Genshin Elemental Reactions Guide 2026: Amplifying, Transformative & Dendro
Roughly half of Genshin damage comes from reactions. This guide breaks down all 7 elements and every reaction: which family multiplies, which scales off Elemental Mastery, and how Dendro works — so you plan reaction chains instead of mashing skills.
The Seven Elements
Pyro Fire
The reaction engine: Vaporize, Melt and Burning all start here. Core of every DPS team.
Hydro Water
The apply end of Vaporize, Freeze and Bloom. Xingqiu / Yelan are staples.
Electro Electro
Electro-Charged, Superconduct, Aggravate. Favorite of off-field sub-DPS (Fischl).
Cryo Cryo
Freeze, Shatter, Melt — both control and burst.
Anemo Anemo
Swirl groups enemies and shreds RES. Kazuha / Sucrose are universal enablers.
Geo Geo
Crystallize shields. Zhongli brings the game's best RES-shred shield.
Dendro Dendro
Burning, Bloom, Quicken — the late-game meta family.
Two Families of Reactions
Transformative reactions deal their own separate damage that ignores ATK — they scale only with character level and Elemental Mastery. Overload, Superconduct, Electro-Charged, Swirl, Crystallize, Shatter, and the whole Dendro family are transformative.
Amplifying: Vaporize / Melt
| Reaction | Trigger order | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Vaporize | Pyro onto Hydro | 1.5× |
| Vaporize | Hydro onto Pyro | 2.0× |
| Melt | Cryo onto Pyro | 1.5× |
| Melt | Pyro onto Cryo | 2.0× |
Make your biggest hit the trigger to grab the 2.0×. Elemental Mastery then pushes that multiplier higher.
Transformative Reactions
Overload
Pyro + Electro, AoE Pyro damage that knocks small enemies back. Great for mining.
Superconduct
Cryo + Electro, AoE Cryo damage and a big physical RES shred. Staple of physical teams.
Electro-Charged
Hydro + Electro, ticks Electro damage across wet enemies. Strong vs groups.
Swirl
Anemo + other, spreads that element to nearby foes and shreds its RES. The grouping tool.
Crystallize
Geo + other, drops an element shield. Zhongli's signature.
Shatter
Heavy / claymore hit on a Frozen enemy, bonus Physical damage.
The Dendro Family
Elemental Mastery & Team Building
Artifacts & Stats
Amplifying teams (Vaporize / Melt): the carry stacks crit, ATK%, and the matching elemental damage, with EM only as a bonus. Transformative / Dendro teams (Bloom, Quicken, Hyperbloom): the trigger stacks Elemental Mastery and level — ATK barely matters. See Artifact Farming Priority for sets.
Quick Answers
What are the Vaporize and Melt multipliers?
Vaporize: Pyro on Hydro 1.5x, Hydro on Pyro 2.0x. Melt: Cryo on Pyro 1.5x, Pyro on Cryo 2.0x. Make your biggest hit the trigger for the 2.0x; EM then raises that multiplier further.
What does Elemental Mastery actually do?
For amplifying reactions it raises the multiplier; for transformative and Dendro reactions it directly adds damage. A pure physical or crit carry hardly needs it.
Which reaction team should beginners build first?
A Vaporize team (Xingqiu + any Pyro carry) or a Bloom / Hyperbloom team (Dendro + Hydro + Electro) is low-entry and high-payoff — ideal for early game.
How are Dendro reactions different from older ones?
Dendro adds Dendro Cores and the Quicken state, spawning Hyperbloom, Burgeon and Aggravate. They define the late-game meta and scale off EM, a different logic from the old transformative set.