Lyney

Normal Attack: "Performs up to 4 consecutive shots with a bow."

Lyney is a Charged-Attack character, so it’s expected his Normal Attack has a lot going on. Although it’s wordy, looking at the parts separately makes it easy to understand.

Landing a Level 2 Charged Attack will do several things: summon a Grin-Malkin Hat, grant him a buff by reducing his HP, and unleash a Pneuma attack.

The Grin-Malkin Hat taunts enemy attacks and fires one projectile after its 4-second duration ends.

The buff increases the damage of his Skill, which we’ll cover in the next section. But be mindful of Lyney’s health, as he won’t gain the buff if he’s less than 60% max HP.

Finally, the Pneuma attack is a Fontaine-exclusive mechanic that can be ignored unless you are facing specific enemies or solving puzzles.

Lyney uses every aspect of his kit, but most of his damage comes from the Normal Attack scaling. This should be the first priority.

"Lyney does a flourish with his hat, unleashing a firework surprise! When used, he will clear all current Prop Surplus stacks and deal AoE Pyro DMG to opponents in front of him. DMG will be increased according to the stacks cleared, and this will also regenerate Lyney's HP based on his Max HP."

"When a Grin-Malkin Hat created by Lyney is on the field, the fireworks will cause it to explode, dealing AoE Pyro DMG equal to that of a Pyrotechnic Strike. The DMG dealt through the Grin-Malkin Hat in this way is considered Charged Attack DMG."

Energy Generation: 5 particles

Lyney’s Skill does three things: deals AoE damage, explodes the Grin-Malkin Hat, and heals himself.

The Skill’s basic damage is a quick AoE attack, and increases significantly from the buff gained from his Charged Attack and Burst.

The Grin-Malkin Hat explosion transforms it from a single-target projectile into an AoE attack. It also gives it the aspect of Charged Attack DMG, which we will look at later.

Finally, the Bewildering Lights heals Lyney, which synergies well with his Charged Attack’s HP drain.

Lyney’s Skill is reliant on the rest of his kit. Try to obtain as many stacks of the buff as possible before using Bewildering Lights, and make sure there is a Grin-Malkin Hat on the field. Be quick though, as the Grin-Malkin Hat only lasts for 4 seconds.

Bewildering Lights is a good chunk of Lyney’s overall damage and should be leveled up alongside his Normal Attack.

Energy Cost: 60 "Unleashing his magic, Lyney turns himself into a Grin-Malkin Cat that can move around quickly. (Not to be mistaken for the Grin-Malkin Hat. They're two different props!) When the Grin-Malkin Cat gets close to opponents, it will send flames falling down on them, dealing at most 1 instance of Pyro DMG to each opponent. When the duration ends, he will dismiss the Grin-Malkin Cat and ignite fireworks that deal AoE Pyro DMG, summon 1 Grin-Malkin Hat, and grant himself 1 Prop Surplus stack. Grin-Malkin Cat can be actively canceled."

Lyney’s Burst is the simplest part of his kit. It transforms him into a Grin-Malkin Cat for 3 seconds, deals damage to enemies he comes into contact with, and explodes at the end. He summons a Grin-Malkin Hat and gains one buff stack.

Lyney’s Burst is the lowest source of his overall damage, but not by much. Don’t neglect to level this as well.

Lyney uses all his Talent every rotation, so all are worth leveling up.

Trivial Observations

"Displays the location of nearby resources unique to Fontaine on the mini-map."

Lyney’s Utility Passive is the always-helpful compass for Local Specialties. Especially helpful for going into a new nation.

Perilous Performance

"If Lyney consumes HP when firing off a Prop Arrow, the Grin-Malkin hat summoned by the arrow will, upon hitting an opponent, restore 3 Energy to Lyney and increase DMG dealt by 80% of his ATK."

Perilous Performance makes Lyney’s combo less flexible, but the bonus makes up for it. The increased damage will only apply to the Grin-Malkin Hat summoned from his Charged Attack, and won’t affect the Burst one. Therefore, using the Skill after the Charged Attack, not the Burst, is important.

Conclusive Ovation

"The DMG Lyney deals to opponents affected by Pyro will receive the following buffs:
·Increases the DMG dealt by 60%.
·Each Pyro party member other than Lyney will cause the DMG dealt to increase by an additional 20%. Lyney can deal up to 100% increased DMG to opponents affected by Pyro in this way."

Conclusive Ovation also makes Lyney less flexible but for team-building.

Lyney wants to attack enemies affected by Pyro to obtain the massive 60% damage increase. He doesn’t do well in vaporize, burning, or melt teams because elemental reactions eat up the Pyro aura.

This mono-Pyro playstyle is further encouraged by granting an additional 40% damage from having two other Pyro team members.

Lyney can be slotted as a typical Pyro DPS in any team. This bonus damage will just become less reliable to maximize.

First, the Burst will deal damage to all the enemies, summon a Grin-Malkin Hat, and grant him a stack of the buff.

Second, the Charged Attack will grant him a 2nd stack of the buff and summon a Grin-Malkin Hat to replace the first one.

Third, the Skill will explode the Grin-Malkin Hat and consume all stacks of the buff for a significant increase in damage, and heal himself.

Finally, loosen a 2nd Charged Attack before swapping to another teammate. This will give Lyney a 3rd stack of the buff for his Skill to use when he next takes the field. And summon a Grin-Malkin Hat to keep the enemies taunted away from his teammates.

"Lyney can have 2 Grin-Malkin Hats present at once. Additionally, Prop Arrows will summon 2 Grin-Malkin Hats and grant Lyney 1 extra stack of Prop Surplus. This effect can occur once every 15s."

Whimsical Wonders is a fun constellation, but it doesn’t change Lyney’s playstyle or combo. Now his Skill will explode two Grin-Malkin Hats and he’ll have one extra stack of the buff.

Unfortunately, this constellation is on a 15-second cooldown, so it will only trigger on the first Charged Attack in his combo, and not the second.

"When Lyney is on the field, he will gain a stack of Crisp Focus every 2s. This will increase his CRIT DMG by 20%. Max 3 stacks. This effect will be canceled when Lyney leaves the field."

Constellation 2 is a simple Crit Dmg increase. After 6 seconds on the field, he’ll gain 60% more. Just in time for the big finale from his Skill.

"Increases the Level of Normal Attack: Card Force Translocation by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15."

Prestidigitation is a very unique Con 3 that upgrades Lyney's Noraml Attack rather an a Burst or Skill. The first of it's kind.

"After an opponent is hit by Lyney's Pyro Charged Attack, this opponent's Pyro RES will be decreased by 20% for 6s."

Lyney’s Constellation 4 is decent, as Resistant reductions are rare and powerful. But unfortunately it’s only single-target and lasts a short duration, so his teammates won’t benefit much from it.

"Increases the Level of Wondrous Trick: Miracle Parade by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15."

Constellation 5 is the typical Burst level increase.

"When Lyney fires a Prop Arrow, he will fire a Pyrotechnic Strike: Reprised that will deal 80% of a Pyrotechnic Strike's DMG. This DMG is considered Charged Attack DMG."

Guarded Smile is very underwhelming for a Constellation 6. It’s essentially a weaker, second arrow when he fires a Level 2 Charged Attack.

The First Great Magic

Lyney’s signature weapon has a lot going on. First, it increases Charged Attack damage. And if you recall from earlier, any Charged Attack damage increase will also apply to the Grin-Malkin Hat exploded by his Skill.

When used on Lyney, 1 other Pyro teammate will increase his attack by 32%. A second Pyro teammate will increase it by 48%.

The movement speed increase doesn’t bring any value. It’s low and unnoticeable, even at the highest level.

The First Great Magic is Lyney’s best-in-slot weapon for mono-Pyro teams.

Polar Star

Since Lyney uses every part of his kit, Polar Star is a great option for him. By performing the normal combo, he’ll gain a 30% attack increase. A Normal Attack can easily be included at the start of the combo to gain the 4th stack of Ashen Nightstar.

Amos' Bow

Amos’ Bow is the best non-limited 5* option as it increases Charged Attack damage. Which also increases the Grin-Malkin Hat explosion.

Scion of the Blazing Sun

The new battlepass bow is Lyney’s best 4* weapon. It has a Crit Rate substat, deals respectable additional damage, and increases Charged Attack damage by a huge 56%. Unfortunately, that increase is a single-target debuff, and the weapon is locked behind a paywall.

Song of Stillness

Song of Stillness is the new craftable bow from Fontaine. It’s Lyney’s best, f2p 4* weapon. Especially since R5 is easy to obtain. Since Lyney damages himself, he’ll want a healer on the team. That, included with Lyney’s self-healing, will give the DMG increase a high uptime.

Prototype Crescent

Prototype Crescent is another craftable bow. It gives a huge amount of Attack but with the caveat of having to land a weak-point Charged Attack. Which is more difficult for those that play on mobile or struggle with aiming.

Sands of Eon

Although Lyney has some HP drain and restoration built into his kit, he does not scale with HP. Attack is the best option for the Sands piece.

Goblet of Eonothem

Not much to say here. Pyro DMG% is the best option.

Circlet of Logos

Lyney gains Crit Rate through Ascension. And most of his best weapons have either Crit Rate or Dmg as a substat. Use either a Crit Rate or Dmg Circlet depending on the weapon choice and other relic substats. Try to obtain a 1:2 ratio.

Sub Stats

Lyney has a typical DPS build. Aim for Crit subs and then Attack. He would prefer to Burst every time he takes the field, so some Energy Recharge isn’t a waste. But his best team is mono-Pyro, which will give him extra energy. His Burst only costs 60 energy, so 120 - 130% Energy Recharge is more than enough.

2-Pieces: "Normal and Charged Attack DMG +15%"
4-Pieces: "When current HP increases or decreases, CRIT Rate will be increased by 12% for 5s. Max 3 stacks."

The new Fontaine relic set, Marechaussee Hunter, synergies relatively well with Lyney. He welcomes the Charged Attack increase, and he has built-in HP decrease and increase. Thou he will have to rely on teammates for additional healing to keep the Crit Rate buff up.

2-Pieces: "Pyro RES increased by 40%."
4-Pieces: " Increases DMG against opponents affected by Pyro by 35%."

Lavawalker is unironically decent for Lyney. His A4 Passive Talent is a built-in Lavawalker set, so capitalizing to maximize the set is natural for him. And veteran players may already have a set in storage.

2-Pieces: "Increases Elemental Mastery by 80."
4-Pieces: "Increases Charged Attack DMG by 35% if the character uses a Catalyst or a Bow."

Wanderer’s Troupe is very similar to Lavawalker. Both have a useless 2-Piece bonus, give a 35% damage increase, and are older so most players probably have a set in storage. The differences are Wanderer’s Troupe is easier to farm, but the damage increase only applies to Charged Attacks.