Jiaoqiu Quick Guide

Updated for Version 2.5

Note that the information given may change if new discoveries are made. More extensive testing is in progress.

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Introduction

Jiaoqiu is a 5★ Fire Nihility character in Honkai: Star Rail who specializes in applying high uptime Vulnerability debuffs and Fire DoT. He is the premier Acheron support, capable of inflicting debuffs during both his own turns and enemy actions, but can also be used as a DoT unit and generic debuffer. This quick guide will help you cook up his best Relics, Light Cones, teams, synergies, and more!

New Content

Lushaka, the Sunken Seas

An excellent option to buff one teammate’s ATK. The Energy Regeneration Rate is not useful.

Character Overview

Playstyles

Jiaoqiu’s top priority is to maintain his Ultimate’s uptime and prevent his debuffs from expiring. Without his Zone, enemies can completely lose Ashen Roast if they act twice in a row. 

If he is played with teams that do not rely on his Ultimate (e.g., in DoT teams), after an initial Skill to ramp up stacks, he can just use Basic ATKs.

Traces

Note: Trace levels shown are 1/10/12 (Basic ATK 1/6/7).

Trace Priority

Jiaoqiu’s Talent should be prioritized, as it is his main source of both damage amplification and personal damage.

His Ultimate provides some Ultimate DMG Vulnerability, which is helpful for Ultimate-reliant characters such as Acheron and Argenti. Upgrading it also improves the base chance for enemy-turn Ashen Roast application.

Eidolons

Builds

Pure Debuffer Build

This build focuses on Jiaoqiu’s Vulnerability debuffs and disregards his Fire DoT.

Light Cones

Those Many Springs	Jiaoqiu’s top Light Cone in general. It provides a hefty 60% Effect Hit Rate increase as well as some extra Vulnerability. It is possible to both inflict “Unarmored” and upgrade it to the “Cornered” state in one attack.
Solitary Healing	The top option for wave-based game modes with Acheron, freely available from Herta’s Store. Its Energy regeneration allows Jiaoqiu to spam his Ultimate to reset his enemy-turn trigger quota and apply another debuff instance. It particularly shines in Pure Fiction where there are many low Effect RES enemies. However, in scenarios with fewer enemies, he will not receive much (if any) benefit, and Solitary Healing’s lack of Effect Hit Rate will become much more detrimental.
Incessant Rain	The extra 24% Effect Hit Rate makes building Jiaoqiu a bit easier, and the extra Vulnerability is the cherry on top. However, Incessant Rain’s Vulnerability debuff is both weaker than Those Many Springs’ and can only apply to one target at a time, so there is no reason to pull it specifically for Jiaoqiu.
Before the Tutorial Mission Starts	Although Jiaoqiu cannot apply DEF Reduction on his own, he can take advantage of external sources of DEF Reduction to regenerate Energy. Its 40% Effect Hit Rate stat is also no joke. Jiaoqiu can be run fully SP positive with full Zone uptime if he attacks DEF-reduced enemies at least three times per Ultimate. His Ultimate can trigger the Energy regeneration as well.
Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat	In teams where the Ashen Roast application from Jiaoqiu’s Ultimate is not needed, this Light Cone is an excellent choice for damage output. As this Light Cone offers no Effect Hit Rate, using Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat makes it impossible to reach Jiaoqiu’s high Effect Hit Rate goals. This can result in inconsistent application of “Ashen Roast” stacks during enemy turns, which may be an inconvenience in some teams. At lower superimpositions, you will need to build more than 67% Effect Hit Rate to guarantee the DEF Reduction from this Light Cone.
Eyes of the Prey	An Effect Hit Rate stat stick.

Relics

Relic Sets

2-Pc Messenger Traversing Hackerspace / Any

Most Relic Sets do not provide useful effects for Jiaoqiu other than Messenger’s SPD. Survivability options such as Guard of Wuthering Snow, Longevous Disciple, and Knight of Purity Palace can be useful, but substats are more important than set effects.

Planar Ornaments

Sprightly Vonwacq	Vonwacq can help Jiaoqiu deploy his Zone before any allies or enemies take action.  The 5% ERR is insignificant.
Supportive Planar Ornaments	If Jiaoqiu does not need Vonwacq, a team buff is the next-best option.  Options include Fleet of the Ageless, Broken Keel, Penacony, Land of the Dreams, and Lushaka, the Sunken Seas.

Stats

Main Stats

Body	Boots	Sphere	Rope
Effect Hit Rate	SPD	HP% / DEF%	Energy Regeneration Rate

Substats

Effect Hit Rate (until target value) > SPD > HP% = DEF% > Effect RES

How Much Effect Hit Rate?

With Signature Light Cone	With Acheron	Other
160–178%	140–178%	67%

Although Jiaoqiu needs 177.78% Effect Hit Rate to guarantee Ashen Roast application against enemies with 40% Effect RES, lower thresholds are often acceptable in practice because those enemies are relatively uncommon, and all of the relevant Bosses act twice per turn.

With Those Many Springs, aim for 160% Effect Hit Rate, as you want to inflict “Unarmored” and then upgrade it to the “Cornered” state in the same attack. This is not difficult due to its 60% Effect Hit Rate bonus.

For Acheron teams, 140% Effect Hit Rate guarantees application against most enemies, and is a comfortably high chance against enemies with 40% Effect RES. 

In teams without Acheron, it’s possible to run lower Effect Hit Rate, as it is easy to maintain 5 stacks without Jiaoqiu’s Ultimate. In this case, 67% Effect Hit Rate is sufficient unless you need additional Effect Hit Rate for a Light Cone debuff.

DoT Support Build

This build focuses on maximizing Jiaoqiu’s Fire DoT. It is less effective without Jiaoqiu’s signature Light Cone due to its Effect Hit Rate, SPD, and ATK requirements.

Light Cones

Those Many Springs	Jiaoqiu’s top Light Cone for DoT. The 60% Effect Hit Rate makes it much easier for Jiaoqiu to build ATK, and the added Vulnerability is good for Jiaoqiu and his teammates.
Light Cones for Personal Damage	Eyes of the Prey and Reforged Remembrance both provide 40% EHR and maximize Jiaoqiu’s personal DoT, but do not help his teammates. Reforged Remembrance is better than Eyes of the Prey.
Incessant Rain	In addition to its moderate Effect Hit Rate stat, the Vulnerability debuff can help teamwide damage. It can only be applied on one enemy at a time and only lasts for one turn, which limits its usefulness in AoE scenarios, but it is a powerful option nonetheless.
It’s Showtime / Good Night and Sleep Well	These Light Cones have an ample amount of damage stats to make up for their lack of Effect Hit Rate.
Before the Tutorial Mission Starts	Jiaoqiu does not need Ultimate uptime if he’s built for DoT, but if nothing else is available, Before the Tutorial Mission Starts significantly reduces the number of Effect Hit Rate substats you need to chase down.
Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat	If your only option is Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat, you should consider the Pure Debuffer build instead.

Relics

Relic Sets

4-Pc Prisoner in Deep Confinement	Best option for DoT Jiaoqiu.
Any Offensive 2-Pc Combinations	If your 4-Pc Prisoner set is lacking or nonexistent, 2-Pc sets with good substats will suffice. Sets that give DMG% bonuses (Pioneer Divers of Dead Waters, Firesmith of Lava-Forging) are more useful than sets that grant ATK (The Wind-Soaring Valorous, Prisoner in Deep Confinement, Musketeer of Wild Wheat, and Messenger Traversing Hackerspace).

Planar Ornaments

Firmament Frontline: Glamoth	Although reaching 160 SPD is a nice bonus, even at only 135 SPD, Glamoth performs well due to its DMG Boost. Jiaoqiu always prefers DMG% over ATK due to his A4 Bonus Ability.
Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise	Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise’s extra Effect Hit Rate can be useful to ease the 140% Effect Hit Rate requirement.
Space Sealing Station	Although the ATK% is not as useful as the DMG% from Glamoth, Space Sealing Station can still work in a pinch.
Fleet of The Ageless / Lushaka, the Sunken Seas	Sacrificing personal damage to increase teammates’ ATK is a valid option.

Stats

Main Stats

Body	Boots	Sphere	Rope
Effect Hit Rate	SPD / ATK%	Fire DMG Boost	Energy Regeneration Rate / ATK%

Substats

Effect Hit Rate (until 140%) > SPD > ATK%

140% Effect Hit Rate is enough to max out Jiaoqiu’s ATK% bonus, and as application of “Ashen Roast” stacks through his Ultimate is unimportant, there is no reason to worry about extra Effect Hit Rate to guarantee it.

With Jiaoqiu’s signature Light Cone, you may still want to reach around 160% Effect Hit Rate, as you can find yourself failing its debuff application on Bosses.

As Jiaoqiu does not necessarily need his Ultimate in DoT, he can use an ATK% Rope instead of an Energy Regeneration Rate Rope to slightly improve his damage.

Although ATK% Boots result in higher DoT, Jiaoqiu may want to run SPD Boots to ensure Ashen Roast uptime, or to receive Planar Ornament bonuses.

Notable Synergies

Damage Dealers

Acheron	Jiaoqiu provides everything Acheron wants: frequent debuff application, Ultimate DMG Vulnerability, and a Nihility teammate for her A4 Bonus Ability. Jiaoqiu is significantly better in Pure Fiction than other debuffers who lose uptime in multiwave scenarios, but does require Solitary Healing to refresh his Ultimate frequently.
Ultimate-Heavy Damage Dealers	Jiaoqiu can apply Ultimate DMG Vulnerability to enemies, which can be especially useful for characters who deal a lot of Ultimate damage. Jiaoqiu only needs 67% Effect Hit Rate if he isn’t using Those Many Springs or a low superimposition Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat.
DoT Units: Kafka, Black Swan	Jiaoqiu provides both DoT and Vulnerability that all teammates can utilize. He has essentially the same damage contribution as Ruan Mei, but has much stronger Eidolons. If your Ruan Mei is wanted in another team, this can be very useful.
Any team that can use a debuffer	AoE Vulnerability debuffs are rare, and Jiaoqiu’s uptime is nearly 100%.  Jiaoqiu only needs 67% Effect Hit Rate if he isn’t using Those Many Springs or a low superimposition Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat.

Teams

Debuffer

Due to the universal nature of Vulnerability, Jiaoqiu can find a place in any team. His SP use can vary depending on your Light Cone choice and content, so teams with more flexible SP use are ideal.

Example Teams

A high-performing and low cost Acheron team. Pela should hold Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat if available, so that her Basic ATKs can generate one point of Slashed Dream for Acheron. Jiaoqiu is able to equip Before the Tutorial Mission Starts, as Pela provides DEF Reduction for its Energy regeneration.

For more information about Acheron’s teams, gameplay, and build, check out KQM’s Acheron Guide.

A sustainless F2P team suited for Pure Fiction. Jiaoqiu’s debuffs remain active during the entire battle, and Asta lets Herta take more turns. Serval and Herta can both take advantage of Jiaoqiu’s Ultimate DMG Vulnerability.

Jiaoqiu is an excellent choice of debuffer for Dr. Ratio. In this team, Dr. Ratio and Aventurine’s follow-up attacks generate Energy for Robin’s Ultimate while Jiaoqiu’s debuffs boost everyone’s damage.

Jiaoqiu is one of Yunli’s better supports, with performance comparable to Sparkle. Jiaoqiu should use the Pure Debuffer build for optimal performance, as he does not need high SPD, just Ultimate uptime.

For more information about Yunli’s teams, gameplay, and build, check out KQM’s Yunli Quick Guide.

DoT Support

Due to his own Fire DoT and universal Vulnerability debuffs, Jiaoqiu makes a good support for DoT-focused teams.

Example Teams

Jiaoqiu’s Fire DoT will be always active on all enemies, benefitting allies with the Prisoner in Deep Confinement Relic Set and increasing Arcana stacks for Black Swan. Jiaoqiu, Kafka, and Black Swan benefit from one another’s debuffs, while Huohuo regenerates Energy and buffs ATK for the whole team.

Guinaifen’s Ultimate can detonate her own Fire DoT, Jiaoqiu’s Fire DoT, Asta’s Fire DoT, and any Fire DoT from a Weakness Break. The different Fire DoT effects will also activate Prisoner in Deep Confinement’s Set Effect.

Credits

Changelog

• 15 September 2024 – Added Lushaka, the Sunken Seas to recommended planars.
• 31 August 2024 – Published for v2.4