Burning is the Pyro-Dendro transformative reaction and the lowest-coefficient one in the game (0.25x). It is not big damage, yet it keeps getting asked whether it is useful. This page covers the trigger, the DoT rhythm, the EM math, and its three real jobs.
Any order works:
Once triggered the target is Burning, ticking Pyro DoT every 0.27s. The state is maintained by the "burning" gauge, which consumes only the Dendro aura — when the Dendro runs out the state ends; add more Dendro and it re-ignites. So duration is not about how fast you apply Pyro, it is about how long the Dendro aura lasts.
Burning DMG = 0.25 x Level Multiplier x (1 + EM bonus) x target Pyro RES multiplier. The level 90 multiplier is about 1446, so zero-EM lands 0.25 x 1446, roughly 361 per tick.
| EM | DMG bonus | DMG per tick (Lv 90) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | +0% | 361 |
| 100 | +50.8% | 503 |
| 200 | +96.5% | 637 |
| 400 | +171.1% | 888 |
| 600 | +234.5% | 1,050 |
| 1000 | +346.4% | 1,490 |
Remember these are per tick. At roughly 3-4 ticks per second, 400 EM gives about 2,700-3,500 Pyro per second before RES. Against a 10% Pyro RES enemy multiply by 0.9. Compared with Overloaded at 3,979 or Hyperbloom at 4,341, one Burning tick is an order of magnitude smaller — that is the "Burning does low damage" line, quantified.
Burning is a transformative reaction, so its EM bonus follows 16 x EM / (EM + 2000). The first 200 EM buys about +96%, which is efficient; beyond that it tapers. So a pure Burning build usually stops around 400 EM.
Do not confuse this with the amplifying reactions (Vaporize/Melt), which use 2.78 x EM / (EM + 1400). The same EM stack produces different percentages depending on which reaction you feed it.
A burning target stays Pyro-affected. For Hydro and Cryo carries that is the whole point: they get free Vaporize and Melt the entire time. It is essentially a "Pyro-up buff" that is more stable than any single Pyro skill.
Per tick it is low, but it is continuous, AoE and on no cooldown. While clearing swarms or stacking a RES-shred window on a boss, it is free background damage. Against multiple targets at once, its total output finally shows.
Pyro counters Cryo shields, so a persistent Burn slowly chews through a Cryo shield. Against Cryo-shielded elites, keeping the target burning beats spamming one big hit.
It is not. The 0.25x coefficient is the lowest of all transformative reactions; even at 1,000 EM a single tick is only 1,490. It cannot be a carry.
Waste. Transformative reactions ignore Crit Rate, Crit DMG and ATK. Building a crit circle for a Burning trigger does nothing.
It is not. As long as some Dendro remains on the target (or you re-apply it), one Pyro hit re-ignites the burn. It only truly ends when the Dendro aura is gone and not refreshed.
No. Its 0.25x is the weakest transformative coefficient. The value is constant Pyro application and chip, not raw numbers.
As long as the Dendro aura lasts; it ends when the Dendro runs out and re-ignites if you add more. There is no fixed 8-second cap — ignore that number.
Yes. It is a Pyro reaction, so any Pyro RES shred scales it, exactly like every other Pyro reaction.
No. Transformative reactions never crit; only level, EM and RES matter.
Yes — it hits multiple targets at once, which is one of the few places its total damage actually matters. Against a single target you can ignore it.
Burning is the "lowest coefficient, most uses" reaction. Stop expecting its damage; use its steady Pyro layer — it hands your Hydro/Cryo carry free Vaporize and Melt while it chips and grinds shields. If you want high reaction damage, look at Hyperbloom and Overloaded; if you want a Pyro layer for amplifying, Burning is the right tool.
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