Focalors (芙卡洛斯) is almost an anagram of Roosevelt (罗斯福). Nahida shares the same birthday as Theodore Roosevelt. So are we supposed to think of Nahida and Focalors as cousins? Focalors is not much older than Nahida. If Nahida is a child, then Focalors is like what? A teenager going through puberty?
Anyways, many American historians would consider the Roosevelts (both FDR and TR) among the greatest American presidents in history. TR was known for his 'big stick' policy and imperialism in Central and South America after the USA won the Spanish war and gained Philippines and Cuba as new colonies. After nearly half a century of post Civil War, reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the robber-baron era, the victory in the Spanish war signalled the rise of a new naval power in the world: the USA.
And thus, the USA's position as a preeminent naval power in the 1900s tends to align with Focalor's status as the archon of Fontaine, the nation of water.
What did FDR accomplish? He served 4 terms as USA president, which was unprecedented. He led the USA through the Great Depression, introduced the New Deal and alphabet soup policies (similar to socialism), but perhaps most importantly led the USA through World War 2. During WW2, the USA began work on the Manhattan project, directed by Robert Oppenheimer, leading to the creation of the atomic bomb.
WW1 was known for trench warfare and signalled the end of naval dominated wars. WW2 saw the shift to modern aerial warfare, where aircraft and airforce grew in importance in war. Nowadays, the navy is still quite important for patrolling the seas and chokepoints such as the Malacca strait. However, the introduction of aircrafts has added a new dimension to war.
Anyways, in the 1900s, the USA has emerged as the top naval superpower of the world: the 'hydro archon'. But who took the crown as the ruler of the seas before the USA? In the 1800s, the leading naval superpower of the world was the British Empire, the USA's 'big daddy'. And just like how the Roosevelts of the USA have a connection to the name of Focalors, so does a queen of the British Empire have a connection to the name of Furina.
Just like how Morax sounds more pleasing to the ear (and actually sounds like the name of a god), so does Focalors. That said, the 'rin' in Furina may as well just be a random sound without much meaning. But perhaps the most powerful person in history with 'rin' in their name is Alexandrina Victoria, ruler of the British empire during its golden age, the only other empire in history that could rival the Mongol empire in territory.
Actually one can be even more specific and claim that Alexandrina is the most powerful person in history with 'rina' in their name.
But whereas the Mongols had near absolute hegemony and virtually no competitors, the British always had to compete with other empires, such as their fellow European empires, the Russians, the Americans, etc. The world under Pax Britannica was not one of unity like that of Pax Mongolica, but one of division and competition, war and scrambles across continents. The majority of global power was not monopolized by one empire, but separated across several different empires. So in this sense, the British empire had far less relative power compared to the rest of the world than the Mongol empire (who had a larger portion of world power at the time).
The Victoria era is named after Alexandrina Victoria. Also a note on the naming of British monarchs: it is a bit different from surnames. Alexandrina is actually inherited from her godfather's side, while Victoria is from her mother's side. So if anything, Alexandrina is actually closer to the surname. So on this site, we may use the term Alexandrina era in lieu of Victoria era (using the terms interchangably).
Growing up, she was given the nickname 'Drina' by her family.
Alexandrina descended from Edward and Charlotte. Specifically, her father was Prince Edward. Prince Edward was the son of Charlotte. Edward also had a niece called Princess Charlotte. When Princess Charlotte passed away in 1817 it prompted a succession crisis. Edward married Princess Victoria of Germany. Victoria's brother was Leopold, who was the husband of Princess Charlotte (Edward's niece) and also king of Belgium.
In 1818, Alexandrina was baptised by Charles Manners-Sutton. She was named Alexandrina after her godfather Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Apparently, the Tsar Alexander allowed the British to name her after him as a courtesy after the British and Russia defeated Napoleon together.
Alexandrina also flirted with Alexander II of Russia. They danced and conversed in French with each other. Ultimately, Alexandrina married Prince Albert.
Hmm, could there possibly be any lady in Genshin born in Fontaine that also has connections to Russia?
So Britain named their empress after the Russian tsar. Why is this such a big deal? To put it in more extreme terms, imagine if today the USA named their president after a Chinese or Russian leader. Imagine the waves that would cause.
But despite this, the British and Russians were intense rivals (enemies) that did not always see eye to eye. The British and French sided with the Ottoman Turks against the Russians in the Crimean War. The British and Russians also competed in the Great Game across Eurasia, vying for influence in Afghanistan and Persia. The British also backed the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese war.
Nonetheless, perhaps the 1800s could indeed be called the Alexandrina era of the world as the royal houses of the major European empires were tied together in this Charlotte's web of marriages around Alexandrina. It lasted for around a century before Europe erupted into two devestating wars: WW1 and WW2 that saw the end of the colonial era.
Anyone who made a billion dollars while in Hong Kong and Singapore ought to kowtow to Queen Alexandrina. During her rule, the British Empire defeated the Qing, took Hong Kong port as a colony, and also ruled over the port of Singapore. So Lee Kashing, Lee Kuan Yew, and others who benefited from living in former British colonies can bow their heads to their ultimate master who made it possible: Queen Alexandrina. And honestly any Ming dynasty sympathizer including the entire house of Zhu ought to worship Alexandrina as a goddess, the true hydro archon, for defeating the Qing.
So if Alexandrina is the empress and boss of the workshop, then these colonies are like staff workers whose salaries depend on her. But why limit it to a few specks of dust in the southeast: all of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and continents came under the rule of Alexandrina.
So who is the most powerful ruler in Singapore's history? It is not Lee Kuan Yew. It is Alexandrina Victoria. Who is the most powerful person in Hong Kong's history? It is not Li Kashing. It is Alexandrina Victoria. When her majesty defeated the Qing in the Opium Wars, she appointed Charles Elliot as first administrator of Hong Kong. Li Kashing and Lee Kuan Yew would not even be qualified to polish Queen Victoria's shoes. She and the Brits ruled and created these colonies in the first place.
Next time you visit Hong Kong or Singapore, see if you can find the statues of Queen Alexandrina Victoria or the several schools and buildings named after her. These are a testament to her legacy and a reminder of the powerhouse that swept through these places not too long ago. Notice how many Singapore leaders continue to go to their daddy Britain to get educated. Everyone living in Singapore is living in the shadow of Alexandrina Victoria. If Alexandrina viewed the world as a ball in the palm of her hand, then Singapore would just be a speck of dust.
Whenever you accept bribes and money from Hong Kong or Singapore, you are essentially putting yourself under Alexandrina Victoria, living on her payroll, and continuing to serve her legacy.
Who else who made it big in Hong Kong may want to pay their respects to the Queen Alexandrina? Perhaps many famous Hong Kong actors such as Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Andy Lau, etc.
Victoria is written 维多利亚 Weiduoliya in Chinese. This makes her the most powerful 'wei' in Chinese history (and also world history). Everybody named wei ought to bow down to Alexandrina and worship her as a goddess for elevating the prestige of the wei name to new heights. When you serve the interests of wei, you are putting yourself under Alexandrina Victoria and further promoting her legacy. This is called win-win diplomacy.
It seems too big of a coincidence that various Fontaine characters are taking different parts of Alexandrina Victoria's name such as 'rin', 'vi', etc.
Wow, could there possibly be any single character in this god-forsaken world that somehow magically combines the various parts and sounds in Alexandrina Victoria's name, 'Ale', 'rin', 'vi/ve' into their design, while also making reference to how she is the empress (女皇) of Britain (英国)? Truly wonder which character that could be...
If Aisin Gioro defeated Zhu, then who defeated Aisin? It seems history has given us an answer: Queen Alexandrina defeated Aisin in the Opium Wars. Every Zhu, pig, and Ming dynasty sympathizer in the world ought to have a portrait of her royal majesty Alexandrina in their homes and bow down and worship her as their hero and savior for liberating them from the rule of the Qing. But does this make Alexandrina a Zhu? No. She is much better and more powerful than the House of Zhu and the Ming dynasty. The British empire had a far larger impact and reach in global history.
There are many political implications of Alexandrina being ruler of the British empire and defeating the Qing, especially for a civilization with a history as long as China's. And we have only just scratched the surface. Alexandrina essentially prompted a succession of power and transition within China from the Qing rule to the modern era of China. Generally speaking, any figure in Chinese history responsible for the succession of dynasties or empires will turn out to be a big name. Any comprehensive history of the Qing dynasty and modern Chinese history will have to discuss Queen Alexandrina, the British empire, and the implications of the Opium Wars.
As controversial as imperialism and the Opium Wars are, there is one other important effect Alexandrina had on China: she helped end the rule of the Manchu people and bring the Han Chinese people back to power. If it were not for Alexandrina declaring war on the Qing, perhaps 1.4 billion Chinese people would still be ruled by Aisin Gioro and the Manchus. Is this something you want? So perhaps in this sense, Alexandrina ironically becomes a friend and savior of the Han Chinese people.
So even Liu Che, the 6th of the Fatui Harbingers, can tip his hat to Alexandrina Victoria.
Given the history of the British Empire, what does China think about Queen Alex? Here we quote excerpts from official Chinese state media on Queen Alex:
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202304/28/WS644b80bda310b6054fad0687.html
This article is written by someone named Li Wenfang about the "marriage of art between East and West during Victorian era". It is quite recent, written in 2023, and is about a new museum exhibition on Victoria era art that opened in China. Li Wenfang writes:
"The Victoria era (1837-1901) marks the height of the British Industrial Revolution and gave birth to a boom of British culture and arts. Some items on show reflect the combination of Western and Eastern elements amid the trade globalization."
Li also includes the following in the article:
"The exhibition explores fine and decorative arts from the extraordinary period of British history, the reign of Queen Victoria."
Yes, Li Wenfang of Chinese state media is saying that Queen Alexandrina Victoria ruled an "extraordinary" period of history. Li Wenfang acknowledges that the Alexandrina Victoria era marked the "height of the British Indistrial Revolution", while leading to a golden age and boom of culture and arts. Queen Alex had such an extraordinary impact on China and the world that in 2023 China opened a museum dedicated to her and to celebrate the cultural exchange between east and west.
From this article, it is clear that Li Wenfang idolizes Queen Alexandrina as a national hero, an extraordinary empress that ruled Britain's golden age, a fountainhead of culture and art, a unifier of east and west, a harbinger of modernity that industrialized the world and introduced new scientific, philosophical, and technological ideas into China. Li Wenfang worships Queen Alexandrina as a "Father", "Otets", the true hydro archon.
Li Wenfang is a role model to all Li in the world. Li Wenfang's opinion overrules the opinions of all other Li. If you are looking for any 'permission' from Li, then Li Wenfang is clearly telling you how amazing Queen Alex is, showering her with praise, viewing her as one of the great figures of modern history.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201907/22/WS5d351b42a310d83056400402_3.html
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2019-07/23/content_37494323.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201908/01/WS5d42460ea310d830564022d3.html
The above is more praise from official Chinese state media on Queen Alexandrina Victoria. They say she "achieved much, particularly as a woman" and created a "new language of power". There is even a writer named Wang Mingjie who worships Queen Alex.
Amanda Foreman writes that she transformed the Buckingham royal palace: "By transforming this building, she made it bigger, more welcoming, and much more inclusive for the community for the country." As the British Empire ruled so much of the world, perhaps it was in Queen Alexandrina's character to create an inclusive empire, welcoming of people of all different backgrounds who would learn the English tongue, from Africa, China, India, etc. It is almost as if she welcomed children and orphans from all over world, treating them as her own.
Queen Alexandrina Victoria ascended the throne at the age of 18 on June 20, 1837 and would rule the British Empire for 63 years. "She transformed the monarchy, and the monarchy that we know today is her creation... It's much more open, there's a real relationship with the public, there's an expectation that the monarchy exists for public service to serve the country."
So Queen Alex revolutionized the British monarchy, making it closer to the people. These articles are blushing all over her, so this is the deep impact that Queen Alexandrina left in China. It is still felt to this day.
Trivia: the Victoria Harbour is also named after Alexandrina Victoria, so there is a place in China named after Queen Alex. Think about how many rulers in Chinese history can claim to have a location named after them...
March 7th often talks about girl power. Alexandrina Victoria is the ultimate girl power. As ruler of the British empire at its peak, she is one of the most powerful ladies (if not the most powerful lady) in history.
When it comes to powerful female rulers in Chinese history, one usually thinks about Empress Cixi or Wu Zetian. We can add one more person to this list: Alexandrina can also count as a 'Chinese ruler', having ruled over Hong Kong, a part of China. Anything that was part of China or ruled over part of China in history counts as Chinese history: so this includes non-Han people such as Aisin-Gioro and the Mongols, as well as various nomadic 'ethnic minorities' such as the Xiongnu and Gokturks. In this way, Alexandrina this British lady becomes part of Chinese history too. And continuing along this line, she is one of the most powerful female rulers in Chinese history.
So if Alexandrina is a Chinese empress, then who is her successor? Who founded the political party that now rules China? Perhaps that gives you an idea of who her successor is. Genshin seems to be playing games with characters like Cyno, Lyney, Furina and support the idea that Fontaine played a role in the modern history of China. In this context, Alexandrina is a figure that does loom large over these people, as the Opium Wars ultimately set in motion the process that led to the foundation of the modern Chinese nation.
English is the lingua franca of the world, learned by billions across all continents from China, India, Africa, etc. Alexandrina Victoria is the one who helped make this possible, the one who made English a global language. During Alexandrina's reign, the British empire ruled over six continents, bringing English to Asia, Africa, Australasia, the Americas, etc. It was the empire where the sun never set.
And to this day, we still live in the Alexandrina era. English continues to serve as a universal language of the world. And this is bolstered by the USA empire, media, and military. The USA is the successor of the British empire in the Anglo tradition. The USA is continuing to serve the legacy of Queen Alexandrina and the British empire by spreading the influence of the English language around the world. So you essentially enter a paradox: the after-effects and influence of the Alexandrina Victoria era will not end as long as the USA is still a dominant superpower of the world. And unless the USA wants to end its global hegemony, we will continue to live in the Alexandrina era for the foreseeable future.
Perhaps one of her most important legacies is the lingerie brand Victoria's Secret (which is indeed named after Alexandrina Victoria), surely one of the lingerie brands of all time, used by women all around the world. That is called true power.
Speaking of which, if you go to the Church of Favonius in Mondstadt and talk to the NPCs, there is evidence that the Genshin creators were aware of the history of Alexandrina Victoria since the game's creation in version 1.
At least in the USA, when most people hear the name 'Alexander' they think of some Greek dude who conquered Persia. But perhaps fewer people know that another 'Alex' became the most powerful ruler of the past 200 years, ruling the seas and continents across the world.
And who had the privilege of bestowing such a name to this noble British lady? Ladies and gentlemen, take a moment to give a big round of applause to Russia for giving such a name to her royal majesty. The tsar must be proud knowing that one of his daughters became Britain's most powerful ruler in history.
Such was the influence of Russia that one wonders if the British empire was a puppet state of Russia.
When it comes to monarchs such as Alexandrina, you can forget about term limits. She ruled the British empire for 63 years, which is longer than even Kangxi and Qianlong. In fact, Alexandrina is usually top 10 in the list of longest reigning rulers.
All this time, we have been talking about Alexandrina on Furina's page as if Furina is the only character being discussed. But as people can probably guess by now, there is one other character we are talking about. Gee, really wonder who that could be...
If Furina literally represents one side of Alexandrina's name, who can possibly represent the other side? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge...
Furina has heterochromia iridium or different-colored eyes. Candace of Sumeru is another character with heterochromia. What is the historical and cultural significance of heterochromia as well as the link tying these two together?
The Alexander Romance described Alexander the Great as having heterochromia. Whether the real life Alexander of Greece actually had heterochromia does not matter for now. What matters is that stories were written describing him as having heterochromia. Now as discussed, Candace / Kandake was reported to be a lover of Alexander (from either Africa or India). Moreover, as discussed above, Furina's status as hydro archon of Fontaine is akin to Alexandrina Victoria's status as queen of the British Empire, the naval hydro empire, as well as Empress of India.
Now Alexandrina Victoria did not have heterochromia, but still: it seems oddly coincidental that these two ladies Furina and Candace have heterochromia and a degree of connection to Alexander. Furina is not the only character that has something special going on with her eyes.
Regarding what the original Alexander of Greece actually looked like, a British historian described him as being 'short', though 'stocky and tough'. He had a 'scanty' beard and was 'clean-shaven'. Moreover, he had a 'high complexion and a harsh voice'. His hair was either strawberry-blond or 'lion-colored'. Sometimes he is portrayed as having 'ruddy', 'fair', 'olive', or 'tan' skin, depending on source.
To be fair, Cyno does fit this description in some ways, being a bit short in stature while also being stocky and tough, having light grey hair that flows like a lion's mane, and having somewhat tanned skin. If it is actually true that Cyno's design is partly based on Alexander, maybe it could help explain why certain aspects of his kit seem 'ancient'? It could use a modern upgrade, similar to how Britain underwent an Industrial Revolution to become a global powerhouse during Alexandrina Victoria's reign.
The Fu sound does have some cultural legacy in the USA via Fu Manchu. This involves the relationship between the USA and China. This started 200 years ago, when Chinese immigrants from the Qing dynasty moved to the USA and helped build the first transcontinental railway of the Americas. The USA then passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. Near the end of the Qing dynasty, the Boxer Rebellion happened, and the USA was involved diplomatically with the Eight Nation Alliance, initiating the 'Open Door Policy' for privileges in trading with China.
After the collapse of the Qing, the Chinese and Americans fought in WW2 together. Mao Zedong then rose to power and battled the USA in the Korean War and Vietnam War. Richard Nixon then initiated a detente with China. Some time later, China's economy rapidly developed under the economic reform and opening up (改革开放) during the Deng Xiaoping era. China also joined the WTO, becoming a driver of the global economy.
So China and the USA have an interesting history of twists and turns. Some say the USA-China relationship is the most important geopolitical relationship of the modern era.
But why is this important? Genshin is just a video game. Various elements of Fontaine appear to be based on the USA and western culture. Genshin is a game created in China. So how version 4 and Fontaine turns out does have some bearing on the nature of the USA-China relationship (and by extension the China-British relationship, China-France relationship). So it would be interesting to watch and see how Genshin chooses to handle this.
Her base def is 696. This is one of the most corrupt things in the game.
Her E lasts 30s, like Albedo's E. Hmm...
Her signature sword (Tranquility) has 88% crit dmg, like Alhaitham's sword. Hmm...
Any guesses why?
Apparently, according to imperial records, Queen Alexandrina was deeply in love with Prince Albert. She loved sex (who doesn't). And they had 9 children together. So Albert, how does it feel to impregnate Drina, the queen of the British Empire, 9 times? Albert was one lucky... Besides 'Drina', Queen Alex also went by other nicknames such as 'Vicky'.
Her E has 2 modes pneuma and ousia. It has 20s cd and 30s duration, giving her 100% uptime. She can switch between the modes with her CA. Her NA will periodically deal arkhe aligned 0u hydro based on her current mode.
Ousia: E summons 3 hydro creatures that will deal hydro dmg. Depending on how many party members (0/1/2/3/4+) have hp above 50%, it will increase their dmg, up to 1.4 times. Moreover, they will drain party members' hp if it is above 50%.
Pneuma: E heals active character. It does not apply hydro, but that is actually ok for a character like Lyney.
While her E is active, she can walk on water.
Burst: buffs party members' dmg based on fanfare stacks. She can accumulate fanfare points when party members' hp change. The more points she has the greater the dmg buff (and healing). This buff lasts 18s, and the burst has 15s cd (60 energy), which gives her 100% uptime on the buff (like Nahida Q).
With one passive, the more hp she has, the more dmg bonus (or healing) she gets on her E. With another passive, if another healer (besides Furina) overheals a teammate, Furina will distribute a portion of the excess healing to the rest of the party. So this can convert ST healers (that overheal) into party healers, assuming they can overheal (heal above 100%) in the first place (e.g. Bennett may not given the 70% restriction on his Q).
She ascends with crit rate, becoming the first archon to have crit ascension.
C1 gives more fanfare points. C2 increases rate of fanfare accumulation and buffs own hp. C4 gives more energy. C6 is similar to Nahida or Yelan.
Her bis is Golden Troupe 4p.
One can go hp-hydro-crit. Some have remarked that she gets so much dmg bonus (from golden troupe + Q) that hp-hp-crit is fine too.
If she has C2, she might get so much hp that hp-hydro-crit may be better again.
Substats: crit, hp, er.
Tranquility is her bis.
Fleuve, Festering, Favonius are best 4 star options. To maximize her potential and have her dmg bonus buff on 100% uptime, she benefits a lot from ER (especially since she spends most of the time off-field).
As an E subdps with 30s duration and 100% uptime, Focalors can slot into almost any team. However, there are some characters she may have anti-synergy or synergy with.
As Hu Tao and Kuki can easily dip below 50% hp (and gain buffs from being below 50% hp), this will result in decreased damage on Furina's E. So there is antisynergy between Furina and Hu Tao/Kuki.
Furina works better with destruction characters that do not require to stay below 50% hp, such as Xiao, Lyney, Noctis. But even among these, she has preferences and is a bit picky. She does not synergize that well with Lyney since Lyney wants a pyro status on the enemy to activate his 100% dmg bonus, whereas Furina's hydro app can remove the pyro status on the enemy.
Moreover, as Noctis has his diversity passive of wanting 3 different reaction stacks, Furina (for double hydro) does have antisynergy with C0 Noctis. And this makes some lore sense as the Primordial One stole the dragon sovereigns' authority, which was then sealed in gnosis (remnants of the 3rd descender) and given to the archons, so there is that background tension between the dragons and the archons and celestia.
On the other hand, Furina can actually work with Alatus Xiao as a 4th slot subdps option (like Albedo). She can also work with Arataki Itto (like how Yae or Albedo can be played in Itto teams). So Xiao hyperbloom can actually be a thing with Furina. Itto hyperbloom, not sure about that...
Furina's advantage over XQ/Yelan is that her subdps is automatic and does not require NA to proc (so Furina is like Albedo, Yae in that sense). As such Furina can work for CA/plunge attack/E spam focused units (such as Xiao).
She has better synergy with destruction characters than regular dps because the way her burst works, wanting the team to change their hp a bunch.
She could be played in Nilou teams but as some people point out, her Q gives dmg bonus which does not buff the bloom damage so some say she is wasted on Nilou teams.
She can work well in freeze teams with Wrio and Ayaka. She can even slot in Eula teams for subdps or hyperbloom.
One of her best teammates is Nahida for hyperbloom teams. She also works well with Cyno and Alhaitham. In fact, among all dps characters, Cyno arguably needs Furina the most. Why? Cyno has an 18s on-field burst, the longest in the game, and Yelan/XQ are barely enough to accomodate that. Most other dps such as Yoimiya, Scaramouche, Ayaka, Hu Tao, etc. do not need Furina and can get away with just XQ/Yelan given their shorter dps windows (less than 15s). But Cyno really needs Furina's 30 century E to accomodate his absurdly long burst. It just so happens that Cyno also needs Nahida the most for her 25s E. So Cyno's best teammates happen to be 5 star archons.
Furina also works with party-wide healers such as baizhu. As Furina drains the team's hp, having a team-wide healer can ensure her E can do as much dmg as possible. And the Focalors-baizhu pair does make historical sense given what we explained above about Queen Alexandrina and the British Empire defeating the Qing and saving the Ming. But this history also resonates with how Cyno needs Focalors more than other dps.
Dehya also works with Furina given that Dehya can tank dmg for the team and Dehya can manipulate her hp quite a lot (and self heal), which gives more fanfare points to Furina's burst.
Jean can actually work with Focalors as Jean's NA heal the whole team (and her Q does too). Other healers that work well are Charlotte, Yaoyao, and even Mika and Sayu.
Shielders tend to have anti-synergy with Furina because she actually wants the team to take more dmg to maximize her buff. Extending this, geo units in general tend to have some anti-synergy with Furina because geo can create crystallize shields, which reduces damage and thereby inhibit maximizing her buff faster.
So in summary, the destruction dps that synergize most with her without dps loss (at C0) are Xiao and Wrio. The dps that actually needs her 30s hydro app the most is Cyno. The healers that work with her include Charlotte, Jean, Mika, Baizhu, Sayu. Dehya can also work with her.
Focalors' advantage is that her hydro app has no energy cost, whereas Yelan and XQ do. This makes Focalors more convenient for overworld. Although Yelan/XQ have energy cost, they can apply hydro faster, create more seeds and potentially increase hyperbloom dps (the rate of hyperblooms). Moreover, Yelan/XQ can be a bit more consistent for vape.
Another advantage of Focalors is that her E app is automatic and does not require NA, unlike Yelan/XQ. This can make Focalors more suitable for CA/PA/E dps such as bow dps, Xiao, etc.
Also Focalors' hydro app is usually enough for freeze.
As some people point out, XQ tends to have some more defensive utility (rainswords, dmg reduction, healing) than Yelan and Furina. Although Furina does heal in pneuma mode (and quite a lot, with 100% uptime), she has to switch off her damage/hydro app on E for that. On the other hand, Yelan provides almost no defensive utility, but her c4 can buff team hp whereas Furina's c2 only buffs her own hp.
In terms of buffing, Focalors is usually the best of the 3, able to buff nearly 100% dmg bonus (like Xiao). Yelan ramps up from 1% to 50% but only to the active character. Focalors buffs the entire team. Moreover, Focalors can have 100% uptime on her buff (although it also may need time to ramp up to gain stacks, her buff is generally more than Yelan's).
Her E has 3 creatures. Say in 20s, the horse hits 12 times, the usher hits 6 times, and the crab hits 4 times. Also she has some more aoe on her hydro app, unlike Yelan/XQ (who are more ST).
Suppose lv10 E ousia mode. The initial cast does aoe dmg. In 20s the scaling is $$14.16+5.82*12+10.73*6+14.92*4 = 208.06 \text{ % HP}$$ or around 2080.6% atk scaling. Suppose she has hydro goblet and 4p golden troupe for 116.6% dmg bonus on E. The mv in a 20s rotation is about $$x_e = 2.166*2080.6/20 = 225.32898$$ atk scaling.
This is actually around Albedo level and off-field full EM support-build Nahida (not dmg build Nahida, which can do more damage). But this is to be expected of an off-field sub-dps with 100% uptime.
Note the above does not count any possible vapes or buffs from her own Q.
But most importantly we ignored the 1.4 times buff she can get if she continuously drains party hp. So as long as all party members are above 50% hp, her dps can be $$z_e = 1.4x_e = 315.460572$$ Now this is getting more competitive.
But wait, there is more. Her passive converts hp to more dmg bonus. At 40k hp, she can reach the max 28% dmg bonus on E. In a typical build suppose she has 30k hp for 21% dmg bonus. The dps is $$z_e = 1.4*(2.166+.21)*2080.6/20 = 346.045392$$
Now suppose that somehow in this god-forsaken world, she has her buff on 100% uptime (which may be hard in practice, but let's just fantasize for now).
Suppose lv10 Q for .25% point to dmg bonus conversion and max 300 fanfare points the whole time (which may be cope as it starts at 0 and takes time to increase, but let's just fantasize for now). That means a free 75% dmg bonus for the whole party.
So recomputing E dps with Q buff $$z_{eq} = 1.4*(2.166+.21+.75)*2080.6/20 = 455.276892$$ Now hey this is actually more than Yelan's burst dps.
This is ignoring the marginal dmg her Q cast does. But let's factor that in as well. 20.53% hp scaling is around 205.3% atk scaling. If we spam Q on cd (once every 15s) the dps is $$z_q = 1.466*205.3/15 = 20.06465333333$$
The total dps is then $$z = z_{eq} + z_q = 475.3415453333$$ and this is a bit less than Yae. So somehow, Yae just does a lot of dmg for an off-field subdps.
Obviously C1 and C2 can increase the buff and how fast it can be obtained/maxed out.
C1 increases cap by 100 and gives 150 to start. So the max is 400 points for 100% dmg bonus (Xiao level). Also a free 150 points means starting at 37.5% dmg bonus (rather than 0).
In practice, one usually never starts at 300. It takes time to reach it. For example, say all party members are at 50% hp. Then we use a party-wide heal (like Charlotte, Mika, Jean, maybe Baizhu, Yaoyao) to recover 50% hp for 4 characters, reaching 200 fanfare points. So we need 100 more to cap the buff.
And then say you use a character like Wrio who drains himself to 50% hp and then ca to heal back up. Then you get 100 more points to cap it out. Xiao can drain hp too. Lyney can do say 2 CA (drain 40%) and then heal back to full with E for 80 points (note he can also have say 5 stacks and heal near 100% hp to gain more points). But alas, Lyney is mono-pyro. Noctis CA can also heal 50% hp and then drain back to 50% for 100 points, but Noctis has that stack antisynergy with Focalors and double hydro in general. And of course Focalors herself will drain team hp with her E. Most other characters, without some sort of continuous self-drain, will not be able to max out the fanfare points.
Over 20s Focalors can consume 50% of each team member's hp (200 points in 20s), but alas her buff lasts 18s. Fortunately, say in 10s, she gets 100 points from her E. And that is enough to cap her buff. But note it will take 10s (without another destruction character), meaning that the buff actually increases over time from 200 points (50% buff) to 300 points (75% buff). So on average it may be around a 60% dmg buff, which is similar to Mona's buff. But also this buff is much more than what Yelan provides (and Yelan only does it for one character).
So to max out fanfare points, it is important to bring a party/aoe healer. This can contribute a large amount of points. And then it helps to use a destruction character to get some more points.
The thing with Baizhu is that even though his party heal is on E, it only heals half as much as a healer like Charlotte, Barbara, etc. Also it has 10s cd. But if you have C1 Baizhu with 2 charges, then he becomes comparable to 4 star C0 healers.
She also has 100% uptime ST healing in pneuma mode (singer of many waters), and the healing is actually a lot. So it is also possible to get points via healing mode if necessary. But her passive encourages her to be paired with another healer on the team. And her own pneuma healing is more for overworld rather than abyss.
So we have the following summary for dmg bonus:
At C0 if she is the only source of hp drain, and all characters start at 100% full hp (which happens when starting abyss for example), then she will start with 0 points, drain 50% of all team members' hp within 20s, reaching around 200 points after around 20s, which means 50% dmg bonus. So it ramps up from 0 to ~50% over 18s, which is almost similar to Yelan's Q, except that it buffs the whole team.
If the team starts at 50% hp, Focalors' Q is used, and a team healer is used to heal the team back to 100%, we start at 200 points (50% dmg bonus), which can ramp up to 300 points in around 10s from Focalors alone (75%). On average this is similar to what Mona's buff gives (60% dmg bonus to team). We can reach 300 points faster than 10s if we have another destruction character (Xiao, Wrio, etc.).
At C1, we start at 150 points (37.5%) and can ramp up to 350 points from Furina alone (87.5%). If we start at 50% hp, heal back to full, and use Furina Q, we start at 350 points (87.5%) and can ramp up to 400 points pretty quickly (100%), within say 5s from Furina alone. This is nearly Xiao levels of dmg bonus for 15-18s but to the whole team.
At C2, her fanfare accumulation increases by 250% (so say 2.5 points per 1% hp change). So draining 50% of team health gave 200 points at C0/C1. With C2+ it gives 500 points (taking 20s with Furina E). So if we start at 150 points, we can ramp up to 400 points in say 10s (gain 250 points from Furina E in 10s). If we start at 50% team hp and heal back up, we gain 500 points just from healing the team back to 100% hp, which instantly caps the dmg bonus buff. So essentially C2 allows insta-capping her buff of 100% universal damage bonus without need of another destruction character.
Moreover, each extra point above the cap of 400 will increase her hp by .35%, up to 140%. So she needs 400 points extra (total 800) to max this buff of 140% more hp. More hp will increase her E damage (and healing ability).
We can do similar calcs to healing and buffs to it.
But what does 100% dmg bonus for 18s at C2 do? Say most characters start with 61.6% dmg bonus. She increases that to 161.6% bonus. This gives a dps increase of around 1.6 times, which is quite good (like vaping every hit), similar to Bennett's buff. There are some caveats.
First dps such as Cyno that may not start with as much dmg bonus will gain the most from her buff (and can reach the 1.6 times amount). Other dps that can gain dmg bonus from other sources will not be buffed as much. For example, Lyney can give himself 100% dmg bonus, so another 100% dmg bonus from Furina will hit diminishing returns and give less than a 1.6 times increase. Her buff may provide 3.466/2.466 or around 1.4 times increase to Lyney's dps. This is still good though. But the general caveat is that characters that can get a lot of innate dmg bonus will not be buffed as much by Furina (including Noctis, Raiden, etc.), especially if they are also paired with Kazuha (40% dmg bonus) or Mona. Instead characters that can gain a lot of atk, base dmg, or other stats can benefit more from dmg bonus (such as Cyno, Wrio, even Xiao C6 where E gives most dps).
The second caveat is that her Q does not buff transformative reactions (whereas Nahida's C2 does). For teams entirely reliant on bloom such as Nilou teams this caveat matters (they will not be buffed much at all by Furina). But for hyperbloom teams where characters also deal a lot of personal damage that can be buffed by Furina's Q (including Alhaitham, Nahida, Cyno) this does not matter as much.
The third caveat is that maxing the buff depends is dependent on hp changes as discussed above (so if the team starts at full health say in the abyss, it can take time to cap the buff). And then lastly the buff costs 60 energy (but this is not too big a deal).
Some people ask: will she make a character more broken? Should I still pull her if I have Yelan/XQ? An archon like Nahida is almost a must-pull to have an elite hyperbloom team. And since hyperbloom is broken, this makes Nahida one of the best (if not the best) character to pull for. What can we say about Focalors?
First, her buff of 50-75% is quite good, comparable to Mona's buff. So her buff will make a character as broken as Mona's buff can. But this buff is not the main reason why you should pull her.
Second, she can be used in hyperbloom and freeze, and she will be good in those teams. So Focalors is a very valuable character simply by being able to work well in hyperbloom, and hyperbloom is busted. But Yelan/XQ can also work in hyperbloom, so if you just want hydro app for hyperbloom/freeze, that is not where Focalors provides the greatest value. If you do not have Yelan/XQ, then yes Focalors is a valuable pull for hyperbloom. But if you already have Yelan/XQ, then Focalors will provide similar value as them for hyperbloom hydro app.
So where does Focalors provide the greatest value? It is her 30s E that has 100% uptime and that autoattacks. This allows her to fit into nearly any team in the game (similar to other E subdps like Albedo, Yae, etc.). But then the question arises: who actually needs 30s of hydro app? Currently, the only dps that needs this is Cyno because of his 18s burst. Only in this case, Yelan (15s app) and XQ (<= 18s app) become less adequate, and Focalors becomes more necessary. So basically for Cyno hyperbloom, one can argue Focalors is a must-pull even if you have Yelan/XQ. For nearly all other dps, Yelan/XQ or other hydro applicators are sufficient if you already have them.
Her NA sequence involves her dancing gracefully. It has been noticed that some characters attack quite fast on NA (Alhaitham, Yoimiya, Yelan), perhaps indicating they are more suited to the on-field dps role. By contrast, the speed of Furina's NA suggests she is more suited as an off-field support.
As XQ/Yelan Q do not snapshot, they can get buffed by Furina Q and increase damage dynamically over time. Also the less hp a character has, the easier it is to cap the buff with a healer since Furina stacks accumulate based on hp% change, not flat hp. For example, say a character has 10k hp and gets healed from 5k to 10k. This gives 50 points. By comparison say a character with 20k hp gets healed from 10k to 15k. That is only 25 points. What this means is that Furina can actually have less synergy with hp scaling characters like Yelan (or Noctis) compared to a non-hp scaling character like Xiao or Wrio because more hp means it becomes harder to gain stacks via healing.
Also most healers will heal a flat amount of hp (e.g. would heal 10k hp). As of 4.3 there are few healers that will heal based on hp% (e.g. would heal 50% of hp), and most of those that do heal hp% usually heal themselves only and not the team (e.g. Lyney). Perhaps introducing an hp% based team healer could add some more variety to the pool of abundance characters (and hopefully synergize more with Focalors).