The fiery merc is an odd addition, but she works well in the right circ*mstances
Guide by Josh Broadwell Contributor
Published on
The best Genshin Impact Dehya build makes the fiery merc, not quite an unstoppable force, but at least one you can get the job done with.
Dehya is one of the RPG’s more bizarre characters, with split damage scaling and moves that don’t seem optimized to fit with more than just a few characters.
She’s not ideal, but if you want to build her, it’s certainly possible.
- Best Dehya build
- Best Dehya weapon
- Best Dehya Artifacts
- Best Dehya F2P build
- Is Dehya good?
- Should I pull for Dehya?
What is the best Dehya build in Genshin Impact?
The best Dehya build depends on what you want to use her for. If you want to focus on her burst, you can try building her as a DPS and focus on her energy recharge and attack. Sub-DPS or support Dehya should focus on HP and attack to boost her skill’s coordinated attack damage.
Best Dehya weapon – Beacon of the Reed Sea
Beacon of the Reed Sea is a new 5-star claymore that’s designed for Dehya. Its passive skill raises the user’s attack when they take damage and when their skill deals damage, and it boosts HP by at least 30 percent if the character doesn’t have a shield.
A good second choice is Wolf’s Gravestone, if you have a spare one. This is a straightforward sword that buffs attack and then gives the party an attack boost as well.
On the 4-star side, you may want to give Serpent’s Spine a try. This one comes from the paid battle pass and raises the equipping character’s attack for every few seconds they’re on the field.
What are the best Dehya artifacts?
For a burst-oriented Dehya, you should use the full Emblem of Severed Fate set.
- Two-piece effect: Raises energy recharge by 20 percent
- Four-piece effect: Increases elemental burst damage by 25 percent of energy recharge
Focus on attack and HP for your substats, though don’t ignore Pyro damage if you happen to come across it.
A skill-focused Dehya should use Tenacity of the Millelith.
- Two-piece effect: Raises HP by 20 percent
- Four-piece effect: When the user’s elemental skill deals damage, all nearby party members get a 20 percent attack buff. Can occur every half second and even when the equipping character is off-field.
The same substats – HP and attack – should be your focus here too.
What is the best Dehya F2P build?
If you get Dehya and don’t want to splash out for her signature weapon, you’re in luck. Katsuragikiri Nagamasa, the Inazuman craftable claymore works quite well with her. This one raises energy recharge – helpful if you’re using Emblem of Severed Fate – and increases elemental skill damage by up to 12 percent.
If you use Katsuragikiri Nagamasa, we recommend sticking with Emblem of Severed Fate for your artifact set, with HP as your main substats.
Is Dehya good?
As of her release, the easiest way to categorize Dehya is “weird.” She’s built like a tank and absorbs damage, though not only is a tank character unnecessary in Genshin Impact, but she can absorb too much damage and reduce her HP to zero at times. Dehya’s final passive talent restores her HP once her health drops to a certain point, but the restoration rate and amount or so low that she often faints before it can do any good.
In short, don’t rely on Dehya as a tank.
What you can rely on her for is setting up Pyro to help trigger reactions, though this role also comes with several caveats. Dehya’s skill creates a field that reduces interruption – so enemies won’t stagger your characters in the middle of an attack – and deals coordinated Pyro attacks at intervals. The problem is that these intervals last two and a half seconds, so you won’t be dealing as much damage or triggering as many reactions as you can with Raiden Shogun and Yelan.
Electro attacks are also off the table. Overload causes an explosion, which may knock enemies out of the field.
Dehya’s burst is less useful. She creates another Pyro field or moves it with her if there’s an existing one, and she throws a flurry of Pyro punches. She targets an enemy and attacks automatically, and the damage dealt is considered burst damage. That means she can’t trigger Xingqiu’s rain swords or Yelan’s accompanying burst attacks, and she gets no benefit from Candace’s burst or Yun Jin’s burst. She can knock enemies back with her punches, so coordinating with characters whose skills create small fields, like Collei is often difficult.
HoYoverse also split Dehya’s important stats. Where most recent characters require just HP or just elemental mastery to bump their attack up, Dehya’s skills scale off HP and attack. If you want to optimize her build, you have less room to focus on other stats such as Pyro or mastery, which is odd considering Dehya’s potential for causing Burgeon reactions. It doesn’t help that her base attack is low to begin with.
She does work, and sometimes quite well – but only with certain party members. Sucrose and Kazuha are helpful, since their bursts stay on the field for a while and work with Dehya’s skill and burst. Ganyu’s burst does the same and covers a broad area, as does Diona’s. On the Hydro side, Mona and Kokomi are two solid choices, though from the Dendro crowd, Nahida is the only one that has synergy with Dehya.
Thanks to her low stats, Dehya will function almost entirely as an off-field support, with the occasional swap-in for burst damage if you want to try experimenting with reactions.
Should I pull for Dehya?
If you’re after a meta team, then no. Sure, there are builds and teams that make Dehya work quite well, especially if you end up with her first constellation unlocked, but she’s never as effective as other Pyro characters – sometimes even 4-star characters. There’s a possibility she might improve with an upcoming Artifact set, however, which would turn her into a Burgeon machine or boost her skill and burst damage. It’s still not ideal, but she will at least be more viable.
Dehya is headed for the standard banner after her debut anyway, so you have a chance of getting her at any point in the future. There’s no need to throw all your Primogems at her banner now.
If you happen to wind up with two copies of Dehya, unlocking her first constellation, you may want to pay her some extra attention. At C1, Dehya gets a sizeable attack and HP buff.
If you're saving up for future Genshin Impact banners, make sure to check out our up-do-date list of Genshin Impact codes for some free Primogems.
