Surf’s up, Mualani is here! As the debut character for Natlan, here’s everything you need to know to build her.
Vaporizing wavebreaker
Mualani is part of the “People of the Spings”, and works as one of its new generation of young guides. She’s established in her work, celebrated for her meticulousness and quick thinking.
But besides being a very talented guide, it looks like Mualani is shaping up to be a very formidable Hydro DPS. Equipped with a catalyst, Mualani’s DMG scales off of her max HP, making her a very easy character to invest in, as well as an ideal Vaporize driver.
Mualani’s bread and butter is her skill, Surfshark Wavebreaker, which allows her to surf anywhere. Triggering her skill will also allow Mualani to gain 60 Nightsoul Points and enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing State.
If you’re not sure what Nightsoul’s Blessing is, you can go ahead and check out our guide for this new exploration and DMG mechanic here!
While the Nighsoul’s Blessing State is active, Mualani can ride her Sharky Surfboard on water and liquid Phlogiston with a boosted movement speed and resistance to interruption. Her Normal Attacks will also turn into Sharky’s Bites, which deals Hydro DMG based on her Max HP. Sharky’s Bites can be used mid-air and will be considered as Normal ATK DMG.
Hitting opponents with Sharky’s Bites will apply a “Marked as Prey” state, giving Mualani 1 Wave Momentum stack that can stack up to 3 times on the same opponent every 0.7 seconds.
Wave Momentum increases Mualani’s DMG even further. At max stacks, her Normal Attacks will become Sharky’s Surging Bite, which will deal more DMG and will reset the stacks.
While hitting opponents who are “Marked as Prey” will remove the mark and trigger Shark Missiles to hit up to 5 marked opponents. If multiple opponents are hit, the DMG decreases down to 72% when 3 or more are targeted.
Mualani’s burst on the other hand, Boomsharka-laka, will fire a Super Shark Missile that can track opponents, dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE Hydro DMG based on her Max HP.
In this regard, talent levelling up priority should be: normal attack, Skill, then Burst. You can skip levelling up Mualani’s burst as it doesn’t really affect her DMG capability.
Mualani’s Night Realm’s Gift Passive on the other hand, will allow Mualani to use her Nightsoul Transmission if she is within Natlan or if there are Phlogiston Mechanics nearby. The Nightsoul Transmission is as follows:
When switching to Mualani while the active character is sprinting, swimming, using certain talents, or at a specific height, she will enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing State and gain 40 Nightsoul Points. Additionally, Mualani’s Nightsoul or Phlogiston consumption while moving on water or liquid Phlogiston is reduced by 75% in Natlan and by 35% outside of Natlan. Nightsoul Transmission can be triggered every 10 seconds by your team.
Gear and Teams
Mualani’s best weapon is obviously her BiS weapon Surf’s Up, but if you’re not too keen on spending your primogems on the weapon banner, you can go for these alternatives:
- Tulaytullah’s Remembrance (gacha) - Mualani’s next best 5-star option, available in limited gacha. Tulaytullah’s Remembrance ascends with Crit DMG, while its passive allows for an NA speed increase, as well as an NA ATK DMG increase by 4.8% every second for 14s.
- Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds (gacha) - Mualani’s 3rd best 5-star option, available in the standard gacha. Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds ascends with Crit Rate, while its passive allows for an increased Movement SPD of 10%. When in battle, you will also gain an 8% Elemental DMG bonus every 4s, max 4 stacks.
- Sacrificial Jade (battle pass) - A low-spender option, Sacrificial Jade is a 4-star weapon which you can avail by unlocking the Gnostic Hymn battle pass. The weapon ascends with Crit Rate, while its passive allows for a 32% Max HP increase and Elemental Mastery increase of 40 when not on the field for more than 5s. The effects will be cancelled after the wielder has been on the field for 10s.
- Ring of Yaxche (craftable) - a Natlan craftable, Ring of Yaxche is a 4-star catalyst that ascends with HP%. the weapons passive allows the granting of the Jade-Forged Crown effect when using an Elemental Skill, which will increase Normal ATK DMG by 0.6% for 10s dealt by the equipping character for every 1,000 of Max HP. A maximum of 16% NA ATK DMG increase can be attained this way.
Since Mualani is a DPS that relies on her Max HP, the best artifact sets for her are as follows:
- Obsidian Codex- an artifact set designed for Natlan characters. The Obsidian Codex set at 2pc will increase DMG dealt by 15% while the equipping character is in the Nightsoul’s Blessing State, while the 4-pc set will increase Crit Rate by 40% for 6s when the equipping character consumes 1 nightsoul point. This effect can trigger once every second.
- Heart of Depth- more focused on Mualani’s DMG capability, the Heart of Depth set at 2pc will provide a 15% Hydro DMG Bonus, while its 4pc buff will provide an increase to Normal and Charged ATK DMG by 30% for 15s after using an Elemental Skill.
Artifact stats should be: HP Sands, HP/Hydro DMG Goblet, and Crit Rate/Crit DMG Circlet. For substats, gun for HP, HP%, Crit Rate, Crit DMG, and ER.
Since Mualani is a Hydro DPS, it’s best to slot her in teams that focus on the Vaporize reaction. You can team her up with a buffer, healer, support, and battery like Bennett, a Pyro applicator like Xiangling, and an Anemo support like Kazuha. You can also opt to replace Xiangling with an additional Hydro sub/support to gain the Hydro Resonance effect, which will further increase Max HP by 25% and be affected by Pyro for 40% less time.