Natlan is finally here in Genshin Impact, and with it comes a new cast of characters each equipped with unique designs and playstyles. This guide will cover the Splish-Splash Wavechaser, Mualani. So let’s dive into her skills, weapons, and artifact sets and see if you should spend your Primogems on her.
Understanding Mualani in Genshin Impact
Mualani is a sweet and cheerful member of the Meztli tribe of Natlan. She enjoys a wide range of watersports such as surfing and swimming which makes it no surprise that she owns a Hydro Vision.
Don’t let her sunny disposition fool you though, she’s no pushover. In combat, Mualani is a catalyst-wielding Hydro DPS capable of outputting large amounts of Hydro damage, especially when Vaporized.
Mualani’s Stats
Similar to a lot of previous Hydro DPS characters, most of Mualani’s damage scales from her Max HP. She also gains Critical Rate from her Ascension stat, making it easier to balance her ratio as she levels up.
| Stat | Level 1 | Level 90 |
|---|---|---|
| Base HP | 1182 | 15,185 |
| Base DEF | 44 | 570 |
| Base ATK | 14 | 182 |
| Critical Rate | 5% | 24.2% |
To ascend to higher levels, Mualani will need materials dropped by the Goldflame Qucusaur Tyrant boss and Sauroform Tribal Warriors. You’ll also need to collect Sprayfeather Gills found near her home by the People of the Springs area. Mualani will also need the Teachings of Contention (available every Monday/Thursday/Sunday) to level up her skills.
Mualani’s Skills
Elemental Skill – Surfshark Wavebreaker: Her Elemental Skill has Mualani enter her Nightsoul’s Blessing state and ride her Sharky Surfboard. There are multiple effects while this is active:
- Mualani’s movement speed and interruption resistance are increased.
- Enemies that Mualani collides with will be “Marked as Prey”, and will give her 1 stack of Wave Momentum (for a maximum of 3 stacks). She can also gain one stack every 0.7 seconds.
- Mualani’s Normal Attacks are changed to Sharky’s Bite. If Mualani has 3 stacks of Wave Momentum, Sharky’s Bite will be enhanced to Sharky’s Surging Bite, dealing a greater amount of damage.
- If Mualani’s Sharky’s Bites hits any enemies “Marked as Prey”, she will launch Shark Missiles at marked enemies. “Marked as Prey” will be removed from all enemies hit by Sharky’s Bites or Shark Missiles.
- Upon unlocking Mualani’s first Ascension Passive, hitting an enemy with a Sharky’s Surging Bite will generate a Puffer nearby. This can happen up to two times. Picking up a Puffer will restore 20 Nightsoul Points for Mualani and extend the duration of her skill.
Mualani’s skill is also a great tool outside of combat as Mualani can use it to glide over water or Liquid Phlogiston, making some sections of exploration easier to traverse.
Elemental Burst – Boomsharka-laka: Mualani’s Elemental Burst is a straightforward nuke. She fires a tracking Super Shark Missile that deals a large splash of Nightsoul-aligned Hydro damage.
Boomsharka-laka’s damage can also increase once you’ve unlocked Mualani’s second Ascension Passive. If other allies trigger a Nightsoul Burst, Mualani will gain a stack of Wavechaser’s Exploits, up to a maximum of 3 stacks. The next Boomsharka-laka that Mualani casts will have its damage increased by 15% for every Wavechaser’s Exploits stacks she has, up to a maximum of 45% at three.
In combat, you’ll want to use her Elemental Skill to bump into enemies three times to gain the maximum amount of Wave Momentum stacks then Normal Attack with a Sharky’s Surging Bite. Her Elemental Burst should be used whenever it is available.
Since Mualani doesn’t attack frequently, having another party member that applies a good amount of Pyro from off-field, such as Xiangling or Thoma, will consistently allow Mualani to Vaporize her enemies, dealing more damage.
Mualani’s Recommended Artifact Sets
The best artifact set for Mualani would be the Obsidian Codex. This set can be obtained in Natlan, and while its effects can only apply to characters from that region due to their unique mechanics, it’s still a solid set for those looking to build them.
When two pieces are equipped, its effect increases the on-field character’s damage by 15% if they’re in their Nightsoul’s Blessing state. Equipping four pieces will additionally trigger an effect increases the character’s Crit Rate by 40% for 6 seconds when they consume a Nightsoul Point.
In regards to the artifact stats, you’ll want HP Percentage, Hydro Damage Bonus, and Crit Damage for the main stats, and the priority for substats is Crit Rate/DMG, then HP%, and finally, Elemental Mastery.
Mualani’s Recommended Weapons
Mualani will generally want weapons that provide HP% or Crit DMG. The weapon’s Base Attack won’t affect her damage that much due to her HP Scaling. Weapons with Crit Rate can be good on her. However, given that she gains Crit Rate as she levels up and that the Obisidian Codex set provides 40% Crit Rate, it can make it very easy to overcap on Crit Rate.
Surf’s Up (542 ATK, 88.2 Crit DMG at Level 90): Surf’s Up is Mualani’s signature weapon and as such, a lot of its stats and bonuses synergize really well with her. Not only does it provide a passive buff to her Max HP, it also increases her Normal Attack Damage when you use her Elemental Skill and trigger Vaporize reactions.
Ring of Yaxche (510 ATK, 41.3% HP at Level 90): The Ring of Yaxche is Natlan’s craftable catalyst weapon. It’s an accessible 4-star weapon option provided you have the corresponding billet needed to craft it. Ring of Yaxche buffs the equipping characters’ Normal Attack damage based on their Max HP when they use their Elemental Skill.
Mappa Mare (565 ATK, 110 Elemental Mastery at Level 90): The Mappa Mare is another accessible craftable weapon. It buffs the equipping character’s Elemental Damage Bonus when they trigger any elemental reaction. As Mualani mainly shines in a Vaporize team, the Elemental Mastery, and Elemental Damage Bonus will significantly improve her damage. As it is an older weapon, players may already have it at high refinement or have enough of the corresponding billet to craft it.
Mualani’s Recommended Teams in Genshin Impact
Mualani’s main role on a team is as an on-field Hydro DPS. Generally, you would want allies that apply a large amount of Pyro to enemies or that enable Burning so that Mualani can trigger Vaporize. So Pyro units such as Xiangling or Dehya are good choices while Dendro units like Nahida and Emelie are great for Burning teams.
An Anemo character that has Viridescent Venerer equipped such as Sucrose, Jean, and Kazuha would also greatly increase her damage once they shred an enemy’s Hydro resistance.
Other support Natlan characters equipped with the Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City artifact set would also greatly increase Mualani’s damage. Unfortunately, as of Version 5.0, Kachina is the only character that can use this set fully at the moment, but more options are sure to appear in the future.
Team A: Accessible Surfshark
This first team comprises of Mualani, Sucrose, Xiangling, and Kachina, and is a good, acessible option for those looking to obtain her but don’t have the latest 5-star characters. Mualani’s party members act to buff her in one way or another. If you have Kaedehara Kazuha or Jean, they are also solid options for this team.
The combat with this team will go as follows: First, apply Hydro on an enemy with Mualani, then attack with your Anemo character of choice to Swirl it. Then, switch over to Xiangling and bring out Guoba, and use her Ultimate, if it is available. To top things off, switch to Kachina, and use her Ultimate skill to activate her Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City set to buff Mualani, and there you have it. You have a solid formation ready to go.
Team B: Burning Waves
Burning is a great way to keep a Pyro aura on enemies so that Mualani can Vaporize as much as she wants. This composition mainly needs a Pyro and Dendro unit, with one flexible last slot. An example team can be Mualani, Xiangling, Nahida, and a flexible last slot.
Xiangling provides the Pyro application on enemies and Nahida provides a good amount of her own damage against Burning enemies thanks to her skill. You can put almost anyone in the last free slot, but it’s recommended to have a shielder or healer, such as Zhongli or Kuki Shinobu. This is a pretty flexible team, and you can swap out Nahida with Yaoyao if you do not have her.
Should You Get Mualani in Genshin Impact?
Mualani provides a fun mobile playstyle that’s also convenient for traversing through Natlan. She deals a great amount of damage with her Vaporize-centered attacks yet not too much damage that it feels game-breaking. She’s already a great unit, but she still has the potential to get even better with the release of more Natlan characters.
