Background
Candace is a 4-star character from the region of Sumeru that utilizes a polearm in combat. The Traveler is first introduced to her as she breaks down a fight between Cyno and Alhaitham.
Candace serves as the protector of Aaru Village and is known as a gentle and caring person to those who don’t jeopardize her village’s safety. She wishes to see peace in her village and will offer anyone safe sanctuary to seek refuge in it. However, for those who wish to bring the village harm, she will ensure that they will never set foot within its wall again. Those who do not respect the rules of Aaru Village will be seen as an enemy in her eyes.
Fun Fact: Candace is heterochromatic and has 2 different kinds of eye color. She is the first character in Genshin Impact to have this trait.
Candace Skill Talents
Candace is a support burst character with the ability to grant increased elemental damage to your Main DPS and a Hydro infusion to their normal attack. This does limit her team composition as she can only work in Hydro teams or with another character that can safely ignore her Hydro infusion. Candace can be used as a DPS if her burst is used on herself. Her elemental skill absorbs some damage while it charges up to deal Hydro DMG to the enemy.
Candace’s normal attack, Gleaming Spear: Guardian Stance, performs up to 4 hits with her polearm. The second attack of her polearm is a blunt attack, allowing her to shatter frozen enemies and geo constructs. Her third attack deals 2x damage with the fourth hitting the dealing the most. As a Main DPS, Candace will want to utilize her burst effect to infuse her own attacks with Hydro DMG. Candance’s charged attack consumes stamina to lunge toward the enemy and deal damage.
Her elemental skill, Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum, has a press-and-hold effect. The press effect rushes toward the enemy to deal with Hydro DMG. This comes at a cooldown of 6 seconds. Holding down her skill, charges it up while forming a barrier that will absorb incoming damage and Hydro DMG more effectively up to a certain amount. The DMG absorbed scales off Candace’s Max HP. Once fully charged or if the barrier is broken, Canda’s barrier will disappear and she will unleash Hydro DMG to enemies in front of her. The damage of both her press and hold effect scales off Candace’s Max HP. The hold effect will have a cooldown of 9 seconds when she is at constellation 0. Candace’s elemental skill can absorb some damage while dealing increased Hydro DMG toward the enemy. The charge time of her hold skill is reduced when paired with her ascension 1 talent. This talent fully charges up her skill when she is hit by an enemy.
Candace’s elemental burst, Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide, deals an initial blast of Hydro DMG based on Candace’s Max HP. The active character will also gain the Prayer of the Crimson Crown buff for 9 seconds and gain the following buffs:
- Deal increased elemental damage with their normal attack
- When a character takes the field, a blast of Hydro DMG will be dealt to nearby enemies. Up to 3 blasts can be triggered per burst.
- Characters wielding a sword, polearm, and claymore will be granted Hydro infusion. This will overtake any infusion that can be overridden.
The damage of Candace’s burst scales off her Max HP. The elemental damage bonus she provides is a set amount regardless of the talent level. This burst requires 60 energy with a cooldown of 15 seconds. The elemental normal attack damage bonus is great as a support skill, but the number of characters she can successfully buff is limited to Hydro DPS characters like Ayato or characters that cannot have their normal attack overridden if they have a special skill like Cyno. The Hydro infusion can be limiting based on her team composition. However, Candace can also play the role of a DPS herself if she uses her burst effect on herself. You only need to level up her burst to raise its damage output. Both the damage bonus and infusion will stay the same regardless of the level.
In co-op, Candace will play more of a DPS role as her burst effect applies to the active character and requires switching to another character to trigger the Hydro blast.
Candace Passive Talents
Candace’s passive talent reduces climbing stamina consumption. Her ascension talents reduce the charge time of her skill when she is hit and provides extra elemental damage to the character affected by her burst.
Candace’s passive talent, To Dawn’s First Light, reduces climbing stamina consumption for the party. This is shared with Xiao and allows for easier exploration as you will be climbing more distance while consuming less stamina. Similar talents buff do not stack with each other.
Her first ascension talent, Aegis of Crossed Arrows, automatically triggers Candace’s fully charged elemental skill if she is hit while holding it down. This allows Candance to deal increased elements skill damage without waiting for the charge time.
At ascension 4, Celestial Dome of Sand, Candace provides the party extra Elemental DMG based on how much Max HP she has. The buff only applies to those affected by her burst, but is a great supportive talent to raise the overall damage of your Main DPS when they deal elemental damage with their normal attack. Candace’s burst damage does scale off HP, so she will already have high Max HP if she is built as a burst support character.
Candace gets a Max HP bonus based on her ascension rank. This bonus works well with her ascension 4 talent and burst damage as they both scale off Candace’s Max HP.
| To Dawn’s First Light Unlocked Automatically Decreases climbing Stamina consumption for your own party members by 20%. Not stackable with Passive Talents that provide the exact same effects. |
| Aegis of Crossed Arrows Unlocked at Ascension 1 If Candace is hit by an attack in the Hold duration of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum, that skill will finish charging instantly. |
| Celestial Dome of Sand Unlocked at Ascension 4 Characters affected by the Prayer of the Crimson Crown caused by Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide will deal 0.5% increased DMG to opponents for every 1,000 points of Candace’s Max HP when they deal Elemental DMG with their Normal Attacks. |
Candace Constellations
Candace’s constellation has a variety of effects that improve her usefulness as a burst support character. Both her C2 and C4 effects upgrade her elemental skill to reduce its cooldown and provide a buff to Candace’s Max HP when her skill hits an enemy. At C1, her burst is extended by 3 seconds, and at C6, Candace’s burst will deal another instance of Hydro DMG when another character in the party deals elemental damage with their normal attack while Candace’s burst is active.
At C1: Returning Heiress of the Scarlet Sands, Candace’s burst effect duration is increased by 3 seconds. The base duration is 9 seconds, which will now be 12 seconds from the effects of this constellation. This allows her active character to deal more damage while under the effect of the buffs from Candace’s burst.
C2: Moon-Piercing Brilliance increases Candance’s Max HP when her elemental skill hits an elemental for 15 seconds. When paired with her burst and elemental skill, this constellation increases its overall damage and also the amount of elemental damage bonus her ascension 4 talent provides to the team.
C4: Sentinel Oath shortens the cooldown of her elemental skill cooldown to the same as the press effect. This will reduce the hold effect cooldown from 9 to 6 seconds, allowing Candace to use the hold effect without worrying about its increased cooldown.
At C6: The Overflow, Candace will unleash an additional instance of Hydro DMG when another character deals elemental damage with their normal attack while Candace’s burst effect is active. This damage also scales off Candace’s Max HP. This is a supportive constellation and does not work when Candace is built as a Main DPS. However, as a support character, this constellation allows your team to deal extra Hydro DMG to the enemy.
| Constellation Levels | Effects |
|---|---|
| C1: Returning Heiress of the Scarlet Sands | The duration of Prayer of the Crimson Crown effect triggered by Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide is increased by 3s. |
| C2: Moon-Piercing Brilliance | When Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum hits opponents, Candace’s Max HP will be increased by 20% for 15s. |
| C3: Hunter’s Supplication | Increases the Level of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| C4: Sentinel Oath | Shortens the Hold CD of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum to be the same as that of the Tapping CD. |
| C5: Heterochromatic Gaze | Increase the Level of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| C6: The Overflow | When characters (excluding Candace herself) affected by the Prayer of the Crimson Crown caused by Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide deal Elemental DMG to opponents using Normal Attacks, an attack wave will be unleashed that deals AoE Hydro DMG equal to 15% of Candace’s Max HP. |
Recommended Builds
Burst Support Build
Candace’s burst provides the active character with increased elemental damage with their normal attack and also infuses the normal attack of all melee characters with Hydro DMG. This build uses her burst to support the team with increased normal attack damage along with an ATK buff from her artifact set. Her skill damage and burst damage also scale off her Max HP, so building it up is necessary for a support build. For a burst support, you will mainly want to level up Candace’s burst talent followed by her elemental skill. Leveling up her burst will only boost the damage it can deal with its initial Hydro blast and when your character switches to another one. You don’t need to level it up if you want to just use it for its infusion or elemental damage bonus. Her normal attack is not needed unless you opt for a DPS build on her by using her own burst infusion to boost her own damage. As her burst is her most important talent, its uptime is crucial with a high energy recharge stat recommended for this build.
The amount of teams Candace can be used in is limiting as her burst infuses the active character with Hydro DMG which messes up a lot of teams that use different types of elemental damage. However, the Hydro infusion can be bypassed if the character’s normal attack cannot be overridden like Cyno when under the effects of his burst. Candace will mainly be used on Hydro teams with another Hydro DPS to grant their normal attack increased elemental damage. Ayato is a great pair with her as his elemental skill already converts his normal attack into Hydro DMG, so Candace is a great option to increase his overall damage. It is also important to note only characters that use polearms, swords, or claymores will be granted the Hydro infusion. Having two Hydro characters will also grant the team increased Max HP, boosting Candace’s overall damage output with her skill and burst. Fischl can deal passive Electro DMG to trigger Electrocharge. Sucrose will serve as crowd control and can also share her elemental mastery with the team to increase their reaction damage. Sucrose can be replaced with Kazuha for an elemental damage boon with elements he Swirls with. Fischl and be replaced with Xiangling for Vaporize damage or other support characters depending on the reaction.
As a burst support, many of the 5-star weapons will not work on Candace as they often require the use of the character’s normal attack. However, you can use the Skyward Spine for its Energy Recharge passive. For 4-star weapons, both The Catch and Favonius Lance are great options. Both have a passive stat in Energy Recharge. The Catch boosts elemental burst damage and crit rate while the Favionius Lances generate energy for the entire team when Candace lands a critical hit. The craftable Prototype Grudge is also decent for its Energy Recharge sub-stat. Its passive skill that boosts normal attack damage after using her elemental skill will be useless in a support character. The 3-star weapon Black Tassel works for Candace both in the early and late game. Although its passive skill only increases damage against slime, its stat increases Max HP.
For Candace’s artifact set, the Noblesse Oblige is the best support artifact for her if you don’t have another character on the team with it. This set boosts Elemental Burst DMG and provides the party an ATK buff when Candace uses her burst. For more burst damage, use the Emblem of Severed Fate for its Energy Recharge increase and boost of her elemental burst damage based on a portion of her Energy Recharge stat. A 2-piece Tenacity of the Millelith and Emblem of Severed Fate will also work to raise Candace’s Max HP and Energy Recharge. In the early game, use The Exile for extra Energy Recharge and the ability to generate energy for the team.
Artifact stats for Candace:
- Sands: Max HP
- Goblet: Max HP or Hydro DMG
- Circlet: Max HP
For the sub-stats, focus on Energy Recharge, Crit Rate, and Crit DMG. +180% Energy Recharge is recommended. Crit Rate will be needed if you are using the Favonious Lance.
Main DPS Build
Due to Candace’s Hydro infusion with her burst, Candace can use it on herself to boost her Hydro DMG. For this DPS build for Candace, you will want to level up her normal attack talent. The increased normal attack damage bonus will be the same regardless of Candace’s burst talent level, but it can still be leveled up to raise the Hydro DMG it can deal to enemies.
As the Main DPS of the team, Candace will need to rely on reactions to deal most of her damage. Both Xiangling and Bennett will help trigger the Vaporize reaction, with Xiangling having a powerful burst to deal Pyro DMG to the enemy. Bennett will help and buff the team’s attack. Kazuha has the ability to boost the elemental damage of the element he Swirls with and also has good crowd control. He can be replaced with another Hydro character like Xingqiu to trigger the Hydro team buff and help charge their bursts.
Candace can use any 5-star weapon as a Main DPS character. The Staff of Homa in particular works great with her as it raises both Crit DMG and Max HP. The passive skill of this weapon provides Candace with an additional ATK buff based on her Max HP. The Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is another great option that boosts Crit Rate and raises ATK when she hits an enemy.
For her recommended 4-star weapon, the Deathmatch from the battlepass raises Crit Rate and provides the character a buff depending on the number of enemies around. If you don’t have access to the battlepass, then both the craftable Prototype Grudge and Kitain Cross Spear can work well for her. The Prototype Grudge boosts Energy Recharge and raises Candace’s normal attack damage after she uses her elemental skill. Kitain Cross Spear raises elemental mastery for reactions and provides energy over time when Candace uses her elemental skill. Other decent 4-star weapons are Dragon’s Bane, Blackcliff Pole, or The Catch. The Dragon’s Bane wills well in this team as it deals increased damage against enemies affected by the Hydro and Pyro elements. For 3-star weapons, the White Tassel is a good early-game weapon that can be used in the late game as it boosts Crit Rate and normal attack damage.
Candace recommended artifact set is the 4-piece Heart of Depth. This set raises Candace’s Hydro DMG and normal attack damage after using her elemental skill. This set works great for Candace as she will be using her normal attack to deal the majority of her damage as a DPS. Her elemental skill also has a fairly quick cooldown, as her press effect only requires 6 seconds to be used again. The 4-piece Gladiator’s Finale is a good alternative and raises ATK and normal attack damage for melee characters. In the early game, use the 4-piece Martial Artist for increased normal attack damage.
Artifact stats for Candace:
- Sands: ATK%
- Goblet: Hydro DMG
- Circlet: Crit Rate or Crit DMG
For the sub-stats, focus on Energy Recharge, Crit Rate, and Crit DMG. Max HP will also be help boost her overall damage.
Recommended Party Members
Sucrose can share her EM to boost the reaction damage of the team.
Ayato benefits from the normal attack bonus that Candace burst provides the team.
Kazuha has great crowd control and can raise the elemental damage of the team.
Xiangling has a wide and powerful burst that can trigger the Vaporize reaction with Candace.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Burst boosts normal attack elemental damage of party | Hydro infusion from burst limits the team composition she can provide support for |
| Easy to build | Normal elemental damage buff does not scale off burst talent level |
| Hydro infusion works on her self | Low elemental particle generated from skill |
Conclusion
Candace is a support character that can also become a Main DPS due to the elemental normal attack burst and Hydro infusion her burst grants herself and her party. However, her strengths also limit her party composition as not all characters will benefit from Candace’s Hydro infusion. She is an easy-to-build character as her buff does not scale off her talent level and also has an elemental skill that can party and absorb some damage.
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The Informal Gamer 