Candace is a new 4-star coming with Genshin Impact Version 3.1 and she has a very interesting playstyle. Unlike many characters in Genshin Impact, Candace focuses on defence and shielding rather than pure offence.
With her mysterious place in the lore of Genshin Impact and her unique way of fighting, Candace has drawn eyes from all over. She quickly become a must-have character for a lot of people. Knowing exactly how she plays and how she works can be odd as she isn’t like most characters, however.
Here’s how to best build Candace from Genshin Impact. This includes knowing her best weapons, artefacts, team setups, and more.
Want more Genshin Impact content and articles? You can find more here on KeenGamer:
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- Genshin Impact: How to Unlock Every New Sumeru Crafted Weapon
- 6 Secret Genshin Impact Achievements and Chests You Likely Missed in Sumeru
- Genshin Impact: All Sumeru City Riddle Answers and Locations
- Genshin Impact Everything You Need to Know About Dendro
Who is Candace from Genshin Impact?
Candace is the defender of Aaru Village in the Deshret Desert. She is supposedly a descendent of King Deshret himself, proven by her glowing amber eye.
For the sake of her people, she has taken up the shield to defend them. In doing so, she has become their strongest warrior and a stalwart barricade that is nearly impossible to break. Candace is a fierce and loyal defender of those she considers dear.
“Aaru villagers often say that Candace is the village’s strongest line of defence, just like that blessed shield of hers. But Candace knows that apart from being a useful weapon, there really is nothing special about her shield. What’s more important is the determination she puts in when the shield is raised.”
Candace: Shield of Sworn Protection
How to Get Candace
Candace is a 4-star character in Genshin Impact, meaning that she is technically available on every banner. However, if she isn’t on rate-up on the Event Wish Banner, she will be competing against every other 4-star in the game (characters and weapons). As such, the chance of pulling her is abysmally low.
If she is on rate up then she will have a much higher chance of appearing. This is your best chance of getting Candace.
She has currently appeared on the following banners:
- Cyno’s Banner (Version 3.1) – September 28th 2022 to October 14th 2022
- Venti’s Rerun Banner (Version 3.1) – September 28th 2022 to October 14th 2022
Candace the Golden Vow
Candace Level-Up Materials
For her Ascension materials, Candace will need the following to get from level 1 to level 90:
- Redcrests
- Varunda Lazurite Sliver (Hydro)
- Faded Red Satin
- Light Guiding Tetrahedron
The Redcrests are a new flower that has been introduced in the 3.1 Version update. They bloom in the Deshret Desert region of Sumeru. It resembles a small plant with a spikey underside that grows on cacti. In total, Candace needs 168 Redcrests to get to level 90. You can find exact locations on the Genshin Impact Interactive Map.
Candace’s next Ascension material is the Faded Red Satin. This is the enemy material which is dropped by the Eremites, the new mercenary faction found within Sumeru’s borders. These act similarly to the Treasure Hoarders with a few slight variations. Overall, Candace asks for 18 Faded Red Satin, 30 Trimmed Red Silk and 36 Rich Red Brocades.
The world boss drop Candace needs is the Light Guiding Tetrahedron. This is a new material dropped by the Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network. This is a new boss which can be found in the underground depths of Sumeru’s desert, all the while sporting the longest and most complex name in the entire game. You will be asked to fight the Algorithm and get at least 46 Light Guiding Tetrahedrons for Candace.
Last but not least, the Varunda Lazurite Gemstones. This is the Hydro variant of the Elemental gems that every character needs. The most straightforward way to get these is through daily commissions or fights against Hydro-aligned world bosses (such as the Oceanid) but they can also be transmuted. Go to the Alchemy Table and you can transmute lower rarity gems or gems of different elements into the one you need. Candace needs 1 Sliver, 9 Fragments, 9 Chunks and 6 Gemstones.
Also, you will need 416 Hero’s Wit EXP Books and 420k Mora to fully ascend Candace from 1 to 90, like all other Genshin Impact characters.
The Algorithm
Candace Ability Overview
Candace can most similarly be compared to the character of Beidou in that they both act as Genshin Impact’s more defensive attackers. Whereas Beidou has her parry shield, Candace instead takes a more direct and frontal stance when it comes to defending against enemies.
Her Normal Attack is called Gleaming Spear – Guardian Stance. This is a 4-hit combo attack that ends with Candace throwing her Polearm. The Charged Attack variant of the attack makes Candace spin forward like Cyno or Hu Tao. This is the only one of Candace’s skills which scale off of ATK.
Normal Attacks
Candace’s Elemental Skill is Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum. This is arguably the most interesting part of her kit. When the Skill is triggered, Candace will hold up her shield. The amount of damage the shield can take is based on Candace’s total max HP. If you simply press the skill, Candace will do a shield bash forward that deals Hydro damage. If you hold it instead, it will charge up a more powerful shield slam that deals AoE Hydro damage. The damage dealt by the shield is based solely on Candace’s HP.
Defensive Skill
Her Elemental Burst is called Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide. This is more of a supportive skill as it buffs Candace and the entire team. When triggered, Candace’s Burst does several things. The first is that it infuses any Sword, Polearm or Claymore character with Hydro, meaning that any Normal Attack they deal will deal Hydro dmg. Certain characters like Shogun or Cyno can override this with their Bursts. The other two effects are an increase to Elemental Normal Attack damage (good considering the first bonus) and that a Hydro AoE explosion will cast outward whenever the user switches characters.
Elemental Burst
As for her Passive abilities, Candace has access to:
- To Dawn’s First Light decreases climbing stamina for the entire party by 20%. Not stackable.
- Aegis of Crossed Arrows will instantly fully charge Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum if Candace is hit by an attack while guarding. (Ascension 2 Passive)
- Celestial Dome of Sand increases the damage of any character affected by Candace’s Burst by 0.005% for every 1,000 points of HP she has when they deal Elemental Damage.
Candace is a very interesting character in that her role and position as a defender means that she is more useful as a substitute unit, someone who switches in while the main DPS is on cooldown. However, she is also capable of very respectable damage if you stack into her HP and focus on her Burst and Skill. Candace is a hybrid character who can fit pretty well into a lot of teams, even if she won’t be hitting 100k on a CRIT.
Talent Levelling Order
The order you should consider levelling her Talents in is:
- Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum: this is the bread and butter of Candace’s kit and makes her excellent in any role. As a more DPS-oriented unit, levelling this up makes her do more damage. If she is a supportive defender, it allows her to take more damage before the shield breaks. This is just an excellent skill that should certainly have investment.
- Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide: once again, like the shield, this Burst makes Candace do several things. It can boost her own DPS potential and make Reactions like Bloom far easier to trigger. Or it can improve the damage and Reaction potential of other DPS units. This ability, paired with her Skill, allows Candace to perform very well in several facets of the game – attack, defend, support.
- Normal Attacks: Gleaming Spear – Guardian Stance: unlike the other two, levelling up her Normals will only make Candace a better DPS unit. The Normal Attack is the only skill not to benefit from her HP. As such, the other two should take priority as it helps widen Candace’s skills and capabilities.
Contemplation
Best Weapons
Candace has a few weapon choices depending on the role you want her to fulfil.
The Ideal Choice
The main option for Candace is an interesting one, as it is a weapon from many, many patches ago. This weapon is the Staff of Homa.
Originally made for Hu Tao, the Staff of Homa has many interesting capabilities that amplify Candace’s kit. The weapon has a native CRIT DMG sub-stat, with it reaching 66% at level 90. The Staff of Homa’s weapon skill is Reckless Cinnabar – first, it increases the user’s HP by an additional 20%. Then, it gives a bonus ATK based on 0.8% of the user’s max HP. This bonus is increased to 1% when the user drops to below 50% HP.
For Candace, this allows her to play better in every one of her roles. The extra CRIT DMG and HP allow her to deal far more damage with her Elemental Skill, the main source of her high damage. Meanwhile, the extra HP also makes her a better support with her Burst and Celestial Dome of Sand and makes her shield stronger for defence. The Staff of Homa amplifies every part of her kit and while you likely won’t see the 1% ATK boost like when using it with Hu Tao, it is still certainly best in the slot.
Staff of Homa
Replacement Options
What if you don’t have the Staff of Homa? What else can you use?
There are several options but do note that the following are all 4-star weapons. If you have any 5-star Polearms such as the Staff of the Scarlet Sands or the Skyward Spine, try them out on Candace first. 5-star weapons generally have increased damage, stats and weapon skills when compared to their lower rarity counterparts.
The weapons recommended for Candace are the Favonius Lance, the Catch and Blackcliff Pole.
The Favonius Lance is a staple for many more support-oriented characters, Candace included. The weapon gives Energy Recharge as a substat and the weapon skill increases the energy generation further. When the wielder lands a CRIT, they have a chance (60% up to 100% at R5) to spawn additional Elemental Energy that will refill your Burst. For Candace, this means either getting back into the action quicker with her enhanced capabilities or playing helper to someone else or some other main DPS. A very useful weapon either way. You can get the Lance from the gacha.
Favonius Lance
The Catch is an interesting weapon. You can get it by trading in a select number of fish at Inazuma’s fishing vendor. The weapon also has an Energy Recharge substat. Shanty, which is The Catch’s weapon skill, increases Burst damage by 16% and increases Elemental Burst CRIT Rate by 6%. With Candace, this allows her Burst buff to go even further beyond, increasing ATK and CRIT Rate even further. The Catch makes her far more battle-oriented and Burst-focused rather than her Skill or Normal Attacks.
Finally, the Blackcliff Pole. This weapon can be purchased from Paimon’s Bargains every other month. It has a CRIT DMG substat and makes Candace far more attack focused. The weapon skill, Press the Advantage, increases ATK by 12% after defeating an enemy. This stacks up to 3 times and lasts for 30 seconds each stack. This way, Candace is a far more potent force as a main DPS-type character, dealing big damage. While her HP is likely more important, more ATK will never be a bad bet, especially here.
Best Artifact Set for Candace
Candace has a few options with how you set up her artifacts.
- 2-Piece Heart of the Milelith and 2-Piece Heart of Depth.
This hybrid combination of artifacts is a straightforward way to increase Candace’s damage, defence and support capabilities. The 2-piece Milelith set simply increases HP by 20%, very useful considering how Candace’s stats and skill work out. The 2-piece Heart of Depth increases Hydro DMG by 15%. Considering that Candace will be dealing with a lot of Hydro DMG, especially if you plan on using her Burst as a way to buff her, this will not lead you astray.
2. 4-Piece Heart of Depth
This set gives Candace more offensive capabilities. The 2-piece bonus of 15% Hydro DMG is still effective as is the 4-piece. After using an Elemental Skill, the user’s Normal and Charged Attacks deal 30% more damage for 15%. For Candace, pairing this with her Burst makes her a very powerful adversary as she beats you down with her Hydro-infused Normal Attacks and then shield slams you to take you out. A very potent force indeed.
Job Well Done
Stats You Want
The main stats that you’ll be looking for on Candace are:
- HP
- Energy Recharge / ATK
- CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG
HP is Candace’s premium stat. Like many other Hydro characters, HP buffs and improves the damage of a lot of her kit – in fact, most of Candace’s damage will come exclusively from her HP and not her ATK. As such, her HP should be a priority as it will also aid the Celestial Dome of Sand passive ability as well as the health of her shield.
Whether you go for Energy Recharge or Elemental Mastery is dependent on your choice of the build. If you want the uptime on Candace’s Burst to be very high and play a more supportive role in buffing others, go with Energy Recharge. This will not only buff other party members but also herself, allowing Candace to play a more upfront attacker role as well as defensive support.
Finally, CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG are always good, especially if you want Candace to pack a bit of a punch. While not as in-your-face aggressive as other units, she can still deal respectable damage, especially as a defender-oriented character. If you’re drawing a blank on another stat to focus on, CRIT stats will never go to waste.
The Defender
Best Team Compositions for Candace
The following team compositions for Genshin Impact will place Candace as either a supportive unit or as one of the team’s DPS-heavy units. There will also be a Budget Team which requires no gacha pulls (aside from Candace) and is F2P friendly.
Team 1: DPS Candace
This team consists of Candace, Cyno/Yae Miko, Shinobu and Mona.
In this composition, Candace can either act as the main DPS figurehead or as the sub-DPS. Either way, by being in the same team as Mona, Candace’s HP will increase from the Hydro Resonance, boosting her offensive, defensive and supportive capabilities even further. Pair that with her ability to infuse Hydro and you have a pretty powerful unit.
If you want Candace to be a sup-DPS, go with Cyno. In this set-up, his Burst will overpower the buff from Candace’s Burst, meaning that he can deal Hydro with his Normals and then chain Super-Conduct Reactions with his Burst. Switch to Candace when he needs to recharge. On the other hand, pick Yae Miko if you want a more main-DPS Candace. Her off-field DPS and Reaction capabilities make her a great pick for Candace, whose high HP will protect her and hurt those nearby.
Shinobu is the team’s healer. However, she can also do a bit more with her Burst and Skill both dealing Electro. Her Skill in particular will aid Candace as she needs to get close and will cause constant Reactions when Hydro infused. Additionally, she and Cyno or Miko will cause the Electro Resonance effect to kick in, meaning that any Electro Reaction spawns energy as a way to keep Burst uptime high.
Finally, Mona is a pure debuffer. Alongside giving us access to Hydro Resonance, her Skill will taunt enemies and get them close together for everyone else. Then, her Burst will buff the damage of whatever attack hits next while suspending enemies, giving Candace time to rack up some impressive damage with her skill, or for Cyno or Miko to do the same.
DPS Team
Team 2: Support Candace
This team consist of Candace, Yoimiya, Xiangling and Barbara.
In this team, Candace takes more of a backseat, switching onto the field to block damage or cause Hydro but not to act as a DPS unit. Instead, her Burst will be the main source of help, aiding the main DPS in doing high damage and Reaction potential.
Yoimiya is here as our main DPS. As a character built around Normal Attacks, she can take advantage of Candace’s Burst buff well, inflicting high damage Hydro damage. Then she can pop her Skill and pop those Reactions with her Pyro damage instead. Overall, Yoimiya is just a very strong ally to Candace. She and Bennett together also give the Pryo Resonance, boosting ATK by 20%, adding even more to the damage.
Xiangling is here to serve as our sub-DPS. Her Burst and Pyro application makes her a great pick to work with Yoimiya, making sure she is kept safe and can pull off her big damage moves. Plus, she and Yoimiya together cause the Pyro Resonance effect, increasing everyone’s ATK by 20%.
Lastly, Barbara is here as our healer and as a source of Hydro Resonance. This way, Candace’s Burst will do even more buffing and damage to Yoimiya. Barbara is there is a quick pinch when you need heals or when you need to quickly slap on some Hydro.
Support Team
Budget Team
This team consists of Candace, Dendro Traveller, Collei and Barbara. All characters in this team (besides Candace) can be earned for free.
Candace floats back into the main DPS role for this team, acting as a powerful force that can cause plenty of powerful Reactions. Additionally, Barbara has returned to reprise her job from the previous team – healing and giving Candace more HP through Resonance. This way, both become even stronger and better at their respective jobs.
Dendro Traveller is an interesting pick. They are mainly her as a backup DPS option and Reaction support. They can instantly apply Dendro and their Burst will last much longer with two Hydro characters powering it up. By being on this team, they make continuous Bloom Reactions a reality.
Collei serves a similar role. Her Burst and Skill provide easy sources of Bloom when combined with Candace or Barbara, making big and constant damage possible. Also, she and Traveller will cause the Dendro Resonance, buffing Elemental Mastery for the whole team. This makes everyone’s Elemental Reactions even stronger and better.
Budget Team
That is how to best build Candace in Genshin Impact.
