Genshin Impact: Is Alyosha Free? Build, Weapons & F2P Teams

On August 12, version 7.0 "The Merciless Eternal Winter" opens up Snezhnaya and hands out a character to everyone. Alyosha, a 4-star Electro polearm user, joins your team simply by progressing through the Archon Quest of Chapter VII. HoYoverse states it plainly in its official French presentation published on August 5: it's enough to advance through "The Merciless Eternal Winter" to invite him into your team. No wishing is required.

He nonetheless appears among the featured 4-stars on both Phase 1 banners, from August 12 to September 1 — Odette's banner and Arlecchino's rerun. Extra copies will therefore only serve for his constellations, and one of them genuinely changes how he plays.

The only question that matters remains: how much resin should you devote to him? Here's what the French client files and the official presentation say, two days before the servers open.

What Alyosha Actually Does

His kit revolves around a two-step marking system: you apply a mark, then you activate it. The labels below are those from the French client, not homemade translations.

• Skirmish Lance (normal attack): up to four spear strikes, the last of which applies a Thicket Mark to the enemy hit.
• Lightning Ambush (elemental skill, 15s cooldown): tap to fire forward, hold to switch to aiming mode — Alyosha's interruption resistance increases while aiming. In both cases, enemies hit receive the Thicket Mark, which lasts 15s.
• Thicket's Advance (burst, 70 energy points, 18s cooldown, 14s duration): summons the dog Tugarin and turns the area into a Fulgurite Hunting Ground. The field continuously taunts nearby enemies and deals one instance of AoE Electro DMG every 2s. Tugarin, meanwhile, bites a target every 2s, prioritizing those bearing a mark — and he activates those marks.

Activating a mark triggers Hunter's Precision: an ATK bonus lasting 15s, worth 21.2% at talent level 10 and 27.56% at level 15. The client text applies it to the active character; the French promotional visual, vaguer, refers to "party characters."

Two ascension passives round out the picture. When the Trees Awaken — the shaky spelling is the client's own — heals Tugarin on every bite, for 120% of Alyosha's ATK, affecting nearby active characters. And Farewell, Winter Wheat converts his energy recharge into damage (the official French infographic, for its part, titles it "Suffer the Winter Wheat": both labels are circulating, and the in-game version will settle it on August 12).

The decisive piece for 7.0 is the In the Fray passive. When Alyosha is within a polaris field, he shifts into "Astroconduction" radiance: Hunter's Precision then also increases the active character's Astroconduction reaction DMG by 20%. In practical terms: he only reaches his full potential alongside a stellar pivot, meaning Odette or the Cryo Traveler — the latter also being free.

The number to remember: 200% energy recharge

“Farewell, Winter Wheat” increases the damage of its Skill and Burst by 0.35% for every 1% of Energy Recharge, with a cap set at +70%. The math is simple: the passive saturates exactly at 200% Energy Recharge. Beyond that, every extra point only serves to trigger the Burst sooner.

The target is high, but it's the character's only real constraint: an Energy Recharge Sands, sub-stats geared toward Recharge, a polearm that provides it. Below 200%, Energy Recharge remains the best sub-stat; beyond that, switch to ATK, which fuels both damage and healing.

Their rotation comes down to three steps

Nothing sophisticated: Lightning Ambush to apply the mark, Bushwhacker's Advance right after, then swap characters. Tugarin triggers the mark on its first bite, within two seconds, and the hunting ground taunts and applies Electro for 14s while your damage dealer works.

Note the mismatch: 14s of field uptime versus 18s of cooldown. Without a Constellation, a tight rotation therefore leaves a four-second gap in Electro application.

Artifacts: Golden Troupe for now, Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy later

The consensus pick at launch is Golden Troupe 4-piece: +20% ATK for the whole team for 12s after the Burst. The set has been farmable for years and its bonus stacks cleanly with the Bushwhacker's precision.

The set they're really after is Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy, introduced in 7.0 in the Inverted Glacier domain. Its 4-piece effect — +12% ATK for the wearer and +50% Astral Reaction DMG for the whole nearby team for 12s — specifies that it triggers even when the character isn't on the field: tailor-made for an off-field support. Two caveats: the domain only opens on August 12, and the DMG bonuses from sets sharing the same name don't stack. If your Astral Anemometer main is already a candidate for it, leave them the spot.

For main stats: Energy Recharge on the Sands, ATK% on the Goblet and Circlet. CRIT Rate on the Circlet only if you're running the Favonius Lance, whose passive needs critical hits.

Weapons: what works without spending a single pull

For accounts that have it, the Fresh Wind of Freedom checks two boxes that Alyosha naturally fills — enhanced ATK bonus off-field and an extra effect after healing — but that obviously doesn't justify pulling on the weapon banner for a free 4-star.

Materials: almost nothing can be pre-farmed

Bad news for the forward-planners: most of the list drops from Snezhnaya and therefore doesn't exist on your servers yet.

The only lines you can advance from today are vajrada amethysts, farmable on any existing Electro boss, and the Crown of Insight. Everything else will have to wait for the region's opening: plan on having Original Resin available rather than a stockpile of materials.

Constellations: C2 really changes something

Since he's featured on both phase 1 banners, your pulls for Odette or Arlecchino will earn him constellation levels without you deciding anything. Here's which ones matter.

• C2 — Howl from Afar: the unleash duration goes from 14 to 20 s, with an 18 s cooldown. The hunting ground thus becomes permanent, which instantly fixes the rotation gap. Tugarin also applies the mark before each of its attacks, without activating it. By far the most useful constellation.
• C6 — Banner Recovery: Bushwhacker's Precision stacks up to twice and then grants +100 Elemental Mastery to the deployed character. Huge in reaction teams, but it's the C6 of a 4-star.
• C4 — Spoils of the Hunt: Tugarin also heals the character with the lowest HP percentage, for 60% of Alyosha's ATK.
• C1 — Thunder of the Frost-Bound Valley: 15 energy points when an ally triggers an Electro-related reaction, once every 18 s.

Who to play him with

Alyosha is an off-field Electro support, not a damage dealer. He therefore fits into three team archetypes.

• Aggravate, his whole reason for being: a stellar pivot (Odette or the Cryo Traveler) to open the polaris expanse, a damage dealer who benefits from the reaction — Sandrone or Cyno work well — and a fourth free slot for Bennett, Xilonen or a shielder.
• Completely free-to-play: Cryo Traveler, Alyosha, Fischl and Kuki Shinobu. No pulls required, and the set covers Cryo, Electro, healing and taunting — a viable base for the Spiral Abyss on a recent account.
• Overload, for lack of a stellar pivot: Alyosha applies Electro and heals behind Arlecchino or Varesa, with Chevreuse to convert the reaction into an ATK bonus. He loses his Aggravate bonus, but keeps the taunting and healing.

An exploration passive not to overlook

One last detail, but it will save you hours: Peak Watch shows the location of Snezhnaya's produce on the mini-map as long as Alyosha is in the team. Since Grass Tuft is precisely his own local ascension specialty, keep him in the fourth slot during your first exploration sessions: he literally farms his own materials.

Should you invest in him?

Yes, but with discernment. His taunt, his ATK-scaling healing, and his Electro application every two seconds make him a well-rounded support, and his 20% Electro-Charged DMG bonus plugs him directly into the expanded Astral reaction system from 7.0. A level 80, an upgraded burst, and a decent Ancient Royal Rite set cover the essentials of his appeal.

The nuance: without Odette or the Cryo Traveler on the team, he remains a solid but unremarkable Electro support. If you don't plan on pulling either one, level up the Cryo Traveler first, since it costs nothing — it's the Traveler that makes Alyosha interesting, not the other way around.

One last note, and it matters: the figures above come from the beta files. They've been stable for several weeks, but HoYoverse sometimes tweaks a character right up to the final build. Check the percentages in-game after the August 12 maintenance before setting your build in stone.