The second set of banners in Genshin Impact’s Version 4.2 update features the return of two previously released recruits, which are Kamisato Ayato and Cyno.
These rerun characters have been around Teyvat for a while now, with both Kamisato Ayato and Cyno on their third banner runs. Since Wishes and Primogems are tough to earn, deciding whether to recruit Kamisato Ayato or Cyno is an important choice with many factors to consider.
Should you pull for Kamisato Ayato in Genshin Impact?
Kamisato Ayato is a five-star Hydro Sword unit solely dedicated to supplying the team with damage dealing and whether or not he is worth pulling for ultimately depends on what kind of team you’re looking to build. His abilities are best suited for a DPS role, but he can also work as a secondary damage dealer if needed.
You’ll get the most out of Kamisato Ayato’s skillset when you build him a team based around Hydro elemental reactions. But while many dedicated DPS units are picky when it comes to the teams they work best with, Kamisato Ayato’s team lineups are rather flexible, which makes him much easier to work with.
While his immense flexibility is helpful in some ways, it’s also a burden for the Inazuman character’s skillset. Kamisato Ayato has a lot of good skills but he’s not great at any specific one, which makes him an overall more mediocre recruit. Flexibility in other characters like Nahida or Raiden Shogun only adds to their overall power as they excel at everything. But with Kamisato Ayato, he’s more steadily good and never really great because of this.
You should pull for Kamisato Ayato if you are seeking a Hydro DPS and you really like his specific skillset, but you should skip him instead if you already have a strong DPS or if you are hoping to obtain one of Genshin’s best DPS units overall since he is not one.
Kamisato Ayato pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Amazing Hydro applicator who can apply off-field Hydro application. | Is only really a strong DPS or a subpar secondary DPS and is outperformed by many others in both of these roles. |
| Very versatile, which means he can easily slot into any team lineup needing Hydro. | While his team versatility is strong, he’s not a true master at any one thing, so he’s flexible and reliable but never amazingly powerful. |
| Is a reliably good DPS. | Fairly high elemental burst cost. |
| Very fun and fairly unique skillset to play. | Seems fairly useless since many other better Hydro units exist like Yelan, Kokomi, and Furina. |
Should you pull for Cyno in Genshin Impact?
Cyno is a five-star Electro Polearm character whose skills solely lend themselves to a primary DPS role and is generally not worth pulling for. He’s not flexible at all and will only perform well in this role. And even as a DPS, he is very disappointing.
The biggest issues with Cyno are his lack of resistance to interruption and the lack of support units that synergize well with him. It’s pretty tough to construct a solid Cyno team and he oftentimes seems incapable of hitting hard in battle simply because it’s way too easy for opponents to interrupt his skills, which prevents him from doing real damage.
I really wish Cyno was a better recruit than he is because his personality is one of my absolute favorites and one highly beloved by the Genshin community too. The Electro character is obsessed with Genius Invokation TCG and making absolutely ridiculous jokes despite being a character most NPCs are highly intimidated by. He looks a lot scarier than he actually is both in the storyline and in terms of how his playable skillset works.
Regardless of what kind of lineup you’re trying to build, I’d recommend skipping Cyno altogether since he is just not worth pulling for and he might be one of the worst-featured five-star units in all of Teyvat. If you want a strong Electro DPS, Raiden Shogun is a way better choice and she can also be a secondary DPS or support unit.
Cyno pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Works very well in Electro and Dendro-focused teams. | Very weak resistance to interruption, which means you’ll absolutely need a strong shielder. |
| Strong damage output on his own. | Tough to build since you need to focus on many different abilities including elemental mastery, attack, critical rate, energy recharge, and critical damage. |
| Very unique playstyle. | He needs to be on the battlefield almost constantly, so he requires allies who can quickly drop their abilities on the field and then be swapped out. |
| High uptime on his Elemental Burst. | Has limited support characters who work well with him, so constructing a team for Cyno is tough. |
Should you wish for Kamisato Ayato or Cyno in Genshin Impact?
Rather than pulling for either Kamisato Ayato or Cyno, I’d ultimately recommend skipping this set of banners altogether. Neither character is all that impressive, and exciting new recruits like Navia and Arlecchino are on the horizon, so it’s best to save while you can.
If you are determined to pull for one of the two, Kamisato Ayato is a much better choice than Cyno. Kamisato Ayato is very good at what he does and still ranks fairly highly among Teyvat’s recruits, but he’s also outperformed by other better and more flexible DPS units out there. Cyno, on the other hand, is just overall lackluster and arguably one of Genshin’s worst recruits.
Even if you want a character who can fulfill the roles Kamisato Ayato or Cyno play within a team, Teyvat has many other better options available for you. Instead of Kamisato Ayato, you should pull for characters like Furina, Yelan, or Kokomi, and instead of Cyno, Raiden Shogun is your absolute best bet.
The second phase of Version 4.2 is the perfect set of banners to ignore in favor of saving up for other better characters, so skipping both Kamisato Ayato and Cyno is ultimately the best choice you can make. Both characters are decent, but your Wishes are precious and should be used on recruits who are amazing rather than ones who are just kind of OK.
