Black Swan

Q: What Light Cone should Black Swan use without her signature?

Eyes of the Prey is a very solid 4-star, and Those Many Springs is also good. Other options are Good Night and Sleep Well or Before the Tutorial Mission Starts, both 4-stars.

Nihility

Wind5★

Last updated: 12/02/2026

“If I can identify and encapsulate a fragment of memory before it’s unveiled to the world, those solitary moments of delight are my most favored and unique memories.”

Should You Pull for Black Swan?

Sub-DPS

Black Swan is one of the strongest DoT characters in the game. Her plan is simple: pile as many Arcana stacks as you can onto enemies, because the more stacks they carry, the harder the hit at the start of their turn. On top of her damage, she lowers DEF, makes enemies take more DMG and raises the whole team's DMG, so she is both a damage dealer and a support.

She fits players who run DoT teams, especially if you already have Kafka. To get the strongest version of the team, she still wants Kafka and Hysilens alongside her.

Memory of Chaos Strong Excellent against groups and still solid against a single target, and Arcana ramps up fast and stays at high stacks.

Pure Fiction Very strong Thanks to Goblet's Dredges, new enemies entering the fight have a chance to get Arcana and get their DEF lowered right away.

Apocalyptic Shadow Very strong Epiphany makes enemies take more DMG and her DEF reduction stays up steadily, so the whole team hits the boss a lot harder.

Pros & Cons

Pros

High and consistent DoT damage that also ignores part of the enemy's DEF
Reduces DEF, increases the damage enemies take, and adds damage for the whole team
Ramps up extremely quickly and holds that state steadily
Reaches absurd ATK multipliers thanks to Arcana stacks
Arcana counts as every DoT type by default, which pairs perfectly with DoT characters
DoT and DEF reduction are applied to newly spawned enemies automatically at no extra cost
Excellent in AoE content and still very good against single targets
Genuinely usable as a general-purpose support now

Cons

Still wants Kafka (and Hysilens) to reach peak performance
Needs a fair amount of investment to reach full efficiency and to finish her A6 traces

Best Black Swan Build Guide

Best Black Swan Build

Black Swan's damage scales with ATK, while Effect Hit Rate helps her land her effects and unlocks the full DMG boost she gives the team. Sort out Effect Hit Rate first, then SPD, then pour everything else into ATK.

Best Light Cones

1 Reforged Remembrance Best

Her signature Light Cone and the best pick. She fully stacks its effect every time she uses her Ultimate. It gives Effect Hit Rate, ATK and DEF ignore and boosts her DoT a lot, but the buff only applies to her.
2 Eyes of the Prey Great

A 4-star that gives Effect Hit Rate and a steady, permanent DoT boost, which her Arcana fully benefits from.
3 Those Many Springs Great

A more supportive pick: lots of Effect Hit Rate, and it makes enemies take more DMG. Black Swan's own damage can drop, and her premium teams already have plenty of DMG taken increases, so that part is worth less there. In return, the team's total damage ends up comparable to her signature.
4 Good Night and Sleep Well Good

A good 4-star with a stacking DMG boost, one stack for every debuff on the enemy.
5 Before the Tutorial Mission Starts Good

A 4-star that gives Effect Hit Rate and regenerates Energy when she attacks enemies with reduced DEF. Her Skill already lowers DEF, so the condition is very easy to meet.

Best Relics

The best set, and the one nearly every Black Swan runs. It lets her ignore enemy DEF, and in her strong teams she can easily max out its effect.

The second choice, a 2 + 2 mix that adds Wind DMG.

If you can't put together 4 good pieces yet, mix two 2-piece bonuses for flexibility. This pair is one example: you can take 2 pieces from any two of , , , and , as long as the main stats and substats are good.

Best Planar Ornaments

The top pick. It boosts her DoT once her ATK reaches 2400 or 3600. Use it if you can hit 120% Effect Hit Rate without help from your Planar Ornament.

Gives Effect Hit Rate and extra ATK. If her Light Cone has no Effect Hit Rate, you will almost always need this set to reach 120%.

The third choice. It only raises her DMG when Black Swan has at least 135 SPD.

Main Stats

BodyEffect Hit Rate
FeetSPD or ATK%
Planar SphereWind DMG Boost or ATK%
Link RopeATK%

Substats

1Effect Hit Rate (until 120%)
2SPD
3ATK%
4ATK (flat)

Body is Effect Hit Rate. On Feet, SPD and ATK% both work: SPD lets her take more turns per cycle, while ATK% raises her damage directly. Take Wind DMG Boost on the Planar Sphere, but if Ruan Mei is in the team, switch to ATK%, since Ruan Mei already boosts her DMG a lot.

Get Effect Hit Rate to 120% before anything else, then push SPD to the breakpoint you are aiming for, and spend every remaining roll on ATK%.

Stat Targets

Effect Hit Rate120%
ATK3100+, even better at 3600
SPD135 to 160, faster than Kafka if she is in the team

Skill Priority

Talent > Ultimate = Skill > Basic ATK

Her Talent directly raises Arcana's damage, so level it first. A higher Skill level means a deeper DEF reduction, and a higher Ultimate level makes enemies take more DMG. Basic ATK deals the least damage, so level it last, but still level it over time.

Trace Priority

Candleflame's Portent > Goblet's Dredges > Viscera's Disquiet

All three matter a lot. Candleflame's Portent raises the DMG of all allies by 60% of her Effect Hit Rate, up to 72%. Goblet's Dredges lets her Basic ATK and Ultimate apply the same DEF reduction as her Skill. Viscera's Disquiet gives each of her attacks a 65% base chance to inflict 5 stacks of Arcana.

Eidolon Priority

E1 is the first one to aim for

E1 lowers the matching RES of enemies afflicted with Wind Shear, Bleed, Burn or Shock by 25%, as long as Black Swan is on the field. That is a very strong boost for DoT teams. E2 helps Arcana ramp up faster and is a sensible stopping point if you want to invest more, though in her premium teams she already stacks very quickly. E6 lets her teammates' attacks inflict extra Arcana too.

Best Black Swan Teams

Best Team

Replace Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae with: , ,

The Kafka, Black Swan and Hysilens DoT trio has been one of the strongest pairings since Hysilens came out. Hysilens applies 4 different DoTs at once, so Arcana stacks up very fast during the enemies' turns, and Kafka detonates every DoT on the enemy to cash in on those high stacks right away. Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae provides shields and gives the main DoT DPS an ATK buff.

DoT Team with Ruan Mei

Replace Kafka with: Hysilens Replace Ruan Mei with: , , Replace Huohuo with: , , Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae

Kafka is the main DPS and detonates Black Swan's DoT. Ruan Mei raises DMG, lowers enemy RES and boosts the team's SPD, and she also delays enemies' recovery from Weakness Break, so they take more DoT ticks before they get to act. Huohuo heals, restores extra Energy and raises the team's ATK.

Budget Team (All 4-Stars)

Black Swan and Serval are the two damage dealers, and Serval also applies Shock, which gives the team another DoT. Asta is the best 4-star support for Black Swan because she buffs the whole team's SPD and ATK. Natasha handles healing.

Best Teammates for Black Swan

Kafka

Black Swan's best teammate. Kafka detonates every DoT on the enemy, each detonation stacks more Arcana, and then she detonates those high stacks too.

Hysilens

She applies 4 types of DoT at once, so Arcana stacks very quickly during the enemies' turns, and she also lowers DEF and makes enemies take more DMG.

Ruan Mei

Raises DMG and lowers enemy RES for the whole team, and her SPD boost helps Black Swan and Kafka reach higher SPD breakpoints.

Huohuo

Restores Energy to the team so everyone gets their Ultimate sooner, and her Ultimate also raises ATK%, which suits Black Swan perfectly.

Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae

Provides shields and gives the main DoT DPS an ATK buff, so the team deals more damage.

Jiaoqiu

Has his own DoT and makes enemies take more DMG, so he can take the support slot.

Robin

Raises the whole team's ATK and DMG, and after her Ultimate she advances everyone's turn.

Sampo

Makes enemies take more DoT and applies Wind Shear. If you want him as a damage dealer, he is best with E4.

Guinaifen

Makes enemies take more DMG and applies Burn, so she can fill either a damage or a support slot.

How to Play Black Swan

Arcana Is the Core of Her Kit

Every time an enemy takes 1 instance of DoT, it has a chance to receive 1 more stack of Arcana. At the start of the enemy's turn, Arcana deals Wind DoT that hits harder the more stacks it has, and it also deals extra damage to adjacent targets. This damage ignores 20% of the enemy's DEF. After that hit, the stacks are only halved instead of resetting, and Arcana can stack past 50 (the extra stacks are removed after the hit), so once the stacks are high they are very hard to bring down.

Her Ultimate Applies Epiphany

Her Ultimate deals Wind DMG to all enemies and puts them in the Epiphany state for 2 turns. While in Epiphany, enemies take more DMG, every stack of Arcana inflicted has a 50% chance to add 1 more stack, and the stacks are not halved after the hit at the start of their turn. The DMG taken increase now works outside the enemy's turn too, so your teammates' DoT detonations benefit from it as well.

DEF Reduction Is Almost Always Up

Her Skill hits one enemy and any adjacent targets and lowers their DEF for 3 turns. With the Goblet's Dredges Trace, her Basic ATK and Ultimate apply the same DEF reduction, and enemies entering the fight also get their DEF lowered and have a chance to receive Arcana right away. Add Viscera's Disquiet, and every attack from Black Swan has a chance to inflict 5 stacks of Arcana at once.

Use Her Technique Before Fights

After you use her Technique, enemies at the start of the next battle have a chance to receive Arcana over and over: every successful stack triggers another attempt, until one fails. That way enemies already carry Arcana when the fight begins.

Quick Tips

Reach 120% Effect Hit Rate first, since that is where Candleflame's Portent gives the team its maximum DMG boost.
When she is in a team with Kafka, make Black Swan faster than Kafka so she applies her DoT before Kafka detonates it.
If Ruan Mei is in the team, use an ATK% Planar Sphere instead of Wind DMG Boost.
If her Light Cone has no Effect Hit Rate, use Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise to make up the gap to 120%.
Her Skill already lowers DEF, so the Energy condition on Before the Tutorial Mission Starts is very easy to meet.

Black Swan Skills

Basic ATK

Percipience, Silent Dawn

[Single Target]

Energy Generated20

Toughness Break Single Target: 10

Deals Wind DMG equal to 84% of Black Swan’s ATK to one designated enemy target, with a 77% base chance of inflicting 1 stack of “Arcana” on the target. Additionally, when attacking a target that suffers Wind Shear, Bleed, Burn, or Shock, there is respectively a 77% base chance of inflicting 1 extra stack of “Arcana” on the target.

Lv. 10

Upgrade Materials

Lv. 1 to Lv. 10

Decadence, False Twilight

[Blast]

Energy Generated30

Toughness Break AoE: 20

Deals Wind DMG equal to 113% of Black Swan’s ATK to one designated enemy target and any adjacent targets. At the same time, there is a 100% base chance of inflicting 1 stack of “Arcana” on the target enemy and the adjacent targets. Additionally, there is a 100% base chance of reducing the DEF of the target enemy and the adjacent targets by 23.8%, lasting for 3 turn(s).

Lv. 15

Upgrade Materials

Lv. 1 to Lv. 15

Bliss of Otherworld's Embrace

[AoE]

Energy Generated5

Toughness Break Single Target: 30 / Blast: 15

Inflicts Epiphany on all enemies for 2 turn(s).
While afflicted with Epiphany, enemies take 30% increased DMG in their turn. Additionally, if enemies are also inflicted with Arcana, they are also considered to be simultaneously afflicted with Wind Shear, Bleed, Burn, and Shock. After Arcana causes DMG at the start of each turn, its stacks are not reset. This non-reset effect of Arcana stacks can be triggered up to 1 time(s) for the duration of Epiphany. And the trigger count resets when Epiphany is applied again.
Deals Wind DMG equal to 144% of Black Swan’s ATK to all enemies.

Lv. 15

Upgrade Materials

Lv. 1 to Lv. 15

Loom of Fate's Caprice

[Impair]

Energy Generated5

Every time an enemy target receives DoT at the start of each turn, there is a 73% base chance for it to be inflicted with 1 stack of Arcana.
While afflicted with Arcana, enemy targets receive Wind DoT equal to 300% of Black Swan’s ATK at the start of each turn. Each stack of Arcana increases this DMG multiplier by 15.0%. Then Arcana resets to 1 stack. Arcana can stack up to 50 times.
Only when Arcana causes DMG at the start of an enemy target’s turn, Black Swan triggers additional effects based on the number of Arcana stacks inflicted on the target:
When there are 3 or more Arcana stacks, deals Wind DoT equal to 225% of Black Swan’s ATK to adjacent targets, with a 73% base chance of inflicting 1 stack of Arcana on adjacent targets.
When there are 7 or more Arcana stacks, enables the current DoT dealt this time to ignore 20% of the target’s and adjacent targets’ DEF.

Lv. 15

Upgrade Materials

Lv. 1 to Lv. 15

From Façade to Vérité

Energy Generated20

After this Technique is used, there is a 150% base chance for each enemy to be inflicted with 1 stack of Arcana at the start of the next battle. For each successful application of Arcana on a target, inflicts another stack of Arcana on the same target. This process repeats until Arcana fails to be inflicted on this target. For each successive application of Arcana on a target, its base chance of success is equal to 50% of the base chance of the previous successful infliction of Arcana on that target.

Black Swan Traces

Total Trace Bonuses

ATK % +28%
ST Wind +14.4%
Hiệu Quả Hiệu Ứng +10%

Black Swan Eidolons

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Eidolon 1

While Black Swan is active in combat, enemies afflicted with Wind Shear, Bleed, Burn, or Shock will have their corresponding Wind, Physical, Fire, or Lightning RES respectively reduced by 25%.

Weep Not For Me, My Lamb

Eidolon 2

When an enemy target afflicted with “Arcana” is defeated, there is a 100% base chance of inflicting 6 stack(s) of “Arcana” on adjacent targets.

As Above, So Below

Eidolon 3

Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.

In Tears We Gift

Eidolon 4

While in the Epiphany state, enemy targets have their Effect RES reduced by 10% and Black Swan regenerates 8 Energy at the start of these targets’ turns or when they are defeated. This Energy Regeneration effect can only trigger up to 1 time while Epiphany lasts. The trigger count is reset when Epiphany is applied again.

Linnutee Flyway

Eidolon 5

Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.

Pantheon Merciful, Masses Pitiful

Eidolon 6

When an enemy target is attacked by Black Swan’s teammates, Black Swan has a 65% base chance of inflicting 1 stack of “Arcana” on the target.
Every time Black Swan inflicts “Arcana” on an enemy target, there is a 50% fixed chance to additionally increase the number of “Arcana” stacked this time by 1.

Stats Base

Lv. 80

HP Base—
ATK Base—
DEF Base—
SPD—
Taunt—

Ascension Materials

20304050607080

About Black Swan

Species: Memetic Entity
Path story: Remembrance
World: Cosmic
Signature Light Cone: Reforged Remembrance
Debut Banner: Ripples in Reflection
Release Date: 2024-02-06
Version: introduced in 1.0, playable from 2.0

Faction

Garden of Recollection

Relatives

Unnamed mother

EN Arryn Zech

CN Yang Menglu (杨梦露)

JP Nabatame Hitomi (生天目仁美)

KR Kim Ha-young (김하영)

Black Swan FAQ

Is Black Swan worth pulling?

Yes, if you want a big upgrade for your DoT team, especially if you already have Kafka. She deals steady damage while also lowering DEF and raising the whole team's DMG.

Does Black Swan need Kafka?

Not strictly. There is an all 4-star team with Serval, Asta and Natasha. But for her strongest performance she still wants Kafka, and ideally Hysilens as well.

How much Effect Hit Rate does Black Swan need?

120%. That is the point where Candleflame's Portent reaches its maximum 72% DMG boost for the whole team. Once you have it, move on to SPD and ATK%.

What Light Cone should Black Swan use without her signature?

is a very solid 4-star, and is also good. Other options are or Before the Tutorial Mission Starts, both 4-stars.

Which Eidolon should you stop at?

E1 is the first one to aim for. It lowers the matching RES of enemies afflicted with the corresponding DoT by 25%, which is a big boost for the whole team.