Should you pull Cheng Heguang?

• Probably not.
• Do you want a QoL update for Liang Yue?
• Do you like Yasuo from League of Legends?

Cheng Heguang is very good at not existing. Through continuous Moxie generation to cycle Ultimate casts and the subsequent destruction of his own cards while getting to cycle [Work as One] to provide some Follow-Up support is, he effectively removes himself from your Spelldock and action economy, freeing up a lot of space for AP-negative characters to do their thing. This on its own makes him an alright pick on a lot of teams, though nowhere near BiS.

The problem with Cheng Heguang is that he has several strange clauses, such as reducing your Incantation Draw Limit. This is tailor made for Liang Yue. After all, the lower your hand size, the easier it is for her Red and Green Zones to overlap while having [Arise, Qiangliang] active. Issue being that no other character really wants you to lower your hand size, meaning that this is a pointless detriment in other teams.

Additionally, Cheng Heguang’s buffing is extremely mediocre. In the age of the good supports giving well over +100% DMG Bonus like Isolde (or even over +200% in case of Flutterpage, Cheng Heguang’s primary rival), giving out a measly +15% Crit DMG, +35% Incantation Might and +25% Extra Action DMG Bonus leaves a lot to be desired.

This makes sense when you put it into context however.

Cheng Heguang is made to support Liang Yue(E), and if his buffing was any better (since he pairs with Flutterpage for that team) then Liang Yue’s output would skyrocket into a realm that Bluepoch doesn’t want to deal with. Thus, they curb his numbers.

This does mean that he really isn’t all that viable in teams that don’t use Liang Yue as their primary carry. He can still be used for his QoL, but most teams that could use him would prefer Flutterpage’s incredible buffing with slightly less QoL compared to Cheng Heguang.

If you’d like to use him beyond that, it is recommended to go for his Portrait 1. It boosts his buffing pretty significantly and grants you access to [Continuous Action I] for 3 rounds, which is genuinely kind of crazy.

If you were on the fence about getting him, we recommend against it. Not only is he mostly there for QoL, there are also suspiciously powerful units on the horizon.

Gameplay

Cheng Heguang is pretty simple, so this should be a breeze.

His Insight is focused on generating Moxie for himself. After taking an action he gains a stack of [Trail of Steel] which can be consumed at 3 stacks to gain Moxie and grant allies [Metallic Trace], giving a small Crit DMG and Incantation Might Bonus to all allies. It also makes it so that his Ultimate doesn’t count towards the Incantation Draw Limit.

His basic Incantations are similarly tame.

“Slicing Wind” is a single-target attack that generates stacks of [Feathered Blades]. This is a buff that will be consumed by his Ultimate to deal extra Reality DMG, gain DMG Bonus and Penetration Rate. It also makes it so that his Ultimate does not cost any AP and has a guaranteed Crit effect.

“Just Pursuit” grants Cheng Heguang [Work as One]. This buff is a Forcefield that grants all allies a bit of Extra Action DMG Bonus. In addition, whenever an ally attacks a target, Cheng Heguang will Follow-Up with “Piercing Strike”. This is a single-target attack that also generates [Feathered Blades].

“Thus The Night is Calm” is what you’re working towards. This Ultimate is a sizable single-target nuke that grants [Lofty Ambition] and [Continuous Action I] for 2 rounds. It consumes all stacks of [Feathered Blades] to deal extra damage, removes all “Slicing Wind” and “Just Pursuit” cards from your hand, grants Cheng Heguang a bit of Moxie and [Work as One] for several rounds.

[Lofty Ambition] decreases the Incantation Draw Limit and converts “Slicing Wind” and “Just Pursuit” cards that you draw into random basic Incantations of other allies. In addition, it makes “Piercing Strike” deal more damage and guarantees at least one trigger per round.

[Continuous Action I] obviously does not need an introduction, but Cheng Heguang is the first character to get it on a 2-round buff duration without any Portraits.

Pros & Cons

Cheng Heguang is complete at Portrait 0.

Slight vertical investment is recommended to open up his teambuilding options.

• Portrait 1 improves his buffing capabilities and extends the duration of the buffs gained from his Ultimate (including [Continuous Action I]) to 3 rounds. This helps break him out of Liang Yue’s team to more general teams such as Lingering Glow.

Cheng Heguang is a Follow-Up Support mostly tied to the hip to Liang Yue.

• Core: Liang Yue(E), Flutterpage
• Follow-Up: Fatutu
• Other: Beryl, Corvus, Marcus

In Their Figures3.2

Singleness of Heart3.3

• In Their Figures (Matilda Anecdote): A stackable Incantation Might buff for the team that can be utilized when Flutterpage (or Kiperina) is in the team.
• Singleness of Heart (Marsha Sig): Liang Yue and Marsha both have [Burn], giving a bit of DMG Reduction to the team via this. This can be used with Marsha in the team to also grant bonus Crit DMG to the team.

Resonances

Pattern (Equibalance): BfAkNEQoVDQVKgQ8YDgCOQA8UCYQQDBCMUQz

A few suggestions are listed below. 3-People teams are highlighted, with the 4th slot added at the side to provide a 4-P variation of the same team or even insights on possible variations of the 3-P team.

Standard Teams

Freestyle Nuo Dance Teacher[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Support

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: Flutterpage
• Euphorias: Liang Yue
• One of the best teams in the game at the time of writing this. It is led by Liang Yue whose damage potential has recently come to light after her Euphoria flew under the radar due to improper testing. This team can be played with either Lopera or Lorentz Butterfly in Cheng Heguang’s slot, but he remains BiS for his uncontested ability to remove himself from your deck.
• Liang Yue is a quintessential Follow-Up Carry. Utilizing [Guardian’s Blessing] to constantly recast “Banish Evil”, on top of gathering [Talon]s through [Arise, Qiangliang]’s Red and Green zones will flood your enemies with constant high damage. In addition, she is able to bring immense benefits to her team ranging from various different [Neg Status] effects to upgrading cards and extending (de)buff durations. This makes her a monster in any kind of team, and beyond being able to auto-cast her Ultimate as well as benefit from allied Follow-Up Attacks to stack [Nuo Dance], she has a lot of moving parts.
• Cheng Heguang accomplishes a similar thing to Flutterpage.
• Where Flutterpage needs a bit of help to cycle her Channel to remove her own cards from your hand and go AP-free, Cheng Heguang can maintain his ability to remove his cards from your hand and deck at almost all times. In addition, he provides a bit of buffing. His main stay in his team is to basically be a budget secondary Flutterpage, as the less of their cards are in your hand, the more cards you have for Liang Yue to cast.
• The [Continuous Action I] cycle between the two also means you’re almost always casting at least 3 of Liang Yue’s Incantations per round (if not more).
• Flutterpage picks up where Cheng Heguang falters. He might have fantastic QoL for this team, but his buffing is mediocre. This child is notorious for her ridiculously powerful buffing capabilities, which is all hidden in her [Adieu, Mother Earth] Forcefield effect. It guarantees Crits on FUAs, gives them a massive DMG Bonus and further increases that DMG Bonus based on Crit stats. All of Flutterpage’s buffing happens in the background, so it never actually looks like she does much, but she is irreplaceable.
• The sustain slot can be filled by pretty much anyone, though Marsha finds herself as it’s best-in-slot. Liang Yue has access to some [Burn] in her kit, allowing you to slowly stack Lingering Glow for its benefits. In addition, with Cheng Heguang and Flutterpage requiring next to no AP, you can utilize any leftover AP to stack [Pain’s Recompense] to optimize Marsha’s buffing.