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Genshin Impact releases waves of new characters every new patch, but the ones that most Travelers are certain to have are the three starter characters: Amber, Lisa, and Kaeya. Given early in the Monstadt archon quest, Kaeya is a 4-star Cryo sword unit with fast, powerful attacks that deal Physical damage. His access to Cryo lets him trigger Superconduct on his own, increasing his personal damage when.
Kaeya also has decent support capabilities as his burst can keep a ring of safety around your active character. He even has a self-regeneration mechanic. Here’s a deeper look into the often-overlooked Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius.
Also, Kaeya can teleport.
Kaeya 101: An Overview of the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius
Kaeya Alberich is an adopted son of the Ragnvindr family though with the death of Crepus Ragnvindr, it’s been a long time since he set foot at the Dawn Winery. After a confrontation with Diluc, he received his Cryo vision and parted ways with the Ragnvindrs permanently. Since the events of Crepus’ death caused Diluc to leave the Knights of Favonius, Kaeya was free to rise to the rank of Cavalry Captain.
When the Traveler arrives in Monstadt, however, there are no horses in the city as Grand Master Varka had taken all of Monstadt’s horses and cavalry on a campaign, leaving their captain behind.
Kaeya is a flexible unit with a lot of options for builds. Here are some things you can do with your Kaeya:
- Main DPS: Kaeya has good damage scaling and since he’s a sword character, he’s pretty easy to use on field as he doesn’t eat up too much stamina and is able to attack quickly.
- Off-field Cryo Support: Kaeya’s burst puts out a lot of Cryo AoE damage around your active character, giving easy access to Cryo application and reactions.
- Sub-DPS: Kaeya doesn’t need to be on the field all the time to deal damage but he can easily swap in to help keep the pressure on while you wait for your Main DPS’ burst to be available.
What Are Kaeya’s Talents, Priority Talents, and Stat Priorities?
Kaeya has six talents. The active talents can be upgraded to Level 10 using Kaeya’s talent level materials Ballad books, Treasure Hoarder drops, and Andrius’ drops. To max them out to Level 10, you’ll need a Crown of Insight. These can go up to 13 if you have Kaeya’s constellations which you may have to buy from the Starglitter shop since it’s harder to get starter constellations than actual 5-stars.
Kaeya Genshin Impact Active Talents
- Ceremonial Bladework (Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks): Kaeya performs 5 normal attacks and deals AoE physical damage when plunging from the air. The charged attack deals two strikes that consume stamina. Kaeya teleports between his 4th and 5th attacks, allowing him to get behind smaller enemies.
- Frostgnaw (Elemental Skill): Unleashes a frigid blast, dealing Cryo DMG to opponents in front of Kaeya. It has a high damage scaling and a very low cooldown of 6 seconds.
- Glacial Waltz (Elemental Burst): Kaeya summons 3 icicles that revolve 4 times around him for 8 seconds. These icicles will follow the active character and deal Cryo DMG.
Kaeya Genshin Impact Passive Talents
Kaeya’s passive talents are activated by Ascending your Kaeya. Just level him up and he’ll be able to gain them in succession.
- Cold-Blooded Strike: Every hit with Frostgnaw regenerates HP for Kaeya equal to 15% of his ATK.
- Glacial Heart: Opponents frozen by Frostgnaw will drop additional Elemental Particles. Frostgnaw may only produce a maximum of 2 additional Elemental Particles per use.
- Hidden Strength: Decreases Stamina consumption when sprinting by 20% for all characters in the party.
Kaeya Genshin Impact Talent Priority and Stat Priority
Kaeya benefits from classic DPS stats such as Crit Rate, Crit Damage, and Attack. He requires no Energy Recharge due to his low burst cost, plentiful ways of gaining energy particles, and short Elemental Skill cooldowns.
Most of his damage comes from his burst so while his Physical attacks will be more often used if he’s a Main DPS, it’s still better to choose a Cryo goblet for him than a Physical damage one. This is also why his priority talent is his burst, Glacial Waltz.
What Weapons Should Kaeya Have?
Kaeya has several weapon options that you can use in the game since he can make use of everything from Attack to Physical Damage to Crit related substats. Again, he doesn’t need energy recharge because of his short skill duration and while he can be used for Melt reactions, the gains from using an elemental mastery sword on him are so much lower that these are more flexible, overall applicable options.
- Aquila Favonia: Aquila Favonia is a 5-star that has a high base attack and has a Physical damage bonus substat. Its passive at R1 is: ATK is increased by 20%. Triggers on taking DMG: the soul of the Falcon of the West awakens, holding the banner of resistance aloft, regenerating HP equal to 100% of ATK and dealing 200% of ATK as DMG to surrounding enemies. This effect can only occur once every 15s.
- The Black Sword: The Black Sword is a 4-star weapon that you can get with the battlepass. Its R1 passive is that it increases DMG dealt by Normal and Charged Attacks by 20%/25%/30%/35%/40%. Additionally, regenerates 60%/70%/80%/90%/100% of ATK as HP when Normal and Charged Attacks score a CRIT Hit. This effect can occur once every 5s.
- Prototype Rancour: The Prototype Rancour is a craftable 4-star weapon that you can forge. It has a Physical damage bonus substat. Its R1 passive is that on hit, Normal or Charged Attacks increase ATK and DEF by 4% for 6s. Max 4 stacks. This effect can only occur once every 0.3s.
- Blackcliff Longsword: The Black Cliff longsword is a 4-star weapon you can purchase from the Starglitter Shop. Its passive is that it increases ATK by 12% for 30s after defeating an opponent. This stacks 3 times.
What Artifacts Should I Use for Kaeya?
Kaeya gets his damage based on Cryo and Physical damage bonus. His damage mainly comes from his burst. This means that he can make use of artifacts that can increase any of the damage from those three factors.
- Blizzard Strayer: Blizzard Strayer’s 2-piece set increases Cryo damage bonus by 15%. The 4-piece set increases Crit rate by 20% against enemies affected by Cryo and another 20% if they are frozen.
- Pale Flame: Pale Flame’s 2-piece set provides a 25% Physical damage bonus and the 4-piece set increases Attack by 9% when his Elemental Skill hits an opponent. This can be easily triggered with Kaeya who has a short Elemental Skill cooldown.
- Bloodstained Chivalry: The 2-piece set provides a 25% Physical damage bonus and the 4-piece set passive increases Charged attack damage by 50% after defeating an opponent, reducing Stamina cost to 0 for 10 seconds.
- Noblesse Oblige: Noblesse Oblige increases your burst damage by 25% with the 2-piece set. The 4-piece set increases all party members’ ATK by 20% for 12s after you use your burst. This effect cannot stack.
Team Compositions for Kaeya: Elements, Roles, and More
Kaeya can easily be used to facilitate Melt, Freeze, and Superconduct with his Burst and Skill. Though he isn’t often featured in meta team comps, you can utilize him together with characters like Xingqiu for Freeze, a great choice for DPS Kaeya since Xingqiu is entirely off-field. Another option is Fischl who can help him trigger Superconduct from off-field using Oz. For these same reasons, you can also add in Xiangling to trigger Melt.
