Understanding Snapshotting Mechanics in Genshin Impact

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Genshin Impact is a widely enjoyed RPG known for its easy-to-understand mechanics and richly crafted universe. Whether you’re a laid-back gamer or someone who dives deep into the game’s finer details, Genshin Impact offers a diverse experience. This is particularly evident in its combat system, which allows players to engage enemies using a variety of straightforward attacks.

Though the combat appears simple, with no complex combos or precision shots required, there’s a lot happening beneath the surface. Understanding how to utilize snapshotting buffs is essential if you wish to enhance your team’s damage output.

What Is Snapshotting?

Snapshotting is a method to optimize your buffs by leveraging specific skill properties. This technique can either extend the duration of buffs or allow them to apply to multiple characters by retaining the active buff, even when switching to a different character. However, not all skills support snapshotting; only those known for Static Scaling can do this, as they calculate damage values upon activation instead of adjusting in real-time.

What Is Dynamic Scaling?

In Genshin Impact, buffs affect most skills directly and clearly. Generally, a character’s skills are linked to their own stats.

For instance, when using Eula within Bennett’s Burst, stepping away from it means that her Lightfall Sword no longer benefits from the buff. Skills like this are categorized as Dynamic Scaling.

Advantages Of Dynamic Scaling

While Dynamic Buffs and Skills don’t utilize Snapshotting, they do offer several benefits:

• Dynamic skills can be activated at the beginning of rotations before buffs are applied, making rotations smoother.
• Such skills allow your active character to make the most of the buff duration.
• Buffs that require time to build up, like Yelan’s, can be charged during setup, allowing rotations to benefit from stronger buffs later.

Disadvantages Of Dynamic Scaling

Despite some advantages, Dynamic Scaling is less effective compared to Static Scaling skills.

• Most buffs apply solely to the character currently in action, meaning off-field characters cannot benefit from them.
• If a buff expires during your rotation, you lose significant damage potential from staying on the field without buffs.

What Is Static Scaling?

Static Scaling refers to an attribute that some skills possess, and it is essentially the opposite of Dynamic Scaling. This is what allows Snapshotting buffs to function.

In a nutshell, skills with Static Scaling only consider the stats of your character at the moment the skill is activated, rather than being influenced by buffs and debuffs in real-time.

For example, suppose you have C6 Bennett, who provides a 15% Pyro DMG Bonus to your characters. If you activate Xiangling’s Pyronado while inside Bennett’s Burst, and later check Xiangling’s stats, you will notice how much ATK and Pyro DMG Bonus she has.

Once the Burst has concluded or if Xiangling exits, her ATK and Pyro DMG Bonus will decline. However, the damage of Pyronado remains unchanged.

Advantages Of Static Scaling

Characters with Static Scaling, especially those who deal off-field damage, are some of the strongest in Genshin Impact. Besides being able to snapshot buffs, they offer additional benefits:

• Snapshot buffs effectively.
• Static Scaling skills can be enhanced while off-field.
• They can extend buff durations.
• Turn on-field buffs into ones applicable to the entire team.

Disadvantages Of Static Scaling

Despite the advantages of Snapshotting buffs, Static Scaling isn’t superior in every aspect.

• Due to needing to apply buffs before casting skills, your rotations may need to be tighter.
• Buffs that require time to build up, like Yelan’s A4 passive, can’t be leveraged in shorter rotations in the same way.
• If your primary damage dealer, like Neuvillette, takes longer to set up, spending buff uptime on other characters could lead to reduced damage output.

How To Snapshot Buffs?

Utilizing Snapshotting can greatly enhance your team’s DPS since buffs that generally apply to a single character can be shared among multiple characters this way.

For instance, Bennett’s buffs are among the strongest in Genshin Impact, though they only affect the active character. However, by employing a Static Scaling skill like Xiangling’s Pyronado or Fischl’s Oz, you can amplify the effect of the buff, leading to increased DPS.

Another reason to use Snapshotting is to prolong buff duration. For example, Gorou’s buff has a very brief duration. But using Albedo’s Elemental Skill allows you to take advantage of it for a full 30 seconds.

To snapshot a buff, begin by casting the buff skill first. Then use any skill with Static Scaling, which will retain the buff for its entire duration.

Which Characters Are Capable of Snapshotting?

We’ve highlighted a few notable characters capable of snapshotting buffs, but here’s a comprehensive list of all characters that can Snapshot buffs.

Which Buffs Cannot Be Snapshot?

The developers behind Genshin Impact recognized how powerful Snapshotting can become. As a result, they ceased creating characters whose main damage sources could be Snapshotted. They also adjusted many buffs to be dynamic.

Dynamic buffs, like Furina’s Elemental Burst, work as extensions of your character’s stats instead of direct additions. If this extension is interrupted, the character loses the buff instantly, even if the buff would normally have been maintained.

Outside of the characters listed above, all other buffs in Genshin Impact can be Snapshotted by characters that use Static Scaling.

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