When Shenhe first released, many people were disappointed that she didn’t have enough Icy Quills to raise the damage per screenshot of all 20 instances of damage in an Ayaka ult. However, the Icy Quill limit exists to ensure that Shenhe can work equally as well with units that have many weaker instances of Cryo damage as she can with those that have fewer but stronger instances of Cryo damage. Rather than considering the Icy Quills to be a buff, it is better to think of the Icy Quills as a sub-DPS mechanic that scales with her teammate’s level of investment. For example, Shenhe’s Icy Quills function more similarly to Albedo Transient Blossom hits, however, the Icy Quills are delivered alongside other sources of Cryo damage, hijacking her teammate’s stats to do more damage, and are frontloaded rather than sustained over time. Moreover, beyond the fixed Icy Quill count, Shenhe still offers enough DMG % bonus and RES shred to remain competitive with other supports in Cryo teams. Remember that every unit that can deal Cryo damage gets their own Icy Quills, so if you have more Cryo or Anemo units on your team, the total amount of Icy Quill damage increases.