Ganyu is back for her first rerun banner. Even though it’s been a year since she first appeared in Genshin Impact, she’s still a top-tier damage-dealer⁠. In many ways, her potential has only increased now that we have a Cryo damage-boosting character like Shenhe. Considering Ganyu already boosts Cryo damage with her passive, it seems like a match made in heaven.

Alongside Zhongli, the most powerful shielder in the game, and an opportunity to grab Yun Jin for free, the Lantern Rite event is shaping up to be a pretty exciting second half to Genshin Impact 2.4. Rumors around the next version are starting to gain traction online too, including beta leaks about Yae Miko and the Raiden Shogun returning as a new weekly boss.

If you’re thinking about rolling for Ganyu, and you’ve got Primogems to spare, do it. She’s one of the best DPS characters in the game, with the ability to taunt enemies with her exploding Ice Lotus, and punish them with her charged Frostflake Arrows, and AoE Celestial Shower burst.

In this Genshin Impact Ganyu build guide, we’ll go through one of her best setups, as well as some free-to-play options for all the wise no-spend folks out there.

The best Genshin Impact Ganyu build

The ability that makes Ganyu most unique is her Frostflake Arrows. If you charge her aimed shots to the second level, the arrows deal Cryo damage and then bloom shortly after, dealing AoE Cryo damage also. This means you can get a huge amount of value if you focus on increasing the damage that Ganyu’s charged attacks deal.

Once you unlock Ganyu’s ‘Harmony Between Heaven and Earth’ passive skill, her burst also grants a 20 percent Cryo damage bonus to characters in its AoE, a little like Shenhe’s Icy Quills, so it’s important she has a decent level of energy recharge to use it often. Finally, some elemental mastery is good to maximize the reaction damage of all that AoE Cryo that Ganyu’s going to be dealing out. This build should help you do all of that:

• Weapon: Amos Bow
• Artifact: (4) Wanderer’s Troupe

The five-star Amos Bow is made for charged attacks, increasing aimed shot and normal attack damage by 18 percent. It also buffs damage by 12 percent for every 0.1 seconds that an arrow is in flight, stacking up to five times. Using aimed shots, of course, increases the distance you can fire from, meaning it’s easy to get this buff and deal hefty damage with Ganyu’s Frostflake Arrows. It also boosts attack as a substat. You can get this bow on the Epitome Invocation banner that drops alongside Ganyu’s rerun.

For artifacts, four pieces of Wanderer’s Troupe should work wonders. Two pieces increase elemental mastery by 80, strengthening Ganyu’s ability to deal elemental reaction damage with her AoE Cryo. Four pieces boost charged attack damage by 35 percent if the character uses a catalyst or bow, which Ganyu assuredly does. That said, if you want to push her more towards critical hit damage, you could also use four pieces of Blizzard Strayer. This would offer a 15 percent Cryo damage boost, a critical rate increase of 20 percent when you hit an opponent affected with Cryo, and a further 20 percent if they are frozen—perfect if you’re pairing with a Hydro character. Ganyu’s ‘Undivided Heart’ passive also buffs the crit rate of subsequent Frostflake Arrows and their bloom by 20 percent.

In terms of artifact stats, you’ll want to prioritize pieces with attack, critical damage, and critical rate, though you might not need much of that last one if you’re going with the Blizzard Strayer four-piece. An artifact with the Cryo damage bonus stat would also come in handy, and a decent level of energy recharge will ensure you can get that Cryo damage boost from her burst often.

Genshin Impact Ganyu F2P build

If you’re focusing on charged attacks, there are some good no-spend bow options for Ganyu:

• Weapon: Prototype Crescent or Hamayumi
• Artifact: (2) Martial Artist, (2) Blizzard Strayer

The four-star Prototype Crescent is a simple bow, increasing movement speed by 10 percent and attack by 36 percent when you land a charged attack on a weak point. For those that don’t know, weak points are vulnerable parts of the monster, like the Ruin Guard’s eye for instance. Most monsters have them, and it’s generally the head or eye. You can also craft Prototype Crescent for free with some Crystal Chunks, White Iron, and a Northlander Bow Billet you get from weekly bosses and the gift shops in Mondstadt and Liyue.

However, if you’re not as accurate with your aimed shots, Hamayumi may be a better option. This four-star bow from Inazuma boosts normal attack damage by 16 percent and charged attack damage by 12 percent. When your character’s energy reaches 100 percent, this effect is doubled. If you don’t plan on using Ganyu’s burst much, this is an effective free-to-play bow. You can also forge it, but you’ll have to acquire its diagram first.

If you head to the north tip of Kannazuka island in Inazuma, you’ll find a man called Takashi living in a giant conch. Bring him conch shells every day and you get to open one of his chests. The seventh time you do this, you’ll get the Hamayumi bow diagram.

While Wanderer’s Troupe is still great artifact wise, and not too hard to get, some alternate options are two-pieces of Martial Artist for its normal and charged attack damage buff of 15 percent, and two-pieces of Blizzard Strayer for that 15 percent Cryo damage bonus. For stats, you’ll want the same as above in terms of attack, crit damage, crit rate, and some energy recharge, if you’re not using Hamayumi, that is.

And that’s our Genshin Impact Ganyu build guide. Good luck getting the Cryo DPS queen!