The resourceful and dedicated leader of the Kamisato Clan in Inazuma is the five-star Hydro Sword character Kamisato Ayato. Kamisato Ayato is an impressive damage-dealing unit and is easily one of Genshin’s best characters overall when built right with one of the most important build aspects being equipping the Hydro character with the right artifacts.
The Hydro leader has returned for his second-ever banner run for phase two of Genshin’s Version 3.3 update. This means that many players likely haven’t had a chance to obtain the Inazuman character yet and may now be adding him to their roster for the first time.
Related: Best teams for Kamisato Ayato in Genshin Impact
When players first ventured to Inazuma, they were met with general hostility under the Raiden Shogun’s oppressive rule but eventually came to learn the state of the nation was mostly due to a misunderstanding and trickery that was masterminded by the Fatui. As players navigated through the Inazuman chaos, one of the first characters that players befriended in the Electro region was Kamisato Ayato’s sister Kamisato Ayaka.
Kamisato Ayaka’s Hydro brother was something of an enigma at first who was regularly mentioned by name but never truly seen until he finally became a recruitable character on March 30, 2022. The Genshin community was quite surprised by his arrival due to him being one of the best damage-dealing forces available in Teyvat even though he is a Hydro character. Hydro was generally regarded as more of a supporting element, but Kamisato Ayato arrived to demonstrate that it could be just as powerful and brutal of a damage-dealing element as any other.
Now, nearly a year since his initial debut, the Hydro character is back once again as a recruitable character ready to jump into battle. Any player seeking to wish on the five-star Hydro Sword character will find that he is a rather impressive damage-dealing force but will only truly shine on the battlefield with the right equipment including the best weapon and best artifacts for him.
What are the best artifacts for Kamisato Ayato in Genshin Impact?
The leader of the Kamisato Clan and the official Yashiro Commissioner is one of Genshin’s strongest damage-dealing characters. His strong suit is as the primary damage dealer on a given team which means that players should focus on building statistics like his general elemental abilities, Hydro damage, critical rate, critical damage, and attack.
Kamisato Ayato excels at dishing out effective damage against either singular targets or a few targets at once and is Genshin’s most effective and consistent Hydro character for dealing consistent damage within an area of effect over time. His Hydro application is extremely consistent which helps to set up powerful elemental reactions and ensures that foes will regularly be afflicted by Hydro and is why players will want to ensure he has artifacts that will help build his powerful Hydro damage.
Aspects like critical rate and critical damage are key for successfully scoring massive amounts of damage against enemies. These will be sub-statistics on artifacts rather than key components of them but are essential for Kamisato Ayato’s success.
One of Kamisato Ayato’s most powerful assets is his elemental burst which buffs the normal attack damage of all characters within it, himself included. Because his elemental burst is a powerful asset not only for his own performance but also for the entirety of his party, players will want to build Kamisato Ayato so that he can have the quickest and most efficient energy recharge possible. This will allow him to perform his powerful elemental burst more frequently and thus make him as effective as possible.
With Kamisato Ayato’s specific artifact needs in mind, there is a select group of artifacts that players can choose to equip the Hydro character with.
Echoes of an Offering
The Echoes of an Offering artifact set is generally regarded as the best set for the Hydro character. Equipping the two-piece version of this set grants an attack increase of 18 percent.
The full four-piece causes all normal attacks that hit opponents to then have a 36 percent chance of activating Valley Rite. If Valley Rite is activated, then normal attack damage is increased by 70 percent of attack.
Valley Rite will end 0.05 seconds after a normal attack deals damage to an enemy. If a normal attack doesn’t activate Valley Rite then the odds of it being activated next time by a normal attack increase by 20 percent. Activation of Valley Rite can only take place once every 0.2 seconds.
This artifact set can be obtained from The Lost Valley Domain in The Chasm, Liyue.
Heart of Depth
Players seeking to improve Kamisato Ayato’s Hydro damage will find that the Heart of Depth set is a powerful option for him. The two-piece set is one of the best artifact options because it grants a Hydro damage bonus of 15 percent.
Equipping the two-piece set is a great option either alongside another two-piece artifact set or with the full four-piece Heart of Depth set. The four-piece set increases normal attack and charged attack damage by 30 percent for 15 seconds after an elemental skill has been utilized.
Players can obtain the Heart of Depth artifact set from the Peak of Vindagnyr Domain in Dragonspine, Mondstadt.
Emblem of Severed Fate
Another powerful set for Kamisato Ayato is Emblem of Severed Fate. The two-piece set grants a 20 percent increase to energy recharge which will help him to perform his powerful elemental abilities more quickly.
The full four-piece Emblem of Severed Fate set increases elemental burst damage by 25 percent of energy recharge. Up to 75 percent additional damage can be obtained through the four-piece set.
The Emblem of Severed Fate set can be obtained from the Momiji-Dyed Court Domain at Yashiori Island, Inazuma.
Gladiator’s Finale
Any Genshin player who is seeking simple attack increases for the Hydro character may want to try the Gladiator’s Finale set. The two-piece version of this set grants an 18 percent attack increase.
The four-piece set increases normal attack by 35 percent. This set only applies to characters that wield a sword, claymore, or polearm which means that it will work for Kamisato Ayato but will not work on other characters who do not wield one of the aforementioned weapons.
Players can obtain the Gladiator’s Finale set by vanquishing weekly bosses, by taking on normal bosses, or by obtaining the Domain Reliquary: Tier II reward from completing Spiral Abyss levels.
Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
The Shimenawa’s Reminiscence set is yet another one with a two-piece set that grants an 18 percent attack increase. When a character has the full four-piece set equipped and has 15 or more energy, 15 energy will be consumed to then increase normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 50 percent for 10 seconds. This ability cannot be activated again during the time period that it is already active.
This artifact set can be obtained from the Momiji-Dyed Court Domain at Yashiori Island, Inazuma.
Noblesse Oblige
Equipping the two-piece set of Noblesse Oblige grants an elemental burst damage increase of 20 percent. The four-piece set increases all party members’ attack by 20 percent for 12 seconds after an elemental burst has been utilized. This ability will not stack.
The four-piece set of Noblesse Oblige is generally not the best choice for Kamisato Ayato but the two-piece set is an excellent option to pair with another set.
The Noblesse Oblige set can be obtained from the Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern Domain at Mt. Aocang, Liyue.
Equipping the full four-piece set of Echoes of an Offering, Heart of Depth, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, Emblem of Severed Fate, or Gladiator’s Finale is generally the best choice for Kamisato Ayato. However, some players may instead prefer to mix and match with two different two-piece sets which can also be a very effective option.
With all of the best artifacts for Kamisato Ayato in mind, some of the most effective mix-and-match artifact arrangements that players can make are:
- Two Echoes of an Offering and two Heart of Depth
- Two Heart of Depth and two Noblesse Oblige
- Two Gladiator’s Finale and two Heart of Depth
Kamisato Ayato will be available as a recruitable character with an increased drop rate on his “Azure Excursion” banner until Jan. 17. Once his current banner run comes to a close, players can likely expect that he won’t return again for at least six months but that it may once again be around a year before the Hydro character is available once more.
While the Hydro character is certainly a strong force worth wishing on, his current banner run is also taking place alongside the five-star Electro Polearm character Raiden Shogun. Due to the costly nature of wishing through Genshin’s gacha system, players will likely need to consider both characters carefully before deciding which of the two they should spend their Primogems on.
