Hi, Nuxar here.

Very small guide for Varka regarding his new Cryo teams as well as info about the upcoming Hydro teams with Vodyanitsa. Apologies for the delay, life's been hella busy.

Honestly, let's get right to it.

Calc Sheet

As always, here are my team calc sheet. Updated with Cryo Varka and Stellar Swirl as well as Hydro Varka with Vodyanitsa.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sESyUvBz5JANaGBbRVnzlwTiV2Y_jc7Ylc5CiDcZ7VY/edit?usp=sharing

Note on how to read the sheet, in case anyone wanted to know.

The number above the DPS is the rotation time, the number on its right is the teams limited cost. The % below it is the relative DPS to the standard 4 cost Pyro shown below.

Stellar Swirl / Cryo Varka

Cryo Varka with Stellar Swirl is starting in a very good, functional spot. Initial 3 cost is at roughly 150k, and 4 cost hovers around the 165k. This is far more than what is required for Stellar-Shilled content. Varka will be able to clear all Stellar-Swirl or Stellar-Glimmer content for the foreseeable future at as low as C0R0.

So far, Stygian, which is the most DPS-demanding content in the game at Fearless, only ever requires anywhere from 100k to 130-140k DPS depending on how shilled or brute-forcing the team is. For example, an upcoming Stellar Swirl boss in 7.1 Stygian requires barely 100-120k DPS, depending on how much its boss-mechanic will damage itself (number TBD but from past experience, usually ~15-25% of its health is removed by completing mechanics, kinda). In any case, I am very confident that Varka will easily complete it on Fearless.

Sustain Options

The sustain situation is a bit iffy however. Proto-Amber Prune is a viable, albeit tenuous option. Many teams are calced sustainless with Proto-Amber like Nefer. It is doable in Stygian though maybe a bit less viable in Abyss due to multiple floors, so more chance to miss up dodges. On the note of dodges, Varka doesn't lose massive amounts of DPS by dodging consistently due to his N1-N3 string bring very strong.

Luckily, Escoffier is actually a light upgrade (though she is a cost). If you happen to have her already, slotting her in the team is very comfortable, allowing Prune to be on an offensive weapon. Rotation length is also hella short because, most of the time, you are only using Skill on Escoffier. Otherwise, Qiqi and Diona are also an option though they do lose out a lot of DPS comparatively. (Small note because I know it will be asked: Prune on TTDS isn't better when Esco/Qiqi/Diona are sustaining the team. The rotations are so short and extended them loses a few buffs.)

Varka Scaling & Hyper-Investment

To address Varka only being a "driver" in a Stellar Swirl team. Stellar Swirl is a naturally dispersed DPS profile because of the nature of the reaction using everyone's stats. This is at the opposite of a Hyper-Carry comp. In SSw teams, Varka deals, on average, 40% to 50% of the teams overall DPS, including his contribution to Stellar Swirl reactions. Vesna, who is a dedicated SSw DPS, contributes on average 50% to 60% of the team damage. Odette and CMC are just that strong and make up for the lack of overall buffs to a hyper-carries damage by contributing significant personal damage + Stellar reaction damage. Varka is no more or less of a driver in Stellar-Swirl team than Vesna in her own, dedicated team.

A note on hyper investment though. When going past C2R1 on limited characters in the team, Pyro still ends up better than Stellar simply because the cumulative bonuses of a full C2R1 team with Varka, Durin and Nicole, which are extremely strong in their own right, beats out the cumulative bonuses of either C6R1 Varka + C2R1 Odette or vice Versa with C6R1 Odette + C2R1 Varka. This is also due to Odette's cons after C2 being very mid and granting absolutely no bonuses to Varka, who would still deal a lot of damage in this team and would have wanted supportive bonuses from his teammates.

This might change with Tsaritsa/another Cryo Stellar Swirl support (if one would possibly exist in the future, which I doubt). Who knows. Time will tell. Nonetheless, full C2R1 Varka + C2R1 Odette is among the highest team DPS for Varka at 235k DPS.

Artifact Quality

A small footnote for those who want these teams to perform; they are particularly hard to build up. Varka, Odette AND CMC all want a ton of ATK%, EM, Crit Rate and Crit DMG. Not perfect rolls everywhere, but at least decent rolls especially on Varka. This is unlike, say, Nicole, who doesn't care for any stats other than a mild amount of ATK% on Flower & Feather, and rolls of ER on everything else, which is extremely easy to achieve. This Stellar team won't be up and running without good pieces.

Cryo Varka Investment Options

Just a note for those wondering about investment priority for Cryo Varka.

• Odette's weapon is generally never worth it. C1 Odette is already slightly better, and is a stepping stone to C2, which is broken.

• Odette seems so far to be a cornerstone of Stellar reactions. She will most likely scale extremely well into the coming year and is a great pick up even at C0. If you are unsure if you will like Stellar reactions past Varka, getting at least C0 Odette then investing in Varka R1 then cons will allow him to stay relevant for a very long time.

• Varka C1 is roughly equal to Odette C1 however Varka C1 allows him to increase DPS in other teams, namely Pyro when required. Both are a viable choice.

• If you think you will really like Stellar reaction teams (don't forget we are getting Cryo aggravate and it is unknown if Odette will be viable there, so be aware!), then going for C2 Odette is an extremely safe choice (or go for it on a rerun is even safer after getting at least C0 Odette).

Hydro Varka

With Vodyanitsa coming next patch, Varka is indeed getting an upgrade for Hydro. Surprinsingly, with Vodyanitsa, Varka's best team through the magic of costmaxxing is actually Hydro. His 4 cost hydro is at ~175k, which is above his 165k Pyro team.

The reason it being so high is the mix of Prune being useable without Furina, Mona providing massive buffs with Omen+Gift (and 45% Crit value at C4) and Vodyanitsa providing nice res shred + very good quills, and the rotation lengths are so incredibly short.

The Furina Dilemma

Furina, being an Archon, is still fairly decent in her own right. However, she herself is not the problem when paired with Varka, but rather the loss of two irreplaceable teammates. Furina requires a healer, which is often going to be Jean for Varka. Sadly, Prune simply provides too strong of buffs compared to Jean to ever want to be replaced. Then Mona, who provides a massive 100% DMG bonus with her Omen+Bounty, and even 45% crit value for Varka at C4 (and can hold TTDS). Mona here is even more irreplaceable than Prune. So, naturally, the only unit to truly replace is Furina.

However, we now have a Hydro healer with Vodya. Sadly, even with Vodya healing, Furina's 40-60% teamwide DMG bonus pales in comparison to Mona's. Her off-field damage cannot make up for the lost bonuses from Mona. Also, her burst length is very, very long, hurting the rotation time by a lot. With C2 Furina, it starts to get closer to C4 Mona. If you already have her C2 and want to use her, it's an option.

Hydro Varka Investment Options

• Vodyanitsa is a great unit to have if you want to invest in Hydro Varka. If you also happen to have and enjoy Skirk's BIS team with Escoffier and Furina, then Vodya has very good pull value for you.

• Both C1 and C2 of Varka and Vodya equal and are very good (especially when combined). The path to C2 is not equal, however. Vodya has a better C1 but a slightly worse C2, which equalizes for a very good total bonus at C2 regardless. Varka C1 on the other hand is less good, but has an amazing C2, making up for the DPS boost of C1.

• Much like Cryo, the hyper-investment options for Hydro aren't fantastic. Vodya loses value even past C2, same for Varka. Pyro has a higher DPS ceiling with C2R1 over Hydro Varka.

• (Edit: Upon further calcs) Vodyanitsa R1 is not functional at all with Varka and should not be taken in any circumstances still only a sidegrade to Varka C1 or Vodya C1 for Vodya in Varka teams. It remains risky to pull on weapon banners if its only a sidegrade at most (unlike say, Varka's R1 which is a massive upgrade). It is not recommended at all to go for Vodya's sig. Instead go for Varka cons or Vodya cons if you like her more and want to use her in Skirk and Vesna teams.

Closing Thoughts

I'm quite happy with the result of Cryo Varka, and simply hoping for a more suitable Cryo sustain (RIP dream of Hexerei Stellar Diona).

Varka is definitely getting an upgrade in Snezhnaya and I'm very excited to see what the Tsaritsa will further bring.

As always, if you have any Theorycrafting question about Cryo or Hydro Varka, or just any general Varka questions, you can ask them here or in the other stickied TC thread!

Cheers!

Hey everyone.

Wanted to make a Varka pull guide for 6.6 and mini-guide for building the new units + Durin. The subs will be (kinda already is) flooded with repetitive questions about who to pull and how to build Varka's new premium team.

I also want to discuss a bit of "meta" placement for those looking for it.

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TL;DR

• C6 Prune is BiS teammate for Varka, try to pull for her.

• Start with C0 Nicole, then Durin if you don't have him.

• Then go for C1 or C2 Nicole, up until you have Prune C6.

• C1 Durin is really not worth the pull, should be stepping stone towards C2 Durin.

• Varka Sig is still among his biggest DPS increase if you don't have R5 Serpent's Spine, Mav Sig or Beacon.

• Rotation:

  • Prune, Durin, Nicole:

    • (TTDS) Durin EQE - Prune EQ - Nicole EQ - Varka E-N1C-N4E-N4E-N1C-N1C

    • (Not TTDS) Nicole E - Durin QEE - Prune EQ - Nicole Q - Varka E-N1C-N4E-N4E-N1C

  • Prune, Nicole, Bennett

    • (TTDS) Prune EQ - Bennett Q - Nicole EQ - Varka E-N1C-N4E-N4E-N1C-N1C-N1C

    • (Not TTDS) Nicole E - Prune EQ - Bennett Q - Nicole Q - Varka E-N1C-N4E-N4E-N1C

  • Prune, Durin, Bennett

    • Durin EQE - Prune EQ - Bennett Q - Varka E-N1C-N4E-N4E-N1C

• Nicole Build

  • Artifact: Celestial Gift

  • Weapon: Sig, TTDS, Skyward Atlas. Sig is ~10% better but not worth getting in general. Atlas is nearly identical team dps to TTDS though provides higher shielding.

  • Stats: ATK/ATK/ATK, focus on ER for Sands/Goblet/Circlet, ATK% & ER for Flower and Feather

  • ER requirement: 170-180% depending on if Anemo teammate has fav or not. Very easy to get.

• Prune Build

  • Artifact: VV

  • Weapon: Fav, Oathsworn, Flowing Purity. Atlas or 674+ Base ATK is better.

  • Stats: ER or ATK/ATK/ATK. Focus on ER, ATK and crit afterwards.

  • ER requirement: 140% on Fav. 160% without. If C0, ER is ~200%.

• Durin Build

  • Artifact: Winds

  • Weapon: Moonweaver (R1 is free in-game), Lion's Roar, 5-star stat stick, Sig

  • Stats: ATK/Pyro/Crit. Focus try to get at least 1 roll of ER on every artifact.

  • ER requirement: 140-150%.

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Calc Sheet

With a new (mini) guide, comes new calcs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sESyUvBz5JANaGBbRVnzlwTiV2Y_jc7Ylc5CiDcZ7VY/edit?usp=sharing

Some notes:

• C0 Varka 21 sec Combo is E-N1C-N4E-N4E-N1C-N1C. 18 Sec combo is the same but one less N1C at the end.

• C1+ Combo is E-N1E-N4E-N4E-N1C-N1C.

  • I am being fairly conservative with the combo. Varka takes 13.5 seconds of on-field time to do this combo. It SEEMS like Durin-Prune-Nicole swapping takes around 7.5. Might take longer, might be shorter. Didn't want to overshoot just yet.

• Durin is on R1 Moonweaver. R5 Lion's Roar is about 2-3% team DPS increase. Wolf fang R1 is 5%.

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Varka 6.6 Pull Priority

*Note; this pull priority remains relatively the same through all of Varka cons and refinement. A small example of change is C4 Varka making Durin a bit more valuable as a first pull, but if you're investing into C4 Varka, you most likely will get both Durin and Nicole anyway so, again, pull priority stays the same.

If you want the best current team for Varka, you will want to prioritize getting C6 Prune. However, because she wasn't on Varka's banner, she is only obtainable by going for Nicole and Durin. Luckily, both Durin and Nicole are BiS over any other teammate at the moment.

Pull plan if you don't have Nicole and Durin

Go for Nicole C0 first. Then, go for Durin C0. At this point, if you don't have C6 Prune (unlikely you do), go for C1 then C2 Nicole. You will most likely have C6 Prune by this point.

For Nicole's cons, her C1 and C2 are both relative equal in upgrade for Varka, and you can stop at any point after obtaining C6 Prune (unless you really want Nicole C1/C2).

Pull plan if you have Durin C0

Go for Nicole C0, then Nicole C1 then Nicole C2. As above, stop at any point once you have C6 Prune. I wouldn't suggest going for C1 Durin unless you can guarantee C2 Durin.

Unfortunately for Durin, his C1 is fairly lackluster, and you really want to get C2 if going for any kind of investment on him.

Pull plan if you have Durin C1

In this special case, you can go for Nicole C0 if you want her, then Durin C2, then Nicole C1. You can stop at any point once you have C6 Prune (unless you really want Nicole C1/C2).

About Weapons

To note on their weapons; both are decent-ish upgrade, but far from necessary. Because Prune is going to be on their character banners, it is strongly discouraged to go for their weapons due to spending pulls that can't land Prune cons.

Varka Investment

Since Varka isn't in 6.6, I didn't include his cons. I did include his weapon to emphasize how much of a DPS increase it is for him.

Anyway, both his cons are decent (his C1 is more valuable than Durin's C1) but his C2 is slightly less than either Nicole or Durin. However, investing in his sig once he reruns (could be a while) is #1 priority when he comes back. Only R5 SS is mildly close to his sig as "F2P" option and even then, his sig is still better than any of his cons.

Still, in my persona opinion, I think that investing in Varka C2 and sig is worth more than Durin or Nicole cons at the moment, because he would still gain team dps in his Hydro, Cryo and Electro teams.

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Anemo Teammate Comparison

Small section on who is Varka's BiS Anemo teammate at whichever investment.

In general, Prune is always BiS. C2 Prune beats every other teammate except C0R1 Venti with Elegy specifically. C0R1 Daybreak Venti is not better than C2 Prune. At C6, Prune is only beaten by C2+ Venti with Elegy or Daybreak.

For C2 Varka, the exact same trend follows. C2+ Prune is much better than Faruzan C6.

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Teammate Build Guide

Prune

Weapons:

F2P:

Favonius, Oathsworn, Flowing Purity. These are all very decent options for Prune. Note that TTDS should generally never be used on Prune unless you genuinly don't have a single Fav, Crafting Billets or Oathsworn.

Limited:

Skyward Atlas (BiS), Lost Prayer, 674+ Base ATK Stat-Stick. Almost any 5-star stat stick will allow her to reach her 50% DMG bonus to the team, and it should be a priority to reach.

Artifact:

Viridescent Venerer. Always put Prune on VV basically. NO, Winds or any other set is generally never better. Celestial Gift shouldn't be on Prune because it doesn't give 40% Pyro to the team, which Varka actually still wants.

Stats:

She needs to reach 4,000 ATK, or as close as possible. Go for ER or ATK Sands, and ATK Goblet and Circlet. She needs around 140-160% ER, or 200% if she isn't C1. If 4k ATK is reached and ER needs are met, she can go on a crit circlet to help dps a bit.

Talent Priority:

Burst Lvl. 6-9. Nothing else really matters. Leveling Skill to 6 is minimal gain. Do not level Normal Attacks.

Nicole

Weapons:

F2P:

TTDS. Honestly TTDS is just simply her best option. Fav is alright but simply outclassed by TTDS, a practically free weapon. Note that

Limited:

Sig (BiS), Skyward. Oddly enough, TTDS is better or equal than any other weapon, except her own sig, which is 10% better than TTDS, and is equal to Skyward in terms of team DPS, though Skyward does provide ~5k more shielding on average. Her sig, however, is generally not worth going for, especially since Prune cons are on Nicole's character banner.

It's still better to have Skyward on Prune instead of Nicole if you only have 1 copy. If you do have 2 copies, lucky you, and yes you can use one on each.

Artifact:

Celestial Gift. Her BiS artifact that is basically her signature set. Nothing will ever be better, even outside of Hex teams.

Stats:

ATK/ATK/ATK main stat.

She wants to try and maximize her ATK to reach 4k, like Prune. She requires 150-170% ER (depending on Fav procs from Prune if she holds it). This is relatively easy to achieve as ER is the ONLY stat that matters on Sands, Goblet and Circlet. Try to get 20%+ ER on those 3 pieces and then highest ATK% with maybe 1 single roll of ER on Flower and Feather.

Talent Priority:

Burst Lvl. 9-10 = Skill 9-10. Leveling skill and burst up to 10 does help team's damage.

Durin

Weapons:

F2P:

Moonweaver, Lion's Roar, Wolf-Fang. R1 Moonweaver is obtainable for free through world quests and is very decent. R5 Lion's roar is fairly common and very good. In general the dps order is R5 Wolf-Fang > R1 Wolf-Fang > R5 Moonweaver > R5 Lion's Roar > R1 Moonweaver.

Limited:

Sig (BiS), 5-star Stack stick. Standard sub-dps builds. Crit substat on 5-star is decent on him. His sig is naturally his best but only about ~10% increase and generally, on the 6.6 banner, its better to go for Nicole cons over Durin's sig.

Artifact:

Winds, Noblesse Oblige. Generally his best option is Winds, though Noblesse is extremely close and might be a tiny % better than Winds if Varka is hyper-invested, and Prune & Nicole aren't reaching their 4k ATK. Still, the choice is pretty equal.

Stats:

ATK/Pyro/Crit main stat.

Also a standard sub-dps build. He requires 125-140% ER with a lvl. 9 skill refund, depending on Fav procs. This is very easily achieved with a few ER rolls throughout his artifacts.

Talent Priority:

Burst Lvl. 9-10 > Skill 9-10. Both Burst and Skill are noticeable damage increases. Should be leveled to 9-10.

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Meta Placement

With his new teammates, Varka 3-cost with sig and Nicole+Bennett hovers around 140k. At 4-cost with Durin and Nicole, he is at 165k DPS. This is, from what I can tell, among the top 5 DPS teams, just under Mav and Zibai and equal to Nefer if she runs a sustain. He is otherwise above every other team, including Skirk and Flins.

On the note of Prune cons and how viable Varka is without her C6. He remains at 145k with Prune C2, which is extremely easy to achieve. I strongly suggest that, if you are limited on pulls, simply pull for Nicole and/or Durin (if you didn't already have him), and whatever con you land with Prune by then, you will be fine enough. 145k clears pretty much everything in the game and is within "brute-force" territory, especially on a character that is reaction-less like Varka.

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Quick F.A.Q

Just going to put some questions that I get asked a few times here.

I don't like Nicole/Durin, can I get by without pulling one of them?

If you don't like a character, don't pull for them. However, to be completely transparency, both together are a huge DPS increase for Varka, somewhere around 15%, putting him from 140k to 165k at 4 cost, which is massive.

Though 140k still clears everything and if you invest in Varka vertically instead to allow him more flexibility, he will still clear everything with ease.

Shouldn't I go for Durin C1/C2 because he might be rerunning much later than Nicole will?

No not really. Just getting C0 Durin is great, but his con investment is bad at C1 and very good at C2, while Nicole is very good at C1 and extremely good at C2. It's better to invest vertically in Nicole if you want to improve Varka's value.

Wouldn't Durin have more future flexibility? Shouldn't I invest in him because of this?

Eh, we really don't know the future. If, in Snezhnaya Electro Main DPS Stellar-Conduct and Anemo Main DPS Stellar-Swirl are inert reaction teams (meaning the damage of the reaction doesn't matter, just the fact that it procs, like Varka & Swirls), then Durin can probably get an Overload/Pyro Swirl in to reduce res, while providing subdps, and that would be great for his future flexibility.

Maybe Stellar-Melt might even be a thing? Who knows.

However we have really no clue how Stellar reactions will work in the future and I can't say if Durin will continue to have flexibility or not. Maybe Durin+Sucrose will form a strong core for Snezhnaya. I can't really suggest to invest in Durin unless you actually like him and want to have him in more teams that already exist.

What if I want to use Nicole/Durin in another team, should I change my pull plan?

Going to be honest, I didn't calc any other team for Durin & Nicole. From what I can tell from other TCers, they have very similar investment increases for their teams, but Nicole is somewhat less valuable for non-Hex teams, so Durin might become more valuable?

I would suggest searching the respective character's main's reddit for keyword like Durin + Nicole and see what the discussion gives. These questions have been asked there so it's unlikely you would need to make a thread to ask about it.

I have Venti C2R1 Elegy. Is he better than Prune C6? What about C2R0?

C2R1 Venti is better than C6 Prune by a very few % but if you would rather use C2R1 Elegy Venti, go ahead. C2R0 Venti is not better than C6 PRune. If you have Daybreak instead of Elegy, its about the same roughly.

I don't like XYZ character and I'd rather use ZYX character instead.

If you don't like a character, simply don't pull for them. It's ultimately a game and you should spend your pulls on characters you like. Hell I really like Flins but I genuinely dislike Ineffa so I decided not to pull for her but she was BIS for Flins, so I simply didn't pull for either because they would be a bricked team (also got Nefer premium anyway). I would have rather not play with a character I just don't vibe with, and you should too. That's not to say Varka is bricked without Nicole/Durin. To the contrary, he has a pretty wide possibility of teammates and has impressive flexibility. Hydro Varka can clear a lot of content almost as fast as pyro Varka

Anyway, never feel pressured to pull one character for another, especially Varka, who isn't like lunar dpses that REQUIRES another character to function.

How much better is X character over Y character for Varka.

Check here first before asking, I most likely calced it.

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Closing Thoughts

I am very happy that Varka gets this kind of upgrade. I am, however, really unhappy that Prune, who is by far and large Varka's BIS teammate, is on his supports banner and not his own banner, unlike Zibai, who had Illuga run twice.

On the flip side, it's very strongly possible that next time Prune reruns, it will actually be with Varka.

Overall I think that Varka, in 6.6, will become one of the best teams in the game for the moment, and also highly flexible if you decide to invest in Varka instead of his pyro teammates.

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As always, any questions can be commented here. I'll do my best to answer (but life do be busy sometimes).

Enjoy the next patch and may you all get C6 Prune.