Cyno

Cyno

5★ElectroPolearmMain Damage

TL;DR

Cyno spends the fight inside his Burst. It turns him into a spear-wielding Electro machine for 10 seconds. Pressing his Skill during that window both adds time to it and fires off extra bolts, so the loop is Burst, swing, then Skill whenever the game tells you to. Up to 18 seconds of it. He runs on Elemental Mastery. After his Witch's Revelation quest the Skill alone puts him in the stance for 6 seconds. Inside a Polestar Field the bolts become Stellar-Conduct hits that lean even harder on that Elemental Mastery.

Rotation

  1. Let your supports go first. Dendro on the enemies before he starts swinging.
  2. Skill (E), then Burst (Q). With the Witch's Revelation quest done the Skill on its own puts him in the stance for 6 seconds. The Burst then sets the timer to 10.
  3. Normal Attack.
  4. Press Skill (E) the moment his stance visibly shifts. It hits harder, throws out three bolts and adds seconds to the timer.
  5. Keep alternating until the stance drops, which is up to 18 seconds in.

Abilities

Burst (Q) 80 Energy, back in 20 seconds. Puts him in his stance for 10 seconds, extendable to 18. His Normal, Charged and Plunging Attacks all become Electro that nothing can override, his Elemental Mastery goes up and he's much harder to interrupt. Swapping away ends it early.
Skill (E) A thrust on a 7.5 second cooldown outside the stance. After his Witch's Revelation quest that thrust also puts him in the stance for 6 seconds, poses included. Inside the stance it becomes a heavier area attack on a 3 second cooldown. It extends a stance the Burst started every time you press it, though not the 6 second one from the Skill.
Normal Attacks A four-hit spear string. Most of his damage lands here while the stance is up. His Elemental Mastery is added straight onto these.

The one mechanic to understand

Press the Skill when he changes stance.

Every few seconds inside the Burst, Cyno shifts into a readable pose with his spear held out. Pressing the Skill in that moment makes that cast do 35% more damage and fires three bolts on top. Those bolts hit harder than anything else he has. Pressing it at any other time still extends the timer, just without the payoff. It's the one bit of timing the character asks for, so watch him rather than the cooldown. Inside a Polestar Field the three bolts come out as Stellar-Conduct hits instead, which take a far bigger share of their damage from his Elemental Mastery. The timing is identical, so nothing about how you play him changes.

What actually matters

  • Elemental Mastery on top of Crit. His passive adds a share of his Elemental Mastery straight onto his Normal Attack damage and a bigger share onto the bolts, so it works like a damage stat here rather than a reaction stat.
  • Energy Recharge, enough for an 80 cost Burst every rotation. Somewhere around 140% with another Electro character in the team, more if he's alone. When the Burst isn't up he does almost nothing.
  • The stance ends if he leaves the field. Everything the team does happens before you press the Burst.
  • A Polestar Field upgrades the bolts. That takes Cryo on the team and a Snezhnaya character who turns Superconduct into Stellar-Conduct. Without one he plays exactly as before, so it's a bonus rather than a requirement.

Gear

Weapon Elemental Mastery. Kitain Cross Spear is craftable in Inazuma, comes with Elemental Mastery and refunds Energy on the Skill, which suits his expensive Burst.
Artifacts 4-piece Gilded Dreams for the Elemental Mastery. In a Stellar-Conduct team swap to 4-piece Disenchantment in Deep Shadow, the set built for Stellar reaction damage.
Sands Goblet Circlet Substats
EM Electro DMG / EM Crit Crit / EM

The Elemental Mastery goblet is for a Stellar-Conduct team, where the bolts ignore Electro damage bonus. His spear swings still use it, so Electro damage is close either way.

Works well with

DendroCryoElectro

Dendro is what his Elemental Mastery build is for. Cryo plus a Snezhnaya teammate who makes a Polestar Field gets him the Stellar-Conduct bolts instead. A second Electro character mostly solves his Energy problem.

Don't bother

  • Physical builds. His spear is Electro for the only part of the fight that matters.
  • Playing him outside the stance. If the Burst isn't up, the Skill buys 6 seconds of it on its own.
  • Charged Attacks. They cost 25 stamina and do less than the string.
  • Swapping out mid-stance to fit in a teammate's buff. The stance goes with him.

Want the full deep dive? Read Cyno on KeqingMains.

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