Background

Nahida Quick TL;DR Support/Enabler Build Guide

PSA #1: A Support is that nice stranger that takes amazing photos of you and your family during vacations. Make sure to be nice to them, otherwise they’ll take a selfie on your phone instead

PSA #2: Both Nahida’s abilities scale off ATK but vastly improves with EM as well! She has one of the best applications with her camera 📸


Elemental Skill – All Schemes to Know

Nahida drags a cursor across dealing Dendro DMG. Holding E she takes out her iPad to take pictures, dealing Dendro DMG. Both mark enemies that link them to share damage!

Nahida’s E is the core of her kit, allowing her to deal insane amount of damage and Dendro application. I will go into detail about the Seed of Skandha and Tri-Karma Purification below.

There are two variations: Tapping and Holding:

Tapping E

Tapping E will make Nahida drag a cursor from right to left, hitting enemies in a massive line in front and beside her.

All enemies hit will take Dendro DMG and be marked with a Seed of Skandha (will be explained below).

Tap E has a CD of 5 seconds, and good for quickly applying Dendro. However, there is no real advantage using Tap E over Hold E, as Hold E can still apply Dendro and the Skandha mark just as quickly.

Tapping E is only really advantageous if all the enemies are grouped infront of Nahida.

Holding E

Holding E allows Nahida to essentially use her iPad to scan enemies. If the box goes over an enemies, it will mark them. Upon releasing E, it will deal Dendro DMG and mark enemies with a Seed of Skandha.

Holding E has a CD of 6 seconds, only 1 second longer than Tapping E. It will mark enemies within the frame of activation: meaning enemies who are in front of Nahida will immediately be marked.

Keep in mind that only 8 enemies max can be marked using Hold E. It’s also important to mention that her Hold E can be used to collect 5 fruits/vegetables at a time from a distance. This is separate from the 8 enemies max, meaning you can mark 8 enemies and gather 5 fruits/vegetables at the same time with one Hold E.

You can be interrupted from Hold E, and it will trigger the CD, so positioning somewhat matters.

The general usage of E will be Hold E > Tap E for most situations. The hitbox of the square is INSANELY generous, so if you even tag an arm or a foot of an enemy it will mark them. So basically Hold E spin your cursor left and right really quick and boom = Nahida gameplay.

Seed of Skandha

This is what a Seed of Skandha mark looks like. Hitting enemies with any variation of E will apply the mark.

The mark has a duration of 25 seconds. The mark itself does nothing by itself and using it on a single unit provides zero damage or synergy.

When multiple enemies are marked by the Seed of Skandha, only then will it allow you to trigger the damage portion: Tri-Karma Purification

Tri-Karma Purification

When enemies are marked by the Seed of Skandha, they will create a chain link called Tri-Karma Purification to another nearby marked target. It will only connect to ONE marked unit max, however there is no limit to how many total united may be linked together.

Tri-Karma Purification has 3 main properties:

  1. Dealing reaction DMG or Dendro core DMG (the explosion itself, Hyperbloom, and/or Burgeon) to a marked target will trigger the Purification damage
  2. All linked enemies will receive Dendro DMG (this can happen every 2.5 seconds)
  3. Purification proc will re-apply Dendro

Tri-Karma Purification damage procs are nothing to laugh at either. It scales off both Nahida’s ATK and EM, the latter of which she can en masse. Let’s use Level 8 multipliers as an example:

Let’s say my Nahida has 1,800 ATK and 940 EM (3x EM artifacts + A Thousand Floating Dreams + Nahida Ascension Stat). That means that Nahida will deal 6,076 Dendro DMG (2972 from ATK + 3104 from EM) per Purification proc — that’s BEFORE CRIT values from substats and buffs. And due to how Tri-Karma procs, it’s a guaranteed DPS output for multiple enemies

It’s also important to mention that newly marked enemies can link with pre-existing chains. So don’t worry too much if you missed enemies on your first E use. The link range is also incredibly far, as shown below:

Insanely far link range

Elemental Burst – Illusory Heart

Nahida has a goddamn Domain Expansion that boosts her E’s properties. THIS THING IS GODDAMN MASSIVE.

Nahida’s Q is essentially a massive buff to her Elemental Skill. There are multiple properties of her E that are enhanced as long as she is standing inside the AoE (which is not a problem AT ALL).

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS THING. THAT TINY SPECK IN THE CENTER IS NAHIDA.

The burst has three main buffs it provides E:

  1. Pyro – Boosts Tri-Karma Purification DMG
  2. Electro – Decreases Tri-Karma Purification proc intervals (a.k.a. it procs faster)
  3. Hydro – Increases Q duration

These buffs will trigger solely from having those Elements in your active party. The number of characters further boosts the proficiency of the buffs — however the buffs are static growths, not stackable.

For example, if you had a team comp of Nahida – Bennett – Raiden – Yelan, then Tri-Karma purification would deal 23.8% more DMG, proc every 2.1 seconds instead of 2.5 seconds, and Nahida’s Q would last 20.4 seconds instead of 15 seconds.

However, if you ran 2 Pyros the DMG bonus would not be 22.8% + 35.7% — rather it would just be the 35.7% etc…

The damage enhancement portion from the Pyro buff is straightforward. However, I have to emphasize the potency of the Electro buff. So if you run 2 Electro character, Tri-Karma Purification will proc .60 seconds faster.

Rather than proc’ing every 2.5s, it will then proc every 1.9s — why is this important?

At 2.5s, that means in a single Seed of Skandha application from E, Purification will proc a total of 10 times. If we use the example above (of 6,076 Dendro DMG per proc), that means it’s a total DMG of 60,760 before CRIT.

However at 1.9s it proc’s a total of 13 times (technically 13.5), putting the total DMG at 78,988! That’s a 30% DMG increase!


Ascension 1 Passive – Compassion Illuminated

When inside Q the active character gains 25% of the highest EM of your team!

Nahida’s A1 Passive is an extremely strong buff for the active character considering three factors:

  1. It scales 25% off the highest EM in your active party
  2. Basically has a 24/7 uptime due to Nahida’s Q cost and duration
  3. Can gain a max of 250 EM from A1 Passive – so 1000 EM is the highest EM it can attribute from

For example, let’s say the highest EM on your active party is Nahida with 800 EM. That means that means the active character will gain 200 EM (800 EM * .25).

This also applies to the character with the highest EM, so Nahida will have a total of 1000 EM if they were on-field (800 EM + 200 EM from A1 Passive). 

However, it’s important to note that it doesn’t duplicate infinitely. Meaning that the 25% multiplier won’t keep increasing if the highest EM character is on-field.

A1 Passive is incredibly beneficial for Nahida as it boosts her Tri-Karma Purification DMG as it scales off EM as well. It also means she’s a great EM buffer (like Sucrose) for other EM-reliant carries.


Ascension 4 Passive – Awakening Elucidated

Basically EM above 200 will grant her E DMG and CRIT%!

A4 Passive is absolutely insane, and possibly one of the most broken self-buffs recorded in the game. Essentially, any point of EM above the 200 EM threshold will grant these buffs:

  • .1% Bonus DMG to Tri-Karma Purification proc
  • .03% CRIT Rate for Tri-Karma Purification proc
  • Max of 80% Bonus DMG and 24% CRIT Rate can be gained (1000 EM is cap)

Let’s take Nahida with 800 EM again for example. With 800 EM, that means she has 600 EM that attributes to the A4 Passive which gives her these benefits:

  • 60% Bonus DMG to Tri-Karma Purification proc
  • 18% CRIT Rate for Tri-Karma Purification proc

That is an insane amount of damage. If we took our previous example of 6,076 per Purification proc, that means (before CRIT calculations) each proc will do an additional 3,646 Dendro DMG for a total of 9,722 Dendro DMG per proc! Post CRIT calculations and Dendro RES from 4x Deepwood, I have been consistently averaging around 14,000 per proc…


CONSTELLATIONS AND TALENT LEVEL PRIORITY

I’ll be brunt and mention that hard fact: main DPS Nahida is viable for sure, but locked behind C2, C4, and ultimately C6 – each constellation checkpoint boosting her DPS output immensely. Whereas Support/Enabler Nahida benefits a lot from C1, but only requires as low as C2 for really optimize her output.

C1 serves to lower the required amount of each element on your team by 1 for her Elemental Burst. Meaning that instead of requiring 2 Pyro to obtain the 35.7% Bonus DMG to Tri-Karma Purification procs, you only need 1 Pyro to obtain the full buff.

This is insanely strong for two main reasons:

  1. The most important being team versatility. You will no longer be limited by who you need to take/how many of each element you need to maximize the buff output. This makes Nahida an extremely strong Dendro option for ANY team comp now.
  2. Level 2 variations of the buff are insanely high leaps in DPS. Other than Hydro (which isn’t necessary as Nahida’s Q duration already exceeds the CD), the bonus Tri-Karma Purification DMG and lowered proc intervals SUBSTANTIALLY boosts her total DPS output with E

C2 is a more direct buff and debuff that further enhances Nahida’s flexibility.

The first benefit being that now any Dendro-reaction can CRIT, fixed at 20% CRIT Rate and 100% CRIT DMG. With how dominant certain Dendro comps are, being how Dendro-reactions can CRIT now, will further enhance their output. Imagine the insanity of Nilou Bloom comps when those 40,000 DMG Dendro Cores can CRIT now…

The second benefit is that if enemies are affected by Quicken, Aggravate, or Spread then their DEF is decreased by 30%. This is an OVERALL DEF reduction, meaning it’s essentially a 30% DMG buff to all sources. RES Reduction debuffs are rare, and having a consistent proc of them is nothing to scoff at.

However, the only downside is that these buffs/debuffs only trigger off Nahida’s E application. Meaning if a Dendro core spawned by Collei damaged an enemy that does not have Nahida’s E, it will have zero CRIT and won’t reduce DEF by 30% — this isn’t a massive issue though since you can apply Nahida E super easily.

C4 is a straightforward buff, but it’s importance varies on how well your Nahida is optimized. The buff is that when 1/2/3/4 enemies are marked by E, then Nahida gains 100/120/140/160 EM respectively. It’s a super consistent and easy-to-apply buff.

It’s a strong EM buff for sure, however not as potent as imagined as massing EM on Nahida isn’t a hard feat. She gains EM as she levels, her A1 Passive can gain EM from herself or allies, and there are plenty of weapon/artifact options to easily peak the 800-1000 EM range.

However, as Nahida can prioritize CRIT values for either main or substats (due to her E), the C4 EM buff can be nice for stacking EM in those instances (since gambling for EM substats is harder than just using EM main stat) – but a measly 160 EM for how much it costs to obtain C4 may not be worth.

C6 is beneficial for Support/Enabler Nahida, but is the most important constellation for main DPS Nahida.

The activation is to simply NA or CA with Nahida on enemies marked with Nahida’s E. Doing so will trigger Tri-Karma Purification: Karmic Oblivion – a super juiced version of her E proc.

It scales 200% of her ATK and 400% of her EM as Dendro DMG… So if we use the prior example of 1800 ATK and 800 EM, that means a total of 6,800 Dendro DMG (before CRIT and bonus multipliers)…

You can trigger it 6 times within 10 seconds… So at MINIMUM 40,800 Dendro DMG for free every time you use E… And it refreshes after every new E mark (so basically every time you use E)… It’s insanely busted…

BY THE WAY THIS DAMAGE IS SENT TO LINKED ENEMIES AS WELL…

Talent Leveling Order: E > Q > NA


I will begin by stating one fact regarding Nahida’s build for BOTH Support/Enabler and main DPS: CRIT values are actually substantial for her, and should be prioritized as either main or substats – this is because her E’s application and damage properties benefit from CRIT as well. 

So do not shy from building some CRIT on her if you’ve hit the adequate ER amount (she needs only 140% roughly to maintain her burst 24/7).

WEAPON #1 (Recommended for best DPS): A Thousand Floating Dreams

How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)

Has base EM scaling and provides an insane amount of EM to everyone!

A Thousand Floating Dreams is Nahida’s signature weapon, but actually not her BiS (will explain below). It provides a whopping 542 ATK and 265 EM at level 90, but the weapon’s buff is insanely strong as well. Basically, if there are members with the same element in the party, the wielder gains 32 EM per member – so if there are 2 other Dendro other than Nahida, she will gain 64 EM. If there are members with a different element, then the wielder gains 10% Elemental DMG buff – so if there are 2 non-Dendro, then Nahida gains 20% DMG buff. 

Also, all other members not wielding Thousand Floating Dreams will gain 40 EM, stacking 3 times. If you have 2 members both equipping Thousand Nights, then those two character’s won’t benefit from the 40 EM buff – BUT the other two members will gain 80 EM each!

You can see why it’s such a great catalyst for Nahida, however it’s not her BiS due to the low multipliers at R1. It’s actually beaten in terms of overall DPS compared to R5 Mappa Mare – with Thousand Nights only beating it at R3+ Likewise, it struggled against an R5 Widsith until R3.

Kagura’s Verity is an insanely strong weapon for Nahida as it provides CRIT DMG and some great Elemental Skill DMG buffs. Keep in mind that Tri-Karma Purification calculates as Elemental Skill DMG, meaning Kagura’s Verity has a direct impact on it’s total DPS out. At max stacks (R1) it provides 36% Elemental Skill DMG and an additional 12% Elemental DMG buff, which is insanely strong for a 16 second buff.

Skyward Atlas is a great contender as it provides Elemental DMG Bonus and has a weapon proc that can periodically deal some additional damage. However, the immense amount of ATK% it provides does short Nahida of her more vital EM (and arguably CRIT value) stats – so it falls short in contention to even some 4-star weapons unless you can refine it.


WEAPON #2 (Recommended for 4-star DPS): The Widsith

How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)

Has base EM and provides basically free Elemental DMG buffs!

Mappa Mare is arguably the BiS at R5 for Support/Enabler Nahida as it provides a massive amount of EM and Elemental DMG. It has a 100% uptime on the buff, as all that is required is to trigger an elemental reaction. It can provide a total of 32% Elemental DMG Bonus at R5, boosting all of her DMG output.

Sacrificial Fragments also provides a good amount of EM, but the E reset isn’t really useful since Nahida’s E has a low CD to begin with (plus she doesn’t really need to apply two E’s back to back).

The Widsith is an obvious recommendation for it’s insane buffs that it can provide to both Nahida or her teammates. The CRIT DMG it provides is also great, allowing her to focus on CRIT% substats if optimizable (assuming you have EM for main stat). While the DPS can fluctuate heavily based on which buff triggers, it’s all beneficial in the long run for Nahida as she benefits from all 3 buffs (to a degree).

For main DPS Nahida’s you can run Solar Pearl for some serious on-field DPS. The CRIT% that the BP weapons provide are always nice, and when paired with Nahida’s C2 it essentially guarantees 50% CRIT uptime for her E. Only downside for Support Nahida is that Solar Pearl Nahida’s NA are fairly clunky and short ranged, so triggering the 20% DMG buff for her E might be annoying at times (especially against shields).


ARTIFACTS (Recommended for best DPS): Deepwood Memories

How do I get it D: ? – Spire of Solitary Enlightenment (AR 20 Locked, 20 Resin per run)

Boosts everything and reduces Dendro RES on enemies!

4x Deepwood Memories is the best artifact to slot for Nahida for two main reasons: First being that Nahida’s E constantly applies Dendro to all enemies that are linked together – this counts towards as hitting enemies with an Elemental Skill. This makes them prime for all Dendro-based reactions, guaranteeing the 30% Dendro RES reduction. Second being that the 2x bonus gives 15% Dendro DMG bonus, further boosting Nahida’s E damage.

However if another character on your team is running 4x Deepwood, then 4x Gilded Dreams becomes a viable option for Nahida as well. This applies for both main DPS and Support Nahida, as the 2x bonus grants 80 EM. The 4x bonus can boost Nahida’s ATK by 14% for every matching element and boost her EM by 50 for every different element. In either situation, this is a win for Nahida as her E will gain a substantial amount of damage from these buffs.

For beginning players, 4x Instructor will be great as it provides an ample amount of EM to Nahida and her entire team. Or you can run a combination of 2x Instructor and 2x Exile for both EM and ER!

Main stats:

SandsGobletCirclet
EMEM (or Dendro DMG%)EM (or CRIT values)

Substats: EM > CRIT Values (CRIT% or CRIT DMG) > ATK% > ER%

If you want other characters let me know. Hope this helped. Bye.

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I spend too much time filling out spreadsheets for incoherent data, but at least I can turn them into guides :P

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    • Surprisingly no. Tri-Karma Purification still proc’s on just one unit as well, so she’s able to still perfectly utilize her full DMG output.
      I’ve had great success running her on both solo nuke comps (Nahida + Raiden etc…) and AoE comps (Nahida + Nilou Bloom) for bosses.

      The only issue she’s had so far is against bosses like Raiden, who can remove built up energy on your burst (but it’s not that big of an issue).

      • Ah, ok. When I read, “When multiple enemies are marked by the Seed of Skandha, only then will it allow you to trigger the damage portion: Tri-Karma Purification” I was disappointed. Can you elaborate on that, please?

        • I guess the wording is a bit confusing. Even if there isn’t a link, tri-karma purification will trigger.
          I’ll change the wording 🙂

  1. How would you decide between a Dendro DMG% or EM goblet? Same for the Circlet. I’d guess based on how much EM she already has but what should be a goal, like how Raiden likes at least 200% ER

    • Yep. It’s based on a threshold — with EM you can typically aim for around 400-500 as a low point. Otherwise, you can also run Dendro + CRIT if you have the artifacts.

      Personally though, I recommend EM mainstat and getting CRIT values as substats!

  2. I find it weird that you stress on a 2-Electro team comp to utilize her E, if you just use a more common team comp of 1 pyro + 1 electro, the damage output would be better, 85k instead of your 78k

    • Is this including the DMG buff provided from the frequent haste/quicken or prior to? Only way I can see the 1P + 1E comp outdoing the current setup is via burgeon (obviously including hydro slot).

      From what I’ve tested, the current team slot’s just allow an easier transition for play (imo) that also allows plenty DMG from the E proc’s nearly 1.8x their proc efficiency > the DMG buff from Pyro. Unless you have C1 Nahida, which then explains the DMG gap from your example.

  3. Will the upcoming Flower of Paradise Lost set be viable for her? Seems like bonkers on paper for off-field 24/7 support! (maybe even dps?)