Cryo Sword

Skirk

Void Star

TierS
RolesMain DPS
Release5.7

Childe's mysterious master is a Cryo sword carry who ignores Energy entirely: her Burst runs on Serpent's Subtlety, which she gathers by absorbing the Void Rifts that Freeze and other Cryo reactions leave behind. In Seven-Phase Flash mode her Normal Attacks turn into fast Cryo slashes, and every Hydro or Cryo teammate makes them hit harder. She returns in Phase II of version 7.1, and Vodyanitsa makes her Freeze team stronger than ever.

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Skirk

Freeze carry

Weapons

Azurelight BiS
5★ · CRIT Rate
Signature: since Skirk always has 0 Energy, she gets the full 48% ATK and 40% CRIT DMG. About 18–22% ahead of other options.
+24% ATK for 12s after using a Skill, doubled to +48% ATK and +40% CRIT DMG while the wielder has 0 Energy.
Haran Geppaku Futsu
5★ · CRIT Rate
CRIT Rate, Elemental DMG and a Normal Attack buff from teammates' Skills.
+12% Elemental DMG; teammates' Skills give stacks that the wielder's Skill converts into up to +40% Normal Attack DMG.
Mistsplitter Reforged
5★ · CRIT DMG
CRIT DMG and up to 40% Cryo DMG Bonus.
+12% Elemental DMG plus up to +28% DMG for the wielder's element through Mistsplitter's Emblem stacks.
Primordial Jade Cutter
5★ · CRIT Rate
Generic CRIT Rate stat stick; watch out for CRIT overcap with Marechaussee.
+20% HP and bonus ATK equal to 1.2% of the wielder's Max HP.
Calamity of Eshu
4★ · ATK%
Close to 5-stars on-field with Marechaussee, provided a shield is up.
While shielded, Normal and Charged Attacks deal 20% more DMG with +8% CRIT Rate.
Finale of the Deep
4★ · ATK%
Craftable: her best 4-star by far for quickswap and teams without a shielder.
Craftable: using a Skill grants +12% ATK and a Bond of Life; clearing the Bond adds up to 150 flat ATK.

Artifacts

Finale of the Deep Galleries ×4
Made for her 0 Energy: +60% Normal Attack and Burst DMG. Best for split and quickswap rotations.
Set effects
2pCryo DMG Bonus +15%.
4pAt 0 Energy, Normal Attack and Burst DMG +60%; dealing one type of DMG pauses the other bonus for 6s.
Marechaussee Hunter ×4
Equal or slightly better for pure on-field play with Furina draining HP.
Set effects
2pNormal and Charged Attack DMG +15%.
4pWhen current HP increases or decreases, CRIT Rate +12% for 5s (max 3 stacks).
Blizzard Strayer ×4
Strong on paper, but unreliable against enemies that cannot be frozen.
Set effects
2pCryo DMG Bonus +15%.
4pCRIT Rate +20% against enemies affected by Cryo, and another +20% if they are Frozen.
Gladiator's Finale ×4
Placeholder while farming.
Set effects
2pATK +18%.
4pSword, Claymore and Polearm users deal +35% Normal Attack DMG.

Main stats

Sands of Eon
ATK%
Goblet of Eonothem
Cryo DMG Bonus / ATK%
Circlet of Logos
CRIT DMG / CRIT Rate

Substat priority

1CRIT Rate 2CRIT DMG 3ATK% 4ATK

Stat targets

  • ATK 2,100+
  • CRIT Rate 70–80% (lower with Marechaussee)
  • CRIT DMG 200%+
  • No Energy Recharge or Elemental Mastery needed

Talent priority

Elemental Skill
Elemental Burst
Normal Attack

Her Seven-Phase Flash Normal Attacks scale with her Skill level, so leveling Normal Attack does nothing for her.

Teams

Recommended teams

Premium Freeze

Skirk
Furina
Vodyanitsa
Escoffier

Double Hydro and Cryo RES shred, healing for Furina's Fanfare and permanent Freeze.

Freeze with Shenhe

Skirk
Furina
Escoffier
Shenhe

Shenhe's Cryo buffs replace Vodyanitsa; Citlali also works in this slot.

Budget Freeze

Skirk
Xingqiu
Rosaria
Dahlia

4-star supports only: Xingqiu applies Hydro, Rosaria adds Cryo and CRIT Rate, Dahlia shields and brings more Hydro.

Guide

How to play

How she works

  • Havoc: Warp (Skill): tap to enter Seven-Phase Flash mode, where her Normal and Charged Attacks become Cryo DMG and her interruption resistance increases. Hold to dash quickly and absorb nearby Void Rifts.
  • Reason Beyond Reason: Frozen, Superconduct, Cryo Swirl, Cryo Crystallize and their Stellar versions create Void Rifts near enemies (once every 2.5s, 3 max). Each Rift she absorbs grants 8 Serpent's Subtlety.
  • Havoc: Ruin (Burst) costs no Energy: at 50+ Serpent's Subtlety she spends it all on a big AoE Cryo nuke. In Seven-Phase Flash it becomes Havoc: Extinction, which absorbs Rifts and buffs her next 10 Normal Attack hits.
  • Return to Oblivion: each Hydro teammate hitting with Hydro, or Cryo teammate hitting with Cryo, grants a Death's Crossing stack (3 max). At 3 stacks, her Normal Attacks in Seven-Phase Flash deal 170% of their DMG and her Burst 160%. Non-Hydro/Cryo teammates therefore cost a lot of damage.

Rotations

  • On-field: buff with your supports, tap E, then chain full Normal Attack strings; use Q (Havoc: Extinction) and Charged Attacks to absorb Rifts as they appear.
  • Quickswap nuke: hold E to absorb Rifts, then Q (Havoc: Ruin) with as much Subtlety as possible, and swap out.

Keep Freeze going: without Frozen or Cryo reactions there are no Void Rifts, and her whole kit slows down.

Strengths

  • No Energy Recharge needed at all
  • Fluid, easy combos with built-in interruption resistance
  • Flexible: sustained on-field carry or frontloaded Burst nuke
  • Vodyanitsa and Escoffier give her two excellent RES-shredding supports

Weaknesses

  • Locked into Hydro/Cryo teams to keep Death's Crossing stacked
  • Her best teams lean on limited 5-star supports
  • Freeze is weaker against bosses that cannot be frozen

Notable dupes · Constellation

C1
Big upgrade

Each absorbed Void Rift summons a crystal blade dealing 500% ATK as Cryo DMG (counts as Charged Attack DMG): a big, easy-to-use gain.

C2
Big upgrade

10 extra Serpent's Subtlety on Skill, Havoc: Ruin counts up to 10 more points, and +70% ATK for 12.5s in Seven-Phase Flash after Havoc: Extinction.

C6
Solid upgrade

Absorbed Rifts grant Havoc: Sever stacks for extra coordinated attacks and damage reduction.

Community

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