Performance Tour Season 27 runs from September 1 to September 30, 2026, and it only lets you field Hydro, Electro, and Dendro characters. That restriction shapes everything, because each boss demands a specific reaction or role, and you cannot swap in an off-element pick to cover a weakness. The smart play is to spread your best units across the Acts that actually need them instead of burning everything early.
Quick answer: Open with Electro teams for Acts 1-3, hold your strongest Hydro applicators for Act 6, save an Electro-Charged or Lunar-Charged core for Act 8, and keep a full-team healer ready for Act 10 and the Lunar Arcana Challenges.
Season 27 setup: elements, opening cast, and blessings
The six Opening Characters this season are Columbina, Cyno, Lauma, Xingqiu, Kuki Shinobu, and Kaveh. You must use these in your Principal Cast, and if you don’t own one, the game hands you a Trial version. Owning any of them also grants the season’s Fantastical Blessing, which raises their Max HP, ATK, and DEF by 20% both inside and outside the Theater for the whole season.
The Special Guests are Nicole, Sandrone, Odette, and Sucrose. These four ignore the element restriction, but you can only bring them if you personally own them. If you don’t, there is no Trial fallback, though you can borrow someone else’s Special Guest through the Supporting Cast system.
The Brilliant Blessings all reward Dendro and Electro reactions, so build toward them as you progress. Picking up the right blessings early makes the later bosses far more forgiving.
| Blessing | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bloom Blessings | Bloom or Lunar-Bloom reactions have a 50% chance to create an extra Dendro core. Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon damage is boosted by 150%, and Lunar-Bloom damage by 45%. |
| Catalyze Blessings | Quicken, Aggravate, or Spread reactions fire a Vigorous Nexus at enemies that explodes for AoE Dendro damage. |
| Electro-Charged Blessings | Electro-Charged or Lunar-Charged reactions create an Electrosurge effect for three seconds, boosting Electro-Charged reactions by 250% and Lunar-Charged by 70%. |
Boss lineup and how to beat each one
Four fixed bosses anchor the climactic Acts. Their levels rise with the difficulty you pick, topping out at the values below on Visionary and Lunar Mode.
| Act | Boss | Level | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | Jadeplume Terrorshroom | 90 | Electro |
| Act 6 | Emperor of Fire and Iron | 92 | Hydro |
| Act 8 | Battle-Hardened Pipilpan Idol | 95 | Electro-Charged / Lunar-Charged |
| Act 10 | Radiant Moonfly | 100 | Healer |
Act 3: Jadeplume Terrorshroom
The Terrorshroom is weakest to Electro. Applying Electro fills its special gauge, which eventually forces it into a temporary paralyzed state. That window is when you unload your biggest hits. Any well-built DPS works if you keep reactions flowing, but an Electro core is the fastest route. Since this is only the first major boss, save your premium units for later and clear it with mid-tier Electro picks like Raiden Shogun, Cyno, Fischl, Yae Miko, or Xingqiu for off-field support.
Act 6: Emperor of Fire and Iron
This fight opens with a Pyro shield, and Hydro is the only clean way to strip it. Break the shield and the Emperor gets stunned, opening your main damage window. Bring more than one Hydro applicator rather than leaning on a single character. Neuvillette provides heavy on-field damage, while Furina, Yelan, Xingqiu, and Columbina keep Hydro flowing from off-field. Mona and Kokomi round out the Hydro options.
Act 8: Battle-Hardened Pipilpan Idol
This is the most restrictive fight of the rotation. The Idol spawns several hats and hides among them, and only Electro-Charged or Lunar-Charged reactions can damage them. Look for the hat with a golden trail, then pour enough qualifying reaction damage into it. Do that correctly and the Idol takes massive damage and drops into a weakened state. Columbina is ideal here since she is already an Opening Character and enables the required reaction. Flins, Ineffa, and Aino are strong additions for a Lunar-Charged team. Try to reserve a Hydro and Electro pairing specifically for this Act.
Act 10: Radiant Moonfly
The Radiant Moonfly does not care about elements, but its Radiant Cocoon effect stops your characters from dealing CRIT damage unless they are at full HP. That makes healing the deciding factor. Team-wide healing is best, since it lifts the debuff off everyone quickly and gets you back to dealing damage. Kokomi, Baizhu, Furina, and Iansan all fit, and a well-built Barbara can even hold the slot. Pair the healer with any strong single-target DPS such as Varesa or Yae Miko.
Lunar Mode: the two Arcana Challenges
Lunar Mode adds two extra fights, both at level 100, before you reach Act 10. A healer is effectively mandatory for both.
Arcana Challenge I: Shadowy Husks
Shadowy Husk enemies spawn in groups of two or three, and you keep defeating them until the countdown ends. The stage constantly drains your HP, so a very strong healer is essential, otherwise your characters get knocked down one by one. Avoid relying too heavily on shields, since some Husk variants can benefit when they attack a shielded character. Sustained healing from Kokomi, Baizhu, Sigewinne, or Yaoyao is the safer approach.
Arcana Challenge II: Battle-Hardened Primordial Bathysmal Vishap
The Vishap drains your characters’ Energy and generates a Hydro shield mid-fight. Dendro tears that shield down fastest, which makes Nahida, Alhaitham, and Lauma excellent here. Electro is also useful for feeding reactions off the Hydro aura, so Raiden Shogun and Kuki Shinobu slot in well. Bring a healer alongside your Dendro or Electro damage to stay stable.
Best characters by element
Because units are drawn from your roster as you progress, off-field support like Furina, Yelan, Xingqiu, Fischl, Yae Miko, Kuki Shinobu, and Lauma is especially valuable, since it can fit into many team combinations without hogging field time. Prioritize the picks that carry the boss-specific requirements above.
| Element | Recommended characters |
|---|---|
| Hydro | Neuvillette, Furina, Yelan, Tartaglia, Mualani, Ayato, Kokomi, Mona, Nilou, Xingqiu, Columbina |
| Electro | Flins, Ineffa, Raiden Shogun, Yae Miko, Clorinde, Cyno, Varesa, Fischl, Kuki Shinobu, Iansan, Razor |
| Dendro | Nefer, Lauma, Alhaitham, Nahida, Kinich, Tighnari, Emilie, Baizhu, Yaoyao, Kaveh |
Suggested Act order and rewards
Treat the non-boss Acts as resource management. The opening Acts are forgiving, so lean on Electro teams and spend your weaker units while you stack up useful blessings. Act 4’s Monolith Defense favors AoE damage or crowd control, and Tighnari’s Skill can help pull enemy attention if he is available. Act 7 and Act 9 shift based on the enemies you draw, though Act 9 tends to present Hydro or Pyro Abyss Mages, where Dendro handles the Hydro types and Hydro handles the Pyro types.
Note: Every character carries two Vigor stacks, and a stack drops each battle. Once a character runs out, it can no longer fight, so plan your rotation around who you can afford to use in the earlier Acts.
Clearing Acts and Lunar challenges pays out Primogems, Fragile Resin, Mora, Talent level-up materials, and Sanctifying Elixirs, with higher difficulties handing over more. If you can meet each boss’s requirement and keep a reliable healer on hand for the back half, a full clear this season is well within reach.
