Not only is Genshin Impact’s Candace the first hydro polearm wielder in the game, but is currently the only user of a physical shield item. Candace is the beloved guardian of Aaru Village and takes pride in her position. She’s a four-star unit with a unique and flexible playstyle, perfect for buffing and applying hydro to enemies in quick-swap teams.
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Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Candace build guide:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Candace build?
Candace is a four-star character that you can get on any banner. She uses a polearm weapon and the hydro element.
| Best weapon | Staff of Homa |
| Weapon substitutes | Favonius Lance, Black Tassel |
| Best artifact set | Noblesse Oblige |
| Main stats | Sands – Energy recharge Goblet – Hydro damage bonus Circlet – HP |
| Sub stats | HP, energy recharge, elemental mastery |
Candace is a very flexible unit thanks to her elemental burst that infuses the active character with hydro, meaning all their attacks become hydro instead of physical. While this doesn’t override other elements, it can be great when timed well with other character’s elemental application.
Candace is suited to playing the role of support in quick-swap teams where you rotate through your characters quickly. Her power is greatly enhanced by her first constellation, and she’s a relatively affordable character to build, though she doesn’t outperform any of her five-star competitors.
How do I use Candace?
Candace is incredibly helpful as her ultimate provides a hydro infusion, which means you can easily freeze enemies with a cryo character or create bloom reactions with dendro as well. Candace can also protect you in a pinch with her skill, as she defends against attacks, and then unleashes that power to blast opponents away.
What are the best Candace weapons?
When it comes to building Candace for support, we believe her best weapons are Skyward Spine or Staff of Homa as they best complement her kit and provide plenty of HP and energy recharge. Alternatively, the Favonius Lance or The Catch are good options, or even Black Tassel if you don’t want to go fishing for The Catch’s ascension items (we don’t blame you). Keep in mind that though Spear of the Scarlet Sands looks great on her aesthetically, it’s unfortunately wasted on her and you’ll get better results even with these four-star options.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Staff of Homa (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases crit damage Skill: Increases HP by 20%, and provides an attack bonus based on Candace’s max HP. Increases her max HP by an additional 1% when her HP is less than 50%, this attack bonus is increased by an additional 1% of her max HP |
Weapon banner (alongside Hu Tao) |
| Favonius Lance (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases energy recharge Skill: Crit hits have a 60% chance to generate a small number of elemental particles, which will regenerate six energy for Candace. This can only occur once every 12 seconds |
All banners |
| The Catch (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases energy recharge Skill: Increases elemental burst damage and elemental burst crit rate |
Fishing Association |
| Black Tassel (three-star) | Bonus effect: Increases max HP Skill: Increases damage against slimes by 40% |
All banners |
| Rightful Reward (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases max HP Skill: When Candace is healed, she restores eight energy. This can trigger every ten seconds, even when she is not on the field |
Forged |
What are the best Candace artifacts?
If you don’t have any other characters on your team with a full set equipped, Noblesse Oblige is a great choice for Candace, as it boosts her support capacity and offers a substantial buff to your entire party.
Alternatively, you can use two Emblem of Severed Fate to gain a nice boost to her energy recharge, combined with two Tenacity of the Milelith for the HP bonus. We believe that HP is more valuable to her than a two-piece attack bonus.
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Noblesse Oblige | Two equipped: Increases elemental burst damage Four equipped: After using an elemental burst, all teammates get a 20% attack boost. This lasts 12 seconds but does not stack |
Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain |
| Emblem of Severed Fate | Two equipped: Increases energy recharge Four equipped: Increases elemental burst damage by 25% of energy recharge. A maximum of 75% bonus damage can be obtained in this way |
Momiji-Dyed Court domain |
| Tenacity of the Millelith | Two equipped: Increases max HP Four equipped: Increases attack of all nearby party members by 20% and shield strength by 30% for three seconds when an elemental skill hits an opponent. You can trigger this effect once every 0.5 seconds, even when Candace is not on the field |
Ridge Watch domain |
| Heart of Depth | Two equipped: Increases hydro damage Four equipped: Increases the normal and charged attack damage of the user by 30% after they use their elemental skill. Lasts for 15 seconds |
Peak of Vindagnyr domain |
| Vourukasha’s Glow | Two equipped: Increases HP Four equipped: Elemental skill and elemental burst damage increase by 10%. After Candace takes damage, the damage bonus is increased by 80% for five seconds. This effect increase can have five stacks. These effects can be triggered even when Candace is not on the field |
Molten Iron Fortress domain |
| Nymph’s Dream | Two equipped: Increases hydro damage Four equipped: After normal, charged, and plunging attacks, elemental skills, and bursts hit an opponent, Candace gains a stack of Mirrored Nymph for eight seconds. These stacks increase attack by up to 25%, along with hydro damage increasing by up to 15% |
Molten Iron Fortress domain |
Artifact stat recommendations
In general, you want to get Candace to at least 180 energy recharge before looking at anything else. Once you’ve achieved that, we recommend prioritizing HP stats.
Main stats:
- Sands: Energy recharge or HP
- Goblet: HP
- Circlet: HP
Sub-stats:
- Energy recharge
- HP
- Crit rate/crit damage (try to maintain a 1:2 ratio)
What are the best Candace team comps?
Due to Candace’s fantastic hydro-infusing burst, she can slot into many different teams to allow for reactions like vaporize, hyperbloom, bloom, and burgeon. She can also be a main DPS with her shield bash, though this takes a more specific team.
Remember, though, that her infusion won’t override other elements like catalyst user’s innate infusion, though if you have her at C6, her ultimate will deal extra instances of damage that can work with other elemental types. Using Candace alongside Arlecchino, especially at C6, works very well.
 Candace |
 Arlecchino |
 Kazuha |
 Bennett |
| Candace |
 Zhongli |
 Yelan |
 Xingqiu |
| Candace |
 Ayato |
 Xiangling |
Bennett |
| Candace |
 Nahida |
 Nilou |
 Kaveh |
| Candace |
 Cyno |
Yelan |
Kazuha |
What are Candace’s abilities?
Here are all of Candace’s wonderful skills and talents, including her very helpful burst:
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Gleaming Spear: Guardian Stance | Normal: Candace performs up to four consecutive spear hits in a row Charged: Consume a certain amount of Candace’s stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to opponents directly in front Plunging: Plunge from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents in a small AoE on impact |
| Elemental skill: Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum | Press: Candace rushes forward with her shield, dealing hydro damage to enemies she hits Hold: Candace raises her shield to block incoming attacks from nearby opponents, absorbing damage based on her max HP. She also absorbs hydro damage 250% more effectively. After holding for a certain period of time, Candace finishes charging. When releasing the skill button, she performs a quick strike that deals hydro damage to opponents in front of her, which also knocks them back |
| Elemental burst: Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide | Activating Candace’s ultimate deals an instance of AoE hydro damage based on her maximum HP. It also grants your party members the Prayer of the Crimson Crown state. In this state, allies deal increased elemental damage with their normal attacks. Whenever a character takes to the field, they unleash a rippling wave of water that deals hydro damage to nearby opponents. Active sword, claymore, and polearm-wielding characters under the effects of the Prayer of the Crimson Crown gain a hydro infusion |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| To Dawn’s First Light (unlocked at ascension one) | Decreases climbing stamina consumption for your party members by 20%. Not stackable with passives that provide the same effects |
| Featherflow Guard (unlocked at ascension four) | If Candace is hit by an attack in the hold duration of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Sanctum, the skill finishes charging instantly |
| Sand Arch (unlocked automatically) | Characters affected by the Prayer of the Crimson Crown caused by Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide deal 0.5% increased damage to opponents for every 1,000 points of Candace’s max HP when they deal elemental damage with their normal attacks |
What are Candace’s constellations?
Every time you pull a copy of Candace, you can unlock one of her constellations. Here are the helpful bonuses each constellation offers:
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Returning Heir of the Scarlet Sands | Increases the duration of the Prayer of the Crimson Crown effect triggered by Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide by three seconds |
| C2: Moon-Piercing Brilliance | Increases Candace’s max HP by 20% for 15 seconds when Sacred Rite: Heron’s Guard hits opponents |
| C3: Hunter’s Supplication | Increases the level of Sacred Rite: Wagtail’s Tide by three. The maximum upgrade level is 15 |
| C4: Sentinel Oath | Shortens the hold cooldown of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Guard to be the same as that of the tapping cooldown |
| C5: Golden Eye | Increases the level of Sacred Rite: Heron’s Guard by three. The maximum upgrade level is 15 |
| C6: The Overflow | When characters (excluding Candace) affected by the Prayer of the Crimson Crown deal elemental damage to opponents using normal attacks, unleash the wave attack from Wagtail’s Tide. This effect can trigger once every 2.3 seconds, and triggering this does not consume the base wave instances granted by Prayer of the Crimson Crown |
What are Candace’s ascension materials?
Here are all the ascension materials you need to gather to upgrade Candace to level 80.
| Required level | Mora | Materials |
| 20 | 20,000 | One varunada lazurite sliver, three henna berries, three faded red satin |
| 40 | 40,000 | Three varunada lazurite fragments, 15 faded red satin, ten henna berries, two light guiding tetrahedrons |
| 50 | 60,000 | Six varunada lazurite fragments, 12 trimmed red silk, 20 henna berries, four light guiding tetrahedrons |
| 60 | 80,000 | Three varunada lazurite chunks, 18 trimmed red silk, 30 henna berries, eight light guiding tetrahedrons |
| 70 | 100,000 | Six varunada lazurite chunks, 12 rich red brocades, 45 henna berries, 12 light guiding tetrahedrons |
| 80 | 120,000 | Six varunada lazurite gemstones, 24 rich red brocades, 60 henna berries, 20 light guiding tetrahedrons |
Here’s where to find all of the items listed above:
- Varunada lazurite – these hydro gems drop from weekly and normal bosses, especially the hydro hypostasis, Rhodeia of Loch, and Solitary Sulani
- Henna berries – these berries grow on cacti in Sumeru’s desert – you can get between one and three off each plant
- Light guiding tetrahedrons – this boss drop comes from the Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network boss in Sumeru’s desert
- Faded red satin, trimmed red silk, rich red brocade – these items drop from Eremite enemies in Sumeru across the desert and forests
What are Candace’s talent materials?
To get Candace’s talents leveled up and even maxed out, you need another stack of items.
| Talent level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12,500 | Six faded red satin, teachings of admonition |
| Three | 17,500 | Three trimmed red silk, two guides to admonition |
| Four | 25,000 | Four trimmed red silk, four guides to admonition |
| Five | 30,000 | Six trimmed red silk, six guides to admonition |
| Six | 37,500 | Nine trimmed red silk, nine guides to admonition |
| Seven | 120,000 | Four rich red brocade, four philosophies of admonition, one tears of the Calamitous God |
| Eight | 260,000 | Six rich red brocade, six philosophies of admonition, one tears of the Calamitous God |
| Nine | 450,000 | Nine rich red brocade, 12 philosophies of admonition, two tears of the Calamitous God |
| Ten | 700,000 | 12 rich red brocade, 16 philosophies of admonition, two tears of the Calamitous God, one crown of insight |
Here are all the locations for her talent items:
- Faded red satin, trimmed red silk, rich red brocade – these items drop from Eremite enemies in Sumeru across the desert and forests
- Admonition talent books – farm these in the Steeple of Ignorance domain in Sumeru on Monday, Thursday, and Sundays
- Tears of the Calamitous God – you can get these as a reward for the End of the Oneiric Euthymia (Raiden Shogun) weekly boss in Inazuma. If you don’t get the right drop, you can transform them at an alchemy station
Talent priority:
- Elemental burst > elemental skill > normal attack
And that’s all we’ve got on Genshin Impact’s Candace. If you’re a fan of Hoyoverse like we are, you can grab the latest Honkai Star Rail codes and Zenless Zone Zero codes here for some currency in other games, too.