Hyperbloom vs Freeze in Genshin Impact: Which Team to Build

Hyperbloom vs Freeze in Genshin is a choice between an easy build and a safe fight. Hyperbloom takes its damage from Elemental Mastery and character level, so it works with ordinary artifacts and against almost any enemy. Freeze stops enemies from moving or attacking, but its damage needs a well-built Cryo character, and most bosses cannot be frozen at all.

How Hyperbloom works

Hyperbloom is a reaction in two steps.

1. Dendro and Hydro meet on an enemy. This is Bloom, and it drops a Dendro Core (players call it a seed) on the ground near that enemy.
2. An Electro attack touches the core. The core turns into a homing shot that flies to a nearby enemy and deals Dendro damage. That is Hyperbloom.

A core that nobody touches bursts by itself after a few seconds for a smaller hit, and only a handful of cores can exist at once. So the team's job is simple: make cores at a steady pace and have Electro arrive right after.

The damage of each shot depends on two things only, both on the character whose Electro hit the core: their level and their Elemental Mastery. The shot cannot crit, and the trigger's ATK does not matter. This is why the reaction is so friendly to new accounts: one character with Elemental Mastery artifacts carries most of the team's damage.

What a Genshin Impact Hyperbloom team needs

• A Dendro character who applies Dendro often. Nahida is the best known. The Traveler can use Dendro without a single wish, and that is enough to start.
• A Hydro character who applies Hydro from off the field. Xingqiu and Yelan are the usual picks. Kokomi does the job with her jellyfish and heals as well.
• One Electro trigger built on Elemental Mastery. Kuki Shinobu is the classic choice, because her skill hits around the active character at a slow, regular pace and heals too. Raiden Shogun fills the same job.
• A fourth slot that is open: a second Dendro or Hydro character, or a shielder if you want more comfort.

Two rules for the build. Give the trigger Elemental Mastery as the main stat on the Sands, Goblet and Circlet, and raise that character to the highest level you can afford, because reaction damage grows with level. The other three do not need rare artifacts for the reaction to work: their job is to keep Dendro and Hydro coming, so enough Energy Recharge to use their Bursts on time comes first.

How Freeze works

When Cryo and Hydro meet on an enemy, the enemy is Frozen: it cannot move, attack or use abilities until the ice wears off. Keep applying both elements and the enemy freezes again as soon as it thaws. A whole wave can spend the fight standing still.

Freeze itself deals no damage. The damage comes from a Cryo character attacking the frozen enemies, and the game rewards that twice. Four pieces of the Blizzard Strayer artifact set add a large amount of Crit Rate against enemies affected by Cryo, and more when they are frozen. Two Cryo characters in the party add Crit Rate against the same enemies. With that much Crit Rate handed over, the damage dealer can put artifacts into Crit DMG.

A typical Freeze team has four jobs:

• A Cryo damage dealer: Ayaka or Ganyu.
• A Hydro character who applies Hydro from off the field or over a wide area: Kokomi, Mona or Xingqiu.
• An Anemo character who pulls enemies together: Kazuha, Venti or Sucrose.
• A second Cryo character for the resonance and for energy: Diona, Rosaria or Shenhe.

One thing breaks the plan: Shatter. A heavy hit on a frozen enemy, from a claymore or a Geo attack, ends the freeze early. Keep claymore and Geo characters out of this team.

Hyperbloom vs Freeze: where each team struggles

Hyperbloom has three weak points:

• Its damage has a ceiling. With no crits and only two stats behind it, the team stops growing once the trigger is built. A fully built crit team will pass it.
• The shots deal Dendro damage, so enemies that are immune to Dendro take nothing from them.
• Cores drop where the enemy stood. Against enemies that jump around or stay far apart, some cores burst by themselves before Electro reaches them.

Freeze has three of its own:

• Bosses. Most of them cannot be frozen, so they keep attacking, and the team loses the Crit Rate that depends on the enemy being frozen.
• Enemies that are immune to Cryo, or that hide behind a Cryo shield, take little or nothing from your damage dealer.
• It needs investment. The Cryo character's talents, weapon and crit artifacts all matter, and artifacts are the slowest part of the game to farm. The guide to artifact main stats and sub-stats explains what to look for.

Which team to build first

If your account is young or your resin is short, build Hyperbloom. One character raised in level, three Elemental Mastery artifacts and characters you may already own give you a team that clears most of the game.

If you own Ayaka or Ganyu and you enjoy fights where nothing hits back, build Freeze and use it where it is strongest: waves of small and medium enemies.

In the Spiral Abyss you need two teams anyway, and these two share almost no characters. Check the enemies of each half before you enter. The half with a boss suits Hyperbloom, and the half with waves that can be frozen suits Freeze. The Spiral Abyss guide explains how to split your characters into two teams.

Read the enemy list before you choose. No team is strong against an enemy that is immune to its element.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hyperbloom better than Freeze?

Neither is better everywhere. Hyperbloom is easier to build and works on bosses. Freeze is safer against groups that can be frozen. Many accounts end up with both.

Can a free-to-play account build a Hyperbloom team?

Yes. The Traveler with Dendro, a four-star Hydro character such as Xingqiu and a four-star Electro trigger such as Kuki Shinobu are enough. No five-star character is required.

Why can't I freeze a boss?

Most bosses are immune to being frozen. That is how the game is built, and no amount of Cryo or Hydro changes it. Against them, bring a team that does not depend on freezing.

What are the best elemental reactions in Genshin?

There is no single best one. Vaporize and Melt multiply the damage of a strong hit. Reactions like Hyperbloom deal their own damage from Elemental Mastery and level. Freeze is control. The best reaction is the one your characters can trigger again and again.

Resin builds the team, crystals bring the characters

Both teams are built with time: resin for artifacts, talent books and level-up materials. Genesis Crystals come in when you want a character from a banner, because they convert into Primogems. If you top up, Mas4Games loads Genshin Impact Genesis Crystals by UID and server. You give your UID and choose your server, and the store never asks for a password.