Ayato build guide

Kamisato Ayato functions as a main DPS character that deals the majority of his damage from his Elemental Skill (E) slashes. His E leaves behind a watery illusion and puts him in “Takimeguri Kanka” state. In this state, his normal attacks would be converted into AOE Hydro DMG and its speed increased. He also gain stacks every time his normal hits an enemy up to a max of 4 that increases the DMG dealt based on Ayato’s current Max HP. His Elemental Burst (Q) is much more simpler and is pretty much a Ganyu’s Q but hydro. It create a large AOE that does hydro damage onto enemies inside while also buffing a character’s normal attack damage.

His 1st Ascension Passive gives him a starting 2 stack after using his E and also his max number of possible stack when his watery illusion explodes. His 2nd Ascension Passive gives him the ability to regenerate 2 Energy for himself every second if his energy is less than 40 and not on the field.

Ayato’s weakness

Currently the biggest problem with Ayato is that his 4 piece Echoes of Offering (EoO) artifact set is not performing as expected. Its theoretical proc rate should be at 50.2% but testing shows the actual proc rate to be lower and gets worse for high ping players (200ms+). As a result this set is not recommended especially if you’re playing with high ping. This is likely a bug but we’ll have to see if Hoyoverse intend to fix it.

Outside of the 4EoO bug, his other issues include needing to build a team around him due to his 6 second DPS window on his E. This means that some characters may not work with him or less optimal with him. Due to single rotations being 20 seconds, this means that any character that steals field time may not work well or extend rotation. For freeze comps, he is contending with other hydro applicators who can hold TTDS, TOTM in freeze comps. Basically if you have Mona and Kokomi there really isn’t a reason to replace them with Ayato at least in freeze comp.

Ayato’s Build

Regarding Artifact Sets:

Echoes of an Offering (4): Theoretically the best set for Ayato but in actual the 4 piece proc rate is at 32-34% for lower ping players (200+ms) and around 45% for low ping players (1-25ms). This puts it below Heart of Depth (4) currently and we’ll have to see if a fix is coming.
Blizzard Strayer (4): Only good for freeze comps otherwise there shouldn’t be a reason to run Ayato with it.
Gladiator’s Finale (4): Same DPS as 4HoD in optimal scenarios. Becomes weaker if you’re using Bennett or Yunjin in your team for their buffs. Better in single target scenarios such as bosses. Best for weapon that don’t give a NA DMG%/DMG% buff.

Regarding Main Stats Choice:

ATK% vs HP% for Sands: HP will scale worse than ATK by 10%-20%. At C2 the gap will increase to 18%. His HP doesn’t have a strong conversion and should be treated as a bonus and not built around intentionally.