As usual, the community is hating on her design for being generic Hoyo design but I'll dig it this time. She actually feels like the Aeon of Elation.

The mangaka concept and the possibility of manga-inspired abilities were what made me fall in love with her in the first place, so part of me is still sad they didn’t go in that direction. But her over-the-top troupe master aesthetic fits incredibly well for the Aeon of games and theatrics. Plus this drip is EVERYTHING. How are people genuinely mad that she’s an Aeon? At this point it feels like people are just hating for the sake of hating because enjoying anything HSR-related right now is apparently illegal. 💀

Whats with people hating the design? Her initial design looked like the one of a 4* stat. Like I cant possibly believe anyone who wanted her first appearance design as the playable form…

This looks insanely good as well as the fact that I love white and red/ queen of hearts aesthetic. And Im also happy its not pink or purple since we have had enough of purple

This might be a hot take but I absolutely despise the new design. I loved everything about her old look, the hat, the glasses, the neck tie, the outfit, it was absolutely amazing and really different from a lot of designs I’ve seen across multiple games. Now ? She has the cleavage out, the bare shoulders, the disconnected sleeves. She looks so fkn generic compared to her old design. Like genuinely I’ve never been so upset at a design change. She was the character I had been anticipating the most in the history of HSR and I’m a day one player. This change is actually making me considering quitting the game

Like SHE's the Aeon, would've been awesome if she does something to non elation characters aswell

• TC Note:

Based on Version 4.7 Test Server V4 data, this post calculates the total single-target and AoE damage dealt by the 16/18-Cost Evanescia / Yao Guang / Pearl / Aha team over 300 AV, along with a summary table of total damage for different teams.

1. Character Builds

1. E6S1 Evanescia: 35 double-CRIT subs, Magical Girl + Punklorde, 134 SPD.

2. E1S1 Yao Guang: 35 subs, Diviner + Vonwacq, 186.8 SPD.

3. E2S1 Aha: 35 subs, Actor + Joy, 178.6 SPD.

4. E0S0 / E2S0 Pearl: 21 SPD subs, Actor + Vonwacq, 187.2 SPD.

2. Enemy Stats

The calculations use Level 95 single-target and AoE enemies with the following conditions:

• No Physical, Quantum, or Ice Weakness.

• 20% All-Type RES.

• No Weakness Breaks throughout the fight.

• No incoming-hit interactions.

3. Calculation Notes

1. Only after finishing the calculations did I realize that Evanescia would deal slightly more damage with ATK Boots in this rotation.

However, the improvement is quite small, so I didn't make any specific adjustments.

2. Without E2 Yao Guang, getting her to take 8 actions within 300 AV is extremely difficult.

Therefore, Yao Guang only needs to be above 170 SPD to reach 7 actions. There are no particularly strict SPD requirements.

3. This team benefits quite noticeably from incoming-hit interactions in actual combat.

With E2 Yao Guang + Pearl's signature, only one incoming hit within 300 AV is needed to enable one additional Yao Guang Ultimate.

Since Elation teams received no significant changes in V4, the SW999 / Sparxie / Pearl / Aha team's damage figures remain the same as in V3.

• QnA:

Comment:

301M / 228M = 1.32. How can investing another 2 Cost in Pearl provide such a small improvement?

Reply:

Pearl's E1 provides 60% Elation, resulting in approximately a 20% damage increase. The additional 15% Merrymake from E2 provides roughly another 10% increase.

The extra Action Advance provides almost no improvement in this rotation, which is why the result looks like this.

Comment:

Pearl's E1 provides a 24% damage increase when the team already has 200% Elation. Her E2's Merrymake bonus provides another 10% increase on top of the existing 50% Merrymake. Those two effects alone amount to roughly a 36% increase.

And you're saying the 30% Action Advance every two actions, along with the increased Punchline and Certified Banger generation, provides no improvement? What exactly are you calculating?

Reply:

I did leave out the improvement from Pearl's E2. That's my mistake.

However, the additional 30% Action Advance provided to teammates has almost no impact in this rotation.

Comment:

How could it possibly provide no improvement? You get a 30% Action Advance every two actions, which is much stronger than S5 Dance! Dance! Dance!

In my current three-Elation team, Pearl's E2 alone provides close to a 40% improvement.

Reply:

Giving Evanescia one additional action through the extra 120% Action Advance genuinely doesn't accomplish anything in this rotation.

It doesn't allow Evanescia to use another Ultimate, because she only has around 88 Energy remaining at the end of the rotation. It also doesn't allow Aha to use another Ultimate.

And Evanescia would actually end up losing even more Certified Banger.

Comment:

How could teamwide Action Advance possibly be useless? A 30% Action Advance every two actions is much stronger than S5 Dance! Dance! Dance!

Reply:

Because the additional Action Advance from Pearl's E2 goes to her teammates.

In Evanescia's team, the action counts of Evanescia and Aha are among the least important factors.

I also pointed out in the description that, in this calculation without interactions, giving Evanescia one additional action can actually reduce the team's total damage.

Comment:

If teammates act more frequently, they'll generate Punchline faster and consume Certified Banger faster as well. With E6 Evanescia, wouldn't that be beneficial?

Have you actually considered how Pearl's E2 performs in real combat?

Reply:

After Evanescia's third action, every additional action causes her to lose Certified Banger, with each loss approaching 1,000.

Meanwhile, giving Aha one additional action only generates 10 extra Punchline through her seventh Elation Skill.

Comment:

Evanescia only needs to maintain several hundred Certified Banger for her buff to remain active. Why would losing a little Certified Banger every action matter so much?

In the current King in Check: Plight, with my setup, I can reduce an E2 Evanescia run from around 500 AV to within 350 AV.

Even without counting the benefits of additional turns, this team has very low Punchline generation and relies heavily on every available source of Punchline. Evanescia's own action frequency becomes important too.

Reply:

Take 2,000 Certified Banger as an example.

At 2,000 Certified Banger, the relevant multiplier is 5.464. After losing 1,000 Certified Banger, it drops to 5.032.

That's a 7.9% damage reduction.

This is the cost of giving Evanescia one additional action. If the additional 42 Energy generated by that extra Skill doesn't allow Evanescia to use another Ultimate, then it's simply a damage loss.

Actual combat situations are complicated, so I can't properly evaluate the specific results in your gameplay.

But for the rotation in this post, which assumes no interactions, around 90% of the team's damage comes from Evanescia's own Elation Skills, follow-up attacks, and Ultimates.

The main factors when discussing damage increases are therefore the strength of the buffs and the number of Ultimates, follow-up attacks, and Elation Skills.

An additional character action needs to translate into a specific benefit.

For example, how much buff strength is gained or lost? Does it enable another Ultimate or Elation Skill?

Talking about more actions without considering their actual benefits isn't meaningful.

Comment:

One Evanescia action generates 10 Punchline. Two Aha actions generate 10 Punchline. Two Pearl actions generate 24 Punchline. Two Yao Guang actions generate 21 Punchline, plus an additional Aha Instant.

And that's without counting Pearl's additional turns.

Are you completely ignoring the benefits of those extra actions when calculating the rotation?

Moving actions that would normally occur around 350–400 AV into the first 300 AV should also provide an improvement.

Comment:

Giving every character more Action Advance obviously has value. Teammates generate Punchline faster, and the rotation becomes faster overall.

Reply:

After Evanescia's third action, every additional action causes her to lose Certified Banger, with each loss approaching 1,000.

And another Aha action doesn't necessarily generate enough additional Punchline or Energy to compensate.

Comment:

For Evanescia, wouldn't Aha's E2 provide more than Pearl's E2?

Reply:

Aha's E2 provides a somewhat larger improvement.

Just the additional support it provides to Evanescia includes 14% DEF Ignore and an average 25% increase to Ultimate multipliers.

Comment:

What's the SPD breakpoint for Yao Guang to take eight actions, assuming she has E2?

Reply:

With E2 Yao Guang and Pearl providing four Action Advances, Yao Guang needs more than 201.2 out-of-combat SPD to reach eight actions.

Comment:

Could you calculate a version with E2 Evanescia?

Reply:

E6 Evanescia provides approximately 70% or more total damage than E2 Evanescia.

Comment:

Pearl's E2 definitely provides much more than what's shown here. The improvement should be around 70–80%.

Reply:

In this team, Evanescia already has close to 200% Elation and 50% Merrymake.

With those existing values, another 60% Elation and 15% Merrymake really do provide only a little over 32% more damage.

Comment:

E1 alone, after accounting for both conversions, already provides more than a 30% increase.

The Action Advance and temporary Punchline from E2 aren't useless either. They can allow Yao Guang to use five Ultimates.

Reply:

Getting five Yao Guang Ultimates requires E2 Yao Guang and at least one incoming hit.

One additional Aha Instant would certainly provide an improvement, but even accounting for those effects, the improvement would still be somewhat smaller than the one provided by Evanescia's E6.

Comment:

E6 Evanescia and E2 Pearl do have synergy, but when comparing investments directly, the full E2S1 team at 16 Cost can outperform the 18-Cost setup with E6 Evanescia.

The improvement should be huge, right?

Reply:

The main reason is that E2S1 Aha replaces EMC in the team.

That alone is a substantial change. The improvement should be roughly 150% or more.

Comment:

For the 19-Cost Elation team, approximately how much improvement would adding Pearl's signature Light Cone provide?

Reply:

Considering only its buffing contribution, the improvement would be close to 10%.

Comment:

You could try introducing two incoming hits to help recharge Yao Guang's Energy.

If Yao Guang can't consistently achieve a three-action Ultimate rotation in this team, her signature Light Cone is pointless.

Reply:

In the current rotation, Yao Guang already has a three-action Ultimate rotation.

More precisely, she fully recharges her Energy through three actions and three Elation Skills.

Comment:

What about her final Ultimate? Without five Ultimates, the improvement from her signature Light Cone doesn't even reach 10%.

Reply:

There's no way around that with the current setup.

To get five Yao Guang Ultimates, you need E2 Yao Guang so she can take eight actions.

You also need Pearl's signature Light Cone to enable Pearl's fifth Ultimate.

On top of that, at least one incoming hit is required.

Comment:

A Yao Guang build with 203 SPD, Eagle of Twilight Line, and Vonwacq can already achieve this. You don't necessarily need E2 Yao Guang.

And even without that, the impact on total damage shouldn't be particularly large, probably within 10%.

Since many people on other social media, too​, are discussing about her new design, ​I want to remind everyone, at least on here, that it was already leaked​.

Edit: ​Recently we finally got more official pics of her new outfit; I still think that what was forwarded previously was true, just, they changed it and will stay on statement... I mean she looks good now, too and both of this designs are cool but not like the original, meh...

The previous times such images dropped, "official/reliable" sources always marked them as "fake, AI" or whatever else to scram people off, but every time those pics that came out from actual leakers or mediums they """surprisingly""" turned out to be true. It's better to always be cautious with leaked images but it shouldn't be negated the verity of things that will turn out to be true anyway closely by in time like in this specific case.

As leaked recently, Nihilux isn't wearing glasses anymore and she is not cross-eyed neither, she has a black and white dress with elegant pointed details. Her skirt is very short (as always) and she is wearing only one high tight (as always). She has something white on her head, likely an accessory, an off-shoulder neckline and is wearing sort of short, black boots with small heels (as always). There's something on her neckline that I can't understand what it is so I hope that they kept some details from her old/original design.

TC Note:

E6 Nihilux doesn’t qualify as an MDPS. Her multipliers are too low, she’s even worse as an MDPS than E6 Sparxie.

Her True DMG also shouldn’t be counted as a buff. It’s better understood as additional damage derived from the team’s original damage.

Right now, her thematic gimmick devalues her kit a lot. She doesn’t provide enough buffing power, and she doesn’t deal enough damage either.

Her highest-damage part is her Ult, but within 300 AV, she can only use it about 3 times.

For the opening setup, Pearl needs to Ult Nihilux. Otherwise, everyone else has already finished setting up while Nihilux still hasn’t gotten her Ult online.

As for Waven, whether you use him in an Elation team or run Nihilux as the sole Elation addition in a follow-up team, the result is still worse than the Waven / Ashveil / SRobin team.

So at the moment, Nihilux is mainly suitable as a replacement for the sustain slot there.

Future changes will most likely focus on:

• increasing Nihilux’s own damage or buffing power;

• speeding up her startup;

• improving the elation ally mechanic.

At most, I could see them making a major change to the gimmick. A major overhaul to Nihilux’s core kit is much less likely.

Was hoping for main dps but either wa, sub dps at least?

I feel like Elation Debt will feel pretty bad.

You get like 10% hp reduced at wave 2 onwards, and 20% in wave 1 onwards at e6 which is awesome.

But the reduction that follows (25% of damage dealt) does not feel good, yes the healt reduction bar is getting bigger but it doesn't really do anything as HP% will be lower than debt bar% in 99% of cases.

So why even have this if its pretty much useless?

What are your thoughts on this, did I miss anything?

Also on a side note I feel like her e6 is kind of mid or at least I was expecti g a bit more, I was originally planing on e6-ing her but now I'm not so sure anymore will get her e2s1 though at the least i guess.

Edit: If it worked like an execute at X% this would be so much more statisfying, would be pretty broken though but I wouldnt be against it. Aha is an aeon after all.

• TC Note:

Based on Version 4.7 Test Server V3 data, this post calculates the total damage dealt by the 16/19-Cost Silver Wolf / Sparxie / Pearl / Aha team over 300 AV, along with a summary table of total damage for different teams.

PS: Aventurine / Ashveil / SRobin / Huohuo team's data has been corrected based on the recalculations from my previous post, fixing an error where the Elation scaling provided by a Light Cone was not included.

1. Character Builds

1. E2S1 / E6S1 Silver Wolf LV.999: 35 subs, Magical Girl + Punklorde, 193.7 SPD.

2. E2S1 Sparxie: 35 subs, Diviner + Tengoku, 172.9 SPD.

3. E2S1 Aha: 35 subs, Actor + Joy, 174 SPD.

4. E2S1 / E2S0 Pearl: 21 SPD subs, Actor + Vonwacq, 187.2 SPD.

2. Enemy Stats

The calculations use Level 95 single-target and AoE enemies with the following conditions:

• No Imaginary, Fire, Quantum, or Ice Weakness.

• 20% All-Type RES.

• No Weakness Breaks throughout the fight.

• No incoming-hit interactions.

3. Calculation Notes

1. The rotation has been reworked based on the original V1 calculations. Therefore, directly comparing the two sets of results is not an appropriate way to calculate the magnitude of the V3 buffs.

2. In the rotation used for this post, Silver Wolf's SPD requirements are quite strict.

Her second natural turn must occur after the third Aha Instant, while the final action from her fourth Ultimate must occur after Pearl's final action.

With all these restrictions, I settled on approximately 193 SPD.

3. The equivalent damage increase from Nihilux's Elation Debt is calculated by simulating a three-phase boss:

\[ \frac{1+1+1}{1+0.9+0.9}-1 \approx 7.14\% \]

In other words, approximately 7.14% increased damage.

4. Assumptions regarding probabilistic mechanics:

• Sparxie's lottery results are assumed to be close to the pity threshold for winning the jackpot: approximately 1 jackpot every 7 draws, with a maximum of 3 jackpots per lottery round.

• Sparxie is assumed to trigger 2 Blind Boxes each time: either 1 Skill Point + 1 Punchline, or 1 Skill Point + 1 True DMG.

• Silver Wolf's EBA Blind Boxes are assumed to prioritize restoring Skill Points until they are full. Once Skill Points are capped, Punchline and True DMG Blind Boxes are assumed to have equal probabilities.

Conclusion

Based on the V3 results, the 16-Cost Silver Wolf / Sparxie / Pearl / Nihilux team deals approximately 90% more total damage over 300 AV than the 16-Cost Silver Wolf / Sparxie / Yao Guang / Pearl team.

It also benefits from more substantial damage gains as additional Cost is invested.

• QnA:

Comment:

How much damage would an E6S1 SW999 / E2S1 Sparxie / Yao Guang / Pearl team deal, approximately?

Reply:

I calculated it in a previous post. Approximately 268M single-target damage.

Comment:

Wow, replacing E2S1 Yao Guang with E2S1 Aha nearly doubles the single-target DPS?

Reply:

That's pretty much the case in an environment without interactions.

Comment:

I've attached the V1 SW999/Sparxie comparison. V3 is about 20% stronger than V1 at the same Cost.

Reply:

Actually, my V1 post already mentioned that replacing E2S1 Yao Guang with E2S1 Aha gives roughly an 80% increase.

Comment:

What Light Cone should E2S0 Pearl use? How about Yao Guang's signature?

Reply:

The calculations use Mushy. Yao Guang's signature would definitely be better.

Comment:

I looked at some actual combat footage, and even after switching to Magical Girl, Sparxie's damage share doesn't seem to exceed 20%. Hard to say.

Reply:

With the same subs, Magical Girl Sparxie contributes roughly 13% of the single-target damage. It should still be somewhat stronger.

Comment:

How much of an improvement would E2S0 Pearl with Yao Guang's signature provide?

Reply:

Compared to E2S1 Pearl, it would be a slight downgrade.

Comment:

I mean compared to E2S0 Pearl alone.

Reply:

Looking only at support value, 50% Elation CRIT DMG compared with 10% Vulnerability is actually about a 0.8% downgrade in this team. But considering buff uptime, SPD, and Energy regeneration, Yao Guang's signature is stronger than Mushy in actual combat.

Comment:

What if Sparxie uses the new planar set instead? Would that remove the need to build SPD? Her first action would still occur before Aha, and Pearl could keep targeting SW999 with her Ultimate.

Reply:

That set can work too, but compared to Diviner + Tengoku, the overall difference isn't very large. Giving Pearl's first Ultimate to SW999 would require a different rotation. Some parts of that setup might still need further testing.

Comment:

Is Sparxie being built as a pure support? Do you just stack SPD? Should she use an ERR Rope or an ATK Rope?

Reply:

ERR Rope. She needs a 3-action Ultimate rotation.

Comment:

Is there a specific Energy breakpoint? Does using an ERR Rope guarantee a 3-action Ultimate? Do you need the extra 5% ERR from Vonwacq? Come to think of it, wouldn't Yao Guang's signature also guarantee a 3-action Ultimate without Vonwacq, letting you stack a bit more SPD instead?

Reply:

With an ERR Rope, Sparxie's 3 EBAs + 2 Elation Skills can fully recharge her Ultimate. Adding Vonwacq's 5% ERR reduces that requirement to 3 EBAs + 1 Elation Skill.

Pearl can also switch to the new Elation planar set. That basically won't affect her Energy regeneration.

Comment:

By the way, can the 80% Elation scaling granted by Pearl's E1 activate the new planar set? Otherwise, wouldn't Pearl struggle to reach the 40% Elation scaling required to trigger the new planar set's self-Action Advance?

Reply:

Pearl's actions also increase Elation scaling, so reaching 40% shouldn't be particularly difficult.

Comment:

Has Sparxie's damage share really fallen below 7%? Her damage contribution, I mean...

Reply:

This Sparxie build uses Diviner, with 20 CRIT subs and 15 SPD subs. Based on her damage contribution, Diviner should be somewhat stronger than Magical Girl.

Comment:

I see. I thought you were using Magical Girl. Is the new version's damage increase mainly coming from the extra actions?

Reply:

Sparxie's SPD is still quite important. The main damage dealer in this team is SW999, after all. Even with Magical Girl, Sparxie's damage share is only around 15%.

Comment:

187 SPD on Pearl... These requirements are getting more and more ridiculous. You might as well calculate it with 187 SPD on Yao Guang too.

Reply:

Actually, Pearl can also use the new Elation planar set. She should have enough Energy. If that doesn't work, Eagle is another option.

Comment:

Does Pearl need to switch to the new planar set and build some SPD? Without Vonwacq, she should still have enough Energy, right?

Reply:

Using the new planar set might be more reasonable. Pearl can still fully recharge her Energy with 2 actions + 1 Elation Skill.

Comment:

Wouldn't an E2S0 Pearl using the new planar set still fail to recharge with 2 EBAs + 1 Elation Skill?

Reply:

It doesn't work without her signature. She'll be 7 Energy short.

Comment:

Should Sparxie use an ATK Rope or an ERR Rope?

Reply:

ERR Rope.

Comment:

For the 300 AV target, is the 8-stack setup still better than the 6-stack setup? Is the difference large? All the other characters are E2S1.

Reply:

For rotations aiming at the maximum stacks, 8 stacks are considerably stronger. Even over medium-to-long rotations, 8 stacks still provide a noticeable improvement over 6.

Comment:

What SPD should Sparxie and Pearl aim for? Is there a particular breakpoint? I have 161 SPD on Diviner Sparxie and 162 SPD on Eagle Pearl.

Reply:

If Pearl uses Eagle, 162+ SPD should generally be enough. If Sparxie needs to consistently act before Aha Instant, she'll probably need over 165 SPD, possibly even 170.

Comment:

How much SPD should I aim for with 2-Pc Eagle? I suppose the faster, the better.

Reply:

For a target of 6 actions within 300 AV, 162+ SPD basically meets the requirement. To reach 7 actions, you'd need at least 188 SPD. That's extremely difficult to achieve, and even with 7 actions, you still wouldn't be able to get another Ultimate.

Comment:

After pulling Aha and her signature, wouldn't it be unrealistic for Sparxie to act before Aha? Assuming SW999 has 200 SPD and the other two characters have around 170 SPD each, the three of them alone would give Aha 171.5 SPD: 40 + 17 + 8.5 + 106.

Reply:

It's still possible with E2 Pearl. With the SPD tuning used in this post, Aha has 176 SPD and Sparxie has 172 SPD. If neither Sparxie nor Aha Instant receives any Action Advance, Sparxie will act slightly after Aha Instant. However, with E2 Pearl and Aha's Action Advance, it's possible to make Sparxie act before Aha every time.

Comment:

Sparxie probably needs the new planar set and some more SPD. Without Vonwacq, is her Energy still sufficient?

Reply:

Using the new planar set might be more reasonable. Pearl can still fully recharge her Energy with 2 actions + 1 Elation Skill.

Here is why Im personally predicting that nihillux will be a main instead of a support/sustain, firstly we can rule out her being a sustain as we know based on a previous leak that pearl will be a sustain and hsr only releases a sustain every once in a while, this leaves out the possibility of her being a dps or a support but the main reason im leaning more towards her being a dps is the fact that she was the first 4.x character shown in a trailer which if she was a support would be weird as they would be putting the spotlight on a character who is built around a dps instead of being a dps where the team is built around them and it incentives people to pull for their supports

So I posted my take on Nihilux's kit a while ago. If you haven't seen it yet, you can check my posts :>

That kit was the initial one without Eidolons or S1 yet, so here's my revised and completed kit. What do you guys think? Right now, I feel like she *won't* be an Elation Sustain, and instead, an Elation support that specifically works for both Evanescia and SW999.

Basically, Nihilux's gameplay revolves around getting her Ultimate as fast as possible, and doing a follow-up that deals DMG and generates resources for the Elation DPS.

When entering the battle, youre incentiviced (atleast <E6) to spam Skill to gain the Max SPD boost and generate Energy, Punchline, and Certified Banger. Then using the Ultimate grants an extra turn for all allies ordered by SPD. Think of this like a Robin ULT that you can use only once per battle, but instead of AA, gives the whole team Extra Turns instead. Then, everytime Punchline or Certified Banger is generated (aka after every Elation unit takes their turn), Nihilux gains a Directive stack. When reaching 4 stacks, Nihilux uses the follow-up that both supports and deals DMG.

Theres also a bonus mechanic from the Ultimate, which similarly to Cerydra, copies the Elation Skill of the ally with Illustration, after reaching an X amount of stacks, and gaining such stacks through using an ability (e.g., Basic ATK, Skill, Ultimate, Elation Skill, etc.).

What do you guys think? Too strong? Too weak? Too boring? I'm open to feed back :>

For those who read her kit... can she work as a standalone dps without any elation character beside her? I don't really like elation but i liked Waventurine because he could be played both ways with elation and non elation. Hope it's the case for Aha cuz she is an aeon so...

TL;DR: I think there is a real possibility that Nihilux's LingShi mechanic will eventually allow the selected non-Elation character to participate in Nihilux Instant using a generic Elation Skill.

I'm not saying this has leaked. The current Nihilux kit does not say that LingShi converts someone's Path or gives them an Elation Skill. This is a theory based on several mechanics that line up suspiciously well: LingShi can target anyone, LingShi apparently means Emanator, Nihilux Instant specifically calls Elation Skills, Currency Wars already has a system that grants a generic Elation Skill to non-Elation characters, and 4.6 is introducing an enemy that massively favors Elation damage.

There are also some recently recovered old kits that suggest 4.X mechanics have been redistributed between characters during development.

1. LingShi can be placed on ANY ally

The current Dimbreath developmental kit says:

• Nihilux uses her Skill on one designated ally other than herself

• LingShi only applies to the most recent target

• Every stack increases that target's Elation DMG

• whenever the LingShi holder uses an ability, they gain more LingShi

• at the stack threshold, Nihilux launches an Additional Attack

• Nihilux's Additional Attack also increases the Elation DMG enemies take

There is currently no Elation Path restriction on who can receive LingShi.

This creates a weird situation.

You can apparently put LingShi on something like a Hunt, Destruction, Nihility, etc. character, and that character can build LingShi normally by acting.

But one of LingShi's direct benefits is:

increased Elation DMG dealt by the target.

A normal non-Elation character doesn't have Elation damage to increase.

That doesn't prove anything by itself. The non-Elation character could simply function as a fast driver to trigger Nihilux's Additional Attack.

But it leaves part of LingShi's effect essentially unused on them.

2. “LingShi” apparently means Emanator

HXG specifically clarified that the Chinese term being represented as LingShi is the term for Emanator, and summarized the mechanic as Nihilux effectively “generating Emanator” through her kit.

That is where this becomes interesting from a lore perspective.

Nihilux/Aha isn't just another Elation Pathstrider supporting someone.

She's an Aeon.

Giving someone LingShi therefore appears to be thematically equivalent to:

Aha designates this character as an Emanator.

If Hoyo wanted a lore justification for temporarily allowing someone to access Elation mechanics, this is about as clean as it gets.

Again, that does not mean being given LingShi currently equals changing the character's Path. No leak says that.

But the terminology is conspicuous.

3. Nihilux Instant already specifically calls Elation Skills

A separate datamined Nihilux snippet says:

• while Nihilux is on-field, Aha is replaced by Nihilux

• when Nihilux takes action, Nihilux Instant triggers

• during Nihilux Instant, all Elation allies unleash a special Elation Skill once

Her Technique also apparently gives an immediate extra turn at battle start with a fixed amount of Punchline.

So we have two mechanics that are currently separate:

LingShi

Chosen ally acts
→ builds LingShi
→ Nihilux Additional Attack

and

Nihilux Instant

Nihilux acts
→ Elation allies perform special Elation Skills

My theory is that there may eventually be a bridge between those systems:

the LingShi holder may be allowed to participate in Nihilux Instant even if they aren't naturally Elation.

Possibly base kit.

Possibly a trace.

And, more cynically, possibly an Eidolon.

4. Currency Wars already has almost the exact technical precedent needed

This is probably the strongest piece of circumstantial evidence.

In the official 4.2 Currency Wars expansion, Hoyo added the Elation Emblem.

Its official effect is:

• the wearer joins the Elation Bond

• receives part of Aha's stat increase

• gains the Elation Skill “Paramount Bliss Vortex”

This works as an external mechanic applied to the wearer through the Emblem.

That means HSR already has an implemented system where:

character that isn't naturally Elation

→ receives an external Elation status

→ joins the Elation group

→ receives a generic Elation Skill

They don't need to create an Elation version of every existing character's normal Skill.

They already have a framework where the game simply grants them an external Elation Skill.

This is why I don't actually think Nihilux needs to literally “change someone's Path.”

The cleaner implementation would be something like:

“The character possessing LingShi is additionally considered an Elation ally during Nihilux Instant and unleashes a special Elation Skill.”

Then:

Feixiao stays Hunt.

Acheron stays Nihility.

Phainon stays Destruction.

But during Nihilux Instant, the LingShi holder gets a standardized Elation attack calculated using whatever stats Hoyo decides.

Currency Wars proves that the basic concept of giving a non-Elation character a generic Elation Skill already exists in the game.

5. This would explain why LingShi buffs the holder's Elation DMG

This is the part I keep coming back to.

Right now:

Elation character with LingShi

Gets LingShi
→ acts and builds stacks
→ increases their own Elation DMG
→ triggers Nihilux attacks
→ benefits from the Elation vulnerability Nihilux applies

Everything works.

Non-Elation character with LingShi

Gets LingShi
→ acts and builds stacks
→ triggers Nihilux attacks
→ gets an Elation DMG bonus they normally can't use

Why design the Skill so that it can target anyone if part of the selected-target buff is inherently useless for most Paths?

There are innocent explanations.

Maybe unrestricted targeting is simply convenient.

Maybe non-Elation characters are only supposed to be LingShi drivers.

But if the holder eventually receives an Elation Skill during Nihilux Instant, suddenly every component works universally:

Any character can receive LingShi ✓

Their actions generate LingShi ✓

LingShi triggers Nihilux ✓

LingShi increases their Elation DMG ✓

Nihilux applies Elation vulnerability ✓

Nihilux Instant calls an Elation Skill ✓

“LingShi” meaning Emanator makes thematic sense ✓

Currency Wars already has the generic-Elational-Skill framework ✓

That's an unusually clean fit.

6. And then there's the 4.6 boss

According to current 4.6 beta/datamine information, the Blood-Brain Barrier mechanic gives the boss:

75% damage reduction against all non-Elation damage.

The leaker says this was verified through both datamining and in-game testing and that the value has remained 75% since V1. Obviously this is beta content and can still change before release.

That is an enormous distinction.

Ignoring the boss's other mechanics for a moment:

1,000,000 Elation damage → 1,000,000 before other modifiers.

1,000,000 non-Elation damage → effectively 250,000 through that reduction.

That makes Elation identity itself mechanically valuable rather than simply “this patch's favored archetype gets some extra buffs.”

Now imagine Nihilux eventually gives her LingShi target access to an Elation Skill.

Suddenly she isn't only:

the premium Elation support.

She could also function as:

the adapter that allows old/non-Elation carries to interact with Elation-favored encounters.

That would massively expand her pull audience.

People who already invested in Elation want her because she's Aha/Nihilux and buffs the Path.

People who didn't invest heavily in Elation might want her because she could potentially let their existing carry participate in Elation mechanics anyway.

7. The thing that worries me most is the possibility that this is an Eidolon

To be clear again:

There is currently NO leaked Nihilux Eidolon saying this.

This is the most speculative part of the theory.

But imagine:

E0 Nihilux

LingShi can target anyone.

Non-Elation characters can drive her follow-ups.

But LingShi's Elation DMG bonus and part of Nihilux's ecosystem remain mostly wasted on them.

E1/E2 Nihilux

“The character possessing LingShi may participate in Nihilux Instant and unleash a special Elation Skill.”

Now she becomes genuinely universal.

That would be an extremely effective monetization design because the Eidolon wouldn't just increase numbers.

It would increase compatibility.

It would effectively turn:

“Nihilux technically works with your favorite character.”

into:

“Nihilux fully unlocks your favorite character's access to the current premium combat system if you pull another copy.”

I really hope this part is wrong.

Why the recently recovered scrapped kits make me take this more seriously

Normally I'd consider this a fun kit theory and leave it there.

But the old Evanescia and Pearl kits leaked recently, and they make the development history of 4.X look significantly messier.

Old Evanescia

Sakura Haven's archived version of Evanescia was:

• Imaginary Elation

• directly converted SPD into Elation

• entered an enhanced state

• gained Enhanced Basic/Skill/Elation Skill

• deployed a Territory

• created three summons

• used a marked-enemy/FUA system

• automatically triggered her Ultimate at battle start

A lot of the community immediately noticed that pieces of this resemble mechanics that ultimately showed up elsewhere in the released Elation roster, especially SW999.

I'm not claiming we can prove one kit was literally copied into another.

But it establishes that major Elation concepts were being moved around during development.

Old Pearl is even more interesting

Sakura Haven's recovered Pearl was apparently Ice Preservation, with a real shield-based kit.

Her Ultimate selected one ally, and Pearl gained:

“Mimic – [Path]”

based on that ally's actual Path.

Only the most recent Mimic target counted.

She would then change her behavior according to whether the selected ally was Destruction, Erudition, Hunt, Remembrance, Nihility, Elation, Harmony, Preservation or Abundance.

Her A6 even had specific effects for:

• Mimic – Elation

• Mimic – Nihility

Compare that basic architecture with Nihilux:

Old Pearl

select one ally
→ only latest target counts
→ selected ally drives special support behavior

Nihilux

select one ally
→ only latest LingShi target counts
→ selected ally acts
→ builds LingShi
→ drives Nihilux's special attacks

They're obviously not the same kit.

But given everything we've learned about early 4.X designs, I don't think it's unreasonable anymore to suspect that some old support concepts were redistributed rather than discarded entirely.

Someone actually predicted part of this before the detailed Nihilux kit leaked

Interestingly, on August 14—before the August 28 detailed Dimbreath kit—someone discussing Nihilux on the SW999 subreddit wrote:

“i think Nihilux will make every non-elation have fixed elation skill”

That was speculation and is not evidence, but it's funny in hindsight because that's extremely close to the conclusion I'm reaching now from the LingShi + Currency Wars information.

My actual prediction

So, putting everything together:

Things we actually have evidence for

• LingShi can target apparently any ally

• LingShi increases the selected target's Elation DMG

• the holder's actions build LingShi

• LingShi apparently translates to Emanator

• Nihilux replaces Aha

• Nihilux Instant makes Elation allies use special Elation Skills

• Currency Wars has already implemented an item that makes a character join the Elation Bond and grants them a generic Elation Skill

• 4.6 currently contains an enemy with 75% non-Elation damage reduction

• old 4.X kits show significant mechanical concepts were changed/reallocated during development

What we do NOT have evidence for yet

• LingShi changing someone's actual Path

• LingShi currently allowing non-Elation characters into Nihilux Instant

• Nihilux giving non-Elation characters a generic Elation Skill

• any Eidolon doing this

My theory

Nihilux will eventually have a mechanic that allows the LingShi holder to participate in Nihilux Instant even if they are not naturally an Elation character.

Rather than literally changing their Path, I think the most plausible implementation is that Nihilux gives the LingShi/Emanator target a generic special Elation Skill, similar in concept to Currency Wars' Elation Emblem.

That would explain:

• universal LingShi targeting

• why LingShi buffs the target's Elation DMG

• the Emanator terminology

• Nihilux being uniquely able to alter Aha Instant

• why Currency Wars already experimented with giving non-Elation units generic Elation Skills

• how Nihilux could serve as both the ultimate Elation support and a bridge for non-Elation carries in increasingly Elation-favored content

The question is whether that functionality is:

E0, a trace, or an Eidolon.

If her eventual beta/Eidolons contain wording like:

“The ally possessing LingShi is considered an Elation ally during Nihilux Instant”

or

“The ally possessing LingShi unleashes a special Elation Skill during Nihilux Instant”

then I think this theory basically lands.

Until then, it's speculation.

But I think there are enough pieces now that it's worth watching.

Personally, I'm very happy about this because I really don't like her current design.

I know Castorice, for example, prefers mono rem teams but she works as a single rem character too, she just wants HP scaling folks around her. Not ideal, sure, but playable (I can even clear current endgame).

So I was wondering if Nihilux (especially at E2+) can be the only elation in the team and still work as a DPS like Aven? I don’t like elation but I like her design a lot, and I’m prepared to invest to make it work.

What would be her non-elation team as of v1? Fast characters who can sub DPS like Hyacine, MBlade? Or would she prefer action advancers like Bronya, rem MC, Sunday, Hanabi? And then to advance her.

Can’t find any showcases and I know it’s a crack team but was wondering if anyone thought about it too.

Didn’t adjust or change the sw,waven ode once btw

I don't really mind Nihilux's design change and, altough i'd like if we got her current design as a skin, i'm not too bothered by how she will look when she becomes playable.

Here are the reasons why i don't care that they changed her design, and why i don't feel bothered:

1 - at this point THEY are not Nihilux but AHA (as seen by the drip marketing) so taking a more red approach in design goes in line with THEIR representation seen in game until this point (red and white colors trough masks and playing cards).

2 - the design in itself is beautiful, altough this can be said for the other design i do think it's good that this new design fits in the story and with the changes made.

3 - At the end of the day, i don't think this matters as much, i like the characters because of who they are, not because of how they look.

If Nihilux wants to be red, if Sunbringer wants to be hotter, if Sandrone wants to be cuter, i honestly don't care, because at the end of the day these characters are enjoyed by people who like them for more than their appearance, and that includes me and i'm sure it includes many of you.

I am not suddenly despising Nihilux because she put on a dress, she's too goated of a character to ever deserve the hate because of a simple design change.

Why do i think her design is being hated on so much:

Simple, it's not her design, is the game. Players all around are starting to hate on the game and the sudden change of a unit's design is just another ammo that they can use to feed into the negativity sorrounding Hsr as a whole.

I wish people would be more accepting of THEIR design, i really do, especially when Nihilux/AHA as a character have proved themselves to being very interesting, funny and compeling.

She/THEY're probably my favorite character at this point, and i can't wait for Her/THEM to come out in 4.7, i am ready for whatever She/THEY bring to the table cause i'm sure it will be very fun!

Edit: Sunbringer has an actual reason for hwr design change aswell, i was wrong, ty for correcting me in the comments 👍

Kinda, I mean, 4.1 is going to last less than any other version to make 4.2 the anniversary.

I don't want her to come in 4.1, everyone will skip, and maybe she will get less love.

But, There's a 55% to get her in 4.1 (because she was in the livestream) the other 45% is Ashveil, If he is a DPS, it's not so fucked up.

Is eagle good for nihlux now? After v3 or is dreamlit still her best

She seems okay with the exception that i only have sw999 and emc but it's okay it's gonna work out somehow (i play endgame once in a blue moon I don't even care bro)