Ayato Works Perfectly With Ayaka in Genshin Impact

There are times when you hope a new unit added to an ongoing gacha game ends up being one that is strong, useful and in-character. Ahead of Ayato Kamisato’s launch, we knew he was the head of the Yashiro Commission in Inazuma and Ayaka’s elder brother. MiHoYo also teased that he’d be a Hydro unit. But we didn’t have exact details about the sort of role he’d play. Now that he’s in Genshin Impact, it’s incredibly satisfying to see how well Ayato and Ayaka work together.

To start, Cryo and Hydro are two elements that work well together. The Elemental Reaction between the two will freeze characters. With units like this, you ideally want ones that can apply their element to as many opponents as possible. Both Ayaka and Ayato excel at this. Ayato’s Kamisato Art: Kyouka Elemental Skill involves an illusion that deals water damage to an area when it explodes, applying Hydro, and puts him in a Takimeguri Kanka state that involves faster attacks that also deal Hydro AOE damage. His Kamisato Art: Suiyuu Elemental Burst deals constant Hydro damage over an area as water swords fall, while temporarily boosting normal attacks from Ayato and allies.

This means if someone is using Ayaka as their main damage dealer, Ayato can act as a supporter and allow someone to take full advantage of her special abilities. Especially if a person also equipped her with the Blizzard Strayer artifact set that increases her Cryo damage and increases her critical hit chance if her opponents are frozen. To start, when Ayaka dashes, she temporarily turns into frozen vapor. She applies Cryo to enemies near her when she stops dashing. Her attacks also inflict Cryo briefly after doing so. This means her normal attacks could freeze if Ayato already got all opponents wet. Her Kamisato Art: Hyouka Elemental Skill deals AOE Cryo damage. Her Kamisato Art: Soumetsu Elemental Burst essentially sends an ice tornado onto the field. So between the two of them, you’re creating situations in which opponents will be frozen and she’ll ideally be able to perhaps land more critical hits.

What I also love is how Ayato’s story quest in Genshin Impact also supports his devotion to his family. First and foremost, the character questline is designed to show how he plans ahead. We see his ability to read people and situations. His Shuumatsuban agents appear. But we also learn why he stepped up. It’s because he and his sister were all that were left. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to what’s left of his family. So he did what he had to in order to support her. Which means him being an exceptional support for her in battle feels so fantastic too.

Now, I know I’ve been focusing on how well Ayato and Ayaka work together, but this is a situation that applies to most Cryo users. While Ayato can be your main and the character dealing the most DPS, he also is very good as at offering supplemental DPS for the best Cryo main DPS units in the game. His burst works well with Eula’s Icetide Vortex Elemental Skill and Glacial Illumination Elemental Burst. Even better is his compatibility with Ganyu. Her Celestial Shower Elemental Burst also affects an area and deals constant Cryo damage, much like his Kamisato Art: Suiyuu. Which means the opponents within will be constantly frozen while both run.

Genshin Impact is a game about synergy, and it’s great to see Ayato turn out to be a character who works well with his sister and some of the other best Cryo characters in the game. It is consistent with his personality. It means people who already invested in some of the other incredible damage dealers in the game don’t need to suddenly reinvest in making him incredible. (Though that does help. Especially if you go with Heart of Depth artifacts!) A character who’s described as someone behind the scenes and devoted to his family can continue to do exactly that. It’s pretty great.

Genshin Impact is available for the PS4, PS5, PC and mobile devices. It will also come to the Nintendo Switch. The Ayato banner is available in Genshin Impact until April 19, 2022. It will be followed by the Ayaka rerun.