Cyno is a five-star limited character who, alongside returning character Venti, helms the first half of patch 3.1 of Genshin Impact. The Electro polearm character made his first appearance in the official manga and became an anticipated character ever since, serving as the cover character for Sumeru in the Trevail trailer to feature throughout the Traveler’s journey. With the character formally arriving following the addition of the Sumeru desert, it is time to examine the Egyptian-inspired card game enthusiast and whether he’s a worthy investment for a player’s hard-earned Primogems.
Should You Pull for Cyno in Genshin Impact?
Due to being a hyper carry, Cyno’s kit is maximized when a player has him on the field continuously during a combat scenario. This means that how willing a player is at investing in Cyno determines whether or not he’ll prove to be a valuable prospect during Spiral Abyss runs or high difficulty content. The other issue that being a hyper carry poses is the fact that Cyno’s team composition will prove to be relatively rigid, utilizing supports capable of benefiting his kit and desired elemental reactions. The above two factors largely determine the merits of adding Cyno to a player’s roster of characters.
Hyper Carry
Cyno is similar to Xiao in terms of mechanics, a previously released Anemo polearm character. Players make the most of a hyper carry’s kit by spending the entirety of their elemental burst duration doing damage with them on the field. This form of playstyle means that buffs and support abilities are used first before swapping to the damage dealer, who will then do all the damage during an enemy encounter. The role that hyper-carry plays runs contrary to the idea of swapping teammates in and out when required, instead demanding heavy investment in a single damage dealer to achieve results.
Cyno is capable of dealing sufficient to above-average damage with the right teammates, grinded-out artifact sets, and a suitable weapon at his disposal. The question is whether or not a player has the resource or interest in giving Cyno the spotlight in the center stage, ending battles.
Team Composition
As an Electro on-field DPS, Cyno stands the most to gain from the presence of Dendro teammates. The introduction of Aggravate, the Electro Dendro reaction, proves to be a considerable boost of damage to any electro-focused team, and Cyno is no exception. The character with his additional scaling in elemental mastery benefits in particular from the inclusion of Dendro characters, as they help to accentuate such numbers.
One issue with this requirement is the lack of dedicated Dendro support at this current point in time, despite this dilemma being largely offset by the free options available in the form of Dendro Traveler and Collei. Players wanting to push Cyno to greater heights might have to consider the necessity of obtaining future Dendro characters, five-star supports in particular, and it’s difficult to recommend making such acquisitions considering the monetary cost that this could entail.
Players need to weigh the up and downs of Cyno as a teammate. If they do end up pulling for him, it is advised for players to make haste in terms of unlocking the desert region and nabbing scarabs, as the ascension material is required in bountiful numbers.
Genshin Impact is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, and iOS.
