The Duke of the Fortress of Meropide, Wriothesley, is a five-star Catalyst user from Fontaine who wields a Cryo vision in Genshin Impact, and was the very first playable Cryo Catalyst user released in the game after three years. His playstyle bears similarity to another male Catalyst user, Heizou, focusing on using their fists imbued with elemental energy rather than long-ranged projectiles like other Catalyst users.
Like most Fontaine characters, Wriothesley has the ability to manipulate his own HP by draining and regenerating HP for himself. This mechanic, along with his flurry of short-ranged sucker punches and uppercuts make for a fun and interesting playstyle that requires a bit of knowledge and mastery.
6 He Can Travel On Top Of Water
You might have experienced using Kaeya’s Elemental Skill to make ice bridges and walk across water during your early days of playing. However, one major problem with that is that you have to wait for Kaeya’s Skill to finish its cooldown before moving forward, which takes a lot of time, especially when you have to go somewhere far.
Unlike Kaeya, the ice that Wriothesley’s Normal Attacks create will only last for a few seconds. When traversing on top of water, you need to keep using his Normal Attacks, otherwise the ice will melt and you’ll fall into the water.
In Wriothesley’s case, his Cryo-infused Normal Attacks are able to instantly freeze an area of water in front of him. Since his Normal Attacks always deal Cryo DMG, you can continuously walk on top of water without waiting for any cooldowns, as long as you keep doing Normal Attacks.
5 His Normal Attacks Do Not Reset Immediately
In Genshin Impact, a character’s Normal Attack combo will immediately reset to the first attack after you interrupt it by stopping, sprinting, or casting any ability, but such is not the case for Wriothesley. His Normal Attack’s combo count will not reset for a short time even after sprinting or using his Elemental Skill.
When you need to dodge, you’re forced to break your character’s Normal Attack combo, which sometimes causes you to lose DMG, as the last hit in the combo is often the strongest. With Wriothesley, you can perform interesting combos by weaving sprints in between his Normal Attacks, while still being able to deliver that powerful last hit and not needing to rely on shields.
4 Use His Elemental Skill To Deal More DMG
Using Wriothesley’s Elemental Skill, Icefang Rush, will make him dash forward a short distance and enter a stance called the Chilling Penalty state. While this state is active, Wriothesley’s Normal Attacks will be more powerful, and he’ll gain the following effects:
His interruption to resistance will be increased. When his HP is above 50 percent, his Normal Attacks will deal increased DMG in exchange for draining his HP.
Wriothesley will lose the DMG buff from his Skill when he falls below 50 percent HP.
This Skill makes him play similarly to other characters with Elemental Skills that enhance their combat capability, such as Hu Tao, Yoimiya, Ayato, and Wanderer. Despite being a Catalyst user who can permanently deal Cryo DMG with his Normal Attacks, he’ll deal significantly more DMG when in the state of his Elemental Skill.
3 Use His Charged Attack When His HP Gets Low
After unlocking his first Ascension Passive, There Shall Be a Plea for Justice, when Wriothesley’s HP falls below 60 percent, his next Charged Attack will be empowered. This empowered Charged Attack will gain the following effects:
Will not consume Stamina Deals 50 percent increased DMG Restores a portion of Wriothesley’s HP
Wriothesley can gain the empowered Charged Attack once every five seconds. This effect will be visualized by a crimson aura around him.
Due to his Elemental Skill’s requirement of needing to be above 50 percent HP to maintain its Normal Attack buff, this empowered Charged Attack is useful for getting a quick heal once his HP gets low, while also dealing huge DMG. Use this to manage his HP and continue using his enhanced Normal Attacks.
2 Don’t Use His Elemental Burst Immediately
After unlocking his fourth Ascension Passive, There Shall Be a Reckoning for Sin, Wriothesley will gain a stack whenever he loses or gains HP during his Elemental Skill state, with a maximum of five stacks. Each stack will increase his ATK by six percent, for up to 30 percent at max stacks.
Normally, you would want to use your characters’ Elemental Bursts right away, so they can gain Energy through the Elemental Particles that they pick up throughout the fight. However, it’s best to wait until Wriothesley reaches full stacks of his Passive before using his Elemental Burst, Darkgold Wolfbite, in order to take advantage of the ATK buff.
1 He Can Unleash Ousia Energy
Fontaine characters are different from the rest in the sense that, aside from their weapon of choice and elemental alignment, they also follow another system unique to Fontaine known as Arkhe, which is divided into Pneuma (golden) and Ousia (purple). Wriothesley is able to deal Ousia-aligned DMG every time you use his Elemental Burst, which can be seen as a purple sword that explodes at the end of it.
In a way, Arkhe is similar to Elemental Reactions, wherein the two contrasting energies will trigger a reaction called Arkhe Annihilation once they meet. This mechanic can be used to disable enemies with the opposite alignment as your character, as well as trigger different puzzles that are scattered across Fontaine.