Head of the Kamisato estate, Genshin Impact’s Ayato is a hardworking and intelligent young man. In this guide, we dive into the two best Ayato builds for him as a DPS and burst-based sub-DPS, both of which he excels in. He’s got lightning-fast attacks and a fantastic AoE hydro application in his burst, and makes a big splash on the battlefield.
If you’re new to Genshin Impact, you might want to check out our Genshin Impact tier list to see which characters are worth your time. We also have a Genshin Impact codes guide because we can’t say no to free primogems and a Genshin Impact next banner guide.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Ayato guide:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Ayato build?
Ayato is a five-star character who uses a sword and the hydro element.
| Best weapon | Haran Geppaku Futsu |
| Weapon substitutes | Mistsplitter Reforged, the Black Sword |
| Best artifact set | Echoes of an Offering |
| Main stats | –Sands – Attack –Goblet – Hydro damage bonus –Circlet – Crit rate/damage |
| Sub stats | Energy recharge, crit rate, crit damage, HP |
The best build for Kamisato Ayato is the Haran Geppaku Futsu sword, and a four-piece of the Echoes of an Offering artifact set, which can work for both his DPS and sub-DPS capabilities.
Ayato has some very interesting utility, especially since the dendro element’s release – Ayato’s burst offers great off-field hydro application, and his normal attack deals incredibly quick damage that is devastating to both single targets and groups. Ayato is a very unique unit and excels in both burst sub-DPS and main DPS roles, as well as seeing him slot into both standard and quick-swap rotations.
How do I use Ayato?
To get the most out of main DPS Ayato, you’ll want to ensure you have his elemental skill active as often as possible by ensuring you have plenty of energy recharge. We also recommend you build him with as much normal attack damage as you can and make sure his max health is at a decent level to help him live up to his high DPS potential.
If you want to use Ayato as a sub-DPS or burst support, you need to maximize the use of his burst. This build has great potential for supporting your team with constant hydro application and attack speed buffs.
What are the best Ayato weapons?
The best weapon for DPS Ayato is his signature weapon, Haran Geppaku Futsu. Alternatively, Mistsplitter Reforged and Summit Shaper are great choices. If you’re looking for the best four-star weapon for Ayato, the Black Sword from the battle pass is a brilliant option that comes with a little bit of HP regeneration to keep him healed up on the field.
The Lion’s Roar is an interesting choice for Ayato, but due to its skill only triggering when used on enemies affected by pyro or electro, you should only give him this weapon if you’re using him in electro-charged, hyperbloom, or vape comps to get the most out of it.
Ayato DPS weapons
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Haran Geppaku Futsu (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s crit rate Skill: Obtain a 12% hydro damage bonus. When other party members use elemental skills, Ayato gains one Wavespike stack, for a maximum of two stacks. This can trigger once every 0.3 seconds. When Ayato uses an elemental skill, he consumes all stacks of Wavespike to gain Rippling Upheaval, which increases his normal attack by 20% for each stack by eight seconds | Weapon banner (alongside Ayato) |
| Mistsplitter Reforged (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s crit damage Skill: Ayato gains a 12% hydro damage bonus, and stacks of Mistsplitter’s Emblem. His elemental damage increases with each stack he gets, with one/two/three stacks adding 8/16/24% damage. Any stacks obtained through elemental damage from his normal attack have a five-second duration, and stacks gained through his elemental burst have a ten-second duration. Ayato also gains stacks when his energy is less than 100%, which last until his energy is fully charged | Weapon banner (alongside Ayaka) |
| The Black Sword (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s crit rate Skill: Damage dealt by normal and charged attacks increases by 20%, and he regenerates 60% of his attack stat as HP when normal and charged attacks score a crit hit. This effect can occur once every five seconds | Battle Pass reward |
| Lion’s Roar (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s attack stat Skill: Increases damage against enemies affected by pyro or electro by 20% – we recommend using this in a team with Thoma, Xiangling, Fischl, or Kuki Shinobu. | All banners |
Ayato sub-DPS weapons
As with DPS Ayato, the Mistsplitter Reforged is a good choice for sub-DPS Ayato because of its energy recharge and boost to his burst damage. Similarly, Skyward Blade and Primordial Jade Cutter are great for their buffs. All of the above are five-star weapons, so may be tricky to get any, but you still have some great four-star options, too. Amenoma Kageuchi and Festering Desire are strong options, one of which you can forge via the Blacksmith.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Mistsplitter Reforged (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s crit damage Skill: Ayato gains a 12% hydro damage bonus, and stacks of Mistsplitter’s Emblem. His elemental damage increases with each stack he gets, with one/two/three stacks adding 8/16/24% damage. Any stacks obtained through elemental damage from his normal attack have a five-second duration, and stacks gained through his elemental burst have a ten-second duration. Ayato also gains stacks when his energy is less than 100%, which last until his energy is fully charged | Weapon banner (alongside Ayaka) |
| Skyward Blade (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s energy recharge Skill: Increases crit rate by 4%. After Ayato uses an elemental burst, he gains Skypiercing Might, which increases movement speed by 10%, attack speed by 10%, and normal and charged attack damage by 20% for 12 seconds | Standard banner |
| Primordial Jade Cutter (five-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s crit rate Skill: Increases HP by 20%, and provides an attack bonus based on Ayato’s max HP | Weapon banner |
| Amenoma Kageuchi (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s attack Skill: After casting an elemental skill, Ayato gains one Succession Seed. After using an elemental burst, consume all Succession Seeds and after two seconds, regenerate six energy for each seed consumed. This effect can trigger once every five seconds, with each seed lasting for 30 seconds. A maximum of three seeds may exist simultaneously | Get the blueprint by completing the Farmer’s Treasure quest, then forge via blacksmith |
| Festering Desire (four-star) | Bonus effect: Increases Ayato’s energy recharge Skill: Increases elemental skill damage by 16% and elemental skill crit rate by 6% | The Chalk Prince and the Dragon event reward |
What are the best Ayato artifacts?
Like our weapon suggestions, we’ll outline both DPS and sub-DPS choices for Ayato. You’ve got two main choices for artifact sets for a DPS build. If you want to use Ayato as a hydro-focused DPS it’s best to go with Heart of Depth. The second option is Echoes of an Offering. This one has a very unique skill that is designed to complement Ayato’s kit.
For sub-DPS or burst support Ayato, you’ve got a few artifact options. You can go with a full set of Emblem of Severed Fate to increase his energy recharge, allowing him to use his burst more frequently, or you can also choose to give him a full set of Noblesse Oblige if you don’t have someone on your team already using that set – its four-piece, team-wide buff doesn’t stack. You can also go with two pieces of Heart of Depth and two pieces of Noblesse Oblige to boost both his hydro and burst damage.
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Echoes of an Offering | Two equipped: Increases attack Four equipped: When normal attacks hit opponents, there’s a 36% chance to trigger Valley Rite, which increases Ayato’s normal attack damage by 70%. The effect is dispelled 0.05 seconds after a normal attack deals damage. If a normal attack fails to trigger Valley Rite, the odds of it triggering the next time are increased by 20%. This trigger can occur once every 0.2 seconds | Lost Valley domain |
| Emblem of Severed Fate | Two equipped: Increases energy recharge Four equipped: Increases elemental burst damage by 25% of energy recharge. You can obtain a maximum of 75% bonus damage in this way | Momiji-Dyed Court domain |
| Heart of Depth | Two equipped: Increases hydro damage Four equipped: Increases normal and charged attack damage after using an elemental skill by 30% for 15 seconds | Peak of Vindagnyr domain |
| Marechaussee Hunter | Two equipped: Ayato’s normal and charged attack damage increases Four equipped: When Ayato’s current HP increases or decreases, his crit rate increases by 12% for five seconds. This can stack three times | Denouement of Sin domain |
| Nymph’s Dream | Two equipped: Increases hydro damage Four equipped: After normal, charged, and plunging attacks, elemental skills, and elemental bursts hit opponents, one stack of Mirrored Nymph will trigger, lasting eight seconds. When under the effect of one, two, or three or more Mirrored Nymph stacks, Ayato’s attack increases by 7%/16%/25%, and his hydro damage bonus increases by 4%/9%/15%. Mirrored Nymph stacks created by normal, charged, and plunging attacks, elemental skills, and elemental bursts exist independently | Molten Iron Fortress domain |
Artifact stat recommendations
These are the stats to look for to get the most damage out of Mr. Kamisato:
Main stats:
- Sands – Attack, energy recharge
- Goblet – Hydro damage bonus
- Circlet – Crit rate or crit damage
Sub-stats:
- Energy recharge
- Crit rat
- Crit damage
What are the best Ayato team comps?
Ayato is a flexible unit that can slot into pretty much any team that needs reliable hydro application. Therefore, he can be a strong member of many vape, taser, hyperbloom, and permafreeze teams. A personal favorite combination of mine is Ganyu and Ayato, as their elemental burst sizes match up perfectly to freeze everything around them.
Here are some examples of strong Kamisato Ayato team comps:
| Ayato | Xiangling | Thoma | Kazuha |
| Ayato | Ganyu | Diona | Venti |
| Ayato | Nahida | Kuki Shinobu | Yun Jin |
| Ayato | Fischl | Bennett | Kazuha |
What are Ayato’s abilities?
Here are Ayato Genshin Impact’s talents and what they do. Regardless of what build you go with, we recommend you prioritize leveling Kamisato Art: Kyouka Art first.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Kamisato Art: Marobashi | Normal: Perform up to five strikes Charged: Consume a certain amount of stamina to perform a more powerful attack Plunging: Plunge from mid-air to strike the ground, dealing AoE damage on impact |
| Elemental skill: Kamisato Art: Kyouka | Ayato stands still and enters the Takemiguri Kanka state, where he slashes forward at high speeds as you hold the skill button. As he moves, a watery illusion stays behind, which explodes and deals hydro AoE damage. While in this state, Ayato uses Shunsuiken to deal hydro damage to opponents in front of him. His normal attacks become infused with hydro. Each hit on an enemy grants Namisen, which further increases his damage based on his maximum HP. The initial maximum number of Namisen stacks is four, and you can gain one stack via Shunsuiken every 0.1 seconds. Ayato’s resistance to interruption is increased while in this state, but he cannot use charged or plunge attacks |
| Elemental burst: Kamisato Art: Suiyuu | Create a wide AoE where Bloomwater Blades constantly rain down, striking opponents and dealing hydro damage. Additionally, any allies within the AoE gain a boost to their normal attack damage. |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Kamisato Art: Mine Wo Matoishi Kiyotaki (unlocked at ascension one) | Ayato’s elemental skill has the following properties: after use, it gains two Namisen stacks, and when the water illusion explodes, Ayato gains a Namisen effect equal to the maximum number of possible stacks |
| Kamisato Art: Michiyuku Hagetsu (unlocked at ascension four) | If Ayato isn’t on the field and his energy is low, he regenerates a set amount of energy at regular intervals |
| Kamisato Art: Daily Cooking (unlocked automatically) | You have the chance to receive a suspicious dish of the same type when cooking |
What are Ayato’s constellations?
Here are all of Ayato’s constellations. While all of his constellations are great, his C1 can help flush out multiple enemies in one single swoop once their health is depleted.
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Kyouka Fuushi | Shunsuiken damage is increased by 40% against opponents with 50% HP or less |
| C2: World Source | Namisen’s maximum stack count increases by five. When Ayato has at least three Namisen stacks, his max HP is increased by 50% |
| C3: To Admire the Flowers | Increases the level of Kamisato Art: Kyouka by three. The maximum upgrade level is 15 |
| C4: Endless Flow | After using Kamisato Art: Auiyuu, all nearby party members gain a 15% increased normal attack speed for 15 seconds |
| C5: Bansui Ichiro | Increases the level of Kamisato Art: Suiyuu by three. The maximum upgrade level is 15 |
| C6: Boundless Origin | After using Kamisato Art: Kyouka, Ayato’s next Shunsuiken attack creates two extra strikes upon hitting opponents, with each one dealing 450% of Ayato’s attack as damage. Both of these Shunsuiken attacks are not affected by Namisen |
What are Ayato’s ascension materials?
These are all the materials you need to ascend Ayato. You can gather sakura blooms by using electro on sakura clouds around Inazuma, and handguards drop from Nobushi enemies.
| Required level | Mora | Materials |
| 20 | 20,000 | One varunada lazurite sliver, three sakura blooms, three old handguards |
| 40 | 40,000 | Three varunada lazurite fragments, ten sakura blooms, 15 old handguards, two dew of repudiation |
| 50 | 60,000 | Six varunada lazurite fragments, 20 sakura blooms, 12 Kageuchi handguards, four dew of repudiation |
| 60 | 80,000 | Three varunada lazurite chunks, 30 sakura blooms, 18 Kageuchi handguards, eight dew of repudiation, |
| 70 | 100,000 | Six varunada lazurite chunks, 45 sakura blooms, 12 famed handguards, 12 dew of repudiation |
| 80 | 120,000 | Six varunada lazurite gemstones, 60 sakura blooms, 24 famed handguards, 20 dew of repudiation |
Here is where to find all of the materials you need for Ayato:
- Varunada lazurite – these hydro gems drop from weekly and normal bosses, especially the hydro hypostasis and the oceanid in Liyue
- Sakura blooms – these flowers appear as misty pink clouds around Narukami Island – you can collect them by hitting them with the electro element
- Dew of repudiation – this boss drop comes from the hydro hypostasis on Watatsumi Island
- Old, Kageuchi, and famed handguards -these items drop from the Nobushi enemies across Inazuma
What are Ayato’s talent materials?
In order to get Ayato’s talents leveled up, you need a stack of elegance talent books, plenty of handguard drops from Inazuma’s Nobushi enemies, and a pile of mora. As for the weekly boss drops he needs, it’s the Mudra of Malefic General that Raiden Shogun’s fight gives you.
| Talent level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12,500 | Six old handguards, three teachings of elegance |
| Three | 17,500 | Three Kageuchi handguards, two guides to elegance |
| Four | 25,000 | Four Kageuchi handguards, four guides to elegance |
| Five | 30,000 | Six Kageuchi handguards, six guides to elegance |
| Six | 37,500 | Nine Kageuchi handguards, nine guides to elegance |
| Seven | 120,000 | Four famed handguards, four philosophies of elegance, one mudra of the Malefic General |
| Eight | 260,000 | Six famed handguards, six philosophies of elegance, one mudra of the Malefic General |
| Nine | 450,000 | Nine famed handguards, 12 philosophies of elegance, two mudra of the Malefic General |
| Ten | 700,000 | 12 famed handguards, 16 philosophies of elegance, two mudra of the Malefic General, crown of insight |
Here’s where to find all of the above materials:
- Old, Kageuchi, and famed handguards -these items drop from the Nobushi enemies across Inazuma
- Elegance talent books – farm these in the Violet Court domain in Inazuma on Tuesday, Friday, and Sundays
- Mudra of the Malefic General – you can get these as a reward for the Raiden Shogun boss fight in Inazuma. If you don’t get the right drop, you can transform them at an alchemy station
Talent priority
When you’re choosing which of Ayato’s skills to prioritize, level them up in this order.
- Elemental skill > elemental burst > normal attack
And that’s everything we have on Genshin Impact’s Ayato. Make sure you check out our picks for the best mobile RPGs if you’re after other games like Genshin Impact. Then, take a look at our Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail codes.
