The importance of elemental skills became abundantly clear in Genshin Impact. There are several adventure games with open-world settings, and only a few integrate the elements with such furious intricacy as Genshin Impact. From scorching Pyro to grassy Dendro, the seven components complete the game.
No other element has the same influence as Cryo. Outside of Electro, it boasts the most characters with 11 playable Cryo users. This isn’t even getting into the impacts of the elemental state, which is the only way to delay opponents. In this article, we’ll go over all the playable Cryo characters and what makes them unique.
5-Star Characters
Qiqi
Qiqi is our resident, lovable zombie who was resurrected by the adepti and ended up under the care of Baizhu. She’s one of the first two Cryo characters introduced in Genshin Impact alongside Cavalry Captain Kaeya Alberich. Despite being a sword user, her main job is the team’s healer.
It’s no secret that she was a highly sought-after character when Genshin Impact was first released. Her healing skills made her an asset to any squad and a popular option among many players. But things have changed, and with the introduction of new characters, Qiqi is no longer regarded as the best healer.
Qiqi’s main problem is her need for more variety; she can only be a healer. Qiqi, unlike the other Cryo healing unit Diona, cannot generate energy or construct a shield for the squad. Additionally, while her usage of Cryo is beneficial for Superconduct teams, it does not provide any distinct advantages for other use cases.
Ganyu
Ganyu is a half-qilin Adeptus currently serving as the general secretary of the Liyue Qixing. While launched early in version 1.3, she is still one of the best Cryo units due to her flexibility and excellent damage output. Ganyu is also great as a sub-DPS or burst support character because of her long-duration Elemental Burst. Not to mention, her Elemental Ability allows her to hold adversaries at bay while casting charge strikes, making her a powerful crowd-control character.
Ganyu is a bow user who relies on charge attacks, and she may not be suited as the main DPS unit for some players. However, her solid kit works nicely with any team composition. She can even outperform Ayaka as a main DPS Cryo unit when built right for a melt composition.
Kamisato Ayaka
Kamisato Ayaka’s move set is one of the most interesting in the game, especially for exploration. Additionally, her sprint tremendously influences her fight since it allows her to infuse Cryo into her sword, giving a steady stream of Cryo application and damage. Because of her tremendous auto-attacks and Burst, she possesses the rawest Cryo damage potential of any Cryo in the game.
Combined with her ascension stat of Crit Damage and her excellent synergy with the Cyro Resonance and Blizzard Strayer artifact sets, she can inflict devastating damage with the appropriate squad, particularly in Freeze combinations.
Although a fantastic raw Cryo DPS unit, Ayaka needs more adaptability in other roles or responses. She does not give consistent cryo application or other kinds of off-field support. Also, due to her quick cryo application, she is not suitable for Melt compositions.
Eula
Eula Lawrence, captain of the Reconnaissance Company with the Knights of Favonius, is the game’s best physical damage unit (if built right). She provides an incredible Elemental Burst damage output that can one-shot practically everything the burst hits if performed correctly. She may also set up Superconduct interactions with off-field Electro characters like Fischl, Raiden, and Yae Miko because she wields the Cryo element.
Furthermore, Eula is a more consistent DPS than others because of her short off-times. Her elemental skill stacks improve her resistance to interruption and her base defensive numbers. Additionally, when consumed, these stacks can reduce nearby opponents’ Physical and Cryo RES, boosting her overall damage. As a result, Eula is a simple character to design with enough variable team slots to optimize her gameplay and damage output. Yet, because she is not an elemental response unit, she may need to be stronger in high-level gaming scenarios such as the Spiral Abyss if the opposing roster or buffs are not in her favor.
Shenhe
Shenhe was the daughter of an unnamed exorcist couple who generally had a happy life until her father tried to sacrifice her to a malevolent god to bring back his deceased wife. Following the incident, she was taken in and raised by Cloud Retainer as her disciple.
Her Elemental Skill, which generates Icy Quills, can significantly help teams focusing on Cryo DPS. She can even be useful in Physical builds, as she can easily shred enemies’ Cryo and Physical RES. However, she does have some drawbacks, the most notable being her niche utility, as she may not be the best fit for every team composition, as some other characters on this list are.
There is also a lot of downtime for her E talent, which players must deal with. Her Burst, on the other hand, has a good uptime but does not add considerably to overall Damage. Overall, Shenhe is an ordinary character who should only be prioritized if the player is very fond of her design and can find significant use for her.
Aloy
Aloy is the game’s first and only playable crossover character, resulting from a cooperation between Guerrilla Games and HoYoverse. To commemorate her introduction, she was free to all players who logged in for a specific period, but her weapon was only provided to PlayStation gamers.
Unfortunately, she stands out from the rest of the characters in Genshin Impact by seeming out of place. Her whole character kit is considered to be weak, and she makes no notable or novel contributions to the squad. Moreover, players cannot unlock any constellations for Aloy, making her an easily forgotten character.
4-Star Characters
Kaeya
Kaeya Alberich, cavalry captain of the Knights of Favonius, may be the most useful in the early game among the five free characters. Yet, compared to other Cryo units, Kaeya needs to catch up due to his low combat capabilities. While his skill is simple to utilize, it ultimately falls short compared to other Cryo characters. The same can be said about his burst, but both are still valuable as backup. Kaeya, on the other hand, is a superb utility character, but he can only do so much with substantial development.
Another obstacle in making the most of Kaeya is collecting his constellations. He is never featured in rate-up banners; therefore, the only way to get him is by chance on Standard banner pulls or by purchasing him from the Starglitter Store if he is available. If you really wish to play Kaeya on your squad, a smart team composition can compensate for his weaknesses. Players will find Kaeya’s support build the most effective in enabling Cryo reactions.
However, if you’re one of the few players who absolutely want Kaeya to be on-field all the time, a peculiar build that you can opt for is a physical DMG DPS.
Chongyun
Chongyun was one of the most popular and sought-after characters for players in a squad in the early days of Genshin Impact. His Cryo infusion made him a formidable battle ally. Chongyun’s Cryo application has grown less required as the game has developed, and he has gone out of favor, especially with the release of characters such as Ayaka, who can infuse her weapon with Cryo, or other units who simply have greater Cryo application.
Chongyun is best defined as a Cryo support or DPS in general. Chongyun specializes in creating responses as a support by generating a Cryo infusion zone with his elemental talent. Of course, this method has the disadvantage of infusing all attacks; the character triggering the response should only employ attacks in Chongyun’s zone if their skills are unaffected by Chongyun’s infusion. Chongyun, on the other hand, can operate as a Cryo DPS by creating reactions in his zone. Do note that this technique has limitations in making the enabler’s task more difficult for the same injection reasons.
Rosaria
Rosaria is a fantastic 4-star Cryo Polearm with a very adaptable and strong kit that can cover various positions in various teams. Her Skill and Burst may both trigger Melt’s response, allowing the squad to deliver massive damage. She also has constant off-field Cryo application because her fast skill cool down offers adequate energy production. One of her strongest and most distinctive abilities is a team Crit buff, which works really well with other Cryo troops.
Yet, she confronts severe competition from other Cryo characters who may frequently play comparable roles. Her burst is also highly constrictive since the party must stay within the burst circle. While she is not wholly reliant on Constellations, some of them, notably her second, is important to her performance.
Diona
Diona Kätzlein works as a bartender at Cat’s Tail, which is pretty ironic because she hates alcohol and will stop at nothing to ruin Mondstadt’s wine industry. However, no matter what concoction she makes, her patrons end up absolutely loving her drinks.
In the game, she’s a great pick because of her abilities as a shielder and healer. Although some players might opt to choose another healer over Diona, they would be missing out on her adaptability. Though she does not necessarily master any one talent, she is versatile enough to perform numerous roles in a hurry, including healing, enabling, shielding, and more.
Players can put Diona with almost any character in terms of composition. Nevertheless, given that a Cryo support healer build is recommended, a team composition that relies on elemental mastery or elemental reactions that may benefit from her C6 can profit greatly from it. Diona can heal while also improving the Elemental Mastery of the rest of the group. Players can also join Ayaka’s fantastic Freeze squad or Eula’s physical team.
Layla
Layla is the newest addition to the Cryo roster, having been added with the 3.2 patch. She serves as a defensive support since her Elemental Skill creates a shield. She also generates Night Stars during this shield, allowing her to execute Cryo application and generate energy. She is pretty simple to build, selecting artifacts and weapons that demand enough ER to minimise cooldowns and maximize HP. Nevertheless, a damage build is not advised due to her poor modifiers.
Despite her dependency on Constellations, Layla is a useful unit that may fit into a variety of team configurations. Her shield, however, is not the strongest, and once it is damaged, the remainder of her perks, such as damage, cryo application, and energy particle creation, would be disabled. Nonetheless, if created properly, she may still be an excellent complement to any squad.
Out of all the 11 playable Cryo characters, who’s your favorite and why? Tell us more in the comment section below!
Also read: Playable Pyro Characters, Playable Electro Characters
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