Cultivation · Loadouts
Build library: ability rotations from Fusion to Tribulation
Every rotation in this chapter follows the same skeleton: a buff art early in the sequence, the amplifier in slot five, Zhandao as the slot-six finisher. The names change by realm; the logic does not.
At a glance
- Universal skeleton
- Buff first, amplifier in slot five, Zhandao as the slot-six finisher
- Tribulation sword
- Lieshen → Juepo → Lueying → Zhandao core
- Tribulation thunder
- Thunder Spear → Suikong → Duizui → Zhandao
- Spirit Realm sword
- Duchen in slot two, Hengqiu and Zhehua around it
- Fire stat order
- Sky Crystal → ability reduction → final reduction → crit block
- Patch risk
- Names change; the slot logic is what survives
Ability rotations in Sword of Immortality are written as six-slot strings, and most English discussions copy the strings without explaining the shape underneath. That is why a rotation that works for one player fails for another: the names are patch-sensitive, but the shape is not. Learn the shape first and you can rebuild a rotation after any balance pass.
What is the shape of every rotation?
Six slots, three jobs.
- Buff. Juepo (绝魄) is the recurring buff art. Every rotation in the corpus includes it, usually early in the sequence.
- Amplify. Slot five is reserved for the damage amplifier that converts the buff into a kill window.
- Finish. Slot six is Zhandao (斩道) in every Tribulation-era line. It is the closing art, not an opener.
The middle slots carry the path identity: sword uses Lieshen and Lueying, thunder uses Thunder Spear and Suikong, fire uses Danyu and Huoyan. Swap the middle and you have a hybrid; keep the ends and you keep the shell.
One inconsistency worth naming: the corpus states the principle as a buff in slot one, yet every Tribulation string it lists places Juepo in slot three. Read “early” as the durable rule and the exact slot as patch-dependent — which is why the diagram marks a buff band rather than a single box.
What are the Tribulation-era rotations?
Tribulation is where the three paths diverge most clearly. Each line has a low- and a high-investment version; the difference is usually one art swapped for a stronger one in the same role.
| Line | Rotation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tianxing sword, low investment | Lieshen → Jianwu → Juepo → Dunlei → Lueying → Zhandao | Cheapest entry; Jianwu fills slot two |
| Tianxing sword, high investment | Lieshen → Suikong → Juepo → Duizui → Lueying → Zhandao | Suikong and Duizui replace the low-tier pair |
| Leiyu thunder, general | Thunder Spear → Suikong → Juepo → Duizui → Xunting → Zhandao | Xunting as the slot-five amplifier |
| Leiyu thunder, crit damage | Thunder Spear → Suikong → Juepo → Zhuidian → Duizui → Zhandao | Zhuidian moves in; Duizui becomes the amplifier |
| Fenxin fire | Danyu → Huoyan → Juepo → Chisha → Lizhu → Zhandao | Lizhu carries the slot-five amplification |
Notice what stays fixed: Juepo appears before the amplifier in all five lines, and Zhandao closes all five. If a future patch renames the arts, keep those two positions and rebuild the middle from whatever the patch gives you.
Which Mahayana sword branch should you take?
Mahayana sword splits into three branches, and the corpus is unusually direct about the trade-off: the Qianji branch is a four-support, two-damage structure that falls off late.
| Branch | Rotation | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Qianji sword | Chuanxing → Jianwu → Dunlei → Kaitian → Poyue → Zhenyue | Four support, two damage; weak in the late game |
| Thunder-sword, standard | Chuanxing → Thunder Spear → Poyue → Kaitian → Zhenyue → Zhuidian | Balanced; the default recommendation |
| Pure sword | Chuanxing → Poyue → Zhenyue → Baji → Cuiluan → Jueyun | All-in damage; no thunder utility |
If you are entering Mahayana from a Zhenwu start, the pure-sword line is the cleanest continuation. If you already invested in thunder arts for utility, the standard thunder-sword line reuses them. The Qianji branch is worth knowing mainly so you do not follow an old guide into it by accident.
How do Spirit Realm rotations work?
Spirit Realm changes one thing: slot two becomes a fixed anchor. The Zhanxu sword line places the earth-tier Duchen in slot two regardless of the rest of the build, and the two Fulong variants keep it there while swapping the surrounding arts.
| Line | Rotation | Set logic |
|---|---|---|
| Fulong Zhanxu | Hengqiu → Duchen → Jueyun → Zhehua → Lueying → Cuiluan | 4 + 2 |
| Fulong Yushu | Chuiguang → Duchen → Hengqiu → Zhehua → Huanglong → Cuiluan | 2 + 2 + 2 |
| Yushu thunder, low | Chuiguang → Lanxing → Karma Fire → Tiangu → Xiaoming → Qingsuo | Budget entry |
| Yushu thunder, high | Chuiguang → Huanglong → Tiangu → Xiaoming → Qingshe → Qingsuo | Huanglong and Qingshe replace the low-tier pair |
| Yinghuo fire | Lanxing → Karma Fire → Jieyan → Xianyang → Yanwu → Sanmei | Burn, then detonate |
The corpus also records the Zhanxu core as two index rounds — 1-5-7-9-10-1 and 2-6-8-10-1-2 — instead of a name list. Those numbers are a timing template, not a button order you can press blindly. Use them to check whether your cast rhythm matches the intended cycle, and verify the mapping in your own client.
What changes at Fusion and Wushan?
Fusion trims the rotation to four named arts plus two support slots — the most flexible band in the game. Wushan adds a thunder support package and a mixed poison line.
| Line | Rotation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fusion sword, Chunjun Tian | Guanri → Poyue → Xuanfeng → Zhenyue (+2 support) | Two slots are deliberately left open |
| Fusion fire, Lieshan | Karma Fire → Xunri → Yangyun → Xianyang → Yanpu → Xingliao | Longest fire sequence in the corpus |
| Qingming thunder | Inserted as a two-piece support | Brings 20% crit on its own |
| Guling mixed | Xunri → Yanwu → Youshi → Yanpu → Tuishe → Sanmei | Poison and fire share slots |
The two open slots in Chunjun Tian are the point of that line: they let you carry utility without breaking the core. Qingming's built-in 20% crit is the cheapest way to fill one of them if you are coming from a thunder build.
What is the fire stat priority?
Fire builds follow a specific order. It is not a universal stat ranking and does not transfer to sword or thunder builds.
- Sky Crystal, ideally two red and two gold.
- Ability damage reduction, with high amplification of 30% or more.
- Final damage reduction.
- Crit block.
- Ability amplification.
The order tells you what to keep when you have to choose: a Sky Crystal roll outranks a perfect roll on a lower line. It also tells you what a fire build is trying to survive — the first two priorities are both defensive, consistent with a path that needs time for burn to pay out.
How should you adapt after a balance patch?
Do not memorise the strings. Memorise the four checks:
- Does the buff art still exist, and does it still stack the same way?
- Which art now occupies the amplifier role in slot five?
- Is Zhandao still the finisher, or has a new closing art replaced it?
- Did your set bonus change from 4+2 to 2+2+2, or the reverse?
If all four answers are unchanged, the rotation is probably still valid even if the damage numbers moved. If one changed, rebuild from the shell rather than from a copied string. The combat chapter explains why timing matters as much as order, and the academy page explains which element your rotation is actually countering.
Sources
- Project corpus v1.38, entries C2-02 to C2-05 (rotations by era and path), 26 October 2026.
- Project corpus v1.38, entry C4-04 (fire stat priority), 26 October 2026.