Version 3.6 opened on August 20, 2026 with one of the more awkward banner pairings Kuro Games has put together. Phase 1 puts Qingxiao, a brand-new 5-star Aero sword carry, on the same half as a Denia rerun — and the two are best friends, not rivals. They share the Tune Strain archetype, they slot into the same premium team, and pulling one makes the other look more tempting. That is exactly why the choice hurts.
Quick answer: If you do not own Denia, pull Denia first — she works in both Fusion Burst and Tune Strain teams and raises the ceiling of carries you already have. Pull Qingxiao first only if you already own Denia (or Lynae) plus Mornye, or if your account has no modern Aero on-field DPS.
Version 3.6 Phase 1 banner lineup
| Resonator | Element / Weapon | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Qingxiao (new 5★) | Aero / Sword | On-field main DPS |
| Denia (rerun 5★) | Fusion / Rectifier | Sub-DPS and buffer |
| Yangyang, Baizhi, Sanhua | 4★ rate-ups | Support and sub-DPS |
The second half of the version brings Jingran as the new 5-star, alongside rerun banners for Hiyuki and Mornye. No official date has been confirmed for the phase switch, but it matters for budgeting — Mornye is the support both Qingxiao and Denia want, and she is not on this half.
What Qingxiao gives your account
Qingxiao is a straightforward on-field carry wrapped in a flashy sword-riding package. Her damage lives in a debuff called Mindlock, which stacks on the enemy whenever any Resonator on the team applies Tune Strain – Interfered. Each stack amplifies the damage that target takes from five of her skills by 2 percent, with an extra 5 percent on the first seven stacks. Seven stacks alone is 49 percent amplification; a full fifteen reaches 65 percent. Her Inherent Skill then applies that same curve a second time as a flat damage increase.
The practical read is that the first half of her stack bar is worth far more than the second, so a team that reaches seven stacks quickly beats one that grinds slowly to fifteen. That is why she wants a second Tune Strain applier next to her.
Her strengths are easy to summarize. She is one of the best single-target damage dealers in the game right now and shreds bosses, her output sits in the same conversation as Hiyuki, Aemeath, and Yangyang: Xuanling, and despite the stance-weaving she is forgiving to play. She also has built-in survivability through Swordlight Ward, which eats a hit for interruption immunity and heavy damage reduction.
The catch is investment. She is a long field-time carry, not a quick-swap unit, and she wants a Tune Strain partner plus a support to function at her ceiling. Her best team is Qingxiao, Denia, and Mornye. If you skip Denia, Lynae is the fallback applier, with Mornye still filling the support slot.
What Denia gives your account
Denia is the flexible half of this banner. She is a Fusion Rectifier sub-DPS with two fully built combat modes, and she can switch between them to serve two completely different archetypes. She is the only dedicated sub-DPS for the Fusion Burst archetype, which makes her the missing piece for Aemeath. Flip her to the other mode and she accelerates the Off-Tune gauge for Tune Strain carries like Luuk Herssen and Qingxiao.
She also brings something Qingxiao genuinely lacks. Her AoE grouping and crowd control pull enemies together, which makes single-target-oriented carries far more comfortable to play in mob waves. That utility does not show up on a damage chart, but it shows up in clear times.
Note: she functions fully at zero Sequence Nodes for support duty. Higher chains give diminishing returns for most accounts, so there is no pressure to chase copies.
Pick based on the Resonators you already own
Neither pick is wrong. The decision comes down to which archetype your roster is already leaning toward and which slot on your team is empty.
| Your roster | Pull first |
|---|---|
| You own Aemeath or Luuk Herssen, but not Denia | Denia — she unlocks both of their damage ceilings |
| You own Denia and Mornye already | Qingxiao — the premium team is one pull from finished |
| You own neither, and want one finished team | Denia, then decide on Qingxiao with what is left |
| Your Aero side is already clearing endgame | Denia — the DPS slot is not the gap |
| You want a boss killer above all else | Qingxiao — single-target damage is her specialty |
| You own Lynae but not Denia | Qingxiao — Lynae covers the applier role for now |
The short version: Qingxiao is the higher ceiling and will be the premium Aero DPS for a while, but she is a narrower, more investment-heavy pull. Denia is the safer long-term account investment because she slots into two separate meta archetypes and works with characters you may pull later.
Astrite budgeting for Phase 1
Run the pity math before you spend anything. A featured Convene has 80 hard pity, the featured 5-star is a 50/50, and a hard guarantee costs up to 160 pulls — roughly 25,600 Astrite. Chasing both Phase 1 units without winning a 50/50 can therefore run to 320 pulls, and that is before Phase 2 arrives with Jingran, Hiyuki, and Mornye.
A full-clear free-to-play account typically banks around 90 to 100 pulls across a version. That is enough for one guaranteed 5-star and change, not two. Write down the exact three-character team you want to finish, then stop pulling once it is complete.
Signature weapons and whether they matter here
Both Resonators are heavily tied to their signature swords and rectifiers, and both weapons are built around the same Tune Strain trigger.
| Weapon | Base stats | Effect summary |
|---|---|---|
| Glint of Clouds (Qingxiao) | 500 ATK, 36% Crit Rate | +12% ATK; applying Tune Strain – Shifting grants 11.2% Aero DMG per stack, up to 5. At max stacks the buff extends and Aero damage ignores 10% of enemy DEF. |
| Forged Dwarf Star (Denia) | 500 ATK, 36% Crit Rate | +12% ATK; inflicting Fusion Burst or Tune Strain – Shifting grants 36% Resonance Liberation DMG, and team applications then grant 24% ATK. |
If your pity is thin, skip the weapon banner entirely. Blazing Brilliance and Emerald of Genesis are solid fallbacks for Qingxiao, and Denia performs her support job without her signature. Getting the character home matters more than the weapon that goes on her.
Both are worth pulling on paper, which is the frustrating part of this half. If you are forced to pick one and your account is still building out its Tune Strain and Fusion Burst cores, Denia does more for more of your roster. If those cores already exist and you just need something to delete a boss health bar, that is Qingxiao’s job description.
