The best Mualani build in Genshin Impact can help you turn this surfing Natlander into a pure powerhouse of shark bites and chilled, but incredibly damaging, attacks. As the first Natlan five-star character we’re getting, she’s going to have to do well to stand out against the powerhouses of Fontaine, but she just might manage it.
Mualani is at her best when riding on her Sharky Surfboard and moving through enemies before biting them for big damage. She’s not about hitting often, she’s about hitting hard. If that sounds like fun to you, then let’s get stuck into the Mualani build guide.
The best Mualani build
Mualani’s main playstyle is based around using her elemental skill to hop on her shark-like surfboard, and then her normal attacks to bite her opponents and deal hydro damage to them. She’s not an especially fast character when it comes to the speed of her attacks, which means she can be very strong when utilising the Vape reaction.
You can also boost her damage by hitting enemies while on her surfboard, which you need to do three times to max the boost. Her elemental burst is an AoE attack that deals a big chunk of damage in a single hit, but her skill is where most of her power comes from.
- Weapon: Surf’s Up or Sacrificial Jade
Mualani is going to want to use her signature five-star weapon, which is Surf’s Up. Surf’s Up gives her some extra crit damage, boosts her HP, and also grants an increase to normal attack damage after using her elemental skill. These are, unsurprisingly, all good things for Mualani, as the weapon is literally made for her.
In terms of four-star options, your best bet is the Sacrificial Jade. This is a battle pass weapon that boosts crit rate, which can allow you to go over 100% crit rate—more on that below, but it mostly gives a boost to both HP and elemental mastery when off-field for more than five seconds, and lasts for ten seconds.
- Artifacts: Obsidian Codex (four-pieces equipped)
Mualani is a Natlan character, and at least the first three of them are all about the Nightsoul mechanic, which means you’ll want the Obsidian Codex artifact set for her. That’s because this grants a damage boost when in the Nightsoul’s Blessing state, and also grants a huge crit rate boost of 40% when consuming one point of Nightsoul.
As Mualani is a damage-dealing HP-scaler, you’re going to want a lot of HP on her and as much crit rate and crit damage as you can get. However, it’s worth noting that not only does Mualani get bonus crit rate as she levels up, but this artifact set also grants her crit rate, which means you’re highly likely to only want crit damage stats on her artifacts. Here's what I recommend for her artifact primary stats:
| Sands of Eon | HP |
| Goblet of Eonothem | Hydro damage bonus |
| Circlet of Logos | Crit damage |
Mualani abilities and constellations
Now then, let’s look at Mualani’s abilities and constellations in detail, with thanks to Honey Impact for the information.
| Normal attack | Performs up to three attacks that deal hydro damage. |
| Charged attack | Consumes a certain amount of stamina to smack a Pufferball into the air that deals AoE hydro damage upon landing. |
| Plunging attack | Gathers the power of hydro and plunges towards the ground from mid-air, damaging all opponents in her path. Deals AoE hydro damage upon impact with the ground. |
| Surfshark Wavebreaker | Combining her mastery of speed and the waves and water, Mualani can surf anytime, anywhere. After using this skill, Mualani will gain 60 Nightsoul points and enter the Nightsoul's Blessing state. |
| Nightsoul's Blessing: Mualani | Continuously consume Nightsoul points. When they are depleted or when the skill is used again, Mualani's Nightsoul's Blessing will end. The state itself has the following traits: Mualani mounts her Sharky Surfboard, increasing Mualani's movement speed and interruption resistance. Mualani can move on water and liquid Phlogiston while this state is active, and she will take no damage from the latter. Normal attacks will be converted to Sharky's Bites, dealing Nightsoul-aligned hydro damage based on Mualani's max HP. Sharky's Bites can be used in mid-air. Damage dealt this way is considered normal attack damage. When she makes contact with opponents in this state, Mualani applies "Marked as Prey" to them and gains one Wave Momentum stack. Max three stacks. One stack can be gained from the same opponent every 0.7s. |
| Wave Momentum and Marked as Prey | When Mualani uses Sharky's Bite, her damage dealt increases based on Wave Momentum stacks. When she has three stacks, a normal attack will use Sharky's Surging Bite instead, further increasing her damage and removing all her stacks afterward. When Sharky's Bites hit opponents Marked as Prey, that mark is removed, and she will fire Shark Missiles at up to five nearby opponents Marked as Prey, dealing damage to them equal to this Sharky's Bite instance and clearing their Marks. If more than one opponent is the target of Sharky's Bite and Shark Missiles, the damage dealt will decrease, with 28% being the maximum decrease when at least three opponents are targeted. |
| Boomsharka-laka | Fires a Super Shark Missile that can track opponents, dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE hydro damage based on Mualani's max HP. |
| The Trick Is to Keep Smiling! | While in an area with Phlogiston Mechanics within Natlan, 15 Phlogiston will be restored when interacting with some harvestable items. Additionally, the location of nearby resources unique to Natlan will appear on your mini-map. |
| Night Realm's Gift: Crests and Troughs | After her Nightsoul points are depleted, Mualani will switch to consuming Phlogiston to maintain her Nightsoul's Blessing. While in an area with Phlogiston Mechanics within Natlan, she can use Nightsoul Transmission: Mualani. When the active character is currently sprinting, swimming, in a movement mode caused by certain Talents, or at a certain height in the air, the following will trigger when switching to Mualani: Mualani will enter the Nightsoul's Blessing state and gain 40 Nightsoul points. Nightsoul Transmission can be triggered once every 10 second by your own team. Additionally, Mualani's Nightsoul point or Phlogiston consumption while moving on water and Liquid Phlogiston during Nightsoul's Blessing is decreased by 75% while in Natlan, and her Nightsoul point consumption is decreased by 35% while doing the same outside Natlan. |
| Heat-Resistant Freshwater Floater | When Sharky's Surging Bite hits an opponent, a Puffer will be generated nearby. Mualani will restore 20 Nightsoul points when she picks up a Puffer. Only two such Puffers can be created in this way during a single instance of being in Nightsoul's Blessing. |
| Natlan's Greatest Guide | When a nearby party member triggers a Nightsoul Burst, Mualani will gain one stack of Wavechaser's Exploits, which lasts for 20 seconds. Max three stacks. When she uses Stormburst Shot, Mualani will clear all Wavechaser's Exploits stacks and increase the damage of this Stormburst Shot by 15%/30%/45% of her max HP based on the number of stacks cleared. |
| The Leisurely "Meztli"... | The damage 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. This instance of increased damage is subject to the diminishing damage rules of Surfshark Wavebreaker. In addition, while out of combat, Mualani's Nightsoul's Blessing state consumes 30% less Phlogiston and Nightsoul points. |
| Mualani, Going All Out! | Mualani gains two of Surfshark Wavebreaker's Wave Momentum stacks when she enters Nightsoul's Blessing. She will gain one stack when obtaining a Puffer. In addition, whenever Mualani obtains two Puffers within a single instance of the Nightsoul's Blessing state, she will recover an additional 12 Nightsoul points over two seconds. This effect requires the Passive Talent "Heat-Resistant Freshwater Puffer" to be unlocked first. |
| Surfing Atop Joyous Seas | Increases the level of Surfshark Wavebreaker by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Sharky Eats Puffies | Mualani regenerates eight energy when obtaining a Puffer. Must first unlock the Passive Talent "Heat-Resistant Freshwater Puffer." Additionally, Stormburst Shot deals 75% increased damage. |
| Same Style of Surfboard on Sale! | Increases the level of Stormburst Shot by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Spirit of the Springs' People | The damage increase from the Constellation "The Leisurely 'Meztli'..." is no longer limited to being triggered once every Nightsoul's Blessing. |
Mualani ascension materials
If you want to get Mualani to her max level, then you’re going to need a lot of materials. What materials? Well, here you go:
- Varunada Lazurite (one Sliver, six Gemstones, nine Fragments, nine Chunks)
- 18 Sentry’s Wooden Whistle
- 30 Warrior’s Metal Whistle
- 36 Saurian-Crowned Warrior’s Golden Whistle
- 46 Mark of the Binding Blessing
- 168 Sprayfeather Gill
- 420,000 Mora
You can get Varunada Lazurite pieces by beating up any hydro boss, with some good options being the Hydro Hypostasis, Hydro Tulpa, and Oceanid. For the Whistles, you need to make sure to take out a new enemy called Sauroform Tribal Warriors in Natlan. For Mark of the Binding Blessing, you’ll need to tackle the new Goldflame Qucusaur Tyrant boss. Lastly, the Sprayfeather Gill items can be found in the world in Toyac Springs and near the People of the Springs.
