Cyno is a 5-star Electro hero who fights with a hast weapon. He is played as the main DPS and takes up a lot of field time. He offers an atypical gameplay that essentially revolves around his elemental rampage. We explain how to play Cyno in Genshin Impact with this complete guide. You will know which artifacts and weapons to equip him with to give him the best build, but also in which teams to play him. We also give many tips and advice for beginners.
Cyno is a 5-star character that you can only summon when he is featured in an Event Banner. He was released with the 3.1 update of Genshin Impact and got his first rerun with the 3.5 update.
Cyno's banner
You have a small chance to unlock Cyno in Genshin Impact by wishing on his Twilight Arbiter banner from March 1 to 22, 2023.
Cyno constellations
Cyno already has a good offensive potential, so you can perfectly do without his constellations. However, if you want to make the character even stronger, we recommend his first two constellations.
C1 Ordinance: Unceasing Vigil increases the speed of Cyno's normal attacks by 20% for 10 seconds during his elemental rampage.
Ceremony: Homecoming of Spirits, his C2, boosts Cyno's Electro damage bonus by 10% for 4 seconds when one of his normal attacks hits an enemy. This effect can be accumulated up to 5 times.
How to play Cyno in Genshin Impact ?
Cyno is played as the main DPS. His gameplay mainly revolves around his elemental rampage Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness. It allows him to transform into a Pactsworn Pathclearer. In this form, his normal, charged, and plunging attacks do Electro damage. His elemental mastery is also increased by 100 points. This skill has a base duration of 10 seconds and takes 20 seconds to recharge. It costs 80 points of elemental energy.
With the Featherfall Judgment passive, you'll be able to do even more damage. To do this, simply cast Cyno's elemental skill Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer when you see an eye appear while under the effect of Oathfinder. Cyno will generate 3 Duststalker Bolt that deal 100% damage at ATK. This attack will extend the elemental rampage by 4 seconds.
However, Cyno will be easily interrupted and will lose DPS. To avoid this, we advise you to play him with a hero able to summon shields such as Zhongli or to increase his resistance to interruption like Xingqiu.
For optimal rotation, start by casting all of your supports' skills and eventually Cyno's elemental attack to charge his elemental rampage. When the ability is available, activate Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness and chain normal and charged attacks together, followed by the elemental attack QTEs until the skill ends. Since it lasts a long time, be sure to choose support characters whose abilities stay on the field long enough to boost Cyno's damage and create reactions. Among the best options are Fischl, Xingqiu, Nahida, etc.
Cyno can easily hit several enemies at the same time and can be used as a single target or as a multi-target.
Especially raise Cyno's elemental rampage and elemental ability. You can leave the normal attack at level 1 as these stats are not taken into account when Cyno enters the Pathfinder form.
What is the best equipment for Cyno?
Mostly increase Cyno's offensive stats: ATK, critical rate and critical damage, but also his elemental control so that he does more damage from elemental reactions. Also, his Authority Over the Nine Bows passive increases the damage of Cyno's normal attacks when he unleashes his elemental and his sandblasts based on his elemental mastery. Also aim for at least 140% energy recharge.
We reveal the best artifacts and weapons to equip on Cyno in Genshin Impact.
The best artifacts for Cyno
The best artifact set to equip on Cyno in Genshin Impact is the 4-piece Golden Dream set. It increases his elemental mastery by 80 points, but alsoATK by 14% for every character of the same elemental type as Cyno and his elemental mastery by 50 points for all characters of different elemental types. This effect is triggered when you perform an elemental reaction and lasts 8 seconds.
You can also go to :
- Thundering Fury: With 2 coins, you increase Electro damage by 15%, and with 4 coins, you increase the damage of Elemental reactions related to the Electro element. In addition, elemental reactions reduce the cooldown of the elemental skill. This is the set that allows you to do the most damage with Cyno in theory, but you will lose DPS if you get interrupted often. So we don't recommend it for beginners;
- Gladiator's Finale: This set increases the damage ofATK by 18% and the damage of normal attacks by 35% if the equipped character carries a hast weapon, one-handed sword or two-handed sword. This is the easiest set for beginners to obtain as it can be looted from RPG bosses.
If you hesitate between several artifact sets, choose the sets with better statistics:
- Hourglass: elementary mastery or ATK%;
- Cut: bonus to Electro damage
- Crown: critical rate or critical damage.
For secondary statistics:
- CRIT Rate;
- Critical damage ;
- Basic mastery ;
- Energy recharging ;
- ATK.
The best weapons for Cyno
The best hast weapon to equip on Cyno in Genshin Impact is definitely his signature weapon: the Staff of the Scarlet Sands. It boosts his critical rate considerably, but also his ATK depending on his elemental control.
You can also bet on :
- Primordial Jade Winged-Spear: This hast weapon increases critical rate and gives a significant bonus ofATK% when you hit enemies;
- Staff of Homa: with it, you will increase the critical damage, HP andATK of Cyno ;
- Deathmatch: the weapon of the battle pass boosts critical rate,ATK and DEF depending on the number of enemies present;
- Blackcliff Pole: This hast weapon can be bought in the game's store and boosts the critical damage rate and theATK after defeating an enemy.
The best Cyno equipment for beginners and free-to-play players
You are a beginner player in Genshin Impact and want to stay on free-to-play content for the build of your Cyno?
It's a good thing, because one of the best weapons to equip on him is a 3-star hast weapon: The White Tassel. It increases critical damage and damage from normal attacks. This 3-star weapon is one of the best options for Cyno's equipment in Genshin Impact. You can find them in Liyue's chests.
You can also use the Kitain Cross Spear, which can be made by the blacksmith. This weapon increases the elemental mastery and the damage of elemental skills.
As for the artifacts, if you are not yet at the 45 level of adventure, we recommend :
- Martial Artist: This set increases the damage of normal and charged attacks;
- Berserker: With two coins, you will increase Cyno's critical rate by 12% and with 4 coins by 24% when his HP are below 70%.
Cyno's climbing materials in Genshin Impact
In order to raise Cyno to level 90 in Genshin Impact, you will need to collect the following resources:
- 1 Sliver, 9 Fragments, 9 Chunk and 6 Gemstone of Vajrada Amethyst as well as 46 Thunderclap Fruitcore, to be looted from theElectro Regisvines;
- 168 Scarabs that you will find in the desert of Sumeru. Locate them with the interactive map of Teyvat.
- 18 Divinatory Scrolls, 30 Signed Scrolls and 36 Cursed Scrolls to collect from Shamans Hilichurl.
Which team should Cyno play in?
To be able to perform his elemental rampage as often as possible, Cyno will need a battery and therefore an Electro character to assist him like Fishl or Shinobu who are the best options.
Also, playing with a Dendro character like Nahida or the Dendro Traveler will boost their damage with Aggravate reactions.
Among the best teams to play Cyno in Genshin Impact, we advise you :
Cyno / Nahida / Xingqiu / Shinobu or Beidou: This team is based on the Hyperbloom reaction. In addition to boosting Cyno's damage with the Dendro element, you will explode Dendro Cores on the enemies. You can also use the team Cyno / Fishl / Nahida / Kokomi.
Cyno / Nahida / Xingqiu / Thomas: it's the same principle, but this time, it's based on the Burgeon reaction (Dendro + Hydro +Pyro) ;
Cyno / Fishl / Nahida or Traveler Dendro / Zhongli or Kazuha: The character Dendro will boost Cyno's damage thanks to the Aggravate effect, Fishl will allow Cyno to recharge his energy faster, while Zhongli will protect him and avoid him being interrupted. You can also choose Kazuha to gather enemies and boost Cyno's Electro damage.
If you are just starting out and have few characters, one of the best teams for Cyno will be : Cyno / Fishl / Dendro Traveler / Barbara
How old and how tall is Cyno in Genshin Impact ?
Cyno is an important character of Sumeru since he is the general mahamatra; he supervises the researchers of the academy. He is about 1m61 tall and would be about 18/20 years old.
That's it for this guide dedicated to Cyno from Genshin Impact. He is an easy character to play, even for beginners, but also fun and dynamic. With a good build, he will do a lot of damage in the Abyss. To maximize his potential, we recommend playing him with a Dendro character and making sure that the effects of other characters stay on long enough while he does his elemental rampage. If you are not skilled in the art of dodging, opt for characters that can increase his resistance to interruption.