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Dominating Hydro: The Ultimate Guide to Countering Hydro in Genshin Impact

In the world of Teyvat, understanding elemental reactions and weaknesses is the key to victory. When facing Hydro enemies or challenges, knowing which element to wield can make all the difference. So, what element is best against Hydro in Genshin Impact? The answer is a resounding Electro! While Cryo and Pyro also offer effective reactions, Electro provides consistent and reliable damage through the Electro-Charged reaction, especially when dealing with multiple enemies affected by Hydro. This guide will delve into the nuances of countering Hydro, providing you with the knowledge to conquer any Hydro-based obstacle.

Understanding Hydro and its Weaknesses

Hydro, the element of water, is powerful in Genshin Impact, both as a source of healing and damage. However, like all elements, it has its Achilles’ heel. Primarily, Hydro is susceptible to the following elemental reactions:

Electro-Charged (Electro + Hydro): This reaction deals continuous Electro damage to enemies affected by Hydro, making it incredibly effective against groups. The damage occurs over time, allowing you to focus on other tasks while enemies slowly succumb to the electrical onslaught.
Vaporize (Pyro + Hydro): Vaporize amplifies Pyro damage when triggered by Hydro, making your Pyro DPS characters even more potent. It’s a burst-damage option, ideal for quickly eliminating priority targets.
Frozen (Cryo + Hydro): Freezing enemies in place provides valuable crowd control, hindering their movements and allowing you to unleash devastating attacks without interruption.

While all three reactions are beneficial, Electro-Charged stands out due to its consistent damage output and ability to spread to other Hydro-affected enemies. This makes it a practical choice for clearing large waves of opponents.

Why Electro is the Top Choice

Electro’s effectiveness against Hydro stems from the nature of the Electro-Charged reaction. This reaction doesn’t just deal a single instance of damage. Instead, it applies a continuous damage-over-time (DoT) effect that persists as long as the enemies are affected by both Electro and Hydro.

The advantages of using Electro are:

Consistent Damage: The DoT nature of Electro-Charged ensures a steady stream of damage, even when you’re not actively attacking.
Area of Effect (AoE) Potential: Electro-Charged can spread to nearby enemies also affected by Hydro, creating a chain reaction that decimates entire groups. This is especially potent in environments with rain or Hydro-infused opponents.
Accessibility: Electro characters are readily available in Genshin Impact, with several strong options ranging from 4-star to 5-star rarity. This makes it easier to build an effective Electro team.

Comparing Cryo and Pyro Against Hydro

While Electro takes the top spot, Cryo and Pyro are still excellent choices:

Cryo (Frozen): Cryo provides invaluable crowd control. Freezing enemies allows you to deliver uninterrupted damage, making it ideal for tackling powerful single targets or controlling chaotic situations. However, the effectiveness of Freeze can be reduced by enemy types that are resistant to being frozen or can quickly thaw themselves.
Pyro (Vaporize): Vaporize offers a significant damage boost to your Pyro characters. This can result in massive burst damage, particularly when paired with characters who have high Pyro damage multipliers. However, Vaporize requires precise timing and application of Hydro and Pyro to maximize its potential. It is best used to quickly get rid of stronger enemies with lots of health.

Building Your Anti-Hydro Team

To maximize your effectiveness against Hydro enemies, consider building a team specifically designed to exploit their weaknesses. A good anti-Hydro team might include:

Main DPS (Electro, Pyro, or Cryo): A character who can deal significant damage consistently. Examples include Raiden Shogun (Electro), Hu Tao (Pyro), or Ganyu (Cryo).
Hydro Applicator: A character who can consistently apply Hydro to enemies. Examples include Xingqiu, Yelan, or Kokomi.
Support/Sub-DPS: Characters who provide utility, damage amplification, or additional elemental reactions. Examples include Bennett (Pyro), Fischl (Electro), or Kaeya (Cryo).
Flex Slot: A character who provides additional utility or elemental coverage depending on the specific encounter. This could be an Anemo character for crowd control (Venti, Kazuha) or a Geo character for shielding (Zhongli).

Understanding Enemy Immunities and Resistances

It’s crucial to remember that some Hydro enemies, like the Hydro Hypostasis, are immune to Hydro damage. This means you’ll need to rely entirely on other elements to defeat them. Always assess the enemy’s elemental resistances and immunities before engaging in battle to optimize your team composition.

General Strategies for Hydro Challenges

Beyond elemental reactions, consider these general strategies when facing Hydro-based challenges:

Bow Users: Hydro enemies are often airborne or require ranged attacks. Having a bow user in your party, such as Ganyu or Fischl, is invaluable.
Mobility: Hydro enemies often use wide-range attacks that can be difficult to dodge. Characters with high mobility or abilities that grant invincibility frames (i-frames) can be extremely helpful.
Environmental Awareness: Hydro often interacts with the environment, creating puddles that can electrify or freeze. Be mindful of your surroundings to avoid unnecessary damage or crowd control effects.

FAQs: Mastering the Hydro Matchup

Here are some frequently asked questions to further enhance your understanding of countering Hydro in Genshin Impact:

Is Hydro the best element in Genshin Impact?

While Hydro is currently a very strong element, thanks to reactions like Vaporize and Electro-Charged, “best” is subjective and depends on playstyle and team composition. There is no single best element in the game.
What is the Hydro Hypostasis weak to?

The Hydro Hypostasis is weak to Cryo, Electro, and Pyro. You will need to utilize elemental reactions to deplete its HP.
Why is Hydro considered a good element now?

Hydro’s strength stems from the powerful reactions it triggers, particularly Vaporize and Electro-Charged. The introduction of new Hydro characters with strong Hydro application further enhances its capabilities.
Is Dendro good against Hydro?

Dendro reacts with Hydro to create Bloom, which spawns Dendro Cores. These cores then explode, dealing Dendro damage. Adding Pyro or Electro to these cores will cause either Hyperbloom or Burgeon, which are unique Dendro-based reactions.
How do you beat the Hydro boss in Genshin Impact (Oceanid)?

The Oceanid is immune to Hydro. Use Cryo, Electro, and Pyro characters. Always have a bow user on hand to target the summoned creatures.
Who is the strongest Hydro character in Genshin Impact?

This depends on the role. Xingqiu is an excellent support. Yelan is another top tier DPS/Support. Neuvillette is an extremely strong main DPS character with his charged attack.
What is the strongest element overall in Genshin Impact?

There is no single strongest element. Pyro and Electro are generally considered powerful due to their high damage output and versatile reactions.
What is Anemo damage?

Anemo damage is damage dealt by Anemo abilities. When an Anemo ability interacts with another element (Pyro, Electro, Hydro, Cryo), it triggers a Swirl reaction, dealing additional damage of the swirled element.
Can Anemo damage Hydro shields?

Anemo cannot directly damage Hydro shields. However, it can Swirl Hydro to apply the Hydro status to nearby enemies. This facilitates reactions like Electro-Charged, Vaporize and Freeze with other elements.
What breaks Hydro shields?

Electro and Cryo attacks are effective at breaking Hydro shields. Using Electro-Charged or Freeze reactions will quickly deplete the shield’s health.
What element beats water in a traditional sense?

In traditional elemental systems, Earth is often considered strong against Water. In Genshin Impact, there is no direct reaction between Geo and Hydro. But having the elemental shields of Geo can protect you from strong Hydro attacks.
What reacts to Hydro?

Hydro reacts with Pyro (Vaporize), Electro (Electro-Charged), Cryo (Freeze), and Dendro (Bloom).
Is Hydro good with Electro?

Yes! Hydro is very good with Electro. The Electro-Charged reaction is powerful and deals continuous damage to enemies.
Who is the best Cryo character in Genshin Impact?

Many characters can be argued for, such as: Ganyu, Ayaka, and Wriothesley.

Ganyu and Ayaka are excellent DPS characters with powerful Cryo abilities.
Who is the strongest Genshin character based on lore?

Based on lore, characters like the Archons (Zhongli, Ei, Venti) are considered among the strongest.

Conclusion

Mastering the elemental matchups in Genshin Impact is crucial for success. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of Hydro, and utilizing the power of Electro, Cryo, and Pyro, you can conquer any Hydro-based challenge. Remember to adapt your team composition and strategies based on the specific encounter, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a true master of Teyvat.

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What element is best against Hydro Genshin?