Genshin Impact Mualani Build Guide | Best Weapons, Artifacts, Teams

Natlan has finally arrived in Genshin Impact with the launch of Version 5.0 and the first new limited 5-star from the Nation of War is the bubbly and energetic Mualani. As a member of the People of the Springs, Mualani is well-versed in living by the ocean, something which has translated into her carefree and fun-loving personality. That trait also carries over to her kit which features a massive focus on mobility – similar to Natlan’s other starting characters, Kinich and Kachina – where Mualani can ride her goofy Sharky Surfboard to race around the map and deal massive amounts of damage to her opponents. 

Here’s how to make the best Mualani build in Genshin Impact. This easy-to-follow guide will include a deep dive into her kit and how her Nightsoul’s Blessing state works, which order you should level her talents, what weapons and artifacts you should run on her, and what team compositions she works best in. 

If you’d like to read some more Genshin Impact guides, check out our other articles here on KeenGamer:

1. Genshin Impact Version 5.0 Livestream Overview
2. Genshin Impact Emilie Build Guide
3. Genshin Impact Chevreuse Build Guide
4. Genshin Impact Furina Build Guide
5. Genshin Impact: Ayamiya (Yoimiya + Ayaka) Genius Invokation TCG Deck Guide

Mualani and Kachina

Mualani Release Date and Banner Availability

Before we go any further, let’s first go over when Mualani’s limited banner goes live and how long you’ll have to pull on her in Genshin Impact Version 5.0. Mualani is the first featured 5-star character of Natlan and she’s sharing the spotlight with a fan favourite in the form of Kaedehara Kazuha. 

Mualani’s Limited Character Event Wish, “Sharktacular Surfari”, begins on August 28th with the start of Genshin Impact Version 5.0 and will last until September 17th. During tperiodriod, any 5-star you manage to pull on this banner has a 50% chance of being Mualani, with that chance becoming 100% if you get a Standard Banner 5-star instead of Mualani. On both of the phase 1 banners, Bennett, Xinyan, and the new Geo unit Kachina will be on rate-up as featured 4-star characters.

If you don’t get lucky enough to pull Mualani during thisperiodd, you will have to wait until she gets a rerun later in Genshin’s lifespan to try again. Characters tend to rerun about 6 months after their initial debut but that isn’t set in stone so, if you want Mualani as soon as possible, be sure to explore Natlan to the fullest to get all the Primogems you can. 

Sharktacular Surfari

Mualani Materials

• Sprayfeather Gill x168 (Natlan Local Speciality)
• Sentry’s Wooden Whistle x18 / Warrior’s Metal Whistle x30 / Saurian-Crowned Warrior’s Golden Whistle x36 (Enemy Drops)
• Mark of the Binding Blessing x46 (World Boss Material)
• Varunda Lazurite Sliver / Varunda Lazurite Fragment x9 / Varunda Lazurite Chunk x9 / Varunda Lazurite Gemstone x6 (Elemental Gemstones)
• 420k Mora + 416 Hero’s Wit EXP Books

A new region means a new batch of local specialities to collect and, as our first Natlan character, Mualani has the honour of introducing us to Sprayfeather Gills. This special kind of feather-shaped plant mainly grows by the seaside and can be found in abundance by Mualani’s home, the People of the Springs. The best way to track down Sprayfeather Gill plants is to use Mualani’s The Trick is to Keep Smiling! Passive Talent which highlights nearby Natlan specialities on the mini-map. 

The Whistles are another new type of material from Natlan. This time, they’re a new type of enemy material dropped by the Sauroform Tribal Warrior faction of opponents. These enemies don the visage of Natlan’s famed saurians and fight with brutal efficiency. You’ll find them all across the lands of Natlan but, if you want to track them down easier, make sure to use the Adventure’s Handbook. 

Mualani’s last major material is the Mark of Binding Blessing, a new World Boss material which drops from successfully hunting the Qucusaur Tyrant. One of two new Natlan World Bosses, the Qucusaur Tyrant is an imposing flying saurian who fights with the power of Pyro. If you want to ensure that your grind for Mualani’s materials goes as smoothly as possible, make sure to ascend to World Level 9 before fighting the Tyrant as that will ensure that each run drops 3 Marks of Binding Blessing. 

Splish-Splash Wavechaser

Genshin Impact Mualani Kit Overview

Normal Attack: Cooling Treatment

Mualani’s Normal Attack combo is Cooling Treatment, a cute and bubbly set of attacks which match her personality perfectly. This attack is a three-hit combo which each deal Hydro DMG, with her Charged Attack allowing her to perform a netball-esque punt with a Pufferball to deal AoE Hydro DMG. 

Despite being a Normal Attack-focused DPS, the majority of Mualani’s damage will come from her Skill’s enhanced Normal Attacks, which actually replace her regular Normal Attack combo. As such, her regular combos mean very little in the grand scheme of things, aside from looking very charming and giving her access to instant Hydro application as a Catalyst character. 

Cooling Treatment

Elemental Skill: Surfshark Wavebreaker

Mualani’s Elemental Skill, Surfshark Wavebreaker, is the most interesting part of her entire kit as it serves as an offensive ability as well as a mobility tool. Combining her mastery of speed and the water and waves, Mualani will summon her Shark Surfboard to surf anytime, anywhere. After using this skill, Mualani will gain 60 Nightsoul points and enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing state. 

While under the Nightsoul’s Blessing state, Mualani will continually consume Nightsoul points to continue riding her Sharky Surfboard. During this time, her Movement SPD is greatly increased, as is her interruption resistance, and she can move over water and liquid Phlogiston without taking damage. While on Sharky, all of Mualani’s Normal Attacks will be converted to Sharky’s Bites, which deal Nightsoul-aligned Hydro DMG based on Mualani’s Max HP (this damage is still considered as Normal Attack DMG). 

Additionally, whenever Mualani makes contact with a target in this state, she applies “Marked as Prey” to them and gains 1 Wave Momentum stack. These stacks increase the damage of her Sharky’s Bite attacks and, at 3 stacks, her Normal Attack will use Sharky’s Surging Bite instead, further increasing her damage and removing all stacks after hitting an opponent. When Sharky’s Bite hits opponents Marked as Prey, the mark is removed and Mualani fires Shark Missiles at up to 5 nearby opponents.

As you can see, Mualani’s Skill is a lot to process but the long and short of it is this: you use her Skill to hop onto her Sharky Surfboard, increasing her Movement SPD and replacing her Normal Attacks with enhanced Sharky’s Bite attacks which scale of her Max HP until the Nightsoul Blessing state runs out. The damage from Sharky’s Bite is very impressive, especially when it is stacked with Marked as Prey, allowing Mualani to cut a unique place as a mobility-focused Hydro DPS, even with strong competition like Neuvillette. 

Surfshark Wavebreaker

Elemental Burst: Boomsharka-laka

Mualani’s final major ability is her Elemental Burst, the creatively named Boomsharka-laka. Compared to her Elemental Skill, this is actually a fairly simple ability which just deals a lot of damage. When cast, Mualani will fire off a Super Shark Missile that tracks nearby opponents, dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE Hydro DMG based on Mualani’s Max HP. 

There honestly isn’t much else to this ability. It has some synergy with Mualani’s Passive Talents but, overall, it’s just a nice chunk of big damage which you can use while using her Elemental Skill. It has high damage, good scaling, and works well with the rest of her kit. Enough said. 

Boomsharka-laka Burst

Mualani’s Passive Talents

Mualani’s first passive Talent is The Trick to Keep Smiling! This Talent is available immediately when Mualani is Ascension Level 1 and it will reveal the location of any nearby unique Natlan resources on the mini-map. Additionally, while in an area with Phlogiston Mechanics within Natlan, 15 Phlogiston will be restored whenever you interact with certain harvestable items. Phlogiston is one of the resources used to keep Mualani on her sharky surfboard so this Talent gives you multiple potent bonuses for the price of a single Talent.

Meanwhile, her second passive Talent, Heat-Resistant Freshwater Floater, unlocks at Character Ascension Level 2. When Sharky’s Surging Bite hits an opponent, it will create a Puffer nearby. Mualani will restore 20 Nightsoul points when she picks up a Puffer. You can only create 2 such Puffers in this way during a single instance of the Nightsoul’s Blessing. Whether it is for damage or mobility purposes, your main goal when playing Mualani is to have very high uptime on her Skill and this Talent gives you a self-sustaining way to earn back Nightsoul points, making it a very valuable asset for her. 

Mualani’s final passive Talent unlocks at Character Ascension Level 4. Natlan’s Greatest Guide grants Mualani 1 stack of Wavechaser’s Exploits whenever a party member triggers Nightsoul Burst. Wavechaser’s Exploits lasts for 20s and has a max of 3 stacks. When she uses Boomsharka-laka, Mualani will clear all Wavechaser’s Exploits stacks and increase the DMG of this Boomsharka-laka by 15%/30%/45% of her Max HP based on the number of stacks cleared.

Friend to One and All

Lastly, like all of the current Natlan characters in Genshin Impact, Mualani has a special fourth Talent focused on Nightsoul. Night Realm’s Gift: Crests and Troughs lets Mualani switch to consuming Phlogiston to maintain her Nightsoul’s Blessing when she depletes all of her Nightsoul points. While moving across water and Liquid Phlogiston during Nightsoul’s Blessing, Mualani’s Nightsoul point consumption is reduced by 75% inside of Natlan and 35% outside of Natlan. 

Furthermore, while in an area with Phlogiston Mechanics within Natlan, Mualani can use Nightsoul Transmission: Mualani, the special switch in animation unique to her, Kinich, and Kachina as of 5.0. When the active character is currently sprinting, swimming, in a movement mode caused by certain Talents, or at a certain height in the air, Mualani will enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing state and gain 40 Nightsoul points when you trigger Transmission: Mualani. You can trigger Nightsoul Transmission once every 10s.

Onward, to the Horizon!

Mualani Talent Priority

1. Surfshark Wavebreaker (Elemental Skill)
2. Boomsharka-laka (Elemental Burst)
3. Cooling Treatment (Normal Attack)

Obviously, Mualani’s most important ability, her Elemental Skill, should take priority when it comes to levelling. Increasing the level of Surfshark Wavebreaker increases the damage of all aspects of the Skill – Sharky’s Bite base DMG, the extra damage from the Wave Momentum stacks, and the additional damage of Sharky’s Surging Bite. Considering that Mualani is a main DPS, you want her main form of offensive to be strong and consistent so, no matter what, focus on levelling her Elemental Skill first and foremost. 

After that, we recommend levelling up her Elemental Burst next. Boomsharka-laka might be simple but the damage increase from levelling it up is quite substantial, especially if you focus on increasing Mualani’s Max HP. And then, in last place, is Mualani’s Normal Attacks. All of Mualani’s main damage comes from her Elemental Skill, which replaces her Normal Attack string with a much better, much stronger series of attacks which are still able to benefit from Normal Attack buffs and bonuses. As such, there is very little reason to level her ordinary NAs. 

Chilling with the Capybara

Mualani Constellations

Get lucky enough to roll multiple copies of Mualani in Genshin Impact and duplicate copies of her will be converted into Stella Fortuna. You can use these rare resources to unlock Mualani’s Constellations, special bonus abilities and passive effects which can drastically alter her kit. As a limited unit, Mualani’s Constellations are a lot harder to get a hold of than 4-star or standard 5-stars. 

1. The Leisurely ‘Meztil’…: The DMG dealt by the first Sharky’s Surging Bite after Mualani enters Nightsoul’s Blessing and the Shark Missiles it triggers is increased by 66% of Mualani’s Max HP. In addition, while out of combat, Mualani’s Nightsoul’s Blessing state consumes 30% less Phlogiston and Nightsoul points.
2. Mualani, Going All Out!: Mualani gains 2 of Surfshark Wavebreaker’s Wave Momentum stacks when she enters Nightsoul’s Blessing state and will gain 1 additional stack when obtaining a Puffer. In addition, whenever Mualani obtains 2 Puffers within a single instance of the Nightsoul’s Blessing state, she will recover an additional 12 Nightsoul points over 2s.
3. Surfing Atop Joyous Seas: Increases the level of Surfshark Wavebreaker by 3.
4. Sharky Eats Puffies: Mualani regenerates 8 Energy when obtaining a Puffer. Additionally, Boomsharka-laka deals 75% increased DMG.
5. Same Style of Surfboard on Sale!: Increases the level of Boomsharka-larka by 3.
6. Spirit of the Springs’ People: The DMG increase from the Constellation “The Leisurely ‘Meztli’…” is no longer limited to being triggered once every Nightsoul’s Blessing.

Mualani’s C1 is a very nice and cheap pick for those wanting to increase her viability both inside and outside of combat. The extra Sharky’s Bite damage is very nice and will make combat all the easier, but the real prize is the reduced Nightsoul and Phlogiston cost while riding the Sharky Surfboard, allowing you to enjoy her unique traversal effect for much longer. 

Ride the Cool Ocean Waves

What is Mualani’s Best Weapon in Genshin Impact?

Best in Slot: Surf’s Up

While Mualani’s Limited Character Wish is ongoing, her best-in-slot Catalyst, Surf’s Up, will be available to pull on the Limited Weapon Wish. Surf’s Up is honestly a really strong Catalyst for a large number of Catalyst main damage dealers, with some impressive stat bonuses and a rather generous main effect which works well on everyone from Neuvillette to Wriothesley. On Mualani, though, it easily becomes her best Catalyst, massively improving her damage potential in several ways. 

At level 80, Surf’s Up will provide the wearer with 542 ATK as well as 88.2% CRIT DMG. Aqua Remembrance will then additionally increase the wearer’s Max HP by 20% on top of extra ATK and CRIT DMG. For the 14s after using an Elemental Skill, gain 4 Scorching Summer stacks for 15s. Each stack increases Normal Attack DMG by 12% and, for the duration of the effect you lose 1 stack after a Normal Attack hits an opponent. Additionally, once every 1.5s, you can gain 1 extra stack after triggering a Vaporize reaction on an opponent.

While this weapon’s main affix can appear a bit daunting at first, it’s essentially just a way to increase Mualani’s damage potential even further. As an HP-scaling main DPS, Mualani will greatly benefit from both the extra CRIT DMG and the bonus HP provided by Aqua Remembrance, greatly improving her viability. Furthermore, she’ll be able to benefit massively from the Scorching Summer stack’s extra Normal Attack DMG as that’s her main source of DPS, especially when using her Skill. Put her in a Vaporize team and she’ll become even better thanks to the extra stack generation, giving Mualani a nice incentive for team compositions. 

Surf’s Up, Mualani’s Best in Slot

Best 4-Star Weapons for Mualani

Aside from Surf’s Up, Mualani has a litany of other potent Catalysts at her disposal if you don’t have the Primogems to spend on getting her signature weapon. HP-scaling main damage dealers are exceedingly common in the Catalyst class and Mualani has a bunch of other options to choose from when it comes to 4-star weapons. We won’t be recommending any 5-star Catalyst but feel free to give them a spin on Mualani as more than a few of them will work excellently on her.

If you’re looking for a strong 4-star weapon option for Mualani in Genshin Impact, we recommend running one of the following on her:

• Ring of Yaxche (Craftable Natlan Catalyst): Using an Elemental Skill grants the Jade-Forged Crown effect: Every 1,000 Max HP will increase the Normal Attack DMG dealt by the equipping character by 0.6% for 10s. This can increase Normal Attack DMG by a maximum of 16%.
• Sacrificial Jade (Gacha Catalyst): When not on the field for more than 5s, Max HP will be increased by 32% and Elemental Mastery will be increased by 40. After the wielder has been on the field for 10s, this effect will be cancelled. 
• Ash-Graven Drinking Horn (5.0 Event Catalyst): When an attack hits an opponent, deal AoE DMG equal to 40% of Max HP at the target location. You can trigger this effect every 15s.

Of the available options, the Ring of Yaxche is arguably the best for most players. As a crafted weapon, it will be relatively easy to get the Ring of Yaxche to R5, greatly increasing the potency of its main effect which, in this instance, is the bonus Normal Attack DMG from the Jade-Forged Crown effect. Plus, all players who participated in the Welcome to Natlan web event will get one copy of this Catalyst for free. The Ring of Yaxche is cheap to build, easy to obtain, and synergises perfectly with Mualani’s kit, making it a must-have for all Genshin players.

However, if you’d prefer to try something else on Mualani, the Sacrificial Jade is another excellent choice. This gacha 4-star Catalyst will boost Mualani’s damage in two major ways, first by increasing her CRIT Rate and second by giving her an easy way to boost her Max HP, increasing her Elemental Skill and Burst damage considerably. Meanwhile, the Ash-Graven Drinking Horn is a new event Catalyst from Version 5.0 which gives Mualani some more AoE capabilities. While weaker at base than either of the other two options, it will be easy to get to Refinement 5 and provides a chunky HP substat. 

Mualani’s Best 4-Star Weapons

What is Mualani’s Best Artifact Set in Genshin Impact?

As a Hydro DPS, Mualani has plenty of choices when it comes to artifact sets in Genshin Impact. Whether it is an old favourite or one of the newer artifact sets introduced in Natlan, Mualani has two major paths you can take her down depending on your personal preferences and willingness to grind out new pieces. The first doubles down on the benefits she receives from the Nightsoul’s Blessing state while the second is a more general buff to her Hydro DMG. 

The best artifact sets for Mualani in Genshin Impact are:

• 4pc Obsidian Codex: While the equipping character is in Nightsoul’s Blessing and is on the field, their DMG dealt is increased by 15%. After the equipping character consumes 1 Nightsoul point while on the fielthe d, CRIT Rate increases by 40% for 6s. This effect can trigger once every second.
• 4pc Heart of Depths: Hydro DMG Bonus +15%. After using Elemental Skill, increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 30% for 15s.

Obsidian Codex is one of two new artifact sets introduced in Version 5.0 and it focuses entirely on increasing the viability of characters who can benefit from the Nightsoul’s Blessing state which, as of Natlan’s launch, includes Mualani, Kinich, and Kachina. Mualani will enter the Blessing state whenever she pops her Elemental Skill, giving her a free 15% DMG boost for simply activating her best ability. In addition, she will continually consume Nigthsoul points by riding on her surfboard, giving her 40% free CRIT Rate on top of the damage. This is easily the best set for Mualani.

If you want something to run on Mualani while grinding out a perfect set of Obsidian Codex, you can also fall back on the tried and trusted 4pc Heart of Depths set. This ancient Hydro set is still viable today on certain characters and, fortunately, Mualani is one of them. The extra Hydro DMG is very nice as all of her damage is pure Hydro, and her Sharky’s Bite attacks will be able to benefit from the extra Normal Attack DMG.

Mualani’s Best Artifact Sets

Most Important Stats for Mualani

Artifact set choice is only the first step to fully developing your Mualani build in Genshin Impact. Next comes selecting the right individual artifact pieces with the most beneficial main and substats. As a main DPS who scales primarily off of HP, Mualani’s most valuable stats are mercifully simple. You’ll mainly want to look for sets with HP%, CRIT DMG, and CRIT Rate, with a bit of Elemental Mastery sprinkled in if you’re going to be doing a lot of Reactions with her. 

Here are the best main stats you should be looking for on Mualani’s artifacts:

• Hourglass (Sands): HP%
• Goblet: Hydro DMG Bonus
• Circlet: CRIT DMG / CRIT Rate

Then, here are the main four substats you’ll want to get on her artifacts: 

1. HP%
2. CRIT DMG
3. CRIT Rate
4. Elemental Mastery / Energy Recharge

Mualani of the People of the Springs

Mualani’s Best Teams in Genshin Impact

Premium Vaporize Mualani Team

Not only is Vaporize one of the strongest Elemental Reactions in the game but Vape specifically grants Mualani additional Scorching Summer stacks if she’s running her signature weapon. As such, a Vape composition is simply the best choice if you want your Mualani to hit those big numbers, especially if you have her sig. As for her team members, Mualani only needs one reliable Pyro character. You can use the other two spots for powerful supports and debuffers. 

With that in mind, the best Mualani Vaporize team composition in Genshin Impact includes Mualani, Kazuha, Zhongli, and a Pyro flex character of your choice. 

• Mualani (Surf’s Up) | 4pc Obsidian Codex
• Kazuha (Freedom-Sworn) | 4pc Viridescent Verner 
• Zhongli (Staff of Homa) | 4pc Tenacity of the Millelith
• Xiangling (The Catch) | 4pc Emblem of Severed Fate / Dehya (Beacon of the Reed Sea) | 4pc Vourukasha’s Glow

On their own, Kazuha and Zhongli are already two of the best support characters in the game, with the former providing nigh unbreakable shields which provide Elemental RES down on nearby opponents and the latter being an excellent Energy battery with his own Elemental RES shred. Together, though, they become unstoppable, giving you two ways to lower enemy Elemental RES, allowing Mualani and her Vaporize Reactions to tear through any opponent. Anemo and Geo don’t react with each other, too.

As for your Pyro applicator, you have a few choices. Xiangling has historically been the best off-field Pyro unit and very little has changed, with her Burst being an amazing source of damage and Pyro application. Meanwhile, Dehya is actually a rather good choice as her off-field Pyro application is also pretty good, especially for a more mobile character like Mualani. At the end of the day, you just want to pick someone who can reliably trigger Pyro from off-field so that Mualani has the opening to cause chaos.

Premium Vaporize Mualani Team

F2P Mualani Team

For those looking for a more free-to-play friend team for Mualani, you’re in luck. Many F2P or low-cost characters work extremely well with Mualani on account of her HP-scaling nature and how easy she is to play: all you really need is a set of decent off-field units and you already have a great team. Fortunately, there are plenty of strong characters to pair with her if you’re a newer player or are looking to save your Primogems. 

This team composition still focuses on Vaporize, with a bit more of a focus on the Reaction itself to offset the loss of Zhongli and Kazuha. As such, the recommended F2P team for Mualani includes Barbara, Xiangling, and Sucrose. 

• Mualani (Ring of Yaxcha) | 4pc Obsidian Codex
• Barbara (Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayer) | 4pc Maiden Beloved
• Xiangling (The Catch) | 4pc Emblem of Severed Fate
• Sucrose (Mappa Mare) | 4pc Viridescent Venerer

Xiangling’s role in this team is the same as in the premium Vape team and she’ll be our main source of Pyro DMG for Mualani’s Reactions. Meanwhile, Barabra is here for two main reasons. Firstly, she’s a very reliable free healer who can get your entire team back to full health with a single Burst. Secondly, running her and Mualani in the same team triggers the Hydro Resonance bonus, increasing the entire team’s Max HP. This benefits both of your Hydro characters, increasing Mualani’s DMG while also boosting Barbara’s healing.

Lastly, Sucrose is here as a bit of a flex pick, with her main benefit in this team being grouping. Her Elemental Skill and Burst and great at grouping enemies together, allowing Mualani to quickly pick them off with her Sharky’s Bite attacks or Burst. Additionally, thanks to 4pc Viridescent, she can also reduce enemy Elemental RES of the element she Swirls which, in most cases, will be Hydro, improving Mualani’s damage even further. 

F2P Mualani Team

That was how to make the best Mualani build in Genshin Impact.