Skirk is a 5-star Cryo sword user built to carry Freeze teams. Her damage comes almost entirely from her Elemental Skill and the enhanced Normal Attacks it grants, and her Burst runs on a resource called Serpent’s Subtlety rather than Energy. That one quirk reshapes her whole build, because Energy Recharge is dead weight on her.
Quick answer: Equip Azurelight and a 4-piece Finale of the Deep Galleries set, run ATK% / Cryo DMG / CRIT main stats, skip Energy Recharge and Elemental Mastery, and play her in a Cryo/Hydro Freeze team led by Escoffier.
Best Skirk weapons
Skirk wants a sword that pushes attack and crit, ideally with a passive that feeds her Normal Attack or Skill damage. Because she sits at 0 Energy at all times, weapons that reward that state hit especially hard.
| Weapon | Rarity | What it gives Skirk |
|---|---|---|
| Azurelight | 5-star | Base ATK, CRIT Rate, plus ATK and CRIT DMG while at 0 Energy |
| Haran Geppaku Futsu | 5-star | CRIT Rate and Normal Attack damage after a Skill |
| Mistsplitter Reforged | 5-star | CRIT DMG and stacking Cryo damage bonus |
| Primordial Jade Cutter | 5-star | High CRIT Rate with HP-scaled attack |
| Absolution | 5-star | CRIT DMG with a Bond of Life damage passive |
| Calamity of Eshu | 4-star | Normal Attack damage and CRIT Rate while shielded |
| Finale of the Deep | 4-star | Large ATK boost when paired with a healer |
| The Black Sword | 4-star | CRIT Rate and Normal Attack damage |
Azurelight is her signature sword and the clear best-in-slot. It stacks a chunk of attack after her Skill, then adds even more attack and CRIT DMG whenever she holds 0 Energy, which is Skirk’s permanent state. That matters because she can’t lean on classic attack buffers like Bennett or Iansan, so the raw attack from her weapon does a lot of heavy lifting.
Haran Geppaku Futsu and Mistsplitter Reforged are the strongest follow-ups, one for Normal Attack scaling and one for elemental damage. Finale of the Deep is the standout free pick: it’s craftable, so any player can build it, and it climbs close to several 5-stars when you run a healer. Calamity of Eshu is excellent too, but only if a shielder keeps Skirk protected, since its passive needs an active shield.
If you have none of these, any sword with a CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG main stat works as a stat stick. Favor one whose passive she can actually trigger for extra damage.
Best Skirk artifacts and stats
For her highest personal damage, use the 4-piece Finale of the Deep Galleries. The two-piece bonus raises Cryo damage; at 0 Elemental Energy, the four-piece bonus also strengthens Normal Attacks and Elemental Bursts. Since Skirk doesn’t use standard Energy, she always satisfies that condition, and no other set matches its raw damage.
If Furina is on the team, 4-piece Marechaussee Hunter becomes a strong alternative. Its passive grants up to 36% CRIT Rate as Skirk’s HP shifts, which solves her crit problems outright. Against freezable enemies, a 4-piece Blizzard Strayer is viable too, though it can overcap CRIT Rate depending on your weapon.
Aim for these main stats, then chase CRIT and attack in your substats:
- Sands — ATK%
- Goblet — Cryo DMG Bonus (an ATK goblet works with strong substats)
- Circlet — CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG
- Substats — CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, ATK%
Because her Burst uses Serpent’s Subtlety and her Void Rift passive rewards Frozen enemies, skip Energy Recharge and Elemental Mastery entirely. Use these as your damage checkpoints:
| Stat | Goal value |
|---|---|
| ATK | 2,100 or above |
| CRIT Rate | 70% – 80% |
| CRIT DMG | 200% or above |
Prioritize ATK% and CRIT Rate to those breakpoints first, then pour anything left into CRIT DMG. If your attack and crit land in these ranges, the build is working as intended.
Talent priority
Level her Elemental Skill first, then her Elemental Burst, and leave Normal Attacks for last. This looks backwards until you learn that the Normal Attacks she throws during her combos count as Skill damage, so leveling the Skill upgrades them anyway. The Burst comes second to boost both its own hit and the bonus damage tied to her kit.
Best Skirk teams
Skirk is locked to Cryo and Hydro. Her passive rewards those elements heavily, and dropping in anything else sheds a large amount of her damage. That restriction lines up almost perfectly with Escoffier, who shreds both Cryo and Hydro resistance for the whole team and heals to keep buffs rolling. Escoffier is the one support you genuinely want, so build around her when you can.
| Slot 2 | Slot 3 | Slot 4 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Escoffier | Citlali | Vodyanitsa | Premium Freeze core |
| Escoffier | Citlali | Furina | Furina covers Hydro |
| Escoffier | Shenhe | Vodyanitsa/Furina | Cryo buffing focus |
| Escoffier | Yelan | Vodyanitsa/Furina | Extra off-field Hydro damage |
| Mizuki | Xingqiu | Rosaria/Dahlia | F2P Freeze variant |
Citlali and Vodyanitsa are the easiest to swap out. Both shred resistance and buff Cryo or Hydro, but Furina, Shenhe, and Yelan all slot in fine with some teamwide damage loss. The results still clear current endgame content. If you replace anyone, keep the replacement Cryo or Hydro, or Skirk’s output falls off a cliff.
How to play Skirk
The baseline rotation is simple: fire off your supports’ buffs, swap to Skirk, and start her combo. You weave in her Burst whenever her Skill is up to squeeze out extra damage.
For a quickswap burst-nuke instead, hold the Skill button, cast her Burst, then either keep attacking or swap to another DPS. This frontloads a big Cryo hit and is handy when you only need one window of damage.
If you want to chase her ceiling, her basic advanced combo is two Normal Attacks into Burst, then four reps of five Normal Attacks and a dash, finishing with two Normal Attacks into a charged attack. The combos are not required to make her a strong carry, but mastering one gives you the extra push when a boss is almost dead.
