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Cuilian (Tempering): The Lore-Side Resonance Term
April 11, 2026 at 02:11 PM
Reframe as verified 淬炼 lore-side term (the probable source of "Refinement" in English press)
Cuilian (淬炼, Cuìliàn, literally "tempering" or "forging") is the canonical in-world lore term in Honor of Kings: World for how each person channels Flow energy into their individual combat abilities. Per Baidu Baike primary text, every person on the King's Continent has Flow energy (流) within them, and the unique way a person uses that Flow "is their 淬炼." Each well-known hero of the King's Continent has their own distinctive Cuilian, and the player character learns heroes' Cuilian through exploration and friendship, building up their own Cuilian system and thereby unlocking richer combat options.
The exact Chinese primary text from Baidu Baike's lore section is: "在游戏的设定中，每个人身体里都蕴含着一种叫做'流'的能量，而每个人运用流的方式则构成了他们各自独特的战斗能力，这就是'淬炼'。王者大陆上的众多知名英雄都有自己独特的淬炼，而玩家在探索世界的过程中通过与英雄们结识并掌握他们的淬炼，就能形成自己的淬炼体系，从而获得更为丰富多样的战斗体验。"
Translation: "In the game's setting, each person has an energy called 'Flow' within their body, and each person's way of using Flow constitutes their unique combat abilities, which is 'Cuilian.' Many well-known heroes of the King's Continent have their own unique Cuilian, and players, through exploration of the world and befriending and mastering heroes' Cuilian, can form their own Cuilian system, thereby obtaining richer and more diverse combat experiences."
淬炼 (Cuilian) is the in-world lore name; 共鸣 (Resonance) is the gameplay-facing UI term. The two are layered: a hero's Cuilian is how they channel Flow, and when the player learns a hero's Cuilian they "resonate" (共鸣) with that hero's Flow. The thing you equip in a combat slot is called a 共鸣 (Resonance) in gameplay UI, but the underlying identity of what you are equipping is a 淬炼 (Cuilian) at the lore level.
Tencent's English-language press releases have used several translations for this concept interchangeably across different builds and announcements:
Refinement - used in the RPG Site Gamescom 2025 press quote and some other English press. This is the likely English translation of 淬炼.
Resonance - used by LDShop and other aggregators. This is a translation of 共鸣, the gameplay-facing term.
Flow Style - used by Pocket Tactics and UnGeek. This is a looser English paraphrase.
All three English terms refer to the same underlying system at different levels of abstraction. The wiki has stabilized on "Resonance" as the primary English term since it corresponds to the gameplay UI, and uses "Cuilian" or "淬炼" when discussing the lore-side framing.
The character 淬炼 (Cuilian) is NOT the same as 洗练 (Xilian, "refinement" in the sense of equipment re-rolling). 洗练 is a common Chinese gacha/MMO term for rerolling equipment sub-stats, used in many other mobile games. Honor of Kings: World does NOT have a 洗练 system; the term does not appear in any Baidu Baike, world.qq.com, GamerSky, IT之家, or 17173 coverage of HoKW. If a third-party site describes a "Refinement System" and means 洗练, they are describing a system that does not exist in Honor of Kings: World. The real concept is 淬炼 (Cuilian / Tempering), which is the lore-side name for Resonances.
Each Cuilian / Resonance falls into one of three roles: 对抗 (Tank / Confrontation), 强攻 (Assault / Offensive), or 辅助 (Support). Per Baidu Baike:
对抗类共鸣 (Tank) - "擅长直面敌人进行战斗，具备吸引或化解怪物攻势的能力" ("excels at face-to-face combat with enemies, capable of drawing or deflecting monster attacks")
强攻类 (Assault) - "擅长爆发输出，用各种的手段打出关键伤害，重视身法和输出时机的把握" ("excels at burst output, using various methods to deal critical damage, emphasizes footwork and output timing")
辅助类 (Support) - "各有所长，要么能帮助存活、要么能增益战斗效果、要么能控制敌人" ("each has its specialty, either helping survival, or boosting combat effects, or controlling enemies")
Baidu Baike HoKW entry primary text. IT之家 combat mechanics feature: https://www.ithome.com/0/936/251.htm . Bilibili creator content using the term (search 王者荣耀世界 淬炼). Note that 淬炼 is a verified lore-side concept but its specific gameplay mechanics (e.g., whether it includes equipment upgrade options) have not been fully documented in English-language launch coverage.