If you’ve been scrolling through Wuthering Waves community clips lately, you’ve probably seen Carlotta melting boss health bars with her fiery gun attacks and snappy one-liners. This 4-star pyro DPS has quickly become a fan favorite for both free-to-play and low-spend players, thanks to her easy-to-build kit and consistent damage output that fits almost any team comp. If you’re wondering how to get Carlotta in Wuthering Waves without wasting hours chasing dead ends, we’ve put together this full guide based on dozens of playthroughs to help you unlock her as soon as possible.
Prerequisites You Need to Meet Before You Can Get Carlotta in Wuthering Waves
Carlotta doesn’t require you to pull on any limited banners, which is one of her biggest draws for players who don’t want to spend their hard-earned Astrite on random pulls. Before her unlock quest even shows up in your quest log, though, you have to hit a few non-negotiable milestones first. You must reach at least Adventure Rank 28 to access her quest line, as the combat encounters in the quest are balanced for players around that level. You also have to complete the main story arc up to the end of Chapter 2: The City of Flowing Light, which unlocks the full Port Riff map and all associated side quests. The last small prerequisite is completing the 10-minute introductory Port Riff side quest “A Warm Welcome”, which automatically pops up when you first enter the city gates. If you’ve hit all these marks and still don’t see her quest, try fast traveling away from Port Riff and coming back, or restarting your game to refresh the quest log.
Full Walkthrough of Carlotta’s Unlock Quest “Fiery Bargain”
Once the quest “Fiery Bargain” shows up in your side quest log, track it and head to the marked spot in Port Riff Market Square to start. The first step is talking to the angry spice merchant who claims Carlotta stole a crate of his rare explosive-grade chili powder he was saving for a festival. Follow the glowing blue quest markers to the abandoned warehouse on the south edge of the port, where you’ll run into Carlotta mid-argument with a group of bounty hunters who’ve been sent to collect a fake bounty on her head. You’ll have to fight 3 level 28 bounty hunter mobs here, which are pretty easy to take down even with unoptimized teams. After clearing the mobs, Carlotta will ask you to help her open the locked storage room at the back of the warehouse to prove she didn’t steal the merchant’s goods. To solve the warehouse pressure plate puzzle, step on the plate closest to the door first, then the one in the middle of the room, then the one in the far left corner. The door will pop open immediately, and you’ll find the missing crate of chili powder half-eaten by a small fire Eclipsite that snuck in through a broken window. You’ll have to fight the level 30 Eclipsite next, which has a small pyro shield you can break quickly with hydro or cryo attacks. Once you beat the creature, head back to the market square with Carlotta to clear her name, and she’ll join your roster right after the cutscene ends. This is the only quest you need to complete to get Carlotta in Wuthering Waves, so you don’t have to grind any extra content beyond what’s listed.
Common Mistakes That Delay Unlocking Carlotta
We’ve seen hundreds of players post about being stuck trying to unlock Carlotta, and almost all of those issues come down to small, easily fixed mistakes you probably didn’t even notice you were making. The most common ones we’ve documented from community reports and our own playthroughs are:
- Skipping small Port Riff side quests: A lot of players rush through main story content and ignore the tiny blue side quest markers around Port Riff. Carlotta’s quest only unlocks after you complete 3 total side quests in the port area, not just the introductory one. You can pick up the extra short quests from the fishing vendor and the blacksmith near the docks to hit this requirement fast.
- Fighting the Eclipsite boss with only pyro units: The Eclipsite at the end of the quest has a permanent pyro resistance buff, so using only pyro characters to fight it will make the fight last 3 times longer than it needs to. Even a level 20 hydro support like Verina can cut the fight time in half by breaking its shield quickly.
- Forgetting to claim her from the quest reward screen: After the final cutscene, the game will pop up a quest reward screen that includes Carlotta, along with 50,000 gold and 3 of her ascension materials. A lot of players skip past this screen too fast and don’t realize they have to click the “claim all” button to add her to their roster, then wonder why she’s not showing up in their character list.
None of these mistakes are permanent, and you can fix all of them in 15 minutes or less if you run into issues. If you still can’t find her after claiming the reward, check your in-game mail, as some server lag issues have made her show up there instead of directly in your character list for a small number of players.
What to Do First After Unlocking Carlotta
Once Carlotta is in your roster, you don’t have to sink a ton of resources into her to make her viable for most open world content and lower level abyss floors. First, level her up to at least 30 to unlock both her elemental skill and elemental burst, and spend 10 minutes leveling her basic attack talent to level 3, since most of her damage comes from her normal charged shots. The best free-to-play weapon for Carlotta is the Scorched Revolver you get for clearing the first outlaw camp in south Port Riff, which gives a flat 12% pyro damage boost at rank 1. If you have extra weapon enhancement materials, you can level that up to level 40 to get an even bigger damage boost. For early team comps, pair her with any hydro support to trigger vaporize reactions, which double her pyro damage on every charged shot. You don’t need any 5-star characters to make her work; even the free 4-star hydro support Verina you get early in the main story works perfectly with her kit. If you plan to use her for endgame content, you can farm her ascension materials from the fire Eclipsite bosses around Port Riff, all of which are easy to beat with a level 40 team. You can also get 4 extra copies of Carlotta for constellation upgrades by completing her 5 follow-up side quests that unlock once you reach Adventure Rank 35, so you can max out her kit without spending any money at all.
Carlotta is one of the most accessible high-value characters in Wuthering Waves right now, and she’s well worth the 45 minutes it takes to complete her unlock quest. She fits into almost any team comp, deals consistent damage even with low investment, and has some of the most fun voice lines and idle animations in the game. If you’ve been looking for a reliable pyro DPS that doesn’t require pulling on limited banners, learning how to get Carlotta in Wuthering Waves is one of the best uses of your playtime this week. Once you unlock her, take her for a test run against the open world bosses around Port Riff to get a feel for her kit, and you’ll probably find yourself using her as your main DPS for months to come.