The monkey Xing Zhe brings his own brand of cartoony chaos to the game, with a Soul Strike and Essence Chain that can make quick work of enemies. Just because he’s powerful doesn’t mean he’s easy to play, however, and picking the right equipment and power-ups is a must for making this monkey shine. Here’s everything the player needs to know about getting started playing Xing Zhe.
Xing Zhe Basics
The monkey Xing Zhe has average Speed and slightly below-average Health and Shield. Xing Zhe has two primary abilities: Soul Strike and Essence Chain. Soul Strike damages enemies within 10m up to four times, dealing Weapon Damage rather than Skill Damage. This ability has additional effects based on weapon type (ranging from additional projectiles to explosions) but can only strike each enemy once. Essence Chain deals 1050 damage to up to 4 enemies, reduces their movement speed by 90% for 0.25s, and grants the player +2 temporary weapon levels for 6s.
The three best Ascensions beating this tough roguelite as Xing Zhe are arguably Concentrated Essence, Ancient Etching, and Raging Waves. Concentrated Essence increases the player’s temporary weapon level as well as the duration of Essence Chain. This allows the player to ramp their weapon as high as possible, blowing enemies away with high Q-build damage. Ancient Etching adds an inscription to the weapon that takes effect whenever the weapon is enhanced by Essence Chain. Inscriptions add tremendous power and flexibility to weapons, and the ability to add another one is a big deal. Last, Raging Waves increases the range of Soul Strike and the number of cudgel hits.
How To Play Xing Zhe
If the player is running a Q-build, weapon choice doesn’t really matter, and the player can run whatever they feel like. Why? Because the amount of damage is going to be boosted to ridiculous levels because regardless of the weapon’s base stats. If, on the other hand, the player is running an E-build, there are a few weapons worth recommending when playing Xing Zhe. These include the Fire Tower, Argus, and Shrieker.
As for scrolls, Unfettered Will is a great choice because it scales the character’s weapon damage, which is important for Xing Zhe’s E ability. Abundant Vitality buffs the character’s weapon damage while the character’s shield is recharging, which further boosts the player’s E ability, and because this is a common scroll, the player won’t have much difficulty getting their hands on it. Hidden Transaction, on the other hand, is perfect for Q builds, since it gives the player a 33% chance of improving weapons by one additional level when enhancing them at a craftsman.
Playing Xing Zhe is all about maximizing one’s dealing damage potential. This can either be done with an E build or Q build, so it’s up to the player to decide which they’re more comfortable with. Getting the Endless Assault blessing allows the player to use their secondary ability more frequently, which allows the player to spam it as often as possible. Overconsumption will also find a place in many Xing Zhe builds, as the host of buffs it provides suits this character well. Xing Zhe can be played extremely aggressively, taking the fight to enemies thanks to his Soul Strike and Essence Chain, and though other strategies are viable, aggro is a strategy that consistently pays off.
Gunfire Reborn is available now for PC, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
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