Cryo archer Ganyu is probably one of the biggest icons among the cast of Genshin Impact – and on top of that, she is one of the top characters when it comes to dealing damage. In the second half of update 3.0, her rerun banner will appear in the game, allowing players to either add her to their lineup or work on unlocking her constellations.
Which weapons, artifacts, and teams does Ganyu need to bring her best performance to the table, though? This Genshin Impact build guide has the knowledge you need.
Genshin Impact Ganyu: best weapons
Ganyu’s power lies primarily in her charged attacks, which deal Cryo damage in an area. While she can wreak a lot of havoc with her attacks alone, maximizing damage requires elemental reactions – which is why you play Ganyu in teams that focus on either Melting or Freezing. Which direction you take, however, has little bearing on weapon choice.
The best weapon for Ganyu is Amos’ Bow, a 5-star weapon. This increases the Attack stat of its bearer and increases the damage of standard attacks as well as charged attacks by up to 40%. This makes for very consistent damage output from Ganyu.
The best alternative to this is Hunter’s Path, also a 5-star bow and a recent addition to the game in patch 3.0. It increases damage from all elements by 12% and improves the damage of charged shots by 160% based on the character’s Elemental Mastery. The bow also increases the Critical Hit Rate. This can result in higher damage values than Amos’ Bow, but is less consistent overall and more dependent on having the correct stats on your artifacts, as you want to have the highest possible value in Elemental Mastery.
Strong weapons for Ganyu beyond that are:
- Aqua Simulacra (5-star bow) – increases Critical Damage, HP, and Attack.
- Skyward Harp (5-star bow) – increases Critical Hit Rate and Critical Damage, deals bonus physical damage.
- Prototype Crescent (4-star bow) – increases Attack, increases Speed and Attack when hitting against weak points with charged attacks; craftable and therefore a good free-to-play option.
- Hamayumi (4-star bow) – increases Attack, especially when fully charged with energy; craftable and therefore a good free-to-play option.
Genshin Impact Ganyu: best artifacts
When choosing an artifact set, on the other hand, it makes a huge difference whether you want to use Ganyu in a team that relies on Melting or in a squad that relies on Freezing.
In a Melting team with Ganyu as the main DPS, you should equip the archer with a full set of Shimenawa’s Reminiscence. This increases Attack by 18% (from two pieces onwards) and converts a portion of Elemental Energy into a 50% damage bonus for standard and charged attacks from four pieces onwards.
Equivalent to this is a full set of Wanderer’s Troupe, which increases Elemental Mastery and the damage of charged shots. Both artifact sets produce roughly equal results – so decide what to use based on availability and fitting stats.
On the other hand, in a Freezing team with Ganyu as the main DPS, you should go for a full set of Blizzard Strayer. This increases Cryo damage by 15% from two pieces onwards and improves the Critical Hit Rate against targets suffering from Cryo effects by 20% starting at four pieces. If these are frozen enemies, the set adds another 20% Critical Hit Rate.
In all of these cases, pay attention to the following stat distribution:
- Plume: Attack (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, Attack %, Elemental Mastery (sub stats).
- Flower: HP (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, Attack %, Elemental Mastery (sub stats).
- Sands: Attack % (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery (sub stats).
- Goblet: Cryo Damage % (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, Attack %, Energy Recharge (sub stats).
- Circlet: Critical Damage or Critical Hit Rate (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, Attack %, Energy Recharge (sub stats).
Genshin Impact Ganyu: best teams
Let’s start with the teams based around the Melting reaction. A powerful example of this composition is:
- Ganyu (Main DPS), Xiangling (Sub DPS), Kazuha (Support), Bennett (Support).
In this squad, Ganyu does the main work with her charged attack and Elemental Burst dealing damage and creating Cryo effects. Xiangling provides the necessary Pyro attacks to trigger the Melting reaction, which deals massive damage. Kazuha groups enemies together and reduces their elemental resistance, allowing them to take more damage from the rest of the team. Bennett keeps Ganyu alive and contributes more Pyro effects that allow her attacks to react.
In the support category, Diona is a good replacement for Bennett, while Zhongli and Venti take the role of Kazuha. For Pyro effects, Amber can be called upon instead of Xiangling.
In contrast, what does a Freezing team with Ganyu look like? Here is a strong example:
- Ganyu (Main DPS), Kokomi (Sub DPS/Support), Mona (Support), Kazuha (Support).
Ganyu is responsible for Cryo effects and damage, as in the Melting team, Mona contributes some of the necessary Hydro effects. Kokomi takes on multiple roles: she heals the team, while also providing constant Hydro application and supplementing the group’s damage as a Sub DPS with her Elemental Burst. Kazuha has the same role as before: grouping enemies for protection and more efficient area of effect damage and shredding their elemental resistance. With this composition, enemies are practically trapped in permafrost and at your mercy, giving Ganyu enough room to deal damage at leisure.
Alternative lineups are possible with Diona and Barbara for Kokomi, Venti and Sucrose for Kazuha, and Zhongli or Shenhe for Mona. However, you have to be careful with the Geo Archon – he helps to keep Ganyu alive with his shield, but may free frozen enemies from their icy cages by shattering their Cryo cocoons with his Geo powers.
Written by Marco Wutz on behalf of GLHF.
