Chongyun is a 4 star cryo greatsword character in Genshin Impact. Available since the start of global release, he has been in multiple banners as well as in the Starglitter shop.
Overview for Chongyun
Chongyun is a cryo damage dealer, able to affect multiple enemies with both his abilities. Due to the nature of how he works, however, certain characters are less likely to be used in a team with him.
His normal and charged attacks work similarly to other greatsword users. Due to his weapon of choice, he can be an effective damage dealer, especially when his attack stats are increased together with his weapon. Unlocking his first constellation allows Chongyun to release three ice blades at his target after the last attack of his normal attack chain.
His Elemental Skill, Layered Frost, creates a burst of cryo damage in a medium-sized area. The area becomes suffused with cryo energy, and all sword, greatsword, and polearm weapons deal cryo damage for a few seconds. His first passive talent enables all melee weapon users to attack 8% faster while inside the cryo field.
His Elemental Burst, Cloud-Parting Star, unleashed three giant ice blades on top of a target, dealing a huge amount of cryo damage. When the blades land into the ground, they deal additional cryo AOE damage in a small area. Unlocking his 6th constellation allows for an additional ice blade to be summoned, making it a total of four giant blades. His second passive talent allows an extra blade to appear a few seconds after the initial blades have disappeared.
Builds
Since his Skill turns melee attacks into cryo damage, he becomes problematic when playing with other people who don’t know how his abilities work, or within your own team, especially if your main DPS is someone like Xiangling, Razor, or Keqing. This is not a problem, however, when it comes to catalyst or bow users like Ningguang or Fischl, as the cryo field’s ability doesn’t affect them.
Playing around with this unique ability is the key to using Chongyun at his full potential to abuse the elemental reaction Melt in order to deal a large amount of damage in a very short time frame.
Weapon: Wolf’s Gravestone/Skyward Pride/Sacrificial Greatsword/Prototype Archaic
Artifacts:
2pc Blizzard Strayer + 2pc Noblesse Oblige
ATK hourglass
CRYO DMG goblet
CRIT DMG/CRIT RATE headpiece (depending on lacking stat)
This build can be for a main or secondary DPS. The new cryo set from Dragonspine’s 2pc bonus increases cryo damage by 15%, which will benefit all of his abilities, including the cryo damage effect of his Skill. The two pieces of Noblesse will ensure that his Burst will deal a lot of damage.
The new 4 star greatsword, Snow-Tombed Starsilver, isn’t really a recommended weapon for Chongyun to use. His Skill turns your attacks into cryo attacks, and effectively turns off any type of physical damage bonus, including the one coming from the greatsword’s substat.
Weapon: Wolf’s Gravestone/Skyward Pride/Sacrificial Greatsword/Prototype Archaic
Artifacts:
2pc Wanderer’s + 2pc Noblesse Oblige
ELEMENTAL MASTERY hourglass
CRYO DMG goblet
CRIT DMG/CRIT RATE headpiece (depending on lacking stat)
For a more support-oriented build, the Blizzard Strayer is replaced by Wanderer’s to increase his elemental mastery stat. This particular build relies on creating Melt reactions together with Diluc or Bennett, or Shatter with Xingqui. You can play him as the main damage dealer on the team with this build, though you will need to swap characters often to ensure your elemental reactions deal the most damage.
Team Compositions
Since both Melt and Vaporize are considered the meta currently for Genshin Impact, Chongyun pairs well with someone like Bennett, who can put down a pyro field that affects a lot of enemies. Chongyun will be the first to debuff enemies, then swapping to Bennett for the Skill or Burst will proc Melt with the 2x multiplier. Having high Elemental Mastery and Energy Recharge on Chongyun is advisable.
Diluc is also a good main DPS to pair with Chongyun. Since Diluc’s Skill transforms his damage into pyro, it won’t be affected by Chongyun’s own Skill effect. Since all of Chongyun’s abilities debuff enemies with cryo damage, Diluc can easily proc Melt for massive damage, especially if both of them have high Elemental Mastery values.
Xingqui is another good off-field DPS support with Chongyun. His Burst will allow Chongyun to Freeze his target, and can be followed up by Shatter. Shatter is also considered an Elemental Reaction and is affected by Elemental Mastery. The two of them together can lock down big threats on the field, allowing you a small window of opportunity to started regaining Stamina or to set up a big attack via character swaps.
Childe is also a good candidate for a main DPS that Chongyun can support. Since his own Skill is not melee weapon-based, Childe can easily Freeze enemies that Chongyun has targeted in order to freely deal damage without consequence.
Ningguang is also a good DPS character to pair with Chongyun. Since her normal attacks are Geo projectiles, she won’t be affected by his Skill’s abilities. Together with Bennett, Mona, Xingqui, or Sucrose, Chongyun can set up a good burst of damage via Melt or Freeze, softening enemies for Ningguang to clean the field with her Skill and Burst combo.
As a main DPS, Chongyun can benefit from the support of a shielder like Xinyan. Thanks to Xinyan’s element, this combo also revolves around the Melt elemental reaction, which can crit if characters have high enough crit rate for reliable procs.
Xiangling is another off-field DPS character that can support Chongyun. Her Skill and Burst stay on the field even when she’s not around, allowing Chongyun the ability to consistently proc Melt. It may not generate the same numbers versus a pyro-based Melt given the 1.5% multiplier, but Xiangling’s Pyronado offers a soft utility of knocking smaller enemies back a bit, but still within reach of Chongyun’s greatsword.
Together with Bennett, Xiangling, and Xingqui, Chongyun is one of the original members of the National Team, a composition of all the strong 4-star supports in the game that can take on high-level content!
Summary
Chongyun is a versatile cryo character. Able to provide solid damage with his greatsword allows him to fill the main DPS role in your team. However, given the nature of cryo currently, his value is greater as a support for pyro characters to proc Melt, or for hydro characters to offer crowd control via Freezing them.
JD Pablo Editor-in-Chief
JD Pablo is the current Editor-in-Chief of twenty8two. Enjoys video games, pizza, banana bread, and tea. Takes coffee black.
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