Kaveh FAQ

Credits:

• redd#0004 - Lead, Author (Talents, Combos, Artifacts, Weapons, Team Building), Calcs (Artifacts, Weapons)
• FeatherLatte#0974 - Author (Overview), Organizing
• jd baby#6541 - Author (Constellation)
• sigurd#3854 - Author (Energy Recharge Requirement)
• Athena#2444 - Consultation
• jrm.spirit#2671 - Framecounting
• Mastersheet Template - kol#1593, FeatherLatte#0974

For all Kaveh Calcs you can reference: Kaveh Mastersheet by Redd and jd and Kaveh Frames Mastersheet by jrm.spirit

Pre-TC is volatile and, as always, perpetually subject to change until release (and sometimes later!). Please note that these are theoretical suggestions. Everything described in this FAQ is a good faith analysis based on the little information about the character’s kit that we know. Team calcs, additionally, are not established yet, and as with everything in TC, the content in this FAQ should be taken with a grain of salt.

Character Overview

Authored by Latte

Kaveh is a Dendro on-field, supportive driver/enabler that specializes in Bloom teams. His kit gives him the ability to instantly rupture Dendro Cores, buff said Rupture DMG, and heal himself when hit by ensuing explosions.

As indicated by his kit, Kaveh works best in Bloom teams. If not paired with Nilou, Kaveh's teams are not limited to Dendro and Hydro units only, which allows for more team variety. During his Burst duration, he can grant himself valuable Interruption Resistance and respectable self-healing, setting him apart from existing Dendro drivers.

Talents

Authored by redd

Leveling priority (Bloom teams): Elemental Burst > Normal Attack > Elemental Skill

Leveling priority (Non-Bloom teams): Normal Attack > Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst

The Bloom Reaction DMG Bonus that Kaveh provides scales with his Elemental Burst’s Talent level. It’s a miniscule increase for his personal damage, but the team DPS you gain makes his Burst your first talent priority. At Talent Level 9, this translates to 8% more Bloom DMG, assuming the trigger has 800 EM. However, this DMG Bonus does not apply to Hyperbloom, Burgeon, or Spread, so if you plan to play such teams, his Burst can be prioritized last. Here is a look at how much effective EM Kaveh’s buff equates to at Talent Level 9:

Talent Overview

Normal Attacks: Schematic Setup

Aside from the funny animations, Kaveh’s Normal and Charged Attacks aren’t particularly impressive. They do gain a Dendro Infusion after using his Burst, though.

Elemental Skill: Artistic Ingenuity [6s CD]

A Skill cast generates two Dendro Particles and detonates all Dendro Cores in its radius, triggering Bloom instantly. Note that Kaveh does not claim ownership of the Blooms – whoever generated the Dendro Core still retains ownership.

Elemental Burst: Painted Dome [20s CD] [80 Energy]

The most important part of Kaveh’s kit. Upon cast, all Dendro Cores are ruptured immediately (similar to his Elemental Skill). Kaveh’s Burst grants him two important features: his Normal Attacks gain a Dendro Infusion, and the entire team gains a Bloom Reaction DMG Bonus. Additionally, he gains Interruption Resistance. Bear in mind that these effects are only active while Kaveh is on-field, and will be canceled if you swap out. Though his kit states that these effects have a duration of 12s, it’s possible to extend this via hitlag. The high Energy Cost and the fact that most of Kaveh’s utilities are locked behind his Burst does reduce his flexibility.

Ascension 1 Passive: An Architect’s Undertaking

Kaveh regenerates HP based off 300% of his EM every time he is damaged by Bloom, Burgeon, or Hyperbloom. With 800 EM and C1, Kaveh heals himself for 3000 HP. Each 100 points of EM equals 375 HP worth of healing (at C1). This Passive can be triggered once every 0.5s, which conveniently aligns with Bloom, Burgeon, and Hyperbloom’s self-damage cooldowns, but note that it may be difficult to get hit by your own Hyperblooms due to its small AoE. This Talent is a significant boon to Kaveh’s survivability and makes EM more valuable; unfortunately, it does not heal the rest of the team.

Ascension 4 Passive: A Craftsman’s Curious Conceptions

After using Kaveh’s Elemental Burst, each Normal, Charged, or Plunge Attack increases his EM by 25 for up to a maximum of 4 stacks. An easy boost to healing and Bloom damage. This effect is cleared after Kaveh leaves the field.

Overworld Passive: The Art of Budgeting

Unsurprisingly, our architect’s passive has to do with the Serenitea Pot: Kaveh refunds a portion of your materials when crafting Landscape, Building, and Courtyard-type Furnishings. Yoimiya has a similar passive, but for different Furnishing types. Rejoice, Serenitea Pot players!

Constellations

Authored by jd

C1 - Sublime Salutations

• Within 3s after using Artistic Ingenuity, Kaveh's Dendro RES and Incoming Healing Bonus will be increased by 50% and 25% respectively.

On paper, this Constellation is a straightforward yet significant buff to Kaveh’s survivability despite its 50% uptime. The main drawback of Bloom teams is self-inflicted damage, but Kaveh has the ability to shrug off this damage with his healing (as long as his HP isn’t low enough to straight-out die from the Cores first).

However, this Constellation is a hidden gem, when building Ocean-Hued Clam (OHC). With C1, 4PC OHC becomes even better to put on Kaveh. More details are given in the artifact section. With OHC, this Constellation becomes one of Kaveh’s biggest personal damage boosts despite not capping out on each bubble.

DPS increase from C0 : 3.82% (with OHC, which we will include from here on out)

Rating: 2.5/5

C2 - Grace of Royal Roads

• Kaveh's Normal Attack SPD increases by 15% during Painted Dome.

The 15% increase provides little for Kaveh. With hitlag, it is possible to sneak in only one extra Normal Attack, which is underwhelming to say the least. Without, you could get three extra Normal Attacks, but Kaveh’s power isn’t really in his Normal Attack damage anyways, making this buff next to non-existent. DPS increase from C1 : 0.75%

DPS increase from C0 : 4.61%

Rating: 1/5

C3 - Profferings of Dur Untash

• Increases the Level of Painted Dome by 3.

Kaveh’s Burst holds great priority given its boost to Bloom damage, but having higher Talent levels increases that boost marginally. You only get about an extra 2% per Talent level, so you get an extra 8% Bloom DMG Bonus in total going from Talent Level 9 to 12. The bonus is quite small in the grand scheme of things, but it won’t hurt you. It is not recommended to aim for this constellation in particular.

DPS increase from C2 : 1.07%

DPS increase from C0 : 5.72%

Rating : 2/5

C4 - Feast of Apadana

• Dendro Cores created from Bloom reactions Kaveh triggers will deal 60% more DMG when they burst.

This constellation gives a straight bonus to Kaveh’s Bloom DMG, which is helpful if you intend on running him as a main DPS or driver. Unfortunately, he might still struggle to keep up with other Bloom DPS, since his own multipliers are quite low. Kaveh’s bonus will not apply to Burgeon or Hyperblooms, so his choice of teammates is limited if you want to take advantage of this. Kaveh will need a decent amount of ownership in order to do the best with this bonus.

DPS increase from C3 : 5.84%

DPS increase from C0 : 11.90%

Rating: 2/5

C5 - Treasures of Bonkhanak

• Increases the Level of Artistic Ingenuity by 3.

Unfortunately, the damage of the Skill itself is quite low, since most of Kaveh’s damage comes from his Normal Attacks and/or Blooms. This means that you won’t be getting much in terms of extra damage.

DPS increase from C4 : 0.92%

DPS increase from C0 : 12.93%

Rating: 1/5

C6 - Pairidaeza's Dreams

• When Kaveh's Normal, Charged, or Plunging Attacks hit opponents during Painted Dome, it will unleash Pairidaeza's Light upon the opponent's position, dealing 61.8% of Kaveh's ATK as AoE Dendro DMG and causing all Dendro Cores within that AoE to burst. This effect can be triggered once every 3s.

C6 gives Kaveh 3-4 more detonations and Dendro application, making it a fairly valuable constellation on Bloom teams. Because Kaveh forces multiple Blooms to rupture at once, you may get less value than you’re hoping for from his Skill usage if you have more than two Cores from a single owner. His Elemental Skill is on a 6 second cooldown, meaning that Pairidaeza’s Light can sneak in some extra forced Core explosions while waiting. In Bloom comps, this extra frontloaded damage is appreciated, but not so useful in Nilou teams where Blooms instantly explode. Furthermore, C6 procs can prematurely rupture your Hyperblooms and Burgeons, possibly resulting in lower team DPS (although the extra Bloom damage might mitigate this DPS loss). Regardless, you get more AoE Dendro application with this constellation, which is useful on most teams.

The Pairidaeza’s Light damage itself is nothing to write home about in a standard EM-centric build. Even if you reached 2000 ATK, you’d only get about 1200 damage from it, which is pitiful next to even one extra Bloom.

DPS increase from C5 : 1.22%

DPS increase from C0 : 14.31%

Rating 3/5

Combos

Authored by redd

Kaveh’s general rotation will look like so:

Setup with supports > Kaveh Skill > Finish setup with supports > Kaveh Burst > N3 Dash Spam + 2 Skill Cast (~12s)

General notes:

• Try to get in three Skill casts to manage Kaveh’s Energy. To do this, cast one Skill around the start of your rotation. Cast the other two during Kaveh’s Burst.
• N3 Dash is his best Normal Attack combo as it has the highest MVs and Dendro application.
• Avoid casting Burst > Skill or Skill > Burst in quick succession. If you Burst and rupture your Dendro Cores, you won’t have anything to detonate if you use your Skill right away!
• Make sure there are Dendro Cores in the radius to make sure your Burst/Skill actually detonates them.
• Avoid spending too much time on Kaveh – your Hydro/Electro/Pyro application and buffs will expire eventually.

Energy Recharge Requirement

Kaveh’s Skill generates two Dendro Particles and has a cooldown of 6s. He generally is on-field for most of the rotation and uses his Elemental Skill three times, but due to his 80 Burst Cost, he struggles to Burst every rotation. However, Bursting every other rotation is detrimental to damage, so he’ll likely need to hold an ER Sands or an ER weapon. It is worth noting that you need 34% to 53% CRIT Rate to reliably proc Favonius twice at R5 and R3 respectively. (4s/6s interval to get both proc at R3/R5 with around 6 hits/8 hits during the interval)

The table below outlines his approximate ER Requirements averaged over different teams using safe mode and hp threshold particles (KQM standards) in single target.

For a more accurate approximation of his requirements for your rotation, please use the Energy Recharge calculator linked here.

Artifacts

Authored by redd

Artifacts Stats

Sands of Eon: ER% or EM

Goblet of Eonothem: EM

Circlet of Logos: EM

ER or ATK/DMG/CRIT also work, although not necessarily recommended.

Kaveh’s damage scales off ATK, whereas his reaction damage and healing depend on EM. For general purposes, ER or EM/EM/EM are the recommended mainstats. In Bloom teams, an EM build maximizes his healing while not being far off from other main stat combinations. Technically, ER or ATK/DMG/CRIT can be his best main stats in scenarios where he has little to no reaction ownership, but Kaveh’s personal damage outside of Bloom DMG is very minor. Optimizing his damage weakens his survivability in exchange for negligible gains to team DPS. Having better survivability on Kaveh is especially important if there’s no other healer and/or he’s played on a Nilou team. Plus, the gap between the two combinations narrows the more Bloom ownership he gets.

Substats: ER (until ER requirements are met) > CRIT Rate (if using Favonius Greatsword) > EM >= ATK% >= CRIT

ER: Most of Kaveh’s utilities are locked behind his Elemental Burst. Needless to say, having enough ER to Burst every rotation is first priority. Check the above section or use an ER calculator to determine how much ER you’ll need.

EM: EM is helpful for both reaction damage and Kaveh's healing. With C1 active, he needs about 300-400 EM to out-heal Blooms, Bountiful Blooms, or Burgeons triggered by a teammate with 1000 EM. Since C1 only has about 50% uptime, expect to build at least 500-600 EM. In fact, you'll probably even want more EM since enemies will also be damaging you or if Kaveh is C0. If you're already running a healer, EM isn't as necessary. Check the mastersheet for more details on EM thresholds.

ATK%/CRIT: Kaveh tends to be ATK deficient to the point that ATK% rolls can be better than CRIT ones. CRIT can be better once you have enough ATK and if you’re using Favonius Greatsword — use optimizer if you’re unsure.

Artifacts Set

4PC Ocean-hued Clam:

Even at C0, OHC competes for Kaveh’s BiS along with 4PC Deepwood Memories, and gets even better at C1. Because his DPS profile isn’t so great, the extra damage OHC brings is much appreciated, along with the additional healing. OHC works best in Bloom teams where Kaveh can easily trigger his A1 Passive, and to a lesser extent, Burgeon teams as well. Based on the wording, Kaveh must be damaged by Dendro Cores to heal himself, so shields will nullify his A1 effect. Hyperblooms have small AoE and don’t always hit the user, meaning Kaveh’s A1 cannot reliably be triggered in such teams. And of course, in pure Quicken comps, there are no Dendro Cores that can proc this Passive, rendering OHC useless.

4PC Deepwood Memories (DW):

A generalist support set — it is particularly good if Kaveh is the only Dendro character and no one else can hold it. Because his teams are centered around Dendro, the 30% Dendro RES Shred is invaluable, and the 2pc is also useful. With a 6s CD on his Elemental Skill, it is feasible for him to maintain full uptime on the 4PC effect. Players should be conscious about their rotations and cast Kaveh’s Skill every 6-8s, otherwise there will be gaps in the 4PC uptime. Even if Kaveh isn’t holding this set, make sure another teammate is — you absolutely want this set for all Dendro teams!

4PC Instructor:

Although Instructor is only a 4-star set, its party-wide 120 EM share is highly desired in Kaveh’s teams. Due to its low rarity, artifact stats are lower, but Kaveh’s damage is low to begin with. Sacrificing his DPS output in exchange for increasing his team’s damage is a worthwhile trade (Kaveh also benefits from the 2pc and 4PC effect). What’s problematic is that uptime on the 4PC effect may suffer, because Kaveh typically does not trigger many reactions in his teams.

2pc Mix/Match (18% ATK/20% ER/15% Dendro DMG/80 EM):

Transitionary sets. The best combination depends on the substats and what team you’re playing, but 20% ER is almost always useful.

4PC Flower of Paradise Lost (FoPL):

This set should only be considered if Kaveh is triggering a high to moderate amount of Blooms (e.g teams with high Hydro application and/or low Dendro application or if Kaveh is the only Dendro character). In such scenarios, FoPL is quite strong.

4PC Gilded Dreams:

Like 4pc FoPL, this set isn’t particularly noteworthy unless Kaveh has a high to moderate ownership of Blooms. It’s slightly worse than 4pc FoPL, and could have uptime issues. On the contrary, it does provide better healing, and you’ll likely have a set if you were already farming DW.

Weapons

Authored by redd

Weapon rankings depend on how many reactions Kaveh procs. As a general rule, EM-based weapons become better the more Blooms Kaveh can trigger and also provide stronger heals. In low Bloom scenarios, ATK and CRIT weapons tend to overshadow their EM counterparts.

5 ★ Options

Skyward Pride

One of Kaveh’s better 5-star options, regardless of what team he plays in. He usually lacks in ATK% and DMG%, making Skyward Pride’s high Base ATK and DMG% passive particularly valuable in addition to its ER substat.

Other 5 ★ Weapons

All other 5-star Claymores act as a fat stat stick and perform similarly to each other. Remember that Kaveh’s DPS output is poor — it is perfectly fine to not optimize his damage and give a much needed DPS Claymore to another character, and instead use a 4-star Greatsword on Kaveh.

4 ★ Options

Makhaira Aquamarine

A great 4-star Claymore even at R1 — Kaveh takes advantage of every aspect of this weapon, and it even matches him! The more refinements and Blooms Kaveh get, the better it becomes. Its party-wide Flat ATK buff is also appreciated, although not that important on Bloom/Burgeon/Hyperbloom comps. On the flipside, Makhaira isn’t all that amazing when Kaveh is driving Burgeon or Hyperbloom teams.

Favonius Greatsword

This Greatsword has considerable synergy with Kaveh, especially if his ER needs are high and he is the only Dendro unit on the team. Because he is on-field for quite a while, he can trigger the weapon passive 2-3 times per rotation, drastically reducing both his own ER requirements and his teammates’. Although Favonius Greatsword lacks offensive capabilities, this is a trivial problem since Kaveh’s base damage isn’t high in the first place.

Mailed Flower (R5)

Performs slightly worse than Makhaira Aquamarine and slightly better than Favonius Greatsword, but doesn’t have any of their team utility. Still, it is a good stat stick for a free weapon, providing high EM and some ATK% on the side to boot. You only need to cast your Elemental Skill every 8s to maintain the passive, which is not a problem for Kaveh.

Forest Regalia

A decent F2P weapon, especially when Kaveh has moderate Bloom ownership, otherwise, the EM passive loses value. Even if another teammate can pick up the Leaf to gain the EM bonus, getting Kaveh to trigger it in the first place can be difficult, and you may have to adjust your rotation to do so. Some players also find picking up the Leaf a nuisance, making it even less desirable.

Rainslasher

In most of Kaveh’s teams, Rainslasher’s passive is inactive, making it a worse stat stick than Mailed Flower and Makhaira Aquamarine while not providing any utility like Forest Regalia and Favonius Greatsword. However, if playing Kaveh as solo Dendro in a Bloom team, he appreciates the EM substat and the passive has considerably better uptime.

Katsuragikiri Nagamasa

Like Favonius Greatsword, this Claymore can single-handedly take care of most (if not all) of Kaveh’s ER needs without sacrificing too much damage. While it is the higher DPS option of the two, it lacks the ability to battery the rest of the team. Note that although Kaveh can proc the passive up to two times per rotation (24 Flat Energy at R5, 12 at R1), his E casts will likely not be in perfect 10s intervals, so it’s possible the passive only triggers once per rotation. This is particularly problematic at lower refinements and higher ER requirements, and can disrupt the flow of your rotations.

Team Building

Authored by redd

Kaveh is an on-field Dendro unit with self-healing and Interruption Resistance, allowing him to drive virtually any Dendro-based team. In particular, he will shine in Bloom teams, which is what his kit specializes in. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing teammates for Kaveh:

• Because of his long field time, his teammates are off-field units.
• He only heals himself, not his teammates. For some people this is more than enough, but for others you might still want an extra healer.
• He has high ER needs, which incentivizes bringing a second Dendro unit. He can still play as a solo Dendro, but you’ll have to invest in a lot of ER (check part 5: ER Requirement for more details)

Bloom

Kaveh | Hydro | Hydro | Dendro or Flex

Example Team: Kaveh/Xingqiu/Kokomi/Nahida

Example Team 2: Kaveh/Yelan/Ayato/Kazuha

Kaveh’s utilities are geared towards Bloom teams — he can drive, heal himself, buff Blooms, and instantly detonate Cores, giving him a special spot in such teams. Due to Bloom’s mechanics, it’ll often be the Hydro unit(s) triggering them. As such, they usually favour EM builds, but their base Hydro DMG may be high enough that they still appreciate ATK/CRIT stats. Depending on how much Hydro and Dendro application you have, Kaveh still claims ownership of a few Dendro Cores here and there. The 4th slot can be a Dendro unit to supply extra Elemental application, contribute to Dendro Resonance, and battery Kaveh. Alternatively, you can use a Flex unit such as Kazuha or Sucrose to provide grouping and buffs. Bear in mind that without a second Dendro character, Kaveh becomes Energy-deficient and he becomes the one triggering Blooms. You can choose to play him as a solo Dendro, but he won’t be generating many Blooms anyway due to his mild Dendro application (especially before C6). It is recommended to play Bloom compositions in AoE stages.

Nilou Bloom Variant

Kaveh | Nilou | Hydro | Dendro

• Example Team: Kaveh/Nilou/Xingqiu/Baizhu

• Example Team 2: Kaveh/Nilou/Yelan/Xingqiu

While reading Kaveh’s kit, did you ever think: “Wait, isn’t this just Dendro Nilou?” Well, you’re not entirely wrong — both units buff Blooms and can instantly rupture them, although Kaveh does it worse. Their overlapping utilities make Kaveh redundant; nonetheless, he is still a fine Dendro option to slot into Nilou teams. He is an adequate driver, has strong personal survivability, and can still buff Bountiful Blooms. Building Nilou teams is similar to building a regular Bloom team, except you cannot use any units that aren’t Dendro or Hydro. As usual, Nilou runs full HP and your other Hydro character runs EM. Due to the abundance of Bountiful Blooms exploding, you’ll also want to run EM on Kaveh to improve his healing. You might even want to use a healer if his healing isn’t enough for you. Just like regular Bloom teams, Nilou Bloom excels in AoE chambers.

What about Fridge?

Contrary to what the last week of beta changes said, testing shows that Kaveh’s Normal Attacks still Shatter, and with it our Fridge dreams are also shattered.

Burgeon & Hyperbloom

Burgeon: Kaveh | Hydro | Pyro | Flex

• Example Team: Kaveh/Xingqiu/Thoma/Bennett

• Example Team 2: Kaveh/Xingqiu/Kazuha/Bennett

Hyperbloom: Kaveh | Hydro | Electro | Flex

• Example Team: Kaveh/Xingqiu/Raiden/Ayato

• Example Team 2: Kaveh/Xingqiu/Kuki/Nahida

Although Kaveh’s Burst only buffs Blooms, his self-healing and Interruption Resistance makes him a comfortable driver for both Burgeon and Hyperbloom teams, especially the former where self-damage is an issue. His detonations can steal Burgeons and Hyperbloom procs, but it may be possible to delay your Skill and Burst casts to minimize this problem. Ideally, you’ll be getting both Bloom and Hyperbloom/Burgeon damage. On the other hand, his C6 procs cannot be controlled unless you literally don’t use his Normal Attacks at all. There’s a chance that C6 is a DPS loss, but in-game testing will have to be done to ascertain this. Even so, the extra Bloom damage may partially compensate for the loss of Hyperblooms/Burgeons.

Teammates

Hydro: Xingqiu, Yelan, Kokomi, Ayato, Nilou, Barbara

Dendro: Nahida, Dendro Traveler, Collei, Yaoyao, Baizhu

Pyro (Burgeon Teams): Thoma, Dehya

Electro (Hyperbloom Teams): Raiden, Kuki

Flex Slots: Kazuha, Sucrose, Heizou, Venti, Bennett, Zhongli (Based off the wording, Kaveh’s A1 will not trigger with a shield)