Image Credit: Hoyoverse

Mualani is back on rerun, and if you’re hunting for a Hydro catalyst that rides the waves while nuking bosses, she’s your queen. I pulled on her banner because her design and surfing flair hooked me; plus, shark-y bites just scream style. Here’s how to make her shine with every tide.

Mualani in a Nutshell

• Role: Hydro main DPS, excels when triggering Vaporize with her empowered normal attacks.
• Core Mechanic: Her Elemental Skill places her on a surfboard, which make her Normal Attacks become Sharky’s Bites that apply Marked as Prey stacks and ultimately unleash a powerful Sharky’s Surging Bite when fully stacked, all scaling off her HP.

Talent Priority

1. Elemental Skill (Surfshark Wavebreaker)
2. Elemental Burst (Boomsharka-laka)
3. Normal Attack (Cooling Treatment)
   Skill matters most because it powers her shark combo; Burst adds flexible nuke support.

Weapon Recommendations

• Surf’s Up (5 star, Signature) – Best in slot. HP boost, crit damage, and “Scorching Summer” stacks that buff her Normal Attack every time she triggers Vaporize.
• Sacrificial Jade (4 star) – Great fallback with CRIT Rate and HP but watch out for CRIT overcap.
• Ring of Yaxche or The Widsith – Solid craftable or rare alternatives depending on your inventory.

Artifacts & Stat Focus

Best Artifact Set: Obsidian Codex 4-piece – gives 15% universal damage and up to 40% CRIT Rate when Nightsoul is active.

Alternative Sets:

• 4-piece Heart of Depth – Hydro and Normal Attack bonus
• Mixed 2-pc sets with HP%, EM, or Hydro DMG can work as placeholders.

Stat priority:

• Sands: HP% or Elemental Mastery
• Goblet: Hydro DMG Bonus or HP%
• Circlet: CRIT DMG
• Subs: Crit DMG > HP% > Elemental Mastery > Crit Rate > Energy Recharge

Team Compositions That Make Her Surf

Forward Vaporize Teams:

• Mualani, Xilonen, Xiangling, + Anemo or Geo like Kazuha or Zhongli.
  Xilonen adds long Hydro application and extra Nightsoul stacks. Xiangling handles the Pyro application reliably.

Burn-Vape Teams:

• Mualani, Emilie or Nahida (Dendro), and a Pyro like Mavuika. This supports burning then quick Vaporize rotations.

Community tip: Be cautious pairing her with Furina. Players say “Furina steals vapes” and can interfere unless rotation is tight or Furina is running healing mode with Constellation 4.

Gameplay Rhythm

1. Activate Elemental Skill → surf and gather up to three stacks
2. Time your Normal Attack to unleash Surging Bite, clearing stacks
3. If stacks are full, trigger Burst for strong nuke based on HP
4. Swap to Pyro or support for the next Vaporize, rinse and repeat

Final Thoughts

Mualani blends elegance with power: she surfs, she stuns, and she can frontload damage like nothing else. Max HP, crit damage, and a good Vaporize partner are all she needs to dominate. And if you want pre-baked builds for abyss or splashy Vaporize combos, I’ve got you. Subscribe to The Gamers Cut. I deliver deep dives with zero fluff every patch.