Wuthering Waves Calcharo build guide

(Image credit: Kuro Game Studio)

The best Calcharo build in Wuthering Waves turns this mercenary leader into one of best DPS mains in the game. He’s a five-star Electro character using a Broadblade that relies on enhanced attacks, timely dodges, and a lot of active field time. Calcharo has a complex rotation, but his extremely powerful enhanced attacks are worth the investment.

Here’s how to get the best Wuthering Waves Calcharo build and what weapons, Echoes and more work best for him. I've also got a few Wuthering Waves codes to help you get started with some vital items.

Calcharo’s abilities and rotation

Basic attack: performs up to 4 consecutive attacks, dealing Electro DMG. Use Basic Attack after a successful Dodge to perform a Dodge Counter, dealing Electro DMG.
Resonance Skill: Calcharo performs up to 3 consecutive attacks, dealing Electro DMG. If Calcharo is switched off-field, or if this skill is not performed again in a while, it will enter cooldown.
Forte Circuit: when the Resonance Skill hits a target, Calcharo gains one stack of Cruelty. When he reaches the maximum of three Cruelty, his Heavy Attack is replaced with Mercy, and he may consume the Cruelty stacks to perform a more powerful Heavy Attack that recovers Resonance Energy and Concerto Energy. Furthermore, when the Resonance Liberation’s Deathblade Gear state is active, Calcharo’s Forte Gauge is replaced with Killing Intent. When Hounds Roar hits a target, Calcharo gains one stack of Killing Intent, and when he has five, his Basic Attack is replaced with Heavy Attack Death Messenger (consumes the five Killing Intent stacks).
Resonance Liberation: Calcharo attacks the target, dealing Electro DMG and entering Deathblade Gear state. During Deathblade Gear, Basic Attack is replaced with Hounds Roar (counted as Basic Attack damage) and Dodge Counters deal increased damage (considered Resonance Liberation damage). After the Deathblade Gear state ends, Calcharo's next Intro Skill is replaced with the stronger Necessary Means Intro Skill.
Intro Skill: attack the target, dealing Electro DMG.
Outro Skill: summons a Phantom to support the on-field Resonator, clearing the targets in front with a slash. The Phantom's attacks deal Electro DMG equal to 195.98%+391.96 of Calcharo's ATK.

Wuthering Waves builds

Wuthering Waves Encore build
Wuthering Waves Rover build
Wuthering Waves Verina build
Wuthering Waves Yinlin build

In his ‘normal’ state, Calcharo’s Basic Attack, Heavy Attack, and Resonance Skill are straightforward Electro melee attacks with a decent forward range. In order to turn Calcharo into an amazing DPS you must use his special abilities unlocked with Cruelty and Killing Intent stacks.

So, at the start of a battle, use Calcharo’s Basic Attack combos while hitting targets with his Resonance Skill as quickly as possible. After three Resonance Skill hits, the purple Forte Gauge ‘Cruelty’ above his HP bar (see above) is full. When that happens, use a Heavy Attack to deal Mercy damage and gain Energy. Beware that you can’t charge Cruelty once you’ve activated the Resonance Liberation.

When Calcharo’s Resonance Liberation is fully charged you can use it to enter Deathblade Gear. Land as many Basic Attacks as possible (automatically upgraded to Hounds Roar), and always use Basic Attacks after performing a successful Dodge - this will create Dodge Counters. The Hounds Roar attacks will stack Killing Intent and replace a Basic Attack with the Heavy Attack Death Messenger. Make the best of it as after eleven seconds, Deathblade Gear will end and you must switch to another character.

To sum up Calcharo’s rotation: hit three targets with the Resonance Skill, then use the Mercy Heavy Attack. Use Basic Attack combos and Dodge Counters to deal damage between the Resonance Skills (a Basic Attack, Resonance Skill, Basic Attack, Resonance Skill sequence works fine). Use Resonance Liberation as soon as it’s fully charged (ideally following the Mercy Heavy Attack), then use the enhanced Basic Attacks and Dodge Counters until the Deathblade Gear state ends. Swap to another character.

Calcharo’s Resonance Chain and upgrade priority

Covert Negotiation: When the Resonance Skill hits a target, it additionally recovers 10 Resonance Energy. This can be triggered once every 20 seconds.
Zero-Sum Game: After Calcharo casts Intro Skill Wanted Criminal or Intro Skill Necessary Means, his Resonance Skill DMG Bonus is increased by 30% for 15 seconds.
Iron Fist Diplomacy: During the Resonance Liberation Deathblade Gear state, Calcharo's Electro DMG Bonus is increased by 25%.
Dark Alliance: After casting the Outro Skill Shadowy Raid, Electro DMG Bonus of all team members is increased by 20% for 30s.
Unconventional Compact: Intro Skill Wanted Criminal and Intro Skill Necessary Means deal 50% more damage.
The Ultimatum: When casting Resonance Liberation’s Death Messenger, Calcharo will summon 2 Phantoms to perform coordinated attacks. Each Phantom deals Electro DMG equal to 100% of Calcharo's ATK, which is considered Resonance Liberation DMG.

Rover’s Resonance Chain passive abilities can be unlocked by obtaining more Calcharo’s from Wuthering Waves wishes. Since Calcharo is a 5-star character it takes a large amount of Astrite/Lustrous Tides to unlock all six Resonance Chain abilities (unlike main character Rover, whose Chain Resonance is free).

If you still wish to upgrade Resonance Chains for your Calcharo build, Covert Negotiation is quite handy as it helps Calcharo charge his Resonance Liberation faster. Zero-Sum Game, The Ultimatum, and especially Iron Fist Diplomacy provide very strong damage boosts. However, Dark Alliance and Unconventional Compact aren’t recommended, as the first works best if you have other Electro DPS characters on the team (Calcharo will likely be the only DPS with a lot of active time) and the second only improves his mediocre Intro Skills.

Besides Resonance Chains, be sure to upgrade Calcharo’s stat bonuses, which provide Critical Damage and extra Attack Power, as well as his Inherent Skills (passives) on the Forte Circuit skill tree. This will grant him a damage reduction and a Resonance Liberation damage bonus after using Mercy. Although you should eventually upgrade all of Calcharo’s active abilities, prioritize Forte Circuit and Resonance Liberation as these are his main sources of damage.

Best weapon for Calcharo

Best 5-star weapon: Verdant Summit. Increases Critical Damage by 10.8-48.6% and increases the damage bonus of all Resonance attributes by 12-24%. Every time Intro Skill or Resonance Liberation is cast, the Heavy Attack damage bonus is increased by 24-48%, stacking up to two times and lasting for 14 seconds.
Best 4-star weapon: Helios Cleaver. Increases Attack by 6.7-30.3%. Within 12 seconds after the Resonance Skill is released, increases Attack by 3-6% every two seconds, stacking up to 4 times. When the number of stacks reaches 12, all stacks will be reset within one second.

The best 5-star weapon for your Calcharo build is the Verdant Summit, which offers a high Critical Damage bonus and improves all Resonance damage. It’s hard to get a Calcharo build with a high Critical Rate and Critical Damage by relying on Echoes alone, so the Critical Damage stat is a huge help. This weapon also improves Calcharo’s Heavy Attack damage when swapping into combat or entering Deathblade Gear, but he doesn’t use enough Heavy Attacks to gain a significant damage boost from this ability.

With only two 5-star Broadswords in the game at the moment of writing, the 5-star Lustrous Razor is a good alternative to Verdant Summit. It has ATK% as a secondary stat rather than Critical Damage, but that only surpasses Verdant Summit if your Calcharo build doesn’t have a good Critical Rate yet. Lustrous Razor also provides better Energy Regeneration, making it a good option if you can’t get that from your Echoes.

As for the best 4-star weapon for your Calcharo build, choose the Helios Cleaver. Calcharo uses his Resonance Skill a lot (to stack Cruelty) so it shouldn’t be hard to activate the Attack boost offered by this Broadsword. If you can’t get Helios Cleaver, most 3- and 4-star weapons that offer ATK%, Critical Rate, or Critical Damage as their secondary stat will do.

Best Echoes for Calcharo

Best Echo set: the full Void Thunder set. Increases Electro Damage by 10%. Also increases Electro Damage by 15% after releasing a Heavy Attack or Resonance Skill. Stacks up to two times and lasts fifteen seconds.
Best Echo ability: Thundering Mephis. Transform into Thundering Mephis, engaging in a rapid assault of up to 6 strikes. After the final hit, increase the current character's Electro Damage by 12.00% and Resonance Liberation Damage by 12.00% for 15 seconds. Cooldown is 20 seconds.
Echo stats: Critical Rate, Critical Damage, Energy Regeneration, Electro Damage, Attack.

The best Echo set for your Calcharo build is a no-brainer, as the full Void Thunder set’s Electro damage improves all of his attacks. Calcharo can easily trigger the full set bonus as he continuously triggers Heavy Attacks and Resonance Skills. If you follow the recommended Calcharo attack order by triggering Resonance Liberation directly after the Resonance Skills, you will benefit from the extra Electro Damage during the Deathblade Gear state.

As for the Echo ability, Thundering Mephis and Tempest Mephis are both amazing options since they not only deal pretty good Electro damage on their own, but also boost Calcharo’s Electro damage. Beware that Thundering Mephis increases Calcharo’s Resonance Liberation damage while Tempest Mephis increases his Heavy Attack damage - since Calcharo relies more on his Liberation damage, Thundering Mephis is the best choice.

Make sure you’re using a Critical Rate main stat on your Calcharo build, especially if you managed to get Verdant Summit as a weapon. If you already have a high Critical Rate, go for Critical Damage instead. The remaining Echo stats to look out for are Energy Regeneration, Electro Damage Bonus, and ATK%.

I've also got an in-depth Wuthering Waves Echo tier list if you want to check more options and see what else you can get.

Best Calcharo teams

Best Calcharo team: Calcharo, Yinlin, and Verina.
Best Calcharo free-to-play team: Calcharo, Yangyang, Baizhi.

Calcharo is a true main DPS; he needs enough field time to build Cruelty and cast Mercy, use Resonance Liberation, and stay for a full eleven seconds while the Deathblade Gear status is active. This means he doesn’t work well on dual DPS/sub-DPS teams. Instead, try to find allies who can boost Calcharo’s damage and (of course) heal him.

As the best 5-star and 4-star healers in the game, use Verina on a premium Calcharo team and Baizhi on a free-to-play Calcharo team. Yinlin is by far the best support since her Outro Skill increases Electro Damage and Resonance Liberation damage, both of which are perfect for Calcharo. On a free-to-play Calcharo team, Yangyang is a good alternative; her Outro Skill recovers Energy, allowing Calcharo to use his Resonance Liberation faster. Yangyang becomes particularly valuable if your Calcharo build lacks Energy Regeneration.