The best Genshin Impact Chongyun build

Want to learn how to create the best build for Chongyun in Genshin Impact? Genshin Impact’s original Cryo Claymore user, Chongyun is a young man with a colourful history. Born into a family of powerful exorcists, Chongyun’s cool appearance belies the fact that he’s really a figurative sunbeam of pure positive energy — which in turn makes him more volatile than he might seem.

In-story, Chongyun is noteworthy for his interesting collection of contradictions. As a member of your party, he’s versatile enough to act as either main or supporting DPS character, taking his Elemental Burst as a focal point for his fighting style. Read on below for our suggestions on how best to put the best Chongyun build together.

Best Chongyun build: Weapons

Chongyun’s elemental attacks tend to pack a better punch than his normal ones, so you want to pick a weapon that makes the most of his strengths. Though as a 5* item it can be hard to obtain (not to mention in high demand if you have multiple Claymore wielders in your party), the Skyward Pride really is Chongyun’s best weapon. Comparatively few Claymores incorporate elemental abilities into their attacks, and the Skyward Pride simply is the best choice. It boosts all damage dealt by a minimum of 8%; and carries a guaranteed after-effect trigger after a normal, charged, or Elemental Burst attack, which does another 80% of the original attack damage to enemies in its direct path.

Best Chongyun build: Artifacts

You’ll definitely want to pick up at least a couple of items from the Blizzard Strayer set for Chongyun. This set specifically supports Cryo characters, and with two pieces equipped at once, Chongyun will enjoy an extra 20% damage on his Elemental Burst attacks.

There are a couple of choices when it comes to finishing Chongyun’s Artifact loadout. Completing the Blizzard Strayer set is a compelling option, as at four pieces it gives Chongyun an extra 20% crit rate against enemies affected by Cryo, with an additional 20% on top if the enemy is Frozen. However, a tempting alternative is to take a blended approach and equip a couple of pieces from the Noblesse Oblige set instead — which will add a highly desirable further 20% damage to Chongyun’s Elemental Burst attacks.

Best Chongyun build: Ascension Materials

To fully ascened Chongyun you will need the following materials: 168 Cor Lapis, 46 Hoarfrost Cores, 36 Ominous Masks, 30 Stained Masks, 18 Damaged Masks, 9 Shivada Jade Chunks, 9 Shivada Jade Fragments, 6 Shivada Jade Gemstones, and 1 Shivada Jade Sliver.

Luckily, Chongyun’s ascension materials are by and large easy enough to get hold of. Foraging in the countryside around his home nation of Liyue and taking on plenty of Cryo Regisvine, Cryo Hypostasis, and Hilichurl enemies should over time provide you with everything you need.

Best Chongyun build: Talents

It’s no secret that Chongyun’s Cryo skills are his strongest feature, and thanks to the range of benefits that his best weapons and artifacts convey on his Elemental Burst, Spirit Blade – Cloud-Parting Star is definitely the Talent you want to focus on first and foremost. Meanwhile his Elemental Skill, Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost, has the unique ability to imbue not only Chongyun’s weapon but those of his fellow party members with Cryo. This skill improves best from developing his passive abilities and definitely shouldn’t be neglected either.

Here’s a quick run-down of Chongyun’s Talents and what they do:

• Normal Attack: Demonbane
• Normal Attack – Perform up to 4 consecutive strikes.
• Charged Attack – Drains Chongyun’s Stamina over time, allowing him to perform continuous swirling attacks against all nearby opponents. At the end of the sequence, Chongyun performs a more powerful slash.
• Plunging Attack – Chongyun plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents in his path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.
• Elemental Skill: Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost – Chongyun strikes the ground with his Claymore, causing a Cryo explosion in a circular AoE in front of him that deals Cryo DMG. After a short delay, the cold air created by the Cryo explosion will coalesce into a Chonghua Frost Field, within which all Sword, Claymore, and Polearm-wielding characters’ weapons will be infused with Cryo.
• Elemental Burst: Spirit Blade – Cloud-Parting Star – Chongyun summons 3 giant spirit blades in mid-air that fall to the earth one by one after a short delay, exploding as they hit the ground. When the spirit blades explode, they will deal AoE Cryo DMG and launch opponents.
• 1st Ascension Passive: Steady Breathing – Sword, Claymore, or Polearm-wielding characters within the field created by Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost have their Normal Attack speed increased by 8%.
• 4th Ascension Passive: Rimechaser Blade – When the field created by Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost disappears, another spirit blade will be summoned to strike nearby opponents, dealing 100% of Chonghua’s Layered Frost’s Skill DMG as AoE Cryo DMG. Opponents hit by this blade will have their Cryo Resistance decreased by 10% for 8s.
• Utility Passive: Gallant Journey – When dispatched on an expedition in Liyue, time consumed is reduced by 25%.

Best Chongyun build: Constellations

If you have Chongyun in your party as a DPS character, it’s well worth investing in his Constellations all the way up to Level 6 to make the absolute most you can of his Elemental Talents.

Here’s a full run-down of Chongyun’s Constellations:

• Ice Unleashed (Lvl 1): The last attack of Chongyun’s Normal Attack combo releases 3 ice blades. Each blade deals 50% of Chongyun’s attack as Cryo damage to all opponents in its path.
• Atmospheric Revolution (Lvl 2): Elemental Skills and Elemental Bursts cast within the Frost Field created by Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost have their cooldown time decreased by 15%.
• Cloudburst (Lvl 3): Increases the Level of Spirit Blade – Cloud-Parting Star by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
• Frozen Skies (Lvl 4): Chongyun regenerates 1 Energy every time he hits an opponent affected by Cryo. This effect can only occur once every 2s.
• The True Path (Lvl 5): Increases the Level of Spirit Blade – Chonghua’s Layered Frost by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
• Rally of Four Blades (Lvl 6): Spirit Blade – Cloud-Parting Star deals 15% more DMG to opponents with a lower percentage of their Max HP remaining than Chongyun. This skill will also summon 1 additional spirit blade.

How to get Chongyun in Genshin Impact

You have the chance to pull Chongyun from the gacha any time you Wish on the Wanderlust Invocation banner (standard wish). He’s also available on the Beginners’ Wish banner, which is available to new players until 20 Wishes have been made using their profile.

Chongyun is included in the wish pool of all Character Event Wishes and Weapon Event Wishes, and has occasionally been featured as a promoted character with an increased drop rate as part of these.

That’s everything you need to know to put together the best possible Chongyun build in Genshin Impact! There are quite a few Cryo characters available in the game, from starting recruit Kaeya to newest hero Kamisato Ayaka — why not take a look at our Genshin Impact character tier list to see how Chongyun compares? And if you decide to add to your character roster, check out our guide to getting more characters in Genshin Impact.