Tortilla? Tortellini? Tagliatelle? You’d be forgiven for thinking that Tartaglia was some sort of hipster pasta, but he’s actually a Fatui Harbringer and a great 5* option within the world of Genshin Impact. It did take me a couple of tries to get his name right.
Why do harbingers have such complicated names? Ahead of his release, I saw his character demo and got to know that Tartaglia had another name, Childe. A new harbinger whose hydro blades could rip apart enemies in a flash.
For the first time, we were getting a Fatui harbinger as a playable character, and the excitement was on another level. Childe featured a hybrid skillset that could make him switch to a melee stance with different abilities. This was a game-changer. Not only were we getting a character who was a Fatui, but they also had a combination of skills.
With the recent introduction of another Harbinger, Scaramouche, it’s confirmed that Harbingers’ abilities aren’t similar to those who have visions. Harnessing delusions’ power, these harbingers can wield two elements to obliterate their foes.
In this Childe Genshin Impact guide, let’s learn about this harbinger born and raised in the snowy lands of Snezhnaya. The youngest of harbingers directly reporting to her Majesty, the Tsaritsa. Without further ado, let’s discuss Childe’s Hydro blades’ skills and unique artifact sets that make him extraordinary.
Tartaglia: Codename “Childe”
I was playing the archon quest, Rite of Decension, when I met Childe for the first time. As the saying goes, you can only make a first impression once, but thankfully, Childe’s first impression was phenomenal. In a rush to flee from the scene, the Traveler was cornered by Millelith soldiers, and out of the blue, Childe came to their rescue.
A shower of arrows pushed back the Millelith, and eventually, Childe introduced himself. Later in the quest, we learned about his true identity and had to have a one-on-one with him. If there was one boss fight that made me anxious, it was Childe’s boss fight.
Veteran F2P players know what kind of nightmare Childe was to deal with. I vividly remember challenging Childe to a duel. I was expecting a two-phase boss fight, and once his second phase was over, I was quite relieved. Little did I know that he would use his delusion to go into a Hydro and Electro combo phase.
That was a nightmare. I hastily dodged his whales and tried to hit him, but Childe was blazingly fast to evade every attack. I will be the first to admit that luck was on my side that day, and I defeated him in the nick of time with only Razor as the last remaining character on my team.
I don’t struggle quite as much with our weekly battles, but when I think back, I can practically still feel the sweat running down the back of my neck.
Childe has been one of my favorite characters in the game. I love his Riptide animations. He’s not your average Joe who simply brags about his combat abilities.
There are reasons why Fatui tasks him with important matters. He’s a strict leader in front of Fatui members, but when it comes to family, Childe is a responsible brother.
You will find him sending letters to his family, reminiscing the good days he spent with them, and advising them to take care of each other. Childe hasn’t forgotten his roots. Though he’s busy with commissions, he always manages to take out some time for his family.
I remember playing Childe’s story quest, where his little brother Teucer comes to meet him and runs into a ruin guard factory. For the second time, the Traveler witnesses Childe’s monstrous strength, where he wipes out a group of ruin guards in a flash. Glad he didn’t go all out against the Traveler.
We also meet Childe in Inazuma, where a wholesome interaction happens between Childe and Xinyan. Xinyan refers to Childe as his big brother, and Childe, too, conveys that Xinyan reminds him of his little sister. It’s hard to miss Childe because whenever some mysterious plot is on the scene, chances are this bad boy is near.
Ascension and Talent Level-up
Childe’s ascension stat, Hydro damage bonus, perfectly synergizes with his talents and enables him to deal more Hydro damage with his Hydro blades.
As for his ascension and talent materials, you need to collect them from Fatui members, which is quite ironic. Surprisingly, you also need his boss’s materials to level up his talent, which means you’ll get to meet him every week.
Here’s a list of Childe’s ascension materials:
- Mora x 420,000
- Starconch x 168
- Recruit’s insignia x 18
- Sergeant’s insignia x 30
- Lieutenant’s insignia x 36
- Cleansing heart x 46
- Varunada lazurite sliver x 1
- Varunada lazurite fragment x 9
- Varunada lazurite chunk x 9
- Varunada lazurite gemstone x 6
Here’s a list of talent level-up materials to level up one talent:
- Mora x 1,652,500
- Recruit’s insignia x 6
- Sergeant’s insignia x 22
- Lieutenant’s insignia x 31
- Shard of foul legacy x 6
- Crown of insight x 1
- Teachings of freedom x 3
- Guide to freedom x 21
- Philosophies of freedom x 38
Unless you want to use his charged attacks in the Ranged stance, you can avoid leveling up his normal attack talent. Childe’s elemental skill and burst are the main part of his kit and help you to deal efficient damage.
Combat Talents
Normal Attack: Cutting Torrent
Normal attack: Childe attacks six times in a row
Charged attack:Â Childe can do an aimed shot with better damage. Once you are in the aim mode, the Hydro element accumulates on the arrowhead, applies a Riptide status on an enemy, and deals Hydro damage.
Riptide: Riptide damage is considered normal attack damage, and enemies are affected by area-of-effect Hydro damage.
- Riptide Flash: With a cooldown of 0.7 seconds, a charged shot deals continuous AoE Hydro damage to enemies.
- Riptide Burst: Once you defeat an enemy affected by Riptide, the Riptide status chains to nearby enemies on a burst hit.
Plunging attack:Â Childe cannot make a plunging attack in a melee stance; otherwise, he falls in mid-air to strike the ground to deal AoE damage on impact.
I wouldn’t suggest building Childe as a physical damage dealer because his main source of damage is Hydro damage. You can use his charged shots to apply Hydro to enemies or Riptide mark on enemies. You can also vaporize his charged shots; however, you need to improve your technical skills and precisely aim for enemies.
Elemental Skill, Foul Legacy: Raging Tide
Childe shifts to a unique melee stance where he deals Hydro damage with normal and charged attacks, and the Hydro damage cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion.
Normal attack: Childe performs six strikes that deal Hydro damage
Charged attack: After consuming a set amount of stamina, Childe performs a slash to deal Hydro damage
Riptide Slash
With a cooldown of 1.5 seconds, the Riptide slash deals area-wide Hydro damage after you hit an opponent affected by Riptide with a melee attack. The damage is considered elemental skill damage.
The cooldown depends on how long Childe stays in a melee stance. The skill ends after 30 seconds, or the skill is cast again, and Childe returns to a ranged stance. If the skill’s duration expires, the cooldown further extends.
Childe’s elemental skill can vary depending on the time you use the skill. A sweet spot would be to use the skill for around 9 seconds and switch to another character. The cooldown will be around 15 seconds and gives you a breathing window to set up reactions. On a side note, I love his skill animations. Riptides go brr.
Elemental Burst, Havoc: Obliteration
Childe’s attack depends on his stance
Ranged Stance: Flash of Havoc
Childe deals an area-of-effect Hydro damage to apply the Riptide status and refunds a portion of energy.
The ranged stance consumes 40 units of energy to initiate, and you can cover a circular area in front of you. You can easily apply the Riptide status to enemies and easily trigger reactions on enemies.
Melee Stance: Light of Obliteration
Childe’s attack triggers a Riptide blast after performing a fierce flash in a large area to deal Hydro damage.
Riptide Blast
The damage is considered elemental burst damage. Childe’s obliterating waters trigger an area-wide Hydro explosion on enemies affected by Riptide. The Riptide status is cleared after the explosion.
The damage in the melee stance is far better than that of the ranged one. However, it doesn’t mean you should only focus on the melee stance. The melee stance is awesome if you can trigger a vaporize reaction on an enemy and instantly kill them.
I usually use a consistent damage strategy with Childe because sometimes one-shotting enemies may go wrong. You must practice setting up the reaction because Childe’s stance change may not be flexible for everyone.
Apply Hydro, swirl Hydro, Apply Pyro, and then again trigger a vaporize reaction using Childe’s melee stance. No doubt, the damage is mind-boggling. You can easily reach a 5-figure damage or even a 6-figure.
Passive: Never Ending
The duration of the Riptide extends by 8 seconds.
A decent passive that increases the duration of the Riptide mark on enemies.
Passive: Sword of Torrents
Childe’s normal and charged attacks apply the Riptide status on enemies on a critical hit in melee stance.
A good source of the Riptide status that you can apply on enemies. It makes the melee stance more valuable to Childe.
Passive: Master of Weaponry
The level of normal attack talent increases by 1.
The maximum limit for a normal talent is 15. So, if you crown a talent, it can reach level 13. With Childe’s passive active, your characters’ normal talent reaches level 14. This talent is a perfect fit for a supporting character, but Childe’s not very good as a support. Overall, the passive is a minor add-on to his abilities.
Constellations
C1, Foul Legacy: Tide Withholder
The cooldown of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide decreases by 20 %
A decent constellation that decreases the cooldown of his elemental skill. Most of the time, you will use his elemental skill to dish out Hydro damage, and having a quality-of-life change to the same, is a welcome addition.
C2, Foul Legacy: Understream
Childe regenerates 4 energy after defeating opponents affected by Riptide.
Childe shines in teams that focus on facing a large group of opponents. His Riptide is a sight to behold, and you can see enemies’ health bars depleting in no time. As an enemy dies, they generate energy particles.
Even without this constellation’s effect, Childe generates plenty of energy. Still, the constellation is a decent addition to his overall playstyle and allows you to generate plenty of energy.
C3, Abyssal Mayhem: Vortex of Turmoil
The constellation increases the level of Foul Legacy: Raging Tide by 3 with a maximum limit of 15.
An amazing constellation that increases his elemental skill damage.
C4, Abyssal Mayhem: Hydrospout
Childe triggers a Riptide slash on enemies affected by Riptide every 4 seconds in the melee stance; otherwise, it triggers a Riptide flash. The Riptide slashes and flashes triggered by this constellation don’t follow the time intervals that apply to these Riptide effects and don’t affect the time intervals of other Riptides.
The constellation has both an advantage and a disadvantage. You can expect some extra damage while using the melee stance, but at the same time, the reactions will trigger automatically. The Riptide will trigger on enemies every 4 seconds, and vaporizing the elemental burst will be challenging.
C5, Havoc: Formless Blade
The constellation increases the level of Havoc: Obliteration by 3 with a limit of 15
It would have been a good constellation if the previous one didn’t trigger Riptides automatically. I love to follow a proper buildup for a reaction and wait for a perfect opportunity to trigger it.
C6, Havoc: Annihilation
When you cast Havoc: Obliteration in the melee stance, the cooldown of the elemental skill resets. The effect comes into action when Childe switches to his Ranged stance.
Though you get a reset on the elemental skill, the cooldown effects will be the same. The longer you use the elemental skill, the longer the cooldown will be. Still, you can trigger two massive vaporize reactions, but at the same time, the fourth constellation’s effect to trigger Riptides automatically should be kept in mind.
Weapons
Childe is good with weapons that feature ATK%, CRIT rate, or CRIT damage as their substat. The following bows are a good fit for him:
- Amos’ Bow ( 5-star ) – ATK %
- Aqua Simulacra ( 5-star ) – CRIT damage %
- Hunter’s Path ( 5-star ) – CRIT rate %
- Polar Star ( 5-star ) – CRIT rate %
- Skyward Harp ( 5-star ) – CRIT rate %
- Thundering Pulse ( 5-star ) – CRIT damage %
You can use a weapon like the Stringless to benefit from its passive to boost elemental skill and burst damage. The elemental mastery substat helps you to increase the reaction damage.
I urge you to avoid the Rust weapon, as most of Childe’s playstyle surrounds his charged attacks.
Artifacts
Heart of Depth
The 2-piece set bonus grants you a 15 % increase in the Hydro damage bonus. In contrast, the 4-piece bonus increases the normal and charged attack damage bonus after using the elemental skill.
A really decent artifact set on Childe that pivots around his charged attacks. Most of the time, you will be using Childe’s charged attack to deal damage to enemies, and having an artifact set that can increase the charged attack damage would be of immense value.
Blizzard Strayer
The artifact set has a unique use case with Childe in freeze team compositions. The 2-piece effect increases the Cryo damage by 15 %, which is pretty useless on Childe. However, the 4-piece set buffs his CRIT rate. You can deal better Hydro damage on enemies and stack more CRIT damage on your artifact set.
All you need to do is to freeze enemies, and you will get an additional CRIT rate bonus on Childe. The set may seem underwhelming in theory, but it is a good set in niche cases. It has helped me to clear some floors without investing too much in my team.
Thundersoother/Thundering Fury
These artifact sets suit electro-charged teams where Childe enables reactions on enemies by applying Hydro on them. You can use the Thundering fury set to prioritize the electro-charged reaction damage.
Otherwise, Thundersoother is another option if you want to buff his damage against enemies affected by Electro. Depending on your requirements, you can equip these sets. Remember that these are niche sets that heavily depend on the type of enemies you face.
2-Piece Combinations
You can start with a 2-piece, 2-piece combination of artifact sets to maximize their effects. The following artifact sets are good in combination with Childe:
- Wanderer’s Troupe – More elemental mastery for reaction damage
- Nobless Oblige – Burst damage bonus
- Heart of Depth – Hydro damage bonus
- Gladiator’s Finale – Attack bonus
- Shimenawa’s Reminiscence – Attack bonus
Artifacts Attributes
Childe can be played in various roles in the game. Burst DPS, Quickswap DPS, and enabler. His Hydro application can help you to enable Hydro reactions on enemies and use another character to trigger reactions.
I wouldn’t recommend using him as the main DPS because of his long cooldowns. It’s better to use him for around 7-9 seconds and switch to another character to capitalize on reaction damage.
You can go with attack percentage on sands, Hydro damage bonus on the goblet, and CRIT rate or CRIT damage on the circlet. Depending on your weapon, you can equip with CRIT rate or CRIT damage.
Team Compositions
Mono Hydro: Childe, Hydro, Anemo, Flex
Mono Hydro teams focus on dealing as much Hydro damage as possible. Anemo characters will play a crucial role in shredding Hydro resistance from enemies. You can add Sucrose, Kazuha, Faruzan, or Jean to the team to benefit from the Viridescent Venerer artifact set.
If you want to benefit from a double resonance setup, you can have 2 Hydro and 2 Anemo characters in the team. The Anemo resonance effect, Impetuous winds, decreases stamina consumption by 15 %, increases movement speed by 10 %, and reduces the skill cooldown by 5 %.
With Hydro resonance, you can gain extra 25 % health on your characters. You can add a character like Yelan or Xingqiu, who benefit from more health on their kit, and gain an overall damage boost.
A few sample teams:
- Childe, Mona, Kazuha, Jean
- Childe, Yelan, Sucrose, Sayu
- Childe, Xingqiu, Sucrose, Jean
Burgeon: Childe, Dendro, Pyro, Flex
Burgeon teams focus on applying Pyro on Bloom cores. You can summon a bloom seed by applying Hydro on Dendro or vice-versa. Once they are on the field, you can apply Pyro on them to trigger an explosion that deals Dendro damage in an area. Though, remember that the damage will affect your character as well.
Your character may fall if you don’t have a suitable healer on the team. Dendro characters like the Traveler, Collei, or Nahida can be good options to summon Dendro cores on the field. However, Nahida needs to be on the field to summon Bloom cores, which may require you to switch between characters.
As for Pyro characters, Xiangling and Thoma are good enough to have Pyro application in an area. You can also have an additional Hydro character like Kokomi, Ayato, or Yelan for an off-field application.
I would suggest you have a decent healer or shielder in the team to counter the incoming Burgeon damage. Your team may vanish instantly if you face a bunch of enemies like Riftwolves who apply the corrosion status.
Vaporize: Childe, Pyro, Anemo, Flex
Vaporize teams are quite popular with Childe as an enabler who can apply a lot of Hydro on enemies, where you can use a character like Xiangling to trigger reactions. The most popular Anemo options here are Kazuha and Sucrose.
You can use Kazuha to benefit from the elemental damage bonus, whereas Sucrose will help to buff the reaction damage by increasing the elemental mastery. A Pyro character like Xiangling or Bennett can help you with Pyro application and healing.
For the last character, you can use a shielder or another Pyro/Hydro/Anemo character to benefit from elemental resonance. That depends on your requirements. However, I’d say that once you apply enough Hydro on enemies with Childe, you can initiate Xiangling’s burst to trigger reactions on them.
Electro-Charged: Childe, Electro, Anemo, Flex
Electro-charged teams are another reaction-based team that can immensely help you with stun-locking enemies at a place and triggering electro-charged reactions them.
A popular one is Childe, Fischl, Beidou, and Sucrose. The team helps you with a massive Hydro and Electro application at the same time, and you can easily wipe out hordes of enemies.
You can add another Hydro character like Xingqiu, Yelan, or Ayato to amplify the Hydro application in case Childe’s elemental skill goes on a long cooldown. In terms of healers, you can go with Sayu, Jean, or Kuki Shinobu.
Freeze: Childe, Cryo, Anemo, Flex
I didn’t think I’d use a freeze team until I had to complete earlier floors of the abyss on a friend’s account. I used Childe, Kaeya, Xingqiu, and Barbara as my team and equipped the Blizzard strayer artifact set on Childe. The focus was on dishing out severe Hydro damage to frozen enemies and utilizing Blizzard strayer’s 4-piece effect.
However, you can add an Anemo character to shred Cryo and Hydro resistance. Cryo characters like Rosaria, Diona, Kaeya, or Layla are decent options, with Hydro characters like Xinqiu or Yelan. As for the Anemo characters, you have plenty of options like Sucrose, Kazuha, Sayu, Venti, or Jean.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Does Childe Get Along with the Fatui?
Answer:Â Being a Fatui harbinger, Childe has to perform his duties and perform his best. Many tasks are assigned to him by higher ranks, and he tries his best to complete them as soon as possible. However, this doesn’t mean Childe is as ruthless as other harbingers. There’s still humanity in him, and he treads carefully.
He doesn’t like how the Fatui approaches certain matters and always resorts to extreme measures. Not every problem’s solution is violence, and there are other ways to achieve the same goal.
Question: How should I Play Childe? Any Tips that You Can Suggest to Me?
Answer:Â Childe’s cooldown management is of utmost importance. Childe’s skill can go under a long cooldown if you recklessly spam his melee attacks. The problem arises when you face enemies with Hydro aura that can apply slowing waters to your characters and increase their skills’ cooldown.
In those situations, if possible, it’s better to clear a chamber in one go. If the enemies don’t have massive health pools, you can easily wipe them out in a single run and avoid Childe’s abilities’ long cooldown.
Question: Is Childe a Good Character for Free-to-play Players?
Answer: Yes! Definitely, Childe is a character worth going for. I love to play characters featuring unique skill sets. I love Childe’s attack animations and how he meets the Traveler at various events. Unless you plan to 36-star the abyss, you can clear all the floors by investing in your characters.
Though the tasks are tough because you have to dedicate time to farming, it’s doable without spending any penny on the game. As for Childe, you can benefit from his massive Hydro application and use him in potential teams that can help you to clear the abyss.
A Chaos Living for the Thrill of the Battle
Childe, Tartaglia, and Ajax all refer to the same person. On one side, he’s fighting his way through enemies; on the other, he’s caring for his family. It’s a tightrope that he chooses to walk, and it begs the question.
When will these worlds collide, and how will Childe react? Will he embrace his loving, family-man persona, or will he fully turn heel and wreak havoc on Teyvat?
Childe is a remarkable character in the game with technical gameplay that requires you to execute precise combos. As long as you don’t run into enemies with Hydro auras that can increase his skill cooldowns, you are pretty fine with any of his team compositions.
I’d suggest you check out guides on characters that go well with him. Sucrose, Kazuha, and Xiangling are a few that are invaluable for a team. That was it for the Childe Genshin Impact guide, and I hope to meet you in another interesting guide.
Besides writing about his favourite games, Himanshu prefers to keep himself up-to-date with the latest happenings in the financial world, watching anime, cooking and listening to music from all around the world.
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