Ayato Guide: Pillar of Fortitude

Please refer to the Ayato Quick Guide for now!

The current Extended Guide is out of date, but we’re working on an update. Join our Discord to take part in the theorycrafting process!

Written By: kol#1593

Updated for 2.8

Introduction

Kamisato Ayato is a 5* Hydro character who—through his unique combination of off-field Hydro application and quick bursts of on-field damage—has brought a delightfully new experience to the ever-growing roster of Hydro units. His intriguing kit, combined with the powerful enabling abilities of Hydro, makes for a fun and flexible unit who slots nicely into most of the teams that other Hydro characters do, and then some more.

While Ayato himself is exceedingly simple to play, he and his teams can come with considerable nuance. Therefore, this guide aims to address those complexities and further your knowledge of the Yashiro Commissioner.

TL;DR

Infographic

Why Play Ayato?

Character Breakdown

Playstyles

On-field DPS

Much like the name implies, an on-field DPS Ayato spends an extended duration of time on field, using two Skills per Burst. In this playstyle, Ayato’s primary source of damage are his Shunsuiken attacks (the converted Normal Attacks in his Takimeguri Kanka state after casting his Skill).

Burst DPS

As a Burst DPS, Ayato forgoes one Skill per Burst in order to occupy less field-time, instead choosing to capitalize on the AoE off-field Hydro application of his Burst. 

Talents

The Talent priority for On-Field DPS Ayato is:

The Talent priority for Burst DPS Ayato is:

Constellations

It should be noted that Ayato is a complete unit at C0: his Constellations only serve to improve and somewhat frontload his damage, and do not provide any other utility nor open up any playstyles that are not already possible at C0. The damage increases from his Constellations range from marginal to relatively significant; however, they pale in comparison to certain other 5* units’ Constellations.

Artifacts

ER Requirements

Scenario	ER Requirement
2 Skills, with Fischl	130-140%
2 Skills, without Fischl	150-170%
1 Skill, with 2nd Hydro	140-150%
1 Skill, without 2nd Hydro	200%+
1 Skill, without 2nd Hydro, with Raiden	130-150%

Favonius weapons typically lower ER requirements by around 10% per passive proc.

Main Stats

Sands: ATK% or ER%

It is generally recommended to use ATK% Sands. ER% Sands should only be used to reach Ayato’s ER requirement when using 1 Skill per rotation.

Although HP% Sands seems viable upon first glance, it performs significantly worse than ATK% Sands when Ayato’s Burst is taken into account and should be avoided, even with Primordial Jade Cutter.

Goblet: Hydro DMG% Bonus

A Hydro DMG% Bonus goblet is significantly better for Ayato’s damage than any other option.

Circlet: CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG

Use whichever of CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG balances out Ayato’s CRIT ratio better.

Substats

ER until ER requirement is reached > CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG > ATK% > HP% > Flat ATK > Flat HP

Artifact Sets

Artifact Set	Description
4 Heart of Depth	4 HoD is one of Ayato’s strongest artifact sets, being more consistent in comparison to 4 Echoes’s RNG procs and arguably more resin-efficient to farm.  Players should use whichever of the two they have better substats on. Another thing of note is that 4 HoD works better with weapons and buffs that do not provide DMG%, such as PJC and Amenoma.
4 Gladiator’s Finale	4 Glad performs very similarly to 4 Heart of Depth, performing slightly better with weapons with less ATK and more DMG%, and performing slightly worse with weapons with more ATK and less DMG%.  Furthermore, it is a very accessible choice, being obtainable through bosses and the Artifact Strongbox. Use whichever of 4 Glad and 4 HoD has better substats.
4 Echoes of an Offering	4 Echoes is only recommended if players have consistently good ping (sub 100). This is because there is a correlation between the average activation rate of 4 Echoes’ 4-piece effect and player ping, where higher ping generally leads to a lower average proc rate. If players do have consistently good ping, 4 Echoes will perform marginally better than 4 HoD and 4 Glad with weapons and buffs that provide DMG%, and marginally worse with weapons and buffs that provide more ATK. Once again, use whichever of these 4-piece sets has the best substats.
2 Heart of Depth, 2 ATK, 2 ATK	Any combination of 2 HoD/Shimenawa’s Reminiscence/Glad/Echoes/Vermillion Hereafter and 2 SR/Glad/Echoes/VH can be as strong as the 4-piece sets mentioned above given better substats while being easier to acquire. The gap between these and the 4-piece sets narrows for Burst DPS Ayato, in some cases even overtaking the 4-piece sets.
2 Emblem of Severed Fate, 2 Heart of Depth / 2 ATK	Similarly to the above option, this can be a good option for alleviating the need for ER in substats while being easier to acquire than 4-piece sets. The gap between these and the 4-piece sets narrows for Burst DPS Ayato, in some cases even overtaking the 4-piece sets.

Honorable Mentions

4 Emblem of Severed Fate

4 ESF can be a solid option for Burst DPS Ayato—performing similarly to all other options—where using only 1 Skill per Burst means that his Burst is a larger portion of his damage than usual and his ER requirements are typically higher. 

4 ESF is not recommended for on-field DPS Ayato.

4 Thundering Fury

4 TF is a decent choice in a team of Ayato / Fischl / Beidou / Flex. This is largely because Beidou rewards having a driver on-field for an extended period of time to allow her Burst to proc more times, making 4 TF’s ability to allow Ayato to stay on field using his Shunsuiken attacks to trigger more procs very valuable. Fischl works to both battery Beidou and provide the Electro application for 4 TF to reduce Ayato’s Skill cooldown enough. 

However, it should be noted that even in the best case scenario, 4 TF provides a minimal enough increase in damage (around 6%) that it may not be worth farming for Ayato. Other options can provide similar damage—or even perform better, depending on character investments and substats—while being more general-purpose.

4 Blizzard Strayer

4 BS should only be used in Freeze teams. It can be significantly better than other options assuming high Freeze time throughout.

However, competition for the set is high in Freeze teams, with multiple characters wanting the set, including Ayato. In cases where not enough Blizzard Strayer sets are available, the other characters in the team typically lose more from not using 4 BS and therefore should be prioritized.

Weapons

Ayato C0 Lvl 90/90 ; T9/9/9 ; 4 HoD ; ATK / Hydro% / CRIT ; Minimum 133 ER%; KQMC standard

Rotation Assumed: Ayato Q (Unbuffed) ; Ayato E N15 (Bennett 4 NO and 1071 Flat ATK Buff, Ayato Burst NA DMG% Buff) ; Ayato E N15 (Unbuffed)

Weapon	% DPS of Black Sword R1	Comments
Haran Geppaku Futsu R1	125.4%	HGF is one of Ayato’s strongest weapon options, but with a far more niche passive that currently only works especially well with Ayato himself.  While HGF with 4 Echoes is Ayato’s highest damage ceiling, it is not recommended to pull for HGF if players already own PJC or Mist.
Primordial Jade Cutter R1	122.1%	PJC is also one of Ayato’s strongest weapon options, with an unconditional and universal passive.
Mistsplitter Reforged R1	112.2%	While its passive is more universal than HGF’s, Ayato will often struggle to attain maximum stacks for very long or at all in many of his rotations, making it fall behind its CRIT 5* counterparts.  The exception is in Burst DPS Ayato teams, where the gap narrows significantly.
The Black Sword R5	106.7%	BS is one of Ayato’s strongest 4* options, providing valuable CRIT Rate and NA DMG% Bonus, as well as a healing passive that can be useful in a tight fix but is mostly negligible.  Since only the NA DMG% Bonus in its passive is especially useful, it scales somewhat poorly with refines, especially given that each refine costs $10.
Lion Roar R5 (100% Passive Uptime)	103.7%	Another one of Ayato’s strongest 4* options, but exclusively in Electro-charged teams, which is the only situation in which high uptime can be maintained on its passive.  Without its passive, its performance worsens so significantly that players should opt to run any other weapon listed here instead.
Harbinger of Dawn R5	101.9%	A 3* makes its appearance as a surprisingly strong option, but only if players can maintain full uptime on its passive. This is a difficult feat for Ayato, who is mostly rooted in place while on field performing Shunsuiken attacks, and rarely runs shielders in his teams. Harbinger will fall off even further in teams that lack significant ATK buffs (e.g. Bennett) to make up for its abysmal 3* Base ATK.
The Black Sword R1	100.0%
Summit Shaper R1 (Unshielded)	98.4%	Ayato rarely runs shielders in his teams, but even then, Summit Shaper performs fine as a massive ATK statstick.  Providing essentially nothing but ATK and more ATK, however, means that it will scale poorly with ATK buffs.
Lion’s Roar R1 (100% Passive Uptime)	96.4%
Cursed Blade R1	94.4%	Cursed Blade provides ATK, and that’s about all. The passive can easily be snapshotted onto Ayato’s Burst even if it is cast at the beginning of a rotation by doing a single Normal Attack outside of his Takimeguri Kanka state. All in all, a decent F2P option that should be used if no other options are available.
Amenoma Kageuchi R5	90.6% – 93.1%	Because Ayato often casts his Burst first in rotations, Amenoma’s passive is sometimes rendered useless, at least for the first rotation. The flat Energy generation of its passive can in turn decrease the amount of Energy obtained from Ayato’s A4 Talent when it does take effect.  Therefore, it is recommended to disregard AK’s passive and build ER on Ayato as usual in rotations where Ayato Bursts before casting any Skills.  Nonetheless, it works as an ATK statstick with a chance for some amount of Energy refund for F2P players.
Skyward Blade R1	92.8%	Skyward Blade can be a solid option when Ayato’s ER requirements call for the hefty amount of ER it provides (150+ ER), in which case it can overtake The Black Sword R1 in damage. Otherwise, its passive provides very little to Ayato.
Amenoma Kageuchi R1	90.6%

Team Compositions

Rotation Notation

N# = Specified # of Normal Attacks
E = Elemental Skill
Q = Elemental Burst
tEP = Kazuha’s Tap/Press Skill followed by a Plunging Attack
hE = Hold Skill

Reaction Soup

The characters in this team interact in a very specific manner in order to enable the Anemo unit to trigger high-damage Swirls and Overloads while the other units provide damage in their own ways.

Pyro Flex

Character	Description
Bennett	The self-Pyro application of Bennett’s Burst allows Kazuha to consistently absorb Pyro on his Burst. This combined with the fact that he can provide a significant ATK buff through his Burst and 4 NO that both Ayato and Fischl can snapshot as well as healing makes him the ideal choice of a Pyro character for this team.
Xinyan	Xinyan’s shield provides both survivability and self-Pyro application for Kazuha to absorb Pyro from. However, her limited ability to buff the team means that team damage will take a significant loss. Furthermore, her Level 3 shield pulses can steal Overloads from Kazuha. Nonetheless, given the high demand for Bennett in other teams, Xinyan can be used as a low-investment alternative to him when he is not available.

Electro Flex

Character	Description
Fischl	Fischl provides significant single-target damage, strong off-field Electro application, and a non-negligible amount of Particles, all while occupying very little field time, allowing Ayato to perform 2 Skills per rotation.  All this makes Fischl one of Ayato’s best teammates, something that will be seen through her appearance in almost all of his comps.
Raiden Shogun	Running Raiden in this team shifts the focus away from Ayato and onto Raiden; Ayato acts as a Burst DPS, casting only 1 Skill per rotation and instead primarily providing off-field Hydro application and damage through his Burst.  Because both Ayato and Raiden desire field time, rotation time will be extended; partially because of this, the two are often better off on separate teams, running characters who perform similar roles but occupy less field time.

Anemo Flex

Character	Description
Kazuha	Kazuha is the ideal Anemo for this team: he can consistently absorb Pyro through Bennett’s Pyro self-aura application to trigger Overloads, and has strong grouping and built-in buffs.  When playing him, ensure that Pyro has been applied to him by looking at the icons right above the health bar before casting his Burst, to make sure that he absorbs Pyro.
Jean	Jean and Bennett’s Burst can interact in a special way when cast atop each other and with a character standing in the radii of both circles, commonly known as Sunfire. In Sunfire, Jean triggers Pyro Swirls off of the Pyro applied onto a character by Bennett’s Burst.  Jean builds full EM in this team (with sufficient ER to Burst every rotation) to capitalize on the Swirls and Overloads she triggers. Besides personal damage from those Reactions, her C2 can also provide ATK SPD for Ayato. Something to note is that teams involving both Overload and Sunfire tend to struggle in situations with small knockable enemies, as said enemies will be pushed by Overload outside of the small Sunfire radius, causing significant damage to be lost.
Venti	Ayato’s Shunsuiken attacks are able to hit enemies lifted by Venti’s Burst, so Venti becomes a viable option for his teams. For this team in specific, Venti is an interesting choice: while he absolutely sweeps any content that he can lift with his unmatched grouping abilities, he provides little to this team when he cannot lift the enemies.  It can be more difficult to control what Element his Burst absorbs, potentially leading to lost damage. Additionally, rotations involving both Venti and Ayato can require some amount of care due to their long Burst animation times. Nonetheless, this often matters little when faced with the content that he excels at clearing, so in those situations, he can be a decent choice if players lack Kazuha.

Example Rotation: Ayato Bennett Fischl Kazuha

Rotation: Ayato Q > Fischl E > Kazuha tEP > Ayato E N15 > Kazuha tEP > Bennett EQ > Fischl Q > Kazuha Q > Ayato E N15

A strong team made up of strong and synergistic units, especially in AoE, where Kazuha’s contribution through Swirls is greatly increased. Bennett provides a massive ATK buff and healing to the team as well as the Pyro application for Kazuha’s Burst to absorb off of. Kazuha, in turn, provides a DMG% buff, 4 VV, CC, and high-damage Swirls and Overloads. These Overloads are enabled by Fischl’s Electro application, with Ayato as a Hydro applicator to more easily maintain the Electro aura.

Ayato is especially strong in this team compared to other Hydro units because of his off-field AoE Hydro application and quick bursts of damage that fit nicely into the quickswap-like playstyle of the team. Furthermore, the team already plays 24-25s rotations because of Fischl, meaning that Ayato’s desire for 24-25s rotations is not an issue.

Something of note is that provided tight enough execution, Ayato can snapshot his Burst on Bennett’s Burst starting from the second rotation onwards.

Electro-Charged

A varied team, usually involving Ayato as the on-field DPS while an Electro character deals damage usually from off-field. This Electro off-field DPS oftentimes has high Energy costs that require the use of an Electro battery.

Despite the name, Electro-Charged itself is typically not the focus of this team, but rather merely a byproduct of the characters’ Elemental applications. However, Electro-charged is useful for maintaining both a Hydro and Electro aura, allowing the usage of weapons such as Lion’s Roar or making it easier to Swirl both Elements. 

Electro DPS

Character	Description
Beidou	Through her Burst, Beidou provides significant AoE damage as well as some defensive utility through her damage reduction and C1 shield. Beidou slots nicely into Ayato teams, as Ayato’s Shunsuiken attacks are considered Normal Attacks and therefore can trigger procs of Beidou’s Burst. Furthermore, Ayato only occupying a relatively brief duration of time on-field during his Takimegura Kanki state means there is some amount of flexibility for Beidou to enter the field for Skills and counters.
Yae Miko	Damage-wise, Yae can perform better than Beidou in single-target while being competitive in multi-target. However, Yae rotations can be difficult, requiring tight execution to pull off all the casting and attacking necessary in a timely manner.

Electro Flex

Character	Description
Fischl	As previously mentioned, Fischl is one of Ayato’s best teammates, providing a great deal for very little. Her Particle generation becomes of even greater importance here, providing Particles to not only Ayato but also the Energy-hungry Electro DPS.
Raiden Shogun	Raiden works similarly to Fischl in that she provides Energy and personal damage, but unlike Fischl, she is anti-synergistic with Beidou and occupies significant field time, once again forcing Ayato to only use 1 Skill per Burst.  As previously mentioned, Ayato and Raiden are often better off on separate teams where they can run characters who perform similar roles as the other but without the extensive field time requirements. Something of note is that Raiden technically could qualify as an Electro DPS (albeit less of an off-field one), and can slot into the team template in that role; e.g. Raiden and Fischl.
Electro Traveler	Electro Traveler provides significant amounts of Energy, but that’s about it. They fall behind Fischl in terms of personal damage, Electro application, and ease of use. As such, it is not recommended to use Electro Traveler except as a last resort for Fischl-less players.

Flex

Character	Description
Bennett	Bennett provides a hefty ATK buff via his Burst and 4 NO that the other characters can benefit greatly from—especially the snapshotting Fischl and Beidou—as well as healing.
Jean	Jean consolidates 4 VV and healing into a single slot. However, her C2 also provides ATK SPD, which can provide a substantial damage increase through an increased number of Shunsuiken attacks and Beidou Burst procs.
Sayu	Sayu—much like Jean—provides 4 VV and healing in one slot.
Kazuha	Kazuha provides 4 VV, a DMG% buff, high personal damage, and grouping, but will leave the team without a dedicated defensive unit or healer.
Venti	Venti provides 4 VV, high personal damage, powerful grouping, and an Energy refund for either Ayato or the Electro units, but will also leave the team without a dedicated defensive unit or healer.
Heizou	Heizou provides 4 VV, some amount of personal damage, grouping at mostly C2 and above, as well as an array of other utilities depending on his weapon: he can opt to buff the team with Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers or Hakushin Ring, heal the team with Prototype Amber, or use a damaging option to increase his personal damage.
Zhongli	Zhongli provides a universal 20% RES shred, as well as a hefty shield that not only can leave your character untouched, but also allow the team to more easily get more Beidou Burst procs by removing the need for dodging.

Example Rotation: Ayato Beidou Fischl Jean

Rotation: Fischl Q > Ayato Q > Jean E > Beidou EQ N1 > Ayato E N15 > Fischl N1 E > Jean N1 E Q > Beidou N1 E > Ayato E N15

Jean performs similarly to Bennett in this team, especially if players struggle to cleanly execute rotations and often fail to snapshot Ayato’s Burst or Fischl’s second Oz after the first Ayato Skill (see the rotation below for details).

Because Beidou’s Burst is still active even after Ayato finishes his first round of Shunsuiken attacks, the characters who swap in during that time should ideally weave in an N1 to trigger additional procs of Beidou’s Burst. Similarly, to maximize the number of Beidou Burst procs, Jean Bursts only after her second Skill, at which point Beidou’s Burst has expired.

C2 Jean changes very little, except that players can opt to move Jean’s Burst up to after her first Skill or stay on Jean for a while longer until she has caught her own Particles for the C2 ATK SPD increase.

Example Rotation: Ayato Beidou Fischl Bennett (4 TF)

Rotation: Ayato Q > Bennett EQ > Fischl E > Beidou EQ N1 > Ayato E N15 > Fischl N1 Q > Beidou E > Ayato E N15

A standard Electro-Charged composition that, because of Beidou’s presence, can benefit from 4 TF.

Although it is possible given C6 Fischl and some amount of luck, players should not cast Ayato’s Skill twice consecutively; rather, Fischl should re-enter the field in order to refresh Oz. In order to do this however, players must cast Oz in the order of Skill and then Burst as Oz may still be present on-field when Fischl re-enters, making it impossible to refresh Oz’s duration at that time.

Because Beidou’s Burst is still active even after Ayato finishes his first round of Shunsuiken attacks, Fischl should ideally weave in an N1 to trigger additional procs of Beidou’s Burst.

Example Rotation: Ayato Yae Fischl Jean

Rotation: Yae 3E > Ayato Q > Jean E > Fischl E > Ayato E N15 > Yae Q 3E > Jean EQ > Fischl Q > Ayato E N15

Yae should both be used first in the rotation and be placed in the first slot of the party so that Widsith will buff her Burst and subsequent totems if it is being used. In addition, this allows Yae to maximize her totem damage while aiding Jean in more consistently Swirl both Hydro and Electro for 4 VV.

Owing to a lack of Interruption Resistance, this team is prone to being staggered by enemy attacks. Thus, it is greatly beneficial for the player to be able to dodge enemy attacks so as to maintain momentum throughout the rotation and ensure that Yae yields the maximum number of procs of her Burst.

Using Favonius Sword on Jean is preferred as building for her personal damage here is underwhelming compared to the utility Favonius Sword provides: its Particle generation helps to alleviate the team’s ER requirements, opening up room for offensive substats in its stead.

Vaporize

Ayato’s Shunsuiken attacks can enable Xiangling’s Burst to Vaporize throughout the duration of his Takimeguri Kanka state, opening up the possibility for various Vaporize compositions. 

Ayato’s 24s+ rotations work well with Xiangling, allowing her to cast 2 Skills per Burst. This not only lowers her ER requirements through the additional Guoba’s Particles, but also allows her to make excellent use of Kitain Cross Spear to further lower her ER requirements. At the same time, Ayato occupying much of the field time means that little time is left to be spent using Bennett to battery Xiangling, leading to Xiangling having generally higher ER reqs in Ayato teams versus with other Hydro enablers.

It is worth noting that because of his short Takimeguri Kanka duration and the RNG-based nature of his Burst’s Hydro application when lacking grouping, Ayato can often cause Xiangling to have worse Vaporize rates relative to certain other Hydro characters. This can be alleviated by certain teammates, as explained below.

Flex

Character	Description
Fischl	Fischl makes another appearance as the superior choice for the flex slot of this team. Her usual pros of occupying little field-time, fitting into 24s+ rotations, Particle generation, personal damage, and Electro application come into play again; however, her Electro application is especially useful here in two ways. The first and most straightforward reason is that her Electro application allows Xiangling—who already builds EM—to trigger Overloads.  But additionally, Fischl herself can trigger Overloads when there is a Pyro aura on the enemy, clearing the Pyro aura and allowing Ayato’s Skill or Burst to apply Hydro at these opportune moments for additional Vaporizes. Therefore, with Fischl, it is possible to Vaporize a relatively impressive 9 out of 12 of Xiangling’s Pyronado hits at C4.
Kazuha	Kazuha offers a DMG% buff, stronger grouping than Sucrose, and 4 VV.  Without access to Guoba Swirls (see the section for Sucrose below), he is unable to consistently double Swirl in multi-target—however, he can still Swirl both Hydro and Pyro, but at different points in the rotation. And unlike Sucrose, whose EM buffs are mostly wasted on Ayato, Kazuha’s DMG% buff is a substantial damage increase for Ayato, making Kazuha potentially a better choice than his Anemo counterpart.
Sucrose	Sucrose offers Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers for Xiangling, an EM buff, and 4 VV; however, in order to trigger some of these buffs, Sucrose must Swirl the Elements of the relevant characters—in this case Ayato and Xiangling. Luckily, Sucrose is able to consistently Swirl both Hydro and Pyro through a technique called Guoba Swirl, in which a well-timed Skill cast Swirls Pyro off of Guoba. See the dropdown for Ayato Bennett Xiangling Sucrose for a demonstration and additional details. Nonetheless, Ayato’s brief Takimeguri Kanka state uptime means that not many Pyronado hits are actually Vaporized, with usually only about 5 out of 12 reacting. Furthermore, both Ayato and Xiangling struggle with Energy here—as unlike Fischl, Sucrose contributes very few Particles of use to either of them.
Albedo	Albedo works similarly to Fischl in this team, entering the field to drop a turret before promptly exiting, but with worse Particle generation and worsening Vaporize rates rather than improving them (around 3 out of 12 Pyronado hits Vaporize). Despite that, he can still be a viable option for players who have already built him, do not have a spare Fischl, and are seeking a simple to play 4th slot. If Albedo is built for his Skill damage as typically recommended, his Burst will typically do poor enough damage and the Vaporize rate is low enough (making his A4 mostly useless), that it can be a DPS increase to forgo his Burst entirely.

Example Rotation: Ayato Bennett Xiangling Fischl

Rotation: Bennett EQ > Fischl E > Xiangling QE > Ayato E N15 Q > Fischl Q > Bennett E > Xiangling E > Ayato E N15

This is currently a strong variant of Ayato Vaporize teams, for all the reasons listed in the comments about Fischl above.

Casting Ayato’s Burst later into the rotation allows him to snapshot his Burst on Bennett’s, but as a result, Xiangling Vaporizes less Pyronado hits and Fischl does not snapshot her second Oz.

It is worth noting that while the Overloads being triggered can provide extra damage, they can also negatively affect the team by knocking enemies out of range.

Example Rotation: Ayato Bennett Xiangling Kazuha

Rotation: Bennett EQ > Kazuha Q tEP > Xiangling EQ > Ayato Q E N15 > Kazuha tEP > Bennett E > Xiangling E > Ayato E N15

Kazuha cannot consistently double Swirl outside of single-target. Here, he instead first Swirls Pyro to buff Xiangling’s Pyronado, and then Hydro to buff Ayato’s second Skill..

Example Rotation: Ayato Bennett Xiangling Sucrose

Rotation: Ayato Q > Bennett Q > Xiangling N2 E > Sucrose E (Guoba Swirl) > Xiangling Q > Ayato E > Bennett E > Swap to Xiangling to funnel > Sucrose E > Bennett E > Xiangling E > Ayato E

For those interested, this rotation allows you to fairly reliably Swirl both Pyro and Hydro.

Bennett must not use his Skill before or after his Burst cast: its Pyro application will ruin the Guoba Swirl. The Xiangling N2 serves as a gapfiller to allow time for Ayato’s Burst droplets to hit and apply Hydro before executing the Guoba Swirl. Even if the N2 is performed, players still must delay Sucrose’s Skill until the exclamation mark appears over Guoba’s head.

Know that the setup and timing needed to execute a Guoba Swirl extends the rotation, meaning that it may end up worse than if a player had just opted for Swirling Pyro. Therefore, it is highly recommended for players who cannot execute Guoba Swirls reliably and possibly even for those who can to forgo double Swirling: the rotation for just a Pyro Swirl is Bennett EQ > Sucrose E > Xiangling QE > Ayato E N15 Q > Bennett E > Xiangling E > Ayato E N15.

Hyper / Mono Hydro

Hyper is a loose classification of a number of teams that revolve around primarily buffing Ayato’s damage. Many of these teams overlap with teams that can be considered Mono Hydro, or teams focused on dealing raw damage rather than being Reaction-based, typically consisting of only Hydro, Geo, and Anemo units.

While both team archetypes underperform the reaction-based teams described above, and Mono Hydro can come with a large opportunity cost by occupying multiple valuable Hydro applicators, they are still very much viable teams, especially with the many recent additions of on and off-field Hydro applicators. Further, their focus on Ayato’s personal damage means they scale particularly well with investment into him.

Flex (Buffer)

Character	Description
Yun Jin	Yun Jin is unlike traditional buffers who directly buff a character’s damage by increasing the stats of said character or reducing the enemies’ stats in some way; rather, her Burst provides Flat Bonus DMG when characters use Normal Attacks. See the Yun Jin guide for details. Since Ayato builds for his Shunsuiken attacks (which count as Normal Attacks), Yun Jin seems to be a logical choice for his teams. However, in most teams, other characters who provide their own personal damage and other utilities tend to be a superior choice over Yun Jin.  She is, however, one of the best choices to maximize the damage that Ayato himself deals, and therefore slots nicely into a team such as this which aims to do exactly that.
Bennett	Provides a massive ATK buff through his Burst and 4 NO that Ayato’s Burst can snapshot, as well as healing.
Zhongli	Zhongli provides a universal 20% RES shred, as well as a hefty shield, useful for eliminating the need to dodge and thus allowing Ayato to maximize the number of Shunsuiken attacks.
Anemo	Any Anemo character can hold 4 VV to shred enemies’ Hydro RES for Ayato and any other Hydro characters in the team. Notable Anemos include Kazuha for his grouping and DMG% buff, Venti for his grouping, and Jean and Sayu for their healing.
Barbara	Barbara can be run as a healer who also provides buffs through her C2 and Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers.

Flex (Damage)

Character	Description
Xingqiu	With Sacrificial Sword, Xingqiu can provide a significant amount of Hydro Particles for himself and Ayato. He also brings his own personal damage to the table, as well as Hydro RES shred with C2. However, a fair amount of Ayato’s value is tied to his ability to free up another Hydro character such as Xingqiu for another team, and so running them together may not be the most efficient pairing. As Adranelyne#0024 puts it: “Ayato and Xingqiu are like two dudes who met at a function their wives made them go to but they found out they had a ton in common and now follow each other on Instagram.”
Yelan	Yelan, too, can provide a significant amount of Particles via her Skill and Favonius Warbow. And while Yelan lacks the defensive utility that Xingqiu has in his Interruption Resistance and pseudo-healing, she can in turn provide a ramping DMG% buff for Ayato.  Similar to Xingqiu, running Yelan and Ayato may not be the most efficient usage of characters.
Fischl	While Fischl does not technically fit into either team archetype, she can still provide strong single-target damage here.
Albedo	Albedo enters the field once per rotation to cast his Skill and then provides off-field damage through it for the rest of the time, plain and simple. He pairs nicely with either Yun Jin or Zhongli for Geo Resonance.

Example Rotation: Ayato Yelan Xingqiu Zhongli

Rotation: (1st Rotation: Yelan CA) > Zhongli hE > Xingqiu Q E (E) > Ayato E N15 Q > Yelan Q N1 E > Zhongli tE > Ayato E N15

A Mono Hydro team in which Ayato drives Yelan and Xingqiu while all three Hydro characters provide Particles to one another. Zhongli provides defensive utility via his shield, as well as buffing through his Jade Shield’s RES Shred and potentially 4 Archaic Petra.

Ayato casts his Burst after his first Skill to shorten rotation times; however, casting it at the beginning of the rotation changes little in the grand scheme of things.

Freeze

Ayato is in a curious spot in regards to Freeze teams: while Freeze teams where Ayato acts as the on-field DPS are incredibly comfortable to play and arguably utilize his wide AoE and quadratic scaling the best by locking grouped enemies into place, they are rarely his most damaging choice of teams. 

Similarly, Ayato has value as a Burst DPS in providing off-field Hydro application in a range that most other Hydro units do not have, but is rarely the most damaging choice for that team.

Cryo Flex

Character	Description
Ganyu	Ganyu and Ayato share Bursts that work very similarly, including their quadratic scaling; therefore, it seems logical to run the two together. While difficult to determine Ayato’s relative worth versus other Hydro characters, the team can certainly clear suitable content with ease provided a potent grouper.
Ayaka	Unfortunately for the players who want to run the brother and sister duo together, Ayato is rarely the best choice of a Hydro to run in his sister’s teams.  Ayaka benefits greatly from buffs through the brief duration of her Burst, which Ayato cannot offer. Furthermore, both characters struggle with Energy, and running the two together only serves to worsen the problem. However, provided that players lack Kokomi or Mona, or simply want the added comfort of Ayato’s large AoE Hydro application, Ayato is still a viable choice for Ayaka’s teams.
Rosaria	Rosaria provides off-field Cryo damage and a CRIT Rate share, and can battery another Cryo character. Rosaria can either be run alongside another off-field Cryo damage dealer or support for an on-field DPS Ayato team, or run as a battery and support herself for Ayaka.
Kaeya	Kaeya performs an extremely similar role to Rosaria, but without the CRIT Rate share and with increased Cryo Particle generation. Just like Rosaria, he can be run alongside another off-field Cryo damage dealer or support for an on-field DPS Ayato team, or run as a battery and support for Ayaka.
Shenhe	Shenhe provides Flat Bonus DMG like Yun Jin, but for Cryo damage instead of Normal Attacks. Much of her value, though, actually comes from her more traditional buffs rather than her Flat Bonus DMG, particularly in AoE situations.  She can slot nicely into any team with another Cryo damage dealer, especially Ayaka, providing buffing and additional Particles through the usage of Favonius Lance.
Diona	Diona provides survivability through healing and shielding, as well as significant Particle generation with Sacrificial Bow or Favonius Warbow.

Anemo Flex

Character	Description
Venti	Venti’s powerful grouping allows Ganyu and Ayato to better utilize the quadratic scaling of their Bursts, as well as being exceedingly useful for pulling enemies into the range of various attacks.  His Energy refund can also be of great use here, and he contributes a non-negligible amount of personal damage.
Kazuha	Kazuha provides grouping, personal damage, and a DMG% buff.
Heizou	Heizou provides some amount of personal damage, grouping at mostly C2 and above, as well as an array of other utilities depending on his weapon: he can opt to buff the team with Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers or Hakushin Ring, heal the team with Prototype Amber, or use a damaging option to increase his personal damage.
Sayu	Sayu consolidates 4 VV and healing into one slot, allowing players to not run Diona and still have a defensive unit in the team.
Jean	Jean performs essentially the same role as Sayu, but her Skill and Burst can cause enemies to become ungrouped.
Sucrose	Sucrose provides grouping and can hold TToDS, but her EM share is virtually useless here.
Anemo Traveler	Anemo Traveler’s Burst’s usual problem of carrying enemies away is alleviated by Freeze, meaning that they can be a solid choice for grouping and an additional Elemental RES shred through their C6.

Example Rotation: Ayato Ganyu Diona Venti

Rotation: Diona Q > Ganyu EQ > Venti EQ > Ayato Q E N15 > Venti E > Diona hE > Ganyu CA

This team aims to make full use of the quadratic scaling of Ayato and Ganyu’s Burst through Venti’s powerful grouping. Therefore, it excels primarily in situations with many enemies that can be Frozen and pulled into the vortex of Venti’s Burst, and performs significantly worse outside of these conditions.

Using Ganyu’s Burst before Venti’s Burst, followed immediately by Ayato’s Burst, ensures that Venti’s Burst reliably absorbs Cryo, even in subsequent rotations when Ayato’s Burst is still ongoing upon Venti’s Burst cast. Deviating from this sequence may result in inconsistent Cryo or Hydro absorption and thus unreliable Energy refund from Venti’s A4 Passive, which may cause issues given this team’s relatively high Energy requirements.

Venti ideally Normal Attacks, dashes, or jumps immediately after his second Skill cast to prematurely cancel its long animation, shortening and making smoother the rotation.

Example Rotation: Ayato Rosaria Kaeya Kazuha

Rotation: (If using Amenoma Kageuchi) Ayato E N1 > Ayato Q > Kaeya E > Kazuha Q tEP > Rosaria EQ > Kaeya EQ > Ayato E N15 > Kazuha tEP > Kaeya E > Rosaria E

In a single Skill rotation such as this, and without a second Hydro, Ayato runs into egregiously high ER requirements that significantly lower his damage. While a high-refine Amenoma Kageuchi and a slight addition to the rotation can remedy the problem, Ayato Bursting first in the rotation means that the Energy refund will only take effect from the second Burst onwards. Therefore, players can alternatively opt to use Ayato’s Burst every other rotation.

This team has high enough Freeze uptime that it is possible to comfortably play it without a healer or dedicated defensive unit. Nonetheless, players can choose to run Jean/Sayu or Diona in place of Kazuha or Kaeya, respectively.

Afterword

“Did I just grow more competent? Goodness, how marvelous…”

Kamisato Ayato – Feeling About Ascension: Intro

Ayato is certainly an interesting character, perhaps almost as interesting as the foods he makes Thoma eat. Thank you for reading this guide, and hopefully you will walk away now with even just a little more knowledge about the head of the Kamisato clan. 

Special thanks to mina#4448, Steno#0119, EatYourVeggies#7493, mementomori#0001, as well as everyone else who contributed to the guide.

Team composition images courtesy of muakasan#2792.

References

Constellation, weapon, artifact, and team comparisons (as well as links to their respective sheets) can be found here: (Ayato Mastersheet)