Cyno 

✦ Electro DPS Guide ✦

Welcome to my Cyno Guide! We will cover basic info while also going deep into mechanics and playstyles!

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✦ Quick Infographic ✦

✦ Introduction ✦

Cyno is a 5 star Electro Polearm user. His kit focusses around a 20s Cooldown Burst that allows his attacks to deal Electro DMG, while his Elemental Skill generates some energy and is able to prolong the duration of the Burst. Casting his Skill at the right moment will make his gameplay more engaging and rewarding by activating his Ascension 1 Talent, dealing extra damage. His Burst provides an EM buff and part of his kit will also scale on his EM, making him a great choice in Quicken (Aggravate) teams. Gameplay outside of these kinds of teams will likely not be ideal for him at least for now.

✦ Talents Overview ✦

✦ Elemental Skill: Sacred Rite ~ Chasmic Soulfarer   ✦

As seen above a different skill is cast whether Cyno is in his Burst form or not.

Without Burst

Performs a swift thrust, dealing Electro DMG to opponents along the path.

• Generates 3 energy

• Cooldown 7.5s

During Burst

Unleashes a Mortuary Rite that deals AoE Electro DMG.

• Adds 4 seconds duration to his Burst duration on each cast

• Generates 1 energy with a 33% chance of generate 2 instead

• Cooldown 3s

✦ Elemental Burst: Sacred Rite ~ Wolf’s Swiftness ✦

Enters the Pactsworn Pathclearer status, gaining the following properties:

Pactsworn Pathclearer

• Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks will be converted to Electro DMG that cannot be overridden

• Resistance to interruption will increase and he gains immunity to Electro-Charged DMG

• Elemental Mastery will increase by 100

• Lasts 10 seconds (but it can be extended via Elemental Skill to a max of 18 seconds)

• The effect is canceled if Cyno leaves the field (switch or dies)

• Energy cost 80

• Cooldown 20s

Beware that the new multipliers for his Normal, Charged and Plunging attacks will NOT be considered Burst damage (it’s not the same as Raiden as some may think)

✦ Normal Attack: Invoker’s Spear ✦

Cyno’s Normal, Charged and Plunge Attack talent. The Normal attack consists of up to 4 different strikes and together (5 hits in total). This, just like Raiden, has new multipliers during his Burst. Therefore this talent’s multipliers are not that useful and it should be left at Level 1.

✦ Ascension 1: Featherfall Judgment ✦

When Cyno is in the Burst state he will enter the Endseer stance at intervals (a big eye will pop on the screen as shown in the GIF above). If Cyno activates his Elemental Skill while affected by this stance, he will activate the Judication effect, increasing the DMG of this Elemental Skill by 35%, and firing off 3 Duststalker Bolts that deal 100% of Cyno’s ATK as Electro DMG.

• Its damage is considered Elemental Skill DMG

• Bolts don’t share ICD (Internal Cooldown) with the Elemental Skill but they share it between Bolts. In Quicken comps your Elemental Skill will proc Aggravate and then the first bolt that hits will trigger Aggravate again the other 2 Bolts will not

✦ Ascension 4: Authority Over the Nine Bows ✦

Cyno’s DMG values will be increased based on his Elemental Mastery:

• Normal Attacks DMG during Burst are increased by 125% of his Elemental Mastery

• Duststalker Bolt DMG (Ascension 1) is increased by 250% of his Elemental Mastery

✦ Talent Priority ✦

Elemental Burst ≥ Elemental Skill >> Normal Attack

Talent priority is pretty easy for Cyno. His Normal Attack Talent should be ignored and his Burst should be leveled together with his Elemental Skill.

✦ Combo and Mechanics ✦

Now that we explained how his kit works, and especially his Ascension 1 Talent. We can talk about the best sequences of attacks he can use to maximize his damage.

Casting his Elemental Skill outside of Burst generates more energy particles but has a higher Cooldown (7.5s). Casting your Burst right after will however decrease the Skill CD to 4.5s instead. It’s usually recommended to start Cyno’s rotation with Skill > Burst.

After this there are 2 main combos that you can go for:

Without Thundering Fury

EQ > N3E > N5E > N5 > N2E > N5 > N2E

With Thundering Fury

EQ > N2E > N4E > N4E > N5E > N4E > N4E > N5E

E = Elemental Skill; Q = Burst Skill; Nx = Normal Attack x times

✦ Artifacts and Stats ✦

Artifact sets

• 4 Thundering Fury

• +15% Electro DMG & +40% DMG to Overloaded, Eletro-charged, Superconduct and Hyperbloom, +20% DMG to Aggravate and when causing an Electro reaction decreases your Elemental Skill CD by 1 sec (activable every 0.8s)

It's important to adjust your rotation and make sure your reactions and Elemental Skill cast are on point to make it worth. When used optimally, this is Cyno's best Artifact set.

• 4 Gilded Dreams

• +80 EM & upon triggering a reaction an ATK or EM buff depending on your team composition

A great option and a decent way to use your resin as we get more Dendro characters. It's important to note that this set should only be used in Quicken/Aggravate teams or where his Elemental Mastery is well utilized.

• 4 Thundersoother

• +35% DMG on enemies affected by Electro

Only use in mono Electro or Eletro-Charged teams. Situationally the best set but I doubt Cyno will see enough play in these teams to justify farming for this.

• 4 Gladiator's Finale

• +18% ATK & +35% Normal Attack DMG

A great option but a good portion of Cyno’s damage comes from his Skill and that won’t be buffed.

• 4 Retracing Bolide

• +35% Shield Strength & +40% Normal and Charged Attack Bonus when protected by a shield

Underrated but very solid option if you plan on playing with a shield. Still, definitely not worth farming for Cyno.

• 2 piece flex | +18% ATK | +80 EM | Thundering Fury

In lack of a good full set it's ok to go for mixed options to just increase your stats.

Main/Sub Stats

Ascension stat is Crit.DMG (+38.4%)

• Sands | EM / ATK

• Goblet | Electro DMG

• Circlet | Crit Rate / Crit DMG

Sands’s value for ATK and EM depends highly on the weapon and artifacts used. Usually it makes sense to go EM on low base damage weapons and ATK on high base damage weapons. Also depending on the amount of reactions triggered by Cyno, EM and ATK will perform accordingly.

Focus on Crit first then EM and ATK%. In most comps you don’t need that much Energy Recharge, especially using the Thundering Fury set. That said, having enough ER for your rotation is always important.

✦ Weapons ✦

Cyno’s kit and role makes great use of A LOT of options but, as we will see, once we rule out the best 5 stars and a few 4 stars you might want to not look further than White Tassel due to its amazing value. The weapons are presented in order of overall strength.

• Staff of the Scarlet Sands • ATK 542 • Crit Rate 44.1%

Signature weapon that provides a huge amount of Crit Rate while maintaining a good amount of ATK thanks to its passive, converting EM to ATK. Cyno’s undoubtedly best weapon.

• Primordial Jade Winged Spear • ATK 674 • Crit Rate 22.1%

A very synergizing weapon for Cyno’s kit. He will get its stacks very easily but it’s unable to maintain them between Bursts (each has 6 seconds of duration). PJWS’s high base ATK makes ATK Sands stand out more often.

• Staff of Homa • ATK 608 • Crit DMG 66.2%

A great choice just because of its stats. You will likely (and hopefully) never be below 50% HP to fully use its passive.

• White Tassel • ATK 401 • Crit Rate 23.4%

Turns out that a 3 star option is going to be one of Cyno’s best weapons as, with its almost guaranteed R5, it will not only provide a decent amount of Crit Value but also a 48% Normal Attack DMG increase! White Tassel should be the go to option even compared to weapons like Deathmatch, Skyward Spine, Calamity Queller, Kitain, and a few more (depending on their refinements and other factors). 

White Tassel’s Crit and DMG bonusses go hand in hand with Aggravate reactions and it’s fully F2P. One downside is that this weapon is only found in Liyue chests so if you explored most of it already and decided to not keep an R5 one there’s no way for you to get one at the moment (by the way Sumeru release also spawned a few chests on the Sumeru/Liyue border so maybe there’s still hope!

• Deathmatch • ATK 454 • Crit Rate 36.8%

A good crit stat stick that might not surpass a way less expensive White Tassel, but that will come down to stats and teams. Refining is also an arguable decision depending on your spending habits and priorities among other BP weapons.

• Skyward Spine • ATK 674 • ER 36.4%

Very high base attack, solves any ER issue, adds a bit of Crit and its passive is very synergizing but unfortunately the lack of big DMG bonuses or higher Crit values makes it just comparable to White Tassel.

• Missive Windspear • ATK 510 • ATK 41.3%

3.1’s free event weapon synergizes ok with Cyno, a great option for F2P users and comparable to Deathmatch and White Tassel in terms of overall damage output.

• Kitain Cross Spear • ATK 565 • EM 110

Kitain offers a good base ATK, EM substat, DMG Bonus on Elemental Skill and single handedly resolves any energy problem Cyno might present. However it is bound to perform worse than an R5 White Tassel in overall power. Somewhat not recommended if White Tassel is an option for you. It looks very good on him though :(

Other good options are: Vortex Vanquisher, Calamity Queller, Engulfing Lightning, Lithic Spear, Moonpiercer and Dragon’s Bane. These weapons are ok but are generally below anything else we listed above.

✦ Teams ✦

In my opinion Cyno will see most play in Quicken teams or generally “Carry Style” oriented teams. Let's list a few of your options!

Quicken Teams

Electro and Dendro teams turned out to be great while being very simple. Cyno players, after his release, enjoyed new Dendro units that helped strengthen his teams, like Nahida and YaoYao.

One slot will usually be an extra Electro unit to make sure Cyno has low energy problems. Fischl, Beidou, Yae, Dori, Kuki are all great options depending on what you need. 

The last slot instead will see either another Dendro unit, an Anemo to support the Electro DMG (basically any Anemo except Xiao) or a neutral support like Zhongli.

 Slow Hyperbloom

Adding a Hydro unit to the above Quicken teams will result in Cyno triggering some Hyperblooms while keeping the Quicken reactions to improve his damage. The team is very tight and doesn’t allow much freedom in choices as only a few units can apply a very small amount of Hydro while being off-field to not disrupt the Quicken aura and bring utility (healing) to the team, that would be Barbara and Kokomi.

Full EM Hyperbloom

Going full EM Cyno with units that can provide high amounts of Hydro applications will result in decent reaction numbers. Still a very niche way to play him as units like Kuki and Raiden are much better for Hyperbloom.

 Taser

Cyno's extra EM might be wasted as it's not guaranteed he will proc the Electro-Charged reactions himself. He remains a great driver for characters like Yelan, Xingqiu and Beidou but overall not recommended.

  Hyper

In this team Cyno's EM is again wasted. It's hard to compensate for a Dendro unit as Quicken is a very good way to increase Cyno's personal damage. It's usually better to stick to a Quicken team since Kazuha and Bennett are likely needed in multiple teams.

✦ Constellations ✦

C1

• After using Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, Cyno’s Normal Attack SPD will be increased by 20% for 10s. If the Judication effect of his Passive Talent Featherfall Judgment is triggered during Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer, the duration of this increase will be refreshed.

C2

• When Cyno's Normal Attack hit opponents, his Electro DMG Bonus will increase by 10% for 4s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.1s. Max 5 stacks.

C3

• + 3 Levels to his Elemental Burst Talent

C4

• When Cyno is in the Pactsworn Pathclearer state triggered by Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness, after he tri***** Electro-Charged, Superconduct, Overloaded, Quicken, Aggravate, Hyperbloom, an Electro Swirl or an Electro Crystallization reaction, he will restore 3 Elemental Energy for all nearby party members (except himself.)

This effect can occur 5 times within one use of Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness.

C5

• + 3 Levels to his Elemental Skill Talent

C6

• After using Sacred Rite: Wolf’s Swiftness or triggering the Judication effect of the Passive Talent “Featherfall Judgment,” Cyno will gain 4 stacks of the “Day of the Jackal” effect. When he hits opponents with Normal Attacks, he will consume 1 stack of “Day of the Jackal” to fire off one Duststalker Bolt.

“Day of the Jackal” lasts for 8s. Max 8 stacks. It will be canceled once Pactsworn Pathclearer ends.

A maximum of 1 Duststalker Bolt can be unleashed this way every 0.4s.

No Constellation is mandatory for Cyno. He is great at C0!

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