The best Genshin Impact Cyno build - Cyno weapons, artifacts, and F2P options
Inside of him is one wolf
The best Genshin Impact Cyno build basically gives your team Razer 2.0, but that's not a bad thing. Cyno is a bit more multi-faceted than he initially appears, equally suitable for Dendro teams with an elemental mastery focus and for more traditional parties who just need a hard-hitting 5-star Electro DPS in Genshin Impact 3.1
Cyno’s talents make him unique among Electro users, where elemental mastery feeds into his attack power and complements his hefty critical damage bonus stat.
While Cyno's signature polearm Staff of the Scarlet Sands is ideal for him, there are a few other options that work just as well.
When is the Cyno banner release date?
The second Cyno banner began when Genshin Impact 3.5 started on March 1, alongside Dehya's first banner and reruns for Barbara, Sucrose, and Bennett.
Unlike Tighnari and Dehya, Cyno won’t appear in the permanent banner after his run is up. Another Cyno rerun is all but guaranteed at some point in the future, given how HoYoverse rotates its characters, but it likely won’t happen for several months.
What is the best Genshin Impact Cyno build?
Building Cyno for elemental mastery might seem like a good idea, but his Electro damage and critical hit rate are just as important, if not more so.
Best Cyno weapon – Staff of the Scarlet Sands
Staff of the Scarlet Sands is tailor-made for Cyno, and even a quick look at the stats shows why. Critical hit rate is the secondary stat, and the value is more than double the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear. The passive skill converts elemental mastery to attack, making sure Cyno hits hard every time, assuming you have a build or party that prioritizes elemental mastery.
The chances of getting a new character and their unique weapon tend to be low, and unless you have Cyno in a Dendro party, you don't benefit too much from stacking elemental mastery anyway. High EM on Cyno makes Quicken and Aggravate reactions more powerful, but there are several other viable options to boost his attack.
Deathmatch is a choice you can obtain more easily. This one comes from tier 30 of the paid battle pass and offers an eight percent critical hit rate buff at level one with its secondary stat. The passive buffs attack by 16 percent if two enemies are nearby and by 24 percent if there’s just one foe around, making it perfect for boss battles.
Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, Xiao’s polearm, is a strong fit, with a secondary stat that boosts critical rate by up to 22 percent at level 90 and a passive skill that, at its base level, grants an attack buff of 21 percent after the spear hits enemies. Combined with Cyno’s critical damage stat, that means you’re dishing out a lot of hurt.
The Royal Spear may be even better, if you have the Masterlss Starglitter to spend on it. This polearm has attack as its secondary stat, and the passve boosts critical hit rate by eight percent once after an attack hits. The effect stacks up to five times, which – even without refining the weapon – gives Cyno close to a 50 percent critical hit rate increase.
Best Cyno Artifacts – Gilded Dreams
If you have Staff of the Scarlet Sands, Gilded Dreams is the Artifact set for you.
- Two-piece effect: Elemental mastery +80
- Four-piece effect: After triggering an Elemental Reaction, attack increases by 14 percent 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
This set gives you the best chance for a high attack boost, especially if you're patient and lucky enough to roll Artifacts with an EM substat.
Thundering Fury gives Cyno the best of both builds, though – an Electro buff if you mostly just want an Electro DPS and a significant increase in elemental reaction damage for those who want to bring more elements into the equation.
- Two-piece effect: Raises Electro damage by 15 percent
- Four-piece effect: Increases Overload, Hyperbloom, Superconduct, and Electro-Charged damage by 40 percent, and raises Aggravate’s bonus damage by 20 percent. When Quicken, or any other Electro-involved reaction triggers, the user’s elemental skill cooldown decreases by one second
Thundering Fury’s new effect that reduces skill cooldown makes it even more useful for Cyno, whose primary source of damage is in his skill and the effect his burst confers on his skill.
If you manage to recruit Cyno and you’re still early in the game, you’re in luck. Thundering Fury comes from one of the early Mondstadt Domains, Midsummer Courtyard.
If you have a spare set of Shimenawa’s Reminiscence floating around, it would also complement Cyno’s abilities well.
- Two-piece effect: Increases attack by 18 percent
- Four-piece effect: When casting an elemental skill, if the character has 15 or more energy, they lose 15 energy and Normal/Charged/Plunging attack damage is increased by 50 percent for 10 seconds
What is the best Cyno F2P build?
Cyno’s F2P options rival the paid build thanks to a new craftable four-star polearm that suits him quite well and an upcoming four-star weapon reportedly available during Genshin Impact 3.1’s big event.
Best Cyno F2P weapon – Moonpiercer and Missive Windspear
Moonpiercer is a craftable four-star weapon introduced in Genshin Impact 3.0. You need to complete the World of Aranara quest and exchange a story to obtain the blueprint initially, and then crafting it just requires the usual billets and ore chunks.
Moonpiercer has elemental mastery as its secondary stat, and the passive generates a Leaf of Revival when the user triggers a Dendro elemental reaction. The Leaf increases the user’s attack by up to 32 percent.
That said, Moonpiercer won’t do you much good if Cyno’s party includes no Dendro characters.
The Kitain Cross Spear is another strong option and one that doesn't need Dendro to work. This is a craftable spear whose blueprint comes from Inazuma. Its secondary stat raises elemental mastery, and the passive ability boosts elemental skill damage while slightly raising energy recharge for six seconds, which is handy considering Cyno's burst uses 80 energy.
Best Cyno F2P Artifacts – Thundering Fury
Thundering Fury remains our top pick For Cyno’s Artifacts. His F2P build functions the same as his paid build, so boosting his Electro damage and using him to generate elemental reactions – and get Thundering Fury’s new buff in the process – is the best way to go.
Is Cyno a DPS character?
Yes, Cyno is an Electro DPS character with absolutely no support potential to speak of. His elemental abilities leave no lingering trace, so whether you want to play him as an elemental DPS or a critical hit DPS, you can expect him to take the active role in pretty much every situation.
Cyno’s skill, Chasmic Soulfarer, generates a wave of Electro with his spear, and if you use it while Cyno’s burst is active, he triggers a large Electro explosion and remains in his burst state for longer. The passive talent Featherfall Judgment creates three Duskstalker Bolts when Cyno uses his skill, which deal Electro damage equal to 50 percent of Cyno’s attack.
Cyno’s burst is called Wolf’s Swiftness and puts Cyno in the Pactsworn Pathclearer state, where all his attacks are infused with Electro, and his elemental mastery increases by 100.
Cyno’s passive talent Authority over the Nine Bows makes that elemental mastery buff important. The talent increases Pactsworn Pathclearer’s normal attacks by 125 percent of Cyno’s elemental mastery and buffs the Duskstalker Bolts by 225 percent of his elemental mastery.
His secondary state is critical damage, so while his critical hit rate remains the same as he levels up, Cyno can still deal a respectable amount of damage. Low base attack means your best bet is focusing on his Electro damage, though. Add him in a party with a Dendro character, such as the Dendro Traveler or Collei, for a setup that favors Aggravate and increased Electro damage.
Should I pull for Cyno?
Whether Cyno is a good fit for you depends on your party, and his lack of support options means little use exists outside of his main DPS potential. If you already have one or two Electro DPS characters – Keqing, Raiden Shogun, or even Razor, for example – then Cyno won’t do much else for you.
If you're saving up for future Genshin Impact banners, make sure to check out our up-do-date list of Genshin Impact codes for some free Primogems.