  It is demonstrated that finite-pressure, approximately quasi-axisymmetric
stellarator equilibria can be directly constructed (without numerical
optimization) via perturbations of given axisymmetric equilibria. The size of
such perturbations is measured in two ways, via the fractional external
rotation and, alternatively, via the relative magnetic field strength, i.e. the
average size of the perturbed magnetic field, divided by the unperturbed field
strength. It is found that significant fractional external rotational transform
can be generated by quasi-axisymmetric perturbations, with a similar value of
the relative field strength, despite the fact that the former scales more
weakly with the perturbation size. High mode number perturbations are
identified as a candidate for generating such transform with local current
distributions. Implications for the development of a general non-perturbative
solver for optimal stellarator equilibria is discussed.
