Wuthering Waves Qingxiao Kit Guide: Stances, Mindlock & Build

The Paragon of Mengzhou, one day after launch

Qingxiao joined the roster on August 20 with Version 3.6, and for a day her numbers were a black box: the wiki's combat pages sat empty. That changed this morning, when editors filled in her Basic Attack, Resonance Skill, Resonance Liberation and Forte Circuit pages with in-game data.

Confirmed on her wiki page: Qingxiao is a 5★ Aero sword user listed as Main Damage Dealer, a Natural Resonator from Mengzhou, Huanglong, and the Xuan Paragon of Xuanfang Hold. VAs: Kirsty Rider (EN), Jiang He (CN), Nabatame Hitomi (JP), Park Ri-na (KR).

One caveat: her Outro Skill and Resonance Chain aren't on the wiki yet, and there's no official Resonator Review. Everything below traces to her four skill pages plus the official banner notices in Sources; if a stat isn't out, I say so.

Her banner: Wind of Transcendence

Qingxiao runs on Wind of Transcendence, which opened with 3.6. Boosted 4★ Resonators: Yangyang, Baizhi and Sanhua. The banner runs from the update until September 10, 09:59 (server time): a 21-day Phase 1.

Pity carries over across all Featured Resonator Convene events (see pity explained), so older banner pity is intact. Qingxiao is exclusive to this banner until a rerun; her Waveband is in the Afterglow Coral Store (2 max), and she's in Ascendant Aces as a trial.

Phase 1 also reruns Denia on False Promise for Tomorrow, plus weapon banners for Glint of Clouds and Forged Dwarf Star; more below. Phase 2 starts September 10, 10:00 with Jingran, Hiyuki and Mornye. Pull math: a 5★ costs at most 80 pulls (12,800 Astrite); the guaranteed featured character costs 160 (25,600) if you lose the 50/50 first. See the 50/50 guide.

The stance system: two meters, one big payoff

Qingxiao's loop runs on two resources. Her Basic Attack, Stringblade, has four stages: 1 and 4 (Sheathed Stance) grant Qin Heart; 2 and 3 (Drawn Stance) grant Sword Cadence, both capped at 100. When both meters are full, her Heavy Attack becomes available: hold Normal Attack, spend stamina, and she enters Ephemeral Transcendence.

Ephemeral Transcendence is where the damage lives. Her Basic Attack and Dodge Counter gain new versions that deal Aero DMG, castable mid-air, with multipliers up 100% until the finisher is ready. Their damage fills a third meter, Heart Sword Intent (max 100). When full, hold Normal Attack for Heavy Attack - Heaven's Reckoning, which consumes it and ends the state. Build two meters, enter transcendence, build the third, cash out.

Her Forte Circuit adds Heaven's Clarity on entering combat or casting her Liberation. While active, both stances gain resources 100% faster, and Heavy Attack - Stringblade inflicts 3 Mindlock stacks while enhancing the next Heaven's Reckoning (+100% multiplier, extra Off-Tune Level buildup). Switching cancels the enhancement; casting Heaven's Reckoning consumes the buff.

Skills and multipliers

Published numbers from the wiki's skill pages, at level 1 and level 10. Her damage scales with ATK.

The Liberation is the headline: a 10-hit burst totaling 840% ATK at level 1, about 1,670% at level 10, for 125 energy, so energy regeneration matters. Her Intro Skill is confirmed as Tonality Shift; her Outro isn't published, so I won't describe one.

Mindlock and the Tune Strain system

This is the part most guides hand-wave, because it leans on a system older than her. Tune Strain arrived in Version 3.0: some Resonators apply Tune Strain - Shifting (25s, does nothing alone), and Tune Breaking such an enemy converts it to Tune Strain - Interfered (30s). Resonators with the Tune Strain Response role deal more damage to enemies in that state, scaled by the Tune Break Boost stat (0.12% per point, no stack limit, per the wiki).

Qingxiao has that role, and her version of "respond" is Mindlock. Each time a teammate inflicts Tune Strain - Interfered on a target, the target gains 1 stack, up to 15. Every stack amplifies damage taken from her main skills (Heavy Attack - Stringblade, Transcendence attacks, Heaven's Reckoning, Liberation) by 2%, plus 5% extra per stack for the first 7. At 15 stacks that's 65%, by arithmetic. Her Inherent Skill, To Know, To Banish, applies the same formula again on top: that's her damage ceiling.

The catch: Qingxiao cannot apply Tune Strain - Shifting herself. The wiki lists only three Resonators who can: Denia, Luuk Herssen and Lynae; she's on the response side, like Mornye. She stacks Mindlock directly via her enhanced Heavy Attack under Heaven's Clarity (3 stacks); the enhanced Heaven's Reckoning builds Off-Tune Level, pushing enemies toward Tune Break. Full 15-stack potential still wants a Shifting applier on the team.

Back to Phase 1: Denia is that teammate, and her rerun runs the whole phase beside Qingxiao's. The pair has a documented mechanical link, so Qingxiao, Denia, a healer and a flex is the obvious starting point, though no rotation sims exist yet. Our Denia rerun guide covers her side.

She also has a defensive node: Swordlight Ward. Casting her Intro or Heavy Attack - Stringblade grants one ward; taking a hit consumes it for 1s of interruption immunity and 60% damage reduction.

Ascension and Forte materials

To ascend her to 6✦: 170,000 Shell Credits, 46 Forged Empyrean's Sigh, 60 Blade Blossom (the new Mengzhou material) and Autopuppet Kernels (4 LF, 12 MF, 12 HF, 4 FF). One main Forte to 10 costs 280,000 Shell Credits, 5/5/8/11 Wing Polarizers, the same Autopuppet set (5/5/5/9) and 4 "We Who Question" from the weekly boss. The 3.6-specific drops come from the new content, so the farm starts in Xuanyuan Domain.

Weapons

Her signature is Glint of Clouds, on the weapon banner now. Two things to know: the weapon banner has no 50/50, so every 5★ you pull is the featured weapon, at most 80 pulls (12,800 Astrite); and the wiki still has no page for it, so its stats aren't public anywhere I can verify. I won't describe a passive I can't read. Its 4★ companions are Commando of Conviction, Fusion Accretion and Lunar Cutter.

• Glint of Clouds (5★): her signature, guaranteed on the weapon banner. Stats unpublished, see above.
• Emerald of Genesis (5★, standard banner): Crit. Rate secondary, Energy Regen and ATK% on Skill casts. The sensible free pick for now.
• Commando of Conviction (4★, on her banner): ATK secondary, raises ATK for 15s after her Intro.
• Lunar Cutter (4★, on her banner): ATK secondary, Oath stacks add ATK% on field entry.

Hold your Forging Tide until the signature's stats are public: the banner stays up until September 10, so deciding later costs nothing. Our weapon banner guide covers the mechanics.

Echo set

The standard Aero DPS set is Sierra Gale: 2-piece grants 10% Aero DMG Bonus, 5-piece grants 30% for 15s after her Intro Skill. It's also the only Aero damage set that doesn't depend on a debuff she can't apply herself (Windward Pilgrimage needs Aero Erosion, which her kit never inflicts). No sims exist yet, so treat it as the safe default, not the proven optimum.

Pull verdict

• New players: a self-contained main DPS with a straightforward loop and free weapon options. A good first 5★.
• Veterans with an Aero DPS: Aero is not starved. Cartethyia and Qiuyuan already cover 5★ Aero sword; you'd be pulling for a new rotation, not coverage.
• Tune Strain builders: this is her niche. With Denia, the Shifting mark becomes a stacking damage amplifier, and Phase 1 ships the combo together.
• Everyone else: the banner runs 21 days, her sequences and Outro are unpublished, and no one has sim data. Nothing demands a day-one pull, but nothing says skipping is obviously right either. Try the Ascendant Aces trial first.

FAQ

Sources

• Official: [Wind of Transcendence] Featured Resonator Convene notice
• Official: [Glint of Clouds] Featured Weapon Convene notice
• Official: Version 3.6 Phase I convene overview
• Wiki (wutheringwaves.fandom.com): Qingxiao and her four skill pages (Strings to Steel, Severing Note, Billows Beneath Heaven, Formless Heart Sword); Tune Strain / Shifting / Interfered, Tune Strain Response; Sierra Gale; Emerald of Genesis; Commando of Conviction; Lunar Cutter; Blade Blossom

New to pity? See pity system explained, or the full guide list.