Dendro has already been revealed to only react with Hydro, Pyro, and Electro. It’s understandable why it doesn’t react with Geo, and we also know how Cryo could mess up the Dendro reactions. Anemo on the other hand is the only element that could comfortably synergize with the upcoming Dendro team comps- and that is because of Anemo’s Swirl.
How Swirl Reactions Will be Useful in Sumeru
With a new region comes new mob enemies, and with Sumeru, we have the Eremites and the Fungal Spores. These enemies will be found in groups, and Anemo, by default, becomes useful for its crowd control utility. As for Sumeru however, Swirl is going to be especially useful and we’re going to explain why.
Basic Denro reactions aren’t necessarily reactions but more like statuses- like Burning or Freeze which affect enemies for a while and are then removed. Bloom, Quicken, and Burning are all statuses, not reactions as such. Since we know, Dendro will also facilitate triple-reactions where two or more elements could be applied to the same opponent with varying effects, Swirling the elements on an affected enemy will transfer them to other surrounding opponents.
The very act of transferring the Electro, Pyro, or Hydro in one enemy, which is in reaction with Dendro, to another enemy will change the way we play the game. With surrounding enemies now affected by Electro, Pyro, or Hydro, players can use their Dendro units for AoE damage.
Swirl reactions by themselves will work the same- in a sense, that it will re-apply the same element it swirled from the affected character and give it back to the character. Since no new elements are being added, the state of the swirled enemies remains the same- unbroken and continuous.
This way Anemo will help achieve the AoE effect against Sumerian mobs without compromising the Dendro reactions. Characters like Venti, Kazuha, and Sucrose are perfect for this role. Sayu could also be a great option considering she has mobility uses and is a healer.