Genshin Impact Aloy Build & Character Guide

 

Aloy, the red-haired, bow-toting heroine of Horizon Zero Dawn, has officially become the first collab character introduced to the Genshin Impact universe. She’s a free five-star archer whose skill kit makes her best-suited for DPS builds that optimize the output of her Normal and Cryo-based elemental attacks. She’ll be coming to mobile users with the 2.2 update, so we’ve come up with a guide for you to figure out the best way to put her to use!

If you’re thinking of making Aloy part of your primary team composition in Genshin Impact, here’s a complete Genshin Impact Aloy build and character guide to help you get the most out of her character. And if you’re thinking of a place to get some Genesis Crystals, head on over to OffGamers by clicking right here.

 

Using Aloy’s Skills Effectively

The proper and effective use of Aloy revolves around her Elemental Skill, Frozen Wilds.

Aloy’s Elemental Skill, Frozen Wilds, throws a Freeze Bomb in the direction you’re aiming that explodes on impact, splitting up into multiple smaller Chillwater Bomblets that also explode on impact. The Freeze Bomb and the Chillwater Bomblets both deal Cryo damage. 

Every time an opponent is hit by a Freeze Bomb or Chillwater Bomblet, Aloy receives one Coil stack, which increases her Normal attack damage. When she has four Coil stacks, she enters the Rushing Ice state, which clears her Coil stacks, boosts her Cryo damage by 3.5% for every second of its duration, and converts her Normal attack damage into Cryo damage.

Frozen Wilds pretty much guarantees Elemental Reaction in the area of effect. However, since the Freeze Bomb and Chillwater Bomblets spawn at random locations within the AoE radius, Aloy-centered team comps should also include a character with crowd control capabilities to guarantee hits on enemies.

Aloy’s Elemental Burst, Prophecies of Dawn, is a bit more straightforward in concept and execution. When you cast this ability, Aloy tosses a Power Cell in the direction you’re aiming then shoots an arrow at it, detonating it and dealing massive AoE Cryo damage.

Your general skill rotation should be:

1. Cast Frozen Wilds, spawning Freeze Bombs and Chillwater Bomblets in an area.
2. Lure nearby enemies into the bombs using your attacks (ideally, you should have a crowd control character that can force enemies into the AoE of Frozen Wilds).
3. Cast Prophecies of Dawn to completely devastate any enemies in the area.

If you’re dealing with a large group of enemies, you’re almost guaranteed to enter the Rushing Ice State. The Rushing Ice State provides a 3.5% boost to Cryo damage for every second of its duration and lasts for 30 seconds. It’s best to wait until the effect is just about to wear off before completing the skill rotation with Prophecies of Dawn.

Both Prophecies of Dawn and Frozen Wilds deal Cryo damage, and Aloy’s Rushing Ice state converts Normal damage to Cryo damage. To maximize Aloy’s total damage output, you should choose Artifacts and Weapons that focus on Cryo and Normal damage boosting. With the right build, you can easily get up to 35% extra Cryo damage when Aloy enters Rushing Ice.

 

Aloy Build: Weapons and Artifacts

Just like in Horizon Zero Dawn and its soon-to-be-released sequel Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy is an adept archer in Genshin Impact. Her skill set allows her to lay down the hurt with Normal skills, making virtually any bow effective in her hands. However, due to the way her Frozen Wilds ability works, you’ll want to equip Aloy with gear and artifacts that boost her Cryo damage.

In order to maximize damage output, you should equip Aloy with a bow that interacts well with her Cryo skills or boosts her Normal damage attacks. If you’re lucky enough to have a Thundering Pulse, that bow’s 20% ATK boost with potential for up to 40% more Normal damage makes it the most effective bow on Aloy, by far. 

Alternatively, Aloy’s Predator Bow from Horizon Zero Dawn (only obtainable on PlayStation 4 and 5) is also a very good option. This bow boosts her Normal and Charged attack damage by 10% every time she deals Cryo damage to enemies. If you’re not on a PlayStation console, Amos’ Bow offers a base boost of 12% and another 8% for every 0.1 seconds the arrow is in flight and is another great weapon for Aloy.

As far as Artifacts go, there’s really only one set that gets the most out of Aloy’s ability kit, and that’s the Blizzard Strayer set. With only two pieces equipped, Aloy gets an impressive 15% Cryo damage bonus. 

With the full four-piece set, she also gets a 20% CRIT rate increase when she attacks an enemy affected by Cryo. If that enemy is Frozen, she gets another 20% CRIT boost on top of that, which really unleashes her potential to wreak havoc in a fight.

You’ll absolutely want to equip Aloy with at least two pieces from the Blizzard Strayer set to get that sweet Cryo damage bonus. But if you don’t want to have to rely on CRIT strikes, you can go with another two-piece set to fill in the remaining two equipment slots. 

Some choices to consider are the two-piece Noblesse Oblige, which gives Aloy a 20% increase to Elemental Burst DMG, and the two-piece Gladiator’s Finale, which gives her a fixed 18% attack boost.

 

Best Team Comps

To really bring out Aloy’s true damage-dealing potential, she needs to be the focus of your team composition. That means you should put her in a party that best supports her potential to rain down destruction with her arrows.

Aloy’s Cryo affinity makes her a natural partner for Pyro and Hydro characters, allowing for effective Melt and Freeze combinations. Xiangling’s Pyro traps are perfect for setting-up Melt effects against large groups of enemies. 

Alternatively, someone like Xingqiu would serve a similar role but in a Freeze combination. Either way, Aloy’s Pyro or Hydro partner’s main function would be to initiate elemental Reactions that boost Aloy’s damage output.

Adding a character with crowd control capabilities makes it easier to land your combos and quickly rack up Coil stacks for her Frozen Wilds ability. Someone like Venti would be an ideal choice because his Elemental Burst offers consistent crowd control over a large area. 

Sucrose also has abilities that suck in and toss enemies into the air that aren’t as good as Venti’s Elemental Burst. She makes up for it with damage buffs that help boost Aloy’s Normal damage output, so whichever you choose really depends on your personal preference.

Now you need someone to keep your party healed up. We’d recommend someone like Bennett, whose Elemental Burst not only heals your party but also gives Aloy a damage buff. If you can make do without the damage boost and want to play it safe, Diona is a better option for healing.