Zhezhi in Wuthering Waves: The Off-Field Glacio Artist You Didn't Know You Needed

Zhezhi, the 5★ rectifier Glacio character, is basically that one teammate who does all the off-field heavy lifting while the main DPS soaks up the glory. Her kit screams “sub-dps with benefits,” and by benefits, players mean coordinated attacks, quick rotations, and the coveted title of first sub-dps to offer both Glacio DMG Deepen and Resonance Skill Deepen. For anyone tired of characters who demand center stage, Zhezhi is a breath of frosty air.

So how does this ink-and-ice artist actually work? It all revolves around her Forte Circuit and two not-so-secret resources: Afflatus and Phantasmic Imprints.

First, the basics: Zhezhi’s Forte gauge has two parts. Afflatus is collected by landing an Intro Skill and three Basic Attacks. Each bar on the Forte Circuit can hold up to 30 Afflatus, and the whole thing caps at 90. Once a bar is full, casting a Resonance Skill followed by Forte: Heavy Atk: Conjuration converts that Afflatus into a Phantasmic Imprint. While any Imprints are active, Zhezhi unlocks her Forte Resonance Skills — Stroke of Genius and Creation’s Zenith — and each use consumes one Imprint.

Why does this matter? Because it changes how players swap her in. The key to generating Afflatus quickly is always entering with an Intro Skill, which fills roughly half of the required Afflatus across all three bars. The remaining half comes from three simple Basic Attacks. That’s it. No 30-step spreadsheet needed. It’s almost suspiciously easy.

Then there’s her Resonance Liberation. For 30 seconds, Zhezhi summons a field around the active Resonator and marks enemies that allies hit for 3 seconds. Marked enemies get poked by an Inklit Spirit every second, up to 21 coordinated attacks. Once those attacks are spent, the field ends regardless of the timer. So yes, Zhezhi is basically a walking auto-turret with a paintbrush.

On top of that, casting a Forte Resonance Skill gives Zhezhi a stacking 6% ATK boost and an 18% Basic ATK DMG buff. Nothing to sneeze at for an off-field unit.

Pros	Cons
Can be played airborne to dodge some boss attacks	Loses a chunk of damage without Resonance Liberation
Deals most of her damage off-field	Requires a bit of Energy Regen to keep the loop going
Easy-to-understand combo and rotation	Not the best main DPS material
Provides Resonance Energy, Resonance Skill Deepen, and Glacio damage via Outro	—

Now, for the rotation. Zhezhi’s combo is refreshingly simple: no quick-swaps, no frame-perfect cancels. A standard burst team rotation assumes her Resonance Liberation is already active from the opener. Players should aim for 20–30% Energy Regen so she can cast Liberation every cycle. Crucially, all three Basic Attacks must connect to generate enough Forte Gauge. Miss one, and the whole Afflatus economy gets a little awkward.

One popular use case is pairing her with Jinhsi, where this rotation lets Jinhsi perform two consecutive burst rotations with a nearly full or even full Forte Gauge. There is a trade-off, though: this easier rotation loses uptime on other buffs like Bell-Borne Geochelone. But sometimes simplicity beats a spreadsheet.

When it comes to skill priority, Zhezhi’s Resonance Liberation and Forte Circuit are the undisputed stars. Level those first. Her Resonance Skill, Intro Skill, and Basic Attack are all used in the rotation, but they contribute less damage, so they’re secondary.

Weapons? Of course. Her signature Rime-Draped Sprouts is ridiculous: 500 base ATK and a 72% Crit DMG main-stat. The off-field 52% Basic ATK DMG buff seems hard to trigger until players realize Zhezhi’s rotation naturally casts her Resonance Skill three times. Convenient, no?

If the signature weapon is off the table, Stringmaster is a strong 5★ alternative. It brings 36% Crit Rate, a 12% DMG bonus, and an ATK buff that doubles off-field to 24% for 5 seconds. The catch? Zhezhi can’t easily reapply it without constant quick-swapping, which often means losing either the ATK buff or the main DPS’s Outro. Classic lose-lose.

For free-to-play folks, Cosmic Ripples is the only 5★ F2P option. It’s solid — high base ATK, ATK%, and Energy Regen — but Zhezhi usually only gets three stacks of the Basic ATK DMG buff unless the rotation is tweaked. Among 4★ weapons, Augment and Jinzhou Keeper perform similarly at R0, but with more dupes, Augment pulls ahead while Jinzhou Keeper stays put.

Echo sets? For a support Zhezhi, Moonlit Clouds is the clear winner. It buffs the next Resonator that swaps in and pairs beautifully with Impermanence Heron. The 2-piece ER is also a nice touch since she wants around 25–30% ER. If someone insists on main-DPS Zhezhi, Freezing Frost is technically the only set, but it’s not recommended unless you’re deeply committed. Under those circumstances, Lampylumen Myriad is the “best” 4-cost Echo, but it’s slow, requires all three hits to land, and leaves Zhezhi vulnerable for three seconds. Glacio Predator is faster but mediocre. Glacio Prism is summonable and doesn’t slow the rotation down, but also deals mediocre damage and offers no buffs.

For stats, the 4-cost Echo should have Crit DMG if the weapon has Crit Rate, or vice versa. Never chase an Energy Regen main stat — it’s a trap and can be covered by sub-stats. Glacio DMG% is preferred over ATK%, though both work. Aim for a 1:2 Crit Rate to Crit DMG ratio and 20–30% total Energy Regen. Then sit back, swap in, and let the Inklit Spirits do the talking.