Genshin Impact: Aloy guide — Weapons, artifacts, and talents

Aloy is the heroine of the Horizon Zero Dawn franchise. You might be wondering what she's doing in Genshin Impact? Well, she's actually a promotional character, a 5-star bow wielder who's also free to obtain. Here's our Genshin Impact Aloy guide to help you with her best weapons, artifacts, talents, and build. Note: For more information about the game, check out our Genshin Impact guides and features hub, as well as our version 2.1 overview. Genshin Impact Aloy guide: Best weapons, artifacts, and talents I've divided our Genshin Impact Aloy guide into several sections. You can refer to the pages below for the parts that you need help with: Talent priorities, passives, and constellations Best weapon Best artifact sets Character ascension materials Gameplay tips and character summary Note 1: Aloy will remain a PlayStation (PS4/PS5) exclusive from September 1 until October 13. When version 2.2 goes live on October 13, you can obtain her via in-game mail if you're on a different platform. However, we do have a mini-guide on how to get her early, but only if you have a PS4/PS5 and you plan on switching back to your PC. Note 2: Information about Aloy has already been leaked and data-mined ahead of release (i.e., you can see this listed via Honey Hunter World/Honey Impact). Genshin Impact: Aloy's talent priorities and passives Let's talk about Aloy's build based on her talent priorities and passives. Normal Attack: Rapid Fire - This determines the damage dealt by Aloy's normal, charged, and plunging attacks. Frozen Wilds (elemental skill) - There are a couple of facets to take note of here: Freeze Bomb - This is the initial animation where Aloy tosses an explosive that deals Cryo damage and decreases a target's ATK. Chillwater Bomblet - The Freeze Bomb will detonate and create Chillwater Bomblets. Similar to the Freeze Bomb, these will also deal Cryo damage and decrease an opponent's ATK. Coil - When a Freeze Bomb or Chillwater Bomblet hits an enemy, Aloy gains a Coil stack. Each stack increases Aloy's ATK for six seconds. Rushing Ice - When Aloy manages to reach four Coil stacks, she'll enter the Rushing Ice state. This lasts for 10 seconds. During this period, Aloy's normal attacks are infused with Cryo and their damage is greatly boosted, too. Rushing Ice gets cleared 30 seconds after Aloy leaves the field. Prophecies of Dawn (elemental burst) - Aloy throws a power cell, then fires her arrow to detonate it, causing AoE Cryo damage. The burst has a 12-second cooldown. Note: Leveling up Aloy's talents cost Freedom booklets (from the Forsaken Rift domain every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday). She also requires the Spectral Husk/Heart/Nucleus items which are dropped by Specters found on the new islands in Inazuma. Finally, reaching higher levels of her talents requires the new Molten Moment material dropped by La Signora. This item is also used by the Raiden Shogun. Passive talents: Easy Does It - When Aloy is in your party, animals that drop fowl, raw meat, and chilled meat won't get startled if you get too close. Combat Override - +16% ATK for Aloy and +8% ATK for party members for 10 seconds after Aloy receives a Coil stack from her elemental skill usage. Strong Strike - +3.5% Cryo damage every one second while the Rushing Ice state is active. You can gain a maximum of 35% Cryo damage in this manner. Constellations Note: Oddly enough, datamined information does not show any constellations for Aloy. This might be because she's a promotional character and it's unlikely that you'll obtain new copies of her. However, it's also possible that miHoYo is withholding this feature until version 2.2 when all platforms will have access to her. All right, let's go to the next part of our Genshin Impact Aloy guide to talk about the best weapon options for her. Genshin Impact: The best weapon for Aloy Let's discuss the best weapons in Genshin Impact for Aloy. Predator Bow (ATK%) - To be clear, the Predator Bow isn't necessarily the best weapon for Aloy in Genshin Impact. The reason I'm mentioning it here is that it's her featured weapon (which you'll also receive for free via in-game mail). This weapon has the "Strong Strike" perk. It gives +66 ATK when equipped, and +10% normal and charged attack damage whenever you deal Cryo damage; lasts six seconds and stacks up to two times. Unfortunately, the "Strong Strike" perk is only active while you're on a PS4 or PS5. The moment you switch to a different platform, the perk will no longer have any effect. Thundering Pulse (crit damage) vs. Amos Bow (ATK%) vs. Skyward Harp (crit rate) - If we're looking at the best weapon for Aloy in Genshin Impact, then we need to discuss these 5-star options: Thundering Pulse comes ahead of the pack because of the +20% ATK bonus and the Thunder Emblem stacks from normal hits, elemental skill casts, and having energy below 100%. Because Aloy's playstyle involves shooting Cryo-infused normal attacks often (once she gains the Rushing Ice state), the Thunder Emblem stacks boost her DPS significantly. If you have this weapon and you don't like using Yoimiya, then you can try it on Aloy. Amos Bow, meanwhile, adds +12% to your normal and charged attack damage. The longer your shot is in the air before it hits a target, the bigger the damage bonus. Unfortunately, because we're focusing on normal attacks, there's often a maximum range where you'll hit a target before you start shooting empty air. This weapon is better off for someone like Ganyu. Finally, the Skyward Harp adds +20% crit damage, and your hits have a chance to generate an AoE attack that deals Physical damage. Sadly, Aloy tends to rely more on Cryo damage rather than Physical. Even if you try a Physical build, her Rushing Ice state will infuse her normal attacks with Cryo anyway. Hamayumi (ATK%) - The Hamayumi from Takashi's Mysterious Conches is a viable 4-star weapon for Aloy in Genshin Impact. You'll get +16% normal attack and +12% charged attack damage. The effect is doubled whenever your burst is fully charged. So, if you don't pop your burst yet, you can keep the effect for a while. Oh, and this is also a good free-to-play (F2P) alternative. Rust (ATK%) -Rust is another good 4-star weapon for Aloy because of the +40% normal attack damage bonus. We won't even care about the penalty to your charged shot's damage. Mitternachts Waltz (Physical damage bonus) - Although this bow grants +20% normal attack and elemental skill buffs when you hit with either ability, its sub-stat isn't for Aloy. Viridescent Hunt (crit rate) - This bow from the Gnostic Hymn Battle Pass is decent since your shots can trigger a mini-cyclone effect. Anyway, let's go to the next part of our Genshin Impact Aloy guide to talk about the best artifacts that we can use. Genshin Impact: The best artifacts for Aloy - Blizzard Strayer vs. Shimenawa's Reminisce vs. other options Let's discuss the best artifacts in Genshin Impact for Aloy. 4-piece Blizzard Strayer: 2-piece set bonus: +15% Cryo damage bonus. 4-piece set bonus: +20% crit rate when your character attacks an opponent affected by Cryo; if the opponent is frozen, your crit rate is increased by an additional 20%. You really can't go wrong with the usual 4-piece Blizzard Strayer artifact set for Aloy. Considering how you're ever-reliant on Cryo damage, the 2-piece bonus helps you there. Then, the 4-piece effect adds icing (pun intended) on the cake due to the increased crit rate. Go ahead and farm for good rolls in the Peak of Vindagnyr domain. 4-piece Shimenawa's Reminisce: 2-piece bonus - +18% ATK. 4-piece bonus - When casting an elemental skill, if Yoimiya has 15 or more energy, she'll lose 15 energy to boost her normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 50% for 10 seconds. The Shimenawa's Reminisce comes from the Momiji-Dyed Court domain. It tends to be good when equipped by Yoimiya. However, because Aloy's playstyle is somewhat similar to Yoimiya's (i.e., use the elemental skill and enter a state where normal attacks are boosted), there's a lot of synergies offered here. Furthermore, the artifact set complements the usage of the Thundering Pulse bow. 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and 2-piece Noblesse Oblige or 2-piece Gladiator's Finale/Shimenawa's Reminisce: For this one, we'll simply go with either: +20% elemental burst damage from Noblesse Oblige (if you leveled up Aloy's Prophecies of Dawn talent). +18% ATK from Gladiator's/Shimenawa's (for straight-up DPS throughput). Artifact stats: Here are the ideal artifact rolls for Aloy: Main stats – Crit rate or crit damage for the circlet; ATK% for the sands; Cryo damage for the goblet. Sub-stats – Crit rate/crit damage and ATK%. In any case, let's go to the next part of our Genshin Impact Aloy guide to talk about her character ascension materials. Character ascension materials Aloy’s character ascension materials can be found all over Teyvat. Here they are: Spectral Husk/Heart/Nucleus - Dropped by Specter mobs. You can take a look at our Specter locations and Specter drops farming guide for more info. Shivada Jade – Dropped by the Cryo Regisvine and Cryo Hypostasis; purchased from Souvenir Shop; higher-tier versions can be crafted by an alchemist NPC. Crystalline Bloom – Dropped by the Cryo Hypostasis. Crystal Marrow – Found on Yashiori Island and Kannazuka. You can refer to our Crystal Marrow farming guide for more information. Finally, let’s talk about what you can expect when Aloy is part of your Genshin Impact team. Gameplay tips and character summary We’ve discussed Aloy's weapons, artifacts, and talent priorities in an in-depth manner already. So, how well does this freebie 5-star character fare? It's okay to have a few misgivings about Aloy. For one thing, she doesn't have constellations (yet), so there's no way to boost her further if you're a big spender. Likewise, we know that there's one free 5-star character who's been left by the wayside for the longest time. I'm talking about the Traveler. As such, it's easy to underestimate Aloy's capabilities since she's only a promotional character for this Genshin Impact crossover event. Having said that, her Rushing Ice state (from her elemental skill's Coil stacks) is truly where she begins to shine. This 10-second period allows you to continuously blast foes with Cryo-infused normal attacks, greatly empowered compared to how much they'll deal by default. Moreover, as a Cryo character, she can be paired with Hydro peeps for makeshift perma-freeze comps or Pyro fighters for melt. An Aloy paired with Xingqiu sounds good since Aloy's normal attacks can keep triggering Rain Swords. Perhaps the biggest knock against Aloy, through no fault of her own, is that Ganyu already exists. When you have one of the best characters in Genshin Impact, it's hard to consider anyone else as a substitute. Then, there's Diona (another Cryo archer). She is, invariably, one of the most ideal support characters to have in your squad. Where Aloy would fit in your comps, depending on your roster, is anyone's best guess. But, hey, a least she's a freebie. Genshin Impact is available via its official website. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.

Genshin Impact: Aloy guide — Weapons, artifacts, and talents

Character ascension materials

Follow us:

Latest News

What’s coming in the Starfield 1.7.33 update?

Starfield Shattered Space – Everything we know about the DLC story expansion so far

Starfield exploit lets players level up insanely fast

Changes made in Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 3 left many players unhappy

Everything we know about Idris Elba’s character so far in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

New MW3 finisher lets you kill your opponents with weed

Baldur’s Gate 3 will finally allow you to change your appearance in Patch 3

Best combos for every character in Mortal Kombat 1

How to fix long server queue times in Party Animals

Mortal Kombat 1 Voice Cast

PC Invasion Info

Connections

Got news?

Character ascension materials

Follow us:

Facebook

Twitter

Discord

Latest News