Kamisato Ayaka is a character beloved by both Genshin Impact players and the residents of Inazuma, the region she lives in. The in-game characters consider her to be a model of true perfection, and this notion can also extend to her battlefield prowess when she is equipped with powerful artifacts that enhance her already impressive Cryo skillset.
Ayaka is a rather unique individual in the world of Teyvat because she was among a select few recruits that miHoYo themselves unveiled way in advance. She first appeared in Genshin’s special “Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail” video that aired right around when the game first launched in late 2020 but she did not actually join Teyvat until July 2021.
Related: Genshin Impact finally adds a feature players have been requesting for years
Because of how early she was teased, Kamisato Ayaka’s arrival was immensely anticipated within the Genshin community. And while many other recruitable characters that players have been excited for have ended up being disappointing, Kamisato Ayaka quickly became a fan favorite and she remains one of the strongest forces in Teyvat to this day.
Alongside a powerful sword and team tailored to her skillset, artifacts are one of the most important aspects to consider when building Kamisato Ayaka. The five-star Cryo Sword character can be extremely powerful, but she is only truly suited toward playing as the primary damage-dealing character within a team.
Her skillset, therefore, requires players to select powerful, specialized artifacts to bolster her overall damage output.
What are the best artifacts for Kamisato Ayaka in Genshin Impact?
The Cryo Inazuman native is not as versatile as many other Genshin characters, but she is one of the top-performing ones within the primary damage-dealer role if she has the right artifacts equipped.
Primary damage-dealing characters spend the most time on the battlefield and should thus be responsible for the bulk of the team’s destructive output. Because of this, characters like Kamisato Ayaka benefit from artifacts that bolster their damage, impact how frequently they can utilize their abilities, and how much damage their element causes.
Within the artifact abilities and the statistics that they come with, players should primarily be seeking ones that have:
- Critical rate
- Critical damage
- Attack percentage
- Cryo damage bonus
- Energy recharge
While other Genshin characters tend to have a wide variety of sets that can work well on them, Kamisato Ayaka only has four options that will help bolster her skillset and ensure that she performs as the strongest damage dealer possible.
Blizzard Strayer
The best artifact set players can equip the Cryo character with is the full four-piece version of Blizzard Strayer.
The two-piece version grants a powerful 15 percent Cryo damage bonus, making it a perfect choice for Kamisato Ayaka. With the four-piece version of this set equipped, critical rate will be increased by 20 percent when the equipping character attacks an enemy that is affected by Cryo. If the enemy is Frozen, an additional 20 percent critical rate increase is granted.
The four-piece set is one of the most effective and powerful options for Kamisato Ayaka. Still, it does require that players carefully construct the best team possible for her to ensure that they maximize her potential. If players can craft a team with a solid balance between Cryo and Hydro, then they will consistently keep enemies Frozen for Kamisato Ayaka to vanquish more effectively with the bonus critical rate statistics granted by the artifact set.
Players can obtain Blizzard Strayer from the Peak of Vindagnyr Domain in Dragonspine, Mondstadt. To unlock this Domain, Travelers will first need to proceed through the quests that work toward granting them access to the top of Dragonspine.
Noblesse Oblige
The Noblesse Oblige artifact set is one of Genshin’s most versatile ones and works well on just about any Teyvat recruit. It is primarily focused on the elemental burst, which is the massive and most powerful version of an attack that every character has.
With the two-piece set equipped, elemental burst damage is increased by 20 percent. The four-piece set raises the attack of each party member by 20 percent for 12 seconds after an elemental burst has been cast.
If the benefits of this artifact set sound good, but you prefer another for Kamisato Ayaka, the Noblesse Oblige set could also be equipped on one of her team members since some of its benefits apply to the entire party. Players can also consider only utilizing the two-piece set on Kamisato Ayaka and pairing it with another set.
The Nobless Oblige set can be obtained from the Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern Domain in Minlin, Liyue.
Gladiator’s Finale
Just like Nobless Oblige, the powerful Gladiator’s Finale set is another one of Genshin’s most versatile and strong options. It does have some specific requirements for the four-piece version of the set, but this only relates to which character players equip it on.
The two-piece set grants a simple but powerful attack increase of 18 percent. The four-piece set increases normal attack damage by 35 percent for characters that wield a sword, claymore, or polearm in battle.
Kamisato Ayaka is a sword character, so the full version of this set does work on her. However, it is generally a better idea to equip only the two-piece version alongside a different one to better bolster her skillset.
Unlike most other artifact sets, players cannot obtain Gladiator’s Finale from a Domain. Instead, the pieces of this set are only available for vanquishing normal bosses, defeating weekly bosses, or completing certain levels of the Spiral Abyss that grant the Domain Reliquary: Tier II box as a reward.
Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
For Kamisato Ayaka, players will generally only want to utilize the two-piece version of the Shimenawa’s Reminiscence artifact set as she will gain stronger benefits from different combinations or an entirely different four-piece set.
The two-piece version functions exactly like Gladiator’s Finale, granting an attack increase of 18 percent. With the four-piece set equipped, the character will consume 15 energy and increase their normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 50 percent for 10 seconds when they utilize an elemental skill and have 15 or more energy available.
If you like what the two-piece version of Gladiator’s Finale does but are struggling to obtain that set since it is not obtainable through a Domain, then you can instead work on gathering the two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence set since it has the same effect.
If you are not sure which set works best with your specific Kamisato Ayaka, you might also want to consider trying artifact set combinations. These can be immensely powerful and are a great way of gaining two distinctly different but powerful benefits for the Cryo character.
Some powerful artifact set combinations that players can construct for Kamisato Ayaka are:
- Two-piece Blizzard Strayer and two-piece Noblesse Oblige
- Two-piece Blizzard Strayer and two-piece Gladiator’s Finale
- Two-piece Blizzard Strayer and two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
- Two-piece Noblesse Oblige and two-piece Gladiator’s Finale
- Two-piece Noblesse Oblige and two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
- Two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence and two-piece Gladiator’s Finale
The Cryo Sword character is making her grand return for the second half of Genshin’s Version 3.5 update. A rerun of Kamisato Ayaka’s “The Heron’s Court” banner will be live alongside a rerun of the five-star Cryo Polearm character Shenhe’s “The Transcendent One Returns” banner. Because the Cryo characters are running at the same time, all Travelers will likely have to consider which of the two they want to pull for since obtaining both will be an immensely costly and difficult task.
This run of Kamisato Ayaka’s featured banner will be her third banner run ever. Before the Version 3.5 run of “The Heron’s Court,” the Cryo character last received a rerun from April to May 2022. In general, characters will not receive another banner rerun for at least six months, if not longer, which means that any player hoping to add Kamisato Ayaka to their team should be sure to wish on her while she is available within the second half of the Version 3.5 update.
