitting all enemies in her path, and after landing she deals area damage.
If you hold down the charged strike button for a long time, the Harbinger continues to spend stamina while hovering above the ground for 5 seconds.
You should also know that if you have a Life Debt equal to or greater than 30% from her maximum health, Harlequin's Mask of the Red Death mode is activated, in which normal, charged, and falling attacks of the character begin to cause Pyro damage. This buff cannot be canceled by another elemental infusion.
Let's add that the next normal attack inflicts additional damage on the enemy, proportional to the attack power of the harbinger, multiplied by a percentage of the current Life Debt, and spends 7.5% of it. Consumption of Life Debt occurs no more than once every 0.03 seconds, and the cooldown time of an elemental skill is reduced by 0.8 seconds.
Explanation: Without a boost, Harlequin's normal attacks are unremarkable (except that they are more sweeping than Hu Tao's, making them better suited for battles with large groups of enemies), but everything changes dramatically after activating the Mask of the Red Death state, which gives an additional boost. . For example, if the normal multiplier at level 10 is 94%, then the additional one is 238%, that is, in general, the first auto attack will deal damage with a multiplier of 332%. But achieving such values will be very difficult.
First of all, we note that for the appearance of additional. enhancements require Life Debt (we have a separate article about it), which is applied by E-shka and the heroine’s passive, and the value of the multiplier will depend on the accumulated percentage of Life Debt (it is multiplied by it). For example, if you have 40% Life Debt, the total multiplier for the first normal hit will be 189% (94+238*0.3). To get the maximum 332% you need to have 100% Life Debt.
Let us add that Life Debt does not disappear on its own even after the character leaves the battlefield. It decreases when using normal attacks on the enemy – by 7.5% for each enhanced hit (the fourth basic attack is double, so it counts as 2). It should be taken into account that the percentage is taken from the total number of Life Debt, which decreases each time, that is, if it was equal to 70%, then the first enhanced blow will remove 5.25% (70 * 0.075) from it, the second – 4, 85% (64.75*0.075) and so on. As soon as the Life Debt drops below 30%, the enhanced state from Harlequin will be removed.
It is also important to remember that each hit will reduce the cooldown of an elemental skill by 0.8 seconds, so if you manage to perform at least 15 normal attacks, then the cooldown of the E-shka will be only 18 seconds instead of 30.
After Using the elemental skill “Everything turns to dust”, the heroine deals damage to nearby Pyro enemies with spikes and lunges towards one of them, causing additional Pyro damage in the area. At the same time, the affected enemies are assigned a Decree of Blood Debt, which lasts half a minute and every 5 seconds inflicts one-time Pyro damage to targets (dealt up to two times and is E-shka damage).
When using a charged strike or ult, the Harbinger absorbs Inflict Blood Debt on nearby enemies, each inflicting Life Debt on her equal to 65% of her maximum health (can only be reached up to 145% over 35 seconds). In the case of repeated use of the E-shka, the maximum value of the Life Debt and the duration of its accumulation are calculated anew.
Explanation: Everything here is relatively simple – after using the E-shka, the heroine performs two area attacks, imposing a debuff on enemies in the affected area. After using a charged strike or ult, she takes away these statuses from them, receiving Life Debt – from three enemies she will receive 145% (possible maximum). The limits can be increased if you manage to re-activate the skill within 35 seconds (regular hits and the ultimate will help you).
Doommoon Rising's elemental burst allows her to deal area damage to Pyro, reset her elemental skill's cooldown, and restore her health in proportion to her Life Debt and attack power.
Explanation: Using your ult, you can deal significant Pyro damage to nearby enemies, remove Blood Debt from enemies of the Decree, and heal Harlequin for 150% of the available Life Debt + 150% of attack power. If you, for example, have 1500 ATK and have collected 40% of Life Debt, then after activating an elemental explosion, you will completely remove the debt from yourself and be healed by 20% of your maximum health + 2250 HP.
In this case, you will lose all the effects of the E-shka, that is, the rotation will start from scratch, and you will be able to immediately activate the skill again and start all over again. Thus, the ult is a kind of lifeline, allowing you to instantly heal Harlequin if she is on the verge of death. If you want to get a more comfortable gameplay, then we advise you to use an elemental explosion every rotation.
It is also impossible not to mention the extremely useful passive talents of the Harbinger of Fatui. The first of them is called “Only suffering can redeem” and gives the Decree of Blood Debt additional features:
- When destroying an enemy with the Decree of Blood Debt, the heroine receives a Life Debt equal to 130% of her maximum health.
- 5 seconds after being applied, it turns into Blood Debt: Collection, which, if consumed, gives Harlequin Life Debt of 130%. However, the limits remain the same.
The second – Only strength will protect – gives 1% resistance to all elemental and physical damage for every 100 units of attack power over 1000 units. Maximum resistance can increase to 20% (this will require 3000 ATK).
As for the third passive, “Only Ashes Will Satisfy,” during battle it gives the heroine a 40% bonus to Pyro damage, but at the same time she can only be healed with the help of an ult. In peacetime, you can heal by any means.
Harlequin Constellations
To open them, you need to accumulate the character’s Luck, which is given out when duplicates of the heroine appear, which, of course, is random. Given the low chance of getting 5-star characters, you will need to spend a lot of time and money to unlock all the constellations. However, even without them, Harlequin can perfectly play the role of main DD.
If you still decide to try your luck, you can stop at C1, which increases the damage dealt and provides resistance to interruption, making the gameplay as the Harbinger more comfortable. However, if you have a choice between this constellation and a signature weapon, then we recommend taking the signature if there is no good alternative spear.
Here is the full list of constellations:
- I will bear all retributions and responsibilities… – strengthens the Mask of the Red Death by 100%, and when it is in effect, Harlequin’s resistance to interruption increases when she makes regular and charged attacks.
- I will reward for good deeds and sins… – immediately turns the Decree of Blood Debt into Blood Debt: Execution, and when absorbed, the heroine deals area damage in front of the Pyro in the amount of 900% of her attack power. This effect appears once every 10 seconds.
- You will become a new member of our family – your skill level increases by three. Maximum level: 15th.
- From now on, love and protect each other… – when absorbing the Decree of Blood Debt, the cooldown of the ult is reduced by 2 seconds, and it restores 15 units of energy. The effect appears once every 10 seconds.
- Alone, we are as good as dead – the level of the ult increases by three. Maximum level: 15th.
- Let's rejoice in our new life together – increases the damage from the ult in proportion to the attack power multiplied by 700% of the current Life Debt value. After using the skill, critical damage from normal hits and ultimate increases by 10% and 70%, respectively, for 20 seconds. The effect appears once every 15 seconds.
How to play as Harlequin
With all these numbers and scales, it may seem that playing as the Harbinger of Fatui is incredibly difficult, but in in reality this is not the case. The main thing to remember is that its entire gameplay is built around the accumulation of Life Debt, which you will receive using an elemental skill or signature weapon (if available).
You'll simply need to use the E-shka in a cluster of enemies, then perform a charged attack or defeat enemies with a debuff to gain enough Life Debt to activate the Mask of the Red Death. After this, you need to start spamming regular hits, which will cause increased Pyro damage and reduce Life Debt.
In this case, you don’t have to look at the time at all, since the duration of this state depends only on the simple attacks you carry out. You can even safely switch to another character – Life Debt and infusion will not be lost anywhere. This makes it much easier to fight bosses that become unattackable at certain periods of time, since you no longer have to guess the right moment to attack them.
You may only have problems with the heroine’s survivability, since you won’t be able to treat her using conventional methods, so you should think about adding a good shield member to your team. You can also try activating your ultimate at the end of each rotation, and then Harlequin will be able to heal himself about once every 15-20 seconds.
In general, the optimal rotation for Harlequin looks like this:
- Start the fight with the heroine's elemental skill to impose the Decree of Blood Debt on your opponents.
- Switch to other supports and sub-DDs to strengthen the main DD and prepare to create reactions.
- After activating the E-Shki, 5 seconds should pass (they will just be spent activating the abilities of other squad members), and only then you need to use a charged strike to absorb Blood Debt: Collection, which gives more Life Debt percentages. If you have C2 open, then you don’t have to adhere to this condition.
- After accumulating Life Debt, start performing enhanced normal attacks. It is advisable to perform 15-16 strikes so that the E-shki's cooldown time is reduced by almost half. You don't have to worry about it and just use basic attacks without any control, but you should know that the sixth swing is quite slow, so it makes sense to dash after the fourth or fifth blow.
- As soon as the Red Death Mask wears off and the skill is available, immediately reuse it to gain additional energy. If everything is fine with Harlequin, then simply continue the above combination. Otherwise, use an elemental explosion to restore the heroine's health.
Best builds for Harlequin
Best weapons
When choosing a spear, priority should be given to those copies that increase critical damage, the chance of inflicting critical hits and attack power, and also enhance normal attacks and impart Life Debt. The table below presents the most interesting options.
| Name and rarity | Characteristics (level 1-90) | Passive ability |
|---|---|---|
Outlines of the Scarlet Moon (5 stars)< /p> | Crit chance: 4.8%~22.05% Base attack: 48~674 | When a charged blow hits an enemy, it inflicts Life Debt equal to 25% of maximum health. This effect occurs once every 14 seconds. While the owner has Life Debt, the damage they deal increases by 12-28%. If the Life Debt indicator is equal to or higher than 30% of the maximum HP, then the damage dealt increases by 24-56%. Harlequin's signature, which fits perfectly with it, as it is the only spear that gives the wearer Life Debt. In addition, it increases the chance of a critical hit, so in artifacts more attention can be paid to attack power and energy recovery. |
Staff of Scarlet Sands (5 stars) | Chance critical hit: 9.6%~44.1% Base attack: 44~542 | Increases the attack bonus by 52% of the hero’s elemental mastery. When hitting an enemy with an elemental skill, the character's attack bonus increases by 28% of the elemental mastery for 10 seconds. The bonus is cumulative up to three times. The second most powerful spear in Steam teams, as it significantly increases damage from reactions. The crit chance also simplifies the selection of artifacts. The disadvantages include the relatively low base attack. Plus, in terms of overall damage, this weapon will be noticeably inferior to its signature. |
Jade Kite (5 stars) | Critical hit chance: 4.8%~22.1 % Base attack: 48~674 | When hitting enemies, attack power increases by 3.2~6.0 percent for 6 seconds. The effect stacks up to 7 times and only appears once every 0.3 seconds. When reaching stack level 7, damage increases by 12~24 percent. In mono Pyro packs and Overload squads, it will be a more suitable option than the Staff of Scarlet Sands – all thanks to the significant increase in strength attack, on which Harlequin’s damage actually depends (as well as its healing), and general damage. The crit chance also simplifies the selection of artifacts. However, again, this weapon is still quite far behind the signature. |
Homa's Staff (5 stars) | Critical damage: 14.4%~66.2% Base attack: 46~608 | Increases health by 20 percent and increases attack bonus by 0.8 percent of maximum HP. If the life bar drops below half, then the attack increases by an additional 1 percent. Increases Harlequin's survivability, so you can use your ult less often and its attack power, but to a lesser extent than the Jade Kite. Significantly increases critical damage, so in artifacts all efforts can be directed to finding a chance to crit. |
Suppressor of troubles (5 stars) | Attack power: 3.6%~ 16.5% Base Attack: 49~741 | When equipped, using an elemental skill increases attack power by 3.2 percent per second. The effect lasts 20 seconds, stacks up to 6 times and doubles if the character is not on the battlefield. It also increases any elemental damage by 12 percent. A more preferable weapon than the Homa Staff when it comes to teams playing through Steam, as it allows you to increase elemental damage. It gives a noticeable increase in attack power, but does not increase crits, which is why you will have to get them from artifacts. |
| < p>
Heavenly Axis (5 stars) | Energy recovery: 8%~36.8% Base attack: 48~674 | Increases crit chance by 8 percent and standard speed attacks – by 12 percent. In addition, hitting enemies with normal and charged attacks has a 50 percent chance of summoning an intangible blade that deals 40 percent of the attack's area damage. This effect triggers no more than once every 2 seconds. Thanks to VE, you will be able to use your ultimate more often, and, therefore, increase Harlequin's survivability. Plus, this weapon slightly increases the crit chance and speeds up normal attacks, which are the main source of damage for the heroine, so the second part of the passive will trigger regularly. |
Vortex conqueror (5 stars) | Attack Power: 10.8%~49.6% Base Attack: 46~608 | Increases shield strength by 20%~40%. Increases attack by 4%~8% for 8 seconds when hitting enemies. The bonus stacks up to five times and occurs once every 0.3 seconds. When the character is protected, the strength of the effect increases by 100%. A good option for Harlequin, which allows you to significantly increase her attack power, and, consequently, all damage. But the team with her must have a shield member. |
Deathmatch (4 stars) | Critical hit chance: 8%~36.8% Base attack: 41~454 | When two or more opponents are nearby, the character’s attack and defense increases by 16 percent, and if less, the attack power increases by 24 percent. The best option for Harlequin among 4-star copies, especially in Overload or mono Pyro commands. Allows you not to think about the chance of a crit and increases your attack power quite well. Unfortunately, the basic attack of the spear leaves much to be desired. |
Ballad of the Fjords (4 stars) | Crit chance: 6.8%~ 27.6% Base attack: 42~510 | Increases elemental mastery by 120-240 units if the team consists of three characters of different elements.< /p> In Steam squads it shows itself no worse than Mortal Combat, but in others it will be noticeably worse. In general, it’s definitely not worth pulling him out of the power supply just for the sake of Harlequin. |
Montenegro Pike (4 stars) | Critical damage: 12%~55, 1% Base attack: 42~510 | When killing enemies, attack power increases by 12%~24% for half a minute. The bonus is cumulative up to three times. It works well when fighting large groups of enemies, but when fighting bosses you can forget about its passive. In addition, you will have to increase your crit chance with artifacts. |
Dragon Storm (4 stars) | Elemental Mastery: 48-221 Basic attack : 41~454 | Increases damage by 20%~36% when fighting enemies affected by Pyro or Hydro. Good when playing through Steam, as this spear can increase Harlequin's personal damage and overall damage from spontaneous reactions. However, you will have to look for attack power, critical damage and crit chance in artifacts. |
White brush (3 stars) | Critical hit chance: 5.1% ~23.4% Base Attack: 39~401 | Increases damage from normal attacks by 24%~48%. At rank 5, Awakening can rival even BP weapons in terms of damage, so if you don’t have 5-star options or Mortal Kombat, you can totally use this spear. < /td> |
< /p>
Best artifacts
As in the case of spears, we recommend taking artifacts that can increase crits and attack power, as well as enhance regular attacks. The table below shows the best options.
< td>2 parts: increases damage from normal and charged attacks by 15%.
| Artifacts | Bonuses | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
Fragment of harmonic fantasies | 2 parts: increase attack power by 18%.< /p> 4 pieces: increases the damage dealt by the owner by 18% for 6 seconds when decreasing or increasing Life Debt. The bonus stacks up to three times. | An ideal set for Harlequin, which significantly increases her damage (by 54%), since the set’s passive will trigger almost constantly. |
Gladiator's End | 2 parts: increase attack power by 18%. 4 pieces: Increases damage from normal attacks by 35% when using one-handed, two-handed or polearm weapons. | A good alternative to the previous set (weaker than it by only 6%), which significantly strengthens Harlequin, because she deals the main damage with ordinary attacks. In addition, it will be much easier to get artifacts with the necessary stats, since they drop from all elite bosses. |
Gladiator's End | 2 pieces: increases attack power by 18%. | If you do not have complete sets of the above sets with the required characteristics, then you can temporarily use 2 parts of these sets. The main thing is that they have good stats. |
Burning Scarlet Witch | 2 pieces: increases Pyro damage by 15%. | |
Hunter of the Twilight Court |
As for the main characteristics of artifacts, take the hourglass for Attack, the cup (chalice) for the Pyro damage bonus (or Attack), and the crown (hat) for crit. chance/crit. damage in the ratio of 1 to 2. The priority for choosing secondary parameters is as follows: energy restoration (to the required value), crits, attack and elemental mastery.
We should also talk about the appropriate value of Energy Restoration for the Harbinger. In the absence of a battery in the form of a second Pyro hero and supports with the Favonius weapon, you may need 150-165% VE. For each additional Pyro character you can take away 10-15%, for unlocked C4 – 35-40%, and for the Favonius weapon – another 10-15%.
The best teams for Harlequin
With the Harbinger of Fatui, you can assemble good units for Overload and Steam, as well as mono Pyro packs. We do not recommend taking a healer, since he will still not be able to heal Harlequin, so priority should be given to shield warriors. To the exception, you can add healers who can additionally apply a good shield.
In theory, Bennett could be an extremely useful support for Arlequin due to the ability to significantly increase her attack power and make it easier to accumulate energy. However, in this case you will have to constantly be in a limited circle, which can lead to more difficult gameplay, especially if there is no resistance to interruption and no shield guard. Therefore, decide for yourself whether this gameplay is suitable for you or not.
Let us add that when deciding to create a team for Overload, Chevreuse must be present in it, since without it the total damage of the squad will be significantly inferior to the DPS of the pack playing through Steam. The table below shows the most interesting command options.
| Main-DD | Sub-DD | Sub-DD/Support | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
Harlequin |
Fischl |
Chevreuse |
Bennett (Toma, Dehya, Bei Dou) |
| < p>
Harlequin |
Raiden |
Chevreuse |
Xin Yan (Toma, Bei Dou, Dehya) |
Harlequin |
Yae Miko |
Chevreuse |
Yan Fei (C4) |
Harlequin |
Ye Lan (Xing Qiu) |
Kazuha (Sucrose) |
Bennett |
Harlequin |
Ye Lan (Xing Qiu) |
Zhong Li (Lila) |
Bennett |
Harlequin |
Ye Lan |
Xing Qiu |
Bennett |
Harlequin |
Ye Lan |
Mona |
Zhong Li |
Harlequin |
Ye Lan |
Tyori |
Zhong Li |
Harlequin |
Navia |
Zhong Li |
Bennett |
Harlequin |
Xiang Ling (Dehya) |
Kazuha (Zhong Li, Lynette) |
Bennett |
Leveling up Harlequin
How to improve your skills
You have to look for and collect a lot of different materials , namely:
- Teachings, guidelines and philosophies about “Order” – obtained on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays in the Pale Forgotten Flower dungeon.
- Private's Badge, Sergeant's Badge and Officer's Badge – Dropped by Fatui Skirmishers, Fatui Agents and Mages cycins of Fatui, bought for star shine or created using Alchemy.
- Unknown material – drops from the weekly boss Servant.
- Crown of Epiphany – can be obtained during events, as well as by pumping up the Sacred Sakura, Permafrost Tree, Dream Tree and Lucin Fountain.
If we talk about the priority of pumping up talents, then the first thing you need to do is increase normal attacks. Then you can take on the explosion of the elements and only at the end begin to level up the elemental skill.
How to elevate a character
Get ready to search and collect a large number of different materials. Their list and methods of extraction are indicated below.
You can get Agnidus agate from Pyro Orchid, Lupus Borealis, Ancient Geovishap, Pyro Hypostasis, Ajdahi, Signora and APMON . A Golden Melody Fragment drops from the Golem Captain boss. Rainbow roses are a local curiosity of Fontaine – we have indicated their location in a separate guide.
