Genshin Impact Leaks Skirk's Ability Kit

Summary

Skirk's ability kit in Genshin Impact has been leaked.
The character, who was Tartaglia's master during his time in the abyss, first appeared in Version 4.2.
Genshin Impact Version 5.6 will be released on May 7.

A recent leak in the Genshin Impact community finally provided players with a gameplay overview of Skirk, one of the most anticipated characters of the Natlan era. As Genshin Impact approaches the launch of Version 5.6, players are getting their first impressions of Skirk and Dahlia, the final two characters from the famous silhouette teaser in December 2024. Whereas Dahlia will only make an introduction in Version 5.6, players have had over a year to build excitement over Skirk.

From a gameplay standpoint, it's no secret that HoYoverse has been carefully setting the stage for Skirk. The new Artifact Set from Version 5.5 was made with Skirk in mind, and everything about Escoffier is designed to benefit the disciple of Surtalogi. While players were aware that Skirk in Genshin Impact was intended to be a Freeze hypercarry, information from the beta finally reveals what this truly means.

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By Christine Miller

According to Seele Leaks and confirmed by HomDGCat, Skirk will have an ability kit that strangely mimics Tartaglia, at least in spirit. She will have two combat modes and two different Elemental Bursts, but the implementation of the latter draws some inspiration from Mavuika and Varesa in Genshin Impact. Skirk's passives lock her into Freeze teams, or more precisely, into a very specific Freeze team. She boosts the Elemental Skill of her party members by one rank and cannot maintain her unique energy off-field. This effectively boxes Skirk into a team comprised of Furina, Yelan, and Escoffier.

Genshin Impact: Skirk Ability Kit Overview

Normal Attacks

Normal Attack: Performs up to five consecutive strikes.
Charged Attack: Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to throw a spinning crystal lance, dealing damage to enemies in front.
Plunging Attack: Plunges from midair to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE damage upon impact.

Elemental Skill

Skirk emulates the combat style of Surtalogi, producing different effects based on the input method.
Press: Gains 45 Serpent's Cunning and enters the Sevenfold Flash mode.
Hold: Gains 45 Serpent's Cunning and enters a rapid movement state, enhancing resistance to interruption. During this state, Skirk can control the direction of movement and can end the state early by using the skill again.

Elemental Burst

Skirk's Elemental Burst does not consume Energy, but instead uses Serpent's Cunning. When possessing at least 50 Serpent's Cunning, Skirk can consume all of them to unleash the Elemental Burst, tearing the space ahead and performing rapid consecutive slashes, dealing AoE Cryo damage.
- For each point of Serpent's Cunning beyond 50 consumed during activation, the Burst's damage increases, up to a maximum of 12 additional points.
While in Sevenfold Flash mode, the Elemental Burst is replaced with a special version that does not consume Serpent's Cunning. Upon activation, Skirk gains the Withering Effect until Sevenfold Flash mode ends.
Upon unlocking the first passive talent, Skirk will also absorb nearby Phantom Rifts when using this special Burst.
Withering Effect:
- While active, each Normal Attack that hits an enemy increases its own damage.
- If Phantom Rifts are absorbed during activation, the damage increase is further enhanced based on the number of Rifts absorbed.
- This effect can stack up to 10 times and is removed after reaching the maximum stacks.

Passive Talents

When nearby party members trigger Freeze, Superconduct, Cryo Swirl, or Cryo Crystallize reactions, a Phantom Rift is created near the enemy. This effect can occur once every 2.5 seconds, with a maximum of three Rifts created by Skirk on the field. Skirk can absorb nearby Phantom Rifts through the following methods:
- Landing a Charged Attack on an enemy while in Sevenfold Flash mode.
- Activating the special Elemental Burst while in Sevenfold Flash mode.
- Holding the Elemental Skill to enter rapid movement.
Each absorbed Phantom Rift grants Skirk 8 Serpent's Cunning.
When nearby Hydro characters deal Hydro damage or other Cryo characters (excluding Skirk) deal Cryo damage, Skirk gains a stack of Styx Severance for 20 seconds. Each character can provide one stack, up to a maximum of three stacks, each with independent durations. Each stack increases:
- Normal Attack damage in Sevenfold Flash mode by 110%/120%/170%.
- Elemental Burst damage by 105%/115%/160%.
When all party members are either Hydro or Cryo characters, with at least one of each element, all the player's characters have their Elemental Skill levels increased by 1.

Constellations

First Constellation (C1)
- The effects of the first passive talent are enhanced:
- After absorbing a Phantom Rift, Skirk summons a Crystal Blade to strike nearby enemies, dealing Cryo damage equal to 500% of her ATK. This damage is considered Charged Attack damage. Requires the Talent 1 to be unlocked.
Second Constellation (C2)
- After using Elemental Skill, Skirk gains an additional 12 Serpent's Cunning.
- Her Elemental Burst is enhanced: The damage bonus gained based on the Serpent's Cunning above 50 is now calculated up to an additional 12 points.
- Additionally, while in Sevenfold Flash mode, Skirk's Normal Attack damage is increased by 60%.
Fourth Constellation (C4)
- The effects of the second passive talent are enhanced:
- Each stack of Styx Severance additionally increases Skirk's ATK by 10%/ 20%/50%. Requires the second passive talent to be unlocked.
Sixth Constellation (C6)
- Each time Skirk absorbs a Phantom Rift via the effects of the first passive, she gains one stack of Surtalogi Edge, lasting 15 seconds. Up to 3 stacks can exist simultaneously, each with an independent duration. Requires the Talent "Transcendent Principle" to be unlocked.
- Surtalogi Edge:
  - When Skirk casts Elemental Burst, all stacks are consumed to unleash coordinated attacks. Each stack deals Cryo damage equal to 600% of her ATK. This damage is considered Elemental Burst damage.
  - While in Sevenfold Flash mode, when the third or fifth hit of her Normal Attack hits an enemy, one stack is consumed to perform 3 coordinated attacks. Each attack deals Cryo damage equal to 150% of her ATK, considered Normal Attack damage.
  - When Skirk takes damage in Sevenfold Flash mode, one stack is consumed to reduce that instance of incoming damage by 80%, and 3 coordinated attacks are triggered, each dealing Cryo damage equal to 150% of her ATK. This damage is considered Charged Attack damage.

As exciting as her ability kit may be, players should only pull for Skirk if they can also pull for Escoffier on Genshin Impact's Event Banners in Version 5.6. While Furina and Yelan can be picked up eventually, Escoffier seems tied to Skirk to an almost inseparable degree. Given that neither Melt nor mono-Cryo teams are viable for Skirk, it would seem that the developers are hoping that she drags Freeze back into the meta by locking her in that direction.

Rather unfortunately, she seems to be a direct powercreep on Ayaka, as she is a 5-star Cryo Sword character that can not only be a better Freeze hypercarry, but can also sprint across water surfaces in the overworld. While beta testing can still evolve the ability kit of a Genshin Impact character (as seen with Arlecchino), it would seem that HoYoverse definitely intends for Skirk to be a powerful 5-star on the level of Mavuika or Neuvillette.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 87%

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Released: September 28, 2020
ESRB: Teen / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
Developer(s): HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Publisher(s): HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)