Genshin Impact’s Childe, also known as Tartaglia or Ajax, is a hydro bow user and one of the eleven Fatui Harbingers. His kit is very unique but also quite tricky, allowing you to switch between melee and ranged attacks on the fly. So let’s take a look at the best Childe build, including his role, best weapons, artifacts, and more.
If you need some help planning out a team, check out our Genshin Impact tier list. We’ve also got a list of all the new Genshin Impact codes, along with guides to the current and upcoming Genshin Impact update and Genshin Impact events.
Here’s everything in our best Genshin Impact Childe build guide:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Childe build?
| Best weapon | Main DPS: Polar Star Burst DPS: Aqua Simulacra |
| Weapon substitutes |
|
| Best artifact set | Heart of Depth |
| Artifact substitute | Two pieces of Heart of Depth with two pieces of Gladiator’s Finale or Noblesse Oblige |
| Main stats |
|
| Sub stats |
|
Childe is a hydro DPS with strong multi-target damage and fast hydro application that enables other members of his team. His burst deals high damage, and, in its ranged stance, has low energy requirement, allowing you to use it more frequently.
When it comes to equipment, Childe’s best weapon relies on whether you want to use him as a main DPS or a burst DPS. As a main DPS, we recommend Polar Star, whereas as a burst DPS, Aqua Simulacra is best. Regardless of role, Heart of Depth is the best artifact set for Childe, with crit, attack%, elemental mastery, and energy recharge being his most important stats.
Which talents you should prioritize also depends on how you want to use him. In a melee focused build, you level up his elemental skill, then his elemental burst, then his normal attack. On the other hand, in a burst focused build, you should level up his elemental burst first, then his elemental skill, then his normal attack.
He’s pretty flexible when it comes to team comps, has a unique rotation that switches between ranged and melee, and he isn’t constellation reliant, meaning you don’t need more than one copy for him to be a worthy member of your team.
How to use Childe
As with many bow-wielding characters, we generally advise against using Childe’s normal ranged attacks as the damage they deal is negligible.
Outside of that, the most important part of mastering Childe’s kit is working out how long to leave him in melee stance. The longer you leave him in melee stance, the longer his elemental skill’s cooldown will be. Therefore, the ideal time scale for a comfortable 24 second rotation at C0 is to stay in melee mode for nine seconds, which gives you a cooldown of 15 seconds before you can activate it again.
If you want a more specific breakdown suited to your personal Childe build, you can check out this community-made Childe melee duration calculator. Or, for a simpler way of counting, you can use markers from other characters, such as Bennett’s burst buff, Fischl’s Oz duration, Beidou or Xingqiu’s aura durations, or even your stamina bar. Eventually you should get a feel for how long melee mode should last to suit your team.
In terms of Childe’s burst, there’s some pros and cons to both the ranged and melee version. His melee burst deals higher damage, but has a higher energy cost and makes it more difficult to trigger vaporize reactions due to stance change.
On the other hand, Childe’s ranged burst has a lower energy requirement, a quicker animation, and is better for triggering vaporize reactions. You can also use it in his downtime while waiting for his skill cooldown. However, it does deal significantly less damage than the melee version.
Overall, remember that higher damage doesn’t mean better DPS. You need lots of energy recharge to be able to make the most of Childe’s ranged burst, but focusing on building him with more attack and crit instead of energy recharge results in higher overall damage. Therefore we generally recommend that you use Childe’s ranged burst over his melee burst.
What’s the best weapon for Childe?
As a main DPS, the best weapon for Genshin Impact’s Childe is Polar Star, followed closely by Thundering Pulse and Aqua Simulacra. For burst DPS Childe, your best choice is Aqua Simulacra followed by Thundering Pulse and R5 Mouun’s Moon.
If you’re looking for something a bit more easily accessible, Viridescent Hunt is a good choice for main DPS Childe, and R5 Stringless is great for burst DPS Childe.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Polar Star | Base stat: crit rate Skill: elemental skill and elemental burst damage increases by 12%. After a normal attack, charged attack, elemental skill or elemental burst hits an opponent, gain one stack of Ashen Nightstar for 12 seconds. When 1/2/3/4 stacks of Ashen Nightstar are present, attack increases by 10/20/30/48%. Stacks of Ashen Nightstar created by the normal attack, charged attack, elemental skill or elemental burst are counted independently of the others |
Gacha |
| Thundering Pulse | Base stat: crit damage Skill: increases attack by 20% and grants the might of the Thunder Emblem. At 1/2/3 stacks, the Thunder Emblem increases normal attack damage by 12/24/40%. The user obtains one stack of Thunder Emblem in each of the following scenarios:
|
Gacha |
| Aqua Simulacra | Base stat: crit damage Skill: HP increases by 16%. When there are opponents nearby, the wielder’s damage dealt increases by 20%. This takes effect whether the character is on-field or not |
Gacha |
| Mouun’s Moon | Base stat: attack Skill: for every point of the entire party’s combined maximum energy capacity, the elemental burst damage of the equipping character increases by 0.12%, to a maximum of 40% |
Gacha |
| The Stringless | Base stat: elemental mastery Skill: increases elemental skill and elemental burst damage |
Gacha |
| Viridescent Hunt | Base stat: crit rate Skill: upon hit, normal and aimed shot attacks have a 50% chance to generate a cyclone, which continuously attracts surrounding opponents, dealing 40% of attack as damage every 0.5 seconds for four seconds. This effect can only occur once every 14 seconds |
Battle Pass reward |
What are the best artifacts for Childe?
Generally, the best artifact set for DPS Childe in most situations is Heart of Depth. However, if you don’t have a Genshin Impact’s Bennett to spare for your Childe team, you should combine two Heart of Depth and two Gladiator’s Finale.
For burst DPS Childe, you can combine two Noblesse Oblige with two Heart of Depth for a great damage boost. For a more in-depth breakdown, check out Kequing Mains’ super detailed guide.
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Heart of Depth | Two equipped: Hydro damage is increased by 15% Four equipped: After an elemental skill is used, normal and charged attack damage is increased by 50% for 15 seconds |
Peak of Vindagnyr domain, Dragonspine, Mondstadt |
| Gladiator’s Finale | Two equipped: attack +18% Four equipped: increases normal attack damage of the wielder by 35% if they use a sword, claymore, or polearm |
World and weekly bosses, artifact strongboxes, etc |
| Noblesse Oblige | Two equipped: Elemental burst damage is increased by 20% Four equipped: When an elemental burst is used, all party members’ attack is increased by 20% for 12 seconds |
Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain, Minlin, Mt. Aozang |
Stat and sub-stat recommendations
Main stat:
- Sands – attack% or elemental mastery
- Goblet – hydro damage%
- Circlet – crit rate/crit damage
Sub-stats:
- Crit rate/crit damage (try to maintain a 1:2 ratio)
- Attack%
- Elemental mastery
- Energy recharge
What are the best Childe team comps?
Childe can fit into quite a wide range of teams due to his healthy hydro application and flexibility between ranged and melee stances. Unless you intend to focus on a more physical, bow-focused build, we generally recommend teams based around elemental reactions, so he can take full advantage of his kit.
The most popular team comp for him is Childe national. Much like Raiden national, it pairs Childe with Xiangling and Bennett, who unite to offer off-field pyro application for vaporize reactions throughout Childe’s melee duration. Of course, Bennett’s burst also offers healing and a substantial attack buff that can truly see Childe’s damage soar.
Childe national is usually vaporize-focused but, due to Chile supplying the hydro, it doesn’t require Xingqiu like Raiden National does – though he’s a great flex option. Alternatively, you can switch Xingqiu out for an anemo character that can offer crowd control and resistance shred, like Kazuha or Venti. You can also fill the slot with a geo like Zhongli, who offers a great shield to his pal.
Childe can also fit comfortably into electro-charged teams alongside characters like Beidou and Fischl, both of which help provide great markers for his melee duration.
But honestly, Childe can slip in just about anywhere – a comfy freeze team? He’s got you. Bloom or hyperbloom? No problem. Overload? Say no more, comrade. If you enjoy Childe’s playstyle and build him well, he can fit into just about any team. Just have fun! You can also head over to the r/childemains sub-reddit for some great showcases and personal advice to suit your available pool of characters.
Here are some of our favorite team comps for you to peruse. Click on the character icons if you want to see their individual build guides, too.
| First character slot | Second character slot | Third character slot | Fourth character slot |
 Childe |
 Zhongli |
 Xiangling |
 Bennett |
| Childe |
 Kazuha |
Xiangling |
Bennett |
| Childe |
 Raiden |
 Nahida |
 Yaoyao |
| Childe |
 Beidou |
 Fischl |
Bennett |
| Childe |
Nahida |
 Xingqiu |
 Kuki |
What are Childe’s skills?
Here are all of Childe’s attacks and passive talents.
Active skills
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Cutting Torrent | Normal: perform six shots with a bow Charged: fire off an aimed shot with increased damage. When fully charged, the arrow deals hydro damage and applies the Riptide status. Enemies affected by riptide suffer from AoE hydro damage when you attack them.
|
| Elemental skill: Foul Legacy: Raging Tide | Childe enters a melee stance and deals AoE hydro damage. In the melee stance, his attacks change in the following ways:
After 30 seconds, Childe returns to his ranged stance |
| Elemental burst: Havoc: Obliteration | This move does different things depending on what stance Childe is in:
|
Passive skills
| Skill | Effect |
| Never Ending | Extends riptide duration by eight seconds |
| Sword of Torrents | While in melee stance or when a normal or charged attack critically hits, riptide is applied to the enemy |
| Master of Weaponry | Increases party members’ normal attack levels by one |
What are Childe’s constellations?
To make sure Genshin Impact’s Childe is as powerful as possible, you need to level up his constellations. You can do this after you obtain him as a duplicate when making a wish.
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Foul Legacy: Tide Withholder | Reduces the cooldown for Foul Legacy: Raging Tide by 20% |
| C2: Foul Legacy: Understream | When you defeat an opponent affected by riptide, you restore four elemental energy |
| C3: Abyssal Mayhem: Vortex of Turmoil | Increases the level of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide by three, to a maximum upgrade level of 15 |
| C4: Abyssal Mayhem: Hydrospout | If Childe is in Foul Legacy: Raging Tide’s melee stance, he triggers Riptide Slash against all on-field opponents affected by Riptide every four sexonds. Otherwise, he triggers Riptide Flash. Riptide Slashes and Flashes triggered by this constellation aren’t subject to the time intervals that typically apply to these two effects, nor do they have any effect on those time intervals |
| C5: Havoc: Formless Blade | Increases the level of Havoc: Obliteration by three, to a maximum upgrade level of 15 |
| C6: Havoc: Annihilation | When Childe casts Havoc: Obliteration in melee stance, the cooldown of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide resets when he returns to ranged stance |
What are Childe’s ascension materials?
You can get Childe all the way up to level 90, but need to ascend him at certain intervals along the way. Here are all of Childe’s ascension materials.
| Required level | Mora | Materials |
| 20 | 20,000 | One varunada lazurite sliver, three starconches, three recruit’s insignia |
| 40 | 40,000 | Three varunada lazurite fragment, two cleansing heart, ten starconches, 15 recruit’s insignia |
| 50 | 60,000 | Six varunada lazurite fragment, four cleansing heart, 20 starconches, 12 sergeant’s insignia |
| 60 | 80,000 | Three varunada lazurite chunk, eight cleansing heart, 30 starconches, 18 sergeant’s insignia |
| 70 | 100,000 | Six varunada lazurite chunk, 12 cleansing heart, 45 starconches, 12 lieutenant’s insignia |
| 80 | 120,000 | Six varunada lazurite gemstone, 20 cleansing heart, 60 starconches, 24 lieutenant’s insignia |
Here’s where to get all of Childe’s ascension materials:
- Varunda lazurite – drops from normal and weekly bosses
- Starconch – gather around the beaches of Liyue and Dargonspine, especially in Guyun Stone Forest and Yaoguang Shawl
- Recruit’s / sergeants / lieutenants insignias – drops from Fatui skirmishers, cicin mages, and pyro agents
- Cleansing heart – drops from the Rhodeia of Loch normal boss in Liyue’s Bishui Plain
What are Childe’s talent materials?
You can level Genshin Childe’s normal attack, elemental skill, and elemental burst up to level ten. Here are all of his talent materials.
| Talent level | Materials |
| Two | 12.5k mora, six recruit’s insignia, three teachings of freedom |
| Three | 17.5k mora, three sergeant’s insignia, two guide to freedom |
| Four | 25k mora, four sergeant’s insignia, four guide to freedom |
| Five | 30k mora, six sergeant’s insignia, six guide to freedom |
| Six | 37.5k mora, nine sergeant’s insignia, nine guide to freedom |
| Seven | 120k mora, four lieutenant’s insignia, four philosophies of freedom, one shard of a foul legacy |
| Eight | 260k mora, six lieutenant’s insignia, six philosophies of freedom, one shard of a foul legacy |
| Nine | 450k mora, nine lieutenant’s insignia, 12 philosophies of freedom, two shards of a foul legacy |
| Ten | 700k mora, 12 lieutenant’s insignia, 16 philosophies of freedom, two shards of a foul legacy, one crown of insight |
Here’s where to get all of Childe’s talent materials:
- Recruit’s / sergeants / lieutenants insignias – drops from Fatui skirmishers, cicin mages, and pyro agents
- Freedom talent books – rewards from the Forsaken Rift domain in Springvale, Mondstadt, on Monday, Thursday, and Friday
- Shards of a foul legacy – drops from the Childe weekly boss in Liyue’s Enter the Golden House trounce domain
Talent priorities
When leveling up Childe’s talents, we recommend prioritizing the following.
Melee-focused build:
- Elemental skill > elemental burst > normal attack
Burst-focused build:
- Elemental burst > elemental skill > normal attack
Alright, comrade, that’s all we’ve got on Genshin Impact’s Childe, otherwise known as Ajax, otherwise known as Tartaglia, otherwise known as the best toy maker and big brother in the world.
If you need more info on the other Genshin Impact Harbingers, take a look at our Genshin Impact Columbina and Genshin Impact Arlecchino guides. We’ve also got a bunch of guides for Hoyo’s other exciting RPG, including our Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail codes.