Nina Forneloza 
A well-built Mualani in Genshin Impact can land nuke damage that is on another level, but fans can only achieve this once she gets her hands on the best artifacts and weapon build, and the right team composition.
The Pyro nation has just been revealed, and it’s starting out very strong with the debut of Mualani. Mualani belongs to the first batch of characters released in the first update of the Natlan cycle. She isn’t just another face from the People of Springs tribe, though. Mualani is positioned to be one of Genshin Impact’s best guides as a five-star Hydro Catalyst powerhouse from Natlan.
Despite her fun and sweet personality, Mualani and her shark don’t mess around when it comes to taking down enemies. With the right mix of artifacts and weapons, and a team that can really mesh with her kit, she can easily become one of the top DPS characters players.
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How to play Mualani in Genshin Impact
Mualani is played solely as an off-field hypercarry DPS, relying on allies to set up Vaporize, which entails applying Hydro to Pyro aura. vHer elemental skill is essentially the heart of her kit.
Casting her elemental skill allows her to enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing state and automatically grants her Nightsoul points, which she consumes over time. While surfing around the area, she can receive a maximum of three wave momentum stacks. She also gains the ability to inflict damage through normal attack, via Sharky’s Bite.
The more wave momentum stacks she has, the more damage enemies will receive from her. Building up all three stacks triggers Sharky’s Surging Bite, which deals a lot more damage. There is a huge gap between the damage of this attack and the former. Because of this, it’s best to only use normal attacks upon reaching the third stack to get the highest damage possible
On the flip side, Mualani’s ultimate unleashes a Super Shark Missile that travels towards the targets, dealing Hydro damage.
All of Mualani’s damage are based on her maximum HP, so the best build strategy is to give her as much HP as possible. It’s also worth making sure that she has a decent crit ratio and hydro damage bonus. With that in mind, it is important to invest materials in her and reach level 90, just as with other HP-scaling characters
Luckily, she boasts one of the highest base HP, and she could gather lots of crit rate through her ascension stats and signature artifacts sets alone.
All the best Mualani artifacts builds and sets
The best artifacts sets that players can equip for Mualani are Obsidian Codex, and Heart of Depth.
As with most characters in Genshin Impact, there’s some flexibility when it comes to what the best build is for Mualani. She’s a devastating DPS, but some players might opt for her in a different niche.
Four-piece Obsidian Codex
Farming Natlan’s newest artifact set is definitely worth it for Mualani, and the same goes for other damage dealers from the region. Mualani receives a universal damage buff when she’s in the Nightsoul’s Blessing state while on the field, along with a 40% crit rate increase.
Due to the nature of her kit, this effect has minimal downtime. Thanks to this artifact bonus and Mualani’s crit rate ascension stats, players can focus on stacking HP% and crit damage.
Four-piece Heart of Depth
A good alternative to Obsidian Codex for Mualani is the Heart of Depth, which is often used when building out Hydro characters. Mualani benefits from both the Hydro damage bonus and the increased normal attack damage, both of which complement her kit.
Obsidian Codex still outshines Heart of Depth by a long shot, the latter is a solid option while farming for the Natlan set.
The Best Weapons for Mualani in Genshin Impact
Surf’s Up, Tome of the Eternal Flow, The Widsith, and Ring of Yaxche are Mualani’s best options when it comes to weapons.
On name alone, it’s easy enough to pick out which of these is Mualani’s ideal weapon.
Surf’s Up (5-star)
Surf’s Up is Mualani’s signature weapon, offering her everything she needs to deal damage and standing as the centerpiece of any optimized build for her. First off, this catalyst weapon increases her maximum HP, which is the source of her damage, and it grants a whopping 88% crit damage. It also provides an additional normal attack damage boost that makes Sharky’s bites hit even harder.
Tome of the Eternal Flow (5-star)
Tome of the Eternal Flow is the second-best option for weapons. Although it boosts charged attack damage, which Mualani rarely needs, this weapon offers a boost to her maximum HP and provides the same amount of crit damage as her signature weapon.
The Widsith (4-star)
Widsith is generally one of the best catalyst weapons to pick up, especially upon unlocking max refinement. When Mualani enters the field, she gains a random theme song that can provide ATK, elemental damage, or elemental mastery. ATK doesn’t offer much value since she’s a pure HP scaler, but she certainly makes use of the other theme song effects and the high amount of Crit DMG this weapon provides.
Ring of Yaxche (4-star)
While crit values are absent in Ring of Yaxche, it’s not too difficult to work around this weapon. It allows her to achieve a high amount of HP and provides an increase in normal attack damage based on the HP she has.
Best team compositions for Mualani in Genshin Impact
With a Hydro hypercarry build on Mualani, the best team compositions are those that proc Vaporize reactions. Because of that, it’s imperative to build a team centered around this reaction.
Given Mualani’s less frequent Hydro application, she doesn’t have any issues with the game’s lack of decent Pyro applicators. And since she scales with HP, there’s no need to include characters that boost ATK like Bennett. Unfortunately, there isn’t a character yet that can increase Mualani’s HP.
Best BurnVape team composition for Mualani – Mualani, Dehya, Emilie and Zhongli
Dehya provides ample Pyro application through her elemental skill, enough for Mualani to consistently trigger vaporize with her attacks. Since Dehya’s skill damage won’t suffice, players can slot in Emilie as a Dendro off-field applicator, and unit that triggers burning. Burning reaction helps apply the Pyro aura and simultaneously increases Emilie’s damage, making it a win-win for both characters. Round out the team by adding Zhongli, who will act as the team’s shielder and resistance shredder.
Best Vaporize hypercarry team – Mualani, Xiangling, Kazuha and Zhongli
Mualani could also opt for a more straightforward team consisting of a Pyro applicator and sub-DPS, an Anemo support, and a shielder.
Xiangling is among the top candidates for vape teams. While many Genshin Impact fans are still complaining about her underwhelming Pyro application, she performs really well in this team composition. The only caveat is that she needs to have around 200% to 250% to trigger the Vaporize reaction with enough consistency, due to the lack of other pyro members and batteries. Meanwhile, Kazuha becomes the team’s anemo unit who can double swirl pyro and hydro elements, and his ability to round up opponents also helps Mualani clear waves of enemies instantly. Finally, complete the team by slotting in Zhongli which solves Mualani’s lack of self-sustain.
Double Hydro+BurnVape – Mualani, Furina, Xiangling, and Baizhu
As mentioned above, there isn’t yet a character that buffs HP scaling characters in the same way Bennett buffs ATK-scaling units. However, Mualani can benefit from including another Hydro character in the team to take advantage of the Hydro resistance buff, which provides additional HP to all units. Furina, the Hydro Archon, is the best option for this role. She is an HP-scaling support and sub-DPS that also offers teamwide buffs and off-field hydro damage.
Furina has better Hydro application than Mualani, so she is likely to be the one triggering vaporize instead of her. Hence, players will need a more reliable source of Pyro application, which is Burning. Burnvape can be achieved by including Xiangling and Baizhu, who can apply their respective elements while off the field. Since Furina’s fanfare buffs needs healing to keep her buff going for the maximum duration, she will also benefit from Baizhu’s heal.
