Neuvillette Build and Guide

Neuvillette is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst user most commonly played as an on-field Main DPS. His gameplay loop consists of generating resources with his Skill and Burst in order to heal and quickly launch his special Charged Attack, which drains his HP. 

While Neuvillette’s Charged Attack is the centrepiece of his kit, it’s first worth mentioning the “Sourcewater Droplets” they interact with. His Skill and Burst can generate 3 and 6 of these respectively, appearing as small blue spheres after the ability is cast; up to 12 such Sourcewater Droplets spawned by Neuvillette can exist at once, each having an independently counted 15 second lifespan. While a few other characters such as Hydro Traveller and Sigewinne can also generate Sourcewater Droplets which can be used interchangeably with Neuvillette’s, they are generally not used on his teams and Neuvillette is entirely self-sufficient on Sourcewater Droplet generation.

His Skill and Burst aside from this are unextraordinary, simply dealing Hydro damage scaling off of Neuvillette’s HP when used. His Skill’s 12 second cooldown is worth a mention, however, since it shapes his rotations.

The focus of his kit itself is his Charged Attack: Equitable Judgement, which is his primary source of damage. This steadily drains Neuvillette’s HP when above 50%, firing a large beam of water which deals damage to a given enemy every 0.4 seconds alongside a final hit - resulting in 8 damage instances. Using it normally, however, requires Neuvillette to sit through a lengthy 4 second setup time before it can be used; this can be circumvented if there are Sourcewater Droplets available, as he can absorb them while setting up to restore his HP and shave a second off the charge time. Neuvillette has increased poise when setting up and casting his Charged Attack, but he is not immune to interruption and being interrupted will cancel his current Charged Attack. 

Thus, Neuvillette’s gameplan consists of generating Sourcewater Droplets, ensuring there are at least 3 available when launching his Charged Attack: Equitable Judgements to deal damage. His second Ascension Passive plays into this: it grants Neuvillette Hydro DMG% when above 30% of his Max HP, with a maximum of 30 Hydro DMG% when at 80% of his Max HP. This is easily maintained due to his healing from Sourcewater Droplets.

His first Ascension Passive is more interesting. Every unique Hydro reaction triggered grants Neuvillette a stack; at 1/2/3 stacks, his Charged Attack multiplier increases to 110%/125%/160% of its original value. While this is a potent bonus, unlike many characters with similar requirements, Neuvillette does not need to maximize his Ascension 1 Passive to be effective and the player should instead focus on picking synergistic teammates. 

Finally, Neuvillette’s Normal Attacks are unremarkable and generally not used unless required for a weapon Passive or to set up reactions.