NTE Elemental Reaction System: 6 Elements, Reaction Strength & Damage Tier List

Key takeaway: “Elemental Reactions” are the core of NTE combat — the game has 6 elements (Cosmos, Chaos, Anima, Psyche, Incantation, Lakshana), and characters with adjacent elements trigger “reactions” with each other, dealing extra effects and greatly boosting damage. Keeping all four characters’ elements adjacent is the most fundamental principle for raising output when building a team.

“Elemental Reactions” are the core of NTE combat. Understanding them is the first step to building a powerful team.

The 6 Elements

Characters in the game are divided into 6 elements, and each character belongs permanently to one of them:

When building a team, how you pair elements directly affects your damage output.

What Is an Elemental Reaction

The key rule is: a reaction can only trigger between “adjacent” elements. When the characters on your team have elements that can react with each other, you gain extra effects and boost overall damage.

Common reaction pairings include:

• Cosmos + Anima — the Blossom system: spawns large numbers of auto-attacking flowers for steady sustained damage.
• Cosmos + Incantation — slow / crowd control: slows enemies and opens up damage windows for the team.

All 8 Reactions at a Glance

The 6 elements are arranged into a fixed ring, and only adjacent elements can trigger reactions. Reactions come in two types:

• Binary reactions (two adjacent elements on the ring): Blossom, Hexed, Stain, Scorch, Nova, Remora
• Ternary reactions (completing a full triangle): Charge (upper triangle), Discord (lower triangle)

Reaction	Type	Core Effect
Blossom	Binary	Spawns auto-attacking flowers on the field — the ring’s only “continuous automatic damage source”
Stain ⭐	Binary	Raises the Psyche and Lakshana damage the target takes by +50% for 12 seconds (strongest pure damage bonus)
Scorch	Binary	A burning DoT lasting 15 seconds (longest of the binaries); sets up Discord
Nova	Binary	Attaches a detonation after 5 seconds for heavy Psyche damage (delayed burst); sets up Discord
Hexed	Binary	Bonus damage = 20% of the damage taken over the past 12 seconds; often used as a secondary reaction in Blossom teams
Remora	Binary	Lowers the target’s movement and attack speed for 5 seconds (the ring’s only pure crowd control); sets up Charge
Discord ⭐	Ternary	Triggers when both Scorch and Nova are applied; continuously drains stagger, strongest against high-HP bosses
Charge	Ternary	Triggers after chaining Remora + Blossom; restores ultimate energy for the whole team, the engine for quick-swap burst

The exact element pairings that trigger each reaction, as well as the translated names, vary slightly between sources — defer to the in-game icons.

Reaction Strength: A Damage Tier List for All 8 Reactions

“Reaction Strength” refers to each reaction’s actual contribution to team output. By practical value, the reactions fall into four tiers (a use-case-oriented ranking rather than absolute numbers — in-game values are authoritative):

• T0 — Directly Determines Your Damage Ceiling
  • Stain: the ring’s strongest pure damage bonus (Psyche / Lakshana damage +50%, near-permanent over 12 seconds), practically a staple for any Psyche / Lakshana Main DPS.
  • Discord: the strongest stagger-break; against high-HP bosses it pushes the “break stagger → burst” cycle to its fastest, the single-target ceiling.
• T1 — Powerful Core Damage
  • Blossom: the ring’s only continuous automatic damage source, a set-and-forget stable DPS.
  • Scorch: the longest binary DoT (15 seconds), strong off-field damage.
  • Nova: a delayed heavy burst, ideal for capping off a high-damage rotation.
• T2 — Buffs and Engines (Indirect Output Boost)
  • Charge: restores ultimate energy for the whole team and increases ultimate frequency, the core engine of quick-swap teams.
  • Hexed: re-adds 20% of previously accumulated damage, with sizable returns as a secondary reaction in Blossom teams.
• T3 — Pure Utility
  • Remora: pure crowd control (slow); no direct damage on its own, but the glue that holds Charge / Stain teams together.

In one sentence: for pure damage stacking, pick Stain; for breaking boss stagger, pick Discord; for stable sustain, pick Blossom / Charge. For each reaction’s detailed team compositions, representative Main DPS, and free-to-play replacements, see the Complete Reaction Team Compendium.

Team Structure

A standard team is 4 characters, with roles split as follows:

Role	Description
Main DPS	The team’s primary damage source
Sub DPS	Supplemental damage, combo bridging
Support	Provides buffs, crowd control
Survival / Healing	Keeps the team alive

Representative Characters by Element

When building a team, besides considering role distribution, you also want the team’s elements to be able to react with each other. Make good use of the element filter in the Character Index to plan your lineup.

This article compiles data from community sources. Defer to the in-game values and mechanics as authoritative.

Frequently Asked Questions