The Sad State of the Cryo Element in Genshin Impact



The Cryo element was once one the most powerful in the game spearheaded by the overpowered Freeze reaction and having a strong cast of characters. Recently though, it might be in contention for the worst element in the game for a multitude of factors. We’re gonna be investigating Cryo and what’s caused it to enter such a dying state.

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38 thoughts on “The Sad State of the Cryo Element in Genshin Impact”

  1. Cryo not being able to directly be involved in dendro wont stop me from using culinary teams that use the fridge mechanic lol (hyperfridge, curry, etc). Ive been enjoying playing my ayaka in hyperfridge teams in recent abysses. Being able to freeze the freezable enemies while maintaining good core production to hyperbloom on the bosses is very nice.

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  2. Displaying her mastery over both ice and polearms, The Tsaritsa sends a Cryonado whirling around her. The Cryonado will move with your character for the ability's duration, dealing Cryo DMG to all opponents in its path.

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  3. An idea they could try is make a support that:
    When a character trigger a frozen reaction increase dmg, if the enemy does not become frozen increase dmg by an amount (A shirt ton amount).
    But maybe Citlai may be the element saving grace who knows.

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  4. The only way to save Cryo is to change how Freeze works. Perhaps instead of completely halting ALL enemy movement, change it to a movement and animation speed reduction. That way, it still provides good defensive AND offensive boosts to your team, but doesn't neuter everything it touches.

    Also give it a Dendro reaction! Like, seriously, it NEVER crossed MHY's mind to think of plant + ice = Frostbite??? And while I'm at it, make Dendro+Geo reaction. Call it Overgrowth or something.

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  5. Cryo still can improve in some ways:
    1. Take a page out of Lyney's book and grant a Cryo unit increased damage scaling on enemies that currently have Cryo applied on them.
    2. Go Chev-style char like Vars mentioned. Perhaps have a coordinated attacker which attacks with Phys/Cryo and provides Defense shred on the enemy when Superconduct or Shatter is triggered.

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  6. I feel like a Cryo rework would also fix a lot, imagine this: When a freeze reaction hits a target and does not result in freeze, a "glacial" reaction occurs wherein enemies affected receive damage over time, similar to Emily's inclusion giving burning reactions more potential. In order to make it less OP, maybe they could give it similar drawbacks to burning giving dot to allies. With Dendro having spread, quicken, hyperbloom, burgeon, burning etc. I feel like all the other elements which are lacking in presence should be given additional reactions, this would not only increase the possibilities for future characters, but would ensure an issue like this sees long term care. Another interaction I'd love to see is between Pyro and Geo wherein a molten reaction occurs, increasing the ATK and DEF scaling of both elements simultaneously.

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  7. Tbh, the element was doing absolutely fine til dendro came out, then we shifted from the old to the new and… well.. I still have no idea why dendro does not like cryo..

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  8. so I'm thinking that it's not "freeze" that needs reworking, I think it's the interaction freeze has with shatter and melt and super conduct.

    If I were to buff shatter, it would have a higher elemental mastery scaling, as well as being able to be triggered from any cryo character's skill. no matter the weapon.

    If I were to buff melt, I would make it have a higher % damage increase if pyro comes in contact with a frozen enemy. Maybe as much as the damage muliplier on a hyper bloom. maybe call this interaction "Sublimate"

    If I were to rework super conduct, if Electicity hit a frozen enemy, it would bounce an arc of electricity to all nearby frozen enemies in a 15Ft radius. and this can have as much damage bonus as burning. and we can call this "Discharge"

    Now freezing enemies turns into a "damageless first step" like Quicken. and it feels good to use freeze anyway since it still locks down enemies.

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  9. I expect cryo to get a big glow up soon personally

    I think with the nation of cryo having the most popular and beloved collection of characters short of the archons (and the conclusion to the story, at least within the lands of the elements), Hoyo is probably aware of the need to make cryo not only strong, but uniquely desirable to tie in with the story. I really hope this video ages poorly, not because I’m praying for your downfall or anything, but bc cryo is probably the element related to some of the most critical anti-heroes/antagonists of the game and is associated with more hype and mystery than all the other nations and elements combined. I don’t think Hoyo would let that fester

    Although that does mean another year of cryo lovers probably getting very little, they’re probably used to the wait by now

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  10. Mono cryo is still in a better spot and does more damage than mono Geo. I try to force both in the abyss. Both have equally been pushed out. Geo the prevalence of elemental shields and lack of geo buffers. At least mono cryo still has Kazuha and Shenhe. Mono Geo is has Gorou. We all know how hard it is to c6 a four star. Xilonen will help the mono Cryo teams. She is incompatible with mono Geo making her not a great double buff option with Gorou.

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  11. From 1.0 the only reason I wanted cryo was just to break hydro shields; freeze never appealed to me because I mained noelle and could shrug off damage

    I hope that the cryo mains can evolve though, buff shatter XD

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  12. The only thing that would save the element would be a reaction rework of some type. For instance, if Cryo + Hydro slowed enemies and could apply universally. Or perhaps that effect could apply while not reacting with other elements, allowing you to utilize other reactions while benefitting from Cryo's cc.

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  13. I don't think we'll see any major favor towards Cryo characters until version 6.X. Genshin really has a tendency to shift the meta in new versions and with the Cryo region being the next and last known region I really anticipate them doing something to favor it really heavily in it's meta year. Kind of like how this year in Natlan it really looks like the meta wants to focus on pyro reactions, and they're setting everyone up to really need that super strong off field pyro character who will almost certainly be Mavuika. They will probably do something similar next year.

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  14. It seems to me there is a simple fix for this issue, so simple that I wonder why Hoyo hasn't implemented it:

    Have a freeze reaction apply a debuff to the target, whether it can be frozen or not. Since a superconduct reaction gives a cryo AOE and a 40% reduction to physical defense, have the new freeze reaction do away with the AOE and have it debuff ALL defense by 15%, as well as slow movement/attack speed by 15%. Call this reaction "Frostbite". It helps maintain the spirit of the element by making it harder for the enemy to hurt you while at the same time making it easier to hurt them. (The 15% figure can be adjusted in the interest of game balance – I'm just using it as an example.) This one adjustment to the freeze reaction can restore the cryo element's relevance to the meta. Imagine what an Ayaka freeze team can do with an extra 15% damage and less maneuverable enemies. This debuff can stack with characters' existing debuffs, making certain combinations even more dangerous; think Eula, Ayaka, Yelan, and Lisa. This extra debuff can also elevate the relevance of Physical in the meta.

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