Genshin Impact’s Citlali is a well-respected, cryo-wielding fortune teller from the Masters of the Night-Wind tribe in Natlan. If you want to reach her full potential, use our comprehensive guide to equip her with the best weapons, artifacts, team comps, and more.
Make sure you check out our Genshin Impact codes to grab yourself some extra gems for the next Genshin Impact banner. We’ve also got a guide to all the Genshin Impact events for more chances to earn currency. If you need help building characters, head over to our guides for Genshin Impact’s Kachina, Genshin Impact’s Chiori, and Genshin Impact’s Chevreuse.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Citlali build guide:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Citlali build?
Citlali is a five-star cryo catalyst wielder. She’s a great support unit, especially in melt and frozen team comps thanks to her ability to shred through enemies’ pyro and hydro resistance. Her off-field cryo application also makes her a flexible and valuable member of a lot of melt-based teams.
Here’s a brief overview of our best Citlali build:
| Rarity | ★★★★★ |
| Element | Cryo |
| Weapon | Catalyst |
| Best weapon | Starcaller’s Watch |
| Weapon substitutes |
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| Best artifact set | Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City |
| Artifact substitutes | Tenacity of the Millelith |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats |
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Citlali’s best weapon is her signature catalyst, Starcaller’s Watch, and her best artifact set is Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City. Her most important stat is elemental mastery, so be sure to focus on rolling for that, as well as energy recharge, when building her kit.
What are the best weapons for Citlali?
Citlali’s best-in-slot weapon is her signature catalyst, Starcaller’s Watch. It massively buffs her elemental mastery, which in turn buffs her shield’s damage absorption. Plus, the weapon’s bonus ability suits her off-field playstyle, letting her increase the incoming DPS’ damage output each time she creates a shield.
A Thousand Floating Dreams is a good alternative five-star catalyst if you happen to have one spare, thanks to its large elemental mastery base stat and synergy with Citlali’s best team comps, which typically feature a two-two split of cryo and pyro characters.
For a cheaper option, Sacrificial Fragments is a good elemental mastery pick and its skill means you have the chance to cast Citlali’s shield more often. Alternatively, you should never underestimate a fully-refined Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers. Despite being a HP weapon, the quickswap buff is incredibly powerful.
Here are the best weapons for Citlali:
| Starcaller’s Watch | Stat: elemental mastery Skill: increases elemental mastery by 100. Gain the “Mirror of Night” effect within 15 seconds after Citlali creates a shield: The current active party member deals 28% increased damage to nearby opponents. You can gain the “Mirror of Night” effect once every 14 seconds |
Weapon event banner |
| A Thousand Floating Dreams | Stat: elemental mastery Skill: party members other than Citlali provide her with buffs based on whether their elemental type is the same as the latter or not. If their elemental types are the same, increase elemental mastery by 32. If not, increase Citlali’s cryo damage bonus by 10%. Each of the aforementioned effects can have up to three stacks. Additionally, all nearby party members other than Citlali have their elemental mastery increased by 40. Multiple such effects from multiple such weapons can stack |
Weapon event banner |
| Sacrificial Fragments | Stat: elemental mastery Skill: after dealing damage to an opponent with an elemental skill, the skill has a 40% chance to end its own cooldown. Can only occur once every 30 seconds |
Gacha |
| Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers | Stat: HP Skill: when switching characters, the new character taking the field has their attack increased by 24% for ten seconds. This effect can only occur once every 20 seconds |
Gacha and chests |
What are the best artifacts for Citlali?
Citlali’s best artifact set is Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City. All of her team comps revolve around her ability to trigger melt and freeze reactions, so this set has the potential to buff your DPS’ elemental damage bonus massively, especially if Citlali is in the Nightsoul’s Blessing state. However, Cinder City’s four-piece effect doesn’t stack, so if you’re also running someone like Genshin Impact’s Xilonen on your team, you may need to reconsider.
Luckily, Tenacity of the Millelith is another great four-piece option for Citlali as it buffs her shield strength for your entire team even when she is not on the field. If you’re struggling to farm these artifacts or need some extra elemental mastery, Instructor is a reliable four-star option.
Here are the best artifacts for Citlali:
| Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City | Two equipped: when a nearby party member triggers a Nightsoul Burst, Citlali regenerates six elemental energy Four equipped: after Citlali triggers a reaction related to her elemental type, all nearby party members gain a 12% elemental damage bonus for the elemental types involved in the elemental reaction for 15 seconds. If Citlali is in the Nightsoul’s Blessing state when triggering this effect, all nearby party members gain an additional 28% elemental damage bonus for the elemental types involved in the elemental reaction for 20 seconds. Citlali can trigger this effect while off-field, and the damage bonus from artifact sets with the same name do not stack |
Obtain from the Sanctum of Rainbow Spirits domain in Toyac Springs, Natlan |
| Tenacity of the Millelith | Two equipped: HP +20% Four equipped: when an elemental skill hits an opponent, the attack of all nearby party members is increased by 20% and their shield strength is increased by 30% for three seconds. This effect can trigger once every 0.5 seconds. This effect can still trigger even when Citlali is not on the field |
Obtain from the Ridge Watch domain in Stone Gate, Liyue |
| Instructor | Two equipped: elemental mastery +80 Four equipped: upon triggering an elemental reaction, increases all party members’ elemental mastery by 120 for eight seconds |
Elite enemies, bosses, and chests |
Artifact stat recommendations
When picking which artifacts to give Citlali, we recommend prioritizing the following stats and sub-stats.
Main stats:
- Sands: elemental mastery
- Goblet: elemental mastery
- Circlet: elemental mastery
Sub-stats:
What are the best Citlali team comps?
As we’ve already said, Citlali works best in melt and freeze team comps thanks to her pyro and hydro resistance shred. Her best DPS partners are Genshin Impact’s Mavuika and Genshin Impact’s Arlecchino, while unsurprisingly, Genshin Impact’s Bennett is the ideal support unit. With Bennett and a pyro DPS, there’s some room for flexibility, so consider characters with good hydro application, or a geo sub-DPS.
Here are some examples of strong Citlali team comps:
 Citlali |
 Mavuika |
 Xilonen |
 Bennett |
Citlali |
 Yelan |
 Arlecchino |
Bennett |
Citlali |
 Chasca |
 Furina |
Bennett |
What are Citlali’s abilities?
Here are all of Citlali’s active and passive abilities in battle and exploration.
Citlali’s active skills:
| Normal attack | Shadow-Stealing Spirit Vessel Normal: Citlali performs up to three strikes, dealing cryo damage Charged: Citlali enters aiming mode and consumes a set amount of stamina to call forth a Frost Star that deals cryo damage to enemies in its path Plunging: Citlali plunges from mid-air, dealing AoE cryo damage to enemies around her |
| Elemental skill | Dawnfrost Darkstar Citlali deploys an Opal Shield and calls forth “Obsidian Tzitzimitl: Itzpapa,” dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE cryo damage. The Opal Shield’s damage absorption scales based on Citlali’s elemental mastery, and absorbs cryo damage with 250% efficiency. When Citlali deploys her shield, she is briefly affected by cryo. After using this skill, Citlali gains 24 Nightsoul points and enters the Nightsoul’s Blessing state. When Itzpapa leaves the field, Citlali exits the Nightsoul’s Blessing state. Itzpapa
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| Elemental burst | Edict of Entwined Splendor Summons “allies” from the starry skies and the vast earth, hurling forth an ice storm to bombard the area in front and deal Nightsoul-aligned AoE cryo damage. This restores a set amount of Nightsoul points for Citlali, and also summons a Spiritvessel Skull near a maximum of three opponents within the AoE, with one Skull for each opponent. Spiritvessel Skulls explode after some time, dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE cryo damage and restoring a set amount of Nightsoul points for Citlali |
Citlali’s passive skills:
| A1 | Mamaloaco’s Frigid Rain While Itzpapa is on the field, after nearby party members trigger the frozen or melt reactions, the pyro and hydro resistance of opponents affected by that reaction decreases by 20% for 12 seconds. Additionally, Citlali regains 16 Nightsoul points. Nightsoul can restore this way once every eight seconds |
| A4 | Itzpapalotl’s Star Garments During the elemental skill Dawnfrost Darkstar, Itzpapa’s Frostfall Storm damage increases by 90% of Citlali’s elemental mastery. During the elemental burst Edict of Entwined Splendor, Ice Storm damage is increased by 1200% of Citlali’s elemental mastery. In addition, when nearby party members trigger Nightsoul Bursts, Citlali regains four Nightsoul points |
| Night Realm’s Gift | Smoke, Mirrors, and the Flowing Winds While in an area with Phlogiston Mechanics within Natlan, can use Nightsoul Transmission: Citlali. When the active character is currently high enough in the air, the following will trigger when switching to Citlali: Citlali will leap up high, and will deploy “White Obsidian Tzitzimitl: Citlalin” to float in the air. Nightsoul Transmission can trigger once every ten seconds by your party. Holding Aiming Mode will cause Citlali to enter the “Spiritspeaker” state, which will allow her to interact with “Nightspirit Graffiti” and “Nightspirit Sigils,” extracting information and power from them. The rules for interacting with these objects follow the same rules as those governing Iktomisaurus interactions. Additionally, holding the jump button will cause Citlali to consume 75 stamina and leap. In areas within Natlan where Phlogiston mechanics are present, Citlali will prioritize consuming five Phlogiston to leap to a height higher still. When in the air, Citlali can hold her normal attack to consume Phlogiston or stamina, enter Aiming Mode, and trigger charged attacks. When initiating charged attacks in mid-air, Citlali will prioritize consuming 20 Phlogiston |
| Utility | Songs of Profound Mystery While in an area with Phlogiston Mechanics within Natlan, triggering “Nightsoul Burst” restores 20 Phlogiston. This cannot take effect in Domains, Trounce Domains, or the Spiral Abyss |
What are Citlali’s constellations?
If you’re lucky enough to pull multiple copies of Citlali, you can unlock her constellations. These are additional buffs to her active and passive skills.
Here are Genshin Impact Citlali’s constellations:
| C1 | Radiant Blades of Centzon Mimixcoah When she uses the elemental skill Dawnfrost Darkstar, Citlali gains the “Opalstar Vestments” effect until Itzpapa leaves the field. During this time, she will obtain ten Stellar Blades. When a nearby active character other than Citlali deals damage using normal, charged, or plunging attacks, or elemental skills and bursts, consume one Blade to increase the damage dealt by 200% of Citlali’s elemental mastery. After nearby party members trigger frozen or melt, Citlali gains another three Stellar Blades. This effect can trigger once every eight seconds. Using the elemental skill Dawnfrost Darkstar resets Stellar Blade stacks. Additionally, when Citlali is using her leap, or is aiming or using her charged attack in mid-air, her Phlogiston consumption decreases by 45% |
| C2 | Heart Devourer’s Travail Citlali gains 125 elemental mastery, and other characters shielded by her Opal Shield, or who have Itzpapa following them, gain 250 elemental mastery. Additionally, when the elemental skill Dawnfrost Darkstar is used, nearby active characters will also be granted an Opal Shield. Also, the “Mamaloaco’s Frigid Rain” passive is enhanced: While Itzpapa is on the field, after nearby party members trigger frozen or melt, the opponent(s) affected by this reaction will have their pyro and hydro resistance additionally decreased by 20% for 12 seconds. You must first unlock “Mamaloaco’s Frigid Rain” to gain access to the above effect |
| C3 | Cloud Serpent’s Feathered Crown Increases the level of Citlali’s elemental skill by three, up to a maximum level of 15 |
| C4 | Death Defier’s Spirit Skull While Dawnfrost Darkstar is active, when Itzpapa’s Frostfall Storm hits opponents, an additional Obsidian Spiritvessel Skull is summoned. When a Spiritvessel Skull summoned this way explodes, it deals 1800% of Citlali’s elemental mastery as Nightsoul-aligned AoE cryo damage and restores 16 Nightsoul points and eight energy for Citlali. This effect can trigger once every eight seconds. This damage is not considered elemental burst damage |
| C5 | Nemontemi’s Hex Increases the level of Citlali’s elemental burst by three, up to a maximum level of 15 |
| C6 | Teoiztac’s Secret Pact After being summoned with Dawnfrost Darkstar, Itzpapa will always be in the Opal Fire state, and when Nightsoul points are exhausted, this state will not end. Additionally, when Dawnfrost Darkstar is used, Itzpapa will consume all Nightsoul points, and while it is on the field, it will continuously consume Nightsoul points. Each Nightsoul point consumed in this way will grant Citlali one “Cifra of the Secret Law” point. Citlali can gain a maximum of 40 such points, and each point she possesses will grant all nearby party members a 1.5% pyro and hydro damage bonus, and increase the damage Citlali deals by 2.5%. When Itzpapa leaves the field, or upon using Citlali’s elemental skill again, all “Cifra of the Secret Law” points she has will be removed |
What are Citlali’s ascension materials?
When leveling Citlali up, you need to use a specific set of materials to increase her level cap at certain intervals.
Here are all of Citlali’s ascension materials:
| 20➔40 |
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| 40➔50 |
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| 50➔60 |
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| 60➔70 |
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| 70➔80 |
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| 80➔90 |
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Here’s where to get each of Citlali’s ascension materials:
- Shivada jade – normal and weekly boss drops, or crafted via alchemy and the parametric transformer
- Juvenile/seasoned/tyrant’s fangs – Natlan saurian enemy drops, alchemy, and the Paimon’s Bargain store
- Quenepa berries – found and sold in Natlan
- Talismans of the enigmatic land – drops from the wayward hermetic spiritspeaker normal boss in the Tezcatepetonco Range, Natlan
What are Citlali’s talent materials?
You can upgrade Citlali’s normal attack, elemental skill, and elemental burst to a maximum of level ten.
Here are all the materials you need to upgrade each of Citlali’s talents to max level:
| 1➔2 |
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| 2➔3 |
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| 3➔4 |
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| 4➔5 |
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| 5➔6 |
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| 6➔7 |
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| 7➔8 |
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| 8➔9 |
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| 9➔10 |
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Here’s where to get all of Citlali’s talent materials:
- Juvenile/seasoned/tyrant’s fangs – Natlan saurian enemy drops, alchemy, and the Paimon’s Bargain store
- Kindling talent books – rewards from the Blazing Ruins domain on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays
- Denial and judgement – drops from The Knave weekly boss in the Scattered Ruins
Talent priority
When leveling up Citlali’s talents, we recommend prioritizing the following:
Who are Citlali’s voice actors?
Citlali’s English voice actor is Skyler Davenport, who you might recognize from their portrayal of Honkai Star Rail’s March 7th, Goddess of Victory: Nikke’s Belorta, and Viola in Pokémon Masters EX. Her Japanese voice actor is Asami Tano, who is best known for her work in anime as Cure Sunny in Smile Precure!, Sarah Kazuno in Love Live! Sunshine!, and Kobuna in Boruto.
That’s everything we know about Genshin Impact’s Citlali. Learn more about the residents of Natlan in our guides to Genshin Impact’s Kinich, Genshin Impact’s Xilonen, Genshin Impact’s Kachina, and Genshin Impact’s saurians.