Vesna Build and Guide

Vesna is a 5-star Anemo Sword character who is most commonly played as a Stellar Swirl DPS. She uses Normal Attacks and her Burst during her Skill state to build stacks that allow her to cast a special Skill, which enhances up to twice after each use and can deal direct Stellar Swirl damage if the reaction has been triggered.

Stellar Swirl is a reaction that replaces Cryo Swirl when certain characters are on the team, activating Radiance: Stellar Swirl effects for 8 seconds when triggered. It also deals Anemo Stellar Swirl reaction damage to the target and creates a “Level 1” Vortex; this Vortex levels up after Stellar Swirl is triggered two additional times, exploding after 3 seconds or 5 additional Stellar Swirl triggers to deal Cryo Stellar Swirl reaction damage based on the Vortex’s level. A large jump can be performed just after the Vortex explodes, though this is generally impractical to use.

Similar to other damaging reactions, Stellar damage scales with Elemental Mastery, reaction damage bonuses, ignores DEF, and does not benefit from standard DMG% - unlike typical reactions, it can also CRIT. Stellar Swirl damage from reactions also takes into account the level and stats of all characters who contributed to triggering reaction based on their damage dealt to the enemy: 60% of the stats of the strongest participant, 30% of the second, and 5% for the third and fourth. Direct Stellar damage is considered to be of the element of the unit dealing it and is based on the multiplier and the scaling stat listed in the ability instead of level. 

Vesna’s Passive enables Cryo Swirls to be converted to Stellar Swirls and boosts its Base DMG based on her ATK, reaching the cap of 14% at 2000 ATK. This is a separate multiplier to Reaction DMG and Base Reaction Coefficient. Furthermore, it allows Vesna to obtain Radiance: Stellar Swirl for 8 seconds when the reaction is triggered.

Vesna’s kit revolves around the “Armed for Action” state that she enters after using her Skill, allowing her to accumulate “Sword Essence” in order to cast a special Elemental Skill called “Windborne Sword”. Her Windborne Sword has a mechanic which allows it to level up after each cast to a maximum of Level 3, and can be used a maximum of 5 times per Skill state; using it summons “Spirit Blades” that deal direct Stellar Swirl damage when Vesna has Radiance: Stellar Swirl, with one instance of damage at Level 2 and 4 instances followed by a large finisher hit at Level 3. Due to Vesna gaining two stacks of “Sword Essence” immediately upon using her Skill, however, she can often safely ignore these details to simply focus on casting her Level 3 Windborne Sword three times during her Skill state.

The Sword Essence to do this is primarily accumulated through her Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks, which deal Anemo damage while Vesna has Armed for Action while generating “Wind Pinions” that accumulate Sword Essence for her; she can obtain one full stack after summoning 6 Wind Pinions, with the third and sixth hits of her Normal Attack alongside her Charged and Plunging Attacks summoning 2 each rather than the typical 1. Her Elemental Burst also accumulates one stack of Sword Essence while also summoning a “Spirit Blade” that deals a large instance of Anemo damage - similar to her Skill, this is direct Stellar Swirl damage if Vesna has Radiance: Stellar Swirl. 

The value of Vesna’s Burst is additionally improved by her first Ascension Passive, which grants her “Disciplinary Action” whenever she casts her Elemental Skill or Elemental Burst during her current Skill state; this can stack up to 6 times, with each stack increasing the damage of the Spirit Blades from these abilities by 10% of its original. Her second Passive is simpler, being a basic stat buff based on her party composition - each Cryo and Anemo teammate grants her 6% ATK, while party members of other elements grant her 25 Elemental Mastery instead. 

Rounding things out are her standard Normal Attacks, which are lacklustre and thus never used.