Genshin Impact: Kaeya vs Rosaria (Who’s Better?)

Kaeya and Rosaria are both 4-star Cryo DPS units. Their kits and damage outputs are very similar.

Because of this, there isn’t really a better unit in this comparison – they’re equally strong with only a few minor differences.

At their baseline, no one directly outshines the other.

To further explain why that is, let’s compare their character values and performance in the two game modes of Genshin Impact: Overworld (Exploration & Co-op) and Spiral Abyss (Meta).

All comparisons made are between C0 5-star and C6 4-star characters.

And first, let’s take a look at their character kits.

Character Kit Breakdown

Normal Attack

Kaeya’s and Rosaria’s normal attack scalings are quite good.

Leveling this talent is important when they’re the on-field DPS of the team.

However, in most teams, neither of them uses their normal attacks – or at least not often enough to justify leveling this talent.

It’s always more optimal to prioritize their bursts and skills over this talent.

Elemental Skill

Kaeya unleashes a Cryo blast that deals AOE Cryo damage.

Rosaria shifts toward the enemy and deals 2 instances of AOE Cryo damage.

Against smaller opponents, this skill displaces her behind the enemy.

Elemental Burst

Kaeya summons 3 icicles that whirl around your active character.

These icicles deal continuous AOE Cryo damage.

This burst costs 60 energy and lasts for 8s.

Rosaria swings her weapon and deals 2 instances of AOE Cryo damage.

She then summons an Ice Lance that strikes the ground. This creates a field that deals continuous AOE Cryo damage.

This burst costs 60 energy and lasts for 8s.

Passive Talents (Kaeya)

• Every hit of Kaeya’s skill regenerates his HP. Each heal is equal to 15% of his ATK.
• Attacking frozen opponents with his skill will drop additional energy particles. A maximum of 2 additional particles can be generated per use.
• Kaeya decreases sprinting stamina consumption by 20%. This only works for your own party members.

Passive Talents (Rosaria)

• When Rosaria’s skill strikes an opponent from behind, her CRIT rate is increased by 12% for 5s.
• Casting her burst increases the CRIT rate of all nearby teammates by 15% of Rosaria’s CRIT rate – this buff doesn’t include Rosaria herself. This lasts for 10s. Additionally, this CRIT rate bonus can’t exceed 15%.
• At night (18:00-6:00), Rosaria increases your team’s movement speed by 10%. This only applies to your own party members. This passive doesn’t work in domains or Spiral Abyss.

Notable Constellations

Kaeya’s most notable constellations are his C2, C5, and C6.

• C2 increases Kaeya’s burst duration by 2.5s for every opponent defeated while it’s active. This can reach a maximum of 15s.
• C5 increases his elemental burst talent by 3. This is a great buff to his main source of damage.
• C6 adds another icicle to his burst. Additionally, 15 energy is regenerated when it’s cast. This is a damage buff that also greatly reduces his Energy Recharge needs.

Similarly, Rosaria’s most notable constellations are her C2, C5, and C6.

• C2 increases Rosaria’s burst duration by 4s. Her burst now effectively lasts for 12s.
• C5 increases her elemental burst talent by 3. This is a great burst damage buff.
• With C6, opponents hit by Rosaria’s burst will have their Physical resistance decreased by 20%. This lasts for 10s. Although situational, this constellation is really good for Physical teams.

Kit Comparison: Summary

You’ve probably noticed that their kits are incredibly similar.

To sum it all up, here’s a TLDR on their main differences in strength.

Kaeya

Rosaria

He’s a free unit that you get at the start of the game. Every account has him. You can buy his constellations in the Starglitter Exchange shop. This is a guaranteed Kaeya buff. He deals more damage than Rosaria. This gap widens when he’s the on-field DPS. Because of his passive, he has stronger energy regeneration in freeze teams.

Her burst has a wider AOE – it’s easier to hit opponents. Her C2 burst extension is guaranteed. In contrast, Kaeya’s C2 is very situational – if you can’t meet the condition, it’s practically useless. You can get her constellations from every banner. Kaeya’s constellations are only accessible through the shop or standard banner. She has more support abilities than Kaeya (CRIT rate buff and Physical resistance shred).

In The Overworld

Exploration (Single-player)

Both characters perform similarly in single-player.

Kaeya and Rosaria have their own pros and cons that basically even out their performance.

For instance, Kaeya’s burst is mobile. His icicles follow your active character.

This lets you roam around the field while dealing AOE Cryo damage. However, it requires you to be close to the opponents for the icicles to hit.

At C0, Kaeya’s burst also deals more damage than a C0 Rosaria.

As for Rosaria, her burst is stationary.

To maximize her damage, you need to stay within its field. But it does have a larger AOE thus making it easier to stay inside.

Basically, Kaeya and Rosaria are very balanced around each other.

Co-op (Multiplayer)

Kaeya outperforms Rosaria in Co-op. This is mainly because of his mobile burst and higher multipliers.

• Co-op fights move a lot – teammates and enemies run across the field very often. Kaeya’s burst follows you anywhere, so it’s easier to deal damage as long as you’re near the enemy.
• Kaeya’s normal attacks have higher multipliers. Since he’s mostly on-field during Co-op, he basically just deals more damage on top of his skill and burst.

Spiral Abyss (Meta)

Snapshot

This is a game mechanic that allows certain abilities to snapshot the stats or buffs active when they were cast.

Both Kaeya’s and Rosaria’s bursts can snapshot.

An example of this can be seen in the screenshots above. Bennett’s burst (the red circle) provides ATK buffs. The first photo shows Kaeya’s burst dealing 1,993 damage while inside the circle.

When Bennett’s burst ends, Kaeya’s burst still deals the same damage – and it will continue to do so for its entire duration.

This is because Kaeya’s burst snapshotted Bennett’s ATK buff.

The same mechanic applies to Rosaria’s burst.

Team Compositions

Kaeya and Rosaria are both meta characters.

They’re very flexible units that can slot into most teams that need a Cryo character. Because of their multiple similarities, they can also easily replace each other in all their teams.

Here’s a TLDR on who performs better in their three best teams.

Team	Who’s better?	Why?
Freeze Teams	Neither	They perform equally. They can also be used together or interchangeably in these teams.
Reverse Melt	Neither	They’re very equal. In fact, they perform even better when used together.
Physical Teams	Rosaria	Rosaria performs slightly better than Kaeya. This is mainly because of her C6 which gives Physical resistance shred.

Freeze Teams

Freeze teams are generally composed of:

• 2 Cryo units
• 1 Hydro unit
• 1 Anemo unit

Kaeya and Rosaria fit perfectly as one of the Cryo units. They’re usually added into Freeze teams as a battery for Ayaka or Ganyu.

Their skills have short cooldowns and strong energy particle generation. These help charge or battery Ayaka/Ganyu’s burst.

Kaeya and Rosaria are very interchangeable in these teams.

Additionally, they could also be used together – and this team is still quite strong.

Another notable variation of Freeze teams is one that has Kaeya/Rosaria as the on-field DPS.

This team uses Chongyun as the second Cryo unit.

Chongyun’s skill creates a frost field. This converts the normal, charged, and plunging attacks of characters within its field to Cryo damage.

The Cryo infusion only affects sword, polearm, and claymore-wielding characters.

With this, Kaeya’s and Rosaria’s normal and charged attacks are used to deal on-field Cryo damage.

Reverse Melt

This is a team where the Cryo units trigger most of the elemental reactions.

Melt reactions are triggered by Pyro reacting to Cryo – reverse melt is the opposite of this.

Because of how fast Pyro auras apply to enemies, the Cryo units end up triggering the reactions – aka reverse melting.

Reverse melt teams are generally composed of:

• 2 Cryo units (usually Kaeya and Rosaria)
• 2 Pyro units (usually Xiangling and Bennett)

A really strong variation of this includes both Kaeya and Rosaria. In that team, they help charge each other’s bursts while dealing significant personal damage.

Physical Teams

The party members of these teams vary on who’s the Physical DPS. However, this team will always use at least 1 Cryo unit.

As an off-field DPS, Kaeya and Rosaria are great candidates for this slot.

They provide good off-field Cryo application and strong personal damage. Their consistent Cryo application can continuously proc superconduct reactions.

Superconduct is an AOE elemental reaction between Electro and Cryo. It shreds opponents’ Physical resistance by 40% for 12s. This directly boosts the Physical DPS’ damage.

As the Physical DPS, Kaeya and Rosaria are also viable – but they aren’t recommended.

Even with a Physical build, their skills and burst will outdamage their normal and charged attacks. So, it’s best to stick with a Cryo build.

Who Should You Build?

Kaeya and Rosaria are very similar – they’re basically the same unit with minor differences.

Because of this, it’s recommended to build whoever you have the best resources for.

If you have a better weapon and more constellations for one of them, then build that one. However, you can also never go wrong with just building both of them.

They already use the same artifacts and teams – plus they work great when paired together!