Updated for Version 3.1

“Trainee Forest Ranger Collei, reporting for duty! I will ensure your safe passage through this forest. …Phew, I think I’ve finally got that line down! …I—I didn’t get any of it wrong, did I?”

“My hobbies? …Sewing, practicing gliding, and helping people! Hmm? Sounds familiar? Well, that’s because… I want to be someone that gives people that warm feeling, too.

Introduction

Collei is an extremely cute 4-star Bow character and is one of the three Dendro units that debuted with the Dendro Element. She offers support in the form of off-field Dendro application and off-field damage.

There are two main ways to play her:

• As the aura provider in any team focused on Dendro reactions. [CRIT]
• As the trigger in Quicken, Bloom/Rupture, or Burning teams. [Elemental Mastery]

Collei, on top of dealing decent off-field damage, has several support options in her weapons and artifacts.

Join us in exploring what this adorable trainee forest ranger’s got to show us!

TL;DR

Why Play Collei?

Collei cute. That’s why.

Evaluating Personal Damage

In short, Collei’s personal damage values per Elemental Reaction are ranked in the following way (assuming maximum ownership):

1. Bloom (EM/EM/EM)
2. Burning (EM/EM/EM) or (ATK% or EM/DMG%/CRIT)
3. Spread (ATK% or EM/DMG%/CRIT)
4. No reactions

While Bloom deals the most damage, Bloom and Burning are the least consistent. An ATK%/DMG%/CRIT build will provide the most consistent damage and will still offer decent Burning damage, for those who care about that. Running the ATK%/DMG%/CRIT build will also allow Collei to benefit from Spread reactions.

It should be noted, however, that as of 3.2, Burning is not a recommended reaction to build around, due to the lack of team options outside of Bennett and Xiangling, who don’t need to utilize Burning at all to clear Abyss. This is subject to change as new characters are released.

“In response to the homo— homogenization of crop species… taken import measures… avoid long-term consumption of fungal foods…” What is the point of all this… They’re literally saying, “I don’t wanna eat mushrooms,” but because they’re from the Akademiya, they have to make it sound all complicated!”

FAQ

Why should I play Collei over DMC?

Dendro Main Character (DMC) and Collei have a significant overlap in gameplay. Many have argued that DMC is strictly better than Collei, due to the fact that all Constellations are free for DMC, while they aren’t for Collei (even if the first copy of her is free as well).
Both are Dendro characters that require no Wishes to acquire. Both specialize in being off-field supports by facilitating Dendro-based reactions, and both are flexible and easy to build, as long as their Energy needs are managed properly. Both also use Favonius weapons well. Most of the time, it really will come down to preference and resources.

However, some important differences do exist:

	Collei	DMC
Weapon Access	Has access to Elegy for the End (+100 EM, +20% ATK — teamwide buffs)	Has access to Freedom-Sworn (+16% NA/CA/Plunge, +20% ATK — teamwide buffs)
Skill	12-second cooldown. Can be played in 12–15s rotations	8-second cooldown. Less flexible in synergies
Burst	Burst can be skipped in some team compositions and rotations	Burst ends prematurely if it first makes contact with Pyro, requiring play-around. Burst cannot be neglected
Energy Cost	60 Energy, 15s cooldown (more lenient with rotations and Energy needs)	80 Energy, 20s cooldown (less lenient with rotations and Energy needs)
Dendro Application	Front-loaded Dendro application (slightly less consistent)	Evenly spaced Dendro application (slightly more consistent)

I don’t understand how Collei’s Sprout works at C0 and C2?

The Sprout effect refers to a ring of Dendro around the active character that deals Dendro DMG in intervals over a length of time.

At C0, after the boomerang is thrown and before it returns, if any party member triggers a Dendro reaction, the active character will gain the Sprout effect. While it sounds complicated, it is not necessarily difficult to do, as the window before Collei’s boomerang returns is quite generous.

At C2, the Sprout effect is gained immediately upon the boomerang’s return. If any party member triggers a Dendro reaction, it will extend the Sprout effect by an additional 3 seconds.

“Ah, I’m feeling alright today. I’ll take the chance to try and get some more done than usual.”

Talents

Talent Priority

>>

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“It probably wouldn’t even matter if I unsealed that power now — I’ve come so far, I think I’d be able to control it, don’t you? Well — only one way to find out! Hu-uh!

…Just kidding. My real superpower is all about the adventure experience I’ve had with you.”

Constellations

“Master is always reminding me that practice makes perfect, so I sometimes try reading some light novels to improve my reading ability… Because they’re at least easier to read than Master’s essays. 

But recently, I was reading this book where the main character has loads of different skills. Each one has a name, and I didn’t know a single word in any of them… Hmm? The title? I think it was, um… “Onibudou”? Have you read it before?”

Gameplay Mechanics

Dendro Application

At C0, Collei can reliably trigger up to seven Dendro reactions in a rotation. With Constellations, this number increases to eight or nine. These applications are divided as such between her Burst and Skill:

Skill (Total: 3)
Boomerang hits	2
Sprout	1 (requires melee distance from enemy)
Burst (Total: 4)
Initial Burst hit	1
Every 3s of Burst	3–4 (the fourth doesn’t usually occur, due to ping, FPS, and other variables)

The Talent that matters the most for supporting the team depends on the type of team she’s in. For example, consider Collei as the aura in Quicken-based teams, many of whose rotations are in intervals of (roughly) 12 seconds. Her Skill will be the central point of her kit in these rotations, as it has a 12-second cooldown. In most other cases, the Burst is the central part of her kit.

Think of it like this: 

• In 12s rotations, Collei cannot Burst every rotation. Thus, Collei only needs to build Energy to Burst every other rotation, and her Burst is half as effective.
• In long rotations of 24–29 seconds, Collei uses her Skill twice as often as her Burst, and so her Skill applies, across two uses, more Dendro than her Burst.

In other rotations, like standard 20-second ones, deploying Collei’s Burst off cooldown is essential to maximize reactions. Hence, we strongly advise picking a strong Energy Recharge Bow for Collei.

Collei’s Elemental Skill, despite not benefitting much from Talent Levels, is still more impactful than her Burst when she’s played as a support, for example, in Aggravate teams. However, her Burst is usually better for personal and team damage.

Reactions

Spread +

Spread is the easiest reaction to control. Simply affect an enemy with Quicken (Electro + Dendro in any order), then apply Dendro as often as possible. Collei can use either an ATK% or Elemental Mastery Sands to roughly equal effect. Elemental Mastery has a slightly higher damage ceiling, but ATK% has a higher floor.

Spread is the reaction that leads to the least personal damage for Collei when she is the trigger, but it offers gameplay flexibility, as this build is also good for Collei as an aura-producing character.

Bloom +

Bloom requires a full commitment to Elemental Mastery (once ER requirements are met). As the trigger, Collei applies Dendro to an enemy affected by Hydro in order to create a Dendro Core. If neither Electro nor Pyro interacts with it for up to 6 seconds, the core explodes, dealing exactly the same damage as Overloaded, while also slightly injuring the player if caught in the blast.

One drawback to this composition is that Dendro consumes more Hydro aura on an enemy when applied as a trigger, compared to the amount of Dendro aura that a Hydro trigger would consume. This means you will need more Hydro application in order to accomplish the same amount of Blooms compared to vice versa.

If Collei is the aura and not the trigger, the team can then add an Electro character geared with high Elemental Mastery investment (like Kuki Shinobu) for Hyperbloom reactions or a Pyro character with high Elemental Mastery investment (like Thoma) for Burgeon reactions. Collei can still trigger Bloom reactions, but her personal Elemental Mastery stat is not relevant if Hyperbloom or Burgeon occurs right after. In these cases, focus on ATK%/DMG%/CRIT mainstats for your artifacts.

Bloom results in the most personal damage for Collei when she is the trigger, but it requires the most commitment to a single playstyle. For comparison, Bloom is about 88% more damage than if Collei was focusing on Spread reactions.

Burning +

Burning is often ridiculed for being the least effective Dendro reaction. When Pyro and Dendro combine, enemies affected by Burning take four instances of damage every second. After eight such instances, the overall damage dealt is equal to one instance of Overloaded.

The problem with this, however, is that Burning is very easy to extinguish by accident. Applying Hydro or Cryo will end Burning, and using other reactions may also react with Pyro and take away the Pyro aura. Furthermore, Pyro continuously consumes Dendro, meaning Dendro must be frequently reapplied to keep Burning going.

This means that for Burning to compete with 6 Blooms in a single-target case, Burning must be kept up perpetually for 12 seconds. This is a tall order while also demanding a restructuring of team composition. Ten seconds is about how much one can expect to reliably keep Burning on an enemy for, in well-played scenarios.

Burning results in roughly 40% more damage than Spread reactions on the same ATK%/DMG%/CRIT build, and this can be enhanced with Viridescent Venerer, as Burning deals Pyro damage. Like Spread, Collei can reasonably run either ATK%/DMG%/CRIT builds or Elemental Mastery builds to a relatively similar effect. However, Elemental Mastery will always result in the most damage.

Energy Recharge Requirements

Energy Requirement Range (Assumes 20s Rotation)
Regular circumstances	200% ER
Double Dendro	180% ER
With Favonius Warbow	170% ER
In Energy-rich teams (e.g., Fischl, Raiden) or long rotations	160–170% ER
With Sacrificial Bow (assuming proc on first Skill hit)	160% ER

Energy needs, as always, will depend on weapon choice and the teammates you surround a character with.

Collei, despite only having a 60-cost Burst, will generally need 200% ER to Burst off cooldown. If she’s equipped with a Favonius Warbow, her ER should be 170%. With Sacrificial Bow, Collei needs 160%.

When played in an Energy-rich team (containing a strong battery like Fischl or Raiden) or in rotations longer than 24 seconds, Collei’s ER requirement also drops to between 160% and 170%. With just one additional Dendro character, Collei’s ER requirement is closer to 180%.

“Cuilein-Anbar, help!”

Builds

CRIT Build (for Aura/Quicken)

The CRIT build is the safest, most generalized set for Collei if you have no idea what team you want her to focus on, at the cost of being weaker in comparison to Elemental Mastery builds. However, if you only care about Collei’s supportive capabilities and are confident in the damage your other team members can deal, it is a fine option.

If you want to squeeze the maximum personal damage out of Collei as a support/aura-provider, focus instead on traditional damage builds (ATK%/Dendro DMG%/CRIT). ATK% will be more valuable than Elemental Mastery as the latter only matters when Collei is the trigger. Having enough Energy Recharge to meet requirements, of course, should always come first.

Artifacts

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
ER%/EM/ATK%	Dendro DMG%	CRIT DMG/CRIT Rate

Substat Priority
ER% > CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG > EM/ATK%

EM barely edges out ATK% when it comes to damage. The difference, however, is negligible enough to not matter much which Sands you end up using. Aside from that, this is a pretty typical build for most characters.

Assumptions
KQM Standards | Level 90 | Talents 9/9/9 | C0 | Rotation: E > Q | 1 Sprout hit | 18 Burst ticks, after extension  |  Calcs Here

Artifact Set	Notes
4pc Deepwood Memories	If there isn’t already a 4pc Deepwood holder on the team, Collei should hold this set. The Resistance Shred is excellent for her personal damage, while also allowing her to support your other Dendro characters or any character triggering Bloom, Hyperbloom, or Burgeon.
4pc Gilded Dreams	This is the next strongest set for personal damage, due to the raw stats that are both appreciated by Collei. This set shines most in a pure EM build, since teams usually don’t need two Dendro units. Three non-Dendro teammates means 230 EM.
4pc Tenacity of the Millelith	It’s important to note that Collei’s Sprout instances count as Skill damage, meaning her Skill can, with both boomerang hits and multiple Sprout instances, perpetuate the teamwide 20% ATK buff. With C2, you can reliably hit enemies with Collei’s Sprouts. This means 10.5s of uptime on a 12s Skill cooldown — nearly unlimited uptime. In Aggravate teams, this is sometimes Collei’s Best in Slot.
4pc Noblesse Oblige	When in doubt, this 4pc set will work on just about any support. It is also nice to stack the teamwide 20% ATK buff with Elegy for the End’s Elemental Mastery and ATK buffs.
4pc Instructor	4-star artifact sets sacrifice a lot of personal stats in order to give their beneficial passives. The Instructor set is the Elemental Mastery equivalent of Noblesse Oblige, and is also a good option if you’re okay with Collei not dealing damage.
4pc The Exile	4pc Exile is mainly a set used when your team desperately needs Energy that your other teammates can’t provide. It’s a rare choice but not a terrible one. For extra Energy, equip a Favonius Warbow too.

Weapons

Assumptions
KQM Standards | Level 90 | Talents 9/9/9 | C0 | 4pc Deepwood Memories | Rotation: E > Q | 1 Sprout hit | 18 Burst ticks, after extension  |  Calcs Here

Weapon	Notes
R1 Polar Star	[ Best for Personal Damage Only ] By using a Normal Attack and a quick Aimed Shot (no charging up required), Polar Star gains two extra stacks that give ATK%. Otherwise, only two stacks are possible. Use this weapon only if you do not care at all about team utility and just want to see Collei’s numbers as high as possible.
R1 Elegy for the End	[ Best in Slot in Nearly All Cases ] This Bow gives Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge, and ATK%, which are all buffs Collei benefits from. The EM and ATK% buff for the entire party are tremendous too. Elegy for the End may be the biggest leg-up Collei has over DMC.
R1 Aqua Simulacra	Aqua Simulacra is an excellent Bow for most characters, just for being a generically good stat stick with the massive CRIT stat it carries. However, Collei’s damage is not particularly high (or even worth categorizing as a DPS until C6), so this Bow can usually be used more effectively on another character. Elegy is strictly better, as they both do similar damage but Elegy buffs the team as well.
R5 Sacrificial Bow	[ R4 or R5 Required for 20s Rotations; passive cooldown is longer than 20s otherwise ] Sacrificial Bow requires extra time on the field, which eats into rotation time from teammates. However, it offers plenty of Energy Recharge in exchange, an extra Skill to generate more particles (reducing Energy requirements), and up to three extra Dendro applications if you properly time Skill uses.
R5 The Stringless	This weapon is easy to acquire and works for Collei regardless of what build you use for her, as long as you care about damage. The Elemental Mastery is very much appreciated when it comes to incidentally triggering reactions as well. Overall, a very solid choice that beats most other 5-star weapons on her.
R5 Mouun’s Moon	Generically strong weapon, though it can only be obtained via limited gacha, which means getting R5 is going to be difficult. It only barely deals more damage than Stringless but also requires carefully planning your team composition to have the largest Energy costs possible. Most of the time, you’ll be better off with Stringless if you had to choose.
R1 Thundering Pulse	Collei doesn’t make much use of the passive offered by Thundering Pulse, so unfortunately it just becomes a generic stat stick for her. It doesn’t quite synergize with any part of her kit, but if you just happen to have an extra lying around and don’t have the above 4-star options, an argument can be made for it.
R1 Hunter’s Path	Collei doesn’t use her Charged Shots for damage and doesn’t want to be on field most of the time anyway, so the passive doesn’t do much. At this point, just use a Favonius Warbow.
R1–R5 Favonius Warbow	One can be acquired for free by completing Mondstadt’s story quest. It reduces the Energy needs of the entire party so they can focus slightly more on offensive stats when equipping artifacts and weapons. Furthermore, it smooths out rotations in places one might normally get stuck. Moreover, it adds a ton of Energy Recharge to satisfy Collei’s Energy needs. Collei should build at least 30% CRIT Rate to trigger the weapon’s passive. Favonius weapons deserve all the praise they get, just for utility alone.
Others R1 The Stringless / R1 Mouun’s Moon / R1 Prototype Crescent/ R1 Skyward Harp	All of these perform very, very similarly to each other, so they’re all bundled here. We’re approaching the bottom of the barrel.
R5 King’s Squire	Sometimes, the drip doesn’t fit. It looks beautiful on Collei, but it just doesn’t get the job done in any meaningful way. The Elemental Mastery buff only applies while Collei is on field, which conflicts with her off-field playstyle. Hence, the only benefit this Bow gives is the single instance of Physical damage scaling with ATK, which is underwhelming and negligible. This weapon is for the ultra-casual who doesn’t care at all about performance and just wants to look neat.
R5 Raven Bow	The absolute bare minimum. No excuses!

“Try this on for size!”

Elemental Mastery Build (for Bloom and Burn)

This build focuses on stacking as much Elemental Mastery on Collei as possible in order to maximize her personal damage potential. Collei cannot be the trigger for Hyperbloom or Burgeon reactions. Use the CRIT Build for that.

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
ER%/EM	EM	EM

Substat Priority
ER% until requirement > EM

Artifacts are straightforward; since we only care about the power of Collei’s Transformative Reactions in this build, the only stats worth caring about are Energy Recharge (to Burst off cooldown) and Elemental Mastery.

Assumptions
KQM Standards | Level 90 | Talents 9/9/9 | C0 | 170% ER (Fav Bow) | EM/EM/EM | 6 Bloom / 10s Burning ownership  |  Calcs Here

Artifact Set	Notes
4pc Gilded Dreams	[ Best for Raw Damage in Bloom ] This set assumes that Collei is the only Dendro character in your party. However, it has no support utility, unlike Noblesse, Tenacity, or Deepwood. Use this only for dedicated Bloom performance and for squeezing as much personal damage out of Collei as possible. Collei must own 6/6 Blooms.
4pc Noblesse Oblige	[ Most General Support Set; Best for Burning ] Noblesse Oblige is surprisingly effective when Collei is focusing on Burning and continues to be an excellent all-purpose support set. For team support, choose this or Tenacity of the Millelith.
4pc Tenacity of the Millelith	[ Most Consistent Teamwide Buff ] It’s important to note that Collei’s Sprout instances count as Skill damage, meaning her Skill can, with both boomerang hits and multiple Sprout instances, perpetuate the teamwide 20% ATK buff. With C2, you can reliably hit enemies with Collei’s Floral Sprouts. This means 10.5s uptime and with a 12s CD on her skill — nearly unlimited uptime.
4pc Deepwood Memories	[ Most Flexible Artifact Set Between Builds ] Deepwood Memories does not shine as much in a full Elemental Mastery build as it does in CRIT-based builds, but it remains the most flexible. Even when built for CRIT, Deepwood Memories competes with all other options when those other options prioritize EM, making this a true generalist set for Collei.

Weapons

Assumptions
KQM Standards | Level 90 | Talents 9/9/9 | C0 | 4pc Gilded Dreams | EM/EM/EM | 18 Burst ticks, after extension  |  Calcs Here

Weapon	Notes
R1 Elegy for the End	[ Best in Slot in Nearly All Cases ] This Bow gives Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge, and ATK%. The fact it buffs the entire team is what makes this weapon exceptional. Elegy for the End may be the biggest leg-up Collei has over DMC.
R5 Sacrificial Bow	Sacrificial Bow requires a little bit of extra time on the field, which could eat into rotations and take time away from teammates. However, in exchange it offers several boons. First, it offers plenty of Energy Recharge. Second, it allows an extra Skill use to generate more particles (further reducing Energy requirements). Third, it gives up to three extra Dendro applications if you wait for the first boomerang to return before firing off another.
R5 The Stringless	This weapon is easy to acquire and works for Collei regardless of what build you use for her, as long as you care about damage. The Elemental Mastery is very much appreciated when it comes to incidentally triggering reactions as well. Overall a very solid choice that beats most other 5-star weapons on her.
R5 Windblume Ode	The event weapon from the Windblume Festival offers a good amount of Elemental Mastery, which already helps it beat most 5-star options (since we care only about Energy Recharge and Elemental Mastery). A nice substitute for The Stringless if you’ve been playing for a while but haven’t managed to refine it.
R1 Polar Star	By using a Normal Attack and a quick Aimed Shot (no charging up required), Polar Star gains two extra stacks that give ATK%. Generally not recommended, as easily accessible 4-star weapons at high refinement deal more damage.
R1–R5 Favonius Warbow	One copy can be acquired for free by completing Mondstadt’s story quest. It reduces the Energy needs of the entire party so they can focus slightly more on offensive stats when equipping artifacts and weapons. It smooths out rotations in places one might normally get stuck. It also adds a ton of Energy Recharge to satisfy Collei’s Energy needs. Collei should build at least 30% CRIT Rate to trigger the weapon’s passive. Favonius weapons deserve all the praise they get, just for utility alone.
R5 End of the Line	This weapon, like “The Catch”, can be acquired by fishing; however, it functions more like the Luxurious Sea-Lord Claymore. It’s really only good here because it gives Energy Recharge. The extra instance of damage is underwhelming for a build focused on Elemental Mastery.
R1 Hunter’s Path	Collei doesn’t use her Charged Shots for damage and doesn’t want to be on field most of the time anyway, so the passive doesn’t do much. At this point, just use a Favonius Warbow.
R1 Aqua Simulacra	Generic stat stick that doesn’t provide either Energy Recharge or Elemental Mastery. Free weapons do more.
R5 Mouun’s Moon	Generically strong weapon, though it is a limited gacha weapon, which means getting R5 is going to be difficult. It only barely deals more damage than Stringless but also requires carefully planning your team composition to have the largest Energy costs possible. Most of the time, you’ll be better off with Stringless if you had to choose.
R5 Raven Bow	The absolute bare minimum and competes with Skyward Harp, Thundering Pulse, and Amos’ Bow when assuming 100% uptime on the passive. Even without the passive, it’s better than spending money on a 5-star weapon that doesn’t work on Collei.

 “Are you going to keep traveling? Let me do my part, please? I’ll study hard… whether it’s reading, medicine, combat, or assessing the danger… even something small, like checking the streetlights!”

Physical Build (for the Brave and Daring)

This final build is not recommended for the average player, but there is enough demand that it’s worth its inclusion in the guide. Collei has no benefits over other 4-star Bow-wielding characters, and is neither Cryo nor Electro, so Superconduct requires two additional team slots.

The goal of this build is to not care about Collei’s Burst, build as much ATK%, Phys DMG%, and CRIT as possible, and spam two Normal Attacks in a row, canceled by aiming after the second shot is fired.

To be clear, there is no competitive reason to use Collei over other on-field Bow-wielding characters unless you just like playing Collei.

Artifacts

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
ATK%	Physical DMG%	CRIT DMG/CRIT Rate

Substats: CRIT > ATK%

Assumptions
KQM Standards | Level 90 | Talents 9/9/9 | C0 | 100% ER | ATK%/Phys DMG%/CRIT |  Calcs Here

Artifact Set	Notes
2pc Bloodstained Chivalry + 2pc Pale Flame	There’s really only one correct choice here, and that’s picking 2pc Bloodstained Chivalry and 2pc Pale Flame for a total of 50% Physical DMG Bonus. Otherwise, mix and match ATK% and Phys DMG% set bonuses.

Weapons

Assumptions
KQM Standards | Level 90 | Talents 9/9/9 | C0 | 2pc Bloodstained Chivalry 2pc Pale Flame | ATK%/Phys DMG%/CRIT |  Calcs Here

Weapon	Notes
R1 Thundering Pulse	Collei can maintain all three stacks from the Thundering Pulse’s passive when used purely as an on-field Physical attacker, allowing her to fully utilize this weapon’s potential.
R1 Skyward Harp	Skyward Harp is often the default 5-star option for Physical DPS Bow-wielders, due to its flexibility in granting both CRIT stats.  While Skyward Harp deals about 10% less damage than Thundering Pulse on conservative estimates for Skyward Harp’s passive, the former can be obtained on any banner, making it more accessible.
R1 Polar Star	Polar Star is calculated assuming only three stacks are acquired, since Physical Collei cannot use her Elemental Burst immediately after cooldown. The difference between Skyward Harp and Polar Star is only about 2%.
R5 Rust	With a massive Normal Attack boost with no drawback for Collei, Rust is easily the best 4-star weapon choice for a Physical Normal Attack–focused Collei.
R5 Prototype Crescent	CAUTION: This placement assumes you get a headshot immediately. Without, it is comparable to Slingshot. Offers a lot of raw ATK% if you can secure the headshot, but not the ideal Bow to craft for this build, due to its prerequisites.
R5 Compound Bow	Offers Physical DMG% as its secondary stat, ATK%, and Attack Speed, all of which are great for a “machine-gun” build. With adept canceling techniques, this weapon can easily get out of hand for your opponents.
R5 Slingshot	The absolute bare minimum. Slingshot offers CRIT Rate and a nice damage bonus, so long as you stay relatively close to your opponents.

“I used to think that I’d never make a single friend in my whole life, but things changed when I went to Mondstadt… Then after that, I met Master in Sumeru. Now I’ve met you, too. All in all, I think I’ve been really lucky.”

Teams

Collei can fit into any team that utilizes Dendro reactions. Start a team with an intended reaction, and then fill the team with characters who exploit that reaction.

Quicken

For Quicken teams, the best candidates for DPS units are characters that have extremely high Electro application, like Fischl or Keqing. This is because Aggravate is an additive buff, much like Shenhe and Yun Jin’s buffs. Additive buffs are best when there are multiple hits, rather than high multipliers. From there, you focus on sustaining the reaction or Shredding Elemental Resistance, often with an Anemo character or Zhongli.

A helpful tip: Zhongli is the only character at this point who can Shred enemy Dendro Resistance without the use of 4-Piece Deepwood. He can also Shred Electro Resistance at the same time.

If Collei is meant to support another Dendro DPS for Spread while holding 4-Piece Deepwood Memories, then Tighnari is the default (and only) on-field Dendro DPS currently available. When not using Tighnari, the Traveler can also be added to contribute more bountiful Dendro application for an Electro DPS to abuse.

Most Electro units who care about damage and CRIT stats benefit from Aggravate. Fischl is a top-tier option, due to her ability to loop Quicken and Aggravate reactions, thanks to her 4th Ascension Passive. Keqing benefits enormously from Dendro reactions, and Aggravate teams become her default team. If you need a healer and don’t bring Jean or Sayu, then Kuki Shinobu will be your default option. Yae Miko is able to reap double benefits from Elemental Mastery bonuses with her Ascension Passive, giving her damage a healthy boost. Sara helps boost Electro damage even higher after Anemo units Shred Resistances and Quicken gives its additive damage bonus to Elemental hits.

You mainly want to bring a Viridescent Venerer support to enhance the damage of your Electro party members. Kazuha is the clear best option in many cases but can be substituted for Venti when the team needs lots of crowd control. Sayu and Jean are prime options, due to being able to heal and Shred Resistances at the same time. Sucrose is also a powerful support option due to her ability to share Elemental Mastery with the team and pass on the 48% ATK buff from the 3-star weapon Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers.

One benefit of Aggravate teams is their aggressive playstyle on short (12–15s) rotations. In such cases, Collei will benefit from defaulting to the Tenacity of the Millelith 4-Piece Set, due to its near-unlimited uptime on its team-wide 20% ATK boost.

Team Members for Quicken

Dendro
Tighnari	– On-field DPS. – 12s cooldown on Burst, meaning he can synchronize cooldowns with Collei’s Skill. This allows for both short and long (24+ second) rotations.  – Rapid Dendro application on special Charged Attacks exploits Spread reaction.
Dendro Traveler	– Application support. – Extra Dendro character for particle generation. – The Honorary Knight’s Favonius Sword further provides Energy for the team.

Electro
Cyno	– On-field Hypercarry. – Consistent Electro application for maximizing Aggravate damage during Burst state. – High damage output.
Fischl	– Off-field DPS. – Consistent Electro application. – Extremely effective abuser of Aggravate due to her A4 triggering additional applications for each Aggravate reaction, leading to even more Aggravate reactions.
Keqing	– DPS — on field or off field.Rapid Electro application throughout her kit, including her Electro Infusion. – Burst hits ten times, allowing for four Aggravates on standard ICD. – She’s finally good now because of Quicken. You may as well.
Raiden Shogun	– On-field DPS. – Excellent battery for her team, lowering Energy Recharge requirements for more offensive investment. – Burst changes her Normal Attacks to Electro attacks that count as Burst damage.
Yae Miko	– DPS — on field or off field. – Consistent Electro applicator with turrets from her Skill. – Burst hits multiple times with no ICD, allowing for additional Aggravates for higher Burst damage.
Kujou Sara	– Buffing support (Flat ATK, plus CRIT DMG at C6). – Can buff herself and make herself a nuke at C6.Burst hits multiple times. – Can buff multiple team members with strategic play at C2. – Can stack buffs with Skill, 4pc Noblesse Oblige, and Elegy for the End if Collei doesn’t equip it.
Kuki Shinobu	– Healing support. – Healing and reactions both scale with Elemental Mastery. – Buffs party with 4pc Tenacity of the Millelith.

Anemo
Kaedehara Kazuha	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – DMG% bonus while inside Kazuha’s Burst. – Basically universally an excellent option on any Pyro, Cryo, Hydro, or Electro team.
Sayu	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer. – Can buff team ATK% with Wolf’s Gravestone, which is helpful for Aggravate. – Overworld taxi.
Jean	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer.
Sucrose	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – Elemental Mastery sharing with team. – Decent battery.

Burgeon and Hyperbloom

From here, we can move onto Bloom, Burgeon, and Hyperbloom teams. These teams prefer to maximize the trigger’s Elemental Mastery in order to deal loads of damage through Transformative Reactions.

We’ll start with Hyperbloom and Burgeon first, as Bloom is an odd case. The goal is to have plenty of Hydro application to make sure Burning and Quicken do not occur, enough Dendro application to consistently Bloom and generate Dendro Cores, then an Electro or Pyro character with slow Elemental application on their attacks to guarantee ownership of the reaction.

Your flex spot will usually be dedicated to filling whatever gap your team has. The best generic flex choices are usually Viridescent supports and Zhongli, due to their rare ability to Shred Resistances, which is almost universally useful. Other times you may need a second Pyro to battery the first. Do note that Anemo cannot Swirl Dendro.

The characters that most benefit from Hyperbloom and Burgeon are Kuki Shinobu and Thoma respectively. Both used to be considered weak picks, but these reactions finally gave them a chance to shine.

For Kuki to take advantage of Hyperbloom, she has to sacrifice some of her healing effectiveness. However, Kuki Shinobu only loses 15–20% of her healing potential on a full EM set and can carry a variety of support artifact options too.

Thoma can utilize a full EM artifact set as well and provides a defensive option in the form of his shield.

Hydro characters need a lot of application to fit into these teams, but it doesn’t matter if it’s on or off field, as long as your Pyro or Electro character secures the reactions. Tartaglia has the most Hydro application of any character in the game and is a strong on-field DPS who likes playing with Electro and Pyro reactions. Ayato is a similar alternative. Yelan and Xingqiu serve similar roles in Hydro application and together can carry most other two-character combinations in the game. Kokomi deserves a mention as well, due to her AoE Hydro application and her ability to satisfy two roles at once — healing and on-field damage.

Team Members for Burgeon and Hyperbloom

Dendro
Dendro Traveler	– Application support. – Extra Dendro character for particle generation. – The Honorary Knight’s Favonius Sword further provides Energy for the team.

Electro
Kuki Shinobu	– One of the most reliable and effective Hyperbloom triggers. Most other Electro characters would rather not change their build to full EM investment. – Healing support. – Healing and reactions both scale with Elemental Mastery. – Buffs party with 4pc Tenacity of the Millelith.

Pyro
Thoma	– One of the most reliable and effective Burgeon triggers. Most other Pyro characters would rather not change their build to full EM investment. – Slow, consistent Pyro application ensures Burgeon triggers more often than Burning. – Protects the team with a shield from his Skill and Burst. – He finally has a use now!

Hydro
Yelan	– Consistent Hydro application. – Offensive ramping buff for active character. – High damage output. Even higher when paired with Xingqiu. – Can outspeed the application of most potential Hyperbloom and Burgeon triggers.
Xingqiu	– Consistent Hydro application. – Interruption Resistance, damage reduction, and minor healing. – High damage output. Even higher when paired with Yelan. – Can outspeed the application of most potential Hyperbloom and Burgeon triggers.
Sangonomiya Kokomi	– Consistent Hydro application. – Healer, which is especially important in Burgeon teams, since you take a portion of the damage from Burgeon as well. – Viable on-field driver. – Can outspeed the application of most potential Hyperbloom and Burgeon triggers.
Candace	– Grants Hydro Infusion, making Hydro application much easier for the entire party. – Benefits from HP scaling. – Normal Attack damage support, which you want anyway if Xingqiu is in the party.
Tartaglia	– Fastest on-field Hydro application of any character in the game, allowing for tons of Blooms. – Respectable damage on his own. – Riptide ability allows for quadratic scaling.
Kamisato Ayato	– Excellent Hydro application both on and off field. – Respectable damage on his own. – Burst allows for quadratic scaling with crowd control.

Anemo
Kaedehara Kazuha	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – DMG% bonus while inside Kazuha’s Burst. – Basically universally an excellent option on any Pyro, Cryo, Hydro, or Electro team.
Sayu	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer. – Can buff team ATK% with Wolf’s Gravestone, which is helpful for Aggravate. – Overworld taxi.
Jean	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer.
Sucrose	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – Elemental Mastery sharing with team. – Decent battery.
Venti	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Godly crowd control. – Minor Energy refund.

Geo
Zhongli	– Shielder. – Excellent Universal debuffer.

Bloom and Fridge

Bloom teams come next. Sometimes, a Bloom team will also include a Cryo character for Freeze reactions, and these are known as Fridge teams. The saying goes something like, “you preserve your veggies when you refrigerate them,” and what this means in mechanical terms is that Freeze reduces the depletion of Elemental aura. When reactions deplete less Elemental aura, you can trigger more reactions with less application.

The Bloom/Rupture formula is identical to the Overloaded formula. The concept is similar — reduce Dendro Resistance and trigger as many Transformative Reactions as possible.

The flex slots can be more Dendro or Hydro characters. Anemo is useful when your on-field DPS is Hydro and not the trigger for reactions. In these cases, you want your Dendro character to carry Elemental Mastery gear. It’s not recommended to run other Elements, aside from Zhongli for his Universal Resistance Shred. Choose Dendro or Hydro based on balancing the amount of application for whoever you decide to be your trigger DPS.

The trigger should be Dendro or Hydro, running a full EM set, and have slower application than the application of the other Element.

Yelan and Xingqiu provide lots of Hydro application while also being generically strong units. Kokomi is a candidate for being a Hydro trigger, as her Skill has slow but consistent application. This will take away much of her healing potential, though depending on your skill level, that might be manageable. While Ayato and Tartaglia have high Hydro application, the fact that they benefit more from CRIT builds than EM builds means their Blooms will not deal as much damage. Ayato, uniquely, can be played either on field or off field. 

Nilou, of course, is the Queen of Bloom, due to her Ascension Passives massively upgrading Bloom AoE and damage values — that is, if you can handle the drawback of using only Hydro and Dendro characters on your team. In this case, it’s worth the restriction, so long as you can bring potent healing on the team. Note that this does not allow for Fridge teams.

For Dendro, practically any current character can have a try at being the trigger for Bloom/Rupture. As for Cryo, the character will usually want to be off field while consistently applying Cryo. Exceptions can be made if your Bloom aura and trigger both do their job off field (like Collei or Kokomi).

Team Members for Bloom and Fridge

Dendro
Dendro Traveler	– Application support. – Extra Dendro character for particle generation. – The Honorary Knight’s Favonius Sword further provides Energy for the team.

Hydro
Yelan	– Consistent Hydro application. – Offensive ramping buff for active character. – High damage output. Even higher when paired with Xingqiu. – Best when not the trigger for Bloom reactions.
Xingqiu	– Consistent Hydro application. – Interruption Resistance, damage reduction, and minor healing. – High damage output. Even higher when paired with Yelan. – Best when not the trigger for Bloom reactions.
Sangonomiya Kokomi	– Consistent Hydro application. – Healer, which is especially important in Bloom teams, since you take a portion of the damage from Dendro Cores explosions, similar Burgeon. – Viable on-field driver. – Basically a necessity in Bloom teams, as Barbara is the only Hydro healing substitute.
Candace	– Grants Hydro Infusion, making Hydro application much easier for the entire party, especially if you have a full EM Dendro Traveler. – Benefits from HP scaling. – Normal Attack damage support, which you want anyway if Xingqiu is in the party.
Tartaglia	– Fastest on-field Hydro application of any character in the game, allowing for tons of Blooms, especially in a Fridge team. – Respectable damage on his own. – Riptide ability allows for quadratic scaling.
Kamisato Ayato	– Consistent and flexible Hydro application between Skill and Burst. – Respectable damage on his own. – Burst is similar to Ganyu’s, allowing for quadratic scaling, given there’s good crowd control.
Mona	– Burst nuke. – Increases team damage thanks to the debuff on enemies inflicted by her Burst. – Skill is a taunt for helping group enemies together. – Optimal with Ayaka or Ganyu. – Can stack buffs with Noblesse, Tenacity, and Thrilling Tales.
Nilou	– The Queen of Bloom. No one can buff Bloom reactions like Nilou does. – Strict team restrictions: Dendro and Hydro characters ONLY. – Functions as an on-field or off-field DPS. – Can ignore using her Burst entirely with no drawbacks.
Barbara	– Budget Kokomi. – Generates lots of Blooms through her Skill at melee range. – 100%-free character. – Requires playing around her long cooldowns. – Equip Sacrificial Fragments and be close to opponents while using her Skill for two chances to proc Bloom.

Anemo
Kaedehara Kazuha	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control and can gather Dendro cores. – DMG% bonus while inside Kazuha’s Burst. – Basically universally an excellent option on any Pyro, Cryo, Hydro, or Electro team.
Sayu	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer. – Can buff team ATK% with Wolf’s Gravestone, which is helpful for Aggravate. – Overworld taxi.
Jean	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer.
Sucrose	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – Elemental Mastery sharing with team. – Decent battery.
Venti	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Godly crowd control. – Minor Energy refund.

Geo
Zhongli	– Shielder. – Excellent Universal debuffer.

Cryo
Kamisato Ayaka	– Potent Cryo DPS. – Extremely powerful Burst. – Can infuse Normal Attacks with Cryo for rapid, consistent Cryo application. – Best for fighting at melee range.
Ganyu	– Potent Cryo DPS. – Excellent Cryo application with her Burst, with the chance for quadratic scaling if the team brings good crowd control like Venti or with the taunt from her Skill. – Charged Attacks are strong. – Best for fighting at long range.
Jessie (Rosaria)	– Powerful for a 4-star character — she has high multipliers. – Can localize her Cryo application to a specific area with her Burst. – Skill closes gaps between you and opponents and has a short cooldown. – Member of Team Rocket (allegedly).
James (Kaeya)	– 100%-free character. – Does most of the things Rosaria does, except his application is mobile. – Makes extra particles when enemies are Frozen, thanks to his Skill.Best at melee range, due to his Burst. – Member of Team Rocket (allegedly).

Burning

Finally, there are Burning teams, which focus on providing as much Dendro application as possible with Pyro in order to afflict enemies with Damage over Time. Dendro application demands are generally higher because Dendro acts as the “fuel” for Burning. 1U of Dendro with Burning lasts about two seconds. Collei is the best at keeping this application up while off field. Dendro Traveler, however, requires playing around the premature explosion part of their Burst in Burning teams.

Thoma returns as a strong Pyro trigger for Burning. Most Pyro characters generally do not run full Elemental Mastery investments, so most other Pyro characters will probably just focus on raw power and just be happy that Burning is extra damage for the team. In these cases, either Collei or Tighnari should be the trigger.

Bennett is an obvious first pick for a flex slot, especially if using a Pyro DPS with high Energy requirements, like Thoma or Xiangling. Anemo units also tend to run full Elemental Mastery investments anyway, and Swirling Pyro onto Dendro would be another way to channel a high amount of EM into Burning damage.

Team Members for Burning

Pyro
Amber	– Girlfriend. – Amber’s damage isn’t exceptional, so she can get away with building EM for Burning. – Burst has 12s cooldown, allowing her to be played in short rotations with Collei. – Burst is good at destroying non-Pyro shields.
Xiangling	– 100% free. – Insane raw damage potential — beats many 5-star characters’ damage output. – With Bennett, the two can carry any other two characters. – Rapid Pyro application from her Burst.
Thoma	– Currently the best and only dedicated Elemental Mastery character in Pyro. – Slow, consistent Pyro application ensures Burgeon triggers more often than Burning. – Protects the team with a shield from his Skill and Burst.
Bennett	– Straight-up good for nearly any team. Almost always a safe pick. – Great battery potential for Energy-hungry Pyro characters like Thoma and Xiangling — Bennett’s Tap Skill has a very short cooldown. – Incredible Flat ATK buff for the team from Burst. – Quick, effective healing from Burst.

Dendro
Tighnari	– On-field DPS. – 12s cooldown on Burst, meaning he can synchronize cooldowns with Collei’s Skill. This allows for both short and long (24+ second) rotations.

Anemo
Kaedehara Kazuha	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – DMG% bonus while inside Kazuha’s Burst. – Basically universally an excellent option on any Pyro, Cryo, Hydro, or Electro team.
Sayu	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer. – Can buff team ATK% with Wolf’s Gravestone, which is helpful for Aggravate. – Overworld taxi.
Jean	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Healer. – Synergizes with Bennett (Sunfire), who Collei also benefits from.
Sucrose	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Crowd control. – Elemental Mastery sharing with team. – Decent battery.
Venti	– Viridescent (de)buffer. – Godly crowd control. – Minor Energy refund.

Geo
Zhongli	– Shielder. – Excellent Universal debuffer.

Physical

There’s really only a few possibilities for building around Collei’s Physical damage. Even with Superconduct, Collei will still need to be carried by backline characters with high damage output. Again, it is not recommended to use Physical Collei, but here is a team anyways as proof of concept.

The characters that satisfy this criteria are Fischl and Rosaria respectively. Fischl will synergize with Collei’s Dendro application for high damage output while also providing one half of Superconduct. Rosaria and Kaeya are about equal in terms of power and efficiency, but Rosaria’s Burst doesn’t orbit the active character, meaning you don’t have to be in melee range with a bow character. Bennett provides healing and an enormous ATK boost to the team.

References/External Links

References

• Collei – Genshin Impact Wiki
• Collei – KQM Theorycrafting Library

Calcs

• Mastersheet by Emiliabyss#1641 

Utility Tools

• Muakasan’s Portrait Generator ft. Tibot’s edit

“Are you ready to get some sleep? Okay. The campfire’s lit — I’ll keep watch tonight.”

Credits

Author

• Emiliabyss#1641

Assistant

• Latiwings#3308

Art Seeker and Moral Support

• Tibo#4309
• koko#1111

Special Thanks

• idkanonymized#4166
• LostGuide#4812
• juko#9385
• Rare Possum#0511
• Ena#6013
• Magnus Artifex#8719
• Cuzimori#1535
• naivety | pkach#6934
• jamie#9248
• koko#1111
• TheGaminSeshion#1648
• Rathalos#2875
• Lesterberne#9695
• mina#4448

Changelog

• 12/08/2022 – Guide release