The steadfast and dependable protector of Jinhsi, Wuthering Waves’ Sanhua is a four-star glacio sword-wielder capable of lowering the ambient temperature and summoning snow, ice, and glaciers. As a free character you get early in the game, she’s a surprisingly powerful sub-DPS, who also offers a valuable buff to her allies. So let’s dive into her best build, including her skills, rotations, weapons, echoes, and more.
If you’re wondering how Sanhua sizes up against the other Wuthering Waves characters, be sure to check out our Wuthering Waves tier list. We’ve also got a list of all the new Wuthering Waves codes and Wuthering Waves events so you can save up for your favorite resonators on the next Wuthering Waves banner.
Here’s everything in our best Wuthering Waves Sanhua build:
Who is Wuthering Waves’ Sanhua?
Sanhua is a four-star glacio hybrid character best suited to a sub-DPS role. She wields a sword, and her kit revolves around setting up ice thorns, ice prisms, and glaciers, then denoting them in order to deal AoE damage.
As for her role in the story, Sanhua is the bodyguard of Jinzhou’s Magistrate, who you meet through your first visit to Jinzhou early in the game. A taciturn guardian known for her icy personality, Sanhua was once regarded as the Asura of Calamity, but has since learned to maintain her inner calmness. She has the ability to see people’s frequencies with her right eye, as shown through her first introduction to Wuthering Waves’ Rover.
How to use Sanhua
As we mentioned above, Sanhua is a hybrid character best suited to a sub-DPS role. She has a very fast rotation, a low energy cost, and accumulates Concerto very quickly, which allows her to hop onto the field, dish out a heap of burst damage, and then switch out, offering a healthy buff to whichever ally takes to the field next.
Here’s Sanhua’s best rotation:
- Intro > resonance liberation > resonance skill > heavy attack Detonate > heavy attack Detonate > echo skill > outro
On average, you can perform this rotation in less than six seconds, which is super handy if you plan on pairing her up with a main DPS that favors a lot of field time. Due to her outro skill offering a healthy boost to the next character’s basic attack damage for 14 seconds, we recommend playing Sanhua’s rotation, switching to a main DPS, then switching to a healer or support if needed, before switching back to Sanhua and starting her rotation again.
What are Sanhua’s stats?
Here are all of Wuthering Waves Sanhua’s stats at both level one and level 90 (max level). This doesn’t include bonuses from weapons or other equipment.
| Stat | Level one | Level 90 |
| HP | 805 | 10,063 |
| Attack | 22 | 275 |
| Defense | 77 | 941 |
| Max energy | 100 | 100 |
| Crit rate | 5% | 5% |
| Crit damage | 150% | 150% |
| Healing bonus | 0% | 0% |
| Aero damage | 0% | 0% |
What are Sanhua’s skills?
Here are all of Wuthering Waves Sanhua’s skills and abilities:
Sanhua active skills
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack: Frigid Light | Sanhua performs up to five consecutive attacks, dealing glacio damage |
| Heavy attack: Frigid Light | Sanhua consumes stamina to launch an attack, dealing heavier glacio damage |
| Mid-air attack | Sanhua consumes stamina to perform a mid-air plunging attack, dealing glacio damage on impact |
| Dodge counter | Use basic attack after Sanhua performs a successful dodge to attack the target, dealing glacio damage |
| Resonance skill: Eternal Frost | Sanhua sends out an air blade to create one ice prism on the ground, dealing glacio damage |
| Resonance liberation: Glacial Gaze | Sanhua deals glacio damage and creates one glacier |
| Intro skill: Freezing Thorns | Sanhua swings her blade downward and creates one ice thorn, dealing glacio damage |
| Outro skill: Silversnow | When Sanhua leaves the field, the next character gains 28% basic attack damage deepen for 14 seconds, or until that character leaves the field |
Sanhua passive skills
| Skill | Effect |
| Forte circuit: Clarity of Mind | Heavy attack: Detonate – when holding basic attack, you can swipe across an area. If you release the basic attack over the Frostbite area, Sanhua casts heavy attack Detonate to attack the target, dealing glacio damage (this is also considered heavy attack damage) Ice Burst – Sanhua’s heavy attack Detonate detonates all ice thorns, ice prisms, and glaciers within her attack range, dealing glacio damage (this is also considered resonance skill damage) Frostbite Area – The Frostbite area expands with every stack of Clarity. Clarity stacks up to two times. Sanhua obtains one stack of Clarity upon performing her intro skill, resonance skill, resonance liberation, or fifth basic attack. Upon casting heavy attack Detonate, all stacks of Clarity expire |
| Inherent skill: Condensation | After casting her intro skill, the damage Sanhua deals with her resonance skill increases by 20% for eight seconds |
| Inherent skill: Avalanche | After performing her fifth basic attack, the damage Sanhua deals with her forte circuit Ice Burst increases by 20% for eight seconds |
What is Sanhua’s resonance chain?
If you obtain more than one copy of Sanhua, you can unlock the next skill in her resonance chain sequence.
Here are Sanhua’s resonance chain skills:
| Resonance chain sequence | Effect |
| Sequence one – Solitude’s Embrace | Sanhua’s fifth basic attack increases her crit rate by 15% for ten seconds |
| Sequence two – Snowy Clarity | Reduces the stamina cost of heavy attack Detonate by ten. When Sanhua casts her resonance skill, her anti-interruption increases for ten seconds |
| Sequence three – Anomalous Vision | Sanhua’s damage dealt increases by 25% against targets with less than 70% HP |
| Sequence four – Blade Mastery | Resonance liberation Glacial Gaze restores ten resonance energy. If Sanhua performs heavy attack Detonate within five seconds of casting Glacial Gaze, its damage increases by 120% |
| Sequence five – Unravelling Fate | Increases the crit damage of forte circuit Ice Burst by 100%. Ice creations (ice thorn, ice prison, and glacier) explode even if not detonated |
| Sequence six – Daybreak Radiance | After Sanhua detonates an ice prison or glacier, all team members’ attack increases by 10% for 20 seconds, stacking up to two times |
What’s the best weapon for Sanhua?
Wuthering Waves Sanhua’s best weapon is Emerald of Genesis, which offers high base attack and a stackable attack% buff that’s quite easy to maintain. It also boasts decent energy regen, allowing a bit more flexibility when picking her echoes.
Alternatively, Commando of Conviction is a strong all-rounder four-star weapon, and Lunar Cutter is a good option if you intend to play Sanhua with minimal on-field time. Or, if you’re looking for a three-star option while waiting for something better, we recommend Sword of Night, as it offers a respectable attack boost – especially at tuning rank five.
Here are the best weapons for Sanhua:
| Sanhua weapon | Effect |
| Emerald of Genesis | Increases energy regen by 12.8%. When Sanhua uses her resonance skill, her attack increases by 6%, stacking up to two times. This effect lasts for ten seconds |
| Commando of Conviction | When Sanhua uses her intro skill, her attack increases by 15% for 15 seconds |
| Lunar Cutter | Sanhua gains six stacks of Oath upon entering the battlefield. Each stack increases her attack by 2%, up to six stacks. This effect can trigger once every 12 seconds. Oath reduces by one stack every two seconds. Sanhua gains an additional six stacks of oath upon defeating an enemy |
| Sword of Night | When Sanhua uses her intro skill, her attack increases by 8% for ten seconds |
What are the best echoes for Sanhua?
Wuthering Waves’ Sanhua’s best main echo set is five pieces of Moonlit Clouds, which boosts her energy regen and provides the next character to take to the field with an attack buff, maximizing her utility as a sub-DPS support.
The best main echo for Sanhua is Impermanence Heron, which allows her to transform into the heron to dish out heaps of havoc damage, restoring resonance energy for her and further boosting the damage of the next character taking to the field.
Here’s the best echo set for Sanhua:
- Moonlit Clouds
- Two equipped: increases energy regeneration by 10%
- Five equipped: upon using Sanhua’s outro skill, the next character’s attack increases by 22.5% for 15 seconds
Here’s the best main echo for Sanhua:
- Impermanence Heron
- Transform into Impermanence Heron to fly up and smack down, dealing 310.56% havoc damage on impact. Long press to stay as Impermanence Heron and continuously spit flames, with each attack dealing 55.73% havoc damage. Once the initial attack lands on an enemy, Sanhua regains ten resonance energy. If Sanhua uses her outro skill within the next 15 seconds, the next character’s damage increases by 12% for 15 seconds (cooldown: 20 seconds)
Sanhua stat recommendations
When picking echoes for Sanhua, we recommend prioritizing the following stats.
Main stats
- Crit damage/crit rate
- Glacio damage
- Attack%
Sub-stats
- Energy regeneration
- Crit rate/crit damage
- Attack%
- Attack
What’s the best Sanhua team comp?
When picking the best team for Wuthering Waves’ Sanhua, we recommend pairing her up with a main DPS to make the most of her handy kit, alongside a healer to provide support to her and the DPS. But, of course, some characters synergize with her better than others.
Here are Sanhua’s synergies:
- Wuthering Waves’ Encore / Wuthering Waves’ Lingyang / Wuthering Waves’ Rover (Havoc) – Encore, Lingyang, and Rover (Havoc) all require plenty of field time, meaning Sanhua’s quick, burst-fuelled rotations suit them wonderfully. All three of them also rely on their normal attacks to dish out most of their damage, so Sanhua’s outro buff is very valuable to them
- Wuthering Waves’ Verina – currently, Verina is the best healer in the game and is a valuable asset to all teams. Not only is her healing top-notch, but she also provides some incredibly useful offensive and defensive buffs, as well as an additional 20% attack boost and cheat death ability every ten minutes. Essentially, if you have Verina, you want her on your team
- Wuthering Waves’ Baizhi – if Verina’s not an option, Baizhi is a strong alternative, offering similar buffs and heals – albeit on a more restrictive scale. Instead of her outro skill buffing the whole team, it only buffs the next character, but that can be valuable to buff Sanhua so you can save Sanhua’s buff for your main DPS. Beyond that, she doesn’t heal as much and requires a bit more field time, but is still a great and affordable option
Here’s an example of a strong Sanhua team comp:
| Slot one | Slot two | Slot three |
 Encore |
 Sanhua |
 Verina |
What are Sanhua’s ascension materials?
You can level Sanhua all the way up to level 90, but you need to use specific materials to ascend her at certain intervals along the way.
Here are all of Wuthering Waves Sanhua’s ascension materials:
| Level | Shell credits | Materials |
| Rank one – level 20 | 5k | Four LF whisperin core |
| Rank two – level 40 | 10k | Three sound-keeping tacet core, four wintry bell, four MF whisperin core |
| Rank three – level 50 | 15k | Six sound-keeping tacet core, eight wintry bell, eight MF whisperin core |
| Rank four – level 60 | 20k | Nine sound-keeping tacet core, 12 wintry bell, four HF whisperin core |
| Rank five – level 70 | 40k | 12 sound-keeping tacet core, 16 wintry bell, eight HF whisperin core |
Here’s where to get all of Wuthering Waves Sanhua’s ascension materials:
- LF, MF, and HF whisperin core – obtain from enemies, forgery challenges, Jinzhou’s weapon shop, or the exchange store (oscillated coral)
- Wintry bell – gather in Gorges of Spirits (just outside the Tolling Stream) or purchase from Shifang Pharmacy
- Sound-keeping tacet core – obtain from the Lampylumen Myriad World Boss in Tiger’s Maw’s Dust-Sealed Track
What are Sanhua’s forte materials?
You can boost the power of Sanhua’s skills by upgrading her fortes, but, once again, you need certain materials to do this.
Here are Sanhua’s total forte materials and where to get them:
- 25 LF whisperin core, 28 MF whisperin core, 40 HF whisperin core, and 57 FF whisperin core
- Obtain from enemies, forgery challenges, Jinzhou’s weapon shop, or the exchange store (oscillated coral)
- 25 inert metallic drip, 28 reactive metallic drip, 55 polarized metallic drip, and 67 heterized metallic drip
- Obtain from the Flaming Remnants forgery challenge, via the synthesizer, Jinzhou’s weapon shop, or Jinzhou’s souvenir store
- 26 unending destruction
- Obtain from the Chaotic Juncture: Ember weekly challenge (defeating the Wuthering Waves’ Scar weekly boss)
- 2,030,000 shell credits
Sanhua skill priority
When leveling up Sanhua’s skills, we recommend prioritizing them in the following order:
- Forte circuit > resonance liberation > resonance skill > intro skill > basic attack
Keep in mind that her standard rotation doesn’t require her basic attack at all, so you can actually leave that unleveled if you wish.
That’s all we’ve got on Wuthering Waves’ Sanhua. If you’re on the hunt for more gacha game goodness, be sure to check out our Genshin Impact codes, Honkai Star Rail codes, and Zenless Zone Zero codes for some fabulous freebies.