Ayaka can easily carry you through most battle content in-game. Plus she deals good damage at every point of investment. Her teams and weapons are also very free-to-play friendly. But she can lose value if you already have Ganyu in your account. They’re both strong Cryo DPS units, so having either of them lessens the need to pull for the other. If you’re already satisfied with Ganyu as your Cryo DPS, there’s no need to pull for Ayaka. Still, they do excel in different situations. Note: This is based on meta only. If you like Ayaka regardless of her power level, don’t let this stop you from pulling her.
Ayaka vs. Ganyu
Ayaka and Ganyu are equal but for different reasons. Ayaka is stronger against single-target and a smaller AOE. These are situations where Ayaka’s burst can hit most or all of the opponents. With this, she simply deals more damage than Ganyu. In contrast, Ganyu excels against multiple enemies and larger opponents. The icicles of Ganyu’s burst cover a small AOE. So by grouping opponents, each icicle can hit multiple enemies at once – doing so significantly boosts her damage. Plus, against larger opponents, multiple icicles can automatically target and hit the enemy. This lets Ganyu maximize her burst’s damage. Additionally, Ganyu is more versatile. Her deployable burst gives her the option to become an off-field DPS – she can even be paired with Ayaka!
Ayaka Pros & Cons
Despite being one of the strongest DPS units in-game, Ayaka is still very well-balanced. Here’s a summarized list of her relevant strengths and weaknesses.
Ayaka Strengths
Supports are very important. Being able to take advantage of supports significantly increases the value and damage ceiling of characters – this is especially true for Ayaka. Ayaka’s teams have continuously been upgraded even after her release. These upgrades are namely Kokomi and Shenhe. They’re limited 5-star supports that can be considered direct buffs to Ayaka.
Kokomi is the premium Hydro unit for freeze teams. She allows for a 100% freeze and buffing uptime. This makes Ayaka feel more comfortable to play while further buffing her damage. Shenhe is the premium Cryo support unit. She’s a niche unit specifically made for Cryo DPS characters. Her multiple buffs and Cryo resistance shred significantly buffs Ayaka’s damage.
Ayaka’s playstyle is very straightforward. Most of her damage comes from her burst, so she uses it as often as possible. With enough Energy Recharge, Ayaka can easily charge her burst by casting her skill and teammates’ skills to generate energy particles. During her burst’s cooldown, a few normal and charged attacks are also used to deal extra damage. Freeze teams are composed of 2 Cryo units, 1 Hydro unit, and 1 Anemo unit. Ayaka’s freeze teams can make use of most characters to fill these slots. She doesn’t need any specific unit to deal good damage. Of course, some units will perform better than others – but she’s perfectly functional without them. For instance, a team with Kaeya, Barbara, and Anemo traveler is accessible to all players. This isn’t Ayaka’s best team, but it works. This makes her teams very free-to-play friendly. Ayaka’s best 4-star weapon is Amenoma Kageuchi. This is an Inazuma craftable weapon that any player can get from accomplishing a World Quest. It’s a strong tailor-made weapon that synergizes well with Ayaka. At higher refinements, it can effectively let Ayaka run zero Energy Recharge. This lets you focus on more damaging artifact stats like CRIT damage and ATK. Plus Amenoma Kageuchi is a very versatile weapon that works with a lot of characters – like Kaeya and Jean. Ayaka is already great at C0, but she does have strong early constellations that significantly buff her – like her C2. C2 – creates 2 additional smaller versions of her burst. Each deal 20% of her burst’s damage. This is a great quality-of-life and damage buff. It increases her AOE thus allowing her burst to hit more opponents. Since Ayaka’s burst is prone to missing enemies, C2 easily solves this problem. This constellation is then followed by two equally strong constellations – her C3 and C4. C3 – increases her elemental burst talent by 3. This directly buffs Ayaka’s main source of damage. C4 – when her burst hits an opponent, C4 decreases their DEF by 30% for 6s. This is a massive damage buff that benefits both Ayaka and her teammates. These are among the strongest constellations in-game. Of course, they’re never needed — but they’re notable for players that intend to pull for constellations.
Ayaka Weaknesses
Ayaka’s elemental burst deals most of her damage. Because of this, missing an opponent or failing to hit all opponents is a sizable damage loss. But this problem can be solved by grouping and keeping opponents frozen. Still, this makes Ayaka unfavorable against opponents that tend to move a lot, can’t be frozen, or can’t be grouped – like Rifthounds, Specters, and Bosses. There isn’t a direct way to solve this weakness. Learning enemy attack patterns can help you determine when and where to cast her burst, but it still depends on RNG. Ayaka has an expensive 80-energy cost burst. She does generate a lot of energy particles, but she still needs energy management to maximize burst uptime. This means that you have to build enough Energy Recharge and properly funnel energy particles. Generally, Ayaka’s energy requirements range from 100% to 140% Energy Recharge.
Are Ayaka’s Constellations Worth Pulling?
Unless you’re already content with your characters, pulling for other 5-star characters is better than her constellations. There’s no content in-game that will every require you to pull 5-star constellations. And although Ayaka has strong constellations from C2 onwards, her C1 is very insignificant. Because of this, only pull for her constellations if you have enough Primogems to guarantee them. Still, Ayaka has stronger constellations compared to other units. A C4 Ayaka can outperform most C6 5-star characters in the game. So if you do intend to pull for constellations, hers are among the stronger options. To help you decide which Ayaka constellations to pull, here’s a closer look at each one.
C1: Snowswept Sakura
When dealing Cryo charged or normal attacks, Ayaka has a 50% chance of decreasing her elemental skill cooldown. In all of her rotations, this cooldown reduction isn’t significant enough to increase her skill casts. There aren’t any rotation differences between a C0 and C1 Ayaka – pulling for this constellation alone is never recommended. Instead, it’s more recommended to pull for C2 if you already have C1.
C2: Blizzard Blade Seki no To
Ayaka’s burst unleashes two smaller storms that each deal 20% damage of the original storm. This is a good constellation that solves the common issue of Ayaka’s burst missing the opponents. This is especially great against AOE and larger opponents. Depending on how often the smaller storms hit, this is a big damage gain.
C3: Frostbloom Kamifubuki
Increases her elemental burst talent by 3. Most of Ayaka’s damage comes from her burst, and this constellation further buffs her burst multipliers. It’s basically just a good damage boost.
C4: Ebb and Flow
Opponents damaged by Ayaka’s burst will have their burst decreased by 30% DEF for 6s. This is a big and unconditional damage buff. Plus, the DEF shred benefits both Ayaka and her teammates – it’s a massive team DPS boost. C4 is a great place to stop pulling for Ayaka constellations.
C5: Blossom Cloud Irutsuki
Increases her elemental skill talent by 3. Ayaka’s skill deals good damage, but it’s not significant enough for this constellation to matter.
C6: Dance of Suigetsu
Every 10s, this constellation increases her charged attack damage by 298% damage. Like her C5, this is a decent damage boost but not as significant as her earlier constellations. So pulling for C6 simply isn’t recommended.
Mistsplitter Reforged vs. Amenoma Kageuchi for Ayaka
Mistsplitter Reforged is Ayaka’s best-in-slot weapon – so it does outperform Amenoma Kageuchi. Still, Amenoma Kageuchi is a really strong option. It’s enough to clear most Spiral Abyss and battle content in-game. To better compare, here’s a summary of their main differences in strength. Mistsplitter Reforged is only worth pulling if you have enough Primogems or if its weapon banner is good enough. If you’re considering pulling for Mistsplitter, here’s a helpful guide on when you should and shouldn’t pull on the rate-up weapon banner.
Mistsplitter Reforged vs. C2 Ayaka
Pulling for Mistsplitter Reforged is more optimal than C2. It offers a guaranteed damage boost that easily outperforms Ayaka’s C2. Mistsplitter is also a weapon that every DPS sword user can use, and it’s much less expensive. At most, a guaranteed Mistsplitter Reforged costs 240 intertwined fates, while a guaranteed C2 costs 360 intertwined fates (assuming you already have a C0 Ayaka).
