Snowbreak: Containment Zone - Chenxing (Ethereal Cloud) Build
Chenxing-Ethereal Cloud is a limited operative that was available in a previous banner. If you managed to get her and haven't built her yet, then you're in the right place. In this build guide, we will discuss Chenxing-Ethereal Cloud's build - her ideal weapons, logistic officers, and neuronics.
Snowbreak: Containment Zone - Chenxing EC Description
Chenxing's bread and butter is her Silk Spiritual Slip skill which allows her to "mark" several targets and apply a "connection" between each of the marked targets. Whenever any operative shoots the marked targets, a portion of the damage is also inflicted on the connected marked targets, allowing her to deal extra damage. When used against large bosses with multiple weak points, Chenxing's spiritual slips will mark these weak points individually. This means you can inflict damage on these weak points at once. Her manifestations are meant to improve her slips but even without manifestations, she can be a reliable damage-dealer even with just some neuronics enabled.
When not on field, Chenxing can still attach special symbols against up to five enemies in front of her, dealing extra electric damage, especially when shot by any operative. You can further improve this skill to include a paralyze effect through neuronics.
Her burst is a damaging AoE field that hits all enemies caught within it several times. The lightning strikes on this field are powerful enough to interrupt enemies or knock them off their feet. With the proper neural skill, you can further increase the damage taken by enemies while they're on the field.
Weapons
Chenxing-Ethereal Cloud's DMG type is electric and since her skills have this attribute, equipping her assault rifles that deal electric damage is a recommended way to go. Of course, her signature limited weapon Anti-Evil Ward is her best weapon. This assault rifle increases Electrical DMG and CRIT Damage. Each electrical damage it deals stacks up "Crimson Cloud". Once the maximum number of Crimson Cloud stacks are collected, the stack is cleared and the user gains a significant ATK bonus for a brief period. Crimson Cloud stacks can still be collected while the ATK bonus period is active.
This weapon complements Chenxing-Ethereal Cloud's ability to mark multiple targets and deal electrical damage to them simultaneously. Even when used by other characters, the good rate of fire that's innate to assault rifles will still allow the user to build up the Crimson Cloud stacks fairly quickly.
At the same time, you can also check out our article for various methods of acquiring new weaponsfor your operatives. We also have a dedicated article about upgrading your weapons.
We also have a Weapons Tier List which will help you identify the weapons worth upgrading and giving to your operatives.
Alternatives
As for the next best alternative, Chenxing can go with Wild Leer. This is a 4-star AR that you can get from the Mingdeng Ritual event page. You simply have to play the event activities to earn Lucky Coins then use those coins to exchange for this weapon. You'll need 300 coins to get this weapon. This gun's basic skill increases the user's ATK by default and increases it even further after the shot hits the enemy's weak spot.
Trial's Eve is another 5-star weapon that deals electric damage but Chenxing won't be able to take advantage of its weapon skill.
Ashen Fortress is another good alternative even when its attribute is Kinetic. Each shot has a chance to fire 2 bullets without consuming ammo. This weapon will not complement her kit but at least it won't contradict her kit either.
If you don't have any of the weapons listed here, you can go with any 4-star assault rifle for her as a placeholder. If you just have blue assault rifles, try to give her the Ender (electric assault rifle) and make sure to modify it to the max to take advantage of its passive effect.
Logistics
Chenxing-Ethereal Cloud's best logistics team is the Mingyi Squad composed of Zhehao, Xuankai, and Jinlang. The squad skill increases ballistic damage and the full squad skill increases the attack of the operative when dealing electrical damage. This ATK boost can be stacked up to 45 stack and continuous triggering of the effect will reset the duration. Since Chenxing's kit allows her to mark multiple enemies and deal continuous electrical damage, she'll be able to continuously trigger the full squad effect. This is especially true as well if she's using an assault rifle that deals Electric DMG.
Mingyi Squad is available in the Mingdeng Ritual event shop. You'll need 300 Lucky Coins to purchase the whole squad so if you missed the chance to collect the coins when the event ends, your next chance is when the event gets a rerun (which usually doesn't happen within a few months).
For an in-depth explanation about Logistics Officers, you can check out our dedicated guide about it.
Alternatives
Another alternative for Chenxing is the 4-star Argo Squad (Pigeon, Musician, and Arrow). With two officers, the Chenxing's ballistic damage is improved and with the full squad, elemental damage (frost, electrical, thermal) is further increased by 32%.
Neuronics
For Chenxing-Ethereal Cloud's neural skills, we recommend to prioritize the following:
- DMG (Standard)
- Special (Standard)
- Control (Support)
- Vulnerability (Ultimate)
The first two focus on improving the number of targets she can mark with her skill and trigger an electrical blast at the same time when the slips disappear, dealing extra damage. The third effect adds the Paralyze effect on her support skill, and finally, the Vulnerability effect debuffs the enemy to receive more damage. This is pretty useful both in solo missions or in co-op bosses.
For more in-depth information about Neuronics, please refer to our dedicated guide.
Snowbreak: Containment Zone - Chenxing EC Build Summary
Overall, building Chenxing revolves around taking advantage of her multi-targeting ability and applying electrical damage. With the proper logistics and weapon effects, she'll be an amazing crowd control unit that can solo missions and support allies in co-op missions.
If you're wondering which operatives you should prioritize building, check out our Operatives Tier List.
For more in-depth information about manifestations, please follow this link.