Genshin Impact Elements Guide - Hydro

With the return of Childe in the upcoming 2nd patch of banners in version 3.2 and the increasing relevance of the element as we approach the Nation of Hydro - Fontaine, this is the perfect time to see how most Hydro characters in Genshin Impact works, how to improve their support and combat capabilities as well as showing the best Hydro characters currently in the game’s meta.

In this guide, we will go over the mechanics and combat prowess of the Hydro Element, showing players how they most effectively use Hydro characters within team setups and advise players on the top 5 best Hydro Element Characters players should pay attention to and roll for.

Contents：

• How to Play - Hydro
• Top Hydro Characters to Use/Pull For
• LDPlayer 9.0 - The Optimal Emulator to Play Genshin Impact on PC

Let’s play Genshin Impact on LDPlayer and find out together.

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How to Play - Hydro

The Hydro element is one of the game’s 7 major elements and one of the initial 6 elements that was introduced in the first launch of the game. Several changes have been made to change the way the element works in recent times, making it different from what the element used to do.

The Hydro element (similar to Dendro) is primarily an Enabling Element, supporting the team with the ability to apply the Wet status on enemies in order for the team to trigger special elemental reactions to deal damage. 

The primary stat that the Hydro Element provides is HP bonus and almost all Hydro characters scale off their Max HP, with many providing supplemental effects based on how high their max HP stat is. However, not all Hydro characters rely on HP for damage output.

Elemental Reactions

Hydro has a total of 4 major Elemental Reactions, these are: Vaporize (Hydro + Pyro) , Frozen (Hydro + Cryo), Electro-charged (Hydro + Electro) and Bloom (Hydro + Dendro).

Vaporize is Hydro’s most infamous reaction as it allows the Pyro element to deal massive amounts of damage on enemies with ease. When enemies applied with the Wet status come into contact with Pyro damage, the Pyro damage will be enhanced up to 100%, essentially doubling the damage output, making it one of the best elemental reactions in the game. If players trigger reverse-vaporize by applying Pyro first then applying Hydro, the damage will be increased by 50% instead.

Frozen is also one of Hydro’s strong and weak points in Genshin combat as it can both be a hindrance and a boon to all players. When Wet status is applied to an enemy with the Cryo Element mark, they will be frozen for a certain amount of time, not being able to do anything, effectively immobilizing the enemies. This effect also applies to player characters however, so players need to be careful when using characters that apply the Wet status to themselves in battle.

Electro-Charge is a reaction that occurs when Electro is applied to enemies with wet status, creating an electric current that bounces between enemies, dealing gradual Electro damage to them. This effect also affects the player if they are affected by Wet.

How Should You Play Hydro

In the game, Hydro is one of the most valuable elements and is highly used in every team comps imaginable. However, there are 2 distinct team comps that features the element heavily and requires the players to understand how the element works to use the teams effectively:

- Vaporize Team: 2 Pyro - 1 Hydro - 1 Hydro (or Anemo)

This team specializes in enhancing the main Pyro DPS’ damage output using the aforementioned Vaporize Elemental Reaction. If triggered correctly, the main focus of the team is to use the Hydro element to apply the Wet status to the enemies then using Pyro attacks to deal massive amounts of damage to them, effectively doubling the damage and sweeping through the enemies.  However, it is important for players to time the status correctly in order to not trigger reverse-vaporize instead, dealing less damage overall.

- Frozen Team: 2 Cryo - 1 Hydro - 1 Anemo

The Frozen team is infamous in most contents as it allows players to essentially lock the enemies in place, not allowing them to do any damage or move and deal massive amounts of Cryo damage at the same time. This team requires some crowd control ability from the Anemo element to fulfill and requires immense practice to help initiate it. However, once players get used to the team, they can use it to clear all contents in the game easily.

Hydro characters should focus on their Energy Recharge and Critical stats ( Critical Chance and critical damage). For certain Hydro characters, the HP stat is also a major point so players can exchange the critical stats in order to increase their max HP instead.

Some notable Hydro artifact sets commonly used are: Heart of the Depth and Noblesse Oblige.

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Top Hydro Characters to Use/Pull For

No.5 Kokomi

Kokomi is a Hydro catalyst that specializes in healing, a good choice of a Hydro character to use as she can be an immensely useful healer for all contents in the game. 

Her speciality in healing makes her a good healer for newer players and a good comfort character to be used in most contents of the game.

No.4 Childe

The 11th of Fatui Harbinger - Childe is a Hydro Bow user that specializes in being an on-field dps and dealing massive amounts of AOE damage with his normal attacks.

His entire kit revolves around applying the Riptide status and triggering that mark to deal AOE hydro damage to enemies. However, his playstyle is hindered by the fact that players will need to wait a long time for his main skill E Cooldown to recover before using him for damage again.

No.3 Kamisato Ayato

The easier to use Childe and the head of the Kamisato clan, Kamisato Ayato is a Hydro sword user that applies Hydro to his normal attacks and deals massive amounts of damage to enemies with his slashes.

Kamisato Ayato’s strong point is his ease of use as he has one of the easiest gameplay moveset for any player to play. In addition, his Hydro application and range are quite large, making him a suitable starting Hydro DPS character to roll for.

No.2 Xingqiu

The special 4* character that everyone knows, Xingqiu is a 4* Hydro Sword character that all players should have and use for their team comps.

Xingqiu have been the best Hydro Enabler in the game ever since the game launch and have become one of the best characters to used in all comps thanks to his ability to supply supplement Hydro damage using his raincutters and enabling the team with periodic Wet status on the enemy, helping to enable many reactions needed for damage.

No.1 Yelan

Yelan is a Hydro Bow user who, much like Xingqiu,  specializes in supplying the team with the wet status when she’s off field and supplementing Hydro damage to all.

What makes Yelan better than Xingqiu is her higher stat line and mobility skill set, allowing her to travel long distances all the while dealing massive damage to all enemies in her path.

Additionally, Yelan’s dice and Xingqiu’s swords stacks together, helping the main DPS of the team be supplied with massive amounts of Hydro off field damage when using both of their skills together.

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LDPlayer 9.0 - The Optimal Emulator to Play Genshin Impact on PC

Unlike other emulators, LDPlayer 9.0 stands out as an emulator with the capability to play Genshin Impact on the highest possible Graphics and FPS settings for the game, making the gaming experience of exploring the vast open world of Genshin Impact on PC much more smooth and easier to do on LDplayer.

In addition, unlike the PC Client where the control scheme for the game is fixed, LDPlayers’ key binding and keyboard mapping function allows players to easily bind the game’s control to their preference and heart’s content, making the game easier and much faster for all players to enjoy on PC.