In this Cyno Guide, we take a look at the best weapons, the best artifacts, and the best team composition for Cyno in Genshin Impact.
Cyno might look unassuming at first, but his presence strikes fear into many of Akademiya’s researchers. Cyno, known as the General Mahamatra to the Sumeru Akademiya, will be having a rerun alongside Ayato during the second phase of version 4.2. He is a spear user who has the ability to infuse his attacks with Electro, and also scale his damage with Elemental Mastery. He has a bit similar gameplay to Razor, but he performs much better at the same amount of investment.
Cyno Overview and Abilities
Cyno is a 5-star polearm-wielding Electro character, capable of dealing extreme amounts of electro damage, in exchange for his very selfish presence on the field. It is unclear yet how to balance the optimal field time for Cyno and his supports, but it’s for certain that he is one of the few specifically-designed hypercarries for Electro.
Electro as a main DPS element hasn’t really been a thing ever since, since Elemental Reactions like Electro-Charged and Overload generally outperform pure Electro, until now. Dendro’s introduction changed the game for Electro DPS, as Quicken and Aggravate reactions massively enhanced the power of many Electro abilities.
Cyno Elemental Skill – Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer
Performs a swift thrust, dealing Electro DMG to opponents along the path.
When Cyno is under the Pactsworn Pathclearer state triggered by Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, he will instead unleash a Mortuary Rite that deals thunderous AoE Electro DMG and extends the duration of Pactsworn Pathclearer.
This Elemental Skill is Cyno’s main source of energy, while also extending the duration of his Burst’s Electro Infusion. Since this skill receives a massive cooldown reduction when used during the duration of his Burst, it also becomes a huge source of damage when paired with the CD-reducing effect of the Thundering Fury artifact set.
Cyno Elemental Burst – Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness
Calls upon a divine spirit to possess him, morphing into the Pactsworn Pathclearer.
Pactsworn Pathclearer
Cyno’s Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks will be converted to Electro DMG that cannot be overridden.
- Cyno’s Elemental Mastery and resistance to interruption will increase, and he gains immunity to Electro-Charged DMG.
This effect will be canceled when Cyno leaves the field and lasts a maximum of 18s.
Cyno’s Burst works very similar to Raiden Shogun’s, but it lasts longer and performs better when under powerful buffs. The Energy cost of this burst is a hefty 80 energy, but it’s not too much of a problem once he starts spamming out his skill.
Cyno Passive Talents
Featherfall Judgment – When Cyno is in the Pactsworn Pathclearer state activated by Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, Cyno will enter the Endseer stance at intervals. If he activates Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while affected by this stance, he will activate the Judication effect, increasing the DMG of this Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer by 35%, and firing off 3 Duststalker Bolts that deal 50% of Cyno’s ATK as Electro DMG.
Duststalker Bolt DMG is considered Elemental Skill DMG.
Authority Over the Nine Bows – Cyno’s DMG values will be increased based on his Elemental Mastery as follows:
- Pactsworn Pathclearer’s Normal Attack DMG is increased by 125% of his Elemental Mastery.
- Duststalker Bolt DMG from his Passive Talent Featherfall Judgment is increased by 250% of his Elemental Mastery.
The combination of these two talents already looks like a lethal combo for an Elemental Mastery-stacking Cyno. It is unsure yet if the Duststalker Bolts have shared ICD, but since Cyno deals a lot of individual hits with his entire kit, Aggravate and Quicken reactions become a lot more potent overall.
Cyno Guide: Best Weapon Build for Cyno
Staff of the Scarlet Sands – The equipping character gains 52% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK. When an Elemental Skill hits opponents, the Dream of the Scarlet Sands effect will be gained for 10s: The equipping character will gain 28% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK. Max 3 stacks.
This weapon is undoubtedly his best-in-slot, since you can go all-in with Elemental Mastery while still getting a ton of bonus ATK from the weapon’s passive.
Alternatives for the 5-star weapon line are the Primordial Jade-Winged Spear and the Staff of Homa, which provide less damage than the BiS, but nevertheless still superior over any of the 4-star options.
Deathmatch – If there are at least 2 opponents nearby, ATK is increased by 16% and DEF is increased by 16%. If there are fewer than 2 opponents nearby, ATK is increased by 24%.
It’s amazing to see this weapon, which was designed at the start of the game, still remains relevant and powerful 2 years later. This weapon provides an amazing Crit Rate stat, which is uncommon for a 4-star weapon.
White Tassel – Increases Normal Attack DMG by 48%.
If you’re going for the pure F2P experience, White Tassel is definitely not a bad option. Since Cyno’s play style during his burst is mostly composed of Normal Attacks and spamming E, this weapon significantly increases the damage of his combos. The low ATK provided by the weapon can be circumvented by going pure EM build, since his talent passive actually provides flat bonus damage based on his EM.
Best Artifact Sets for Cyno
2-Piece: Electro DMG Bonus +15%
4-Piece: Increases DMG caused by Overloaded, Electro-Charged, Superconduct, and Hyperbloom by 40%, and the DMG Bonus conferred by Aggravate is increased by 20%. When Quicken or the aforementioned Elemental Reactions are triggered, Elemental Skill CD is decreased by 1s. Can only occur once every 0.8s.
Cyno relies greatly on Aggravate reactions and his E spam, which Thundering Fury is best at providing. If you can farm the best stats for it, the Thundering Fury set is your only choice for optimal damage.
2-Piece: Elemental Mastery +80.
4-Piece: 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 8 seconds. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field.
In retrospect, many players have been farming this set’s domain since Sumeru’s release, and have likely kept certain set pieces with exceptional substats. If you happen to have really good pieces for this set, and not a lot for Thundering Fury, it’s still completely viable to use this first until you obtain a well-rolled 4-piece TF set.
As for Artifact main stats, focus on ATK% or Elemental Mastery for Sands, depending on what your team composition is. Then, try to get Electro DMG for the Goblet. Finally, get either CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG for the Circlet based on what you're missing. As for Substats, get Energy Recharge, Crit Rate/DMG, and Elemental Mastery/ATK% in that order.
Best Team Comps for Cyno
Aggravate/Quicken – Recommended Formation:
- Cyno
- Dendro Traveler / Collei / Nahida
- Fischl / Kuki Shinobu / Yae Miko
- Zhongli (Shield) / Kaedehara Kazuha(Damage) / Bennett(Healer+Buff) / Any Dendro
This composition is Cyno’s go-to for all kinds of content, and relies on his raw Electro damage output, which is then amplified by Aggravate, Resonance, and an off-element support. You would generally choose to run Dendro resonance for more EM, but Electro resonance is a good option if Energy is scarce. Just make sure you have at least one Dendro character in your party, else it wouldn't be an Aggravate party.
For the 4th slot, Zhongli is preferred to make Cyno’s combo string uninterruptible, but Kazuha and Bennett are also decent options if you’re fine with dodging enemy attacks. This spot is a flex, so you can put in another Dendro character such as Nahida or Tighnari.
Summary
Cyno is a welcome addition to many fans of Electro since the release of Raiden Shogun, and Electro DPS might even see a resurgence after the addition of Dendro reactions.
Cyno debuted in Genshin Impact version 3.1 and will have a banner that coincides with Dehya's banner. Should you pull for Cyno or for Dehya? Either way, we hope that you make use of Cyno well in case you end up pulling for him.
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