Elemental Reactions are one of the most important parts of combat in Genshin Impact.
Instead of relying only on a character’s individual damage, you can combine different elements to trigger reactions that deal additional damage, strengthen attacks, control enemies, or create other useful effects.
Understanding these reactions makes it much easier to build effective teams and understand why certain characters work well together.
The basic idea is simple:
Apply one element to an enemy, then apply another compatible element to trigger an Elemental Reaction.
However, different reactions behave very differently.
1. How Elemental Reactions Work
When an elemental attack hits an enemy, it may apply that element to the target.
You can usually see the elemental icon above the enemy.
Applying another compatible element can then trigger a reaction.
For example:
- Apply Hydro to an enemy.
- Attack that enemy with Pyro.
- Vaporize can occur.
The order in which elements are applied can matter because some reactions use different damage multipliers or mechanics depending on which element triggers the reaction.
You also cannot assume that every elemental hit will always apply an element. Mechanics such as elemental application and Internal Cooldown become important in more advanced combat.
For beginners, however, the most important thing is simply learning which elements interact.
2. Vaporize
Vaporize occurs when Hydro and Pyro interact.
It is a damage-amplifying reaction, meaning it increases the damage of the attack that triggers it.
The multiplier depends on the triggering element:
- Hydro triggering Vaporize on Pyro: 2× damage
- Pyro triggering Vaporize on Hydro: 1.5× damage
This is why many Pyro damage dealers work well with characters capable of applying Hydro consistently.
Vaporize can also benefit from CRIT, making it especially valuable for characters already built around ATK and CRIT stats.
3. Melt
Melt works similarly to Vaporize but uses Pyro and Cryo.
The multiplier depends on which element triggers the reaction:
- Pyro triggering Melt on Cryo: 2× damage
- Cryo triggering Melt on Pyro: 1.5× damage
Like Vaporize, Melt amplifies the triggering attack and can CRIT.
Characters capable of delivering large individual hits can benefit greatly from properly timed Melt reactions.
4. Electro-Charged
Electro-Charged occurs when Electro and Hydro interact.
Instead of multiplying one attack’s damage, Electro-Charged deals additional Electro damage over time.
It can also interact particularly well with groups of enemies affected by Hydro.
Electro-Charged teams often use frequent elemental application and multiple sources of off-field damage rather than relying on one large reaction hit.
5. Overloaded
Overloaded occurs when Pyro and Electro interact.
The reaction deals AoE Pyro damage.
It can also create strong impact against enemies, which may affect positioning depending on the enemy type.
Overloaded can be useful when fighting groups or when a team can trigger the reaction frequently.
Its damage is primarily affected by the triggering character’s level and Elemental Mastery rather than traditional CRIT stats.
6. Superconduct
Superconduct occurs when Cryo and Electro interact.
It deals AoE Cryo damage and, more importantly, reduces the affected enemies’ Physical RES for a period of time.
Because of this, Superconduct is primarily useful for teams that rely heavily on Physical damage.
If most of your team’s damage is elemental, the Physical RES reduction provides much less value.
7. Frozen
Frozen occurs when Hydro and Cryo are applied together.
Frozen enemies become temporarily unable to move or attack.
This makes Freeze useful for controlling enemies and creating safer opportunities to deal damage.
However, some enemies—particularly many bosses—cannot be Frozen.
Freeze itself does not deal reaction damage.
8. Swirl
Swirl occurs when Anemo interacts with Pyro, Hydro, Electro, or Cryo.
The absorbed element can be spread to nearby enemies while dealing additional elemental damage.
This makes Anemo characters particularly effective when fighting groups of enemies.
Swirl becomes even more powerful when combined with effects that reduce enemy Elemental RES, such as the Viridescent Venerer Artifact set.
Because of this, many teams use an Anemo support to improve both crowd control and elemental damage.
9. Crystallize
Crystallize occurs when Geo interacts with Pyro, Hydro, Electro, or Cryo.
The reaction creates an elemental shard.
Picking up the shard provides a shield corresponding to the element involved in the reaction.
Traditional Crystallize is primarily defensive, but some characters and newer team mechanics can interact with Crystallize in more specialized ways.
10. Burning
Burning occurs when Pyro and Dendro interact.
The affected target takes repeated Pyro damage for a period of time.
Burning can also maintain a Pyro-related aura that certain teams can use to enable additional reactions or character-specific mechanics.
Because the reaction can continuously deal damage, positioning and elemental application can be important when using Burning teams.
11. Bloom
Bloom occurs when Hydro and Dendro interact.
The reaction creates a Dendro Core on the ground.
After a short period, the Core explodes and deals Dendro damage.
Only a limited number of Dendro Cores can exist at once, so older Cores may explode when additional ones are created.
Bloom is also the foundation for two additional reactions: Hyperbloom and Burgeon.
12. Hyperbloom
Hyperbloom occurs when Electro hits a Dendro Core created by Bloom.
The Core becomes a homing projectile that targets an enemy and deals Dendro damage.
Hyperbloom is popular because it can produce strong damage without requiring extremely high investment in traditional CRIT stats.
The Electro character triggering Hyperbloom generally benefits greatly from Elemental Mastery and character level.
13. Burgeon
Burgeon occurs when Pyro hits a Dendro Core.
Instead of becoming a homing projectile like Hyperbloom, the Core explodes and deals AoE Dendro damage.
Burgeon can be especially effective against groups of enemies.
Like Hyperbloom, its reaction damage strongly rewards character level and Elemental Mastery on the character triggering the reaction.
14. Quicken, Aggravate, and Spread
When Dendro and Electro interact, they can create the Quicken state.
Quicken itself establishes an aura that allows additional reactions to occur.
Applying Electro to a Quickened enemy can trigger Aggravate.
Applying Dendro can trigger Spread.
Both reactions add damage to qualifying attacks rather than functioning like Vaporize or Melt’s direct multipliers.
Because of this, characters using Aggravate or Spread can benefit from a combination of Elemental Mastery and traditional offensive stats such as CRIT.
15. Which Elemental Reactions Should Beginners Use?
There is no single Elemental Reaction that every player should use.
The best reaction depends on the characters available on your account.
For beginners, it is usually better to build around characters you already own rather than trying to force a specific reaction.
Some relatively straightforward options include:
- Vaporize for Pyro and Hydro teams
- Melt for Pyro and Cryo teams
- Freeze for control
- Hyperbloom for accessible reaction damage
- Aggravate and Spread for Electro/Dendro teams
- Swirl to support elemental teams
The important thing is creating a team where characters can consistently enable each other’s reactions.
16. What Determines Elemental Reaction Damage?
Different reactions use different damage calculations.
Some reactions, such as Vaporize and Melt, amplify the damage of the attack that triggered them. This means stats such as ATK, CRIT, DMG Bonus, and Elemental Mastery can all contribute depending on the character.
Other reactions—including Hyperbloom, Burgeon, Overloaded, and Swirl—primarily depend on:
- The triggering character’s level
- The triggering character’s Elemental Mastery
- Relevant enemy resistance
These reactions do not use the triggering attack’s ATK or CRIT in the same way.
This distinction is one of the main reasons different characters require very different builds.
17. Why Doesn’t Every Elemental Attack Trigger a Reaction?
A common source of confusion is seeing an elemental attack hit an enemy without triggering the expected reaction.
Not every hit necessarily applies a new elemental aura.
Characters have different elemental application patterns, and many attacks are affected by mechanics commonly referred to as Internal Cooldown (ICD).
The existing elemental aura on the enemy also matters.
This is why two characters using the same elements can perform very differently in reaction-based teams.
For beginners, you do not need to memorize these mechanics immediately.
As you begin building more advanced teams, understanding elemental application and ICD becomes much more useful.
Elemental Reaction Quick Reference
| Elements | Reaction |
|---|---|
| Pyro + Hydro | Vaporize |
| Pyro + Cryo | Melt |
| Hydro + Electro | Electro-Charged |
| Pyro + Electro | Overloaded |
| Cryo + Electro | Superconduct |
| Hydro + Cryo | Frozen |
| Anemo + Pyro/Hydro/Electro/Cryo | Swirl |
| Geo + Pyro/Hydro/Electro/Cryo | Crystallize |
| Pyro + Dendro | Burning |
| Hydro + Dendro | Bloom |
| Electro + Dendro Core | Hyperbloom |
| Pyro + Dendro Core | Burgeon |
| Electro + Dendro | Quicken |
| Electro + Quicken | Aggravate |
| Dendro + Quicken | Spread |
Final Advice
You do not need to memorize every Elemental Reaction before building your first team.
Start by learning the reactions used by the characters you play most often.
Once you understand which character applies an element and which character triggers the reaction, team building becomes much easier.
As your account develops, mechanics such as Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge, Internal Cooldown, elemental application, and RES reduction will help explain why certain teams perform significantly better than others.
For now, focus on creating teams
