Lyney is a 5-Star Pyro character who was added to Genshin Impact during Phase 1 of the 4.0 update.
While Lyney is featured as the boosted 5-Star character in his Conjuring Chiaroscuro Banner in version 4.0, he will eventually return at some point in the future when the Banner schedule cycles back to him.
Whether you have him, or want to prepare for if you do Wish for him successfully, it's good to know the best Lyney build in Genshin Impact, including his best Artifacts and best team. It's also handy to learn what his Constellation perks are, and what Lyney Talent materials and Ascension materials are needed to level up Lyney to his full potential.
Genshin Impact Lyney Talents, skills, star, element, and weapon
Lyney is a 5-Star Pyro character who uses a bow, and is best used in a main on-field DPS role while paired with other Pyro characters.
Here's a summary of Lyney's abilities and stats in Genshin Impact:
- Element: Pyro.
- Rarity: 5-Star.
- Weapon: Bow.
- Banner: Conjuring Chiaroscuro.
- Best build: On-field DPS.
- Normal Attack: Card Force Translocation.
- Elemental Skill: Bewildering Lights.
- Elemental Burst: Wondrouse Trick - Miracle Parade.
- Passive one: Perilous Performance (If Lyney consumes HP when firing a Prop Arrow, the Grin-Malkin hat summoned by the arrow will restore 3 Energy to Lyney and increase damage dealt by 80% of his attack - but only when the arrow hits an opponent).
- Passive two: Conclusive Ovation (When dealing damage to an opponent affected by Pyro, Lyney will receive a 60% increase to his base attack stat, with a further 20% bonus for each Pyro party member other than Lyney. He can gain a total of 100% increased damage to opponents affected by Pyro through this passive).
- Exploration bonus:Trivial Observations (Displays the location of nearby resources unique to Fontaine on the mini-map).
Lyney Normal Attack - Card Force Translocation
It's a pretty simple normal attack kit for Lyney, as he can perform up to four consecutive shots with his bow, and fires a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground to deal AoE damage on impact when plunge attacking.
Lyney's charged attack is where it gets interesting, as he can perform a more precise aimed shot with increased damage. When charged to Level 1 and fired, the arrow is Pyro-infused and deals Pyro damage. However, when charged to Level 2, a Prop Arrow is shot that deals Pyro damage and also summons a Grin-Malkin Hat when the arrow hits.
When firing a Prop Arrow, and when Lyney has more than 60% HP, he consumes a portion of his HP to obtain one Prop Surplus stack, with a maximum of 5 stacks. This effect will be removed after Lyney spends 30 seconds out of combat. The lowest Lyney's health can drop to through this method is 60% of his maximum HP.
Additionally, at certain intervals, the Prop Arrow causes a Spiritbreath Thorn to descend upon its hit location, dealing Pneuma-aligned Pyro damage.
The summoned Grin-Malkin Hat inherits a percentage of Lyney's Max HP, and can taunt nearby opponents to attack it, but each opponent can only be taunted by the Hat once every five seconds. If destroyed, or its duration expires, the hat fires off a Pyrotechnic Strike at one nearby opponent, dealing Pyro damage. Only one Grin-Malkin Hat can exist at any given time.
Lyney Elemental Skill - Bewildering Lights
Lyney does a flourish with his hat, unleashing fireworks that clear all current Prop Surplus stacks and deals AoE Pyro damage to enemies in front of him. The more stacks Lyney used, the greater his Bewildering Lights damage is. Using this skill also regenerates Lyney's health, the amount scaling off his maximum HP.
When his skill is used and a Grin-Malkin Hat is on the field, the fireworks cause the Hat to explode, dealing AoE Pyro damage equal to that of a Pyrotechnic Strike. This is considered charged attack damage.
Lyney Elemental Burst - Wondrouse Trick: Miracle Parade
Lyney turns into a Grin-Malkin Cat that can move around quickly. This is not the same as a Grin-Malkin Hat, as they're two different props. When the Cat gets close to enemies, it sends flames falling down on them, dealing at most one instance of Pyro damage to each opponent. When the duration ends, Lyney dismisses the Grin-Malkin Cat and ignites fireworks that deal AoE Pyro damage, summons one Grin-Malkin Hat, and grants himself one stack of Prop Surplus.
Genshin Impact Lyney Constellations
By getting duplicates of Lyney from wishing on Banners, you will receive his Stella Fortuna. This material allows you to unlock Constellation levels, with each upgrade either improving an existing Talent or Passive ability.
Here are all of Lyney's Constellations in Genshin Impact:
- Whimsical Wonders (C1): Lyney can have 2 Grin-Malkin Hats present at once, and Prop Arrows summon 2 Grin-Malkin Hats, granting Lyney one extra stack of Prop Surplus. This effect can occur once every 15 seconds.
- Locquacious Cajoling (C2): When Lyney is on the field he gains a stack of Crisp Focus every 2 seconds, increasing his Crit Damage by 20%, with a maximum of three stacks. This effect is cancelled when Lyney leaves the field.
- Prestidigitation (C3): Increases the Level of Lyney's normal attack by three, with a maximum upgrade level of 15.
- Well-Versed, Well Rehearsed (C4): After an enemy is hit by Lyney's Pyro charge attack, their Pyro Resistance is decreased by 20% for six seconds.
- To Pierce Enigmas (C5): Increases the Level of Lyney's Elemental Burst by three, with a maximum upgrade level of 15.
- Guarded Smile (C6): When Lyney fires a Prop Arrow, he also fires a Pyrotechnic Strike: Reprised that deals 80% of an ordinary Pyrotechnic Strike's damage. This damage is considered charged attack damage.
How to play Lyney in Genshin Impact
Your goal with Lyney is to fire off as many Level 2 charge attacks as possible while having buffs and defensive abilities active from your other party members. Ideally, you'll want to fire off at least three Level 2 charged attacks before using Lyney's Elemental Skill and consuming the stacks gained from this to cause AoE Pyro damage. Getting four or five Level 2 charged attacks before Skill activation would be even better, but this takes skilled timing to achieve.
Then, when you're at full energy, use Lyney's Elemental Burst for more AoE Pyro damage. As Lyney gains a stack of Prop Surplus after using his Elemental Burst, you'll get even more damage when using his Elemental Skill the next time.
Just be careful when doing your rotations to use other characters' abilities, as Lyney loses any Prop Surplus stacks he has accumulated when he's off the field for more than 30 seconds.
Keeping Lyney above 60% HP consistently is important, as he won't gain Prop Surplus stacks when using charged attacks otherwise. So make sure you have a healer on your team, ideally Bennett.
In short, use Level 2 Charge attacks above 60% HP as much as you can before using Lyney's Skill and Burst, then go through your team's rotation to heal, shield, and buff Lyney, then restart the loop again.
Best Lyney team comp in Genshin Impact
You'll almost always want to play Lyney in a team of mostly Pyro characters so you can fully benefit from his Conclusive Ovation passive, which increases Lyney's attack by 20% for each additional Pyro party member. As Lyney is going to take his own HP to perform Level 2 charged attacks and produce Prop Arrows, we recommend always having Bennett on a Lyney team where possible, as Bennett is a Pyro character who can apply healing and help keep Pyro damage on enemies.
A very good non-Pyro character to have on a Lyney team is Kazuha or any other Anemo-user who has good grouping or Swirl reactions, like Sucrose. The Swirl and AoE damage you get from Anemo units will increase your DPS.
If you're struggling to keep Lyney alive long enough to fire off enough Charged attacks, then you might want to consider switching out your Anemo character for a defensive unit, or even another healer. We recommend Zhongli if you have him. Although, keep in mind using defensive characters like Zhongli is more suited to single-target encounters.
Your last Pyro character should either be somebody who can provide Lyney with Pyro Energy Particles so he can get his Elemental Burst charged quicker, like Dehya (who also provides a little defence), or a Pyro character who can help sustain Pyro damage on enemies while adding a lot of attack, like Xiangling.
Alternatively, you can even try a Lyney team with Bennett, Zhongli, and an Anemo character if you need both defence and grouping. Your team's DPS will go down, but it's worth it if you're keeping Lyney alive long enough to finish the battle.
Best Lyney Artifacts in Genshin Impact
The best Artifact set for Lyney in Genshin Impact is the 4-piece Marechaussee Hunter, as it increases his charged attack damage, and gives him a huge boost in Crit Rate damage when his health increases or decreases - which will be happening consistently in a Lyney and Bennett team.
As this is a new set that you can't pre-farm in advance, then there are some alternative Relics that you can equip on Lyney until you get good Marechaussee Hunter Artfifacts, most notably the 4-piece Lavawalker and Wanderer's Troup sets for Lavawalker's increase in Pyro damage and Wanderer's Troup's increase in Elemental and charged attack damage.
As for Lyney's main Artifact stats, you'll almost always want to go for attack on Sands, Pyro Damage on your Goblet, and Crit Damage on your Circlet. You might also want to go with Energy Recharge for your Sands if you really need some.
Best Lyney weapon in Genshin Impact
As with most signatures, 5-Star The First Great Magic bow is Lyney's best weapon in Genshin Impact. Signature weapons are basically custom built for characters, as is the case with this one. However, Lyney does have other bow choices that are very close to achieving similar damage numbers to his signature.
Sticking to his signature for now, at Refinement 1, The First Great Magic increases the damage dealt from Charged Attacks by 16%. For every party member with the same Elemental Type as the wielder (including the wielder themselves), you gain one Gimmick stack. However, for every party member with a different Elemental Type from the wielder, you gain one Theatrics stack. The more Gimmick stacks you have, the more attack is granted, and the more Theatrics stacks, the more movement speed will be increased.
You can repurpose other 5-Star bows for Lyney, most notably the Aqua Simulacra for its Crit Damage and increase in attack, but the Thundering Pulse is a good substitute if you don't have Lyney's signature or the Aqua Simulacra.
As for 4-Star options, the new Battle Pass weapon, Scion of the Blazing Sun, the Prototype Crescent, and The Viridescent Hunt are three good bows for Lyney at full Refinement - but this can take a lot of time (and money) to achieve for Scion of the Blazing Sun, as it's a new Battle Pass weapon.
Summary for Lyney
If you want to take advantage of his on field DPS potential while keeping him alive, we have compiled what we think is currently the best Lyney build in Genshin Impact:
- Lyney Best Weapon: 5-Star The First Great Magic catalyst.
- Lyney Best Artifacts: 4-piece Marechaussee Hunter.
- Lyney Best team comp: Bennett, Xiangling, Kazuha.
Remember, you can swap Zhongli for any character other than Bennett if you need his defensive capabilities, or add a Pyro character who will generate more particles than Xiangling if you're struggling with Energy Recharge.
It can take a lot of time to farm for the materials needed to get Lyney to his full potential, but if you're after an archer with a unique kit who pairs well with characters you probably already have if you've been playing for a while, then Lyney could be a worthy addition to your roster.
Good luck levelling up Lyney in Genshin Impact!
Edited by Jessica Orr