Going on with new characters one after the other, Genshin Impact’s playable characters are growing little by little every update.
Including Traveler, there are a total of 31 playable characters in Genshin Impact as of the latest version. From 31, 6 of them hold the Cryo Vision with Rosaria as the newest addition to the Cryo family.
Able to manipulate Ice to their bidding, these characters are either best used as Utility or sub DPS at the exception of Ganyu, who shines better as a main DPS.
Here are the 5 best Cryo characters in Genshin Impact.
5. Diona
At number 5 is the famous bartender in Cat’s Tail tavern, Diona. With literal non-human blood inside her, this cat lady best works as a Utility; taking the role of a healer within the team.
Diona’s skills are very obvious about her role, frankly speaking. Her Elemental Skill, Icy Paws, fires an Ice Paw which deals Cryo DMG to targets whilst creating a Shield on hit. The duration of the Shield scales to the number of Icy Paws that hit the target.
Pressing once will rapidly fire 2 Ice Paws while holding the Elemental Skill will make Diona dashes back quickly before firing 5 Ice Paws at once. On Hold, the DMG Absorption of the Shield gets an additional 75% bonus. That said, her Shield also has a 250% Cryo DMG Absorption Bonus and will apply Cryo status to your active character for a short while.
Moving on, her Elemental Burst, Signature Mix, is where her healing ability is shown. As Diana tosses out a special cold crew, it will deal AoE Cryo DMG whilst creating a Drunken Mist AoE. Opponents within the Drunken Mist will get Cryo DMG while characters are healed. This goes on for 12 seconds.
Both Diona’s Shield and the amount of healing during Signature Mix are based on her max HP. Making it easy to find good artifacts for her; because Genshin Impact is generous with HP stat on artifact drops.
Not finished yet, her Ascension 1 increases Movement SPD by 10% along with 10% decreased Stamina Consumption for characters protected by her Icy Paw Shield. At Ascension 4, opponents within her Signature Mix have their ATK reduced by 10% for 15 seconds.
The cherry on top, if you get her until Constellation 6, Diona makes a very awesome healer. At this point, characters near Signature Mix will get more HP as C6 increases Incoming Healing Bonus by 30% when your HP is 50% or below. When your HP is above 50%, Elemental Mastery is instead increased by 200.
What Makes Diona Awesome:
- All of her skills are AoE, making it easy to fight against mobs of monsters
- Has both Shield and healing ability
- Shield and HP regeneration are based on max HP
- Easy to farm HP artifacts
4. Chongyun
The exorcist with exceeding Yang energy, Chongyun, lands number 4 on this list. If there’s anyone whose appearance screams ‘I have Cryo Vision!’ from head to toe, it would be him.
This Claymore Wielder is the best when it comes to sub DPS. Both his Elemental Skill and Burst are also pretty straightforward with their roles.
His Elemental Skill, Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost, creates a Cryo explosion once Chongyun strikes the ground with his Claymore, which leads to a circular Cryo that deals Cryo DMG. On top of this Cryo DMG, characters who strike Normal and Charged Attacks by Sword, Claymore, and Polearm will have their Physical DMG converted to Cryo DMG. This AoE lasts for pretty long, too, going on for 10 seconds before melting off.
Both passive skills from Ascension 1 and Ascension 4 boost the effect of his Elemental Skill. At Ascension 1, characters with Sword, Claymore, or Polearm within the field will have their Normal Attack SPD increased by 8%
Ascension 4 will have another spirit summoned once the field’s duration is done; striking nearby enemies with 100% of Chongyun’s Elemental Skill as AoE Cryo DMG. To top it off, enemies hit by this finishing blade will have their Cryo RES decreased by 10% for 8 seconds.
Chongyun’s Elemental Burst is Spirit Blade – Cloud-Parting Star, a rather frank skill where Chongyun simply summons 3 giant spirit blades that fall to the earth one after another on an interval. These blades explode as they hit the ground, dealing AoE Cryo DMG and launching enemies away.
What Makes Chongyun Awesome:
- A very great sub DPS for your Cryo need
- Both skills deal AoE Cryo DMG
- Ascension 1 and 4 upgrades his Elemental Skill
- Elemental Burst deals DMG at once
3. Rosaria
From first look, Rosaria might look more like a Pyro character than Cryo, though maybe that’s because of the red accent. But, if anything, her cold and stiff demeanor tells you clearly that she has a Cryo Vision with her.
As the first Polearm wielder in the Cryo category, her Elemental Skill, Ravaging Confession, allows Rosaria to swiftly teleport to the back of her enemy, quickly stabbing them from behind with her Polearm as she deals Cryo DMG. Though, if the target is larger than her, she’s unable to move behind and simply strikes from the front. The cooldown is pretty short, only 6 seconds and you’re good to go.
Her Elemental Burst is Rites of Termination is what they say her take on that very prayer ritual. First, she swings around her weapon to surrounding enemies, slashing them. After that, she summons an Ice Lance which strikes the ground. Both of these deal Cryo DMG. Also, the Ice Lance stays for about 8 seconds, periodically releasing blasts of cold air as it deals Cryo DMG to nearby enemies.
What’s really great about her is the effect that takes place after her Ascension 1, in which striking opponents with her Elemental Skill will result in Rosaria’s CRIT Rate increased by 12% for 5 seconds.
At Ascension 4, though, casting her Elemental Burst will instead increase CRIT Rate of all party members except for her by 15% of Rosaria’s CRIT Rate for 10 seconds. The maximum CRIT Rate bonus from this is only 15%.
What Makes Rosaria Awesome:
- Able to increase CRIT Rate through Ascension 1 and 4
- Great for sub and main DPS
- Elemental Skill CD is pretty quick
- Elemental Skill allows Rosaria to avoid enemies
- Elemental Burst causes Cryo DMG over and over again
2. Qiqi
At last, Qiqi shows up at number two. This five-starred little zombie is a Sword user who shines best at Utility. Arguably, Qiqi is one of the best healers in Genshin Impact as of now. Either it’s due to her immortality or because she works in a pharmacy, I’ll leave it up to your imagination.
Qiqi’s Elemental Skill is Adeptus Art: Herald of Frost, in which she summons Herald of Frost with her Icevin Talisman, dealing Cryo DMG to nearby enemies.
Activating her Elemental Skill will result in a few things at once: (1) When Qiqi hits a target with either Normal or Charged Attacks, she heals all party members as she does so. (2) Not only that, Qiqi also regenerates HP for the active character at regular intervals. (3) The frost follows the character around like a pet, dealing Cryo DMG to enemies nearby. This ability lasts for 15 seconds.
During her Elemental Burst, Adeptus Art: Preserver of Fortune, Qiqi releases the adeptus power within her body, marking nearby enemies with a Fortune-Preserving Talisman. As these enemies are hit by Cryo DMG, when players hit marked enemies, the DMG dealt turns into HP for the players.
In short, Qiqi heals as you fight. The more the DMG, the more the HP. This lasts for 15 seconds, more than enough to fill your HP gauge as long as you keep on hitting these marks. All of Qiqi regeneration amount is scaled to her ATK.
To support this, on Ascension 1, a character under the effects of her Elemental Skill gets their Incoming Healing Bonus increased by 20% for 8 seconds once they trigger Elemental Reaction. Plus, on Ascension 4, Qiqi gets a 50% chance of applying Fortune-Preserving Talisman on enemies through Normal and Charged Attacks for 6 seconds. This can only happen once every 30 seconds.
She doesn’t stop there, if there’s anything Qiqi knows best; it’s to resurrect. If you’re lucky enough to open her Constellation 6, her Elemental Burst will revive all nearby fallen characters with 50% of their HP. This can only occur once every 15 minutes, but there’s not even any food that can revive with 50% HP.
What Makes Qiqi Awesome:
- Qiqi heals and attack
- Qiqi also makes you attack to heal
- Her passive skill helps a lot when you’re farming for Liyue specialties (Violetgrass, Glaze Lily, etc.). Your map would be marked to let you know where can you find them
- Her healing ability is based on her ATK
- Her 6th Constellation can even revive fallen party members with 50% HP (though this particular part only reoccurs every 15 minutes).
1. Ganyu
And the first place goes to the ever so graceful Ganyu, having walked the ground of Teyvat for at least 2000 years. Perhaps it’s all the knowledge she has gathered over the years that makes her all that capable.
As the only Cryo Archer in the game, Ganyu is really skilled in whatever she does. To start off, her Charged Attack has two levels: Level 1 fires off an icy arrow that deals Cryo DMG, while Level 2 fires a Forstflake Arrow, also dealing Cryo DMG to the target. The Forstflake Arrow blooms once it hits the target, resulting in AoE Cryo DMG. You just have to charge longer to get the second level.
Ganyu’s Elemental Skill is Trail of Qilin, which creates Ice Lotus that can work as Crowd Control. Once broken (or time is up), the Ice Lotus explodes, leaving behind AoE Cryo damage to surrounding enemies. The endurance of this Ice Lotus is based on her Max HP.
On another hand, her Elemental Burst, Celestial Shower, brings forth frost and snow, summoning a Sacred Cryo Pearl that exorcises evil. During this, the Sacred Cryo Pearl will continuously rain down shards of ice, hitting enemies within the AoE as it deals Cryo DMG for 15 seconds.
Her Ascension 1 increases CRIT Rate for the Forstflake Arrow and their resulting bloom effects by 20% for 5 seconds. On Ascension 4, Cryo DMG from Celestial Shower got a bonus of 20% for active party members within the AoE.
Last one, Ganyu’s Constellation 4 increases DMG against enemies within the AoE that strengthen over time from Celestial Shower. The DMG begins at 5% and gradually goes up by 5% every 3 seconds, ending at 25%. This effect lingers for 3 seconds after the opponent leaves the AoE.
What Makes Ganyu Awesome:
- Has two levels of charged attack. Both deals Cry DMG as the Level 2 blooms into AoE Cryo
- AoE from her Elemental Burst covers a rather wide area
- After Ascension 4, Ganyu brings a 20% Cryo damage to everyone in the party after her Elemental Burst
- Her Elemental Skill works as Crown Control, taking DMG before eventually bursting to deal Cryo DMG to nearby enemies
