With the release of Wuthering Waves comes a new combat system to master. Because of the differences compared to other similar games, players may find themselves lost with understanding the characters and how to most effectively utilise them. However, after learning these mechanics, Wuthering Waves has both a strategic and visually pleasing combat system, focusing on fast-paced encounters that can be experienced across a variety of gamemodes.

Table of Contents:

Click the links below to jump to:

• The Basics
• Additional Combat Mechanics
• Elemental Buildup
• Echoes
• Teambuilding
• Top 5 Tips to Keep in Mind

The Basics

Every character, also called Resonators, has access to six main abilities, which can be levelled up via the respective Resonator’s Forte tab. These include:

• Basic Attack
  Consists of a Resonator’s Basic, Heavy, Mid-air and Dodge Counter Attacks.
  • Heavy Attacks are performed by holding down the Basic Attack button.
  • Mid-air Attacks are performed by pressing the Basic Attack button in mid-air.
  • Dodge Counters are performed by pressing the Basic Attack button after successfully Dodging an attack.
    • A successful Dodge is indicated by a quick flash surrounding the character.

• Resonance Skill
  Provides a small yet important secondary ability to Resonators in combat.
  • Damage dealers may use their Skill to provide more damage, whereas supportive characters may provide healing or buffing instead.
  • Resonance Skills will generally go on Cooldown immediately as the button is pressed, however some Resonators have unique mechanics to get around this.

• Resonance Liberation
  Equivalent to an Ultimate in other games, requiring Resonance Energy to use.
  • Once executed, Resonators will consume their Resonance Energy to initiate a much stronger ability. Some Resonators will enter a special stance after activating, greatly enhancing their damage, whereas others may instead deal damage immediately or even support the team further with defensive abilities.
  • Resonance Energy can be accumulated through attacking enemies.

• Intro Skill
  Intro Skills are extra abilities triggered by Resonators upon switching to them, requiring Concerto Energy to trigger.
  • Intro Skills work in tandem with Outro Skills, dealing damage as the Resonator enters battle.

• Outro Skill
  Outro Skills do not require levelling up, instead being available immediately upon obtaining a character.
  • After building up enough Concerto Energy, indicated by the Concerto Gauge located to the left of a Resonator’s HP bar, switching to another Resonator will trigger the exiting Resonator’s Outro Skill.
  • In turn, the entering Resonator will trigger their Intro Skill.
  • Most Outro Skills provide buffing or additional effects to the next Resonator taking the field, such as an ATK increase, DMG Buffs or healing.

• Forte Circuit
  The Forte Circuit is an additional ability, utilising the Forte Gauge found above a Resonator’s HP bar. After fulfilling certain conditions, such as hitting enemies with a Heavy Attack, or after using Resonance Liberation, the the Forte Gauge will fill up, allowing a Resonator to trigger additional effects.
  • Each Resonator interacts with the Forte Gauge differently, with some using it as a duration for buffs, whilst others use it to trigger extra attacks if timed correctly.

Additional Combat Mechanics

In addition to these, players have access to some additional mechanics when in combat. Making use of these can grant great advantages in combat, due to aiding with both survivability and providing large windows to deal damage to enemies.

• Timed Attacks
  Some Resonators have additional attacks which require pressing the button at the right moment to trigger extra effects.
  • These additional effects can be triggered when a white ring appears around a Resonator, where the respective button must be pressed for a successful timed attack.
  • Some places timed attacks can be found are during a Resonator’s Normal Attack string or at the end of their Resonance Skill, allowing for creativity with combos when fighting enemies.

• Swap Canceling
  Upon initiating an attack, if the current Resonator is swapped out, they will stay on-field momentarily to finish their attack.
  • This can prove useful when trying to cast long abilities, due to the previous character becoming invulnerable after a swap cancel.
  • Players can also attack with their current Resonator during this period, allowing for some extra damage to be dealt whilst waiting for your other Resonators to finish casting their abilities.

• Grapple
  Through playing the game, Resonators will unlock portable modules, which can be used to aid overworld exploration.
  • The Grapple is one such module that grants an extra leap in mid-air in the direction you are facing.
  • This extra jump can be helpful in quickly repositioning around the battlefield, as well as for avoiding incoming attacks.

• Dodge
  When an enemy is about to hit you, pressing the Dodge button at the right time will allow you to successfully avoid an enemy attack, indicated by a quick flash of light surrounding the Resonator.
  • During this state, your character is invulnerable to all damage and can initiate a quick counterattack by pressing Basic Attack. Successful Dodges also cost less Stamina than normal dashes, rewarding players for successfully Dodging enemy attacks.
  • Due to the aggressiveness of bosses later in the game, timing Dodges will be important to avoid damage, allowing you to keep on attacking.
  • Successful Dodges can be triggered both on the ground and in mid-air, granting another dash if a mid-air Dodge is successful.

• Vibration Strength
  Some enemies, such as bosses, have a special meter located below their HP bar called Vibration Strength. Upon depleting the enemy’s Vibration Strength, it will change from white to gold, slowly decreasing like a timer. During this time, the enemy will be Immobilized, allowing for an ample opportunity to attack.
  • Vibration Strength can be reduced over time by dealing damage to enemies or greatly decreased upon successfully Counterattacking enemy attacks.

• Counterattacks
  Some enemy attacks cause a golden ring to appear around them, indicating that the upcoming attack can be countered. If hit at the right time, a Counterattack will be initiated, completely nullifying the incoming attack, whilst greatly reducing the enemy’s Vibration Strength and stunning them for a short period.

Elemental Buildup

Some attacks from enemies will cause an elemental icon to appear above the Resonator’s HP bar, causing different effects over time. These effects can stack up to 10 times and include:

• Aero Erosion: Deals periodic Aero DMG to the target. The higher the stacks, the greater the damage it deals.

• Electro Flare: Reduces the Resonator's ATK based on the amount of stacks. 4 or less stacks reduces ATK by 5%, 5 stacks reduces ATK by 7% and causes the Resonator to become Magnetized, affecting their movement in certain scenarios. At 10 stacks, ATK is reduced by 10%.

• Glacio Chafe: Each stack of Glacio Chafe reduces the Resonator’s movement speed. At 10 stacks, the Resonator will become Frozen, requiring frequent inputs to thaw out.

• Fusion Burst: At 10 stacks, an Explosion will trigger on the player, dealing large amounts of Fusion DMG.

• Spectro Frazzle: Deals periodic Spectro DMG to the target. Each hit will reduce the stacks by 1, with higher stacks causing Spectro Frazzle to deal larger amounts of damage.

• Havoc Bane: Unlike other Elemental Buildup effects, Havoc Bane can only stack up to 2 times. Upon being afflicted with Havoc Bane, it will automatically increase to 2 stacks after a short period. Upon reaching 2 stacks, it will deal Havoc DMG to the target and apply Havoc Bane to nearby teammates.

Elemental buildup effects can be avoided by successfully Dodging attacks, further incentivising players to learn the timings for enemy attacks so they don’t get hit. Havoc Bane can be particularly annoying in multiplayer scenarios, requiring players to either split up or Dodge accordingly to keep Havoc Bane from bouncing between teammates.

Echoes

Echoes are the gearing system in Wuthering Waves, allowing players to increase their Resonator’s stats. Echoes can be obtained from enemies in the overworld, where they have a chance to turn into an Echo upon defeat. Echoes can range from Rank 1 to 5, with higher rarities having greater stats. Each Echo has an assigned Cost value, being 1, 3 or 4, with harder enemies having a higher Cost to equip.

Each Echo can also have up to 5 substats each, further increasing a Resonator's stats.

• Echo Skills
  Out of the Echoes equipped, one can be set as the Active Echo, granting Resonators access to their Echo Skill. Echo Skills will either transform the Resonator into the respective enemy or summon a copy of that enemy, allowing the use of their abilities in battle. Similarly to Resonance Skills, they can grant both additional damage or supportive buffs. Some Echoes also have use cases outside of combat too, such as a motorcycle for fast movement around the world.

• Counter Skills
  Unlike normal Counterattacks, some Echo Skills have the ability to interrupt Special Skills from enemies. These Counterattacks are known as Counter Skills, indicated by a red flash surrounding the enemy before attacking. Besides the condition, Counter Skills behave the same as normal Counterattacks, meaning correct timing is still required in order to successfully counter the attack. Deciding on when to use your Echo Skills can be the difference in life and death in high stake scenarios.

• Energy Regen
  One stat that can be acquired from both Echoes and weapons is Energy Regen, which increases the amount of Resonance Energy characters obtain. This can allow for a Resonator to use their Resonance Liberation quicker, allowing for less downtime on both damaging states and buffs. However, despite Intro and Outro Skills requiring Concerto Energy to trigger, Concerto Energy is not affected by Energy Regen, resulting in the Concerto Gauge building up at the same speed regardless of a Resonator’s Energy Regen stat.

Echoes can be farmed naturally as players progress through the game and will be of great assistance both in and out of combat. Different Echoes can grant different bonuses when paired together, called Echo Sonata Effects, encouraging players to seek out specific Echoes to gear their characters. The location of different Echoes can be found in the Echo Hunting tab of the Guidebook.

Teambuilding

Teams in Wuthering Waves will generally consist of three characters:

• The main carry, responsible for dealing the majority of a team's damage.
• A hybrid character, who helps to deal additional damage when your main carry’s buffs have run out.
• A defensive option, primarily a healer due to their synergy with additional Echo effects in order to buff the team further.

Hybrid characters tend to be able to provide some extra utility to the team, such as Yangyang who not only provides damage but large amounts of Resonance Energy to other Resonators with her Outro Skill or Spectro Rover, whose Outro Skill creates a Stasis field around the enemy, stopping time for them momentarily so other Resonators can deal damage.

Short tags describing what each Resonator can do for the team can be found by clicking the View Outro Skills button when assembling a team.

Some Resonators can take the role of both a main carry or a hybrid character, such as Yinlin or Sanhua, who not only deal great damage themselves, but provide a significant DMG Amplify buff with their Outro Skill.

DMG Amplify effects can be found on a majority of Resonator’s Outro Skills and noticeably increase the damage dealt by teammates.

For example, Yinlin’s Outro Skill buffs both Electro DMG and Resonance Liberation DMG, granting her synergy with Electro Resonators such as Calcharo, and with Resonators who deal a majority of their damage through their Resonance Liberation. Alternatively, 厂补苍丑耻补’s Outro Skill buffs Basic Attack DMG, granting her synergy with damage dealers who frequently use their Basic Attacks, such as Encore.

Defensive characters can provide additional utility to the team in the form of healing or shielding, increasing the safety of characters in combat. At higher levels, enemies can deal extremely high amounts of damage, making characters like Verina or Baizhi very important for teambuilding. In addition to this, both Verina and Baizhi have Outro Skills that grant an all-Type DMG Amplify effect to teammates, increasing all instances of damage dealt by teammates, increasing their offensive viability.

An additional benefit of healers is their ability to activate the Rejuvinating Glow Echo Sonata Effect, gained from equipping five Echoes within the Rejuvenating Glow Sonata group. Rejuvenating Glow not only increases the healing output of those it’s equipped on but also increases the ATK of all teammates for a long period of time. One Echo part of this set is the Bell-Borne Geochelone, which grants both a shield and DMG Boost to all teammates with its Echo Skill.

For players happy to go without extra defensive utility, they can still gain the benefits from Rejuvenating Glow with the Originite weapon series. These weapons are 3-star weapons that heal the wielder when specific attacks are used. The healing granted from this weapon is able to trigger effects requiring healing, granting extra benefits to Resonators with more supportive capabilities.

Top 5 Tips to Keep in Mind

1. Watch Out For Enemy Attacks
   Enemies should not be taken lightly in Wuthering Waves and can easily get the best of someone who’s not paying attention. Take time to learn the parry windows for enemies as well as the timing for successful Dodges in order to significantly improve your combat experience.
   
2. Don’t Underestimate Ability Levels
   The level of a Resonator’s abilities directly increase their damage output and are the first step in dealing damage before additional buffs. Increasing the levels of a Resonator’s Basic Attack, Skill, Liberation, Forte Circuit and Intro Skill will grant permanent damage increases to aid with taking down stronger opponents.
   
3. Concerto Effects are the Key to Success
   Intro and Outro Skills provide potent buffs not currently found elsewhere, significantly increasing the damage output of teammates. Making use of these supportive effects will greatly increase the chance of success in battle. Concerto Effects can be triggered once the Concerto Gauge to the left of a Resonator’s health bar is full, so make sure not to forget about it.
   
4. Make the Most of Immobilized States
   Counterattacking enemies and depleting the Vibration Strength of bosses grant valuable moments where they become Immobilized for a brief moment. During these periods, try to deal as much damage as possible before they recover, as it’ll be the easiest moment in time to get your attacks off before they become mobile again.
   
5. Keep Increasing Your Union Level
   Increasing your Union Level will not only increase the difficulty of enemies but also grant increased rewards from spending Waveplates, such as EXP from Forgery Challenges and Simulation Fields or Echo materials from Tacet Fields. Increasing your Union Level will allow you to level up your characters quicker and receive rarer materials to reach higher levels. Your Union Level can be increased from earning Union Experience, found from spending Waveplates, tackling Daily Activity Tasks, and completing other quests such as the main story.