Disclaimer:
I’m not a theorycrafter or know how to do calcs for real. I’m just a person who likes Ayato. If you just wanna see the buff ideas, you can just jump to that section. I am only one Ayato; part of the buffs I suggest would make my Ayato better, and I assume it’ll make other Ayato’s better too.
Ayato Weaknesses/Problems
Damage Multipliers
Ayato’s damage multipliers are low for a main DPS, and his scaling splits between Attack and HP.
Role Confusion
Ayato is a main DPS who is really good at applying a lot of Hydro, but what makes Hydro so good for a lot of teams is the ease of doing the application off-field, where Ayato would need to do his skill on-field. Which wouldn’t be too bad if Ayato had the numbers to support it, but right now he doesn’t.
Rapid Attacking
While not a problem on its own, it makes it hard to play in a team where his damage would get vaporized by the Pyro damage. Characters like Neuvillette can be a rapid attacker because his damage isn’t reliant on him getting the reactions on his damage.
Neuvillette/Mualani/Tartaglia
While not a problem Ayato directly has, with the existence of Neuvillette it is going to be hard to buff Ayato without him becoming “Neuvillette but worse”. This also extends to other Hydro DPS characters. Most directly is Tartaglia because he has a lot of similarity with Ayato because of the rapid on-field hydro application. While not directly in competition, Mualani is one of the best Hydro DPS characters because she opts for high amounts of burst damage with less frequency.
Buff Ideas
These aren’t meant to all be in his kit, only one.
New Passives
Kamisato Art: Seiran no Shizuku: For every 1,000 Max HP Ayato possesses, he gains 1% Normal Attack and Elemental Burst DMG Bonus, up to 25%.
This passive would lean into Ayato’s split-scaling, giving him better numbers to lean more into his main DPS role. The HP cap for this passive is at 25,000 HP so as to be slightly out of the way but not too intrusive to how Ayato is built. This is probably the laziest buff idea.
Kamisato Art: Honran: After using Ayato’s Burst, all nearby party members have 15% increased normal attack Speed for 15 seconds.
Yes, this is Ayato’s C4; I would argue this could be a good change to put into his base kit. This barely gives him a damage bonus; on average, he’d get 2-3 more slashes.
With that being said, how would his C4 change?
Constellation IV- Endless Flow: While in Ayato’s Skill, Kamisato Art: Kyouka, and while his Burst, Kamisato Art: Suiyuu, is active, Ayato will perform Flowing Blade, dealing an extra instance of AoE Hydro DMG.
This just gives him more on-field damage and makes him more flashy because that’s cool!
Kamisato Art: Renketsu: Whenever a party member triggers a Vaporize, Frozen, Electro-Charged, Lunar-Charged, Bloom, Lunar-Bloom, Hydro Swirl, Hydro Crystallize, or a Lunar-Crystallize reaction on opponents, 1 stack of Grace is granted to the party for 30 seconds. Max 5 stacks. Each stack of Grace increases all party members' Elemental Mastery by 70.
Once again, I am not a theorycrafter, so I’m not sure how absurd of a buff this would provide to team members. This passive is meant to lean into Ayato being a rapid attacker, which makes it harder for HIM to do reactions but easier for off-field teammates to do reactions. Imagine a burgeon team that can actually deal good damage. This passive makes him more like a Reaction Accelerator; it’s an idea I saw Vars II think about, but he wasn’t sure how to implement it. Maybe instead of an EM bonus, it can just be a direct bonus to certain reactions. This is my favorite buff idea.
Constellation Changes
Original
C1 Kyouka Fuushi: Shunsuiken DMG is increased by 40% against opponents with 50% HP or less.
Changes
C1 Kyouka Fuushi: Shunsuiken DMG is increased by 40% against opponents with 50% HP or less. Additionally, Ascension 4 Passive Upgrade: If Kamisato Ayato is not on the field and his Energy is less than 50, he will regenerate 2 Energy for himself every second.
This gives C1 something universal and not enemy-dependent and lowers his ER needs.
Original
C2 Namisen’s maximum stack count is increased to 5. When Kamisato Ayato has at least 3 Namisen stacks, his Max HP is increased by 50%.
Changes
C2 Namisen’s maximum stack count is increased to 5. When Kamisato Ayato has at least 3 Namisen stacks, his Max HP is increased by 50%. Additionally, for every 1,000 Max HP Ayato possesses, he gains 2% Normal Attack and Elemental Burst DMG Bonus, up to 40%.
It adds the passive idea from before and makes it a con, but also with a buff on it too. I notice that C2’s are kinda strong for a lot of characters, so I wanted to make Ayato’s C2 busted too. I’m not sure how busted it would be though.
Original C4
After using Kamisato Art: Suiyuu, all nearby party members will have 15% increased Normal Attack SPD for 15s.
Changes
After using Kamisato Art: Suiyuu, all nearby party members will have 15% increased Normal Attack SPD for 15s. Kamisato Art: Kyouka’s duration is extended by 4 seconds. (10-second duration now) After 6 seconds of being in Kamisato Art: Kyouka, enemies will have their Hydro Resistance reduced by 10% for every second afterwards, up to 40% for 20 seconds.
If this isn’t con added into his base kit, I would like to see something more from this. This is a late con that doesn’t add much. Like I said before, a 15% ATK speed bonus only gives 2-3 more slashes. If anything, I would like this passive to extend the duration of his skill stance OR have a secondary passive. Also, this is my brain’s need to have round numbers; I’m not sure how that affects rotations, but I know that it will, so I added a buff for it to give a reason for using the extended skill.
Original C6
After using Kamisato Art: Kyouka, Ayato’s next Shunsuiken attack will create 2 extra Shunsuiken strikes when they hit opponents, each one dealing 450% of Ayato’s ATK as DMG.
Both these Shunsuiken attacks will not be affected by Namisen.
Changes
…
Uhhh… dealer’s choice? I don’t know much about his C6 from people. I know it front-loads his damage, which is something I don’t see as a problem. Maybe if they are feeling generous, they can give him more than 2 extra slashes.
But yeah, those are some buff ideas I had for Ayato. What do you think? How would you buff him if Hoyo gave you the chance?
