Guide
How the kit works
Start with Tonality Shift when available. It gives 30 Sword Cadence and Resonant Chime. Use Severing Note: Judgement (Skill) for 45 Qin Heart; Resonant Chime gives another 30 Qin Heart when Judgement is cast. Billows Beneath Heaven deals Aero DMG and grants Heaven's Clarity.
Use Strings to Steel to fill both gauges. Sheathed Stance attacks build Qin Heart, while Drawn Stance attacks build Sword Cadence. The first and fourth ground attacks are Sheathed; the second and third are Drawn. During the second or third attack, you can use Severing Note: Ascendant (Skill). Heaven's Clarity doubles the rate at which stance damage builds the gauges.
With both gauges full, hold Normal Attack for Heavy Attack - Stringblade (Basic). It consumes them and starts Ephemeral Transcendence. Heaven's Clarity makes this attack apply three Mindlock stacks and enhances the finisher. Use Basic Attack - Ephemeral Transcendence (Forte) or its dodge counter to build Heart Sword Intent.
When Heart Sword Intent is full, hold Normal Attack for Heavy Attack - Heaven's Reckoning: Ephemeral Transcendence (Forte). It ends the state and removes Heaven's Clarity. Formless Heart Sword also gives Swordlight Ward after the Intro or Stringblade Heavy Attack: a ward can reduce damage taken by 60% for one second and grant interruption immunity when hit.
Build and why
Heart of Evil's Purge is the set to look at first. Its two-piece effect gives 10% Aero DMG, which suits Qingxiao's attacks. The game also lists five pieces of Rejuvenating Glow, but only its two-piece Healing Bonus effect is available here; there is no five-piece effect to assess.
Glint of Clouds is the first weapon choice. It gives 12% ATK, and inflicting Tune Strain - Shifting builds Aero DMG Bonus stacks. At five stacks, the bonus lasts 30 seconds and Aero DMG ignores 10% of the target's DEF during the effect.
For stats, ATK is worth considering because her Outro scales with it. Tune Break Boost matters against targets with Tune Strain - Interfered: each point increases her total damage to that target by 0.12% per stack of the effect.
Leveling priority
A suggested order is Formless Heart Sword, Strings to Steel, Billows Beneath Heaven, Severing Note, then Tonality Shift. The Forte contains the attacks used during Ephemeral Transcendence, while the Basic includes the Heavy Attack that starts it. The Liberation also deals Aero DMG.
The Skill and Intro help fill the gauges, so they remain useful even if you level them later. This order is a suggestion rather than a ranking supported by the listed guides.
For maximum ascension, gather 170,000 Shell Credit, 4 LF Autopuppet Kernel, 12 MF Autopuppet Kernel, 12 HF Autopuppet Kernel, 4 FF Autopuppet Kernel, 46 Forged Empyrean's Sigh and 60 Blade Blossom.
For all skills to maximum, gather 2,030,000 Shell Credit, 25 LF Autopuppet Kernel, 28 MF Autopuppet Kernel, 40 HF Autopuppet Kernel, 57 FF Autopuppet Kernel, 26 We Who Question, 25 Broken Wing Polarizer, 28 Monowing Polarizer, 55 Polywing Polarizer and 67 Layered Wing Polarizer.
Resonance Chain nodes worth it
The guides do not rank Qingxiao’s Resonance Chain nodes, so these are suggestions. Cleanse This Tarnished Age, Till All Runs Clear (Sequence 6) is worth considering for a large damage increase: targets take 40% more damage from several of her attacks, and her response to Tune Strain - Interfered improves. Reaching it requires all earlier nodes.
Like Petals That Fall Without a Sound (Sequence 2) raises the Mindlock cap on nearby enemies to 25 after combat starts. It also raises the Gathered Mind cap and lets Heaven’s Clarity apply six Mindlock stacks with Heavy Attack - Stringblade (Basic), rather than three.
Like Clouds That Meet and Drift Apart (Sequence 1) gives 16% Crit. Rate, raises the Swordlight Ward cap and adds Juque Perdition damage after combat begins.
You can stop at Sequence 1 or Sequence 2 and skip the later nodes. Sequence 4 gives ATK after a team member inflicts Tune Strain - Shifting, while Sequence 5 improves Severing Note: Judgement (Skill) and reduces Flight Qi consumption during movement.
Teams
Denia, Mornye and Lynae are teammates named by the listed guides. Start with them when looking at team options, but check their kits before assigning jobs: the available data does not describe what each one provides.
Qingxiao wants a way for the team to inflict Tune Strain - Interfered. Each application adds a Mindlock stack, and Draw and Sunder raises the target's maximum Tune Strain - Interfered stacks by one while Qingxiao is in the team. A sustain slot is worth considering too; no particular element is required by her listed skills.
Sea of Thought, World of Dust helps carry Mindlock between enemies. When a teammate directly defeats a target with Mindlock, Gathered Mind can record its stacks. Team damage then applies the recorded stacks once to another target. Against Overlord Class or Calamity Class targets, To Know, To Banish adds an extra Mindlock stack each time the team inflicts Tune Strain - Interfered.
Common mistakes
Do not switch Qingxiao out between the enhanced Heavy Attack - Stringblade (Basic) and Heavy Attack - Heaven's Reckoning: Ephemeral Transcendence (Forte). Switching removes the finisher enhancement, including its 100% DMG Multiplier increase and additional Off-Tune Level buildup.
Do not keep using only one stance while waiting for the transformation. Qin Heart and Sword Cadence both need to be full, and neither can be gained during Ephemeral Transcendence. Once inside, build Heart Sword Intent instead.
Do not ignore Tune Strain - Interfered or assume every target starts with the same number of Mindlock stacks. Watch the setup, especially when changing targets. Swordlight Ward can absorb an interruption, but it is not a reason to ignore incoming attacks.
