Genshin Impact’s Wriothesley is the administrator of the Fortress of Meropide, the Duke, the epitome of emo-chic. It’s pronounced writhe-zly, by the way. He’s the first cryo catalyst user that we got in the playable roster, and he focuses on close-up combat with hefty punches. Here’s the best Wriothesley build and how to make him a meta-shattering unit.
There’s plenty more to discover about Genshin Impact’s Fontaine region – check out who the archon Genshin Impact’s Furina is, and local reporter Genshin Impact’s Charlotte. Oh, and grab all the latest Genshin Impact codes to stack up those primogems.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Wriothesley build guide:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Wriothesley build?
Wriothesley is a cryo five-star character that uses a catalyst weapon type.
| Rarity | ★★★★★ |
| Element | Cryo |
| Weapon | Catalyst |
| Best weapon | Cashflow Supervision |
| Substitute weapons | The Widsith, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds |
| Best artifact set | Marechaussee Hunter |
| Artifact substitutes | Blizzard Strayer, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence |
| Main stats | Sands: Attack Goblet: Cryo damage bonus Circlet: Crit rate/damage |
| Sub-stats | Crit rate, crit damage, attack |
Wriothesley’s best build is as an on-field DPS, the best weapon for him is his signature catalyst Cashflow Supervision, and his best artifact choice by far is a four-piece-set of Marechaussee Hunter.
Wriothesley is made for dealing non-stop cryo damage – as a melee catalyst, he’s all fists and fury and has no off-field use. Melt and freeze are the best elemental reactions for you to aim for, and you should prioritize a grouper as he has quite short-range attacks, given that he punches things. This is also where a shielder comes in handy as he’s right in harm’s way, but can heal himself through charged attacks.
How do I use Wriothesley?
Wriothesely is a main DPS and is your go-to for damage in any team you put him in. Use his elemental skill before you start hitting things with his normal attack as it gives a good boost, especially if you complete his five-string combo, ending in a hefty crit hit. If you use a charged attack on his third attack in a string of moves, Wriothesley can heal himself.
The short answer to how you use him is you punch things. The longer answer is, that you use a buffer like Bennett or Shenhe, throw in some elements, and then punch things. Wriothesley performs the best in melt comp teams, but freeze teams won’t go amiss either.
What are Wriothesley’s best weapons?
Of course, the best weapon for Wriothesley is Cashflow Supervision, his own signature catalyst. Ideally, if you can’t get the little drone-shaped dude, you want a catalyst that buffs his crit rate or crit damage, like the Widsith and Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds – or if you happen to have a spare copy of Wanderer’s best in slot, Tullaytullah’s Remembrance.
Failing that, the Skyward Atlas can offer a nice boost to Wriothesley’s attack stat, and the latest Fontaine event catalyst, Ballad of the Boundless Blue, improves his energy recharge which is always a bonus.
| Cashflow Supervision | Stat: Crit rate Skill: Attack increases by 16%. When Wriothesley’s current HP increases or decreases, his normal attack damage increases by 16%, and charged attack damage by 14% for four seconds. This can stack three times. The effect triggers every 0.3 seconds. When Wriothesley has three stacks, his attack speed increases by 8%. |
Weapon banner |
| Tullaytullah’s Remembrance | Stat: Crit damage Skill: Wriothesley’s normal attack speed increases by 10%. After he uses an elemental skill, his normal attack damage increases by 4.8% every second for four seconds. After he hits an opponent with a normal attack, the damage increases by a further 9.6%. The maximum damage increase you can get is 48%. If Wriothesley leaves the field, the damage buffs are reset. |
Weapon banner |
| The Widsith | Stat: Crit damage Skill: When Wriothesley takes the field, he gains one of three songs for ten seconds. This can only occur every 30 seconds. The songs are: -Recitative: Wriothesley’s attack increases by 60% -Aria: Increases Wriothesley’s elemental damage by 48% -Interlude: Wriothesley’s elemental mastery increases by 240 |
All banners |
| Flowing Purity | Stat: Attack Skill: When Wriothesley uses his elemental skill, his cryo damage bonus increases by 8% for 15 seconds. A Bond of Life worth 24% of his maximum HP appears, which can trigger once every ten seconds. You can clear the Bond by healing Wriothesley equal to the amount of the Bond (24%), and clearing it provides a 2% cryo bonus for every 1,000 HP he heals, up to a maximum of 12%. This is easy to achieve as Wriothesley can heal himself |
Forged |
| Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds | Stat: Crit rate Skill: Increases Wriothesley’s movement speed by 10%. When in battle, he gains an 8% elemental damage bonus every four seconds, with a maximum of four stacks. This lasts until he falls or leaves combat |
Weapon banner and standard banner |
| Skyward Atlas | Stat: Attack Skill: Increases Wriothesley’s elemental damage by 12%. Normal attack hits have a 50% chance to earn the favor of the clouds, which actively seek out enemies to deal 150% extra damage for 15 seconds |
Weapon and standard banner |
| Ballad of the Boundless Blue | Bonus effect: Energy recharge Skill: Within six seconds after Wriothesley’s normal or charged attacks hit an opponent, his normal attack damage increases by 8%, and charged damage by 6%. This can stack three times |
Event reward |
What are the best Wriothesley artifacts?
Wriothesley benefits greatly from pumped-up crit rate and crit damage stats to soup up his attacks. Attack stats also won’t go amiss on his build. His best artifact set is Marechaussee Hunter by far. If you get a cryo damage bonus goblet, we recommend using this on him.
You can’t go wrong with a cryo damage increase from a Blizzard Strayer two-piece if you don’t have anything else fitting, as we all know what farming for artifacts is like.
| Marechaussee Hunter | Two pieces: Normal and charged attack damage increase Four pieces: When Wriothesley’s current HP increases or decreases, his crit rate increases by 12% for five seconds. This can stack three times |
Obtain from the Denouement of Sin domain |
| Blizzard Strayer | Two pieces: Increases cryo damage Four pieces: When Wriothesley attacks an opponent affected by cryo, his crit rate increases by 20%. If the opponent freezes, his crit rate increases by another 20% |
Obtain from the Peak of Vindagnyr domain |
| Shimenawa’s Reminiscence | Two pieces: Increases attack stat Four pieces: When using his elemental skill, if Wriothesley has 15 or more energy, he loses this and gains a 50% increase in normal, charged, and plunge attack damage for ten seconds. This can only happen once every ten seconds |
Obtain from the Momiji-Dyed Court domain |
| Echoes of an Offering | Two pieces: Increases attack stat Four pieces: When a normal attack hits opponents, there is a chance it triggers Valley Rite, which increases Wriothesley’s normal attack damage by 70% of his attack. This dispels 0.05 seconds after a normal attack deals damage. If a normal attack fails to trigger Valley Rite, the odds of it triggering next time increase by 20% |
Obtain from the Lost Valley domain |
Artifact stat recommendations
When rolling artifacts, look out for these stats to get the best out of Mr Meropide. If you’re using a four-piece set of Marechaussee Hunter, you can focus on crit damage instead of crit rate, as the set adds a hefty slice of crit rate as Wriothesley’s HP changes.
Main stats:
- Sands: Attack
- Goblet: Cryo damage bonus
- Circlet: Crit damage
Sub-stats:
- Attack/%
- Crit rate/crit damage
If you need a refresher on all things artifacts, we’ve got a handy Genshin Impact artifacts guide for you.
What are the best Wriothesley team comps?
You should aim to get a healer in the mix, as Wriothesley’s moves can drain his own HP, and he’s right in the firing line of attacks as a short-range catalyst user. Along with this, an anemo grouper like Sucrose or Kazuha is also key to bringing enemies to him.
Bennett adds a great attack buff, and using him with another pyro unit further increases Wriothesley’s attack thanks to the party-wide buff. Pairing these two pays off great dividends in a melt comp. You also want a hydro unit in both melt and freeze teams, like Yelan, Kokomi, Xingqiu, Candace, or even Ayato, to make sure everything remains frozen.
 Wriothesley |
 Xiangling |
 Bennett |
 Xilonen |
| Wriothesley |
Xiangling |
 Emilie |
 Thoma |
| Wriothesley |
 Mavuika |
 Furina |
Xilonen |
| Wriothesley |
 Kazuha |
Bennett |
Thoma |
| Wriothesley |
Kazuha |
 Shenhe |
 Yelan |
| Wriothesley |
Furina |
Bennett |
Shenhe |
What are Wriothesley’s abilities?
Here are all of Wriothesley’s attacks, as well as his passive talents that you unlock as you ascend him.
Active skills
| Normal attack | Forceful Fists of Frost Normal: Coalescing frost about his fist, Wriothesley unleashes powerful attacks known as Repelling Fists, performing up to five rapid strikes, dealing cryo damage. Charged: Wriothesley consumes a fixed amount of stamina to leap and unleash a Vaulting Fist, dealing cryo damage in a small AoE. Plunging: Wriothesley dives toward the ground and strikes with a hit dealing cryo damage. |
| Elemental skill | Icefang Rush Wriothesley sprints forward, entering the Chilling Penalty state, and unleashing powerful attacks. Chilling Penalty increases Wriothesley’s interruption resistance. When his HP is above 50%, it enhances Repelling Fists’ damage. Using this attack consumes some of Wriothesley’s HP. |
| Elemental burst | Darkgold Wolfbite Wriothesley activates his mechanical gloves and strikes out with the power of cryo. This uses Icicle Impact to cause multiple instances of AoE cryo damage in front of Wriothesley. Arkhe: Ousia After Icicle Impact ends, a surging blade descends on opponents, dealing Ousia-aligned cryo damage. |
Passive skills
| There Shall Be a Plea for Justice | When Wriothesley’s HP is less than 60%, he obtains a Gracious Rebuke. The next charged attack is enhanced to become Rebuke: Vaulting Fist, which does not consume stamina and deals 30% extra damage. It also restores 30% of Wriothesley’s HP upon hit. |
| There Shall be a Reckoning for Sin | When Wriothesley’s current HP increases or decreases, if he is in the Chilling Penalty state, it gains one stack of Prosecution Edict. Max five stacks. Each stack increases his attack by 6%. |
| The Duke’s Grace | When crafting weapon ascension materials, Wriothesley has a 10% chance to double the product. |
What are Wriothesley’s constellations?
Wriothesley’s constellation is Cerberus – you know, that mythical three-headed dog – this matches well with the wolfy insignia on his outfit. If you manage to pull more than one of the underwater-dwelling man (like I did, thankfully), here is what you can unlock.
| C1 | Terror for the Evildoers The Gracious Rebuke from passive talent ‘There Shall Be a Plea For Justice’, changes to this: When Wriothesley’s HP is less than 60%, or while in the Chilling Penalty state, when the fifth hit of his Repelling Fists hits, it creates a Gracious Rebuke. You can gain one of these every 2.5 seconds. Additionally, Rebuke: Vaulting Fist obtains the following enhancement: The damage bonus increases to 200%, and when it hits while Wriothesley is in the Chilling Penalty state, the duration extends by four seconds |
| C2 | Shackles for the Arrogant When Wriothesley uses Darkgold Wolfbite, each Prosecution Stack increases the ability’s damage by 40% |
| C3 | Punishment for the Frauds This constellation raises the level of Wriothesley’s normal attack, Forceful Fists of Frost, by three. The maximum level of this skill is 15 |
| C4 | Redemption for the Suffering The HP restored to Wriothesley through Rebuke: Vaulting Fists increases by 50% of his maximum HP. Additionally, when he heals, if the amount of healing overflows, the following effects occur depending on whether he is on the field or not. If Wriothesley is on the field, his attack speed increases by 20% for four seconds. If he is off-field, all party members’ attack speed increases by 10% for six seconds |
| C5 | Mercy for the Wronged This constellation raises the level of Wriothesley’s burst, Darkgold Wolfbite, by three. The maximum level of this skill is 15 |
| C6 | Esteem for the Innocent Rebuke: Vaulting Fist’s crit rate increases by 10%, and its crit damage by 80%. When Wriothesley uses this, he can create an icicle that deals 100% of Vaulting Fist’s damage as cryo damage. This counts as charged attack damage |
What are Wriothesley’s ascension materials?
Guess what, gang – Wriothesley is another beetle boy! Here’s a full list of what he needs to get ascended all the way up to level 80 and beyond.
| 20➔40 | 20k mora One shivada jade sliver Three subdetection units Three meshing gears |
| 40➔50 | 40k mora Three shivada jade fragments Ten subdetection units 15 meshing gears Two tourbillon devices |
| 50➔60 | 60k mora Six shivada jade fragments 20 subdetection units 12 mechanical spur gears Four tourbillon devices |
| 60➔70 | 80k mora Three shivada jade chunks 30 subdetection units 18 mechanical spur gears Eight tourbillon devices |
| 70➔80 | 100k mora Six shivada jade chunks 45 subdetection units 12 artificed dynamic gears 12 tourbillon devices |
| 80➔90 | 120k mora Six shivada jade gemstones 60 subdetection units 24 artificed dynamic gears 20 tourbillon devices |
Here’s where to find all the items you need to ascend Wriothesley:
- Shivada jade – obtain from normal and weekly bosses – especially the cryo hypostasis and Andrius – or craft via alchemy
- Subdetection units – you can find these mechanical insects all over Fontaine’s Research Institute region
- Tourbillon devices – this item drops from the Experimental Field Generator boss in Fontaine’s Research Institute
- Meshing gears, mechanical spur gears, artificed dynamic gears -these items are drops from meka enemies in Fontaine’s overworld. You can craft them into higher rarities at an alchemy bench
What are Wriothesley’s talent materials?
To level up Wriothesley’s talents, you’ll need the following items.
| 1➔2 | 12.5k mora Six meshing gears Three teachings of order |
| 2➔3 | 17.5k mora Three mechanical spur gears Two guides to order |
| 3➔4 | 25k mora Four mechanical spur gears Four guides to order |
| 4➔5 | 30k mora Six mechanical spur gears Six guides to order |
| 5➔6 | 37.5k mora Nine mechanical spur gears Nine guides to order |
| 6➔7 | 120k mora Four artificed dynamic gears Four philosophies of order One primordial greenbloom |
| 7➔8 | 260k mora Six artificed dynamic gears Six philosophies of order One primordial greenbloom |
| 8➔9 | 450k mora Nine artificed dynamic gears 12 philosophies of order Two primordial greenblooms |
| 9➔10 | 700k mora 12 artificed dynamic gears 16 philosophies of order Two primordial greenblooms One crown of insight |
Here’s how to get all the materials you need for Wriothesley:
- Order talent books – farm these in the Pale Forgotten Glory domain in Fontaine on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
- Meshing gears, mechanical spur gears, artificed dynamic gears -these items are drops from meka enemies in Fontaine’s overworld. You can craft them into higher rarities at an alchemy bench
- Primordial Greenblooms – you can get these as a reward for the weekly Apep boss – The Realm of Beginnings – in Sumeru’s Desert of Hadramaveth. If you don’t get the right drop, you can transform them at an alchemy station
Talent priority
When looking to upgrade his abilities, go in this order:
- Normal attack > elemental skill > elemental burst
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