Qiqi Genshin Impact Character Guide – Best Build, Teams, and More

TL;DR

Qiqi is a 5-star Cryo Sword healer from Liyue, available on the Standard banner since Version 1.0.
After her Version 6.7 Witch’s Revelation buffs, she is now a strong Stellar-Conduct support alongside her healing role.
Her Elemental Skill summons the Herald of Frost — a healer that follows the active character and applies Cryo off-field.
With Witch’s Revelation active, her Skill now has 100% uptime and grants a 50% Stellar-Conduct and Superconduct damage boost to the team.
Best artifact set is Tenacity of the Millelith (4-piece); best weapon is Favonius Sword at C0, or a high-ATK sword at C6.
C6 revives a fallen party member once every 15 minutes — a unique and game-saving passive.
She excels in Stellar-Conduct and Sandrone teams in the current meta.

Table of Contents

Who Is Qiqi in Genshin Impact?

Qiqi is a 5-star Cryo Sword character from Liyue in Genshin Impact. She is an apprentice and herb gatherer at Bubu Pharmacy in Liyue Harbor, where she works under the care of Doctor Baizhu. She is also, by all technical definitions, a zombie — resurrected from death by the Adepti and sustained by a sigil on her forehead that stabilizes what remains of her soul.

She became playable on September 28, 2020 — one of the original launch characters — and has been available on the Standard Wish banner ever since. Her constellation is Pristina Nola and her birthday is March 3. Her titles are “Icy Resurrection” and “Pharmacist, Bubu Pharmacy.”

For years Qiqi was known primarily as the most dreaded Standard banner pull in Genshin Impact — a character many players received instead of the 5-star they wanted, who lacked the utility to justify a team slot. That changed significantly in Version 6.7, when she received major buffs through the Witch’s Revelation system tied to the new Stellar-Conduct reaction introduced with the Snezhnaya region. She is now a genuine support pick in the current meta. She is available on Android, iOS, PlayStation, Epic Games, and Xbox.

Qiqi Character Overview – Stats and Role

Qiqi is a healer and Cryo support. Her primary value comes from her Elemental Skill, which follows the active character and heals them automatically off-field while applying Cryo to nearby enemies. After the Witch’s Revelation buffs, she also provides a substantial damage buff to Stellar-Conduct and Superconduct reactions while her Skill is active. Her Burst provides emergency healing and marks enemies for additional healing-on-hit effects.

Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Cryo
Weapon: Sword
Region: Liyue
Role: Healer / Cryo Support / Stellar-Conduct Buffer
Released: September 28, 2020 (Version 1.0)
Constellation: Pristina Nola
Ascension Stat: Healing Bonus%
Banner: Standard (always available)

Qiqi

Qiqi Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Excellent off-field healing through Herald of Frost — works passively without being on the field
After Witch’s Revelation buffs, grants the whole team a 50% Stellar-Conduct and Superconduct DMG Bonus while her Skill is active
Her Elemental Skill now generates Cryo particles, fixing her long-standing energy problem
Herald of Frost now has 100% uptime (15-second duration, 15-second cooldown) after Witch’s Revelation
C6 revives a fallen party member and restores 50% HP — a unique safety net with no equivalent
Very easy to build — stats barely matter outside of ATK and some Energy Recharge
Available on the Standard banner — most players already have her and may have accumulated constellations

Weaknesses

Her strongest buffs are tied to the Stellar-Conduct reaction, limiting optimal teams to Snezhnaya-adjacent compositions
Cannot slot into Stellar-Conduct Wriothesley teams due to her automatic healing interacting awkwardly with his kit’s HP mechanics
Before Witch’s Revelation is unlocked, her kit has limited offensive utility
Her Burst is generally not worth using every rotation at C0 due to high energy cost relative to its impact
Still falls behind dedicated Cryo supports like Shenhe or Escoffier in teams that demand more offensive Cryo synergy

Qiqi Skills and Abilities

Here is a full breakdown of Qiqi’s kit, including the important Witch’s Revelation changes from Version 6.7.

Normal Attack – Ancient Sword Art

Qiqi performs up to five rapid sword strikes. Her Charged Attack consumes stamina for two swift slashes. Her Plunging Attack deals AoE DMG on landing. Normal Attacks are rarely used in her support rotation. The only exception is using a single Normal Attack immediately after casting her Skill to quickly proc the Fortune-Preserving Talisman from her 4th Ascension Passive. Outside of that, Normal Attacks provide no meaningful value.

Elemental Skill – Adeptus Art: Herald of Frost

Qiqi uses the Icevein Talisman to summon the Herald of Frost, dealing AoE Cryo DMG to surrounding enemies. The Herald of Frost then follows the active character for its duration, continuously performing two functions:

Healing: Restores HP to the active character based on Qiqi’s ATK whenever the Herald strikes an enemy or at regular intervals.
Cryo Application: Attacks nearby enemies with Cryo DMG at regular intervals, applying the Cryo aura.

Before the Witch’s Revelation buffs, this skill had a 30-second cooldown with only a 15-second duration, meaning 15 seconds of every rotation had no Herald active. After Witch’s Revelation, the cooldown was reduced to 15 seconds, giving her 100% uptime. The skill also now generates Cryo elemental particles, solving her historic Energy Recharge problem.

Additionally, in the Radiance: Stellar-Conduct state (active while inside a Polestar Field), Qiqi’s Herald of Frost boosts all party members’ Superconduct and Stellar-Conduct reaction damage by 50% for as long as the Skill is active. This is her most important buff in modern Stellar-Conduct teams.

Elemental Burst – Adeptus Art: Preserver of Fortune

Qiqi channels the power of the Adepti and marks nearby enemies with a Fortune-Preserving Talisman. When any party member hits a marked enemy, they restore HP based on Qiqi’s ATK. The Burst also deals initial Cryo DMG in a large AoE and provides a powerful burst of healing on cast.

In Stellar-Conduct teams at C6, the Burst also adds a Stellar-Conduct damage instance, making it worth casting within Polestar Fields. At C0, the Burst is situational — used for emergency healing rather than every rotation, since its energy cost is relatively high and its damage contribution is minimal.

Passive Talents

Life-Prolonging Methods (1st Ascension): When the active character is hit by an opponent while affected by Herald of Frost, their Incoming Healing Bonus increases by 20% for 8 seconds. This passive rewards active combat — getting hit while the Herald is active makes subsequent heals stronger.
A Glimpse Into Arcanum (4th Ascension): Qiqi’s Normal and Charged Attacks have a 50% chance to apply Fortune-Preserving Talisman to an enemy. In the Radiance: Stellar-Conduct state, this becomes a guaranteed 100% trigger on a 15-second cooldown. This is why the rotation tip to use one Normal Attack after casting Skill matters — it quickly applies the Talisman so party members gain healing-on-hit against that enemy.
Witch’s Revelation (Unlocked via Quest): The core of her post-buff identity. Reduces Herald of Frost’s cooldown to 15 seconds. Enables the Radiance: Stellar-Conduct state bonuses described above. In Radiance, she also gains a stacking Stellar-Conduct DMG buff through Glimpse of Mystery, scaling with her ATK. This passive is unlocked by completing a specific in-game quest.
Seven Sacred Treasures (Additional Passive): Reduces Herald of Frost’s cooldown further and grants the party a 50% bonus to Superconduct, Stellar-Conduct, and Cryo Swirl reaction damage while the Herald is active. This is the in-kit source of her damage buff rather than requiring the Radiance state.
Utility Passive – Successor of Valor: When Qiqi cooks a dish that restores HP perfectly, she has a 12% chance to produce double the amount. A cooking bonus that rewards regular use of her preferred recipe types.

Best Qiqi Build in Genshin Impact

Qiqi’s build is refreshingly simple. Her healing scales with ATK, and her buffs are passive — they require no special stat investment to function. The build goal is enough Energy Recharge to use her Burst when needed, enough CRIT Rate to proc Favonius Sword reliably, and then ATK% to push her healing and C6 buffs higher.

Stellar-Conduct Support Build (Current Best)

Artifact Set: Tenacity of the Millelith (4-piece)
Sands Main Stat: ATK% or Energy Recharge
Goblet Main Stat: ATK%
Circlet Main Stat: ATK% or Healing Bonus% or CRIT Rate (for Favonius proc)
Substat Priority: Energy Recharge (to rotation requirements) → ATK% → CRIT Rate (Favonius) → flat ATK

Tenacity of the Millelith is the best set because Qiqi’s Herald of Frost hits enemies at regular intervals, maintaining near-permanent uptime on the 4-piece bonus — 20% ATK and 30% Shield Strength for all party members. In Stellar-Conduct teams that already benefit from Cryo aura, this ATK buff has essentially 100% uptime. Energy Recharge requirements vary significantly by team — roughly 180–220%+ at C0 in most Stellar-Conduct rotations, or 150–170% at C1.

Alternative: Noblesse Oblige

If another teammate already carries Tenacity of the Millelith, Noblesse Oblige is a solid alternative. Using her Burst grants all party members 20% ATK for 12 seconds. This requires using her Burst more consistently, which demands more Energy Recharge investment. Use it if team ATK buffing is the priority and Tenacity is covered.

At C6 – ATK-Focused Build

At C6, Qiqi’s Burst gains Stellar-Conduct scaling based on her ATK, and her Glimpse of Mystery passive also scales on ATK. At this point, prioritizing high-ATK weapons and ATK% main stats becomes more impactful. The target shifts to around 2,300+ ATK alongside sufficient Energy Recharge.

Best Weapons for Qiqi

Qiqi’s weapon priority shifts based on constellation level. Here are the top picks:

Favonius Sword (4-star, Best at C0): The clear best-in-slot for most Qiqi builds. It provides Energy Recharge as a substat and generates particles for the whole team on CRIT hits. Since her ER requirements are high and her stats barely matter offensively at C0, a weapon that makes her rotation smoother and feeds party energy is more impactful than raw ATK. Prioritize getting some CRIT Rate on substats to proc it reliably.
Sacrificial Sword (4-star): Energy Recharge substat with a passive that resets the Elemental Skill cooldown on hit. While Qiqi’s Skill now has better uptime, a Sacrificial proc can allow her to reapply Herald of Frost instantly in a rotation where timing is tight. A strong alternative to Favonius if energy generation for the team is already handled.
Skyward Blade (5-star): Energy Recharge substat with a passive that boosts Normal Attack Speed and DMG after using the Burst. In teams where Burst usage is consistent and she needs a stat stick, this is a reasonable premium option.
Aquila Favonia (5-star, Best at C6): Very high base ATK and ATK% conversion passive triggered on taking damage. At C6, Qiqi’s Burst and Glimpse of Mystery buff both scale on ATK, making this a strong option for maximum personal output at full constellation investment.
Freedom-Sworn (5-star): Elemental Mastery substat with buffs for triggering reactions twice. Qiqi can maintain the stacks in Stellar-Conduct teams, providing a Sword DMG Bonus and ATK% buff to the party. A premium support option.

Best Qiqi Teams in Genshin Impact

Qiqi’s strongest teams now revolve around Stellar-Conduct. She is also a reliable generalist healer for any team that wants consistent off-field Cryo application and sustain.

Sandrone Stellar-Conduct (Best Meta Team)

Sandrone / Yae Miko / Qiqi / Escoffier or Nicole

This is Qiqi’s primary role in the current meta. Sandrone is the main Stellar-Conduct DPS. Yae Miko provides Electro off-field application and her Witch’s Revelation buffs. Qiqi heals the team, applies Cryo to maintain Stellar-Conduct, and boosts all Stellar-Conduct and Superconduct damage by 50% through her Skill’s Seven Sacred Treasures passive. Nicole or Escoffier fill the fourth slot as Cryo buffers. The Qiqi Stellar-Conduct build guide on this site has a full detailed breakdown of this composition.

Budget Stellar-Conduct Team

Sandrone / Cryo Traveler / Qiqi / Alyosha

A more accessible Stellar-Conduct team for players without Yae Miko or Escoffier. Cryo Traveler enables Stellar-Conduct and contributes Cryo application. Alyosha provides off-field Electro support. Qiqi heals and applies her team buff. For more on the Cryo Traveler’s role, see the Cryo Traveler best build guide.

Freeze Team (Classic)

Ganyu / Qiqi / Xingqiu / Kazuha

Qiqi’s off-field Cryo application from Herald of Frost combines naturally with Xingqiu’s Hydro to keep enemies frozen for Ganyu’s Frostflake Arrows. Kazuha groups enemies and swirls for resistance shred. Qiqi heals the team passively while Ganyu aims. A safe, comfortable Freeze team that does not require any investment in Qiqi beyond basic leveling.

Generalist Healer Role

Qiqi can also fill the healer slot in almost any team that benefits from Cryo application. She is a natural fit for Superconduct-based Physical DPS teams, Melt teams that need a Cryo applicator, and any high-difficulty content where the priority is keeping the team alive. Her healing output at modest ATK investment is high enough that she rarely requires significant artifact investment to do her job.

Qiqi Constellations Guide

Qiqi is fully functional at C0, especially in Stellar-Conduct teams where her Witch’s Revelation passive does most of the work. Her constellations range from marginal to genuinely impactful depending on the team. Here is a full breakdown:

C1 – Ascetics of Frost: When the Herald of Frost hits an opponent, grants Qiqi 2 Energy. In the Radiance: Stellar-Conduct state, this increases to 6 Energy on a 6-second cooldown. A meaningful quality-of-life upgrade that noticeably reduces her Energy Recharge requirements for Burst rotations in Stellar-Conduct teams. Worth having — makes running her Burst every rotation substantially easier.
C2 – Frozen to the Bone: Qiqi’s Normal and Charged Attack DMG against Cryo-affected enemies is increased by 15%. In the Radiance: Stellar-Conduct state, her ATK is increased by 50%. A minor normal-attack buff that only matters if she is doing damage, and the 50% ATK in Radiance boosts her healing and C6 Stellar-Conduct scalings. More useful at C6 than in isolation.
C3 – Ascendant Praise: Increases the talent level of Adeptus Art: Preserver of Fortune (Elemental Burst) by 3. Boosts Burst healing and damage. Modest upgrade since the Burst is situational in most rotations.
C4 – Divine Suppression: Targets marked by the Fortune-Preserving Talisman have their ATK decreased by 20%. A defensive debuff that weakens enemy damage output when they have Qiqi’s Burst marking applied. Useful in difficult content, especially weekly bosses.
C5 – Mercy of the Adepti: Increases the talent level of Adeptus Art: Herald of Frost (Elemental Skill) by 3. Directly boosts healing output and Cryo DMG from the Herald. The most consistently valuable constellation upgrade she has outside of C1 and C6, since the Skill is her most important ability.
C6 – Rite of Resurrection (Best and Most Famous): When a party member falls, Qiqi immediately revives them and restores 50% of their Max HP. This can only occur once every 15 minutes. This is the most unique survival tool in Genshin Impact. No other character can bring a fallen teammate back mid-fight. In challenging content — Spiral Abyss, Imaginarium Theater, domain challenges — having a C6 Qiqi means one catastrophic mistake can be completely recovered from. Additionally, C6 also gains the Glimpse of Misery buff in Stellar-Conduct teams, adding a Stellar-Conduct damage scaling based on Qiqi’s ATK to her Burst, making the Burst genuinely worth using in Polestar Field rotations.

Investment priority: C1 is the most impactful early stop for Stellar-Conduct teams. C5 improves her core healing. C6 is her signature milestone — the revive alone justifies its existence in difficult content, and the Stellar-Conduct buff makes it mechanically valuable in addition to being a safety net. Many players already have Qiqi at high constellations due to losing 50/50s on the Standard banner, which puts C6 within reach over time.

Qiqi Talent Priority

Here is the correct order to invest talent materials:

Elemental Skill – Adeptus Art: Herald of Frost (Highest Priority): This talent controls how much healing the Herald provides and how much Cryo DMG it deals. More levels here mean more healing per tick and more Cryo application damage. Level this first and keep it as her highest investment talent.
Elemental Burst – Adeptus Art: Preserver of Fortune (Second): At C6, the Burst becomes more important in Stellar-Conduct rotations. Level it second, especially at higher constellations. At C0, this can be deprioritized relative to the Skill since the Burst is not used every rotation.
Normal Attack – Ancient Sword Art (Skip): Almost never used in her support rotation. Leave this at the minimum level. Leveling it provides negligible value for her role.

How to Play Qiqi – Rotation Tips

Qiqi’s rotation is one of the shortest and simplest in the game. Here is how it looks in a Stellar-Conduct team:

Swap to Qiqi and immediately use her Elemental Skill to summon Herald of Frost. The Herald begins healing the next active character and applying Cryo to nearby enemies.
Perform one quick Normal Attack to trigger the Fortune-Preserving Talisman from her 4th Ascension Passive. This applies the Talisman to a nearby enemy so party members get healing-on-hit.
If her Burst is ready and you need emergency healing or are inside a Polestar Field at C6, use the Burst before swapping out.
Swap to your main DPS immediately. Herald of Frost continues healing and applying Cryo entirely off-field for its full duration.
When Herald expires, swap back to Qiqi and refresh it.

Total field time per rotation: roughly 3–4 seconds. Qiqi is one of the least intrusive supports in the game. The main DPS can maximize their time on the field while she does her entire job in the background.

Qiqi Ascension Materials

Here is everything needed to ascend Qiqi to level 90:

Character Ascension Materials

Shivada Jade (Sliver, Fragment, Chunk, Gemstone) — The standard Cryo ascension gem. Farmed from the Cryo Regisvine in Mondstadt, the Cryo Hypostasis, and various weekly bosses. The Cryo Regisvine drops both Shivada Jade and Hoarfrost Core simultaneously, making it the most efficient dual-farm boss for Qiqi.
Hoarfrost Core — Dropped exclusively by the Cryo Regisvine, a world boss located north of Falcon Coast in Mondstadt. Bring Pyro characters and at least one archer for the second phase. You need 46 total. Farm this boss while simultaneously collecting Shivada Jade to maximize resin efficiency.
Violetgrass — A local specialty found on cliff faces and rocky mountainsides throughout Liyue, especially in the Qingce Village and Mingyun Village areas. You need 168 total. Violetgrass can also be purchased from Herbalist Gui in Liyue Harbor and from Verr Goldet at Wangshu Inn — both restock every three days. It can additionally be grown in the Serenitea Pot using seeds.
Scrolls (Divining Scroll, Sealed Scroll, Forbidden Curse Scroll) — Dropped by Samachurl enemies found across Teyvat. You need large quantities for both ascension and talent upgrades. Use the Alchemy Table to craft lower-tier scrolls into higher-tier versions as needed.

Talent Ascension Materials

Books of Prosperity (Teachings, Guide, Philosophies of Prosperity) — Farmed from the Taishan Mansion domain in Liyue, available on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday. You need 9 Teachings, 63 Guides, and 114 Philosophies to max one talent.
Scrolls — Same Samachurl drops as above. Additional quantities are needed for talent upgrades on top of the ascension requirements.
Tail of Boreas — Dropped by Lupus Boreas (Wolf of the North), the weekly boss domain in Wolvendom, Mondstadt. You need 18 total to fully max all three talents. This is the most time-gated material — farm it weekly without missing. Use Dream Solvent to convert other Boreas drops into Tail of Boreas if needed.
Crown of Insight — One per crowned talent. Obtained from limited events, regional upgrade trees like the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma and the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine, and Archon Quest milestones.

Qiqi Lore and Story

Qiqi’s story is one of quiet tragedy and strange resilience. She was once a young girl living in Liyue who climbed into the mountains one day to pick flowers. She fell from a cliff and died. The Adepti who found her body, unwilling to let her pass on entirely, intervened — and she was brought back as a zombie, sustained by a seal on her forehead and powered by adeptal magic.

The process was incomplete. Three aspects of her soul — what Liyue’s spiritual tradition calls the Three Deadly Selves — were meant to be fully severed in the rite that made her undead. Instead, only fragments remained, and even those are damaged. The sigil on her forehead holds her together, but the cost is severe memory loss. Qiqi forgets almost everything. She forgets people she has met before. She forgets what she was in the middle of doing. She forgets her notebook, which she uses to write down anything important enough to remember — and on her worst days, she forgets to check it.

She has worked at Bubu Pharmacy ever since being taken in by Doctor Baizhu, who found her wandering and recognized her condition. Baizhu’s motives for keeping her are not entirely selfless — he has his own interest in studying her unusual immortal state — but he does care for her in his way. Qiqi, for her part, is vaguely aware of this and treasures the arrangement regardless.

Her appearance is frozen at the moment of her death. She does calisthenics every single day to prevent rigor mortis from stiffening her body, which would otherwise force her to hop to move. She shows almost no facial expression and speaks only when necessary, but she is polite and attentive to customers at the pharmacy. She uses her Cryo Vision to reinforce her connection to the people she cares about — imprinting impressions of them so she does not forget completely.

Despite the sadness in her backstory, Qiqi is not portrayed as miserable. She endures with quiet stoicism, performs her daily routines with dedication, and maintains a gentle, earnest demeanor toward the world around her. Her special dish is called No Tomorrow — a name that carries the full weight of her situation while she herself does not dwell on it.

Qiqi’s Redemption Arc in the Meta

For years, pulling Qiqi from the Standard banner instead of a rate-up 5-star was one of the most infamous disappointments in Genshin Impact. The community developed extensive meme culture around her being unwanted — banners were said to be “Qiqi’d” when she appeared instead of the character a player wanted. This reputation was earned. For much of the game’s history, her 30-second cooldown on Herald of Frost, combined with limited offensive utility, made her the weakest healer in a game that had better options.

Version 6.7 changed that story. Her Witch’s Revelation buffs gave her 100% Skill uptime, energy generation, and a 50% Stellar-Conduct damage buff for the whole team. Players who had accumulated her at C4, C5, or C6 through repeated Standard banner losses suddenly found themselves with a meta-relevant support. The memes evolved accordingly — Qiqi going from “pity destroyer” to “Sandrone’s best friend” became a community moment that many longtime players found genuinely satisfying.

She is now a worthwhile unit to build if you have her, especially in the current Snezhnayan content. For characters who pair with her in Stellar-Conduct teams, see the best Stellar-Conduct teams guide and the Cryo Traveler best build for more team-building context.

Is Qiqi Worth Building in Genshin Impact?

Yes — especially if you already have her, and even more so if you have her at C1 or higher. Her post-buff role in Stellar-Conduct teams is genuine and valuable. She heals the team, applies Cryo consistently, generates particles, and hands out a 50% damage buff to Stellar-Conduct reactions — all from a simple Skill cast that takes less than three seconds per rotation.

Her build requirements are minimal. A Favonius Sword and a decent Tenacity of the Millelith set are enough to unlock most of her value. She does not need perfect substats. She does not need specific constellations to function. And her C6 remains uniquely powerful in all content — the only revival mechanic in the game, available on one of the most widely distributed 5-stars.

If you have been sitting on a Qiqi you accumulated from lost 50/50s and never knew what to do with, now is the time to build her. She has finally earned her place — not as anyone’s first choice, but as a reliable, surprisingly impactful support in the teams that matter most in Genshin Impact right now.