Just mere months after opening up the vast region of Sumeru, the world of Genshin Impact is set to welcome yet another new setting – and underwater, to boot. But Fontaine isn’t the only thing to look forward to in the 4.0 patch, with the highly-anticipated Lyney making his debut as the region’s first limited 5-star playable character.
First revealed in 2020 alongside his sister Lynette in Genshin Impact’s Tevyat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail, players have waited three long years to finally obtain the charming magician as a playable character.
The fanbase has been beyond excited with the release of his official demo and trailer, even with aggressive comments on his design from a small fraction of the Korean fandom. These comments on Twitter show just how hyped the fanbase has been for his arrival, further heightened with Genshin Impact’s callback to his original preview on Travail.
As the Pyro character unveils the tricks in his hat to entice players to spend all their primogems on him, here’s our ultimate guide to building Lyney.
Ultimate Guide to Building Lyney
Lyney is a Pyro Bow character mainly scaling off attack (ATK), relying on Charged Attacks (CA) to maximise his damage potential. He benefits and strengthens a team that comprises mainly Pyro characters (mono-Pyro), with his ideal role as an on-field DPS character. More about his rotations further down the guide – first, a look at his talents.
Talent Breakdown
Aside from his magically designed normal attack (NA) animations, his NA and plunging attacks are similar to other bow users. But, his charged attack comes with a special quirk: different effects occur based on the time spent on charging the shot in aim mode. Level 1 is a normal Pyro-charged attack, while Level 2 fires a Prop Arrow dealing Pyro damage, and summoning a Grin-Malkin Hat on hit.
Prop Arrow
- Above 60% HP:
- Consumes 20% of his max HP for 1 Prop Surplus stack (up to 5 stacks).
- After 30 seconds out of combat, this effect is removed.
- Lyney’s HP cannot drop beyond 60% of his max HP.
Every 6 seconds, Prop Arrow drops a Spiritbreath Thorn (49.6% damage at Skill Level 10), dealing Pneuma-aligned Pyro damage.
Pneuma is a new mechanic for Fontaine characters that is used to unlock Ousia-affiliated puzzles in Fontaine.
Grin-Malkin Hat
Grin-Malkin Hat inherits a portion of Lyney’s max HP and taunts nearby opponents. Only 1 Hat can be on-field.
When destroyed or its duration expires, it fires a Pyrotechnic Strike (381.6% damage at Skill Level 10) at 1 nearby opponent, dealing Pyro damage.
Skill (E): Bewildering Lights
With a 15-second cooldown, Bewildering Lights allows Lyney to clear all existing Prop Surplus stacks and deals area-of-effect (AoE) Pyro damage to opponents in front of him. It regenerates Lyney’s HP based on his max HP (20% per stack at SL10), with any Grin-Malkin Hat on-field exploding and dealing AoE Pyro damage. The damage is equal to a Pyrotechnic Strike, and is considered Charged Attack damage.
Elemental Burst (Q) — Wondrous Trick: Miracle Parade
Lyney turns into his cute Grim-Malkin Cat (not Hat!) that scampers around fast! It has a 15 second cooldown, and deals one instance of Pyro damage to each opponent when close to enemies. After 3 seconds, Lyney dismisses this state and ignites Explosive Fireworks (deals AoE Pyro damage, 745.2% damage at SL10), summons 1 Grin-Malkin Hat, and gains 1 Prop Surplus stack. This cat can be actively cancelled.
With the majority of his damage stemming from charged attacks, it is recommended to give priority to his Normal Attack talent level as his charged attacks scale from this talent. His Skill and Ultimate, meanwhile, can be levelled according to your needs – if you want his Ultimate to charge faster, focus on his Ultimate talent; if not, focus on levelling his Skill talent.
Passives
| 1st Ascension Passive (A1): Perilous Performance | When HP is consumed firing a Prop Arrow, a Grin-Malkin Hat is summoned, and when it hits opponents: Restores 3 Energy to Lyney Lyney’s damage dealt increases by 80% ATK This helps Lyney’s energy recharge (ER) needs while increasing his damage. However, the HP depletion means Lyney will need a healer. |
| 4th Ascension Passive (A4): Conclusive Ovation | When Lyney deals damage to opponents affected by Pyro: Damage dealt increases by 60% ATK Each Pyro party member other than Lyney increases his damage by 20% Maximum damage increase through this passive is 100% While he cannot utilise Vaporize or Melt reactions, this passive gives him a major damage increase should he run with a mono-Pyro team. |
| Trivial Observations | Displays the location of Fontaine-related resources on the mini-map. In a brand-new region, this is extremely helpful in scouring an area for materials to ascend all your new characters! |
Constellation Overview
| Constellation 1 (Whimsical Wonders) | – 2 Grim-Malkin Hats can be present on field – Prop Arrows summon 2 Grim-Malkin Hats and gives +1 stack of Prop Surplus A more lacklustre constellation as it only quickens Prop Surplus stacks and gives slightly more damage with the explosion of Grim-Malkin Hats. |
| Constellation 2 (Loquacious Lure) Most cost-effective for damage constellation | When on field, Lyney gains a stack of Crisp Focus (max 3 stacks) every 2 seconds. Each stack increases CRIT DMG by 20%. All stacks are cancelled when Lyney leaves the field. This gives a quality-of-gameplay improvement since it increases Lyney’s damage output the longer he is on-field. |
| Constellation 3 (Prestidigitation) | Increases the level of Lyney’s NA talent by 3. As the damage of Lyney’s CA is reliant on his NA talent, this gives a significant increase in his overall damage. |
| Constellation 4 (Well-Versed, Well-Rehearsed) | After an opponent is hit by Lyney’s Pyro CA, the opponent’s Pyro resistance (RES) decreases by 20% for 6 seconds. This allows the entire team to deal increased Pyro damage if Lyney is running on a mono-Pyro team. |
| Constellation 5 (To Pierce Enigmas) | Increases the level of Lyney’s Elemental Burst by 3. Not a very good constellation as his Elemental Burst does not provide as much damage as his CAs. |
| Constellation 6 (A Contrary Smile) Best constellation | When Lyney fires a Prop Arrow, he fires a Pyrotechnic Strike: Reprised, dealing 80% of a Pyrotechnic Strike’s damage. This damage is considered a CA. With many multipliers for his CA in his kit, this is a huge improvement in Lyney’s overall damage output. |
Ascension and Talent Materials
With a new region comes more farming for all the new specialities and talent books. For Lyney, his new local speciality ascension material is the Rainbow Rose, found mainly in the Beryl Region. It can also be found outside the Court of Fontaine, around Marcotte Station, and near the Fountain of Lucine.
The flower map pins contain the rough location of the Rainbow Roses.
His required boss material is the Emperor’s Resolution, dropped by the new boss Emperor of Fire and Iron. Players will have to dive underwater to locate the boss, just outside of the Belleau Region.
For his talent upgrades, he requires the Equity talent books, obtainable every Monday, Thursday and Sunday in Fontaine’s talent book domain Rhyming Rhythm. Players will have to dive underwater and locate the domain near Salacia Plains.
Below is a brief breakdown of the other materials required.
| Total Level Up Cost | Mora x 1,672,530 Hero Wits x 421 / Adventurer’s Experience x 1,676 |
| Total Ascension Cost | Mora x 420,000 |
| Gems | 1x Agnidus Agate Silver 9x Agnidus Agate Fragment 9x Agnidus Agate Chunk 6x Agnidus Agate Gemstone |
| Boss Materials | 46x Emperor’s Resolution |
| Local Speciality | 168x Rainbow Rose |
| Common Material (Fatui Insignias) | 18x Recruit’s Insignia 30x Sergeant’s Insignia 36x Lieutenant’s Insignia |
Best Weapons
The best 5-star but premium choice will be his best-in-slot (BiS) 5-star bow, The First Great Magic. Tailor-made for his kit, it gives CRIT DMG%, increases CA damage and ATK% with every Pyro unit in the team. As discussed above, these stats directly increase his damage-dealing prowess and works well with his passives.
Other premium 5-star bow choices include Aqua Simulacra, Thundering Pulse, and Skyward Harp. Their passives don’t work well with his kit, but the CRIT DMG% secondary stat of these 5-star bows is too hard to ignore.
The best 4-star weapon choice will be Song of Stillness, forgeable when Fontaine is released. Its secondary stat ATK% works well with him, and its passive allows for a sizable damage increase (16% at weapon refinement 1) when Lyney is healed. Since Lyney needs a healer to maximise his Prop Surplus damage, this bow works best amongst all 4-star weapons.
The next best 4-star weapon is Prototype Crescent, another forgeable bow. Its secondary stat is also ATK%, but players need to hit an enemy’s weak point with CAs to make full use of the bow’s passive.
Best Artifact Sets And Substats
4-piece Marechausse Hunter
Fontaine’s new artifact set available in Fontaine’s new artifact domain, Denouement of Sin. The 2-piece bonus increases his CA damage by 15 percent, while the 4-piece bonus increases his CRIT Rate by 12 percent for 5 seconds (up to 3 stacks) when his HP increases or decreases.
As Lyney will mainly be using CAs and needs a healer for his fullest damage potential, this artifact set further stretches that damage window.
4-piece Vermillion Hereafter
This set requires players to constantly start with Lyney’s burst when he is on field, and use his CAs, to fully utilise this artifact set. Its 2-piece bonus helps in increasing his ATK%. The 4-piece bonus only increases ATK by 16 percent after using an Elemental Burst, with an additional 10 percent ATK when he loses HP (up to 4 stacks).
2-piece Marechausse Hunter / 2-piece Crimson Witch of Flames / 2-piece ATK+18% sets
2-piece Crimson Witch of Flames increases Lyney’s Pyro damage bonus, and the other artifacts will contribute to his CA and damage output.
Substats
As Lyney scales off ATK%, players should aim to get an ATK% Sands, Pyro damage Goblet and CRIT DMG or CRIT Rate Circlet.
As for substats, players should prioritise CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG, followed by ATK%, then Flat ATK. ER% (Energy Recharge) will be a good additional substat if you need to continually use his Elemental Burst.
Recommended Playstyle
The ideal rotation for Lyney will be 3 to 4 CAs, followed by his Elemental Burst, but cancelled early by Elemental Skill, before swapping to another character. His Elemental Burst does not give as much damage as his Elemental Skill or CAs.
However, if Lyney is using the 4-piece Vermillion Hereafter set, his ideal rotation will be to use his Elemental Burst first, cancel it early with his Elemental Skill, followed by 3-4 CAs, before swapping to another character.
Recommended Team Compositions
Lyney best runs on a mono-Pyro team with a healer, an offensive character that increases his damage output, and a shielder that allows his CAs to remain uninterrupted by enemy attacks.
Hence, his best teammate is Bennett, who provides healing and an ATK% boost with his Elemental Burst while being a Pyro character. With the healing required by Lyney, it is best for Bennett to run HP% artifacts to increase his healing output. The quick cooldown of Bennett’s Elemental Skill also helps with ER to upkeep the Elemental Bursts of characters in the team.
Lyney’s options for shielders include Zhongli and C4 Yanfei. Zhongli provides a 20 percent Elemental Resistance (RES) decrease in enemies, and his shield is able to hold up for the 15-second cooldown of Lyney’s Elemental Burst and Elemental Skill. Meanwhile, C4 Yanfei provides a shield after using her Elemental Burst and is able to contribute to Lyney’s output by being a Pyro character.
For offensive support characters, it is recommended to use Anemo crowd-control characters equipped with the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer artifact set, such as Kazuha, Venti or Sucrose, to optimise the AoE of Lyney’s CAs. Kazuha is an especially powerful option, given that his kit will increase Lyney’s personal damage. 4-piece Viridescent Venerer will decrease the RES of opponents to the element infused in Swirl.
The Genshin Impact fanbase has long awaited Lyney since he first started charming the hearts of players in 2020. Built as a strong on-field DPS, players who obtain him can further upgrade the damage of their teams and find more play styles that enrich their gameplay experience.
Sprinkled with a touch of Lyney’s magic, the gorgeous look on his animations and skills demonstrates the game’s improvement with each new patch.
For Lyney to magically appear in the accounts of players worldwide, the primogems of players will also have to magically disappear into Fontaine’s first character banner, just like the card magic by the sleight of his hands in his character demo. The character is now available in-game, with Zhongli and Childe returning for Phase 2 of Version 4.0’s limited character banner.
Kaylyn is usually geeking out over gacha games or the latest updates in a manga, and can talk all day about them. She’s also an avid collector, and really needs more space to store her game merchandise, utaite CDs and manga books.
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