This Snezhnayan scoundrel made his firstGenshin Impactappearance in Liyue’s Archon Quest as a humble friend to Zhongli and us but later revealed himself to be the 11th Fatui Harbinger, one of the strongest people in Teyvat. As much as this betrayal hurt, the hearts of many Genshin fans were already stolen, and Childe made many returns to the story.
As a playable character, Childe differs in ways from what we’ve seen in lore. He’s an extremely unique character, the likes of which hasn’t come out since his release. If you’re considering adding this redhead to your team, here are some reasons to pull for Childe and some to keep away from him.
8Childe Is A Unique Hydro DPS
When you think oftraditional bow users, you likely think of long-ranged artillery carries that use either their Aimed Shots or Normal Attacks to execute enemies before they ever have a chance to step near you. Childe, however, isn’t the best archer around and instead likes getting in close and personal with his foes.
Instead of using his bow, Childe’s Elemental Skill lets him take on a melee stance and equip dual blades. While this is active, Childe turns into a fast-attacking machine of mass AOE in horde content.
7Childe Applies Hydro Faster Than Anyone Else
Some of the most fundamental aspects of Genshin’s combat system areInternal Cooldownsand Elemental Gauges. Put simply, Genshin characters have their damage affected by using different reactions. However, not every single hit applies a new element, so knowing how to make the most of your team’s application is integral to building a strong team.
Childe, despite being an on-field character, is one of the best Hydro applicators in the game, being one of Xiangling’s strongest teammates. This isn’t because he has some special gimmick built into his kit, but rather because the sheer speed of his Normal Attacks and Riptide Slashes applies enough Hydro to exploit ICD’s Three-Hit Rule.
6Childe Has Multiple Elemental Bursts
Childe is the only Genshin Impact character that was too greedy to be satisfied with having just one special attack. Instead, depending on whether Childe is in his Melee or Ranged Stance, he can perform a unique attack associated with the specific status.
Both versions of Childe’s Elemental Burst dealmassive damage, but they differ slightly in effect. You’d want to use his Ranged Burst if enemies don’t already have Riptide on them. However, if they already have the status effect applied to them, you use the Melee Burst. If this becomes a chore to keep track of, making a habit of always using the Melee Burst due to its higher numbers is about just as good.
5Childe’s Best Team Is Full Of Four-Stars
With a limited amount of Primogems, it’s difficult to get all the five-stars you want and need. Unfortunately, many premier carries need premier supports to function well, such as Mavuika relying on Xilonen and Citlali or Neuvillette’s best teammate being Furina.
This may be an intentional business tactic to get players to invest more into the game. In this case, it explains why an early character like Childe is completely free from this curse. Instead of his best teams relying on strong five-stars, Childe’s strongest friends end up being Bennett, Xiangling, and Sucrose, forming the renowned international core.
4Childe Is One Of The Best AOE Characters
Where characters like Hu Tao are good at destroying isolated bosses, ones like Venti are instead used to erase entire armies of smaller ones. Childe’s playstyle is more like the latter one, with his strength increasing in proportion to how many enemies there are.
The way this works with Childe is unlike most other strong AOE characters. His skills do have the range to hit multiple enemies, yes, but Tartaglia also triggers Riptide Slash upon dealing melee damage to an opponent afflicted with Riptide. This deals damage in a large AOE, and if triggered on multiple enemies at once, each enemy deals damage to those around it as well.
3Childe Technically Isn’t A Bow Character
If you’re a fan of characters who don’t need to risk putting themselves in harm’s way to deal damage, or if you prefer using your Aimed Shots to snipe away enemies, seeing Childe holding a bow may make you want this adrenaline fanatic for your account.
This is a farce, however, since for a majority of the time you’re using Childe, he doesn’t use his bow at all. He can still play normally, but his entire kit is designed with his Melee Stance in mind, which means you’ll lose out on a lot by playing him this way. If you like how bow characters play, opting for a character like Ganyu or Chasca would be better.
2Childe’s Damage Is Evenly Distributed
For most Genshin characters, their damage is tied to a single skill. For Ganyu, this is her Frostlake Arrows, whereas for Xiao, it’s his enhanced Plunge Attacks. Childe doesn’t have the same thing going for him, with his damage being quite evenly distributed between all his skills.
As such, to make the most of Childe’s strength, it’s important to use everything there is in your arsenal. Learning his combos and the specifics ofwhat weapons benefit himmay be more complicated than other characters, but the damage he provides is well worth it.
1Childe Can’t Use His Electro Delusion
Having previously been a boss fight we had to overcome in order to progress through Liyue’s Archon Quest, you may have thought the fight was cool and now want to pull for Childe so he can do the same things he did against you. Unfortunately, playable Childe is very different from his lore counterpart.
The main changes are in terms of gameplay and strength since having a boss as part of your team won’t exactly be easy to balance. Unfortunately, apart from just being weaker, Childe also doesn’t have access to his Electro delusion. If you’re pulling for him in hopes of using the Foul Legacy transformation, that’s a dream only Celestia can fulfill.
