Erudition
Lightning4★Released: 30/04/2025 · v3.2 “How can a rock star not have that kind of confidence?”
Serval is a 4-star Lightning Erudition character who deals damage by spreading Shock on enemies and then stretching it out with her Ultimate. She does fine early in the game, but she is weak as a solo carry in hard content. Right now, the best reason to build her is as a sub-DPS for The Herta when you have no other option.
A good fit if you have The Herta and are short on a partner for her, or if you are a new player who needs an AoE Lightning DPS for the early game. If your Serval is at low Eidolons, don't expect her to work as the main DPS in hard content.
Even though Serval deals damage over time through Shock, you build her like a normal CRIT damage dealer. Focus on CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG and ATK, because the extra hit from her Talent can also land a CRIT.
An Instant Before A Gaze
Best
Before Dawn
Great
Night on the Milky Way
Great
Eternal Calculus
Good
Geniuses' Repose
Good
Go for CRIT Rate on the Body first, though CRIT DMG works too. SPD or ATK% are both fine on the Feet, but with Glamoth, SPD makes it easier to hit the requirement. Lightning DMG Boost comes first on the Planar Sphere, with ATK% as a fallback. Take ATK% on the Link Rope.
CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG matter about the same. Only get enough SPD to reach your breakpoint, then put everything else into CRIT.
Her Skill, Talent and Ultimate are all worth leveling early. Her Skill is her main way to apply Shock, her Talent deals Additional DMG to every Shocked enemy, and her Ultimate hits hard while also extending Shock. Basic ATK goes last since you mostly use it to get Skill Points back.
Rock 'n' Roll matters most: it raises her Skill's base chance to Shock by 20%, up to 100%. With it, about 67% Effect Hit Rate is enough for Shock to always land.
Serval leans on her Eidolons more than most characters. E2 regenerates 4 Energy every time her Talent deals Additional DMG, so she can use her Ultimate over and over. E4 gives her Ultimate a 100% base chance to Shock any enemies not already Shocked, which takes a lot of pressure off your Effect Hit Rate. E6 makes her deal 30% more DMG to Shocked enemies.
This build gives up most of Serval's own damage so she acts fast and uses her Ultimate constantly, building stacks for The Herta and filling up The Herta's Ultimate. Serval needs E2 for this to work, because she relies on the Energy she gets from Shocked enemies.
Passkey
Best
Effect Hit Rate on the Body so Shock lands reliably, and Energy Regeneration Rate on the Link Rope so her Ultimate comes up faster. SPD on the Feet is a given, since more turns means more Ultimates. Take Lightning DMG Boost on the Planar Sphere.
For this build, the two stats that really matter are SPD and Effect Hit Rate: get SPD as close to 160 as you can, and reach 67% Effect Hit Rate so Shock always lands.
This is where Serval does her best work today. She uses her Ultimate over and over to build stacks for The Herta and fill up The Herta's Ultimate Energy. Give Serval Passkey, an Effect Hit Rate Body and an Energy Regeneration Rate Link Rope so she can use her Ultimate as often as possible.
Serval puts Shock on enemies with her Skill and keeps it on them with her Ultimate, while Kafka's Skill makes the Shock trigger. Ruan Mei boosts Serval's Break Efficiency and makes broken enemies take longer to recover.
This team handles both single targets and groups of enemies. Serval covers the splash damage and Shock, and Dan Heng deals with the tankier enemies. Trailblazer (Preservation) and Natasha keep the whole team alive.
Serval's best partner right now. Serval uses her Ultimate constantly to build stacks and Energy for The Herta, in exchange for giving up most of her own damage.
The support in The Herta team alongside Serval.
Kafka's Skill makes the Shock that Serval spreads on enemies trigger.
Boosts Serval's Break Efficiency and makes broken enemies take longer to recover.
Buffs Serval and gives her extra actions.
Buffs Serval and gives her extra actions.
Raises Serval's ATK and CRIT DMG and gives her extra actions.
Serval's Ultimate is cheap, so she can use it back to back and break enemy Toughness very quickly. That makes her a solid pick for Super Break teams.
Restores Energy and raises ATK, so Serval gets her Ultimate sooner.
Heals the whole team and restores Energy, so Serval can keep using her Ultimate steadily.
A big part of Serval's damage comes from her Talent, Galvanic Chords: after she attacks, every enemy that is Shocked takes an extra hit of Additional Lightning DMG. It even triggers on enemies you didn't hit directly, and it can CRIT. So your main job is to get Shock on as many enemies as possible with her Skill, Lightning Flash.
Her Ultimate, Here Comes the Mechanical Fever, hits all enemies and extends every Shock already on them by 2 turns, including Shock that Serval didn't apply herself. It only costs 100 Energy, so you can use it often. The trick is to use it on the turn the Shock on enemies is about to run out.
Her Skill only has an 80% base chance to Shock, so before you unlock the Rock 'n' Roll Trace it misses quite often. Her Skill also only hits the main target and the enemies next to it, so against 4 to 5 enemies she has trouble covering everyone in Shock. The good news is that once Shock is on, her Ultimate keeps it there fairly easily. Her Technique, Good Night, Belobog, also has a 100% base chance to Shock every enemy once the battle starts, lasting 3 turns.
Her Mania Trace raises Serval's ATK by 20% for 2 turns after she defeats an enemy. When you can, finish off an enemy first and then use her Ultimate so it gets the full ATK boost.
Deals Lightning DMG equal to 140% of Serval’s ATK to one designated enemy.
Deals Lightning DMG equal to 175% of Serval’s ATK to one designated enemy and Lightning DMG equal to 75% of Serval’s ATK to enemies adjacent to it, with a 80% base chance for enemies hit to become Shocked for 2 turn(s).
While Shocked, enemies take Lightning DoT equal to 130% of Serval’s ATK at the beginning of each turn.
Deals Lightning DMG equal to 216% of Serval’s ATK to all enemies. Enemies already Shocked will extend the duration of their Shock state by 2 turn(s).
After Serval attacks, deals Lightning Additional DMG equal to 90% of Serval’s ATK to all Shocked enemies.
Immediately attacks the enemy. After entering battle, deals Lightning DMG equal to 50% of Serval’s ATK to a random enemy, with a 100% base chance for all enemies to become Shocked for 3 turn(s).
While Shocked, enemies will take Lightning DoT equal to 50% of Serval’s ATK at the beginning of each turn.
Basic ATK deals Lightning DMG equal to 60% of Basic ATK DMG to a random target adjacent to the target enemy.
Every time Serval’s Talent is triggered to deal Additional DMG, she regenerates 4 Energy.
Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.
Ultimate has a 100% base chance to apply Shock to any enemies not currently Shocked. This Shock has the same effects as the one applied by Skill.
Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Serval deals 30% more DMG to Shocked enemies.
Zenless Zone Zero
