Liang Yue is back. The limited 6-star Star Afflatus Arcanist returned during the Reverse: 1999 2.5 Anniversary Celebration rerun, and she is still one of the most powerful main DPS options in the entire game. Her Talon stack mechanic looks complicated on paper, but once it clicks, she outputs some of the highest damage numbers available to any character currently in the roster.
What makes Liang Yue so strong?
Liang Yue's entire kit revolves around a split incantation zone called Qiangliang Complete. When she activates this state via her ultimate Call of Thunder: #0305, the incantation skill zone splits into a Red Zone and a Green Zone with an overlapping section in the middle. Using incantations in the Red Zone generates Justice Talons, while the Green Zone generates Peace Talons. The overlap section grants 0.5 of each.
Once she accumulates 6 combined Talon stacks, she triggers a special extra attack called Bane of All Evil. The version she fires depends on which Talon type she holds more of:
- Bane of All Evil – Justice (more Justice Talons): Attacks all enemies, converts excess Crit Rate into Crit DMG. Each Justice Talon consumed raises Crit Rate by 5%, Crit DMG by 20%, and damage by 10%. Each Talon consumed also grants 1 Guardian's Resolve to all allies.
- Bane of All Evil – Peace (more Peace Talons): Attacks all enemies, inflicting 1 Poison and 3 Burn stacks per Peace Talon consumed. Each Poison stack increases damage by 10%, and each Burn stack raises PEN Rate by 3%. Each Talon consumed grants 1 Guardian's Resolve to all allies.
- Bane of All Evil – Balance (equal Talons): Attacks all enemies and grants a stack of Swift Resolve. Each Talon consumed grants 1 Guardian's Resolve to all allies.
Her Inheritance Level 3 gives her Moxie +3 at the start of battle, meaning she can fire her ultimate after just one turn of setup. That alone makes her rotation feel far smoother than most limited characters.
Qiangliang zone split active
Liang Yue incantation skills explained
Her two incantation skills serve distinct roles in her rotation.
Banish Evil is her primary damage dealer. At Rank 3, it deals 500% Reality DMG to a single target and adds PEN Rate +80% to that hit. It also extends the duration of all allies' Guardian's Resolve by 1 round. While in Qiangliang Complete, actively casting it grants an extra Justice Talon stack. This is her most-used skill after unlocking her Euphoria buffs.
Bless Life is her buff skill. At Rank 3, it grants Guardian's Blessing III to a single target for 1 round, with duration stacking on repeat applications. Like Banish Evil, using it while in Qiangliang Complete grants an extra Peace Talon stack. The skill is rated high priority because it directly enables her Talon accumulation and provides meaningful team utility.
Prioritize getting Banish Evil to Rank 3 first. The jump from 200% to 500% Reality DMG between Rank 1 and Rank 3 is massive, and the PEN Rate scaling at higher ranks makes a significant difference in harder content.
How does Liang Yue's Euphoria change her playstyle?
Liang Yue's Euphoria, added alongside her rerun, is a four-level upgrade system that fundamentally changes how she plays at higher investment levels.
Euphoria Level 4 is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade in her kit. Auto-firing her ultimate removes the need to spend an AP on it, which frees up your turn economy for pure damage output.
Liang Yue Euphoria upgrades
What is the best Psychube for Liang Yue?
Liang Yue's signature Psychube, Ready On Call, is the clear best-in-slot option. Its effect reads: when performing an extra action, if the carrier actively cast a 1-target attack incantation this round, gain Crit Rate +1% (up to 6 stacks). When performing an extra action, if the carrier actively cast a 1-target buff incantation this round, gain Crit DMG +2% (up to 6 stacks). When both effects hit max stacks, their stat bonuses double.
This Psychube was built for Liang Yue's exact rotation: she alternates between Banish Evil (attack) and Bless Life (buff), which naturally fills both stacks simultaneously and triggers the doubling bonus during her extra attacks.
If you do not have Ready On Call, the next best substitute is Outside The City. After the carrier launches a 1-target attack through an extra action, Crit DMG increases by 2% per stack up to 10 stacks. At 10 stacks, gain an additional Crit Rate +8%. It is a solid alternative that keeps her critical stat scaling intact while you work toward her signature.
Avoid Psychubes that focus on incantation might buffs tied to mass attacks. Liang Yue's damage comes primarily from single-target extra actions, so anything that does not scale with those will underperform significantly.
Best Resonance build for Liang Yue
Liang Yue's damage output comes from her Incantation skills and Extra Attacks, so the Resonance build should push her Critical Rate and Critical DMG as high as possible.
The recommended build code from community testing is ACUALAFAMEIxKlAoUUQzQhJIAzgFOEUrRCUE9CQ.
For her main Resonance piece, use the Genuinity piece. This provides the extra attack stat scaling that her kit needs to function at full capacity.
The Genuinity piece is specifically recommended as her main Resonance piece for the extra attack stat bonus. Do not swap it out for generic ATK pieces, as the extra attack scaling directly feeds into her Bane of All Evil damage.
Should you roll for Liang Yue's Portrait levels?
Portrait levels make a meaningful difference for Liang Yue, more so than for most characters.
- P0: Fully playable. She clears most content and deals strong damage. Fine for free-to-play players.
- P2: The most recommended stopping point for low-to-mid spenders. The damage jump between P0 and P2 is described as night and day, primarily because of the enhanced Bane of All Evil mechanics that remove Talon ratio micromanagement.
- P4 and P5: Recommended only for high spenders willing to go all-in. These levels turn her into a self-sufficient damage powerhouse with significantly improved rotation and output.
If you are on a budget, P0 works. If you can stretch to P2, do it. The improvement is substantial enough to justify the investment.
Should you pull for Liang Yue?
Yes. Her status as a limited Arcanist means she will not return to the summoning pool for an extended period after this banner ends. She currently holds one of the best damage output records among all DPS characters in Reverse: 1999, and her kit performs well across all game content.
The initial learning curve around Talon management is real, but Euphoria Level 2 removes most of that complexity by automatically treating all Talons as the dominant type. Once you understand the zone split and rotation, she plays smoothly.
Liang Yue limited banner screen
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