Guide
How the kit works
Start with Active Defense: Bastion Charge. Valeriy charges forward, deals AoE Electro DMG, gains 40 Impact Momentum and creates a Supercharged Shield. Its absorption scales with ATK, with 250% absorption efficiency against Electro DMG.
Use Focused Fire: Lightning Salvo to deal AoE Electro DMG and launch a shell that breaks into falling projectiles. With Advance With the Creeping Barrage unlocked, switch to another character and hit opponents with Electro attacks while those projectiles fall. Each hit gives Valeriy 5 Impact Momentum, up to 80 per Burst.
Return to Valeriy and use the Charged Attack from Guard Tactics: Sword and Shield (NA). At 40 or more Impact Momentum, it becomes Direct-Fire Mortar: Point-Blank Bombardment and consumes all of the stored Momentum. Below 40, it is the regular Physical DMG Charged Attack instead.
Into the Breach increases the DMG Bonus granted by Offensive Directive for each point consumed: by 0.9% of Valeriy’s ATK in Radiance: Stellar-Conduct, or 0.3% outside it. Subzero Conditioning puts him in that state inside a Polestar Field. The supplied kit does not say which teammate creates the field.
Build and why
A Day Carved From Rising Winds is the first set to consider. Its four-piece effect gives 25% ATK after an attack, skill or Burst hits, and adds 20% CRIT Rate if the wearer has completed Witch’s Homework. The ATK helps both the shield and the bonus from Into the Breach.
The game’s build recommends four pieces of Heart of the Furnace. Its two-piece bonus gives 18% ATK; its four-piece effect gives another 12% ATK after the wearer triggers or deals Stellar Glimmer reaction DMG, and increases nearby party members’ Stellar Glimmer reaction DMG by 50%. Make sure the team can use that reaction. Gladiator’s Finale is another option for its 18% ATK, though its four-piece bonus helps Normal Attacks rather than the special Charged Attack.
Use ATK Percentage on the goblet and circlet, with ATK Percentage or Energy Recharge on the sands. For substats, follow the game’s order: ATK Percentage, Energy Recharge, then ATK. Energy Recharge is worth considering if you need more Burst uptime; ATK supports the shield and passive.
Summit Shaper is the first weapon choice: hits build ATK stacks, and the increase is doubled while Valeriy is shielded. Aquila Favonia gives 20% ATK and has a healing effect when he takes damage. Calamity of Eshu is a 4-star option that increases Normal and Charged Attack DMG by 20% and their CRIT Rate by 8% while protected by a shield.
Leveling priority
A suggested leveling order is Active Defense: Bastion Charge, Guard Tactics: Sword and Shield (NA), then Focused Fire: Lightning Salvo. Start with the skill because it provides the shield and Momentum, then level the attack that contains the special Charged Attack. The Burst still matters for its Electro damage and the window for gaining extra Momentum.
For maximum ascension, gather 420,000 Mora, 168 Fairy Wormwood and 46 Severed Tail of the Sky-Roamer. You also need Vajrada Amethyst Sliver, Vajrada Amethyst Fragment, Vajrada Amethyst Chunk and Vajrada Amethyst Gemstone, plus Ethereal Glimmershard, Ethereal Crystal and Ethereal Crystalscale Stone.
To level all skills to the maximum, prepare Teachings of Glory, Guide to Glory, Philosophies of Glory, Counterfeit Resin and Crown of Insight. Those upgrades also use Mora and the three Ethereal materials, so keep some for talents rather than spending the entire supply on ascension.
Constellations worth it
The Strength to Breach Enemy Lines is the biggest upgrade to look for. It increases the damage of the special Charged Attack and Burst shells by 100%. Opponents hit also take Electro DMG with 10% more CRIT Rate for 7 seconds; Stellar-Conduct reaction DMG against them gets 40% more CRIT DMG.
The Cadence of Suppressive Fire is worth considering for Energy. The special Charged Attack restores 6 Energy, with more for Momentum consumed beyond 40, up to 15 Energy once every 15 seconds. The first skill use each combat also grants extra Momentum.
Fortitude Unshaken by Attrition raises the Momentum limit by 30 and charging efficiency by 30%. With the relevant passive unlocked, its per-Burst gain limit becomes 104. Ranks That Charge as One is an option for teams that use Elemental Mastery: it gives nearby party members 100 for 18 seconds after the skill.
You can leave Vigilance at Close Quarters and Resolve to Divide and Destroy for later if you prefer new effects. They add three levels to the Normal Attack talent and skill respectively, rather than adding a new mechanic.
Teams
If you use Heart of the Furnace, plan around Stellar Glimmer so the team can benefit from its reaction bonus. Do not treat that set bonus as a general increase to every kind of team damage.
Common mistakes
Do not use a Charged Attack below 40 Impact Momentum expecting the special attack. Check your resource after switching back to Valeriy, and remember that the special attack spends all of it.
Do not leave Valeriy active while waiting for his passive to collect Momentum from Electro hits. It requires another nearby active party member to land those attacks while the Burst shells are falling.
Do not build only for Energy Recharge and ignore ATK: his shield absorption and the bonus from Into the Breach both use ATK. Also check the conditions on your set. A Day Carved From Rising Winds needs Witch’s Homework for its CRIT Rate effect, while Heart of the Furnace needs Stellar Glimmer for its four-piece ATK effect.
