Trying to decide on the best Genshin Impact Ganyu build? The secretary for Liyue Harbor’s ruling commitee, the Qixing, is a humble character who gets embarressed when people bring up her past. It’s almost hard to believe that Ganyu is one of Genshin’s most fearsome damage-dealers, but I suppose it’s inevitable if you’ve been fighting with a bow for a thousand years.
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Ganyu is part-Adeptus after all, putting her on the same level as characters like Xiao, or Adeptus-trained humans like Shenhe. What makes Ganyu so strong are her supercharged aimed shots called Frostflake Arrows, which explode and cause AoE Cryo damage. She also boosts the crit rate of these shots by 20 % once she unlocks her ‘Undivided Heart’ passive, and even buffs Cryo damage with her burst.
When you throw in her Trail of the Qilin ability to create an exploding Ice Lotus that taunts enemies, you’ve got a damage-dealer with some real utility. Now she’s back for a rerun, it’s the perfect time to take a look at one of her best setups. In this Genshin Impact Ganyu build guide, I’ll walk through this build, as well as her abilities, and the ascension materials you’ll need if you grab her.
Builds
The best Genshin Impact Ganyu build
The best Ganyu build takes advantage of her powerful Frostflake Arrows, strengthening her charged attacks and ability to cause powerful reactions with her AoE Cryo.
Cryo DPS
The five-star Amos Bow is perfect for Ganyu’s aimed Frostflake Arrows. To start, it boosts normal and charged attack damage by 12%, as well as attack as a substat. It also increases damage by a further 8% every 0.1 seconds an arrow is in flight. This stacks up to five times, and as you’d imagine, is perfect for aimed shots that can be more accurate over a longer distance.
- Artifact: (4) Wanderer’s Troupe
Wanderer’s Troupe is a good set for Ganyu, especially if you want her to cause powerful reaction damage with her AoE Cryo. Two-pieces boost elemental mastery by 80, while four-pieces buffs attack damage by 35% if the character uses a bow, which Ganyu does.
In terms of artifact stats, you’ll want to prioritise attack, crit damage, and crit rate, though as Ganyu’s ‘Undivided Heart’ passive already boosts subsequent Frostflake Arrow crit rate by 20%, you won’t need so much of that last one.
How to unlock
How to get Ganyu in Genshin Impact
You can get Ganyu as part of her Genshin Impact 2.4 rerun banner alongside Zhongli. The four-star characters on this banner are Yanfei, Xingqiu, and Beidou. As this is likely the last chance to grab her for a long while, it’s definitely worth using your fates if you want her in your party, especially when you consider she’s a great combo character for the recently released Shenhe.
Abilities
Ganyu’s abilities
Here are Ganyu’s abilities, passives, and Constellations:
| Normal Attack: | Ganyu fires up to six quick arrows, dealing Physical damage. |
| Charged Attack: | Ganyu aims a more powerful, precise arrow. At Level 1 charge, the arrow will deal Cryo damage. At Level 2 charge, it will become a Frostflake Arrow, dealing even more Cryo damage, and blooms to cause AoE damage upon hitting a target. |
| Plunging Attack: | Ganyu fires a flurry of arrows in mid-air, then strikes the ground below, dealing AoE damage. |
| Trial Of The Qilin | Ganyu dashes backwards, dealing AoE Cryo damage, and leaving an Ice Lotus in her wake. This Ice Lotus attracts enemy attention, taking attacks away from Ganyu herself, and grouping them together, exposed to AoE attacks. Ice Lotus’ gets stronger as Ganyu’s Max HP rises. The Ice Lotus will bloom and deal more Cryo AoE damage once destroyed. |
| Celestial Shower | Ganyu summons frost to the area, which brings an Ice Soul Gem with it. This Gem will rain down shards of ice, dealing Cryo Damage, for the duration of the Elemental Burst. |
| Undivided Heart: | After firing a Frostflake Arrow, the critical hit rate of the next Frostflake Arrow rises by 20% for the next five seconds. |
| Harmony Of Heaven And Earth: | Characters under Celestial Showers gain a 20% Cryo damage bonus. |
| Preserved For The Hunt: | Grants a 15% ore refund when crafting Bows. |
| Dew Drinker: | Enemies who take damage from a Charged Level 2 Frostflake Arrow have 15% less Cryo resistance for six seconds. Only occurs once per hit, and regenerates two Energy for Ganyu. |
| The Auspicious: | Trial Of The Qilin gets one extra charge. |
| Cloud Strider: | Increases Celestial Shower by three. |
| Westward Sojourn: | Enemies under Celestial Shower take increased damage. This starts at 5%, and increases by an extra 5% every three seconds, to a max of 25%. The effect remains for three seconds after an enemy leaves the area. |
| The Mericul: | Increases Trial Of The Qilin by three. |
| The Clement: | After Trial Of The Qilin, the next Frostflake Arrow will not need charging, so long as it is fired within 30 seconds. |
Ascension materials
Ganyu Ascension materials
Character
In order to level Ganyu, you’re going to need Shivada Jade, but it makes sense to grab that from the Cryo Regisvine boss in Mondstadt, since you also need the Hoarfrost Cores it drops. There are also two world materials that you’ll need:
- Qingxins
- Whopperflower items
Qingxins are white flowers that you can find all across Liyue, though in Jueyun Karst and the Guyun Stone Forest in-particular. They usually grow high up on rocks, and you can see all of their locations on the official Genshin Impact map.
Whopperflower nectar items, on the other hand, come from fighting Whopperflowers. You find these enemies in every region, or by selecting them in the enemies list in the Adventurer’s Handbook. However, we recommend doing the Blossoms of Wealth or Wisdom in Mondstadt, as you get to fight them and farm Mora or EXP materials at the same time.
Talent
Here’s what you need for Ganyu’s talents:
- Diligence scrolls
- Whopperflower items
- Shadow of the Warrior
- Crown of Insight
Diligence scrolls and their upgraded variants come from the Taishan Mansion Domain on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Whopperflower items, as mentioned above, are from Whopperflower enemies.
The Shadow of the Warrior is a boss material dropped by Childe in his weekly boss, though it can be crafted with his other materials and Dream Solvent at an Alchemy Bench. Finally, the Crown of Insight comes from seasonal events like the Lantern Rite, or from upgrading the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine, and the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma.