Genshin Impact 2.0 launched, bringing with it the region of Inazuma and a wealth of new content. This included the release of the long-awaited Cryo five-star character Kamisato Ayaka, who uses her chilling and elegant fighting style to swiftly cut down foes with her sword. She specializes in using her offensive abilities to quickly Freeze enemies drenched by Hydro, trapping them in a fearsome blizzard of damage.

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Ayaka is an incredibly powerful character when built correctly and can easily fulfil your team's main DPS role. The guide below goes over the best builds for Ayaka, so you know which swords and Artifacts you need to work towards getting.

Updated March 18, 2022, by Kyle Gorges: Ayaka continues to be a driver of some of Genshin Impact's best teams. Her ability to perpetually lock down enemies while dishing out massive damage is invaluable when taking on challenges like the Spiral Abyss, and her smooth playstyle has clearly resonated with players. This guide has been updated to ensure you're using the best ingredients to make Hilichurl popsicles.

Best Weapons for Ayaka

Weapon Name Base ATK Secondary Stat Passive Ability
Amenoma Kageuchi 41 ATK When Ayaka casts her Elemental Skill, she gains 1 Succession Seed, up to a stack of 3. When Ayaka uses her Elemental Burst, all Succession Seeds are consumed, regenerating 6 Energy for each Seed consumed.
The Black Sword 42 Crit Rate Ayaka's Normal and Charged Attack DMG is increased by 20%. She also regenerates 60% of her ATK as HP when her Normal and Charged Attacks score a Critical hit. This effect can occur once every 5s.
Mistsplitter Reforged 48 Crit DMG Ayaka gains a 12% Cryo DMG Bonus and receives the might of the Mistsplitter's Emblem, which can stack up to 3 times. At stack levels 1/2/3, Ayaka receives an 8/16/28% Cryo DMG Bonus. Ayaka obtains 1 stack of Mistsplitter's Emblem when: her Normal Attack deals Elemental DMG (stack lasts 5s), she casts her Burst (stack lasts 10s), or her Energy is less than 100% (stack disappears when Energy is full).

Amenoma Kageuchi a four-star Forgeable weapon that is an excellent go-to choice for Ayaka. Not only does the blade's katana styling suit Ayaka, but the weapon's stats complement Ayaka's kit as well. Amenoma Kageuchi provides ample ATK through its secondary stat, and its passive ability helps recharge Ayaka's 80-cost Burst. Oftentimes Crit stats are preferred over ATK when it comes to weapons, but Ayaka typically has such high Crit Rate/DMG from her Artifacts that leaning more into ATK can actually be an advantage.

The Black Sword is another four-star option for players who have chosen to invest in Genshin Impact's Battle Pass. Its added Crit Rate might become superfluous depending on your Artifact setup, but it has a solid Base ATK and a passive that functions very well with Ayaka. Although Ayaka's Burst is her main damage generator, her Normal and Charged Attacks are nothing to scoff at. The Black Sword boosts those attacks while also giving her some health regeneration to make sure she can stay out on the field as long as you need her to.

Any five-star sword is going to excel with Ayaka, but Mistsplitter Reforged is the best among them for her. It's Base ATK of 48 is borderline absurd, and that's before digging into its Crit DMG secondary stat and myriad passive effects. Simply playing Ayaka how you would normally nets her a significant Cryo DMG bonus; essentially all of Ayaka's damage is Cryo-infused, so this buff goes a long way towards amplifying her overall damage. If you want to invest in a new five-star weapon for Ayaka, look no further than Mistsplitter Reforged.

Best Artifacts For Ayaka

Artifact Set Two-Piece Set Bonus Four-Piece Set Bonus
Blizzard Strayer Cryo DMG Bonus +15% When Ayaka is attacking enemies affected by Cryo, her Crit Rate is increased by 20%. If the oppenent is Frozen, her crit rate will increase by an additional 20%.

Normally characters in Genshin Imapct have a few different Artifact builds that they can be effective with. In Ayaka's case, it's difficult to recommend anything other than four-pieces of Blizzard Strayer (unless you want to drastically alter Ayaka's playstyle). This Artifact set is widely regarded as one of the best in the game, and Ayaka makes it easy to see why.

For context, Ayaka is used primarily with Hydro users like Xingqiu, Mona, or Kokomi on Freeze teams. These teams are so strong partly because they trap enemies in a thick layer of permafrost, but also because the Blizzard Strayer Artifact set is so innately powerful. Attacking a Frozen enemy grants Ayaka 40 percent Crit Rate from the four-piece set bonus alone; Cryo Resonance would give you another 15% Crit Rate against Cryo-afflicted enemies, meaning that Ayaka can have a whopping 60 percent Crit Rate without even factoring in her weapon or Artifact stats (every character also has a base Crit Rate of 5 percent).

Gaining such a high amount of Crit Rate for free is exceedingly valuable, which is why full Blizzard Strayer is her best Artifact set by far. If you don't have four pieces of it yet, feel free to run two Blizzard Strayer pieces with two pieces of an ATK-boosting set (Gladiator's Finale, Shimenawa's Reminiscence, etc.) in the meantime, but make sure to transition as soon as possible.

For her Artifact mainstats, Ayaka benefits most from ATK% Sands, Cryo DMG Bonus Goblets, and Crit DMG Circlets. ATK% Circlets can also be viable option on Ayaka, since she can occasionally index so heavily into Crit DMG that you face diminishing returns. Unless you have some wild substats, though, you're usually safe to run Crit DMG Circlets on her.

Unsurprisingly, the substats you want to look for most on Ayaka are Crit DMG, ATK%, and ER. A little Crit Rate is fine, but probably not necessary since she gains so much from other sources. Elemental Mastery should also be avoided since it does very little for the Freeze teams that Ayaka prefers to be on. As far as Crit DMG goes, the more, the better. Ayaka can afford to index into Crit DMG stats far more than most characters, so take advantage of this unique trait to really make her DPS skyrocket.

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Ayaka's Talents And Constellations

Ayaka's Talents can actually be leveled up more equally than those of most characters since they are all integral parts of her gameplay. That being said, you should probably prioritize her Burst first due its jaw-dropping damage output. Once her Burst is leveled up, you might consider leveling up her Normal Attacks since she uses them so frequently to keep enemies Frozen. Her Skill is also important, though, since it's Ayaka's main source of Energy generation and boasts impressive scaling of its own.

If you want to prove your loyalty to the Kamisato Clan and acquire some Constellations for Ayaka, there are a few you want to aim for. Ayaka's C2, C3, and C4 all directly enhance her Burst's damage, turning her Burst into a blizzard-blender of pure destruction—no Hilichurl could dress warmly enough to withstand that. Ayaka's C6 gives her an amped-up Charged Attack every ten seconds, which can be a fun introduction to her gameplay and functions really well when Ayaka is paired with Shenhe in particular. Always remember that Ayaka is still amazingly impactful at C0, but consider these Constellations if you want to get even more out of her.

NEXT: Genshin Impact: Pro Tips For Playing As Arataki Itto