Genshin Impact Elemental Mastery Explained: How It Works & Which Characters Should Use

Apart from the usual stats, Genshin Impact introduces new Elemental Mastery stats along with the Elemental Reaction mechanic. Like most Genshin Impact players, you probably skipped some reading and now you don't know what Elemental Mastery does.

While Elemental Mastery is certainly not as valuable as ATK or Critical Rate, it has specific use that can help you burst down the enemy with the right combination. In this article, we will have Genshin Impact Elemental Mastery explained in detail.

1. What does Elemental Mastery do?

Genshin Impact Elemental Mastery affects the bonus damage you deal to the enemy from Elemental Reactions. Elemental Mastery scales multiplicatively with Transformative Reactions and scales additively with Amplifying Reactions.

The bonus damage Elemental Mastery is scaled off from the character who triggers the Elemental Reaction. For example, if a Pyro character triggers a Melt reaction then the bonus damage will be based on the Elemental Mastery of that character.

2. How does Elemental Mastery work?

Transformative Reactions

There are 5 Transformative Reactions in Genshin Impact: Superconduct, Swirl, Electro Charged, Shattered, Overloaded.

Transformative Reactions deal damage on top of the trigger attacks. Transformative Reactions have fixed base damage based on the level of the character that triggers it. You can take a look at the chart below to check the base damage of each Transformative Reaction.

Elemental Mastery will scale this fixed base damage multiplicatively.  For example, an Overloaded reaction deal 2000 damage and Elemental Mastery provides a 50% bonus. The Overloaded reaction will deal 3000 damage.

Transformative Reactions cannot be crit. They tend to be more effective early game and then slowly fall off.

Amplifying Reactions

There are 2 Amplifying Reactions: Vaporize, and Melt.Unlike Transformative Reactions, the applied order of elements matters when creating an Amplifying Reaction.

• Vaporize: Hydro -> Pyro
• Reverse-Vaporize: Pyro -> Hydro
• Melt: Pyro -> Cryo
• Reverse-Melt: Cryo -> Pyro

Amplifying Reactions amplify the damage of the elemental attacks that trigger it. It is basically an elemental crit to put it simply.

• Vaporize and Melt: 2x multiplier.
• Reverse-Vaporize and Reverse-Melt: 1.5x multiplier.

Elemental Mastery will add to the multiplier of the reaction. For example, if a Vaporize reaction happens and Elemental Mastery provides 50% bonus damage, the Vaporize reaction will multiply the attack that triggers it by 2.5.

Amplifying Reactions can be crit and it can deal a massive amount of damage in the late game.

3. How to use Elemental Mastery

As mentioned Elemental Mastery only works on the character who triggers the reaction so it is not a stat that all characters in your party need.

Most of the Elemental Reactions in Genshin Impact are Transformative Reactions, which are only based on the level of the character. Thus, you wouldn't want Elemental Mastery items for your main DPS character since they need more ATK to be effective.

On the other hand, utility characters don't need ATK and they can utilize Elemental Mastery better. Sub DPS characters can also use Elemental Mastery well for a quick Elemental Reaction combo. Still, Elemental Mastery rarely outperforms stats such as ATK/ DMG/ Crit for most damage dealers.

Of course, if you have a party with characters who have the same element then Elemental Mastery will be completely useless but that rarely happens.

Two characters in Genshin Impact who always want an Elemental Mastery focused build are Sucrose and Kazuha.

• Sucrose grants other party members Elemental Mastery based on her own Elemental Mastery.

• Kazuha gives other party members % DMG based on her own Elemental Mastery.

4. Elemental Mastery artifact and weapons

The Instructor's and the Wanderer's Troupe are the best Genshin Impact Elemental Mastery artifact sets which provide you with additional Elemental Mastery.

Other than that, you can also find Artifact with Elemental Mastery as the subs stat. There are weapons in Genshin Impact that will provide you with a great amount of Elemental Mastery.

If you can put these weapons in the right hands, they can make devastating combos that can vanish even the strongest boss.

• Dragon's Bane (Polearm): 221 EM
• Sacrificial Fragments (Catalyst): 221 EM
• Freedom-Sworn (Sword): 198 EM
• Iron Sting (Sword): 165 EM
• Windblume Ode (Bow): 165 EM
• The Stringless (Bow): 165 EM
• Rainslasher (Claymore): 165 EM
• Mappa Mare (Catalyst): 110 EM
• Kitain Cross Spear (Polearm): 110 EM
• The Alley Flash (Sword): 55 EM

>>> Read more: Where To Farm Ascension Materials For Gorou In Genshin Impact