Best Kaeya Build in Genshin Impact [Ultimate Guide]

Genshin Impact has several unique characters you can choose from with varying abilities. One of them is Kaeya, a four-star character with a specific set of capabilities and weapons. Which Kaeya build is the best for your playstyle? Read on to uncover more.

Also read: Diluc Genshin Impact Build: How to Get the Highest Damage

Who Is Kaeya in Genshin Impact?

Getting to know the character is an important part of creating any kind of build within action RPGs. Whether you are creating a Kaeya build or an Albedo build, learning your character’s strengths and weaknesses is key to success. With that said, who is Kaeya as a character in the game?

In Genshin Impact, Kaeya is one of the characters you meet during Act I: The Outlander Who Caught the Wind. He appears in the prologue and is the Knights of Favonius’ Cavalry Captain.

At first, Kaeya’s character might seem quite simple because of his sarcastic nature. However, he is actually rather complex. He has a brother named Diluc with whom he has a complicated relationship and he is also surprisingly kindhearted. The more you get to know the guy, the more charming, eccentric, and mysterious he gets.

However, gameplay-wise, the most important thing you need to know about Kaeya is that he is a Cryo user. Moreover, he wields a sword that is great for battle and is one of the most flexible characters you can use. Kaeya is also one of the few free characters you can play as. You can learn more about him and the others by checking our dream team tier list.

How to Get Kaeya on Genshin Impact?

Everybody talks about how to get Primogems, pull five-star characters, and get all the high-tier stuff in Genshin Impact. However, when it comes to decent characters, the game is pretty fair and does provide you with good free ones.

Kaeya is one of those free characters you can use within the game. Moreover, he is not too complicated to get. You can even encounter him just a few moments after entering Mondstadt and meeting Amber. What do you do to find him, then?

Simply tackle the quest named “Crash Course” among the handful that you receive upon coming to Mondstadt. This quest explicitly talks about an encounter with Kaeya at a temple. Just follow the objective marker and look for him in the dungeon.

Once there, the game should provide you with a quick tutorial about Kaeya’s character. It should also give you a rundown about how Cryo characters operate and what they can do. After getting through it, you should be able to complete the quest and add Kaeya to your party.

Unfortunately, because Kaeya is a free character, he is not that strong like those rare pulls. Nonetheless, his Cryo capabilities should be able to get you through early puzzles. Moreover, Kaeya is great for certain team compositions, especially with the use of his Glacial Waltz ability. It is also easy to create strategies using a Kaeya build because you can handle the character early on within the game.

If you want a duplicate Kaeya character, you will have to rely on chance. Like other four-star characters, all you must do is roll on any of the character banners. Alternatively, you can get a free copy of him if you finish Genshin Impact’s prologue.

How to Use Kaeya on Genshin Impact?

If you want to create a good Kaeya build, you will have to familiarize yourself with the character’s abilities first. How do you use him in normal gameplay, you ask?

Firstly, if you’ve ever worked with RPGs before, playing Kaeya will immediately feel like he will make a good support character. That is because his skills make him perfect for being a sub DPS unit.

Frostgnaw, his elemental skill, is one of the best under his belt. This ability allows Kaeya to blast a frigid attack, attacking enemies in front of him with Cryo damage. It is great for inflicting decent amounts of damage all at once to help you get through enemy-ridden areas.

In addition, Kaeya is great for logistics as he can create an Ice Bridge that helps you travel through water. He can also use Glacial Waltz, an elemental burst skill that summons three icicles around the character. This can allow him to easily deal Cryo damage to opponents that pose a threat.

Apart from protection, Glacial Waltz can deal sustained damage to enemies for a few moments. Best of all, the attack remains active even when Kaeya is not there. You, the player, can make use of this by pairing it with Hydro characters who can freeze enemies. You can also combine it with Pyro characters which can deal melt damage with high multipliers.

What Are Kaeya’s Constellations?

If you are aiming to make a good Genshin Impact Kaeya build, you will need to understand his Constellations. Like other units, Kaeya has six Constellations you can unlock after getting his duplicate. These are as follows:

• Excellent Blood – When Kaeya uses a normal or charge attack, there will be a 15% increase in CRIT rate towards anyone impacted by Cryo.
• Never-Ending Performance – You can increase Glacial Waltz’s duration by 2.5 seconds every time this skill defeats someone during its duration. The maximum increase is 15 seconds.
• Dance of Frost – Frostgnaw’s level moves up by three (maximum 15).
• Frozen Kiss – This makes a 20-second shield around Kaeya that absorbs damage (30% of Kaeya’s maximum HP). Frozen Kiss only triggers when Kaeya’s HP is less than 20% and once every 60 seconds, though. Also, note that the shield also absorbs Cryo damage with 250% efficacy.
• Frostbiting Embrace – Glacial Waltz’s level moves up by three (maximum 15).
• Glacial Whirlwind – Glacial Waltz creates one extra icicle and regenerates 15 energy upon casting.

As you can see, Kaeya’s Constellations are good for boosting his damage and efficacy as a supporting character. He becomes stronger, although the boosts are fairly generic compared to those of other characters.

They’re also not too extravagant like those of characters like Baal. Hence, wasting wishes on them is not always recommended. Nonetheless, they do boost his potential if you can obtain them.

Best Kaeya Build in Genshin Impact

What is the best Kaeya build that will make the most out of the character’s strengths and abilities? Here are the builds we recommend as you create your team.

Sub-DPS Build

A Kaeya DPS build is one of the most common builds to rely on — and it makes sense why. His character is meant to be a sub-DPS unit, after all. Kaeya is great as an off-field support character. Moreover, combining his abilities with Pyro elements for Melt damage makes him a decent character to attack with.

Which weapons are ideal for a sub-DPS support Kaeya build? Unfortunately, there is no specific weapon that makes his kit completely perfect. It will always depend on your playstyle and how you want to make use of his skills.

For example, the four-star Iron Sting sword is the best option if you need him as an off-field DPS character. That is because it boosts his Elemental Mastery which scales the damage from Elemental Reaction.

However, if you do not want to be reliant on Elemental Reactions while using him as a sub-DPS character, The Black Sword is your best bet. You might have trouble getting this battle-pass weapon immediately, though. You can also use the five-star sword Skyward Blade as an alternative if you do not have the Black Sword.

Physical Build

If you want to switch things up, you can use a Kaeya physical build. This is because Kaeya has a decent base attack, so he is quite strong. He can also easily spread Cryo and provide physical debuffs to opponents in tandem with an Electro character.

Which weapons are ideal for this Kaeya build? The best one you can use is the Aquila Favonia. This will increase your attacks by 20%, allowing Kaeya to be much stronger.

It can also trigger a few things when you take damage. For one, you can awaken the soul of the Falcon of the West and uphold the banner of resistance. This regenerates your HP by 100% equal to that of the attack. It also deals 200% of the attack as damage to nearby opponents. However, the effect can only last once every 15 seconds.

Alternatively, you may equip the Prototype Rancour weapon. This boosts your normal and charge attacks and defense by 4% for six seconds upon hitting. Moreover, the effect can happen once every 0.3 seconds.

You can also substitute the Aquila Favonia with the Fillet Blade. Upon hitting using this weapon, you can deal 240% more attack damage to one enemy. However, this effect only has a 50-50 chance of happening and happens only once every 15 seconds.

Best Artifacts for Kaeya’s Build in Genshin Impact

There are various artifacts in Genshin Impact, but not all can bring out the best of a certain character. Thus, make sure you choose these top recommendations.

Ideal Artifact: Blizzard Strayer

A Kaeya build requires the right artifacts suitable for Cryo users. In this case, we suggest utilizing the Blizzard Strayer artifact set. If you equip four pieces of it, the artifact provides a 15% damage bonus. It should also boost your CRIT rate by 20%. Here’s a rundown of the bonuses you get:

• Two-piece bonus – This increases your Cryo damage bonus by 15%.
• Four-piece bonus – CRIT rate increases by 20% for characters that attack enemies impacted by Cryo. When the characters are dealing with a frozen enemy, the CRIT rate gets boosted by another 20%.

Blizzard Strayer is the ideal set you can use for a Kaeya build, but it certainly is not the only one. In fact, using its two-piece bonus paired with another two-piece set can be ideal. If this is the route you choose, we recommend using it in tandem with the Noblesse Oblige artifact. It has the following bonus for the two-piece set:

• Two-piece bonus – This gives a 20% boost to Elemental Burst damage.

If you want the Blizzard Strayer (Icebreaker) set, it is available at four or five-star rarities. You may obtain it from the Peak of Vindagnyr. For the Noblesse Oblige set, it is also available at four and five-star rarities. However, this time you will have to look for it in the Clear Pool or Mountain Cavern.

Good Second Choice: Shimenawa’s Reminiscence and Noblesse Oblige

Using the two-piece bonus from both Shimenawa’s Reminiscence and Noblesse Oblige is also a good option. It is ideal if you want to deal damage using Elemental Burst while using basic attacks. You will have the following bonuses when using the said artifacts for your Kaeya build:

• Shimenawa’s Reminiscence two-piece bonus – This boosts attacks by 18%.
• Noblesse Oblige two-piece bonus – This boosts damage for Elemental Burst by 20%.

As you can see, using these in tandem would make Kaeya a great DPS character because of Shimenawa’s Reminiscence. The Cryo circle he creates will deal Cryo damage to enemies while Noblesse Oblige will increase the impact.

If you want Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, it is available at four and five-star rarities. You can get it from Inazuma’s Momiji-Dyed Court.

Decent Physical Damage: Pale Flame

Finally, we also recommend the Pale Flame artifact set for anyone making a Kaeya build. It is a wonderful set to utilize if you want to use more of the character’s physical damage. Moreover, it has some pretty good bonuses once you get a two and four-piece set:

• Two-piece bonus – This gives a 25% boost in physical damage.
• Four-piece bonus – This boosts attacks and grants a 100% boost in physical damage once it stacks.

The Pale Flame set is available as a four and five-star rarity. You can get it from Ridge Watch.

What is the Best Team Composition for Kaeya?

If you are creating a Kaeya build, know that keeping other characters in mind is also essential to success. In this case, we recommend getting those who mesh well with his abilities. Doing so may even make it easy for you to survive the Spiral Abyss’ top floors. Which characters are great to add to your party with Kaeya in it? Here are our suggestions:

How to Ascend Kaeya in Genshin Impact?

If you want to maximize your Kaeya build, maxing out his level is a crucial part of the process. You will need to ascend him in 10- to 20-level intervals starting with level 20. Moreover, we recommend upgrading his three talents using the proper items and Mora. Here’s what you’ll need:

• 12 Wanderer’s Advice
• 15 Adventurer’s Experience
• 414 Hero’s Wit
• 1,673,400 Mora

Now, keep in mind that this combination is simply our recommendation. It is a decent way to earn EXP using experience scrolls. After all, like most other characters, Kaeya needs 8,362,650 EXP to get to level 90.

Shavida Jades

Afterward, you have to get a few boss drops, Mora, gemstones, enemy drops, and a special item. The Shavida Jade is a must-have too because Kaeya is a Cryo character. More specifically, you will need the Shavida Jade in these levels:

• One Shavida Jade Silver
• 9 Shavida Jade Fragments
• 6 Shavida Jade Gemstones
• 9 Shavida Jade Chunks

Boss and Enemy Drops

Apart from what’s already mentioned, you must beat the Cryo Regisvine in Mondstadt and get the boss drop. You will need the Hoarfrost Core, in particular — several of it. Moreover, you will have to collect common enemy drops of various levels. Here’s a quick guide on the items you must gather:

• 46 Hoarfrost Cores
• 18 Treasure Hoarder Insignias
• 30 Silver Raven Insignias
• 36 Golden Raven Insignias
• 168 Calla Lilies
• 420,000 Mora

Talent Materials

After collecting the abovementioned items, get Kaeya’s special talent books called Ballad books. You also need to collect treasure hoarder insignias and drops from weekly battles against Andrius, the Wolf of the North. These are good for upgrading the talents you find. Here’s a breakdown of the necessary materials to boost Kaeya’s three talents to the maximum:

• 9 Teachings of Ballad materials
• 63 Guide to Ballad materials
• 114 Philosophies of Ballad materials
• 66 Silver Raven Insignias
• 93 Golden Raven Insignias
• 18 Treasure Hoarder Insignias
• 18 Spirit Lockets of Boreas
• 3 Crowns of Insight
• 4,957,500 Mora

You can gain the Ballad books every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from the Forsaken Rift domain. If you are collecting the Crowns of Insight, you will need to keep track of the special events. That is because these are usually granted in limited-time events. Alternatively, you can also earn a few if you make offerings.

FAQs

Smooth Sailing with the Best Kaeya Build

Creating the perfect Kaeya build is fairly easy in Genshin Impact. That is because you already have access to him early on in the game. Moreover, Kaeya is fairly easy to handle if you know what you are doing. All it takes is investing a little time and effort in collecting good Constellations and artifacts for him.