This is aimed at players with a decent knowledge of the game that want to indulge in a Freestyle Quickswap (both casual and advanced) playstyle. This guide will cover QS Theory (Team compositions) and each character’s QS playstyle(s).
[Last Updated 6/11/25]
Inputs/Moves
BA - Basic Attack
HA - Hold Attack
E - Skill
Q - Echo
NQ - Nightmare Echo
Lib - Liberation
M1 - Click/Input as BA
# - Swap to Character #
Swap - Swap out + swap back
x-Sequence - A move/combo that has x swappable moments
BA-Chain - Basic Attacks 1-5
Character QS Roles
Pivot - Explained in Pivot Swap—essentially a character with a repeatable 3-Sequence
Dynamic - Most moves are swap-cancelable
Filler - Rarely swapped to only for concerto gain or for special situations. Fillers are generally niche
Aerial - Performs well in the Air
Intro Priority - Intro skill is exceptionally good and takes priority over other characters
Fodder - Nearly no swap-cancelable moves or must be played as a Hypercarry
Most of the higher-tiered characters have one or more of the following roles: Pivot, Dynamic, Intro PriorityAdditionally, characters are ranked from C-S for each of their roles to indicate how well they fulfill that role. Fodders do not have a rank.
Playstyles (In terms of QS)
Advanced - Play with Triple DPS/swapping every possible opportunity
Casual - Swap out a decent amount
Light - Rarely swap cancel
(you can ignore this for the most part)
Quickswap is just swapping out to a different character when your current character is in long animations… right? For the most part, yes; However, most quickswap teams generally include rotations similar (not exact) to the ones below. These rotations could last as long as a few seconds to the entire playthrough.
Types of Swaps
Ordered Swap : 1-2-3-1-2-3
Ordered Swap is swapping to a character with the lowest cooldown, with the goal being to maximize the amount of swaps you make.
Pivot Swap : 1-2-3-2-1
As the name implies, Pivot Swap is continuously swapping in/out of a Pivot Character, or, a character with a 3-Sequence. This is meant for characters with abilities that have a tight window.Assuming the Pivot Character is Character 2, Rotations will start with Character 1→2 (start 3-Sequence)→3→2→1 etc. Characters that fit this role include:
Xiangli Yao - His Liberation Skill is a 3-Sequence
Camellya - Her (Standard) HAx3 is a 3-Sequence
Carlotta - Her Liberation is without Forte Buff is a 4-Sequence
Brant - Can use BA's as a "Pivot" since his playstyle is based on Bravo and they have a tight enough timing to be considered as a Pivot
Aerover - Can use either their Double E Swap or E BA Swap
Can't anyone play this role, even without a 3-Sequence?Yes, but 3-Sequence abilities work the best because you have to swap back to them and not swapping them will cause their combo to be wasted. You are better off playing Ordered Swap if the character does not have a 3-Sequence or abilities with a tight timing.
Duo Swap : 1-2-3-2-3-1
This is when two of your characters will be doing most of the damage/swapping. Where, your 2nd/3rd character are either Dynamic or Pivot Characters. Normally, you want to avoid this playstyle if your “neglected” character is a support like Shorekeeper—this is because supports need concerto energy (gain it by just using one BA), and using an Ordered Swap is most effective.
The general idea is that good team comps usually follow or have a variation of the above. Of course, you don’t inherently need to memorize these, as you will probably employ them without even realizing it.