Cyno: Cap or Slap? | Genshin Impact

It's been a few weeks since we came across Cyno, and although I never planned on getting him (trying to save for Nahida T.T), he has been rather fun to use. In a way, it's like, what if Razor is a 5-star polearm user?

First Impression

As an Electro character, Cyno depends quite heavily on how his element reacts to other types of elements. It also comes as no surprise that it increases the damage when combined with different elements, either being a Super Conductor Overload or even Electro Charged, it helps the team deal with more damage than usual.

Gameplay

Cyno's gameplay is fun- think of him as a mix of Xiao and Razor. His Elemental Burst looks cool, and he can deal heavy damage with a decent build. He's normal attack animation is fast too. Cyno's overall gameplay is fun.

Weapon

The Staff of Scarlet Sands

Cyno's signature weapon, The Staff of Scarlet Sands brings his Crit Rate up to 44.1% at refinement rank 90. However, regardless of rank, the Staff of Scarlet Sands will provide Cyno 52% of his Elemental Mastery as a bonus attack.

When his Elemental Skill hits opponents, Cyno will gain 28% of their Elemental Mastery as a bonus attack for ten seconds, with a maximum of three stacks.

Blackcliff Pole and Deathmatch

The two alternative 4-star poles you can use are Blackcliff and Deathmatch. The Blackcliff Pole's perk works off when you're defeating many opponents to increase attack.

The Deathmatch increases ATK by 16/20/24/28/32% when two or more enemies are near. ATK is increased by 24/30/36/42/48% when there's one enemy nearby.

White Tassel

For this F2P weapon, you can use the White Tassle as it has a 5.1% CRIT Rate. It also helps increase normal attack damage by 24%.

Artifacts

Thundering Fury

Four-piece set increases the damage for Electro Reactions by 40%. This includes damage from Overload, Electro-Charged, and Superconduct.

A two-piece set bonus increases Electro Damage by 15%.

Gilded Dreams

Enemies hit by the Elemental Burst or Skill by a character with the 4-piece set bonus will have their Dendro Res decreased by 30%. This is great for both main or sub-dps Dendro characters!

For two-piece set bonus increases Dendro damage by 15%.

Materials Needed To Level Up

Ascension Materials:

x1 Vajrada Amethyst Silver
x6 Vajrada Amethyst Gemstone
x9 Vajrada Amethyst Fragment
x9 Vajrada Amethyst Chunk
x18 Divining Scroll
x30 Sealed Scroll
x36 Forbidden Curse Scroll
x46 Thunderclap Fruitcore
x168 Scarab
420,000 Mora

Materials to Upgrade ALL of Cyno's Talents:

x3 Crown of Insight
x9 Teachings of Admonition
x18 Divining Scroll
x18 Mudra of the Malefic General
x63 Guide to Admonition
x66 Sealed Scroll
x93 Forbidden Curse Scroll
x114 Philosophies to Admonition
4,957,500 Mora

Team Composition

For your sub-DPS, I would recommend using another Electro character. I would highly recommend Fischl- which is a great choice cause of her E skill that has Oz, so you can release Oz at one side of the fight while Cyno can focus on another. But, if you don't have Fischl, I think Kuki Shinobu works well with Cyno too as her E skill has a wider Area of Effect (AOE) and can heal.

But, if you don't have Fischl, I think Kuki Shinobu works well with Cyno too as her E skill has a wider Area of Effect (AOE) and can heal.

As for support, you can choose a Dendro and Hydro, someone who has a wide AOE. For Dendro support, if you're missing Collei or Tighnari, you can use Dendro Traveler. They are good fighting enemies that are away from you as you attack another section.

If you have Kuki as a healer, you can use Xingqiu or Yelan for Hydro support. Kokomi works as healer support that helps with Electro Charged attacks.

But, if you are a F2P player, then you can go with Barbara. Your party would look like this:

Main DPS - Cyno

Sub-DPS - Fischl

Reaction Support - Dendro Traveler

Healer- Barbara

Theory

If you look at the character design of both Razor and Cyno, they both look almost identical. From their outfit to their armband or tattoo. Are they related to each other? Is that why Lisa is keeping a close eye on Razor? Maybe Lisa made a promise to Cyno to keep Razor safe. But, only time will tell on who these characters are to one another.

Verdict

Overall, Cyno is a fun character to play with, especially if you're a fan of polearm users, I highly recommend pulling for him.

However, if you've never used a pole character before, you can skip him and wait for upcoming 5-stars like Nahida or Al-Haitham. The one downside to Cyno is that he is difficult to level up. The items you need to Ascend can be pretty hard to farm for now, they're quite difficult to access them and it would take a lot of patience to get him to your ideal level.

That said, have you gotten Cyno yet? What do you think about him, is he worth pulling for? Cyno's Limited Character Banner ends this Friday, 14 October.