With the upcoming 2.8 Genshin Impact update we get a new 4-star Anemo catalyst user and the rerun banner of Kazuha- a 5-star Anemo unit with meta-defining abilities. The Anemo element is one of the strongest in the game for their Swirl reactions and crowd control DPS abilities. Characters like Venti and Kazuha make the whole gameplay of Genshin easier and for good reason. This article will explain Swirl reactions and how powerful they are in the game.
What are Swirl Reactions in Genshin Impact?
When one of the basic elements- Pyro, Hydro, Cryo or Electro reacts with the Anemo element a Swirl reaction is triggered. Enemies afflicted with one of the above four elements can be swirled by Anemo characters to deal not only Anemo damage but also additional elemental damage of the element swirled by Anemo. Swirl also spreads the element it swirled to surrounding enemies thereby applying and damaging them with that element similarly.
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Swirl Reactions
Swirl is a transformative reaction like Electrocharged, Superconduct, Overloaded and Shattered. Swirl damage thus scales on your character level and Elemental Mastery. So as long as you keep levelling up your Anemo units and give them as much Elemental Mastery as possible, you will see higher damage numbers. The best artifact set for Swirl reactions is the Viridescent Venerer from the Valley of Remembrance.
It must be noted that though Swirl damage does not depend on a character’s Attack, Crit Rate or Crit Damage, it does depend on specific enemy resistances. If the enemies are immune to or have resistances against specific elemental damages then Swirl reactions of that element will not yield high damage numbers. Anemo also does not react with the Geo element so it’s best not to waste time attempting to Swirl the Geo element.
How To Use Swirl Reactions in Genshin Impact
Swirling enemies is a lot of fun and quickly deals with groups of enemies. Since it does not depend on your Attack or Crit stats, using it to get big numbers of damage is also satisfying and rewarding. Below are some tips to optimise your use of Swirl damage-
- Swirl applies two instances of elemental damage per enemy and is best used on multiple enemies at once.
- The more enemies in the field the more you can swirl and damage them continuously as when an element spreads to other enemies they can again be swirled by another Anemo hit.
- The best element to swirl is the Electro element as it staggers and slows down enemies on its own. Additionally, it can also lead to Electrocharged and Overloaded reactions which deal a ton of damage on their own.
- Hydro is an exception as Swirl reactions can only damage one enemy with two instances of Hydro damage- even though the element spreads to surrounding enemies as usual they aren’t damaged.
- You can also chain Swirl reactions with two or more elements in the field.
- Swirling Cryo and Hydro will keep a group of enemies frozen in place- though it must be noted that Frozen itself does not deal any damage and since Hydro doesn’t fully Swirl, the Frozen state is unsustainable for longer periods.
- Swirling Electro and Hydro is the ideal way of chaining Swirls as it not only deals damage of the respective elements but Hydro ad Electro also causes Electrocharged which staggers and damages enemies further.
- Swirling Pyro and Cryo or Pyro and Hydro is not ideal as eventually, one element overpowers the other and takes over as the primary element swirled.
- Many Anemo characters also have the Absorption ability where their Swirl absorbs one of the four primary elements upon first contact to continuously deal elemental damage of that element along with the Anemo damage from their Swirls.
- Swirling is great for quickly breaking enemy shields and chaining swirls for multiple reactions and also often shreds specific enemy resistances.
Some of the best users of Swirl are Venti, Sucrose, Jean and Kazuha. They are not only great crowd control units but they also quickly take out entire groups of enemies with their Swirls alone. Because of such high versatility of Swirl, Anemo is considered one of the best elements in the game currently.