Ganyu

✦ Cryo DPS Guide ✦

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

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✦ Quick Infographic ✦

✦ Introduction ✦

Ganyu is a 5 star Cryo Bow user. She is usually played as the main damage dealer in Melt and Freeze teams but can also fulfill the Burst Support role in some teams.

She is able to hit incredible amounts of damage and scales well with investment while being still great with f2p options. She is a great resource of damage on demand as, even without setup, she is always able to damage via Charged Attacks. Her team options can be somewhat expensive or, at least, precise.

✦ Talents Overview ✦

✦ Normal Attack: Liutian Archery ✦

Ganyu's Normal, Charged and Plunge Attack talent. The Normal attack consists of up to 6 different strikes and together with the Plunge Attack are rarely if ever used.

Charged Attack

Performs a different Aimed Shot the more it charges.

Charge Level 1: Standard 1 hit arrow that deals Cryo DMG

Charge Level 2: Fires a Frostflake Arrow that deals Cryo DMG. The Frostflake Arrow explodes after hitting (commonly referred as Bloom damage), dealing AoE Cryo DMG.

• The Bloom damage is affected by any Charged Attack modifier (like Wanderer's / Shimenawa Sets or Amos' Bow)

• The Bloom AoE is 5 meter radius

• Both the Bloom and the Frostflake Arrow have no ICD, meaning they will always apply the Cryo element (and are able to both always Melt provided enough Pyro)

• It is not required to hit an enemy for the Bloom to explode and deal AoE DMG. Hitting the ground for the Bloom AoE works and can be even better in scenarios where targets are far apart but close enough for the Bloom to hit them

✦ Elemental Skill: Trail of the Qilin ✦

Ganyu dashes backward, leaving an Ice Lotus in front of her, dealing AoE Cryo DMG.

The Ice Lotus will stay on field and taunt nearby opponents, exploding after 6 seconds, dealing AoE Cryo DMG.

• It's endurance scales off Ganyu's Max HP

• It generates 2 particles if at least one enemy is hit, then another 2 when the explosion hits at least one enemy

• The ability snapshots, using Ganyu's stats at the moment of casting for both the summoning and the explosion damage

• Cooldown 10s

✦ Elemental Burst: Celestial Shower ✦

Summons a large field in which enemies are continuously struck by Ice Shards, dealing AoE Cryo DMG.

Celestial Shower is an incredibly strong Burst for its relatively low energy cost, high uptime and, as we are about to see, high damage against multiple enemies.

• Energy cost 60

• Cooldown 15s

• Duration 15s

• The Burst snaphots, using Ganyu's stats at the moment of casting

Celestial Shower and Quadratic Scaling

First, a few more details on the Burst:

• Celestial Shower will fire a total of 50 Ice Shards in the 15 seconds of its duration

• The Ice Shards fall in group of 5 (10 times) and the place where they spawn, while seemingly random, is not

• It is guaranteed that each group will hit at least once per enemy (up to 5)

• Every Ice Shard has an AoE of 2.5 meters

It is often said that this Burst has quadratic scaling.

Quadratic Scaling means that the damage scales with the number of enemies (x² - where x is the number of enemies). If you hit 2 enemies, you will do 4 times the damage (2²) or if you hit 4 you will do 16 times the damage (4²). As the Burst is divided in groups of 5 Ice Shards it is technically Quadratic up to 5 enemies, then linear for 6 or more enemies (like most AoE and Skills).

This property is crucial for Ganyu's success and damage via Burst as it highly depends on the amount of enemies you are facing (and on their size or hitbox). This is where the great synergy of Venti and Ganyu was born and their famous Morgana team (that we are going to cover later).

TLDR: the more enemies the more damage

P.s. for mobile users, at 30 fps you will see a total of 46 Ice Shards spawned instead of 50.

✦ Ascension 1: Undivided Heart ✦

After firing a Frostflake Arrow (Charged Level 2 Attack), the Crit Rate of subsequent Frostflake Arrows and their resulting Bloom effects is increased by 20% for 5s.

And if you are wondering, yes the extra Crit Rate is applied on the first Bloom.

✦ Ascension 4: Harmony between Heaven and Earth ✦

Celestial Shower (Burst) grants a 20% Cryo DMG Bonus to active members in its AoE.

✦ Talent Priority ✦

Melt Ganyu

Normal Attack >> Elemental Burst ≥ Elemental Skill

Freeze Ganyu

Elemental Burst = Normal Attack > Elemental Skill

Burst Support

Elemental Burst > Elemental Skill >> Normal Attack

Talent priority is usually straightforward. Melt wants to maximize its Charged Attack DMG, it is often better to not cast your Burst at all and your Elemental Skill occasionally. Freeze team's damage will have both Charged Attacks and Burst as a priority depending on how many Charged Attacks (if any) fit the rotation. Burst Support doesn't usually use any Charged Attack.

Overall, and as she can fit more than one playstyle, I'd recommend leveling up both her Normal Attacks and Burst, leaving the Elemental Skill a few levels behind. 

Or just crown all 3 like I'll do :)

✦ Artifacts and Stats ✦

Artifact sets

Melt Ganyu

 • 4 Wanderer's Troupe

• +80 Elemental Mastery & +35% Charged Attack DMG

The best unconditional option for Melt Ganyu. It's not farmable but obtainable via Strongbox and Bosses/Weeklies which makes it often a good option for long time players.

• 4 Shimenawa's Reminiscence

• +18% ATK & +50% Charged Attack DMG by casting your Elemental Skill and consuming 15 energy

Another great option for Melt teams but it requires a more precise rotation as you need to always include an Elemental Skill cast before going for your Charged Attack sequence. It should perform slightly better (around 5%) than Wanderer’s Troupe.

• 4 Gilded Dreams

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

To further explain how the buff is going to work, Melt teams usually have 1 or 2 Cryo units. Having just Ganyu as Cryo will result in a 150 EM buff. Double Cryo will instead see a 14% ATK and 100 EM buff.

This is the new set farmable in the Sumeru region, a really good option as both stats are wanted by Ganyu but, provided equal stats, it will perform similarly or lower than Wanderer and Shimenawa.

• 4 Retracing Bolide

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

Underrated but very solid and strong option if you plan on playing with Zhongli or Diona. Still, not worth farming unless you want Archaic Petra as well.

• 2 piece flex | Noblesse | +80 EM | Blizzard | 18% ATK

In lack of a good full set it's ok to go for mixed options to just increase your stats. That said, with the exception of low AR players, it is recommended to farm and try to force one of the full sets needed as she accounts for a very high portion of a team's damage, especially in Melt teams.

Freeze Ganyu

• 4 Blizzard Strayer

• +15% Cryo DMG & + 20% Crit Rate against enemies affected by Cryo and additional +20% Crit Rate against enemies that are Frozen

Without a doubt your go to set for Freeze playstyle. No need to look into any other option. Low AR players can use mixed sets instead.

Extra sets

• 4 Noblesse

• +20% Burst Damage & +20% ATK Bonus for the entire team on Burst cast

An ok-ish option for a Burst Support whose role is to apply Cryo just to support a Melt carry. In a Freeze team there are better characters to hold this and Ganyu should be running a 4pc Blizzard instead. Almost useless in Melt teams.

• 4 Emblem of Severed Fate

• 20% ER & Increases Elemental Burst DMG by 25% of Energy Recharge

Another ok option if Ganyu finds herself not using Charged Attacks and not in Freeze teams.

Main/Sub Stats

Melt Ganyu

• Sands | EM / ATK

• Goblet | Cryo DMG

• Circlet | Crit Rate / Crit DMG

Focus on EM, Crit and ATK% on your substats. In most comps you don’t need to care about your Energy Recharge as your damage will only come from your Charged Attack and Elemental Skill. In decently built Ganyus try to stay above 60% Crit Rate.

Freeze Ganyu

• Sands | ATK

• Goblet | Cryo DMG

• Circlet | Crit DMG / ATK

Focus on getting enough ER% first, then Crit DMG, ATK% and any (if any) missing Crit Rate. Here you are usually using a 4 piece Blizzard, that coupled with the Cryo Resonance will ensure you have 60% Crit Rate without a single substat (40% from Blizzard, 15% from Resonance and 5% base), your Charged Attacks will be further boosted by her Ascension 1 Passive that provides +20% Crit Rate. 

✦ Weapon Comparison ✦

• Melt Playstyle

 Assumptions

• 4 Wanderer's Troupe Set

• Avg Melt for Arrow + Bloom (1 target)

• 80/90 Ganyu C0

• LV 90 enemy (standard resistances)

• LV 8 Talents

• Mid/High investment substats

• EM Sands, Cryo Goblet, Crit rate or dmg Circlet

• Buffed by a lv 9 Burst Bennett (749 base atk) + Noblesse

• Freeze Playstyle

Assumptions

• 4 Blizzard Staryer Set

• Avg Burst Tick

• 80/90 Ganyu C0

• LV 90 enemy (standard resistances)

• LV 8 Talents

• Mid/High investment substats

• ATK Sands, Cryo Goblet, Crit DMG Circlet

• Cryo Resonance and VV Shred applied

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that these sheets are just a guideline. Weapons will perform differently depending on your team, rotation and stats.

✦ Melt Teams ✦

Ganyu's Melt teams are a mix and match of a strong Pyro application unit + Anemo/other buffers + Shield.

Double Pyro

With Zhongli and the strong duo of Xiangling/Bennett you will have no problem performing high Melt blooms while not having to worry too much about the enemy's damage.

Bennett carries Noblesse or Instructor, Zhongli Tenacity, Instructor or Noblesse while Xiangling focusses on raw damage and ER to burst off cooldown. Xiangling’s Constellation 4 is highly recommended here to increase Pyronado’s duration.

A safe rotation can be: Zhongli Hold E > Bennett E + Q > Xiangling E + Q, Ganyu E + Charged Attacks > Repeat

Sunfire

Bennett Burst will periodically apply the Pyro element to your active character. Jean's Burst will periodically Swirl it, spreading the Pyro in AoE around you. The Pyro application is so strong that it is possible to fit Ganyu’s Burst in your rotation. Let’s see a great example that will also allow Jean to Swirl Cryo , reducing its resistance:

Ganyu E + Q > Zhongli Hold E > Bennett Q only > Jean E + Q > Ganyu CA x4 > Bennett E > Jean E > Repeat

Kazuha

A similar team to Sunfire can be created with Kazuha as well. It will not fit Ganyu’s Burst but it can be even stronger, thanks to Kazuha’s great Elemental DMG buff.

Playing Kazuha with Xiangling, Bennett to enable Ganyu's Melts is a very very straight forward team that doesn't need much explanation but Kazuha's Pyro infused Burst can actually replace Xiangling's continuous Pyro application to create more rewarding and balanced teams. Your goal in a team like this is to Swirl Cryo while infusing your Burst with Pyro to sustain Ganyu's Melts. There's a few rotation that enable you to do that, let's have a look:

Zhongli E > Ganyu E + CA > Bennett Q > Kazuha E + Plunge + Q > Ganyu CAx4 > Bennett/Kazuha battery > Repeat

This rotation plays around Ganyu's Flower explosion to apply Cryo making Kazuha's Burst Swirl Cryo but infuse Pyro . The timing is very tight so make sure to practice!

An easier variant that needs positioning is: Zhongli E > Ganyu E > Run away from your opponent to Bennett Q without hitting > Kazuha Q + E > Ganyu CA

Or even easier would be to apply Cryo > Kazuha E > Bennett Q > Kazuha Q > Ganyu CA. Sounds simple and just easier right? Why not just do this then? The reason for the previous and more complicated rotations is to delay the Cryo Swirl as much as possible so that both the VV shred and the buff from Kazuha will last enough to cover the Charged Attacks of Ganyu.

Note that Zhongli is not a must and can be swapped by many other units allowing different rotations. The team can realistically work with a different Pyro unit but Bennett is very valuable here. 

Other units worth mentioning:

• Sucrose is an insane buffer for Ganyu that can only be surpassed by a very expensive version of Kazuha, unfortunately her Burst Absorption is not as good as Venti or Kazuha but she is still a great pick, especially being able to buff Ganyu with TTDS

• Diona provides a good shield and EM from her C6 but only if you can apply enough Pyro to avoid it stealing Melts (usually Sunfire Jean or Xiangling can cover it)

• Shenhe is an amazing buffer for Ganyu’s damage but either gives up using her Burst or finds place in teams where the Pyro application is very very high (usually Sunfire)

• Venti is great if you want to use Melt Ganyu in an AoE scenario. Note that Xiangling does not work well with him but paired with Klee makes for a very good team in AoE scenarios.

• Other Pyro applicators like Xinyan and Klee can work but are more niche.

✦ Freeze Teams ✦

Freeze Template

As long as you keep the 2 Cryo , 1 Hydro, 1 Anemo template you can really mix and match depending on what units you have or like to play. Let’s see some example but do not feel limited by them!

Morgana

A very popular team that makes "freezable" content super easy by making great use of 2 important synergies: Ganyu’s Quadratic Scaling, enhanced by Venti’s grouping ability and Mona’s Omen Extension. Mona’s Burst applies a debuff (Bubble) that increases DMG dealt to the enemy affected for as long as the Bubble is there and for 5 seconds after it pops. The Bubble explodes when damage is dealt to the enemy. However, if the enemy is kept frozen, you can deal damage without the Bubble exploding. Doing so will extend the duration of said buff to a maximum of 13 seconds (the Burst has 15s CD). The buff, at Talent Level 10 is a 60% DMG increase, basically better than giving everyone on your team an extra Goblet Main Stat!

When playing Morgana make sure of a few things:

• Always apply Cryo before Mona's Burst (otherwise the Omen extension will not happen)

• Always swirl Cryo over Hydro, try to also infuse Venti's Burst with Cryo

• For Mona, ER% is priority over damage

• Diona's heals and shields are not too useful because if everything is done correctly you will simply not need them, it is then ok to build damage on her or use a different Cryo unit (Shenhe is a great option)

• Venti's build is flexible just make sure you have 4 Viridescent Venerer

The rotation is not always the same and you can get creative but as stated above don't forget to apply Cryo before casting Mona's Burst!

The team is somewhat flexible: Kazuha, Sucrose can replace Venti, Kaeya/Rosaria can replace Ganyu and Ayato/Kokomi can replace Mona but any replacement will be a cost to your total damage or synergy.

✦ Constellations ✦

Green = Very good

Yellow = Average

Red = Not important or worth

C1 • Charge Level 2 Frostflake Arrows or Frostflake Arrow Blooms decrease opponents’ Cryo RES by 15% for 6s upon hit.

A hit also regenerates 2 Energy for Ganyu. This effect can only occur once per Charge Level 2 Frostflake Arrow, regardless if Frostflake Arrow itself or its Bloom hits the target.

• A very good early constellation, granting Energy and increased DMG via RES Shred

C2 • Trail of the Qilin gains 1 additional charge

• Ok for extra energy but in reality it is more relevant to C6 users

C3 • + 3 Levels to her Elemental Burst Talent

• A decent boost to Freeze Ganyu

C4 • Opponents standing within the AoE of Celestial Shower take increased DMG. This effect strengthens over time.

Increased DMG taken begins at 5% and increases every 3s, up to a maximum of 25%.

The effect lingers for 3s after the opponent leaves the AoE

• If you Burst off-cooldown you can keep the previous buff's stage without it resetting! In that case it's really good, otherwise still an ok boost for the entire party

C5 • + 3 Levels to her Elemental Skill Talent

• Not very important

C6 • Using Trail of the Qilin causes the next Frostlake Arrow shot within 3s to not require charging

• Super fun and strong constellation that skyrockets Ganyu's potential especially in small windows of time. This is speedrunner's favourite constellation!

No Constellation is mandatory for Ganyu. She already great at C0.

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