Columbina Build and Guide

Columbina is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst user who is most commonly played as a sub-DPS and support, though she is also capable of taking a main DPS role. Her kit is centred around Lunar Reactions, buffing them and dealing damage based off them in various ways. As a Moonsign unit, she also features important synergies with other characters in the faction.

When Columbina is on the team Bloom, Electro-Charged, and Crystallize are replaced by their respective Lunar variants when triggered. Lunar-Charged spawns a thundercloud which deals Lunar-Charged reaction damage every 2 seconds, while Lunar-Crystallize spawns a Geo Construct called “Moondrifts” that activate the effects of a team’s Geo Resonance; when triggered thrice, it causes “Moondrift Harmony” and deals Lunar-Crystallize reaction damage. Lunar-Bloom is a bit of an oddity - for the most part, it functions just like Bloom, spawning in a completely identical Dendro Core. The only difference is Lunar-Bloom also accumulates Verdant Dew, which is a resource shared between the team; it can be generated every 2.5 seconds and stack up to 3 times. This can be consumed by certain characters to deal direct Lunar-Bloom damage. Similarly, when conditions are met, certain characters can also deal direct Lunar-Charged or Lunar-Crystallize damage.

All Lunar damage is considered damage of the non-Hydro element involved to trigger it; similar to other damaging reactions it scales with EM, reaction damage bonuses, ignores DEF, and does not benefit from standard DMG% — unlike typical reactions, it can also CRIT. Reaction Lunar damage takes into account the level and stats of all characters who contributed to triggering reaction based on their damage dealt to the enemy - 100% of the stats of the strongest participant, then 50% and 8% for second and third respectively. Direct Lunar damage is based on the multiplier and the scaling stat listed in the ability instead of level, though direct Lunar-Crystallize and Lunar-Charged additionally enjoy hidden multipliers of 1.6x and 3x respectively.

Columbina’s Moonsign Passive is responsible for allowing these reactions to be triggered, while also increasing the team’s Moonsign level by 1. It also increases Lunar Reaction Base DMG - a separate multiplier from Reaction DMG - based on Columbina’s Max HP, by up to 7% at 35000 HP. 

To this end, Columbina’s Elemental Burst is worth mentioning. When used, it creates a “Lunar Domain” for 20 seconds, which provides a Lunar Reaction DMG Bonus for all units. However it additionally activates Columbina’s second Ascension Passive, which directly modifies the reactions themselves. For Lunar-Charged and Lunar-Crystallize, when dealing damage, it gives them a one-in-three chance to deal an additional instance of damage. Meanwhile Lunar-Bloom is modified to produce a “Moonridge Dew” in addition to the Verdant Dew it would typically produce, allowing up to 3 Moonridge Dew to be produced every 18s. These allow effects that would typically consume Verdant Dew to consume these after all Verdant Dews are expended.

Her Elemental Skill, however, is the real star of her kit. Using summons a “Gravity Ripple” that follows the active character, applying Hydro every 2 seconds to nearby enemies; with Ascendant Gleam, its Area of Effect reaches even further. It also allows Columbina to accumulate Gravity when Lunar reactions are triggered or Lunar damage is dealt. When fully charged, Columbina automatically unleashes a “Gravity Interference” which deals direct Lunar damage that matches the element of the Lunar damage that dealt the most damage while Gravity was being accumulated. This can occur every 6 seconds, and usually will do so in most of her teams.  Her first Ascension Passive is also tied to her Skill, giving Columbina 5% CRIT Rate every time Gravity Interference is triggered with up to 15% - since the buff duration is reset when stacks are gained, Columbina more or less maintains permanent uptime on this.

In a refreshing departure from most units designed to operate off-field, Columbina also has a noteworthy Charged Attack - it can consume Verdant Dew the team has accumulated to deal direct Lunar-Bloom damage instead of its usually unspectacular Hydro damage. This allows Columbina to play on-field as a Main DPS; when paired with Lauma, the premier Lunar-Bloom support, she is surprisingly competent at it! Her Normal Attack string itself is hardly noteworthy, though as a Catalyst user she can use the fact they apply Hydro by default to trigger additional reactions.