I still remember the first time I saw Zhezhi's inky cranes swirl across the battlefield. It felt less like a character kit and more like a painter deciding that combat was just another canvas. She released in the first half of version 1.2 as a 5★ Glacio Rectifier user, and in 2026, I still find her kit surprisingly honest underneath all that flowery skill description.

Zhezhi fills a sub-DPS role. Her Forte and Resonance Liberation throw out coordinated attacks based on those elegant ink spirits. Unlike Yinlin's Skill-based coordinated damage or Mortefi's Liberation-based triggers, Zhezhi's Inklit Spirit attacks count as Basic Attack DMG. That little detail matters because it changes which buffs actually help her. She queues up attacks and launches them at a flat rate, so you don't need to time your inputs like a rhythm game.

Her Kit, Through My Eyes

Let me break down how she actually plays as if I were teaching my past self. On the ground, she has a three-attack basic chain. In the air, the chain shortens to two attacks, but her Forte lets her repeat it after a mid-air skill cast. Her heavy attack consumes stamina and ties into her Afflatus system.

Her Resonance Skill strikes a target with ink. If she has at least 60 Afflatus, shown as two filled sections of her Forte bar, she summons Phatasmic Imprints on both sides of the target. Yes, Phatasmic, not Phantasmic. Kuro's localisation team decided to keep us on our toes. One Imprint can exist on each side of an enemy and lasts 15 seconds if untouched. Pressing the skill spawns them on the ground. Holding it spawns them mid-air. The damage and energy are identical either way.

Afflatus is gained from her Intro Skill and from Basic Attacks. She can hold up to 90 stacks. You can spend 60 Afflatus to summon side Imprints, or 30 Afflatus to summon a Phatasmic Imprint behind the enemy. The behind summon comes from a heavy attack after dodging, Stroke of Genius or Maestro, Basic Attack 3, or a normal attack right after her Resonance Skill.

The real fun starts when I am near an Imprint. Recasting her skill in that window triggers Stroke of Genius. She blinks toward the Imprint, deals Glacio damage, and removes it. Two recasts within eight seconds makes the third cast Stroke of Maestro. That version also increases her Basic Attack base damage multiplier by 18% for 27 seconds. If either Stroke happens in mid-air, it resets her mid-air dodge counter and attack chain. It sounds complicated, but after a few rotations it becomes muscle memory.

Resonance Liberation and Support

Her Resonance Liberation summons a crane-shaped Inklit Spirit. For 30 seconds, whenever the active character deals damage, the Spirit queues up three attacks and fires once per second. It continues until the duration expires or the Spirit attacks 21 times. Those attacks are Basic Attack DMG, so don't stack Liberation damage bonuses on her expecting fireworks.

Her Outro is where she becomes a real support. The next character receives 20% Glacio DMG Amplify and 25% Resonance Skill DMG Deepen for 14 seconds. Her second Inherent Skill, Ornament, gives the next character 15 Resonance Energy immediately when she uses Outro. That is basically Yangyang's job but front-loaded. Her first Inherent Skill, Dash the Brush, grants 6% ATK for 22 seconds every time she recasts Stroke of Genius or Maestro, stacking up to three times.

The Banner Around Her

The banner included Chixia, Baizhi, and Sanhua. Chixia was the biggest winner. Her Resonance Chain gives extra Resonance Energy, Forte charges, and guaranteed crits on her Resonance Skill follow-up. Since Chixia's damage is mostly Resonance Skill damage, she directly benefits from Zhezhi's Outro. Sanhua was not far behind. She gets extra damage bonuses and better supporting capabilities. Baizhi's sequences feel disappointing. They focus on her own healing performance or tiny Glacio damage increases, which are not meaningful.

For the 4★ weapons, Dauntless Evernight, Jinzhou Keeper, and Hollow Mirage were the options. Jinzhou Keeper was the standout as a strong offensive rectifier if you lacked premium options. Hollow Mirage gauntlets were solid, with ATK% bonuses that simply work. Dauntless Evernight is mostly disappointing unless you are running a Taoqi main DPS for fun, and even then it is a meme.

Should You Pull? My Verdict

✅ Pull if you love her design. ✅ Pull if you have Glacio or Resonance Skill damage characters who need a dedicated support. ✅ Pull if you need coordinated attacks and haven't built Yinlin or Yuanwu. ✅ Pull if you are an artist who wants to project that into the game.

❌ Skip if you don't have anyone to use her Outro or Liberation. ❌ Skip if you hate painters. ❌ Skip if you somehow still cannot fit a sub-DPS into your teams.

Always spend responsibly. Never use 'building pity' as an excuse for gambling.