As Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, Genshin Impact’s Kaeya Alberich is highly respected by the people of Mondstadt, even with his Khaenri’ahn lineage. Kaeya is a four-star cryo sword wielder and is one of the first characters you meet in Genshin Impact, as well as being an early get. In this Genshin Kaeya build guide, we take a look at his skills, weapons, artifacts, and more so that you can capture his full potential for your comp.
If you’re after even more handy builds, make sure to check out our Genshin Impact Baizhu , Genshin Impact Nahida, and Genshin Impact Noelle guides, and if you’re wondering where your favorites sit in the meta, we have a regularly updated Genshin Impact tier list, too. For who’s coming up next, check our Genshin Impact banner schedule, and you can check out our Genshin Impact Eide guide to learn a bit more about the future of Kaeya’s story.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Kaeya build:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Kaeya build?
A Kaeya build with plenty of attack, crit stats, and energy recharge with some Blizzard Strayer artifacts is the best way to go to get good damage and elemental reactions out of his skill and burst.
Here’s a brief overview of our best Kaeya build:
| Best weapon | Mistsplotter Reforged |
| Weapon substitutes | The Black Sword, Favonius Sword |
| Best artifact set | Blizzard Strayer |
| Main stats | Sands – Energy recharge Goblet – Cryo damage bonus Circlet – Attack |
| Sub stats | Attack, crit rate, crit damage, energy recharge |
He doesn’t quite compare with some of the stronger, five-star cryo DPS units like Genshin Impact’s Ayaka and Genshin Impact’s Ganyu, who are two of the strongest damage dealers in the game, and he can also struggle to beat out his main competition – Genshin Impact’s Rosaria – when it comes to general attack and her synergy with melt teams.
How to use Kaeya
Love him or hate him, Kaeya is a great unit for the early game and a versatile sub-DPS reaction enabler even through the Spiral Abyss. He has low energy recharge requirements, provides consistent cryo application as you use his skill and burst, and is free to all new players, making him a reliable staple in your roster from the start.
What are the best Genshin Impact Kaeya weapons?
Mistsplitter Reforged is the best weapon for Kaeya‘s personal damage under the right circumstances, though it can be tricky to gain stacks for its passive without Chongyun. Freedom Sworn is another great option, especially in reverse melt teams due to its elemental mastery stat. It also offers a valuable team buff that comes in handy as long as Kaeya is the one triggering reactions. If you’re struggling to meet energy recharge requirements, a Skyward Blade is a good choice due to its high ER boost.
When it comes to four-star options, The Black Sword is a good crit stat stick, though its passive is relatively useless for sub-DPS Kaeya, so it just depends on how you want to play him. Alternatively, Lion’s Roar is great for reverse-melt teams.
Here are the best weapons for Kaeya:
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Mistsplitter Reforged (five-star) | Bonus effect: Crit damage Skill: Gain a 12% elemental damage bonus for all elements and receive the might of the Mistsplitter’s Emblem. At stack levels 1/2/3, Mistsplitter’s Emblem provides a 8/16/28% elemental damage bonus for the wielder’s elemental type. The wielder gains one stack of Mistsplitter’s Emblem when a normal attack deals elemental damage, upon casting an elemental burst, and when their energy is less than 100%. Each stack’s duration is calculated independently | Weapon banner (alongside Ayaka) |
| Freedom Sworn (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases elemental mastery Skill: Increases damage by 10%. When the wielder triggers an elemental reaction, they gain a Sigil of Rebellion. This effect can trigger once every 0.5 seconds, even when the character is not on the field. When they possess two sigils, both are consumed and all nearby party members obtain ‘Millennial Movement: Song of Resistance’ for 12 seconds, which increases normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 16%, and attack by 20%. Once this effect triggers, you don’t gain another sigil for 20 seconds. Buffs of the same type don’t stack | Weapon banner |
| Skyward Blade (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases energy recharge Skill: Increases crit hit rate by 4%. The wielder gains Skypiercing Might when an elemental burst is used, this increases movement and attack speed by 10% and increases the damage of normal and charged attacks by 20% for 12 seconds | Standard banner |
| The Black Sword (four-star) | Bonus effect: Crit rate Skill: Increases damage dealt by normal and charged attacks by 20%. Also regenerates 60% of attack as HP when normal and charged attacks score a crit hit. This effect can occur once every five seconds | Battle Pass reward |
| Favonius Sword (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases attack Skill: Crit hits have a 60% chance to generate a small amount of elemental particles, which regenerate six energy for the character. Can only occur once every 12 seconds | All banners |
| Lion’s Roar (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases attack Skill: Increases damage against enemies affected by pyro or electro by 20% | All banners |
What are the best artifacts for Kaeya?
In a freeze team, Blizzard Strayer is the best option for Kaeya without a doubt. It offers a nice boost to his cryo damage and pushes his crit rate even higher, which synergizes perfectly with the cryo resonance bonus.
If you’re hoping to put him in anything but a freeze team (i.e. reverse melt or a team that doesn’t rely on either melt or freeze), we recommend a full set of Emblem of Severed Fate, offering a boost to energy recharge and burst damage. Alternatively, combining two pieces of Blizzard Strayer with two pieces of Noblesse Oblige is a flexible option if you’re struggling to get a full set with decent stats.
Here are the best artifacts for Kaeya:
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Blizzard Strayer | Two equipped: Cryo damage bonus Four equipped: Increases Crit rate by 20% when attacking an enemy affected by cryo. If the enemy is frozen, it increases crit rate by an additional 20% | Peak of Vindagnyr domain |
| Emblem of Severed Fate | Two equipped: Increases energy recharge Four equipped: Increases elemental burst damage by 25% of energy recharge. You can obtain a maximum of 75% bonus damage in this way | Momiji-Dyed Court domain |
| Noblesse Oblige | Two equipped: Increases elemental burst damage Four equipped: Using an elemental burst increases all party members’ attack by 20% for 12 seconds. This effect cannot stack | Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain |
Artifact stat recommendations
When choosing artifacts for Kaeya, it’s worth prioritizing the following stats.
Main stats:
- Sands: Attack %
- Goblet: Cryo damage bonus
- Circlet: Crit damage
Sub-stats:
- Energy recharge to requirements
- Crit damage
- Attack%
- Crit rate (aim for around 45%)
What are the best Kaeya team comps?
While Kaeya can be an affordable main DPS, he benefits from a little help that can really boost his numbers. To get the best out of him, we recommend team comps with supports like Bennett or Chongyun, and an anemo grouper such as Kazuha or Sucrose to really get things going.
Here are some examples of team builds for Kaeya:
| First character slot | Second character slot | Third character slot | Fourth character slot |
| Kaeya | Chongyun | Xiangling | Bennett |
| Kaeya | Hu Tao | Xingqiu | Zhongli |
| Kaeya | Chongyun | Xingqiu | Kazuha |
| Kaeya | Diluc | Kazuha | Bennett |
What are Genshin Impact Kaeya’s abilities?
Here are all of Kaeya’s skills.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Ceremonial Bladework | Normal: Perform five strikes. Charged: Consume stamina to unleash two fast sword swings. Plunging: Plunge from mid-air to deal AoE damage on impact with the ground |
| Elemental skill: Frostgnaw | Unleashes a frigid blast, dealing cryo damage to opponents in front of Kaeya |
| Elemental burst: Glacial Waltz | Coalescing the frost in the air, Kaeya summons three icicles that revolve around him. These icicles will follow the active character around and deal cryo damage to opponents in their path for the ability’s duration |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Cold-Blooded Strike (unlocked at ascension one) | Frostgnaw also regenerates HP to Kaeya equal to 15% of his attack |
| Glacial Heart (unlocked at ascension four) | Enemies frozen by Frostgnaw produce elemental particles |
| Hidden Strength (unlocked automatically) | Decreases sprinting stamina by 20% for the party |
What are Kaeya’s constellations?
You can level up Kaeya’s constellations if you receive him as a duplicate when making a wish. Here’s every bonus you receive as you level up.
Here are all six of Kaeya’s constellations and what they do:
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Excellent Blood | Increases normal and charged attack critical hit rate against enemies affected by Cryo by 15% |
| C2: Never-Ending Performance | Increases the duration of Glacial Waltz by 2.5 seconds for a maximum of 15 seconds when it defeats an enemy |
| C3: Dance of Frost | Increases the level of Frostgnaw by three |
| C4: Frozen Kiss | Triggers the following effects automatically when Kaeya’s HP falls below 20%:
|
| C5: Frostbiting Embrace | Increases the level of Glacial Waltz by three |
| C6: Glacial Whirlwind | Summon an additional icicle when Glacial Waltz is used. It also regenerates 15 energy when cast |
What are Genshin Impact Kaeya’s ascension materials?
You can fully ascend Kaeya through multiple levels. Here are all the materials needed to ascend Kaeya.
| Required level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 20k | One shivada jade sliver, three calla lilies, three treasure hoarder insignia |
| Four | 40k | Three shivada jade fragments, two hoarfrost cores, ten calla lilies, 15 treasure hoarder insignia |
| Five | 60k | Six shivada jade fragments, four hoarfrost cores, 20 calla lilies, 12 silver raven insignia |
| Six | 80k | Three shivada jade chunks, eight hoarfrost cores, 30 calla lilies, 18 silver raven insignia |
| Seven | 100k | Six shivada jade chunks, 12 hoarfrost cores, 45 calla lilies, 12 golden raven insignia |
| Eight | 120k | Six shivada jade gemstones, 20 hoarfrost cores, 60 calla lilies, 24 golden raven insignia |
Here’s where to get all of Kaeya’s ascension materials:
- Shivada jade – dropped by Cryo Regisvine, Cryo Hypostasis, Coral Defenders, Iniquitous Baptist, Maguu Kenki, Perpetual Mechanical Array, Aeonblight Drake, Primo Geovishap, Icewind Suite (Coppelius)
- Hoarfrost cores – dropped by Cryo Regisvine
- Calla lillies – around any body of water, particularly Starfell Lake, Dadaupa Gorge, and around Dawn Winery
- Raven insignia – dropped by Treasure Horders or obtained through alchemy or purchased from Paimon’s Bargains
What are Kaeya’s talent materials?
You can upgrade Kaeya’s talents with the ballad family of books – farmed in Mondstadt’s Forsaken Rift domain – and spirit lockets of Boreas. These are drops from the weekly Andruis, Wolf of the North boss.
Here are all the materials you need to get one of Kaeya’s talents to max level.
| Talent level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12.5k | Six treasure hoarder insignia, three teachings of ballad |
| Three | 17.5k | Three silver raven insignia, two guides to ballad |
| Four | 25k | Four silver raven insignia, four guides to ballad |
| Five | 30k | Six silver raven insignia, six guides to ballad |
| Six | 37.5k | Nine silver raven insignia, nine guides to ballad |
| Seven | 120k | Four golden raven insignia, four philosophies of ballad, one spirit locket of Boreas |
| Eight | 260k | Six golden raven insignia, six philosophies of ballad, one spirit locket of Boreas |
| Nine | 450k | Nine golden raven insignia, 12 philosophies of ballad, two spirit lockets of Boreas |
| Ten | 700k | 12 golden raven insignia, 16 philosophies of ballad, two spirit lockets of boreas, one crown of insight |
Here’s where to get all of Kaeya’s talent materials:
- Treasure hoarder insignia – Springvale in Monstadt, Luhua Pool in Liyue, or south of and between Mt. Tianheng and Lingju Pass in Liyue
Talent priorities:
- Elemental burst > elemental skill > normal attack
And there you have it – a perfectly built Genshin Impact Kaeya Alberich. If you’re looking for something different but still in the same gacha vein, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list and our list of Honkai Star Rail codes for some in-game freebies. Plus, we have plenty of Wuthering Waves codes and Zenless Zone Zero codes for you, too.
