Image via HoYoverse

Best Cyno Builds, Weapons, and Teams in Genshin Impact

Need a build guide? Cyno more.

Cyno is a 5-star Electro Polearm DPS in Genshin Impact. Here are Cynoā€™s best weapons, artifacts, and teams to bring judgment down upon your enemies!

Recommended Videos

Playstyles

Cyno is an on-field Aggravate DPS. His EM-focused Ascension 4 Passive makes him much more effective in Dendro teams compared to other Electro DPS units.

Most of Cynoā€™s damage is dependent on his Burst. When Cyno uses his Burst, his Normal Attacks deal Electro damage and have a larger AoE. At intervals, a large purple eye will periodically appear on the screen, indicating an Endseer interval. Using Cynoā€™s Skill during an Endseer interval unleashes a more powerful version of his Skill.

Set up your support skills, swap to Cyno, then use his Skill and Burst in quick succession. You can then spam his combo, falling into a rhythm of spamming Normal Attacks and using your Skill when the eye appears. Doing this for the full duration of Cynoā€™s Burst requires quite a lot of field time, so depending on your situation, you can end his combo early by swapping to a teammate.

Note that you should level up Cynoā€™s Burst before his Normal Attacks. His Electro damage scales with his Burst Talent level, so you can ignore his Normal Attack levels.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Weapons

Staff of Scarlet Sands
Cynoā€™s signature 5-star Polearm is, unsurprisingly, his best-in-slot. The difference between this weapon and R5 White Tassel is noticeable, but not game-changing.

Primordial Jade Winged-Spear
This is Cynoā€™s second-best weapon if you happen to have a spare. Its passive effect lasts long enough for Cynoā€™s full combo.

Ballad of the Fjords / Deathmatch
These are the 4-star Polearms obtained through the Battle Pass. At R5, they can outperform the 5-star weapons below. At R1, they perform about the same. Itā€™s up to you whether they are worth spending $10-50.

White Tassel / Staff of Homa / Calamity Queller / Vortex Vanquisher
Cynoā€™s Normal Attacks during his Burst state still benefit from White Tasselā€™s 48% Normal Attack DMG. As a 3-star weapon, it has a low Base ATK, but Cyno cares less about ATK than most DPS units. R5 White Tassel is my baseline cost-effective recommendation. White Tassels can be found in chests around Liyue. If you happen to have any of the 5-star weapons listed alongside it, they perform similarly.

Kitain Cross Spear
Kitain Cross Spear is a 4-star craftable Polearm from Inazuma. Its performance varies quite a lot based on how much Energy Recharge Cyno needs in your team. In addition, it prevents you from using Cynoā€™s Skill before his Burst, so keep that in mind if using this weapon.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Artifacts

4pc Thundering Fury (4TF)
This set decreases Cynoā€™s Skill cooldown, allowing you to use Cynoā€™s Skill twice as many times. Only half of these Skill uses will fall within the Endseer interval though, and the timing can be quite tight. Youā€™ll need to spam your Skill as soon as it comes off cooldown, lest you miss an Endseer proc. This is technically Cynoā€™s best artifact set, but I prefer the less stressful gameplay of the other sets below.

4pc Gilded Dreams (4GD) / 4pc Gladiatorā€™s Finale (4GF)
These are my generally preferred sets that provide more relaxed gameplay and are easier to farm. Gilded Dreams can be obtained from the same domain as Deepwood Memories, which youā€™ll likely be farming anyway for Cynoā€™s Dendro teammate. You might already have a usable 4GF set, but if not, they can be obtained through artifact strongboxes. 

2pc combos
If all else fails, combine 2pc sets that provide Elemental Mastery, Electro DMG, or ATK until you are able to obtain one of the 4pc sets above.

Artifact Stats

SandsGobletCirclet
Elemental Mastery
ATK
Electro DMG
Elemental Mastery
CRIT Rate/DMG
Elemental Mastery

Cynoā€™s Energy Recharge requirements can be prohibitively high as the sole Electro character. With a second Electro character, you should try to have around 140% Energy Recharge. Having a 4TF artifact set, Kitain Cross Spear, or a teammate using a Favonius weapon helps bring this down by about 20%.

Aside from Energy Recharge, Cyno should focus on CRIT, Elemental Mastery, and ATK. Elemental Mastery is almost always more valuable than ATK.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Teams

Cyno should always be paired with a Dendro teammate. Nahida provides the highest damage, but her Skill works by marking individual enemies. This can work against you in multi-wave content where enemies die quickly, since newly-spawned enemies will not have Dendro on them and Cyno ends his Burst state when switching off. Dendro Traveler is better in multi-wave mobbing situations.

If you need defensive utility, Baizhu and Yaoyao are both able to provide healing and off-field Dendro. Baizhu is better for Cyno, since Yaoyao requires valuable field time to do the bulk of her healing, but both are definitely usable.

Hyperbloom

Cynoā€™s Hyperbloom teams combine Dendro, Hydro, and Electro for a combination of Quicken and Hyperbloom. The Hydro can sometimes reduce Quicken uptime on enemies, but the additional Hyperbloom damage is generally still worth it. I recommend having a second Electro character to help provide Energy for Cyno, but you can also go double Dendro. Combine your favorite characters from the list below.

Quicken

Cynoā€™s pure Quicken teams tend to have a lower damage output than Hyperbloom teams, but can be more straightforward to play. All you need is Cyno and a Dendro teammate of your choice. You can double up on Electro and Dendro if you wish, or throw in an Anemo unit with 4pc Viridescent Venerer. It can be hard to Swirl Electro depending on your setup, so if you notice that youā€™re not able to comfortably Swirl Electro, consider Zhongli instead.

  • Dendro: Dendro Traveler, Nahida, Baizhu, Yaoyao
  • Electro: Fischl, Beidou, Kuki Shinobu, Kujou Sara, Yae Miko
  • Flex: Sucrose, Kazuha, Zhongli

Destructoid is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.Ā Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Christine Choi
Christine Choi
Contributing Writer - Christine has been gaming since she first stole her brother's Game Boy as a kid. She's come a long way since then and has been creating content for Genshin Impact since 2021.