Cartethyia — Wuthering Waves 5-star Aero Sword resonator (Main DPS)

Wuthering Waves · Build Guide

Cartethyia Build

Best weapons, echoes & teams

Skills

Basic Attack

Sword to Carve My Forms

Perform up to 4 consecutive strikes dealing Aero DMG. After Stage 4, inflict 1 stack of Aero Erosion on targets and summon a Sword of Divinity's Shadow (lasts 20s, max 1 active).

Heavy Attack: Consume Stamina to attack the target dealing Aero DMG and summon Sword of Discord's Shadow (lasts 20s, max 1 active). Can be performed mid-air.

Mid-Air Attack

Consume Stamina for a plunging attack dealing Aero Erosion DMG. This attack recalls all active Sword Shadows; based on shadow types recalled, one effect triggers

recalling Divinity's Shadow grants Heart of Virtue; Virtue's Shadow grants Mandate of Divinity; Discord's Shadow grants Power of Discord.

Dodge Counter: Press Normal Attack shortly after a successful Dodge to attack the target, dealing Aero DMG.

Resonance Skill

Sword to Bear Their Names

Attack the target, launch nearby enemies into the air, then plunge them to the ground dealing Aero DMG and inflicting 2 stacks of Aero Erosion. Summons Sword of Virtue's Shadow (lasts 20s, max 1 active). Damage counted as Basic Attack DMG. Can be performed mid-air. Cooldown: 14s.

Resonance Liberation

A Knight's Heartfelt Prayers

By reducing HP to 50% of Max HP, Cartethyia transforms into Fleurdelys for 12s, gaining 60% Aero DMG Bonus (Manifest state). In Manifest state, attacks deal Aero Erosion DMG and reduce Aero Erosion stacks on hit. Fleurdelys generates Conviction (max 120) through all attacks. When Conviction reaches 120, cast Blade of Howling Squall

a powerful AoE Aero attack that removes all Aero Erosion stacks

each removed stack amplifies target's DMG taken by 20% (max +100% at 5 stacks). Manifest ends after Blade of Howling Squall or after the 12s timer. A dedicated avatar button lets you freely switch between Cartethyia and Fleurdelys forms without consuming Liberation energy.

Intro Skill

Sword to Mark Tide's Trace

Cartethyia form: Deal Aero DMG to the target, inflict 2 stacks of Aero Erosion, and summon Sword of Discord's Shadow.

Fleurdelys form: Thrust forward dealing Aero DMG to the target and restoring Conviction.

Outro Skill

Wind's Divine Blessing

Aero DMG dealt by other team members to targets with Negative Statuses is Amplified by 17.5% for 20s.

Inherent Skills

A Heart's Truest Wishes

All other Resonators in the team receive 20% increased healing and enhanced interruption resistance. When Aero Rover is in the team and casts their Resonance Liberation, they additionally restore 25 Forte Gauge.

Wind's Indelible Imprint

Targets with 1–3 stacks of Aero Erosion take 30% increased DMG from Cartethyia/Fleurdelys. For each Aero Erosion stack beyond 3, the target takes an additional 10% increased DMG from Cartethyia/Fleurdelys (max +60% at 6 stacks).

Forte Circuit

Active

Basic Attack - Fleurdelys

Perform up to 5 consecutive strikes in Manifest (Fleurdelys) state dealing Aero DMG and restoring Conviction with each hit.

Active

Mid-Air Attack - Fleurdelys

Perform up to 3 consecutive aerial strikes in Manifest state (consuming Stamina), dealing Aero DMG and restoring Conviction. Holding Normal Attack mid-air extends the combo to Stage 3.

Active

Heavy Attack - Fleurdelys

Execute a forward thrust in Manifest state dealing Aero DMG (counted as Basic Attack DMG) and restoring Conviction. Can follow up with Enhanced Heavy Attack

a leaping blast that strikes in a straight line before transitioning into Upward Cut.

Active

Upward Cut - Fleurdelys

Jump during ground movement in Manifest state to perform an upward slash dealing Aero DMG and restoring Conviction.

Active

Resonance Skill - Sword to Answer Waves' Call

Create a force field around the target in Manifest state that pulls in nearby enemies, dealing Aero DMG and restoring Conviction. Can be performed mid-air. Cooldown: 14s.

Active

Resonance Skill - May Tempest Break the Tides

Follow-up to Sword to Answer Waves' Call: summon a giant Sword Shadow that crashes down on the area, creating a pull field and dealing Aero DMG to all ground targets while restoring Conviction.

Resonance Chain

Priority nodes: S2 Blade Broken by Tempest · S3 Prisoner Hanged in the Tower · S6 Freedom Found in Storm's Wake

Blade Broken by Tempest

★ Priority

On Liberation cast: nearby targets' max Aero Erosion stacks increase by 3 for the duration; the next attack inflicts 3 Aero Erosion stacks on all nearby targets and triggers 1 instance of Aero Erosion DMG without consuming stacks. Basic, Heavy, Dodge Counter, and Intro Skill DMG Multipliers increase by 50%; Mid-air Attack DMG Multiplier increases by 200%. Each Sword Shadow recalled by a Mid-air Attack reduces Resonance Skill cooldown by 1s (max 3s reduction).

+200% DMG · Casting Resonance Liberation, A Knight's Heartfelt Prayers increases the max stack limit of Aero Erosion on targets within a certain range by 3 stacks.

Prisoner Hanged in the Tower

★ Priority

Fleurdelys's Stage 5 Basic, Stage 2 Mid-air, Enhanced Heavy Attack, and May Tempest Break the Tides each inflict 2 additional Aero Erosion stacks on hit. The DMG Multiplier of Blade of Howling Squall is increased by 100%.

+100% Liberation DMG · Basic Attack, Fleurdelys Stage 5, Mid-air Attack, Fleurdelys Stage 2, Enhanced Heavy Attack, Fleurdelys, and Resonance Skill, May Tempest Break the Tides now inflict 2 stacks of Aero…

Freedom Found in Storm's Wake

★ Priority

After Blade of Howling Squall, all nearby targets' Aero Erosion stacks are raised to maximum without consuming stacks. Within 30s after Intro Skill or Liberation, when a team member triggers Aero Erosion DMG on a target at maximum stacks, an immediate bonus Erosion hit is dealt. While Fleurdelys is active, she deals 40% increased DMG.

+40% DMG · After casting Resonance Liberation, Blade of Howling Squall, raise the Aero Erosion stacks on the target hit to max.

Cartethyia is a 5★ Aero Sword Main DPS in Wuthering Waves. The best build is Defier's Thorn with the 5-piece Windward Pilgrimage echo set, using Reminiscence: Fleurdelys as the main echo. The strongest team is Cartethyia with Ciaccona and Shorekeeper (aero erosion core). At Level 90, aim for 35000-50000+ HP, 600+ DEF, 65-80%+ CRIT Rate, 240-270%+ CRIT DMG, 110%+ Energy Regen and 30%+ Aero DMG Bonus.

Best Weapons

by calculated performance

Defier's Thorn

R1Best

Cartethyia's Signature and her best by a large amount, as it provides her with a massive amount of HP% for her to utilize her kit to the fullest potential. On top of this, having an extra passive 8% DEF Ignore and 20% general DMG Amplification to all targets inflicted with Aero Erosion makes this weapon the uncontested best for Cartethyia, as it is the only option which gives her the stats she truly wants.

100.0%

Red Spring

Camellya's weapon works well for Cartethyia by virtue of providing 24.3% CRIT Rate as its secondary stat, but also providing an extra 30% Basic Attack DMG bonus via the weapon's passive effect which she uses decently well. For this reason, it is the second best option behind her sought-after Signature.

79.5%

Feather Edge

This Battle Pass exclusive is fantastic on Cartethyia because the usual issue of 4-star weapons being low Base ATK doesn't hinder her at all (since she doesn't scale off of it). Instead, she can enjoy the large amount of Liberation DMG Bonus (one of her two main damage types) and the 20.3% CRIT Rate provided by the weapon, making it a great alternative to her Signature.

76.3%

Blazing Brilliance

Simple CRIT DMG and Skill DMG stat-stick for Cartethyia, which doesn't compare to above options as Skill DMG is a negligible part of her damage overall.

77.0%

Emerald Sentence

Simple CRIT Rate stat-stick for Cartethyia, who barely makes any use of the weapon's passive effects (very minor increase to her Echo Skill DMG which is really negligible).

75.9%

Percentages show relative damage performance from calculations; some weapons bring un-quantifiable quality-of-life on top.

Best Echo Sets

5-Piece Sonata

Windward Pilgrimage

100%

Best set for Aero Main DPS characters who can apply Aero Erosion or have an Aero Erosion applier on the team. Grants 10% Aero DMG Bonus and an extra 30% Aero DMG Bonus as well as 10% CRIT Rate for 10s when attacking targets inflicted with Aero Erosion. Offers an extra 10% CRIT Rate over the other Aero sets such as Gusts of Welkin or Sierra Gale, providing extra overall damage so long as Aero Erosion is present on the enemy.

Example Loadout · 4 · 4 · 1 · 1 · 1 cost

4Main

Reminiscence: Fleurdelys

Nightmare: Kelpie

Fusion Drake

Glacio Drake

Havoc Drake

Echo Main Stats

4 · 3 · 3 · 1 · 1 cost

CRIT Rate

CRIT DMG

HP%

Substats Priority

Energy Regen (Until Satisfied)Best

CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG

HP%

Basic Attack DMG% = Liberation DMG%

Energy Regen (Until Satisfied) > CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG > HP% > Basic Attack DMG% = Liberation DMG% > HP

Skill Priority

Forte

Liberation

Basic

Skill

Intro

Best Teams

Aero Erosion Core

Cartethyia

Ciaccona

Shorekeeper

Alternative Team

Cartethyia

Ciaccona

Aero Rover

Best Resonance Chain Nodes

Resonance Chain

Priority nodes: S2 Blade Broken by Tempest · S3 Prisoner Hanged in the Tower · S6 Freedom Found in Storm's Wake

Blade Broken by Tempest

★ Priority

+200% DMG · Casting Resonance Liberation, A Knight's Heartfelt Prayers increases the max stack limit of Aero Erosion on targets within a certain range by 3 stacks.

Prisoner Hanged in the Tower

★ Priority

Freedom Found in Storm's Wake

★ Priority

+40% DMG · After casting Resonance Liberation, Blade of Howling Squall, raise the Aero Erosion stacks on the target hit to max.

Cartethyia build summary

Defier's Thorn is the weapon to build around. Without it, Red Spring, Feather Edge and Blazing Brilliance are the next picks, in that order.

On the Windward Pilgrimage set, run CRIT Rate on the 4-cost, CRIT DMG on the 4-cost and HP% on all three 1-costs. Substats in priority order: Energy Regen (Until Satisfied) > CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG > HP% > Basic Attack DMG% = Liberation DMG% > HP.

The Resonance Chain nodes worth pulling for are S2 (+200% DMG), S3 (+100% Liberation DMG) and S6 (+40% DMG). Level Forte Circuit → Res. Liberation → Basic Attack → Res. Skill → Intro Skill.

Ascension needs 46× Unfading Glory above everything else, and the full build — ascension plus every forte node — costs 2,200,000 Shell Credits.

Role: 5★ Aero Sword Main DPS
Best weapon: Defier's Thorn
Alternatives: Red Spring, Feather Edge, Blazing Brilliance
Echo set: Windward Pilgrimage
Main echo: Reminiscence: Fleurdelys
Main stats: 4-cost CRIT Rate · 4-cost CRIT DMG · 1-cost HP% · 1-cost HP% · 1-cost HP%
Substats: Energy Regen (Until Satisfied) > CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG > HP% > Basic Attack DMG% = Liberation DMG% > HP
Skill priority: Forte Circuit > Res. Liberation > Basic Attack > Res. Skill > Intro Skill
Best chain nodes: S2, S3, S6
Best team: Cartethyia + Ciaccona, Shorekeeper
Level 90 targets: 35000-50000+ HP · 600+ DEF · 65-80%+ CRIT Rate · 240-270%+ CRIT DMG · 110%+ Energy Regen · 30%+ Aero DMG Bonus
Key ascension material: 46× Unfading Glory
Full build cost: 2,200,000 Shell Credits

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best weapon for Cartethyia?

Defier's Thorn is the best-in-slot weapon. Cartethyia's Signature and her best by a large amount, as it provides her with a massive amount of HP% for her to utilize her kit to the fullest potential. On top of this, having an extra passive 8% DEF Ignore and 20% general DMG Amplification to all targets inflicted with Aero Erosion makes this weapon the uncontested best for Cartethyia, as it is the only option which gives her the stats she truly wants. The next best options are Red Spring and Feather Edge. Feather Edge is the strongest budget pick.

What echo set should Cartethyia use?

Run the 5-piece Windward Pilgrimage set on Cartethyia. Reminiscence: Fleurdelys is the recommended main echo. Main stats by cost: 4-cost CRIT Rate, 4-cost CRIT DMG, 1-cost HP%, 1-cost HP%, 1-cost HP%.

What substats does Cartethyia want?

On Cartethyia, prioritise these echo substats: Energy Regen (Until Satisfied) > CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG > HP% > Basic Attack DMG% = Liberation DMG% > HP.

Which skills should you level first on Cartethyia?

Level the forte nodes in this order on Cartethyia: Forte Circuit → Res. Liberation → Basic Attack → Res. Skill → Intro Skill.

What is the best team for Cartethyia?

Aero Erosion Core: Cartethyia with Ciaccona and Shorekeeper. Alternative Team: Cartethyia with Ciaccona and Aero Rover. Ciaccona continuously applies Aero Erosion stacks and provides 100% Aero Erosion DMG amplification via Outro Skill, making her…