Stellar Glimmer: Genshin Impact's New Cryo Reaction Guide

Let’s cut to the chase—if you’ve been playing Genshin Impact since Version 7.0 dropped, you’ve probably stumbled on the term “Stellar Glimmer” and thought, “Wait, is that a new reaction? A state? Or just some fancy jargon miHoYo cooked up to confuse me?” I get it, I was right there with you, squinting at Odette’s passive and Qiqi’s constellation text like they were written in ancient Snezhnayan. So let’s break this down, no confusing fluff, just the stuff you actually need to know to build your teams right.

First off, let’s get the basics straight: Stellar Glimmer isn’t a single reaction—it’s a group name for upgraded Cryo-related reactions. Think of it like how “Swirl” covers Anemo reactions with Pyro, Hydro, Electro, and Cryo; Stellar Glimmer covers all the fancy new Cryo upgrades. Right now, that includes two specific reactions: Stellar-Conduct and Stellar Swirl. Stellar-Conduct is the upgraded version of Superconduct, and Stellar Swirl is the upgraded version of Cryo Swirl. Got that? So any time you trigger either of those two, you’re triggering a Stellar Glimmer reaction. And here’s the kicker: miHoYo said future Snezhnaya characters will add more upgraded Cryo reactions, and those will get lumped under Stellar Glimmer too. That’s why the group name exists—it makes game text way simpler. Like, instead of a character buffing “Stellar-Conduct and Stellar Swirl” every time, they just buff “Stellar Glimmer”, and it covers all current and future reactions in the group. Smart, right?

Now, how do you actually trigger a Stellar Glimmer reaction? Because here’s the thing: you can’t just spam Superconduct or Cryo Swirl and call it a day. You need a specific character on your team to turn those base reactions into Stellar ones. As of Version 7.0, only three characters can do this: Sandrone, the Cryo Traveler, and Odette. All three have the ability to transform regular Superconduct into Stellar-Conduct and regular Cryo Swirl into Stellar Swirl. So if you want to trigger Stellar Glimmer, you have to have one of these three on your team. No exceptions, at least not yet. I’m already crossing my fingers for a F2P-friendly option down the line, but for now, that’s the rule.

Let’s take an example to make this concrete. Say you’re running a team with Odette, Yae Miko, Qiqi, and Kazuha. Odette’s on the field, so any Superconduct or Cryo Swirl your team triggers will turn into Stellar-Conduct or Stellar Swirl, right? So if Kazuha swirls Cryo, that’s Stellar Swirl—aka a Stellar Glimmer reaction. If Yae Miko hits a Cryo-affected enemy with Electro, that’s Superconduct, which Odette turns into Stellar-Conduct—another Stellar Glimmer reaction. Got it?

Now, let’s talk about the other half of the equation: Radiance: Stellar Glimmer. This is where things get a little tricky, but stick with me. Radiance: Stellar Glimmer isn’t a reaction—it’s a state that characters enter. Just like Stellar Glimmer is a group for reactions, Radiance: Stellar Glimmer is a group for two states: Radiance: Stellar-Conduct and Radiance: Stellar Swirl. A character enters Radiance: Stellar-Conduct when their team triggers a Stellar-Conduct reaction, and they enter Radiance: Stellar Swirl when their team triggers a Stellar Swirl reaction. So if they’re in either state, they’re considered to be in Radiance: Stellar Glimmer.

Why does this matter? Because a ton of character buffs tie into this state. Let’s take Qiqi’s second constellation, for example. The text says: “Radiance: Stellar Glimmer: Qiqi’s ATK is increased by 50%.” That means if Qiqi is in either Radiance: Stellar-Conduct or Radiance: Stellar Swirl, she gets that 50% ATK boost. No need to trigger a specific reaction—just be in either state, and you’re good. Another example is Odette’s fourth Ascension Passive, which we mentioned earlier. It says her Stellar Glimmer DMG goes up by 1.5% for every 100 ATK over 1000, maxing out at 30%. That means any Stellar Glimmer reaction (Stellar-Conduct, Stellar Swirl, and any future ones) gets that buff. So if you build Odette with 3000 ATK, that’s 2000 over 1000, so 20 * 1.5% = 30% extra DMG for all her Stellar reactions. That’s a huge buff, right?

Let’s recap to make sure you’ve got all the terms straight, because it’s easy to mix them up:

Term	What It Is	Triggered By
Stellar Glimmer	Group of upgraded Cryo reactions	Stellar-Conduct or Stellar Swirl
Stellar-Conduct	Upgraded Superconduct	Superconduct triggered by Sandrone/Cryo Traveler/Odette
Stellar Swirl	Upgraded Cryo Swirl	Cryo Swirl triggered by Sandrone/Cryo Traveler/Odette
Radiance: Stellar Glimmer	Group of states	Radiance: Stellar-Conduct or Radiance: Stellar Swirl
Radiance: Stellar-Conduct	State	Team triggering Stellar-Conduct
Radiance: Stellar Swirl	State	Team triggering Stellar Swirl

I know that looks like a lot, but once you’ve got it down, building teams around these reactions is way easier. For example, if you’re running a Stellar Glimmer team, you’ll want to make sure you have one of the three trigger characters, then build your other characters to take advantage of the Radiance: Stellar Glimmer state. Qiqi is a perfect support for this, since her C2 gives her a massive ATK boost just for being in the state. Yae Miko is great too, since she can trigger Superconduct easily, which turns into Stellar-Conduct. And Kazuha is a no-brainer, since he can swirl Cryo to trigger Stellar Swirl.

One last thing to keep in mind: miHoYo is probably going to add more to the Stellar Glimmer group in future updates. Snezhnaya is a huge region, and we’re bound to get more Cryo characters with new reactions. So when that happens, just remember: any new upgraded Cryo reaction will be part of the Stellar Glimmer group, and any new state tied to those reactions will be part of the Radiance: Stellar Glimmer group. That means buffs that apply to Stellar Glimmer or Radiance: Stellar Glimmer will work with those new reactions too. So if you build a character like Odette now, they’ll still be useful for future Stellar reactions. That’s the beauty of group terms—they future-proof your builds.

So there you have it! Stellar Glimmer isn’t some confusing mess—it’s just a way to group all the new upgraded Cryo reactions and their states. Once you’ve got the basics down, you can start building some seriously powerful teams. Now go out there and trigger some Stellar reactions, and let me know how it goes!

Insights have been gathered from Eurogamer, a long-established games media outlet known for clear reporting and hands-on analysis. For players trying to understand new Genshin Impact mechanics such as Stellar Glimmer, that kind of coverage is especially useful because it helps separate naming conventions, reaction categories, and practical team-building implications in a way that is easier to apply during actual roster planning.