And this Dendro application is accessible even without investment – so just building around 200% Energy Recharge is enough to make them work. They don’t need heavy investment. Plus their EM and damage bonus buffs make them an even better support. However, Dendro Traveler is just one of the very few Dendro units in-game. So there’s definitely room for future Dendro units to outperform them. Because of this, DMC can lose a bit of their value when a better off-field Dendro applicator gets released. Still, you get them for free, and they’ll always be a good Dendro option. Note: This is based on meta only. If you like Dendro Traveler regardless of their power level, don’t let this stop you from using them.
Pros & Cons
Dendro Traveler Strengths
Dendro Traveler has pretty good off-field Dendro application through their burst. Although it doesn’t have full uptime, it’s currently enough for most Dendro teams in-game. So they’re a staple unit in plenty of Dendro teams – especially ones that need more Dendro application than what Collei offers. Plus Dendro Traveler is a free element/unit you get upon unlocking Sumeru – they’re very accessible, and every player has them! Aside from their valuable Dendro application, Dendro Traveler also has extra buffing abilities. Their passive gradually increases the Elemental Mastery of active units inside their burst – which is great since every Dendro reaction heavily scales from EM. And their C6 gives a 12% damage bonus to the element that triggers a transfiguration with their burst. Plus it also gives a 12% Dendro damage bonus. These are overall great buffs that further increase DMC’s supporting abilities. Most of Dendro Traveler’s utility comes from their skill and burst – not talent levels, passives, or constellations. So they’re basically already functional at baseline with little to no investment. Most teams only need their Dendro application. So stacking Energy Recharge and maybe equipping a support artifact set – like 4pc. Noblesse Oblige or Deepwood Memories – is enough to get them online. There’s no need to level them up to 90 or level their talents. Still, Dendro Traveler scales well with investment if you have extra resources. This lets them deal a bit more damage and better buff your characters.
Dendro Traveler Weaknesses
Dendro Traveler has relatively high energy requirements to accommodate their expensive 80-cost burst. Because of this, they need around 200% Energy Recharge to consistently get their burst every rotation. And building a bit more ER than needed will always make it more comfortable. 200% ER is generally not a problem at late-game – just use an ER sands and weapon, and you’re good to go. However, this can be an issue for early-game players that don’t have access to a lot of ER. Their weapon/character/artifact levels are capped, thus also limiting the amount of ER they can get. Dendro Traveler’s burst can be transfigured into different states by attacking it with an element. Both Hydro and Electro are great transfigurations, while Pyro is never recommended. This is because the Pyro transfiguration prematurely ends their burst. This means that you’ll lose both Dendro application and damage. Because of this, Dendro Traveler doesn’t work well with Pyro units – instead, Collei serves as a better alternative here. Dendro Traveler has good Dendro application, but it’s highly likely for some future characters to just have better Dendro application. For instance, on-field Nahida has significantly higher Dendro application than DMC – thus making her the better option for teams that can use her on-field. This can also be the case for other future off-field Dendro applicators. Dendro Traveler is good, but there’s plenty of room for future Dendro units to be better.
Are Dendro Traveler’s Constellations Good?
Their constellations are pretty good – and you get all of them for free! C2 is their best early constellation. So if you’re planning to use Dendro Traveler but don’t have a lot of time to spend unlocking their cons, C2 is a great place to stop. You’ll get the rest of their constellations naturally through exploration and quests anyway. And since you’re bound to get C6 from just playing the game, let’s take a closer look at each one.
C1: Symbiotic Creeper
After Dendro Traveler’s skill hits an opponent, it regenerates 3.5 energy for themself. This is a small quality-of-life buff that slightly decreases their energy requirements – it’s nice to have.
C2: Green Resilience
Increases their burst duration by 3s. Dendro Traveler heavily relies on their burst to deal damage and apply Dendro. So this is an overall great constellation – it increases both their damage and Dendro application.
C3: Whirling Weeds
Increases their elemental skill talent level by 3. It’s a small damage gain – which is good at higher investment but irrelevant at low investment.
C4: Treacle Grass
After their burst triggers a transfiguration, it obtains 5 stacks of their passive that increases Elemental Mastery. This passive must first be unlocked before C4 takes effect. This makes it easier to get full stacks of Dendro Traveler’s EM buffs – and for significantly less time than C0. You need to trigger a transfiguration at the very start of their burst to take full advantage of its effect.
C5: Viridian Transience
Increases their elemental burst talent level by 3. This is similar to C3 – it’s a direct damage increase but more valuable. It’s better at high investment but still decent at lower investment.
C6: Withering Aggregation
Gives a 12% Dendro damage bonus to the character under the effect of Dendro Traveler’s burst. If the lamp has been transfigured, the character gains an additional 12% damage bonus for the element that triggered the transfiguration. This refers to characters that are also being buffed by their EM-buffing passive. It’s a great constellation that makes Dendro Traveler a better support – namely for Dendro, Electro, and Hydro units.
