Raiden is a versatile on-field DPS who provides valuable utility through Energy generation, buffs, and consistent Electro application to her team. While she may not integrate as seamlessly into existing teams as Zhongli and Venti, Raiden excels in teams specifically built around her strengths.
🟢POSSITIVE:
-- Battery and Team Support: As a universal battery, she compensates for lost batterying time due to her on-field presence and allows teammates to lower their Energy Recharge requirements. Her Skill provides a team-wide Burst DMG% buff with full uptime, making her flexible with less commonly used teammates like Sara or Lisa, while still synergizing well with powerful units like Bennett or Kazuha.
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-High Damage Output and Versatility: She boasts significant personal damage within a short, easily buffed uptime, making her a powerful DPS even at C0. Her wide Burst AoE and efficient chase mechanism prevent DPS loss from enemies being knocked away. Additionally, her quality weapon options include strong F2P choices and valuable 5-star upgrades, with early Constellations offering major improvements.
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-Electro Application and Synergy: Her on-field Electro application benefits units like Xiangling or Kazuha, while her consistent, long-lasting, AoE off-field Electro application makes her ideal for triggering Hyperbloom. Her A4 passive and artifact sets like Emblem of Severed Fate and Energy Recharge-focused builds allow her to exceed ER requirements without sacrificing significant damage.
🔴NEGATIVE:
- -Limited Synergy and Batterying: Raiden may not be a significant upgrade for some teams that already have good battery units. She cannot effectively drive certain units like Beidou and Electro Traveler or benefit from buffers like Yun Jin while in her Burst state, which limits her synergy with strong same-element units that would otherwise benefit from her batterying capabilities.
-- Field Time and Damage Issues: Raiden's off-field damage is low, and she requires field time to provide battery support and deal damage. Her condensed damage profile can result in overkill, wasting Energy, or failing to finish off enemies without using Bursts inefficiently. This can be good for speedrunning but problematic for subsequent chambers or multi-wave content.
-- Resource Competition and Elemental Challenges: Raiden's personal damage might be lower compared to other 5-star on-field DPS characters, though her ease of buffing and synergy with strong off-field DPS characters improves overall team damage. However, her best weapon and artifact choices, like "The Catch" and Emblem of Severed Fate, are often in high demand by other units. Additionally, Overloaded reactions can cause knockback issues with lighter enemies, and her Electro application can interfere with setups for forward Vaporize reactions for some units.
📈LEVEL & TALENT📈
Burst > Skill > Normal Attack
*Engulfing Lightning:*Raiden’s best-in-slot and signature weapon. It encourages investing in Energy Recharge for increased damage, eliminating the trade-off between damage and utility, and enhancing her ability to provide Energy for her team. Plus, it complements her appearance perfectly.
*Staff of Homa:*Calculated based on having above 50% HP. Raiden lacks any HP-draining mechanics in her kit, so she is unlikely to ever benefit from the low HP passive. Nevertheless, the raw stats make it an excellent choice.
*Wavebreaker’s:*Wavebreaker's effectiveness will vary significantly based on its refinement level, team Energy cost, and available buffs. However, it can be a strong 4-star option and can allow "The Catch" to be used by another character if necessary.
Emblem of Severed Fate(4): This is Raiden's unquestionable Best-in-Slot set for on-field play, providing everything she needs: the 2-piece bonus gives Energy Recharge (ER), and the 4-piece bonus converts ER to Burst DMG%. Paired with her A4 passive, this set allows Raiden to build ER while boosting her damage output. Equipping the Emblem of Severed Fate (ESF) set on Raiden grants 20% ER, over 38% Burst DMG, 8% Electro DMG, and an additional 1.5 Energy generation. While these stats might seem modest individually, they accumulate and improve significantly with higher ER.
