Pyro Meets Dendro: A Fiery Deep Dive into Genshin Impact’s Burning Reactions

When Pyro meets Dendro in Genshin Impact, things get…complicated. At its core, the interaction ignites the Burning reaction. This reaction applies continuous Pyro damage to affected enemies, creating a damage-over-time (DoT) effect. However, the effectiveness of Burning depends heavily on context, team composition, and enemy type. It’s not a simple “Dendro weak to Pyro” situation; rather, it’s a nuanced interplay that requires careful consideration to optimize. While it has its downsides, neglecting Burning entirely can lead to missed opportunities.

Understanding the Burning Reaction

The Basics of Burning

Burning, as the name suggests, sets Dendro-affected enemies ablaze. This application of Pyro deals damage over time, effectively ticking away at their health. The damage dealt by Burning is influenced by several factors:

• Elemental Mastery (EM): EM significantly boosts the damage output of Burning, making it a crucial stat for characters triggering the reaction.
• Character Level: Higher character levels translate to higher base damage for elemental reactions.
• Enemy Resistance: Enemies possess varying degrees of resistance to Pyro damage.
• Reaction Trigger: The character whose Pyro application triggers the reaction is the one whose stats affect Burning damage.

The Drawbacks of Burning

The Burning reaction has a notorious reputation, primarily for its ability to override and disrupt other Dendro-based reactions, specifically Bloom. Bloom relies on the application of Hydro and Dendro to create Dendro Cores. These cores then react further with other elements to create Hyperbloom (Electro) and Burgeon (Pyro).

The problem is, if Pyro is applied to a Dendro-affected enemy before Hydro can trigger Bloom, Burning will occur instead. This wastes the Dendro application and prevents the more potent Bloom-related reactions from happening. This is especially harmful because Burning removes Dendro application, thus removing Quicken as well. Many Pyro characters have high Pyro application, thus the burning reaction can be hard to avoid if you’re not careful.

Utilizing Burning Effectively

Despite its reputation, Burning can be a useful tool in certain situations.

• Sustained Pyro Application: Burning can be effective against enemies vulnerable to Pyro damage, offering consistent DoT.
• Breaking Shields: Burning can be used to deplete shields weak to Pyro, such as Wooden Shields held by Samachurls.
• Crowd Control: While the damage itself might not be exceptional, the persistent Pyro application can disrupt enemy movements, causing small stagger effects.

Optimizing Burning Teams

Building a team around Burning requires careful consideration to maximize its potential while minimizing its drawbacks.

• Elemental Mastery Focus: The character triggering Burning should have high EM to maximize damage output.
• Dendro Application: Consistent Dendro application is essential to maintain the Burning status on enemies.
• Character Selection: Choose characters whose kits allow them to consistently trigger Burning without disrupting other desired reactions. Characters with infrequent Pyro application are ideal for preventing accidental overrides of Bloom or Quicken.
• Enemy Targeting: Focus on applying Burning to enemies weak to Pyro or those that don’t require more complex Dendro reactions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Pyro and Dendro

1. Is Dendro truly weak against Pyro?

Not in the traditional sense. Burning is a reaction, not a simple damage amplifier like Melt or Vaporize. While Pyro applies the Burning status to Dendro, the reaction’s effectiveness depends on EM, character level, and enemy resistance. It’s more accurate to say that Pyro interacts with Dendro through the Burning reaction.

2. Why does Burning seem so much worse than other Dendro reactions?

Burning’s primary downside is its tendency to override Bloom and Quicken. These reactions generally provide higher damage potential when executed correctly, making Burning appear less desirable in comparison. However, Burning can still be useful in specific situations, such as against enemies weak to Pyro.

3. Can Burning be used to trigger Burgeon?

No. Burgeon requires a Dendro Core and Pyro application. Burning occurs when Pyro is applied directly to Dendro-affected enemies, preventing the formation of Dendro Cores in the first place.

4. What are some good characters for triggering Burning?

Characters with slower or controlled Pyro application are preferred. Examples include:

• Dehya: Dehya’s Skill has slow and delayed Pyro application.
• Thoma: Thoma’s Pyro application is restricted to his Burst.

5. How does Elemental Mastery affect the Burning reaction?

Elemental Mastery drastically increases the damage dealt by Burning. The higher the EM of the character triggering the reaction, the greater the damage output.

6. Does character level matter for the Burning reaction?

Yes. Higher character levels increase the base damage of elemental reactions, including Burning. Leveling up the character triggering the reaction is essential to maximizing its potential.

7. Can Burning be used to break shields?

Yes, against shields weak to Pyro. For example, Burning can effectively break the wooden shields carried by Hilichurl Samachurls.

8. How does enemy resistance affect the Burning reaction?

Enemies possess varying degrees of resistance to Pyro damage. Enemies with high Pyro resistance will take significantly less damage from Burning.

9. Is Burning affected by Critical Rate or Critical Damage?

No. Burning and other transformational reactions (e.g., Vaporize, Melt) are not affected by Critical Rate or Critical Damage. Their damage is solely determined by EM, character level, and enemy resistance.

10. Can Burning trigger other reactions?

Burning itself doesn’t typically trigger further reactions directly. However, the persistent Pyro application from Burning can interact with other elements present on the battlefield to trigger additional reactions.

11. Is there a way to prevent Burning from overriding Bloom?

Careful application of Hydro and Dendro is crucial. Ensure Hydro is applied before Pyro to create Dendro Cores for Bloom. Using characters with controlled Pyro application can also help prevent accidental overrides.

12. Is Burning a viable end-game strategy?

Burning is situational in the end-game. While it can be effective in certain domains or against specific bosses, it’s generally not as powerful as more optimized Bloom, Quicken, or Vaporize teams.

13. Can the Burning reaction damage the player character?

No. Burning only affects enemies. Dendro Cores can damage the player, however, the effect of burning itself does not damage the player.

14. What other resources are available for learning more about Genshin Impact mechanics?

Numerous online resources offer guides, builds, and analyses of Genshin Impact’s mechanics. Communities on platforms like Reddit and Discord are also valuable sources of information and support. Learning more about the intricacies of video game design is always a plus, and organizations like the Games Learning Society (GamesLearningSociety.org) can also be helpful.

15. Is there a character who benefits most from the Burning Reaction?

Characters who can reliably apply Dendro but have no Pyro application naturally, will be best at benefiting from the burning reaction. This prevents any application of Pyro before your Dendro characters get the chance to attack.