Cantarella Build Guide
Level: 1
HP
ATK
DEF
Energy
125
Update Log: Updated Canterella full build.
Cantarella Overview
In Wuthering Waves, Cantarella is a 5-Stars Havoc character and uses Rectifier during the fight.
Cantarella is not a full healer and cannot replace Verina or Shorekeeper.
It is recommended to think of her as a damage-dealing or support character with healing abilities, although her damage output is mediocre.
Cantarella Mechanism
Forte Circuit Energy – Trance
When the third phase of the basic attack hits an enemy, the Forte Circuit Energy bar above the health bar increases by one segment.
- The basic attack must hit an enemy. If the attack doesn’t hit a target, it does not work.
- However, the resonance skill can hit nothing. Cantarella can still gain one segment of Forte Circuit Energy.
Other ways to gain Circuit Energy include using the Intro skill or her Resonance Liberation.
Mirage State
The Mirage State activates when Cantarella has at least one Trance.
Hold the basic attack key to perform a Special Charged Attack, and Cantarella will enter the Mirage state.
- In this state, Cantarella hovers mid-air.
- The Circuit Energy bar changes from a dull pink to a purple gradient with a wave-like motion.
- The environment darkens, resembling an underwater scene. However, switching characters removes this visual effect, which reappears when you switch back.
In this enhanced state:
- Cantarella’s basic attacks become Enhanced Basic Attacks.
- The resonance skill also refreshes into an Enhanced Resonance Skill.
Enhanced Resonance Skill
- Cooldown: Independent from the normal resonance skill.
- Hitting enemies with Enhanced Resonance Skill inflicts the Hazy Dream debuff, which slows their movements but does not make them completely immobile. Enemies can still deal damage if touched.
- The range of Enhanced Resonance Skill is large, with a radius of about 40 meters centered on the targeted enemy. If no enemy is locked, the skill centers on Cantarella.
Hazy Dream and Jolt Mechanics
Enemies in the Hazy Dream state can be attacked to trigger a Jolt effect, which deals additional damage and produces a sound effect.
Jolt Damage:
- At 0 chains (S0), the Jolt damage multiplier is 198%.
- At 2 chains (S2), the multiplier increases to 683%.
Only Cantarella’s attacks can trigger the Jolt effect. If you switch to another character, they can remove the Hazy Dream status but cannot trigger the Jolt damage.
Shiver and Enhanced Basic Attack
The Enhanced Basic Attack has three phases:
Each phase consumes one Trance and generates one Shiver.
These Shivers are displayed between the Circuit Energy bar and the health bar, with a maximum of three.
Enhanced basic attacks can be performed both on the ground and in the air, with no restrictions.
Dodging and counterattacking in this state also generates a Shiver, with a damage multiplier of over 200%.
Perception Drain
When three Shivers are accumulated, the resonance skill icon turns purple, transforming into Perception Drain. This skill deals over 1300% multiplier damage and inflicts Hazy Dream on enemies, allowing for Jolt damage to be triggered.
- Cooldown: 18 seconds.
- The Circuit Energy bar visually changes to indicate whether Perception Drain is off cooldown.
Skill Rotation
To optimize Cantarella’s damage:
Preparation:
- Use the Intro skill to gain 1 Trance.
- Use the normal resonance skill to gain another Trance (total: 2).
- Use the Resonance Liberation to gain 2 additional Trances (total: 4).
Enter Mirage State:
- Hold the attack key for a Special Charged Attack to consume 1 segment and enter Mirage.
- Use the Enhanced Resonance Skill.
Enhanced Basic Attacks:
- Perform Enhanced Basic Attacks to consume 3 Trances and generate 3 Shivers.
- When the resonance skill icon turns purple, release Perception Drain.
Switch Characters:
- After using Perception Drain, switch to another character for additional synergy while Cantarella’s cooldowns reset.
Abyssal Rebirth
When Cantarella uses the Intro skill, any teammate’s Echo Skill restores 6 points of Concerto Energy for Cantarella. This effect can trigger up to 6 times in 25 seconds.
Skills like Roccia’s grouping ability or Cantarella’s Liberation are considered Echo Skills, contributing to the synergy.
Cantarella’s Resonance Liberation & Outro Skill
- Cantarella’s Resonance Liberation creates an AOE attack with a teleport effect to the target.
- It triggers Coordinated Attacks, where enemies take additional damage over three seconds.
- Cantarella’s Outro SKill grants the next character a 20% Havoc damage boost and a 25% resonance skill depeen buff.
Cantarella Active Skills
Cantarella Skills Priority
Prioritize skill points into Resonance Circuit, which accounts for 49% of the multiplier. Next is the Resonance Skill (16.5%), followed by the Ultimate (15.4%). Finally, allocate points to Basic Attack and Intro Skill.
Cantarella Burst Rotation
- Intro Skill (Trance : 1, Shiver : 0)
- Resonance Skill (Trance : 2, Shiver : 0)
- Resonance Liberation (Trance : ４, Shiver : 0)
- Specifal Charged Attack (Enter Mirage state, Trance : 3, Shiver : 1)
- Enhanced Resonance Skill
- Enhanced Basic Attack * 3 (Trance : 0, Shiver : 4)
- Resonance Skill – Perception Drain
- Echo Skill
- Outro Skill
Cantarella Damage Types Composition
Note: Please note this chart shows the proportion of different types of damage, instead of the multiplier.
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Base Attack Lv:
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Basic Attack
Perform up to 3 consecutive attacks, dealing Havoc DMG.
Heavy Attack
Consume STA to attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG.
Heavy Attack – Delusive Dive
When Cantarella has Trance, Heavy Attack becomes Delusive Dive, dealing Havoc DMG to the target, and then Cantarella enters Mirage. While in Mirage, casting Delusive Dive does not activate Mirage again.
Can be cast in water.
Mid-air Attack
Consume STA to perform Plunging Attack, dealing Havoc DMG.
Dodge Counter
Normal Attack right after a successful Dodge to attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG.
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Resonance Skill Lv:
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Graceful Step
Attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG.
Flickering Reverie
When in Mirage, Resonance Skill becomes Flickering Reverie, which is considered an Echo Skill when being cast. Attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG, and send them into Hazy Dream.
Can be cast in mid-air.
Hazy Dream
Reduce the target’s movement speed for 6.5s. When the target takes damage, Jolt is triggered once, removing Hazy Dream to deal Havoc DMG, considered Basic Attack DMG.
Attacks by other Resonators in the team will not Jolt a target influenced by Hazy Dream and will remove the Hazy Dream.
Coordinated Attacks and damage from Utilities will not Jolt a target.
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Resonance Liberation Lv:
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Flowing Suffocation
Attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG (considered Basic Attack DMG). Inflict Diffusion on all Resonators in the team. Casting this skill is also considered as casting Echo Skill.
Can be cast in mid-air close to the ground.
Diffusion
When the Resonator on the field deals damage to a target, summon Dreamweavers to perform Coordinated Attack, dealing Havoc DMG (considered as Basic Attack DMG).
– Within 3s after the Resonator deals damage, summon 1 per second. This effect can be triggered once per second. Damage dealt by Dreamweavers cannot trigger this effect.
– Up to 1 Dreamweaver can be summoned each second, max 21 Dreamweavers in total.
– This effect lasts for 30s or until reaching the maximum number of Dreamweavers.
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Forte Circuit Lv:
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Mirage
– Basic Attack becomes Basic Attack Phantom Sting. Perform up to 3 consecutive attacks, dealing Havoc DMG. Can be cast in mid-air. When cast mid-air, Basic Attack Phantom Sting consumes STA, and the combo does not reset when Cantarella is airborne.
– Hitting the target with Basic Attack Phantom Sting consumes 1 of Trance to obtain 1 of Shiver and heal all nearby Resonators in the team.
– The third stage of Basic Attack Phantom Sting triggers 3 Coordinated Attacks, dealing Havoc DMG.
– Mid-air Attack becomes Abysmal Vortex. Jump to perform a Plunging Attack at the cost of STA, dealing Havoc DMG.
– Dodge Counter becomes Dodge Counter Shadowy Sweep. Attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG. Normal Attack right after casting the skill to cast Basic Attack Phantom Sting Stage 2.
– When Mid-air Attack Abysmal Vortex or Dodge Counter Shadowy Sweep hits a target, consume 1 of Trance to obtain 1 of Shiver and heal all nearby Resonators in the team.
– Mirage lasts for 8s.
– Mirage ends when Trance is depleted.
Forte Circuit – Perception Drain
If Cantarella has 3 of Shiver when in Mirage, Resonance Skill becomes Perception Drain.
Consume all Shiver to attack the target, dealing Havoc DMG, considered Basic Attack DMG. Send the target into Hazy Dream and heal all Resonators in the team.
Casting this skill is also considered as casting Echo Skill.
Can be cast in mid-air.
Abyssal Rebirth
After casting Intro Skill, Cantarella enters Abyssal Rebirth, which lasts for 25s and can be activated once every 25s. In the duration, for up to 6 times, when Resonators in the team cast Echo Skill, Cantarella recovers 6 of Concerto Energy. Echoes with the same name can only trigger this effect once.
When in water, Cantarella’s swimming speed increases and STA cost decreases.
Trance
– Cantarella can hold up to 5 points of Trance.
– Casting Intro Skill recovers 1 point of Trance.
– Hitting a target with Basic Attack Stage 3 recovers 1 point of Trance.
– Casting Resonance Skill Graceful Step recovers 1 point of Trance.
– Casting Resonance Liberation Flowing Suffocation recovers 3 of Trance.
– When in the water, recover 1 point of Trance every 5s.
Shiver
– Cantarella can hold up to 3 points of Shiver.
– Hitting the target with Basic Attack Phantom Sting recovers 1 point of Shiver.
– When Mid-air Attack Abysmal Vortex or Dodge Counter Shadowy Sweep hits a target, restore 1 point of Shiver.
Cantarella Passive Skills
Cantarella Inherent Skill
Cantarella Inherent Skill
Cantarella Switch Skills
Intro Skill Lv: | |
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Cantarella Stat Bonus
Cantarella Stat Bonus 1
Crit Rate – 8%
*All Bonus unlocked value
Cantarella Stat Bonus 2
ATK% – 12%
*All Bonus unlocked value
Cantarella Resonance Chain
Suggested Resonance Chain
S1
Each time you use the Resonance Skill – Perception Drain, you gain an additional stack of Trance. This skill also grants anto-interruption . The damage boost is approximately 20.9%.
S2
Now, the Resonance Liberation can also inflict Hazy Dream on enemies, effectively adding an extra Jolt hit. Additionally, the multiplier for this Jolt is increased, resulting in a ~37.1% damage boost.
S3
Increases the Resonance Liberation’s multiplier. While the 3.7x increase sounds impressive, it only applies to the final hit of the Resonance Liberation, raising its multiplier to 1767%. The overall damage gain is about 21.6%.
S4 & S5
The effects of these two Resonance Chains are very minimal.
S6
Boosts the Enhanced Basic Attack’s multiplier and grants 30% DEF penetration for 10s after using the Resonance Liberation. The damage increase is 22.9%, but if Cantarella is your main DPS, the boost rises to ~27%-30%.
For Cantarella at S2 or higher:
She gains three skills that can inflict Hazy Dream—Enhanced Resonance Skill, Resonance Liberation, and E3 Perception Drain.
With S6, if you apply Hazy Dream, enemies remain in this state for 1.2s. During this window, other damage sources (e.g., Enhanced Basic Attacks, Echo damage) won’t wake them up or trigger Jolt damage.
However, if you hit them with another Hazy Dream-inflicting skill, the Jolt damage triggers immediately.
This allows for burst combos like: Ultimate → Enhanced Resonance Skill → Perception Drain, or weaving in Enhanced Basic Attacks within the 1.2s window for extra damage.
Weapon Refinement vs. Resonance Chains
Cantarella’s signature weapon is niche but offers high returns—each refinement rank provides an ~8% damage increase.
Interestingly, S3R5 Cantarella is about 3% stronger than S6R1.
Pulling Recommendations
Priority: S0R1 > S1R1 > S3R1 > S3R5
Cantarella Sequence 1
Cantarella Sequence 2
Cantarella Sequence 3
Cantarella Sequence 4
Cantarella Sequence 5
Cantarella Sequence 6
Cantarella Build
Cantarella Support Echo set
Moonlit Clouds X 5
Main Echo
Any Cost 3 Echo
Any Cost 3 Echo
Any Cost 1 Echo
Any Cost 1 Echo
Sub Echo
Cantarella DPS Echo set
Midnight Veil X 5
Main Echo
Any Cost 3 Echo
Any Cost 3 Echo
Any Cost 1 Echo
Any Cost 1 Echo
Sub Echo
Sun-sinking Eclipse X 5
Main Echo
Any Cost 3 Echo
Any Cost 3 Echo
Any Cost 1 Echo
Any Cost 1 Echo
Sub Echo
Cantarella Echo Stats Priority
Cost 4
Cost 3
Cost 1
Sub Stats
Cantarella Best Weapons Damage Comparison
The percentage change in damage output is compared to the weapon designated as 100%.
100%
Basic Attack : 500
Secondary Stat – Crit Dmg : 72.0%
Increases ATK by 12%/15%/18%/21%/24%. Casting Echo Skill within 10s after casting Intro Skill or Basic Attacks grants 1 {Cus:Sap,S=stack P=stacks SapTag=2} of Gentle Dream. Echoes with the same name can only trigger this effect once, stacking up to 2 times, lasting for 10s. When reaching 2 stacks, casting Echo Skill no longer resets the duration of this effect. This effect activates up to once per 10s. Switching to another Resonator ends this effect early.
With 1 Stack : Grants 40%/50%/60%/70%/80% Basic Attack DMG Bonus.
With 2 Stacks : Ignores 12%/15%/18%/21%/24% of the target’s Havoc RES.
88.6%
Base Attack : 500
Secondary Stat – Crit Rate : 36%
Grants 12%/15%/18%/21%/24% Attribute DMG Bonus. When dealing Resonance Skill DMG, increases ATK by 12%/15%/18%/21%/24%, stacking up to 2 times. This effect lasts for 5s. When the wielder is not on the field, increases their ATK by an additional 12%/15%/18%/21%/24%.
83.1%
Base ATK : 500
Secondary Stats – Crit DMG : 72%
Increase ATK by 12%/15%/18%/21%/24%. While the wielder is on the field, using Resonance Skill grants up to 3 stacks of Basic Attack DMG Bonus of 12%/15%/18%/21%/24% for 6s. At 3 stacks or above, casting Outro Skill consumes all stacks of this effect and grants the wielder 52%/65%/78%/91%/104% Basic Attack DMG Bonus for 27s, effective when the wielder is off the field.
76%
Base ATK : 500
Secondary Stats – Crit Rate : 36%
Increase ATK by 12%/15%/18%/21%/24%. Dealing DMG to enemies with Spectro Frazzle grants the wielder 14%/17.5%/21%/24.5%/28% Basic Attack DMG Bonus and 14%/17.5%/21%/24.5%/28% Heavy Attack DMG Bonus, stacking up to 3 times for 6s. Casting Outro Skill Amplifies the Spectro Frazzle DMG on enemies around the active Resonator by 50%/62.5%/75%/87.5%/100% for 30s. Effects of the same name cannot be stacked.
72.2%
Basic Attack : 463
Secondary Stat – ATK : 53.9%
Increases Energy Regen by 12.8%/16%/19.2%/22.4%/25.6%. When dealing Basic Attack DMG, increases Basic Attack DMG Bonus by 3.2%/4%/4.8%/5.6%/6.4%, stacking up to 5 time(s). This effect lasts for 8s and can be triggered 1 time(s) every 0.5s.
70.8%
Basic Attack : 412
Secondary Stat – Crit Rate : 20.2%
Casting Resonance Liberation increases the wielder’s ATK by 15%/23.25%/31.5%/39.75%/48%, lasting for 15s.
N/A
Basic Attack : 462
Secondary Stat – ATK : 18.2%
Dealing DMG to enemies with Negative Statuses increases the wielder’s ATK by 4%/5%/6%/7%/8% for 10s. This effect can be triggered 1 time per second, stackable up to 4 times.
The top priority is her signature weapon, Whispers of Sirens.
When Cantarella uses her Intro Skill or any Basic/Enhanced Basic Attack, triggering an Echo Skill (including her Enhanced Resonance Skill, Perception Drain, or Resonance Liberation) will grant her a stackable buff:
First stack: +40% Basic Attack DMG (lasts 10s).
If another Echo Skill is used within those 10s, she gains a second stack, refreshing the duration while also ignoring 12% of the enemy’s Havoc RES (this effect does not apply to teammates).
Once the second stack is active, further Echo Skills will not extend the duration.
But there is downside of Cantarella’s signature weapon:
The buff disappears immediately if you switch characters.
More critically, the buff’s activation condition (the “judgment state”) begins the moment Cantarella enters the field—even if she gets interrupted (e.g., by dodging) before attacking.
This means if you swap her in, then quickly switch out (e.g., for team rotation), the 10s cooldown keeps ticking, potentially causing her to miss the buff during her intended burst window.
While you can work around this with strict rotations, it severely restricts flexible playstyles, making the weapon feel clunky in practice.
Alternative Weapons
Stringmaster (88.6%)
A strong alternative since Cantarella’s Resonance Skills (both normal and enhanced) count as Resonance Skill DMG, fully benefiting from its passive.
Zhezhi’s Signature (Rime-Draped Sprouts, 83.1%)
Normally, this weapon stacks buffs when using Resonance Skills, but Cantarella’s Perception Drain (E3) does not trigger stacks (despite being part of her Forte Circuit).
This was intentionally designed to prevent Zhezhi’s weapon from being optimal for her, capping its efficiency at ~83.1%.
Other 5★ Options
Luminous Hymn (Phoebe’s signature): ~76%.
Cosmic Ripples (standard 5★): ~72.2%.
Battle Pass Weapon (R5 Augment: 70.8% )
A decent placeholder if no 5★ options are available.
Last Resort: Variation (4★)
Provides extra Concerto Energy, but Cantarella’s standard rotation already fills her energy naturally.
Only use this if you lack all other options—since her Perception Drain (1300% multiplier) is too valuable to skip, the extra energy is largely wasted.
Cantarella Team Comp
Cantarella Best Team
Main DPS – Rover Havoc/Danjin
The damage of Rover Havoc or Danjin is maximized by Cantarella and Roccia in this team.
Sub DPS 1 – Cantarella
Cantarella is a DPS that can provide small amount of healing to teammates. Her Outro Skill grants the next character a 20% Havoc damage boost and a 25% resonance skill depeen buff.
Sub DPS 2 – Roccia
Because Roccia’s Outro Skill grants a 20% Havoc damage bonus and a 25% Basic Attack damage bonus as deepen effects.
Main DPS – Jinhsi
Jinhsi relies on teammates’ coordinated Attack to maximize the rate of stacking “Incandescence” in order to maximize the damage of enhanced skill.
But in this team, the stacking of is “Incandescence” trade off to exchange with Taoqi’s Skill Deepen buff.
Sub DPS – Cantarella
Cantarella is a DPS that can provide small amount of healing to teammates. Her Outro Skill grants the next character a 20% Havoc damage boost and a 25% resonance skill depeen buff.
Healer – Shorekeeper/Verina
In addition to providing the traditional 15% All DMG Deepen like other healers, Shorekeeper’s Liberation can offer continuous healing, crit rate, and crit damage, making it very powerful. The Outro Skill’s buff allows knocked-back teammates to immediately recover from the interruption.
Verina is a secondary healer that can provide Spectro DMG deepen and ATK% increase to teammates. While Verina is more comprehensive, her buff lasts longer, and she can protect a party member from fatal damage every 10 minutes.
Cantarella Ascension Material
Rank 1
Req Lv 20
Rank 2
Req Lv 40
Rank 3
Req Lv 50
Rank 4
Req Lv 60
Rank 5
Req Lv 70
Rank 6
Req Lv 80
More Build Guides
Calcharo
Calcharo primarily uses the enhanced Basic Attack and enhanced Forte Circuit after using Resonance Liberation for damage output. In the series of damage output after using Resonance Liberation, the damage ratio between Resonance Liberation and Basic Attack is approximately 2.2:1. Additionally, the Resonance Skill can be released at intervals, allowing full enjoyment of the permanent five-star weapon’s effects.
After using Resonance Liberation, Calcharo gains a new Basic Attack model. The multiplier for this attack is related to the level of Resonance Liberation, but the main proportion of his damage comes from the “Death Messenger” in Forte Circuit. Resonance Skill can be used during the Liberation period to interrupt Basic Attack combos, quickly generate Forte Circuit Energy, and trigger “Death Messenger”. The main components of his damage output consist of these three elements.
Encore
mong the permanent 5-star Fusion DPS characters, Encore enters an enhanced state and changes attack mode after activating Resonance Liberation. The main source of Encore’s damage comes from Basic Attacks after activating Resonance Liberation, not the Forte Circuit. Additionally, the cooldowns for Encore’s regular Resonance Skill and the enhanced Resonance Skill during Resonance Liberation are independent of each other.
In Encore’s damage output after activating Resonance Liberation, Basic Attack damage accounts for nearly 70%. Choosing Sanhua as a teammate can maximize her damage potential.
Sanhua
Although Sanhua has burst capabilities, the overall damage is not high. In Sanhua’s output cycle, Resonance Skill damage and Resonance Liberation account for approximately 51% and 41%, respectively.
Although Resonance Skill damage is slightly higher, there is a risk of missing in actual combat. Sanhua has a unique Forte Circuit trigger mechanism similar to rhythm games, and hitting enemies can cause a slight time-stopping effect.
Sanhua has the fastest Concerto Energy and Resonance Energy acquisition efficiency in the game, making it the most versatile and best-feeling support in the current version. After using the Intro Skill, Sanhua only needs 3 seconds to fully charge Concerto Energy and trigger QTE, activating the Main DPS for output. Our team composition recommendations for various characters also show Sanhua’s high versatility.
Moonlit Clouds
Midnight Veil
Sun-sinking Eclipse
