How long does a freeze last?

It is not fixed. Duration follows the weaker of the Hydro and Cryo gauges: about 3.5s for 1 unit each, 5.8s for 2 units, and 9.3s for 4 units. Stacking only one side does nothing because the formula takes the minimum.

How is Shatter damage calculated?

Shatter base DMG is 3 x Level Multiplier, about 4,341 at level 90. It is scaled only by the triggerer level, Elemental Mastery and the target Physical RES; it cannot crit and ignores DEF. At 200 EM it reaches roughly 10,656.

What attacks trigger Shatter?

Blunt and Geo attacks: claymore normal and charged attacks, plunging attacks, and Geo skills. The Freeze Aura must also be at least 0.5 units, and it must survive the blunt attack poise consumption.

Why does a claymore on a Cryo Slime not count as Shatter?

Because that is physical shield damage, not an elemental reaction. Shatter only applies to frozen targets and scales with level and EM, while hitting a Cryo Slime shield is pure gauge consumption. The two systems are independent.

Which enemies cannot be frozen?

Nearly all bosses are fully immune; Cryo Slimes and Cryo Abyss Mages are immune; Abyss Heralds while shielded sit near 80% Freeze Resistance, Consecrated Beasts around 50%, and overworld Local Legends around 90%. Large enemies also freeze for noticeably less time.

Why can freeze teams not run Pyro?

Pyro hitting a frozen target consumes the Freeze Aura and triggers Melt, instantly ending the freeze; Electro does the same via Superconduct. A freeze team’s entire output depends on the enemy staying frozen.

Genshin Frozen & Shatter Guide: Freeze Duration, Shatter Damage & Freeze Teams

Frozen is the only hard crowd control reaction in Genshin, and Shatter is its only damage outlet. Both are widely misunderstood: freeze duration is not a fixed number of seconds, and Shatter is not simply “hit ice with a claymore.” Here is the whole system.

Quick answer

Frozen = Hydro + Cryo (either order) and deals no damage — it only immobilises the target
Duration depends on the weaker of the two elements’ gauge, not a fixed value; 1 unit of each freezes for roughly 3.5s, 2 units for about 5.8s
Shatter triggers when a Frozen target is hit by a Blunt attack (claymore, plunge) or a Geo attack, dealing Physical DMG
Shatter base DMG = 3 × Level Multiplier, about 4,341 at level 90; scaled only by the triggerer’s level, Elemental Mastery and the target’s Physical RES — it cannot crit and ignores DEF
Shatter immediately ends the freeze — control and damage are mutually exclusive
Most bosses and Cryo-native enemies (Cryo Slimes, Cryo Abyss Mages) cannot be frozen

Frozen: Hydro + Cryo, control only

Frozen is triggered when Hydro meets Cryo on a target, in either order. It is classed as a transformative reaction but deals no damage at all. Instead it applies a Freeze Aura that immobilises the target: no movement, no attacks, no skills.

The enemy still takes your damage while frozen, which is the entire point of a freeze team — pin the target down and turn the fight into a safe, stationary training dummy.

What decides freeze duration

Not a fixed number of seconds. The duration is set by the weaker of the two elements’ gauge units. More gauge means longer freeze, but growth is non-linear:

Gauge involved	Freeze Aura	Approx. duration
1 unit + 1 unit	2	~3.5s
2 units + 2 units	4	~5.8s
4 units + 4 units	8	~9.3s
Lots of Hydro, little Cryo	Takes the Cryo value	Set by the weak side

The key takeaway: 1 unit of Hydro plus 2 units of Cryo behaves like 1 + 1, because the formula takes the minimum. To freeze longer you need strong gauges on both sides — stacking one is useless. That is why strong Hydro appliers (Kokomi, Mona) matter so much to freeze teams.

Freeze duration is also cut by the target’s Freeze Resistance, applied multiplicatively in the duration formula.

What can still react on a frozen target

The Freeze Aura can be consumed by a follow-up element, so a frozen target is not simply waiting out the timer:

Hit on a Frozen target	Result
Pyro	Consumes the aura, triggers Melt
Electro	Consumes the aura, triggers Superconduct
Anemo	Consumes the aura, triggers Swirl
Geo / Blunt (claymore, plunge)	Triggers Shatter for Physical DMG and ends the freeze
Hydro / Cryo	Does not break it; keeps the freeze going

This is why freeze teams avoid Pyro above all: one Pyro hit melts the aura and the control chain collapses. Electro breaks it too, via Superconduct.

Shatter: the only damage outlet

The trigger conditions are stricter than most players assume:

The target must be frozen, with at least 0.5 units of Freeze Aura remaining (a nearly-expired freeze cannot Shatter).
The hit must be a Blunt (claymore swings, plunging attacks) or Geo attack.
A blunt attack first consumes Freeze Aura according to its poise damage; Shatter only triggers if aura remains afterwards.

Shatter deals Physical DMG as a transformative reaction, with unusual rules:

Cannot crit and ignores enemy DEF (only Physical RES applies)
Scaled purely by the triggerer’s level and Elemental Mastery
Immediately ends the freeze in exchange for one burst of damage
Carries 90 poise damage, useful for interrupting enemy actions

How much does Shatter hit for

Shatter base DMG = 3 × Level Multiplier, rising with the triggerer’s level:

Triggerer level	Shatter base (0 EM)	At 200 EM	At 500 EM
70	2,297	5,636	9,646
80	3,232	7,932	13,575
90	4,341	10,656	18,231
100	5,024	12,334	21,102

The EM bonus follows the transformative formula 16 × EM ÷ (EM + 2000), far steeper than amplifying reactions:

Elemental Mastery	Shatter DMG bonus
0	+0%
100	+76%
200	+145%
400	+267%
800	+457%

The conclusion is blunt: Shatter builds must stack EM and must be max level. ATK, CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG do nothing for Shatter — which is exactly why many “Shatter builds” hit like wet noodles.

Shatter is not “breaking a Cryo Slime”

These two get conflated constantly, but share no mechanics:

Item	Shatter reaction	Breaking a Cryo shield
Target	A frozen character or enemy	Cryo Slime / Cryo Abyss Mage shield
Nature	Elemental reaction (transformative)	Shield gauge consumption
Scales with	Level + Elemental Mastery	Elemental gauge / break efficiency
Ends the freeze?	Yes	Not applicable

Simply put: hitting a frozen enemy produces Shatter; hitting a Cryo Slime produces plain physical shield damage. Do not expect Shatter to farm Cryo Slimes.

What cannot be frozen

Enemy	Situation
Almost all bosses (weekly, world)	Fully immune — only take Hydro/Cryo aura
Cryo Slimes, Cryo Abyss Mages	Immune (Cryo-native)
Abyss Heralds (while shielded)	~80% Freeze Resistance
Bunshin-type enemies	~80% Freeze Resistance
Consecrated Beasts	~50% Freeze Resistance
Local Legends (overworld elites)	~90% Freeze Resistance, effectively unfreezable

Large enemies (Mitachurls, Ruin Guards and similar) also freeze for noticeably less time — in practice you get one interrupt out of it.

How freeze teams work

Two Hydro appliers. Since duration is capped by the weaker gauge, the Hydro side must be strong.
A Cryo carry for damage. While the target is frozen, a Cryo DPS cashes in on the CRIT Rate bonuses freeze-oriented sets provide.
No Pyro, no Electro. Pyro Melts the aura, Electro Superconducts it — both break the chain.
Add a blunt user for Shatter. A Shatter build needs a claymore or Geo character dedicated to cracking ice, with EM and max level.
Rethink for boss fights. Against unfreezable enemies the control advantage disappears — swap teams or pivot to raw Cryo damage.

Freezing water

Cryo attacks can freeze open water so you can stand on it: duration = Cryo gauge (capped at 3.2) × 2.5s. 1 unit gives ~2.5s, 2 units ~5s, and Kaeya’s Frostgnaw (4 units) makes an 8-second ice bridge. Cryo Slimes and Cryo Abyss Mages apply 3.2 units to nearby water, also producing 8 seconds of ice.

Related guides

Elemental Reactions Explained: the full amplifying vs transformative breakdown
Elemental Application & Gauge: units, decay and ICD
Shield Breaking Guide: enemy shields, gauge and efficiency
Crystallize & Shields: the Geo shield mechanics

查看中文版 Back to Home