Genshin Impact Cyno build guide: Best artifacts, polearms & teams

Cyno is back in the limited-banner pool in Genshin Impact version 4.2. Plenty of things have changed in terms of teams and artifacts for Cyno since his release way back in v3.1, so here is the best build for Cyno.

Cyno is currently one of the 5-star rate-ups along with Ayato in Genshin Impact version 4.2. When not serious about his duty as a General Mahamatra, Cyno can be found obsessing over a card game or making horrible puns. 

Cyno wasn’t particularly strong when he was first released in Genshin Impact, but his DPS has steadily increased with the introduction of new characters like Nahida and Furina.

Here’s all you need to know about Cyno’s best build in Genshin Impact.

• How to play Cyno in Genshin Impact
• Cyno’s abilities in Genshin Impact explained
• Best weapons for Cyno in Genshin Impact
• Best artifacts for Cyno in Genshin Impact
• Best team and rotations for Cyno in Genshin Impact

How to play Cyno in Genshin Impact

Cyno is an Electro main DPS unit, and since most Electro teams in Genshin Impact are stronger when paired with Dendro, the majority of Cyno’s team will have a Dendro unit. 

As for his playstyle, Cyno’s major source of damage comes from his Elemental Burst. In his usual rotation, you’ll set up for his Elemental Burst, and during the Burst perform his Elemental Skill when a big eye-looking visual pops up in the middle of your screen. The only thing to keep in mind is to time the Elemental Skill perfectly whenever the visual is displayed.

While Cyno wasn’t always the most flattering of picks at launch, if you were mostly after meta, the introduction of Furina, Nahida, and Baizhu has made him pretty strong. 

Cyno’s abilities in Genshin Impact explained

Normal Attack

Cyno’s Normal Attack in Genshin Impact is useless. Likewise, there is no need to upgrade his Normal Attack talent level.

Even though you’ll perform his Normal Attack during his Elemental Burst stance, the attacks during it do not scale with his Normal Attack talent damage. 

Elemental Skill — Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer

Cyno has two variants of his Elemental Skill in Genshin Impact:

• Normal Elemental Skill: In the normal version, he lunges forward piercing his opponents. The only use it has is for Elemental particle generation. It has a high cooldown. 
• Elemental Skill during Elemental Burst: During Elemental Burst, Cyno slams his pointy fists on the ground, dealing AoE damage whenever you perform his Elemental Skill. It has a low cooldown.

Whenever Cyno is in his Elemental Burst, he also enters a “stance” every few intervals, and the previously mentioned big eye-looking visual appears on your screen, signaling the same. If you time his Elemental Skill right as the eye pops up, you’ll end up doing more damage. This is one of his ascension passive.

Elemental Burst — Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness

As we’ve already stressed multiple times, Cyno in Genshin Impact is an Elemental Burst-reliant character. In his Burst, he gets possessed by a divine spirit, and all of his attacks are infused with Electro. 

Since Cyno is heavy on Elemental Burst, you’ll need enough Energy Recharge to perform it every rotation. And your talent upgrade priority should be on Elemental Burst first as well. 

Best weapons for Cyno in Genshin Impact

Staff of the Scarlet Sands

Staff of the Scarlet Sands is Cyno’s best in slot weapon, as it is also his signature weapon. Cyno benefits from EM, ATK, and CRIT, and the weapon’s passive enables it. 

It has a substat of CRIT Rate, and its passive provides an ATK bonus based on his EM. So, with the Staff of the Scarlet Sands equipped, you’ve to focus mostly on EM, ER, and less on CRIT Rate. This also means it is preferable that you use EM Sands. 

Primordial Jade Winged Spear

Jade Spear is a good stat stick for Cyno, as it provides a substat of CRIT and passive grants ATK buff, which isn’t hard to proc with Cyno. It isn’t as good as Staff of Scarlet Sands, but performs well and is better than most other weapons.

Like Jade Winged Spear, Staff of Homa is also a good stat stick and is only marginally behind Jade Spear. 

White Tassel

While there are other weapons better than White Tassel, it is on our list because it is F2P, and you probably have dozens of them lying around. Make sure to refine it to R5, as it has a CRIT Rate substat which is useful on Cyno. 

Other weapon options include Deathmatch, Missive Windspear, and Ballad of the Fjords.

Best artifacts for Cyno in Genshin Impact

Before we brief about the best artifacts for Cyno in Genshin Impact, it is best to keep in check certain stats requirements across the board. Here’s what you should always keep in mind:

• Energy Recharge is important for Cyno as he is very reliant on his Elemental Burst. Ideally, on every team, continue to stack ER until you can bring his Burst off cooldown.
  • At a minimum, the ER should linger around 140-150% and it depends heavily on the artifact you use and teams.
  • It is best to have one or two characters on his team use Favonious weapons to solve the ER problems.
• Ideally use EM Sands, Electro DMG Goblet, and CRIT Circlet.
  • Best to have as much EM as possible without losing on ER and CRIT.
  • You can also use ER Sands if you’re struggling with ER, and have good EM stats from elsewhere.

4pc Marechaussee Hunter

• 2-Piece Bonus: Increase Normal and Charged Attack DMG +15%
• 4-Piece Bonus: When current HP increases or decreases, CRIT Rate will be increased by 12% for 5s. Max 3 stacks.

Marechaussee Hunter isn’t the regular go-to artifact for Cyno, but as of now, he is best when paired with Furina, which means Marechaussee Hunter is his best in slot. The 2-piece bonus works for him regardless of Furina, and the 4-piece grants him up to 36% CRIT Rate whenever his HP fluctuates, which Furina will take care of herself.

With this artifact, you can spare all the worries for CRIT Rate and can concentrate more on EM, ER, and CRIT DMG.

4pc Thundering Fury

• 2-Piece Bonus: +15% Electro DMG Bonus
• 4-Piece Bonus: Increases Overloaded, Electro-Charged, Superconduct, and Hyperbloom DMG by 40%, and Aggravate 20%. When Quicken or the previously mentioned Elemental Reactions are triggered, Elemental Skill CD is decreased by 1s. Can only occur once every 0.8s.

Thundering Fury is another strong artifact for Cyno and is oftentimes his best in the slot on non-Furina teams. The 2-piece Bonus is a straight DMG increase and the 4-piece enables him to perform more Elemental Skills, which will also bring his ER requirements down. That means you’ll need less than usual ER when you have Thundering Fury.

4pc Gilded Dreams

• 2-Piece Bonus: Increases Elemental Mastery by 80.
• 4-Piece Bonus: Within 8s of triggering an Elemental Reaction, the character equipping this will obtain buffs based on the Elemental Type of the other party members. ATK is increased by 14% for each party member whose Elemental Type is the same as the equipping character, and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every party member with a different Elemental Type. Each of the aforementioned buffs will count up to 3 characters. This effect can be triggered once every 8s. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field.

Performing almost at the same level as Thundering Fury, Gilded Dream is another great option for Cyno. The 2-piece bonus is helpful since EM is the most preferred stat for Cyno, and the 4-piece bonus will grant him either ATK or EM, both of which are useful.

Other options include:

• Pairing 2-Piece of all the listed artifacts.
• Pairing of any 2-Piece artifact of EM, ER, or ATK.

Best team and rotations for Cyno in Genshin Impact

The best team for Cyno in Genshin Impact is Cyno, Furina, Nahida, and Baizhu. This is pretty expensive as all of them are limited banner characters, but if you want maximum potential damage on Cyno, this should be your go-to team.

Here’s the full breakdown of Cyno’s best team in Genshin Impact:

• Best Team: Cyno — Furina — Nahida — Baizhu
  • Rotation:
    • Furina Elemental Skill
    • Nahida Elemental Skill
    • Nahida Elemental Burst
    • Furina Elemental Burst
    • Baizhu Elemental Skill
    • Baizhu Elemental Burst
    • Cyno Elemental Skill
    • Cyno Elemental Burst
    • Cyno Elemental Skill everytime the eye pops up.

Other teams:

• Cyno — Fischl — Nahida — Zhongli
  • Alternative: Baizhu for Zhongli, Kuki for Fischl, Dendro Traveler for Nahida.
• Cyno — Fischl — Furina — Baizhu
  • Alternative: Xingqiu or Yelan for Furina.
• Cyno — Fischl — Nahida — Yelan
  • Alternative: Kuki for Fischl, Xingqiu for Yelan.

That’s about everything you need to know about Cyno’s best build in Genshin Impact. For more on the game, check out:

Genshin Impact Encounter Points explained | How to reroll in Genshin Impact | All Star-Shaped Gems and Seelie locations | How to get more Primogems and wishes | Genshin Impact Sakura Bloom locations | Genshin Impact Sango Peal Locations | Genshin Impact Geoculus locations | Genshin Impact Lotus Head locations | Genshin Impact Fatui Pyro Agent locations | Genshin Impact Philanemo Mushrooms locations | Genshin Impact Valberry locations | Genshin Impact Dandelion Seeds locations | Genshin Impact Ayato build guide | Genshin Impact Chongyun build guide