Lyney is the fresh new 5-star and he’s the first from Fontaine. As for his role- he’s a Pyro-bow Charged Attack DPS. It’s unusual for the first 5-star from the nation of Hydro to be Pyro but here we are and no complaints because just like his character he’s indeed a magical unit.
Lyney is a magician and his sister Lynette is his assistant in the performance. They also have a shy brother called Freminet who’s in charge of background preparations. We meet Lyney as soon as we enter Fontaine and we’re invited to his magic show at the Opera House. In fact, Act 1 of Fontaine’s Archon Quest is all about them. So to obtain him from the first Fontaine banner is indeed magical. But how good is he really? And does he work?
Lyney’s Kit Explained in Genshin Impact 4.0
Lyney is a 5-star Pyro bow user and he’s a Charged Shot DPS similar to Ganyu. The fact that he’s a Pyro Bow DPS also makes him similar to Yoimiya. It’s like he’s a combination of both because, unlike Ganyu, his DPS is more single-target focused like Yoimiya’s even though he also has AoE coverage with his burst- though not as much as Ganyu’s. And even though he’s more of a single-target DPS like Yoimiya, he isn’t a Normal Attack, machine-gun DPS like Yoimiya and more of a single-target nuke DPS like Ganyu.
Normal & Charged Attacks
Lyney’s Normal Attacks are well- normal. His Charged Attacks have 2 levels to them. Level 1 is the normal Charged Shot all Bow users get with their elemental infusion. Level 2 of Lyney’s Charged Shot not only does the Pyro infusion to a Prop Arrow but also creates a Grim-Malkin Hat which taunts nearby opponents and after 5s explodes- dealing a massive amount of Pyro DMG to 1 nearby enemy.
His Level 2 Charged Shot also consumes 20% of Lyney’s HP and can only consume this HP% twice- i.e. up to 40% HP- thus not consuming any HP when used at or below 60% HP. Lyney is also a Pneuma-aligned unit and his Prop Arrows will occasionally cause a Spiritbreath Thorn to descend upon its location dealing Pneuma-aligned Pyro DMG.
When 2 Prop Arrows are fired consecutively, it clears the first Grim Malkin Hat- exploding it immediately and then replacing it with a new one. This of course consumes a total of 40% Max HP. These Prop Arrows also stack up as Prop Surplus stacks and you get 1 stack only when you lose HP. So a total of 2 stacks per rotation unless you have a healer to recover that 40% and then you can build up 5 stacks.
Elemental Skill
Lyney consumes all stacks of Prop Arrows to release AoE Pyro fireworks and the more stacks he consumes the more damage he deals. He also heals 20% HP per stack consumed. When the skill is used if there are any Grim Malkin Hats on the field they explode and also deal AoE Pyro DMG.
Elemental Burst
In his elemental burst, Lyney turns himself into a Grim Malkin Cat (not to be confused with Grim Malkin Hat) where he floats around mid-air really fast and deals one instance of Pyro DMG to all the enemies it comes in contact with or vicinity of. When the duration of Grim Malkin Cat ends, he deals an instance of AoE Pyro DMG and leaves a Grim Malkin Hat on the field and gets 1 stack of Prop Surplus.
All of this sounds way more complicated than it has to be. Basically, you’ll be running Lyney on a mono-Pyro or triple-Pyro team with Bennett as his healer and support. With this, you can easily build up multiple Prop Surplus stacks and use his E and Q in whatever order you see fit and you’ll be doing a ton of damage no matter your rotation.
