Citlali Build Guide

Teams with Pyro on-fielders:

Mavuika

Mavuika - Citlali - Xilonen or Iansan - Bennett or Nicole

One of the teams Citlali was made for. Citlali is very good at letting Mavuika comfortably Melt at least most of her Meltable hits. Every single one of them should be Meltable with good gameplay and appropriate combos.

Example Rotation:

Mavuika Skill → Bennett Skill → Iansan Skill + Burst → Bennett Burst → Citlali Skill + Burst → Mavuika combo

Arlecchino

Arlecchino - Citlali - Xilonen or Sucrose - Bennett or Nicole

Citlali is similarly strong for Arlecchino, letting her Melt all of her Meltable hits, even with C2. Citlali replacements are not very good.

Example Rotation:

Arlecchino Skill → Bennett Skill + Burst → Xilonen Skill + N2 → Citlali Skill + Burst → Arlecchino on-field combo

There are other strong Pyro characters that are good with Citlali such as Gaming and conditionally Lyney but the above are generally the best. Chasca is also a capable Melt focused on-fielder with Citlali and Pyro units like Nicole and Mavuika.

Teams with Cryo on-fielders:

Skirk

Skirk - Escoffier - Furina - Citlali

Skirk’s best 4th slot alongside Mona. There are consistent setups to get both TTDS and Scroll, but they can be tricky to get. The Example Rotation will provide one for clarity.

Example Rotation:

1. Furina Burst + Skill
   →
2. Escoffier Skill + Burst
   →
3. Citlali (wait for Furina's Salon pets to start attacking) Skill
   →
4. Skirk on-field combo

Lohen

Lohen - Durin - Nicole - Citlali

A top 2 RES Shred slot for this team alongside Xilonen. Citlali is able to pass TTDS to Durin every rotation, significantly increasing his damage, without not providing a whole lot to Lohen besides Scroll.

Example Rotation:

Nicole Skill → Citlali Skill + Burst → Durin Skill + N1 + Burst (Dark Mode) → Lohen on-field combo

Teams with Hydro on-fielders

Mualani

Mualani - Mavuika - Xilonen - Citlali

Not as good of an option in a post-Hexerei world, but still a viable one, especially with a well-built Mavuika getting strong Melts.

Neuvillette

Neuvillette - Furina - Xilonen or Kaedehara Kazuha - Citlali

One of the better RES Shred options for Neuvillette. Requires some care with Xilonen / Kazuha triggering their required Reactions because of Citlali’s Cryo Application potentially messing with the Hydro Aura.

BiS Option: Starcaller's Watch

Citlali’s Signature, gives the on-fielder a decent 28 DMG% buff – this comes out to roughly 8-10% personal damage for the on-fielder. Not necessarily better than Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers if TTDS can be passed in every rotation, but if it can’t, Starcaller’s Watch does pull ahead by a bit.

Best accessible option: Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers

Citlali doesn’t care about the very low Base ATK, and 48 ATK% is a huge buff to the on-fielder. Especially good in teams like Mavuika or Arlecchino Melt where the on-fielder has the entirety of the damage share, although it will usually not get passed to them every rotation. This weapon is what enables her to be a strong option in Skirk teams.

Niche alternatives:

Sacrificial Fragments

The extra EM can be nice (especially with C1), but most importantly this allows Citlali to access her Nightsoul’s Blessing Cryo Application without needing to use Burst. Beware that doing so will significantly change her Cryo Application profile, but it can certainly be worth it if Energy is a struggle in an environment like Stygian Onslaught.

Wandering Evenstar

Another buffing option that will buff the entire team, unlike TTDS. Can be good for Lohen teams at high refinement, also depending on the team’s investment. Can also be good if there is another user of TTDS in the team.

Energy alternative: Favonius Codex

Usable if there’s no way to Burst every rotation otherwise, or if the team in general is struggling with Energy. Generally tends to be much worse than the buffing options.

BiS Option: Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City

One of the best buffing options available to any team with a Nightsoul character. Citlali is one of the most comfortable users of it because of the makeup of her teams, generally. Citlali loves the extra Energy this set provides, as her Burst can be quite difficult to use otherwise.

Alternative: Tenacity of the Millelith

Decent if there is another Scroll holder in the team, such as with Mavuika Melt. Keep in mind Citlali’s Energy is extremely important, and non-Scroll sets can easily run short.

Alternative: Instructor

Would be a very strong option if not for the Energy problem. If that is solvable and there is another Scroll holder, it does become usable.

1. Elemental Skill
2. Elemental Burst

Citlali's Shield scaling is contained in her Skill Talent. Her Burst talent contains her big Burst hit, increasing her damage by a little. Not that worth it, though.

Overview

Citlali is a Support for primarily Melt, and secondarily Cryo and Hydro DMG. She Shreds the RES of enemies while her companion Itzpapa is on the field and Melt or Vaporize are triggered. She applies Cryo while off-field, having a particular Application profile that is very beneficial for Melt carries.

Cryo Application & Nightsoul's Blessing

Citlali’s Cryo Application is mostly found in her Nightsoul’s Blessing state. While in the Opal Fire state, a sub-state of her Nightsoul’s Blessing, Citlali will deal Cryo hits in a large AoE around the active character, applying Cryo on every second hit (assuming they hit the same enemy). Citlali can gain Nightsoul points through her Elemental Skill, Elemental Burst and through Nightsoul Bursts triggered by her teammates. Citlali will only actually enter her Nightsoul’s Blessing state through her Skill or Burst, though. Citlali will gain 4 Energy through her Ascension 4 passive whenever teammates trigger Nightsoul Bursts. Nightsoul Bursts will trigger passively when a teammate strikes an enemy, with a cooldown of 18/12/9 seconds depending on the amount of Nightsoul characters in the party (1/2/3+).

Elemental Skill & RES Shred

Citlali’s Elemental Skill will deal a little bit of ATK-scaling Cryo DMG around her and generate an EM-scaling Cryo Shield with a 20s duration, as well as summon Itzpapa to move around with the active character for 20 seconds. While Itzpapa is active, Melt Elemental Reactions will reduce the Pyro RES of opponents hit by it by 20%, and Freeze Reactions will reduce the Hydro RES of opponents by 20%. Both effects last 20 seconds. When such a Reaction is triggered, Citlali will gain 16 Nightsoul points. This effect can trigger once every 8 seconds, so on average will trigger 1-2 times per rotation.

On cast, Citlali will gain 24 Nightsoul points. Citlali has a maximum of 100 Nightsoul points, and until she reaches 50 Nightsoul points, she will not begin consuming her Nightsoul. If this Skill hits an enemy, it will generate 5 Cryo Particles. It has a cooldown of 16 seconds.

Opal Fire state

When Citlali reaches 50 Nightsoul points through any means, she will enter the ‘Opal Fire’ state. Itzpapa will begin a field around the active character that deals Cryo DMG once per second. These hits do not deal a lot of damage, though they will deal some EM scaling damage through her Ascension 4 passive. While in the Opal Fire state, Citlali will consume 8 Nightsoul points per second. In an average Melt rotation, Citlali will be in this state long enough to perform 12 or so Cryo hits.

Elemental Burst & Spiritvessel Skull

Citlali’s Elemental Burst has a cooldown of 15 seconds and an Energy cost of 60. It’s typically quite important for Citlali to use this Burst to enter the Opal Fire state for long enough.

When cast, Citlali’s Elemental Burst will deal a bit of ATK-scaling AoE Cryo DMG. This hit will gain additional EM scaling through her Ascension 4 passive. Citlali will also gain 24 Nightsoul points, and summon ‘Spiritvessel Skulls’ to opponents hit by her Burst, up to 3 on 3 different enemies. These will explode after a little bit of time and deal further AoE Cryo DMG. Each Spiritvessel Skull explosion will give Citlali 3 Nightsoul points.

Spiritvessel Skulls do not share Application Cooldown with the rest of Citlali's Cryo Application, simply being an extra Cryo hit.

Citlali is a Catalyst user, meaning her Normal Attacks and Charged Attacks will apply Cryo. This means Citlali can sometimes supplement extra Cryo Application through them, which can be useful for various setups or combos, or simply when Cryo Application is required.

The most notable of these applications is for Arlecchino Melt. Arlecchino can apply a lot of Pyro in quick succession and swap out freely, so it is possible to Melt a few hits on Arlecchino, swap to Citlali and use her N1 to apply Cryo, then swap back into Arlecchino for an extra Melt.

Elemental Burst Cryo

Citlali’s Burst applies 2 Units of Cryo. This makes it strong at removing Pyro auras like Bennett’s 2U of Pyro, and thanks to her Spiritvessel Skulls, easily establishing Cryo Aura on an enemy.

Citlali was officially released as a playable 5-star Cryo character in Genshin Impact on January 1, 2025, during the Version 5.3 update.