Wriothesley (“rise-ley” or “writhes-ley”) is a 5-star Cryo Catalyst DPS in Genshin Impact. Here are the best artifacts, weapons, and teams to complement the Duke of Meropide.
Playstyles
Wriothesley is an on-field DPS. Set up your supports, swap to Wriothesley, and use his Skill to empower his Normal Attacks. Using Normal Attacks in this state will drain Wriothesley’s HP, and when his HP drops below 60%, his next Charged Attack deals increased damage and restores some HP. At Constellation 0, it can be a bit difficult to rely on his buffed Charged Attack, so just use it when you can.
Wriothesley’s Burst deals five instances of Cryo damage, as well as an extra Ousia hit. It’s nice, but not the focus of his kit. Just use it when it’s available.
As a Cryo DPS, Wriothesley will shine brightest in Freeze, mono Cryo, or Melt teams. His build requirements differ depending on his team, so the gear recommendations below will specify when they should be used.
Weapons
Cashflow Supervision / Tulaytullah’s Remembrance
Wriothesley’s signature 5-star Catalyst is his best weapon, but the Wanderer’s signature is not far behind. Both are great for Freeze, mono Cryo, and Melt teams.
A Thousand Floating Dreams
For Melt teams only. This Catalyst grants quite a lot of Elemental Mastery, which increases Wriothesley’s Melt damage.
Other 5-star Catalysts
This includes Skyward Atlas, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Memory of Dust, Kagura’s Verity, or Tome of the Eternal Flow. These 5-star options range from good to decent, and they are generally a safe bet for all of Wriothesley’s teams.
Flowing Purity / Ballad of the Boundless Blue / The Widsith
These are the more accessible 4-star options. Flowing Purity necessitates a strong healer, but works well with Wriothesley and scales well with refinement. The Widsith’s buffs are completely RNG and can result in inconsistent damage, but its performance averages out to be decent. All three listed options can be used in any of Wriothesley’s teams.
Artifacts
4pc Marechausee Hunter (4MH)
This is Wriothesley’s best artifact set for all of his teams. He is able to consistently proc its CRIT Rate buff with his HP drain mechanics, and he appreciates the Normal/Charged Attack buff too.
4pc Shimenawa’s Reminiscence (4SR)
4SR makes it more difficult to use Wriothesley’s Burst, but it hardly matters when most of his damage comes from his Normal/Charged Attacks. 4MH is generally still a bit better, but you might already have a usable 4SR set. Usable in all teams.
4pc Blizzard Strayer (4BS)
For Freeze and mono Cryo teams only. In Freeze teams, 4BS can technically give Wriothesley more CRIT Rate than 4MH, but Wriothesley has a bad habit of Shattering enemies with his Charged Attacks. Shatter removes the Freeze status, which limits the CRIT Rate buff to one stack. If using this set in a Freeze team, Wriothesley should either stick to Normal Attacks only or just accept an inconsistent CRIT Rate. Mono Cryo Wriothesley can use Charged Attacks freely, since without Freeze, he only gets one stack anyway.
Artifact Stats
| Sands | Goblet | Circlet |
| ATK Elemental Mastery (Melt only) | Cryo DMG | CRIT Rate/DMG |
Wriothesley doesn’t need to worry about Energy Recharge. His Burst is an afterthought, and you shouldn’t build Energy Recharge in order to use it every rotation. You can build around 130% Energy Recharge if using 4SR and you want to use his Burst sometimes. Otherwise, just Burst when it’s available or if you need the Ousia hit.
Substats can focus on CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK. Elemental Mastery is good in Melt teams only. Choose a CRIT circlet based on whatever gets you closer to a 1:2 ratio of CRIT Rate to CRIT DMG. If you are using 4MH or 4BS, keep in mind that your artifacts will give you an additional 20-40% CRIT Rate.
Teams
Freeze / Mono Cryo
Freeze and mono Cryo teams are fairly similar. The only difference is that Freeze has a Hydro unit and mono Cryo does not. These teams are generally easier to play since you don’t need to worry about elemental auras and not being able to Melt the right hits. Here are some example teams to try out:
- Wriothesley – Kazuha – Mona/Kokomi – Cryo
- Wriothesley – Kazuha – Xingqiu/Yelan – Cryo healer
- Wriothesley – Kazuha – Shenhe – Healer
- Wriothesley – Lynette – Bennett – Cryo/Hydro
The Lynette-Bennett combo is a unique one. Bennett wouldn’t normally work for a Freeze or mono Cryo team, but Lynette specifically prefers to absorb Cryo over Pyro in her Burst. She is not replaceable in this team.
Melt
Wriothesley’s Normal Attacks are just scuffed enough where he is not always able to trigger Melt with his most damaging hits. You can either intentionally delay some of those hits with a dash, or you can just ignore the issue and keep punching. Here are some example Melt teams:
- Wriothesley – Kazuha/Sucrose – Bennett – Xiangling
- Wriothesley – Zhongli – Bennett – Kazuha/Xiangling
- Wriothesley – Kazuha/Sucrose – Bennett – Nahida/Dendro Traveler
