Genshin Impact Ganyu guide: weapons, artifacts, and more (2024)

Ganyu is one of the latest 5* characters in Genshin Impact and has certainly acquired a strong fanbase early on. After three male 5* releases, Ganyu has been a breath of fresh air. It helps that Ganyu is wicked strong, too. Stand aside grandpa Zhongli, this Cryo Archer has a few tricks to show you.

Best weapons for Ganyu

Ganyu is all about her Charged Shots and Elemental Reactions. As such, damage is often the name of the game when it comes to picking out a weapon for the Qilin descendant. Here’s a few of the more devastating choices:

Amos’ Bow

(Picture: miHoYo)

Ganyu’s signature bow. Flat and % ATK scalings are nice, but it’s the Strong-Willed weapon ability that really makes this the Best-in-Slot option for any DPS build on Ganyu. A 12% DMG increase to all basic attacks (charged or otherwise) is great, but Ganyu can really abuse the stacking DMG that increases the longer arrows stay in flight.

While other characters may have to stand well back to make the most out of this bow, the bloom delay on Frostflake Arrow (Ganyu’s Charge Level 2 basic attack) exploding counts as “in flight” for the purposes of Strong-Willed. In practice, that means Ganyu gets a minimum of 4 stacks even at point-blank range.

Yeah, Amos’ Bow is good on Ganyu.

Skyward Harp

(Picture: miHoYo)

If Amos’ Bow is BiS, then Skyward Harp is just behind and likely better as a sub-DPS option. Crit Rate, Crit DMG and additional AoE are just what the doctor - or rather Adepti - ordered. Need we say more?

Blackcliff Warbow

(Picture: miHoYo)

A good, non-5* option is Blackcliff Warbow. Ganyu can get a lot of innate Crit Rate via her talents, Cryo resonance, and also going full Blizzard Strayer for the set bonus if necessary, that she can happily put more focus onto Crit DMG. Thus, Blackcliff Warbow.

Press the Advantage also plays nicely with Ganyu’s good AoE damage, allowing her to stack the weapon ability on massed enemies and really lay down the hurt. A good choice for either a main or sub-DPS build.

The Stringless

(Picture: miHoYo)

A more specific option for Ganyu. The Stringless is a fantastic option for a sub-DPS Ganyu in a melt, or preferably reverse melt team comp. Have Pyro applied as often as possible, then bring out a high Elemental Mastery Ganyu, use her Elemental Skill and Burst with a few charged shots and watch enemies disappear courtesy of all the amps The Stringless provides. Not a generalist option, but worthy of consideration.

The last note must go to Prototype Crescent. If rolls haven’t been going your way, this forgeable option is a solid choice for whatever style of play you favour on Ganyu.

Artifacts

Latest artifact set, Blizzard Strayer, is a strong contender for Ganyu. (Picture: miHoYo)

2-piece Gladiator’s Finale plus 2-piece Blizzard Strayer is the go-to standard on Ganyu. Amped Cryo DMG and straight ATK% are just generically excellent in most scenarios. You can switch out Gladiator’s Finale for Noblesse Oblige for a more sub-DPS intensive option, and that set up is likely to do more damage if you want to use Ganyu as more of a nuke and reaction enabler rather than for her consistent DPS.

4-Piece Noblesse Oblige takes that a step further. As ever, full Noblesse Oblige makes Ganyu’s Burst all the more devastating and empowers the rest of her team when it’s used. Switch her in, use her Elemental Skill and Burst, then switch out to your main DPS.

A more niche option is 4-piece Wanderer’s Troupe. Elemental Mastery is great for reactions (no surprise) and Ganyu loves the +35% Charged Attack DMG with how reliant she is on Frostflake arrows. That said, to get the most out of this set you really do need to run very specific team comps. You must have Sucrose or Venti to amp up Elemental Reactions, then you need two off-field Pyro appliers for Melt and Pyro Resonance - in other words Bennett and Xiangling. If you have the team, this combo is devastating and will (all puns intended) absolutely Melt your opponents.

• Read more: Genshin Impact Five Flushes of Fortune: Quests, rewards, schedule, more

A similarly team dependent build is 4-piece Blizzard Strayer. To get the most out of the 4-piece set effects (+20% Crit Rate against enemies affected by Cryo, and an additional 20% to enemies that are Frozen) you either need it to be raining or you need good Hydro application to ensure consistent Frozen statuses. Cue Xingxiu, Barbara or Childe. Add in another Cryo user for the Crit Rate from Cryo Resonance, and you can hard focus Crit DMG on Ganyu and friends to really lay down the hurt. It statistically does a little less than some other combos, but the consistency is excellent and the pure Crowd Control from Frozen isn’t to be overlooked.

(Picture: miHoYo)

Artifact Stats

Ganyu is inherently focused around damage, so however you build her that will be key. With that in mind the Qixing’s Secretary should always be looking for a Crit% or DMG Circlet, ATK% Sands, and a Cryo DMG Goblet.

Beyond that, here’s what you’re looking for:

DPS Stat Priorities

1. Crit Rate/DMG (50~%+ on Rate pref.)
2. Cryo DMG Goblet (worth repeating - Key)
3. ATK%
4. Elemental Mastery
5. ATK
6. Energy Recharge

Sub-DPS and Support Priorities

1. Energy Recharge (140~%, after that you’re overcapping!)
2. Crit Rate/DMG (50~%+ on Rate pref.)
3. Elemental Mastery
4. ATK%
5. ATK

With Sub-DPS, Crit stats and EM are interchangeable in priority depending on your team comps: if you’re going for a heavy Reverse Melt or Elemental Reaction focused comp, go EM, otherwise prioritise Crit stats. Similarly, you can really push Crit DMG stats over Crit Rate if you’re running full Blizzard Strayer plus Cryo Resonance, but more Crit% is never to be sniffed at!

Play Patterns

(Picture: miHoYo)

Ganyu is pretty simple to understand but does require a certain level of mastery. Namely, much of Ganyu’s DPS is found in her unique Charged Shots. That means you need to be able to hit charged shots.

If you’re not comfortable or confident in your aim, maybe look to use Ganyu as more of a Support with Noblesse Oblige instead of as a main or sub-DPS. Otherwise, hit that archery range!

With that in mind, there are a couple of things to keep a note of. First, you want to be looking for that all-important Charge Level 2 on Ganyu’s Aimed Shots to ensure they’re Frostflake Arrows. This is unique to Ganyu, and offers both a secondary frost “bloom” AoE and activates the Ascension Talent “Undivided Heart,” which increases the Crit Rate of subsequent Frostflake arrows by 20%. Use these where possible!

If you are struggling to hit fast or invisible enemies, remember you can aim at the floor to get the arrow to explode nearby, though you will lose the initial arrow hit and only get the bloom damage.

As for a full combo, a standard pattern for Ganyu looks like Trail of the Qilin, her Elemental Skill → Celestial Shower, her Elemental Burst → Frostflake arrows. Trail of the Qilin sets up a taunt, which makes it easier to keep enemies in the AoE Cryo DMG of Celestial Shower and also utilise Harmony between Heaven and Earth for the Cryo DMG amp, which you can then make full use of with that core damage ability of Ganyu’s Charged Shots.

If you are running her as a pure Support/Enabler, taunt with her Skill, lay down her Burst, and switch out. Simple as you like.

(Picture: miHoYo)

More difficult to parse are team comps. Pyro users are obvious - Xiangling, Bennett, Xinyan and Diluc are all excellent alongside Ganyu. Bennett, in particular, proves particularly deadly, as activating Celestial Shower inside Bennett’s own Elemental Burst increases the damage of Ganyu’s for its duration, even if you leave the boundary. On top of that Melt is a very powerful reaction, and Pyro Resonance for an additional +25% ATK is nearly always a great choice.

• Read more: Genshin Impact Bennett guide: weapons, artifacts, and more

Consider too a second Cryo user for Cryo Resonance and it’s +15% Crit Rate. Chongyun plus Bennett for perma AoE Melt is already strong, add in Ganyu and another Pyro user (Xiangling, for off-field reactions, comes to mind) and a 2 Pyro/2 Cryo comp should definitely be up for consideration. Kaeya (particularly with Constellations and good Energy Recharge), Diona or Qiqi are good choices too, if you’re not a fan of getting Chongyun to work.

Alternatively, look to Hydro users to set up for Melt into Vaporise reactions, or eschew consistent Pyro damage in favour of consistent Frozen application. This is great - and necessary - if you want to run Full Blizzard Strayer. Childe, Mona or especially Xingqiu should hit the top of the list here.

Beyond more generic choices, there is a very specific comp of Venti/Sucrose, Bennett and Xiangling that is arguably the best Reverse Melt Comp available and is considered a prerequisite if you want to go Full Wanderer’s Troupe on Ganyu. The two Pyro users offer consistent off-field Pyro application, Venti or Sucrose can Swirl said Pyro and group enemies together, and then Ganyu can Melt the faces off all those enemies in the proverbial windy barrel.

Venti, in general, is strong with Ganyu because his Burst, Wind’s Grand Ode, gathers enemies so close together the icicles from Ganyu’s Celestial Shower spawn over all enemies rather than just single targets meaning you maximise damage output to an absurd degree.

• Read more: Genshin Impact Chongyun guide: weapons, artifacts, and more

With that, your overtime is done! Go home and take some well-deserved time off, just make sure you log-in bright and early as Ganyu is sure to be hard at work… assuming you’ve figured out a team comp, that is.