Summary
A recent leak in theGenshin Impactcommunity finally provided players with a gameplay overview of Skirk, one of the most anticipated characters of the Natlan era. AsGenshin Impactapproaches 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 thatSkirk inGenshin Impactwas intended to be a Freeze hypercarry, information from the beta finally reveals what this truly means.
According to Seele Leaksand 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 andVaresa inGenshin 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.
As exciting as her ability kit may be, players should only pull for Skirk if they can also pull for Escoffier onGenshin 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 aGenshin Impactcharacter(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.
