Also known as Tartaglia, the 11th of the Fatui Harbingers, Ajax, and (outside the game) the Rerun Archon, Childe is one of the first limited 5* characters in Genshin Impact.
Unique insofar as he’s been featured on no fewer than 3 banners when many limited 5* characters have only been featured once, Childe is a Hydro DPS that slots into many teams.
While he may not be one of the S-Tier characters, his DMG capabilities are still significant. And while he is no longer the only character who can switch between weapons, he’s still the only one who has both a melee and ranged stance, making him very flexible and fun to play.
So if you’re looking to build Childe in the best way, then this is the guide for you.
Table of ContentsShow
Talent Priority
| Talent | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Attack (Cutting Torrent) | Normal Attack: Perform up to 6 consecutive shots with a bow. Charged Attack: Perform a more precise Aimed Shot with increased DMG. While aiming, the power of Hydro will accumulate on the arrowhead. An arrow fully charged with the torrent will deal Hydro DMG and apply the Riptide status. Riptide: Opponents affected by Riptide will suffer from AoE Hydro DMG effects when attacked by Tartaglia in various ways. DMG dealt in this way is considered Normal Attack DMG. • Riptide Flash: A fully-charged Aimed Shot that hits an opponent affected by Riptide deals consecutive bouts of AoE DMG. Can occur once every 0.7s. • Riptide Burst: Defeating an opponent affected by Riptide creates a Hydro burst that inflicts the Riptide status on nearby opponents hit. Plunging Attack: Fires off a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground, dealing AoE DMG upon impact. When Tartaglia is in Foul Legacy: Raging Tide’s Melee Stance, he cannot perform a plunging attack. | To use Childe optimally, you’ll only need to use one Charged Attack to apply Riptide on enemies before you engage them in melee stance. His melee attacks use different modifiers, so it won’t matter how much you invest into Normal Attack, making this his least important talent. |
| Elemental Skill (Foul Legacy: Raging Tide) | Unleashes a set of weaponry made of pure water, dealing Hydro DMG to surrounding opponents and entering Melee Stance. In this Stance, Tartaglia’s Normal and Charged Attacks are converted to Hydro DMG that cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion and change as follows: Normal Attack: Perform up to 6 consecutive Hydro strikes. Charged Attack: Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash a cross slash, dealing Hydro DMG. Riptide Slash: Hitting an opponent affected by Riptide with a melee attack unleashes a Riptide Slash that deals AoE Hydro DMG. DMG dealt in this way is considered Elemental Skill DMG, and can only occur once every 1.5s. After 30s, or when the ability is unleashed again, this skill will end. Tartaglia will return to his Ranged Stance and this ability will enter CD. The longer Tartaglia stays in his Melee Stance, the longer the CD. If the return to a ranged stance occurs automatically after 30s, the CD is even longer. | This is the bread and butter of Childe’s kit. Using his Elemental Skill will cause him to switch to a melee stance using weapons conjured from Hydro. His attack animations with these melee weapons may well be the fastest of any character in the game. The weapons also deal Hydro DMG, giving Childe easy access to some of the game’s best Elemental Reactions. And thanks to Riptide, you won’t be lacking for AOE DMG so long as you can group enemies. There are no two ways about it—this is Childe’s most important talent. |
| Elemental Burst (Havoc: Obliteration) | Performs different attacks based on what stance Tartaglia is in when casting. Ranged Stance: Flash of Havoc: Swiftly fires a Hydro-imbued magic arrow, dealing AoE Hydro DMG and applying the Riptide status. Returns a portion of its Energy Cost after use. Melee Stance: Light of Obliteration: Performs a slash with a large AoE, dealing massive Hydro DMG to all surrounding opponents, which triggers Riptide Blast. Riptide Blast: When the obliterating waters hit an opponent affected by Riptide, it clears their Riptide status and triggers a Hydro Explosion that deals AoE Hydro DMG. DMG dealt in this way is considered Elemental Burst DMG. | Childe’s Burst is famous for being the first ability to successfully one-shot Floor 12 of Spiral Abyss. While many additional characters with even more powerful Burst potentials have been released after Childe—Hu Tao, Eula, and Raiden Shogun, just to name a few—this ability can still hold its own incredibly well. Those looking to maximize Childe’s DMG potential will treat this as his 2nd priority talent. |
Passive Talents
| Talent Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Master of Weaponry | Increases your own party members’ Normal Attack Level by 1. | This is easily the best Utility Passive in the entire game, and 2nd place isn’t even close! As of right now, this talent provides the only means of raising a character’s Normal Attack talent above 10. But even just using Childe to boost a character’s multipliers from level 9 to level 10 instead of actually purchasing the upgrade will save you tons of Mora and Talent Books. |
| Never Ending | Extends Riptide duration by 8s. | This passive is more convenient than it is essential, but you certainly won’t mind having it. |
| Sword of Torrents | When Tartaglia is in Foul Legacy: Raging Tide’s Melee stance, on dealing a CRIT hit, Normal and Charged Attacks apply the Riptide status effects to opponents. | This passive skyrockets Childe’s DMG potential, especially if you can cluster multiple enemies together. |
There are loads of characters with unique kits in Genshin Impact nowadays. Sara’s kit is unique, but in a bad way—clunky as all hell. Sayu’s kit is unique in a fun way—nothing meta-defining but a refreshing change of pace. But Childe’s kit is both unique and powerful.
So long as you aren’t averse to the idea of stance switching, and the lengthy cooldown that follows it, you’ll find a lot to love here. His Burst DMG is bonkers, his AOE capabilities are incredible, and he can even buff the Normal Attack talent for himself and other characters. All of this is good.
His constellations, on the other hand, aren’t that impressive. But for the majority of players, that’s also great, since, in an optimal team, he is only marginally better at C6 than he is at C0.
Don’t believe us? See for yourself.
Constellations
| Constellation Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Foul Legacy: Tide Withholder | Decreases the CD of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide by 20%. | Childe is most useful when he is in melee stance, but the longer he stays in melee, the longer the ability will be on cooldown. Ideally, you should go out of melee stance early by switching to other characters and going through their abilities, but the CD reduction is still good to have. |
| Foul Legacy: Understream | When opponents affected by Riptide are defeated, Tartaglia regenerates 4 Elemental Energy. | Childe is so good at procing Elemental Reactions—and thereby generating energy—that he really shouldn’t lack for it. It’s just not worth the price of a constellation. |
| Abyssal Mayhem: Vortex of Turmoil | Increases the Level of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | We love it when a character’s more important talent gets buffed at C3 and that is exactly the treatment Childe got. |
| Abyssal Mayhem: Hydrosprout | If Tartaglia is in Foul Legacy: Rating Tide’s Melee Stance, triggers Riptide Slash against opponents on the field affected by Riptide every 4s, otherwise triggers Riptide Flash. Riptide Slashes and Riptide Flashes triggered by this Constellation effect are not subject to the time intervals that would typically apply to these two Riptide effects, nor do they have any effect on those time intervals. | This is free DM. Plus the Riptide effects apply Hydro, which opens up many possibilities. While not as powerful as C3, this constellation is still highly potent. |
| Havoc: Formless Blade | Increases the Level of Havoc: Obliteration by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | Remember, Childe’s Burst has the potential to one-shot some of the game’s content if set up correctly. Buffing it is never going to be bad. |
| Havoc: Annihilation | When Havoc: Obliteration is cast in Melee Stance, the CD of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide is reset. This effect will only take place once Tartaglia returns to his Ranged Stance. | Another way to read this constellation is like this: You can easily have 100% uptime on Childe’s melee stance. Go nuts! |
Childe was the first limited character whose constellations have caused controversy. Many players felt cheated seeing that whales could effectively get permanent uptime on Childe’s melee stance, which is the only stance that really matters.
And there’s no denying that C6 is powerful, but C1 is arguably Tartaglia’s most powerful constellation, followed by C3. What’s more, due to how amazing he is at setting up and/or procing Elemental Reactions, Childe is a character that only got better with the introduction of other characters into the game.
Now that Raiden Shogun and Yoimiya are in the game—two other characters who effectively have a cooldown on their DPS capabilities—the discourse surrounding Childe is completely different. Yes, the DMG boost granted by constellations three through five is neat, but he’s a heavy hitter even at C0. And if your rotation can accommodate his cooldown as it is, then you don’t need anything beyond C0 to make him great.
Well, that’s not entirely true—you do still need to equip him with proper weapons and artifacts, and to pair him up with the right teammates, but luckily for you, this guide will tell you just how to do this.
Best Weapon
| Weapon Rarity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Polar Star 5* | Even though it took Childe three appearances on the limited banner to run alongside his featured weapon, there’s no denying that Polar Star was made for this character. It gives CRIT Rate, increases Elemental Skill and Burst DMG, and grants stacking buffs to ATK% in a way that Childe can effortlessly stack. This weapon scales amazingly with refinement, but interestingly enough, it’s not Childe’s best option at r1. That honor goes to… |
| Thundering Pulse 5* | Childe’s right-clicks in melee stance still count as Normal (and Charged) Attacks, and Thundering Pulse can buff Normal Attacks into the stratosphere. Plus, the CRIT DMG substat is always amazing. But it’s not like Childe mains were lacking for an amazing 5* weapon even before Thundering Pulse and Polar Star got released. |
| Skyward Harp 5* | Skyward Harp was Childe’s BiS weapon for a very long time and it still holds up well. It gives him even more base ATK than the other 5* options, along with both CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG, and a short AOE DMG burst that pairs perfectly with his playstyle. |
| Rust 4* | When he first got released, Childe was shown using Rust in many of his promos. And with such a busted passive that can buff Normal Attacks up to 80% with refinements, it’s no wonder. Just remember to lay easy on the Charged Attacks, as Rust does make them significantly worse. In any case, this is easily Childe’s BiS 4* weapon. |
| The Viridescent Hunt 4* | The Viridescent Hunt is generally considered mediocre, but it works wonders on Childe. Not only does he greatly benefit from the CRIT Rate substat, but unlike other bow users, he’s also able to make excellent use of the weapon’s passive to group up enemies and deliver devastating Riptides. |
| Hamayumi 4* | If Rust is a budget Thundering Pulse, then Hamayumi is a budget Rust. The fact that it buffs both Normal and Charged Attack DMG is something Childe can greatly appreciate. But to make the best use of buff, you’ll have to hold off on using Childe’s Elemental Burst, which is doable but not ideal. Nevertheless, this is still Childe’s best 4* weapon for beginners and F2P players. |
Best Artifacts – 4-Noblesse Oblige or 4-Emblem of Severed Fate
The 4-Piece Heart of Depth gives extra Hydro DMG and buffs Normal and Charged Attack DMG upon Elemental Skill activation, which is basically all Childe could ever want. Saying that this artifact set was made to increase Childe’s viability would be an understatement.
As far as main stats go, it’s all pretty standard main DPS stuff—ATK% on the Sands, Hydro DMG on the Goblet, and CRIT DMG/CRIT Rate on the Logos. Remember that Childe gets a lot of mileage out of scoring crits, so skewing the numbers in favor of CRIT Rate can still result in great DMG.
In case you don’t have a great 4-Piece Heart of Depth set, you can still get a lot of mileage by combining the 2-Piece Heart of Depth with either the 2-Piece Noblesse Oblige or the 2-Piece Gladiator’s Finale/Shimenawa’s Reminiscence.
Elemental Synergies
On its own, Hydro is an amazing element that pairs exceptionally well with Pyro and Cryo, but unlike most other Hydro characters, Childe can also synergize amazingly with Electro:
- Pyro: If you want to try and recreate some of Childe’s famous one-shot kills, you’ll need to use Pyro and proc Vaporize for those off-the-charts DMG multipliers.
- Cryo: With a steady source of Cryo, Childe can effortlessly keep enemies frozen for as long as his melee stance lasts. You won’t kill enemies as quickly this way, but frozen enemies don’t hit back.
- Electro: Electro-Charged doesn’t do impressive DMG, but given how quick Childe’s Hydro-infused melee attacks are, he can apply Electro-Charged more rapidly than any other character in the game, especially when attacking with Beidou’s Burst.
While there aren’t any Elemental Reactions that are detrimental to Childe and his playstyle, he doesn’t get as much value from reaction caused by the following elements:
- Anemo: If you can provide some off-field Swirl that’s nice, but it’s nothing to write home about. Childe can still benefit greatly from having certain Anemo characters in his team—not because they’re Anemo, but because they can boost his Hydro DMG or cluster together enemies.
- Geo: Shields are something that every character in melee appreciates having, but using Crystallize reactions to obtain them is not ideal.
Best Team Composition
Childe is such a versatile character that he can be slotted into a plethora of teams. You will still need to play around his melee stance and its cooldown, but Beidou, Bennet, Diona Fischl, Kaeya, Lisa, Rosaria, Sucrose, Xiangling, and C2 Xingqui all work exceptionally well with him—and that’s just the list of 4* characters he synergizes with!
But, arguably the best teams for Childe would have to be:
Free-to-Play
- Childe
- Xiangling
- Bennett
- Sucrose
Xiangling is there for the off-field Pyro application. She’s also the character that’ll be doing the most DMG. Because of how quickly Childe attacks, he’ll often be the one to set up Elemental Reaction which Pyronado will then proc. That’s just how the game works.
Bennet is the best 4* character in the game. No need to add arguably before this statement. It’s a fact. His Burst can add tons of DMG to Pyronade and Childe, heal the team, and unlock the Pyro Resonance for even more ATK buffs. What’s not to love? In case you don’t have Bennet, you can replace him with Kaeya. Kaeya’s Elemental Burst can be used to keep enemies frozen or to proc Melt and Vaporize in conjunction with Xiangling’s Burst. Alternatively, you can go with Xingqiu for even more Melt/Vaporize action.
Sucrose is mainly there to keep enemies grouped up. The fact that she can also buff Childe with the Viridescent Veneer set bonus is just the cherry on top. That’s why you shouldn’t replace her with other 4* Anemo users. Instead, if you don’t have Sucrose, consider adding Noelle for the shield or Fischl/Beidou for some Electro-Charged action. Fischl and Beidou go well together, as Fischl can be used as a battery for Beidou.
For Whales
- Childe
- Xiangling
- Bennett
- Kazuha
You’ll notice that Childe’s best F2P team and best Whale team aren’t all that different. That’s because Xiangling is essential for Childe to remain competitive in the meta. And Bennett just pairs so incredibly well with Xiangling. So no matter how big of a whale you are, picking these two 4* is essential if you’re looking to optimize Childe’s numbers in the Spiral Abyss.
Kazuha is there for the copious amounts of Elemental DMG buffs that he provides, as well as to group up enemies for that sweet Riptide AOE DMG.
Is Childe Worth It?
To date, Childe is the only limited 5* character that has been featured three times. And unlike many other characters who have been around since the early days of Genshin, Childe just keeps getting buffed and buffed.
When he first got released, the Heart of Depth set wasn’t even in the game yet. The introduction of this artifact set constituted his first power spike. Then he got Thundering Pulse. And now he’s getting an even better 5* bow to keep him relevant. On top of that, due to his role as the faster Hydro applier in the game, Childe ends up becoming synergistic with loads of new characters.
We can’t guarantee that he won’t be power-crept in the future, but as of right now, Childe is still part of a top-performing team.
We will say that his constellations definitely aren’t worth it. But C0 Childe is way better now than he was when the character first got released, and there aren’t many other characters in the game you can say that for. So yes, he is definitely worth it if you find his playstyle interesting.
