Childe is a pretty complicated character compared to most of the Genshin Impact cast. With many other characters, you can just mindlessly spam attack, elemental skill, and elemental burst; with Childe, there’s a little more cooldown management involved. That is, unless you’re prepared to whale. Keep reading to learn more about the best talents, constellations, weapons, and artifacts for Childe (also known as Tartaglia).
Check out these other Genshin Impact Character Build Guides:
Childe’s Role in the Party
Childe’s role in the party will either be a Main DPS or a Sub DPS character. Much like Diluc, Childe has the potential to be unstoppable as a Main DPS character when his constellations are all unlocked. That is not to say that you can’t use him at C0, but it’ll be a little harder.
As a Sub DPS character, you don’t need to bother much about constellations as you’d be using your Elemental Burst more.
Childe Build: Best Talents
| Talent Name | In-Game Description |
| Cutting Torrent (Normal Attack) | Normal Attack: Performs up to 6 consecutive shots with a bow.Charged Attack: Perform a more precise Aimed Shot with increased DMG. While aiming, the power of Hydro will accumulate on the arrowhead. An arrow fully charged with the torrent will deal Hydro DMG and apply Riptide status.Riptide: Opponents affected by Riptide will suffer from AoE Hydro DMG effects when attacked by Tartaglia in various ways. DMG dealt in this way is considered Normal Attack DMG.
Plunging Attack: Fires off a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground, dealing AoE DMG upon impact. When Tartaglia is in Foul Legacy: Raging Tide’s Melee Stance, he cannot perform a plunging attack. |
| Foul Legacy: Raging Tide (Elemental Skill) | Unleashes a set of weaponry made of pure water, dealing Hydro DMG to surrounding opponents and entering Melee Stance. In this Stance, Tartaglia’s Normal and Charged Attacks are converted to Hydro DMG that cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion and change as follows: Normal Attack: Perform up to 6 consecutive Hydro strikes. Charged Attack: Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash a cross slash, dealing Hydro DMG. Riptide Slash: Hitting an opponent affected by Riptide with a melee attack unleashes a Riptide Slash that deals AoE Hydro DMG. DMG dealt in this way is considered Elemental Skill DMG, and can only occur once every 1.5s. After 30s, or when the ability is unleashed again, this skill will end. Tartaglia will return to his Ranged Stance and this ability will enter CD. The longer Tartaglia stays in his Melee Stance, the longer the CD. If the return to a ranged stance occurs automatically after 30s, the CD is even longer. |
| Havoc: Obliteration (Elemental Burst) | Performs different attacks based on what stance Tartaglia is in when casting. Ranged Stance: Flash of Havoc: Swiftly fires a Hydro-imbued magic arrow, dealing AoE Hydro DMG and applying the Riptide status. Returns a portion of its Energy Cost after use. Melee Stance: Light of Obliteration: Performs a slash with a large AoE, dealing massive Hydro DMG to all surrounding opponents, which triggers Riptide Blast. Riptide Blast: When the obliterating waters hit an opponent affected by Riptide, it clears their Riptide status and triggers a Hydro Explosion that deals AoE Hydro DMG. DMG dealt in this way is considered Elemental Burst DMG. |
| Never Ending (1st Ascension Passive) | Extends Riptide duration by 8s. |
| Sword of Torrents (4th Ascension Passive) | When Tartaglia is in Foul Legacy: Raging Tide’s Melee Stance, or if his Normal and Charged Attacks do CRIT DMG, they will apply the Riptide status effect on the hit enemy. |
| Master of Weaponry (Utility Passive) | Increases your own party members’ Normal Attack Level by 1. |
Childe’s Elemental Skill is where his damage lies. As such, the talent priority as a Main DPS character would be:
- Elemental Skill
- Elemental Burst
- Normal Attack
This is where the problem of cooldown management comes in. If we take a closer look at his Elemental Skill, if it isn’t managed correctly, you can end up with a 45-second cooldown. Which isn’t what you want. Thankfully, a Redditor made a Childe Cooldown chart so we may all understand how it is calculated.
If you’re using Childe as a Sub DPS character, you don’t need to worry much about this chart as you won’t have him out in the field most of the time. The strategy would be to put him down, wreak havoc with his Elemental Skill, making sure to apply riptide, then use Elemental Burst (Melee). After that, switch to your main DPS character. Rinse and repeat. Childe’s 4th Ascension Passive makes it much easier to apply Riptide and this is why crit is an important stat for Childe. Talent priority for him is as follows:
- Elemental Burst
- Elemental Skill
- Normal Attack
Childe Build: Constellations
Constellations are where Childe really gets his power. Here’s a breakdown of what they do:
| Constellation Name | In-Game Description |
| Foul Legacy: Tide Withholder (C1) | Decreases the CD of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide (Elemental Skill) by 20% |
| Foul Legacy: Understream (C2) | When opponents affected by Riptide are defeated. Tartaglia regenerates 4 Elemental Energy. |
| Abyssal Mayhem: Vortex of Turmoil (C3) | Increases the Level of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Abyssal Mayhem: Hydrosprout (C4) | If Tartaglia is in Foul Legacy: Raging Tide’s Melee Stance, triggers Riptide Slash against opponents on the field affected by Riptide every 4s, otherwise, triggers Riptide Flash.
Riptide Slashes and Riptide Flashes triggered by this Constellation effect are not subject to the time intervals that would typically apply to these two Riptide effects, nor do they have any effects on those time intervals. |
| Havoc: Formless Blade (C5) | Increases the level of Havoc: Obliteration by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Havoc: Annihilation (C6) | When Havoc: Obliteration is cast in Melee stance, the CD of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide is reset. This effect will only take place once Tartaglia returns to his Ranged Stance. |
Right off the bat, C1 makes it much easier to manage Childe’s cooldowns. C6, however, is where he becomes the war machine that he really is. Having virtually no cooldown of your Elemental Skill is a game-changer, as this is where his damage comes from. This is also one of the reasons people consider Childe a whale’s character as they think that you can’t use him effectively without having to spend big bucks. This is understandable, especially when you’re using him as a Main DPS character.
Don’t let this information discourage you, though. Childe is still a great character with the right build without constellations. The keyword here is effectively. He’s still good, but overshadowed by other 5-star DPS that don’t need a lot of constellations. As a Sub DPS build though, he’s great, even at C0.
Childe Build: Best Weapons
These are some of the best weapons to use with Childe:
| Weapon Name | In-Game Description |
| Skyward Harp | Echoing Ballad: Increases CRIT DMG by 20~40%. Hits have a 60~100% chance to inflict a small AoE attack, dealing 125% Physical ATK DMG. Can only occur once every 4~2s. |
| Rust | Rapid Firing: Increases Normal Attack DMG by 40~80% but decreases Charged Attack DMG by 10%. |
| Amos’s Bow | Strong-Willed: Increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 12~24%. After a Normal or Charged Attack is fired, DMG dealt increases by a further 8~16% every 0.1 seconds up to 5 times. |
| Favonius Warbow | WindfallCRIT hits have a 60~100% chance to generate 1 Elemental Orb, which will regenerate 6 Energy for the character. Can only occur once every 12~6s. |
| Elegy for the End | The Parting Refrain: A part of the “Millennial Movement” that wanders amidst the winds. Increases Elemental Mastery by 60~120.When the Elemental Skills or Elemental Bursts of the character wielding this weapon hit opponents, that character gains a Sigil of Remembrance. This effect can be triggered once every 0.2s and can be triggered even if said character is not on the field.When you possess 4 Sigils of Remembrance, all of them will be consumed and all nearby party members will obtain the “Millennial Movement: Farewell Song” effect for 12s. “Millennial Movement: Farewell Song” increases Elemental Mastery by 100~200 and increases ATK by 20~40%.Once this effect is triggered, you will not gain Sigils of Remembrance for 20s. Of the many effects of the “Millennial Movement,” buffs of the same type will not stack. |
| The Stringless | Arrowless Song: Increases Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG by 24~48%. |
Skyward Harp is by far the best bow for Childe, followed by Rust. Amos’s bow is also up there. We’d recommend Favonius Warbow for Sub DPS Childe build. Elegy for the End is an interesting bow to use with Childe because this puts him in a very supportive role. Same with The Stringless — it’s an ultra-budget bow but will do if you don’t have Skyward Harp, Rust, or Amos’s Bow.
Childe Build: Best Artifacts
For Childe, there are only two artifacts we recommend as nothing else even comes close:
| Artifact Name | In-Game Description |
| Noblesse Oblige | 2-piece effect: Elemental Burst DMG +20%
4-piece effect: Using an Elemental Burst increase all party members’ ATK by 20% for 12s. This effect cannot stack. |
| Heart of Depth | 2-piece effect: Hydro DMG Bonus +15%
4-piece effect: After using Elemental Skill, increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 30% for 15s. |
Heart of Depth is the artifact to go for if you’re using Childe as a Main DPS character. If you’re going for a Sub DPS build, I suggest 2 pieces of Heart of Depth and 2 pieces of Noblesse Oblige for that sweet, sweet burst damage.
Main Stats to look out for:
- Hydro DMG
- ATK %
- CRIT RATE
- CRIT DMG
Sub stats are quite similar:
- ATK
- CRIT DMG
- CRIT RATE
Conclusion
And that’s it! Childe has the potential to be one of the biggest damage dealers in the game with C6 but his potential is locked behind his constellations. This can make him underwhelming compared to other 5-stars like Klee who can dish out tons of damage consistently. Despite this, he’s still a very solid character to use due to his ability to switch fighting styles from ranged to melee and the burst damage he can bring to the table.
Cedric Pabriga is a freelance writer for IGN. He spends most of his day listening to music or playing video games. He also writes short stories in his spare time. You can follow him on Twitter @IchikaRika.Source