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Tartaglia (Childe) Quick TL;DR DPS Build Guide

UPDATED FOR 3.2 😁!

PSA #1: A DPS is that friend who last hits all the kills and looks cool in video games, even though the team did all the work. Be that guy if you want to be a cool DPS

PSA #2: Both Childe’s abilities scale off ATK. Tartaglia… who the hell names their child that? Slap on some ATK if you want your hydro master-at-arms to do some serious damage.

Riptide is bread and butter of his kit. Can be applied with a charged bow shot or hitting enemies in melee form

IMPORTANT TIP: 2 Different things can happen when Riptide is applied to an enemy

  1. Riptide Flash – Hitting a charged bow shot will proc Riptide and deal 3 ticks of hydro DMG
  2. Riptide Burst – Killing an enemy will deal AoE hydro DMG. Applies Riptide to nearby foes
Literally a hydro Taskmaster

PSA #3: Buckle up, there’s a lot to digest for E (send help)

  1. Turns Childe from range to melee form
  2. Does hydro DMG instead of physical DMG
  3. Hitting E again will return you back to range form AND WILL PUT E ON CD
  4. E CD is based on how long you were in melee form
    • Every 5s in E = Roughly 6-7s added to CD
    • WAITING OUT THE WHOLE 30 SEC PUNISHES YOU AND MAKES IT 45 SEC CD (DO NOT DO THIS)

Hitting enemies that have Riptide applied in melee form does AoE Hydro DMG

Use E only in burst situations (for reaction proc’ing), breaking shields, or when your Q is almost ready. Otherwise, you’re wasting CD time (literally)

Hit CRIT in melee form = applies Riptide

The three ways to apply to forsure apply Riptide is:

  1. Charged bow shot
  2. CRIT hits in melee form
  3. Ranged form burst

There are no other ways to proc Riptide

Boy oh boy, this thing stupid broke

PSA #4: Q has 3 important facts (help me pls… my brain D: )

  1. Using in range form does a massive AoE Hydro DMG, knocks enemies up, applies Riptide, and returns 20 energy
  2. Using in melee form does a swing that does AoE Hydro DMG, knocks enemies back, and proc’s Riptide Blast
  3. Riptide Blast – Enemies with Riptide applied will take massive AoE Hydro DMG

9 TIMES OUT OF 10, WE HAVE FOUND MELEE FORM Q TO BE MUCH BETTER FOR BOTH DAMAGE, CC, AND BREAKING SHIELDS IN ABYSS

Makes Riptide last longer

Actually extremely helpful with keeping DPS up, as even when you rotate through your whole team, Riptide will still be applied to the enemies. This allows you to combo chain a continuous Riptide proc, as killing enemies with Riptide will only spread it more!

A walking talent book. Makes Normal Attack talent up one level for all party members (including himself)

WEAPON #1 (Recommended for Super Soaker 9000): Rust

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

Has base ATK scaling and weapon skill applies really well to melee form

Rust will do much better at early stages when you lack high CRIT DMG values. Skyward Harp (even when compared against high refined Rust) will outperform otherwise!

Polar Star can be used, but Skyward Harp will do better. If you don’t mind using melee form for the longer duration (for a longer CD), then Polar is arguably better. Otherwise, Skyward Harp is still better for a quickswap!

Viridescent Hunt (BP Bow) is also extremely handy, as the weapon skill proc can also occur when in melee form. Makes it extremely easy to deal with trash fodder + overall small CC

Stringless is decent, but the skill and burst DMG only affects the Riptide proc’s (for burst it does also increase the ability’s damage)

WEAPON #2 (Recommended for early wet towel slaps): Raven Bow

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

Has base Elemental Mastery scaling and basically a free damage buff

Funny enough, this thing actually slaps really hard early. Can be replaced with Compound Bow or even Slingshot until you get Weapon #1 rolls (you don’t get the benefit from Slingshot weapon skill by the way)

ARTIFACT #1 (Recommended for big boy DPS): Heart of Depth

How do I get it D: ? – Peak of Vindagnyr Domain (AR 30 locked, 20 Resin per run)

Boosts everything + even further enhances E DPS (better than Bolide)

ARTIFACT #2 (Recommended for early smack): Gladiators + Gamblers

How do I get it D: ? – Gladiators at any World Boss (40 Resin per run). Gamblers at Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern Domain (AR 35 locked, 20 Resin per run)

ATK is poggers
By the way: 4-set Gamblers feels extremely good early, sucks A TON late

You can also run Wanderer’s Troupe later on for crazy CRIT charged attack numbers (assuming you have the appropriate CRIT stats). Subsequently, early you can also just stack 2-set any 18% ATK+ sets or pair with 2-set Berserker if you’re struggling to hit 50% CRIT%

PSA #5: Here is the consensus after testing for 5-6 hours last night – Childe performs much better as a sub DPS/burst DPS UNTIL you get C6 (or even C1). His E CD is just a pain to deal with, and you will get more consistent damage from previous DPS picks. When we (testers) were able to manage E CD’s well, Abyss 12 was a joke. When they didn’t (let the CD near max), Abyss 8 felt like hell

Main stats:

SandsGobletCirclet
ATK%Hydro DMG%CRIT% or CRIT DMG

Substats: CRIT% > CRIT DMG > ATK > EM

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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  1. I have an r3 Rust, and was planning to use it for when I pull Childe (guaranteed), but I recently wished on Epitome’s Invocation and got the Skyward Harp. I’ve seen a bunch of people use that for their Childe instead of Rust, like I was initially planning on doing. So my question is, which would be better in terms of dps between the two bows?

    • If you don’t have Rust or Prototype Crescent, then Hanayumi isn’t too bad. The only downside is you’ll only really benefit from it when you have full energy to gain the 2x effect (or at higher refinements where the base NA bonus is higher).

      Only gripe to that is Childe Q is pretty strong, so you want to be using it whenever you can (especially evident if you’re running him burst DPS). Even a Viridescent Hunt (BP bow) would be better than Hanayumi at lower refinements!

      • Sorry to bring up this thread but what I’m getting from this is: Rust > Crescent > Hamayumi at the same refinement?

        • Yes. At the same refinement, they will go in that order. Rust typically has a better performance overall due to the buff being 100% applied, whereas Crescent is partial uptime, and Hamayumi has the same uptime.

  2. This dude was my first 5 stars on his first banner and to this day i still don’t understand what affects his melee damage. The skill level or the normal attack level? I prioritized his E and then his Q and now i don’t know if leveling the normal is worth it