This is because of his long, continuous field time requirements of around 16 seconds. No off-field character ability or buff lasts this long. Because of this, he doesn’t have perfect synergy with any unit – abilities and buffs don’t last long enough to support his entire field time. However, he still has plenty of viable teammates and team comps available. Plus most of his value comes from his straightforward gameplay as a hypercarry unit. Just cast his burst, perform a few normal attacks, and periodically use his skill. This makes him an especially good option for casual or early-game players. And for more hardcore players, there’s still room for min-maxing, just not a lot. Note: This is about meta only. So if you like Cyno regardless of his power level, don’t let this stop you from pulling him.
Pros & Cons
Cyno Strengths
The damage output by most of Cyno’s teams is very similar. Because of this, he doesn’t have a single strongest team that’s miles ahead of others. Plus you don’t need any specific units or teams to make him work. So you can freely use any of his teams and deal good damage. This includes Aggravate, Hyperbloom, Overvape, and Electro-Charged teams – any of these work well with Cyno. Cyno has plenty of artifact set options – namely, Thundering Fury, Thundersoother, Gilded Dreams, and Gladiator’s Finale. He can effectively use any 4pc. sets of these artifacts, all of which are relatively accessible. For instance, Thundering Fury and Thundersoother can be farmed from the same domain – and both of these are great artifacts that work well with a lot of units. So it’s a very resin-efficient domain to farm. You’re bound to get artifacts for both Cyno and your other characters. Similarly, Gilded Dreams share the same domain as Deepwood Memories – aka the best artifact set for any Dendro support unit. Plus these artifacts can be gained from other sources like Spiral Abyss rewards and Artifact Strongboxes. Cyno deals most or all his damage during his burst – so it’s really his entire gameplay. All his combos or rotations just consist of casting his burst, performing normal attacks, and occasionally using his skill. This makes him an especially good unit for more casual or early-game players – there’s absolutely no need to learn complicated mechanics.
Cyno Weaknesses
Cyno’s burst lasts for 16s and costs 80 energy – so it’s highly recommended to keep him on-field for its entire duration. This lets him deal optimal damage and collect enough energy for his expensive burst. However, there’s currently no character ability or buff that lasts as long as his burst. Plus switching characters prematurely ends his burst infusion, so you can’t refresh any teammates’ abilities or buffs. This also includes his less favorable synergy with the 4pc. Viridescent Venerer (4VV) set on Anemo units. 4VV’s elemental resistance shred only lasts for 10s and can only be triggered when the wielder is on-field. So although it’s a great damage gain for Cyno, you can’t refresh it in the middle of his burst. Still, pairing him with an Anemo unit is often recommended thanks to their crowd control and teamwide buffing. Cyno doesn’t have any increased resistance interruption during his burst. So he can easily get interrupted or staggered out of his attack animation. And it can be difficult to consistently cast his skill during the Judication effect’s time window – aka a sizable damage loss. However, this can be easily solved by using a shielder at the cost of a team slot. Cyno competes with a few other Electro units in all his teams. Plus it’s often optimal to just play those other units instead of him. Here’s a deeper comparison between Cyno and other relevant Electro characters.
Are Cyno’s Constellations Good?
Cyno has pretty good constellations. They’re a mix of damage boosts and quality-of-life upgrades. However, there’s absolutely no need to pull for cons – Cyno is already a good unit at C0. But if you’re planning to pull for strong early constellations, C2 is the best place to stop. This is thanks to its significant and easy-to-trigger damage gain. His 3rd and 5th constellations are decent at best, so they’re not worth actively pulling for. So it’s really only worth pulling until C1/C2 or going all out until C6. Additionally, here’s a closer look at each one.
C1: Ordinance: Unceasing Vigil
After casting Cyno’s burst, his normal attack speed is increased by 20% for 10s. If his passive’s Judication is triggered by his skill, this effect’s duration will be refreshed. The Featherfall Judgement passive from his 2nd ascension must be unlocked for this to work. This is an overall nice damage gain. It basically lets you perform more normal attacks per burst – aka more damage.
C2: Ceremony: Homecoming of Spirits
When Cyno’s normal attacks hit opponents, his Electro damage bonus is increased by 10% for 4s. This can be triggered once every 0.1s up to a maximum of 5 stacks. C2 is his strongest early constellation thanks to its significant damage boost. This is also the best place to stop pulling for his constellations.
C3: Precept: Lawful Enforcer
Increases his elemental burst talent level by 3. This is a direct and unconditional gain, but it’s relatively smaller than his C2.
C4: Austerity: Forbidding Guard
Cyno restores 3 elemental energy for all party members (except himself) upon triggering an Electro-related reaction during his burst. This can only occur 5 times within one use of his burst. This is mainly a quality-of-life constellation that decreases his teammates’ energy requirements. However, it doesn’t directly benefit Cyno himself. So it’s a pretty bad constellation for Cyno and decent for his teammates.
C5: Funerary Rite: The Passing of Starlight
Increases his elemental skill talent level by 3. This is a very small damage gain – it’s never recommended to actively pull for this constellation. Instead, it’s highly recommended to pull for his C6 if you already have C5.
C6: Raiment: Just Scales
After casting Cyno’s burst or triggering Judication, he gains 4 stacks of the ‘Day of the Jackal’ effect. Hitting opponents with a normal attack consumes 1 stack of this effect and fires one Duststalker Bolt. This can only be triggered once every 0.4s. Each ‘Day of the Jackal’ stack lasts for 8s and up to a maximum of 8 stacks. All stacks will be cleared once his burst ends. The Featherfall Judgement passive from his 2nd ascension must be unlocked for the effect to work. C6 is Cyno’s best constellation, and it offers the biggest damage gain.
Deathmatch vs. White Tassel for Cyno
Deathmatch is Cyno’s best 4-star weapon, while White Tassel is his best 3-star option. However, Deathmatch is paywalled behind the battlepass – so White Tassel is always a great free-to-play option. Deathmatch is better than White Tassel assuming they have the same refinement rank. However, it really varies on their refinement ranks – plus it’s significantly easier to get White Tassel refinements than Deathmatch. To help you out, here’s a more detailed ranking of the two including refinement ranks.
4pc. Thundering Fury vs. 4pc. Gilded Dreams for Cyno
4pc. Thundering Fury (4TF) is Cyno’s best artifact set thanks to its 4pc. effect. Upon triggering Overloaded, Electro-Charged, Superconduct, Hyperbloom, or Quicken is triggered, the wielder’s elemental skill cooldown is decreased by 1s. This can be triggered once every 0.8s. This basically gives Cyno additional skill casts during his burst, which is a big damage gain. Plus it effectively reduces his Energy Recharge requirements by generating more particles from his skill. However, this is more mechanically challenging to deal with. 4TF is only optimal if you can properly time his skill casts with his Judication passive. Plus you need to keep hitting opponents to trigger the cooldown reduction effect – dodging or missing opponents can be a damage loss. In contrast, 4GD is a significantly more consistent option but with a lower damage ceiling. This is thanks to its passive that’s much easier to maintain, so It’s an overall great alternative for 4TF.
