Best Citlali Builds (Weapons, Artifacts, Team Comps, Stats)

To properly build Citlali in Genshin Impactyou must first understand her role in team compositions and how she operates on and off the field. Citlali is a 5-star Cryo character who uses a catalyst in combat. Introduced alongside Mavuika in version 5.3, Citlali's specialty is creating a shield for her allies and helping to apply cryogenics to enemieswhich can then interact with various types of elementary reactions in Genshin Impact. With her elemental ability, Citlali automatically conjures an opal shield around herself and summons Itzpapa.

Once Citlali accumulates at least 50 Nightsoul points, Itzpapa will begin performing an AoE (area of ​​effect) Frostfall Storm, which deals Nightsoul-aligned Cryo DMG. Citlali's Elemental Burst deals Nightsoul-aligned AoE Cryo DMG and restores Nightsoul points for her. It also summons a Spiritvessel Skull near a maximum of three enemies in AoE with one Skull for each – these skulls explode, dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE Cryo DMG and restoring a set amount of Nightsoul points to Citlali. After gathering Citlali's materials in Genshin Impact and Ascend Her, you can start working on your build to improve these skills.

Best weapons for Citlali (best catalysts)

Look for weapons with elemental mastery bonuses

The first step to optimizing Citlali construction is finding a suitable catalyst for it. The best 5-star weapon for Citlali is the Starcaller's Watchits characteristic catalyst. The weapon has a low base ATK stat (542 at level 90), but a huge Elemental Mastery substat (265 at level 90). Additionally, Starcaller's Watch grants Citlali an extra 100 Elemental Mastery. Players gain the Mirror of Night effect 15 seconds after Citlali creates a shield. Mirror of Night sees the active party member deal 28% increased DMG to nearby opponents, an effect that can happen every 14 seconds.

The table below lists the best builds for Citlali in Genshin Impactincluding the strongest weapons, recommended artifacts, ideal stat distribution, and more:

Starcaller's Watch is perfect for Citlali because it increases her Elemental Mastery stats magnificently, and this is the most important stat in her kit as it determines the strength of her shield and the power of the reactions she triggers. If you don't have access to Starcaller's Watch, you can use A Thousand Floating DreamsNahida's exclusive 5-star catalyst. This weapon offers the same base ATK and Elemental Mastery substat values, but the ability changes drastically. Citlali gains different buffs based on her other party members in Genshin Impact.

If a character in the party is also Cryo, Citlali's Elemental Domain increases by 32. If they are a different element, Citlali's Elemental DMG Bonus increases by 10%. Each of these effects can stack up to three times. Thousand Floating Dreams also grants 40 Elemental Mastery to all nearby party members. This weapon strays from Citlali's main abilities, especially compared to Starcaller's Watch, but can grant her a huge amount of Elemental Mastery. If you don't have any of these catalysts, there are reliable 4-star weapons for Citlali in Genshin Impact.

The best 4-star weapon for Citlali is Wandering Evenstar. The catalyst offers 510 base ATK (at level 90) and a low Elemental Mastery substat (165 at level 90). Wandering Evenstar's effect activates every 10 seconds. Citlali gains 24% of her Elemental Mastery as ATK for 12 seconds, with all nearby party members receiving the equivalent of 30% of this buff for 12 seconds. This effect can be triggered even if Citlali is off the field. Considering that Elemental Mastery will be increased to its highest possible value with Citlali, the ATK bonuses for her and her allies in Genshin Impact will also be high.

Alternatively, Citali can also use Shards of Sacrifice, a 4-star catalyst with a low base ATK (454 at level 90) and a better Elemental Mastery substat (221 at level 90).. Sacrifice Shards have a 40% chance to end a Skill's cooldown after an enemy is damaged by the Elemental Skill, an effect that can occur every 30 seconds.

The craftable Mappa Mare is the best 4-star F2P (free-to-play) weapon for Citlali. Its base ATK is a bit high (565 at level 90) and its Elemental Mastery substat is low (110 at level 90). When Citlali triggers a reaction, she gains 8% bonus Elemental DMG for 10 seconds, up to two stacks. While there aren't many options to choose from, there is at least one F2P weapon for Citlali – the rule of thumb is to choose a weapon that grants Elemental Mastery in Genshin Impact.

Best Artifacts and Stats for Citlali

There are two possible sets for the Cryo character

When it comes to Artifacts for Citlali, you have two decent options. The two-piece bonus from the Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City artifact set causes Citlali to recover 6 elemental energy when an ally activates Nightsoul Burst, which works well when she is paired with Mavuika, for example. With your four-piece bonus, When Citlali triggers a reaction, all nearby allies gain a 12% Elemental DMG bonus to the element involved for 15 seconds. If Citlali is in the Blessing of the Night Soul state when activating it, allies gain an extra 28% bonus Elemental DMG to the elements involved for 20 seconds.

The other artifact set option for Citlali is Gilded Dreams. Her two-piece bonus grants 80 Elemental Mastery to Citlali. With her four-piece bonus, eight seconds after triggering a reaction, Citlali gains buffs based on her allies' elements. ATK is increased by 14% for each member whose element is the same as Citlali's (Cryo in Genshin Impact), and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for each member with a different element. Each of the buffs will count up to three characters and this effect can be triggered once every eight seconds, even when Citlali is off the field.

When farming any of these artifact sets for Citlali, the main priority is to increase Elemental Mastery as much as you can, as this will increase the strength of your shield and the intensity of your elemental reactions. Elemental Mastery's effects are not limited by Citlali's abilities, so higher is better. Energy recharge is also very important as it can help fuel your Nightsoul points, which helps with damage output. To increase your offensive presence on the field, you can increase CRIT and Cryo DMG values, but Citlali is at her best focusing on Elemental Mastery in Genshin Impact.

Best team compositions for Citlali

Citlali thrives in freeze-thaw teams

Citlali is a very versatile Cryo protector for various types of team compositions. The best option is to insert Citlali into Freeze or Melt team compositions, as it can decrease enemies' Pyro and Hydro RES by 20% for 12 seconds after an ally triggers Frozen or Melt reactions.. As such, Citlali is a great support to race alongside Neuvillette, Mualani, Arlecchino or Mavuika in Genshin Impactfor example.

The table below lists team composition recommendations for Citlali:

There is no punishment if Citlali is used as a generalist shield for other types of team compositions, such as in an overloaded group, for example. However, it would be a waste of the Pyro and Hydro shard she can apply to enemies.. There are many options for Citlali, but keeping those focused on Freeze and Melt is the best choice.

Skill priority for Citlali

You can skip upgrading your normal attacks

Since resources can be limited and slow to farm, you may need to prioritize upgrading some skills over others. The ability to prioritize in Citlali's kit is her elemental skill. This is the one that creates the shield and deals consistent off-field Cryo DMG, so it should be of utmost priority. The second to level up is your Elemental Burst in Genshin Impactwhich helps charge your ability's damage. Citlali's normal attacks are not important and, if desired, can be ignored entirely, as she will not remain on the field dealing damage in this way.

Citlali's strongest build is fairly easy to achieve, thanks to the reduced number of different stats she needs to operate at peak performance. If you don't have her signature weapon, building her can become a bit tricky, but there is an F2P option, even though it is much weaker than other premium catalysts. While Citlali is somewhat limited to certain groups, she can be one of the strongest supports for Freeze and Melt team compositions in Genshin Impact.