Cyno was first featured in one of the first Genshin Impact trailers ever released. Now, he reappears on the Sumeru preview. Here's everything we know about him.

The information stated below were not released through official means unless stated otherwise. These are consolidated data from multiple unofficial sources. As such, these are subject to changes and should be taken with a grain of salt. There might also be story spoilers present, especially under the Lore section.

“Judicator of Secrets” Cyno

The most important details come first. Cyno is expected to be a 5 star Electro Polearm. Multiple sources also say that he will be playable on Genshin Impact Version 3.1, which falls on late September or early October if no changes to the previous patch pattern are made.

August 22 edit: The official announcement confirms that Cyno will be playable on Version 3.1, and the update is expected to be September 28 after the shortened patches. He is also confirmed to be an Electro character, but neither his rarity nor his weapon were mentioned in the announcement.

He uses the “short boy” model, like Xingqiu and Bennett, which seems to be consistent with his official appearances. Cyno will fill the role of a DPS in your party. It is also theorized that his kit and talents will center around Quicken, the Dendro + Electro Elemental Reaction.

He, along with Nilou, will get their Character Story Quest in Version 3.1, the same patch they releases on.

Cyno Talents

Here are the details of his Talents:

Elemental Skill

  • 3 second cooldown
  • Dash forward and deals damage
  • If cast when Elemental Burst is active, it deals more AoE Damage.
  • Does not have charges

Elemental Burst

  • 18 second cooldown
  • 80 Energy Cost
  • 10 second duration
  • Cyno is infused with Electro and cannot be overridden
  • While active, it will change his Elemental Skill and Normal Attacks.
    • Increases the Range and DMG of Elemental Skill and Normal Attacks
  • Cyno can generate Energy Particles while Burst is active.
  • Damage is not considered Elemental Burst Damage
  • “Attack Speed will be useful”
  • “Charge attacks are not useful”
  • Duration can be extended by using enhanced Elemental Skill

Assuming he is centered around Quicken, it's difficult to say much about his role in a team without being familiar with Dendro. Perhaps as Genshin Impact Version 3.0 releases and we know more about the new element and Cyno himself, it will be easier to theorize what we can do with the character.

The description of his Elemental Burst, if accurate, does match that of a main DPS. Being able to enhance and infuse your Elemental Skill and Normal Attacks, as well as the possibility of extending the duration, makes Cyno a good match for other off-field (Dendro?) applicators. If he can generate Energy Particles, then he will be useful in mono-Electro parties and parties with an Electro secondary DPS, too.

Lore

Several in-game quotes related to Cyno have been leaked:

“Under the strict supervision of the General Mahamatra, the spreading of banned knowledge and academic corruption in the Akademiya has decreased significantly. Thanks to Lord Cyno, us subordinates' vacations have also become more frequent”

You once said it was not my place to punish you. Well then… consider this the punishment of the gods” This piece of dialogue was said by Cyno himself.

“The General Mahamatra once brought [Kaveh] to our place for a meal. From the moment the fruit arrived on the table, he ranted non-stop about his difficult and stubborn roommate for the entire meal. We didn't get a single word in the whole time. We just nodded along and tried to stifle our laughter. It took a lot of effort.”

“You want to see Cyno…? Well, firstly, a word of caution: if he ever comes chasing you down for work-related reasons, prepare for the nightmare of a lifetime. Other than that, General Mahamatra is a high-ranking position, so it usually isn't easy to find him. But he does occasionally go to Gandharva Ville to see Collei. As much as he might want to stay unnoticed, he can't fool my ears, heh.” This voiceline is by Tighnari.


He's also been described as “trying to look cool” when he enters a room because of his high status, and that people see him as intimidating. However, his true friends know his true personality: the Cyno that makes weird jokes and likes card games. We even get a sample of his “jokes:”

“Which creature has the worst personal hygiene in all of Teyvat? Cryo Slimes. Why? Because they always bounce on top of the water, and never go in for a bath.”

“If I tell lots of jokes, not all of them could be bad, surely? I just need to stick at it, and I know that one of them will land… someday.”

“Even though they were all saying that my jokes weren't funny, I could tell that I had lightened the mood. So I thought, even if the jokes aren't funny, at least telling them can still help the others around me feel more at ease.”

If the design of this character wasn't enough, the self-awareness of his bad jokes might just add to his charm. Despite being a high-ranking character, he still seems to care about his subordinates enough to consider lightening the mood at the expense of his own embarrassment.


When asked to describe Cyno's personality outside of being the General Mahamatra, a leaker replied with the following:

“[He's] ethical, always prepared, [and] adheres to a strict personal code. Extremely intimidating, partly due to his high status, partly due to his reputation. Strangers will see him as a stoic, formidable government official. Some are even too terrified to look him in t he eye.

Not unlike Nilou, Cyno has a negative view about [the] Academia after witnessing how much scholars suffered in their pursuit of knowledge. He is naturally curious, but buries it deep so as not to experience the same misery as they do.”

Official Reveal and Description

HoYoverse has officially revealed Cyno as a playable character in Version 3.1, complete with the usual character art and lore blurb:

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“Many researchers at the Akademiya fear that the General Mahamatra will interfere with their research. However, it seems that they are worrying about nothing. Most of them do not produce results worthy of his visit.”

— A reply given by Forest Watcher Tighnari when Collei asked a question about the General Mahamatra.

If an Akademiya researcher is required to have a formal meeting with the General Mahamatra, Cyno, it usually does not bode well.

In general, a personal visit from Cyno implies that these researchers are perpetrators of serious academic offences: plagiarism, bribery, academic fraud, false declarations, misappropriation of funds, malicious competition, appropriation of someone else's dissertations, and more… The only thing left for these researchers to do is to follow the General Mahamatra and face disciplinary action.

But these researchers will not accept their sentence so easily.

Most of them try to bribe the General Mahamatra with Mora. These “wealthy people” will then be punished even more severely. Meanwhile, some choose to use force in an irrational act of recalcitrance… After paying the price for their defiance, they are subjected to a harsher sentence.

Others, at their wits' end, even feign madness, claiming memory loss or pleading insanity in a desperate attempt to escape punishment.

However, General Mahamatra Cyno has unfailing patience when dealing with these people. In his own words:

“As a Matra, it is one of my duties to help people ‘remember' the mistakes they have made.”


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