Genshin Impact’s Cyno is a five-star electro polearm wielder who hails from the deserts of Sumeru. He has the potential to be an extremely strong DPS, as long as you’re willing to invest into him and his team. So let’s dive into our best Cyno build, featuring his top weapons, artifacts, and more.
When you’re done here, be sure to wander over to our Genshin Impact tier list to see how his sizes up against the other characters, and our Genshin Impact next banner guide to see who’s up next. We’ve also got a list of Genshin Impact codes to keep the freemos flowing.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Cyno build:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Cyno build?
| Best weapon | Staff of Scarlet Sands |
| Weapon substitutes |
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| Best artifact set | Gilded Dreams |
| Artifact substitute | Thundering Fury |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats |
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Genshin’s Cyno is a five-star electro polearm wielder best suited to an on-field DPS role. He’s capable of dealing some very high damage, but his long burst time often outlives the elemental application, shield time, and buffs of many supports.
Cyno’s best weapon is his signature five-star polearm, Staff of Scarlet Sands, and his best artifact set is Gilded Dreams. When building him, it’s important to give him enough energy recharge so that he can burst regularly, then you should focus on boosting his crit and elemental mastery. For more details on his best equipment and alternates, check out the dedicated sections below.
In terms of his talents, we recommend prioritizing his elemental burst, followed by his elemental skill. His normal attack is unimportant, so you should leave that until last.
In general, we find he sees most success in aggravate team comps alongside Genshin’s Traveler with dendro alignment. Genshin Impact’s Nahida is also a very strong ally for Cyno, however, she requires on-field time to reapply dendro every time new ads spawn, whereas Traveler’s burst continuously applies dendro even when they’re off field.
Aside from that, Cyno benefits from a secondary electro character to help battery him, as well as a strong shielder who can protect him from interrupts and reduce his need for healing during his long burst.
How to use Cyno
The most important part of learning how to use Cyno is getting to grips with his elemental burst.
Firstly, Cyno’s burst is very long compared to many other DPS, and cancels if he leaves the field. As such, you need to ensure that you set up all the off-field elemental reactions and buffs you have before you switch to Cyno and use his burst.
We also recommend setting up some form of off-field healing (such as Kokomi’s Bake-Kurage, Kuki’s grass ring, or Yaoyao’s Yuegei) or a strong shield (such as Zhongli’s) directly before you switch to him. This is important as it helps him survive throughout the burst and, in the case of the shield, prevents interruptions so he can keep dishing out the damage.
Now, when it comes to Cyno’s burst itself, his top damage output comes from you triggering his skill when the eye appears on your screen. Without Thundering Fury, this lines up pretty well, but it’s still easy to misclick or miss the prompt when there’s a lot going on. So be sure to get in a bit of practice and get a feel for when to hit that enhanced skill button.
Outside of his burst, Cyno’s skill is more like a quick dash with some electro application. But, generally, you want him to use his burst as often as possible, which is why increasing his energy recharge is your top priority when building him.
His kit focuses on elemental mastery, which means his damage output is higher when he’s triggering elemental reactions. Therefore, as an on-field character, he relies on off-field elemental application from his allies. This makes his team comps pretty rigid, as he relies on a particular type of support that can keep up with his long burst duration.
What are the best Cyno weapons?
Cyno’s signature weapon Staff of Scarlet Sands is ultimately the best in show, as it compliments his kit well through its crit rate and elemental mastery buffs.
If you don’t have Staff of Scarlet Sands, Jade Winged Spear and Staff of Homa are also great choices, with Deathmatch acting as his best four-star option if you’re a Battle Pass buyer.
Surprisingly, White Tassel at refinement five is generally a pretty great choice for Cyno, too, and beats other four-stars aside from Deathmatch. Despite its low base attack, its boost to normal attack damage and crit rate is pretty substantial, and compliments Cyno’s kit well.
| Weapon | Description | How to obtain |
| Staff of Scarlet Sands | Base stat: crit rate Skill: provides Cyno with 52% of his elemental mastery as bonus attack. When his elemental skill hits opponents, the Dream of the Scarlet Sands effect activates for ten seconds. During this time, Cyno gains 28% of his elemental mastery as bonus attack, for a max of three stacks |
Gacha |
| Primordial Jade Winged-Spear | Base stat: crit rate Skill: on hit, increases attack by 3.2% for six seconds. Max seven stacks. This effect can only occur once every 0.3 seconds. While in possession of the maximum possible stacks, Cyno’s damage dealt increases by 12% |
Gacha |
| Staff of Homa | Base stat: crit damage Skill: increases HP by 20%. Also provides an attack bonus based on 0.8% of Cyno’s max HP. When Cyno’s HP is less than 50%, this attack bonus increases by an additional 1% of max HP |
Gacha |
| Deathmatch | Base stat: crit rate Skill: if there are at least two opponents nearby, attack increases by 16% and defence increases by 16%. If there are fewer than two opponents nearby, attack increases by 24% |
Battle Pass reward |
| White Tassel | Base stat: crit rate Skill: increases normal attack damage by 24% |
Chests |
What are the best Cyno artifacts?
The best Cyno artifacts depend on how you want to use him and what type of team you intend to put him in. Generally, Gilded Dreams is the best all-round option with the most consistent results.
However, Thundering Fury is situationally his best set as it allows him to use his elemental skill more often, helps with his energy recharge requirements, and has a higher damage ceiling than Gilded Dreams. The main issue with Thundering Fury is that it makes it difficult to line up his skill with his Featherfall Judgement passive.
Ultimately, the choice between these two sets depends on your personal preference, as they both have their own pros and cons.
| Artifacts | Effect | How to obtain |
| Gilded Dreams | Two equipped: elemental mastery +80 Four equipped: within eight seconds of triggering an elemental reaction, Tighnari obtains buffs based on the elemental type of his other party members. Attack increases by 14% for each member whose elemental type is the same as his, and his elemental mastery increases by 50 for every different elemental type. Each of the buffs count up to three characters. This effect can trigger once every eight seconds, even when Tighnari isn’t on the field |
Spire of Solitary Enlightenment domain, near Gandha Hill in Sumeru |
| Thundering Fury | Two equipped: electro damage +15% Four equipped: increases damage caused by overloaded, electro-charged, and superconduct by 40%. Triggering such effects decreases your elemental skill cooldown by one second. Can only occur once every 0.8 seconds |
Midsummer Courtyard domain in Starfell Valley, Starsnatch Cliff |
Cyno stat recommendations
When building Cyno, your first priority should be helping him get to his energy recharge requirements. These requirements differ quite dramatically depending on a few different factors, most notably whether he’s using Thundering Fury or not, and whether he’s fighting alongside other electro characters that can battery him.
To be safe, we generally recommend hitting about 180% energy recharge if he’s using Thundering Fury, and upwards of 220% if he isn’t, as this is the minimum requirement for him if he’s solo electro. You can settle for lower if you team him up with electro characters capable of generating particles for him.
If you want a more accurate representation of your energy requirements, take a look at Zakharov’s Energy Recharge Calculator.
Main stats:
- Sands: elemental mastery/attack%
- Goblet: electro damage bonus
- Circlet: crit rate/damage
Sub-stats:
- Energy recharge until requirement
- Crit rate/damage (try to maintain a 1:2 ratio)
- Elemental mastery
- Attack%
What are the best Cyno team comps?
Cyno is a pretty greedy boy, and performs best when teamed up with supports dedicated to helping him out – be it through setting up off-field elemental application, buffs, shields, or healing.
Cyno’s best teams generally revolve around aggravate, quickbloom, or hyperbloom reactions. He also really benefits from having another electro character on his team to help him with his energy regeneration.
Another thing to keep in mind when picking team comps for Cyno is his long burst-time and what type of enemies he’s facing. The long duration of Nahida’s skill is brilliant for long-lasting enemies such as bosses, but falls off if you’re facing multiple waves of smaller enemies as she needs to consistently re-apply it as new ads arrive.
As such, while Nahida seems to have a higher damage ceiling, dendro Traveler offers a bit more flexibility in a Cyno team, as the off-field dendro application from their burst sticks around for quite some time – though does remain stationary, so it limits how much Cyno can zip around the battlefield.
Here are a some examples of the best Cyno team comps for you to try. Feel free to swap out and experiment with different characters depending on your playstyle, but keep in mind that Cyno is hungry for field time and should never sit on the bench for too long, so their main priority should always be fueling or serving him in quick, short bursts between his rotations.
| First character slot | Second character slot | Third character slot | Fourth character slot |
 Cyno |
 Zhongli |
 Nahida |
 Fischl |
| Cyno |
 Kazuha |
 Collei |
 Kuki |
| Cyno |
 Dendro Traveler |
Fischl |
 Barbara |
| Cyno |
Nahida |
 Mona |
Kuki |
| Cyno |
 Xingqiu |
 Beidou |
 Yaoyao |
| Cyno |
 Yelan |
Nahida |
Kuki |
What are Cyno’s skills?
Here are all of Cyno’s attacks and skills:
Active skills:
| Attack | Effect |
| Normal attack: Invoker’s Spear | Normal: perform up to four consecutive spear strikes Charged: consume a set amount of stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to opponents along the way Plunge: plunge from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE damage upon impact |
| Elemental skill: Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer | Perform a swift thrust, dealing electro damage to opponents along the path. When Cyno is under the Pactsworn Pathclearer effect triggered by Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, he instead unleashes a Mortuary Rite that deals thunderous AoE electro damage and extends the duration of Pactsworn Pathclearer |
| Elemental burst: Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness | Cyno calls upon a divine spirit to possess him, morphing into the Pactsworn Pathclearer. Pactsworn Pathclearer: Cyno’s normal, charged, and plunging attacks convert to electro damage that cannot be overridden. Also increases his elemental mastery and resistance to interruption, and gives him immunity to electro charged damage. This effect expires if Cyno leaves the field, and lasts for a maximum of 18 seconds |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| The Gift of Silence | Cyno gains 25% more rewards when you dispatch him on a Sumeru expedition for 20 hours |
| Featherfall Judgement | When Cyno is in the Pactsworn Pathfinder state activated by Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, he enters the Endseer stance at intervals. If he activates Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer while while affected by this stance, he activates the Judication effect, increasing the damage of this Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer by 35%, and firing off three Duststalker Bolts that deal 50% of Cyno’s attack as electro damage. Dustalker Bolt damage is considered elemental skill damage. |
| Authority Over the Nine Bows | Increases Pactsworn Pathclearer’s normal attack damage by 125% of his elemental mastery. Also increases the Dustwalker Bolt damage from his passive talent’s Featherfall Judgement by 250% of his elemental mastery. |
What are Cyno’s constellations?
If you get your paws on more than one copy of Cyno, you can unlock one of his constellations. Here are all of Cyno’s constellations:
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Ordinance: Unceasing Vigil | After using Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, Cyno’s normal attack speed increases by 20% for ten seconds. If the Judication effect of his passive talent Featherfall Judgement triggers during Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer, the duration of this increase is refreshed. Requires passive talent Featherfall Judgement |
| C2: Ceremony: Homecoming of Spirits | When Cyno’s normal attacks hit opponents, his normal attack’s crit rate and crit damage increases by 3% and 6% respectively for four seconds. You can trigger this effect once every 0.1 seconds. Max five stacks. Each stack’s duration is counted independently |
| C3: Pecept: Lawful Enforcer | Increases the level of Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| C4: Austerity: Forbidding Guard | When Cyno is in the the Pactsworn Pathclearer state triggered by Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, after he triggers electro-charged, superconduct, overload, quicken, aggravate, hyperbloom, swirl, or crystalization reaction, he restores three elemental energy for all nearby part members (excluding himself). This effect can occur five times within one use of Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness. |
| C5: Funerary Rite: The Passing of Starlight | Increases the level of Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| C6: Raiment: Just Scales | After using Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness or triggering the Judication effect of the passive talent ‘Featherfall Judgement’, Cyno gains four stacks of the ‘Day of the Jackal’ to fire off one Duststalker Bolt. ‘Day of the Jackal’ lasts for eight seconds. Max eight stacks. It expires once Pactsworn Pathclearer ends. You can unleash a maximum of one Duststalker Bolt this way every 0.4 seconds. Requires passive talent Featherfall Judgement |
What are Cyno’s ascension materials
In order to ascend Cyno, you need the following materials. Check out our Genshin Impact scarab guide to help you farm those blasted beetles in the Sumeru desert. The divining scrolls come from samachurl enemies, and you can get the thunderclap fruitcores from the Electro Regisvine world boss.
| Level | Mora | Materials |
| 20+ | 20k | One vajrada amethyst sliver, three scarabs, three divining scrolls |
| 40+ | 40k | Three vajrada amethyst fragments, ten scarabs, 15 divining scroll, two thunderclap fruitcore |
| 50+ | 60k | Six vajrada amethyst fragments, 20 scarabs, 12 sealed scroll, four thunderclap fruitcore |
| 60+ | 80k | Three vajrada amethyst chunks, 30 scarabs, 18 sealed scrolls, eight thunderclap fruitcore |
| 70+ | 100k | Six vajrada amethyst chunks, 45 scarabs, 12 forbidden curse scroll, 12 thunderclap fruitcore |
| 80+ | 120k | Six vajrada amethyst gemstones, 60 scarabs, 25 forbidden curse scroll, 20 thunderclap fruitcore |
What are Cyno’s talent materials?
You can upgrade Cyno’s normal attack, elemental attack, and elemental burst, each to level ten. Here are all the materials you need to upgrade one of his talents to max level.
Once again, the scrolls come from samachurl enemies. You can get the admonition talent books from the Steeple of Ignorance domain on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday, and the mudra of the malefic general materials come from the weekly Raiden Shogun boss battle in Inazuma.
| Level | Mora | Materials |
| One | 12.5k | Six divining scrolls, three teachings of admonition |
| Two | 17.5k | Three sealed scrolls, two guide to admonition |
| Three | 25k | Four sealed scrolls, four guide to admonition |
| Four | 30k | Six sealed scrolls, six guide to admonition |
| Five | 37.5k | Nine sealed scrolls, nine guide to admonition |
| Six | 120k | Four forbidden curse scrolls, four philosophies of admonition, one mudra of the malefic general |
| Seven | 260k | Six forbidden curse scrolls, six philosophies of admonition, one mudra of the malefic general |
| Eight | 450k | Nine forbidden curse scrolls, 12 philosophies of admonition, two mudra of the malefic general |
| Nine | 700k | 12 forbidden curse scrolls, 16 philosophies of admonition, two mudra of the malefic general, one crown of insight |
Talent priority
When leveling up Cyno’s skill, we recommend prioritizing the following:
- Elemental burst > elemental skill >> normal attacks
You rarely need to use Cyno’s normal attacks, as most of his damage comes from his burst. Therefore, leveling up his normal attacks is not recommended, and should be your lowest priority.
Well, that’s it for our Genshin Impact Cyno guide – at ‘Lisa’ as far as ‘Cyno’, that is! For more Hoyo adventures, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list, Honkai Star Rail codes, Honkai Star Rail events, and Honkai Star Rail banners guides – just try not to eat too many ground nuts, or else the Astral Express might not take off.