Any team that doesn’t want Hydro-infused normal attacks can’t make use of Candace. Instead, she’s currently just a gimmick unit. Candace is definitely viable in plenty of teams, but you will sacrifice damage and a team slot for her. Meta-wise, there’s really no reason to play her. But if you like Candace regardless of her power level, don’t let this stop you from playing her.
Pros & Cons
Candace Strengths
Candace is currently the only character that provides Hydro infusion to teammates. This enables new team comps with on-field units that can make use of Hydro normal attacks. Some of these teams include Mono Hydro, Bloom, Freeze, and Electro-Charged teams. For instance, Xingqiu has great synergy with Candace. This is because he’s a Hydro DPS unit that already uses Hydro damage bonus. So his normal build already works whenever he’s paired with Candace. However, none of these new Candace teams are really meta or optimal. Candace has plenty of weapon and artifact set options. This makes her relatively easier to build — just use whichever pieces/sets/weapons you already have. Low investment is enough to make her work. Some of her best off-field artifact sets are:
4pc. Emblem of Severed Fate 4pc. Noblesse Oblige 2pc. Tenacity of the Millelith/Heart of Depth/Emblem/Noblesse
Plus her best 4-star weapons are very free-to-play friendly. The most notable ones are:
The Catch R5 Prototype Starglitter Favonius Lance
Candace Weaknesses
Candace’s only niche is to infuse the active character’s normal attacks with Hydro. Any team that doesn’t need Hydro normal attacks also doesn’t need her. And teams that do are far better off with units like Ayato and Kokomi than can also fill this role. Both of these units offer a lot more to a team than Candace — namely, more Hydro application, damage, or healing. Candace’s niche is somewhat similar to Chongyun’s Cryo infusion. But unlike Chongyun, her Hydro infusion isn’t as effective against breaking elemental shields. This is simply because of her Internal Cooldown (ICD) or slow Hydro application. Not every attack applies an element. Candace’s Hydro infusion only applies Hydro every 2.5s or 3 hits. The same is true for Chongyun, but he also infuses charged attacks — these don’t have an ICD. So performing charged attacks during this cooldown lets you apply more Cryo. Since Candace only infuses normal attacks, there’s no way to bypass this cooldown. Additionally, most Hydro units simply apply more Hydro at a faster rate. The most notable one is Xingqiu — also a 4-star unit — that can apply multiple instances of Hydro per second. So Candace’s Hydro infusion isn’t the best against Pyro shields, but it definitely still works. Candace generates very few elemental particles and often stays off-field. These greatly increase her energy requirements, especially when she’s the only Hydro unit in the team. She can easily require up to 300% Energy Recharge to comfortably get her burst every rotation. This is Candance’s biggest con that basically covers all her weaknesses. There’s always a better unit that can replace her. She doesn’t offer enough utility or damage to justify a team slot. There are far better Hydro applicators and Hydro DPS units that can better fill her slot. Despite her unique playstyle, Candace doesn’t offer anything new or better to any existing team.
Are Candace’s Constellations Good?
Candace has decent constellations, but she already functions well at C0. Constellations only make her slightly better and more comfortable to play. So unless you’re especially fond of Candace, it’s not recommended to actively pull for her constellations when it comes to meta. Plus her most significant constellation is at C6. Since there’s no way of guaranteeing a specific 4-star in any banner, you’ll probably get a 5-star unit before getting her C6. So it’s best to just naturally get them while pulling in any gacha banner.
C1: Returning Heiress of the Scarlet Sands
Increases the Hydro infusion duration triggered by her burst by 3s. This increases her Hydro infusion effect to 12s per burst and reduces its downtime to only 3s. It’s mainly a quality-of-life upgrade that lets you form more flexible rotations.
C2: Moon-Piercing Brilliance
When Candace’s skill hits an opponent, her max HP will be increased by 20% for 15s. This is essentially a free damage and HP buff with nearly full uptime. Just make sure to cast her burst off cooldown or every 15s.
C3: Hunter’s Supplication
Increases her elemental burst talent level by 3. This is an unconditional burst damage increase. However, burst talent levels don’t affect the damage bonus gained from her burst.
C4: Sentinel Oath
Shortens the hold cooldown of her skill to be the same as the tapping cooldown. This lets you cast her skill more often. It’s situationally good when you need additional shielding, Hydro application, or energy.
C5: Heterochromatic Gaze
Increases her elemental skill talent level by 3. This is a direct and very small damage increase.
C6: The Overflow
When characters (excluding Candace) affected by her burst’s Hydro infusion deals elemental normal attack damage, an attack wave is unleashed. This deals AOE Hydro damage equal to 15% of Candace’s max HP. This effect can only be triggered once every 2.3s and is considered elemental burst damage. C6 is Candace’s best constellation thanks to its additional damage and Hydro application. This is good for teams that rely on Hydro-related reactions – such as Bloom and Hyperbloom.
Does Candace Work with Ayato?
Yes, she works, but it’s far from optimal. Candace can technically extend the Hydro infusion of Ayato’s normal attacks, but this will deal significantly less damage than just using Ayato’s skill. Here’s the difference between Ayato’s Hydro-infused normal attacks with his skill vs. with Candace. If you want to increase Ayato’s Hydro infusion uptime, 4pc. Thundering Fury is a better way to go. This artifact set basically reduces his skill cooldown. However, most of his teams don’t need the increased infusion uptime. His skill downtime is generally the best window to recast other teammates’ abilities, buffs, and so on.
