Mizuki

Mizuki

5★AnemoCatalystSupport

TL;DR

Mizuki's Skill lifts her off the ground and drifts her forward, hitting for Anemo every so often as she goes. While she is drifting, everyone's Swirl damage goes up by an amount read off her Elemental Mastery. Her Burst leaves a little creature following your team that drops snacks, which either heal whoever is hurt or blow up. So the job is: let the team put their element on the enemies, then drift through them.

Rotation

  1. Send the rest of your team in first so there is Pyro, Hydro, Cryo or Electro on the enemies to swirl.
  2. Burst (Q) if you have the Energy, which drops the snack creature for 12 seconds.
  3. Skill (E) and steer her through the enemies. Her hits swirl on their own as she passes.
  4. Stay in the drift until it ends, then swap back to your damage dealer. 15 second cooldown on the Skill.

Abilities

Skill (E) One Anemo hit on cast, then she floats and drifts forward, hitting nearby enemies at intervals. 5 seconds to start with, 15 second cooldown. You steer the direction. Press it again to stop early, or swap off her to the same effect.
Burst (Q) Costs 60 Energy, 15 second cooldown. Sucks enemies into a pile, then leaves a creature following your active character for 12 seconds. It puts a snack on the ground every so often.
The snacks Pick one up above 70% health and it explodes for Anemo damage. Pick one up below that and it heals you off her Elemental Mastery instead. Twice as much if Mizuki is the one collecting it. Left alone they explode by themselves.

The one mechanic to understand

The drift extends itself, but only while she is swirling.

The drift starts at 5 seconds. Every Swirl she triggers while in it adds 2.5 seconds, twice at most. So it runs 10 seconds if she is passing over enemies that are already carrying somebody else's element. It is 5 seconds flat if she is drifting through a clean fight. On top of that, any Pyro, Hydro, Cryo or Electro hit a teammate lands while she is drifting gives her 100 Elemental Mastery for 4 seconds, which goes straight back into the Swirl buff she is handing out. Off-field damage sources like a turret or a rain of swords keep that ticking over on their own.

What actually matters

The two or three real decisions. Everything else is noise.

  • Elemental Mastery. The Swirl buff, her own Swirl damage and the healing off the snacks all read off it. It is the only stat on her that does more than one job.
  • Something on the enemy to swirl. She brings Anemo and nothing else. With no Pyro, Hydro, Cryo or Electro on the enemies the buff has nothing to multiply and the drift cuts off after 5 seconds.
  • Where you steer her. She drifts forward whether or not there is anything in front of her. Keep her over the enemies so her intervals land, because that is what pays for the extra time.
  • The healing is conditional. A snack only heals somebody already below 70% health, so treat it as a top-up between fights rather than a reason to leave a dedicated healer at home.

Gear

A build that works. KeqingMains lists every other option.

Weapon Elemental Mastery, as much of it as you can find. Mappa Mare is craftable and does the job. The Widsith is the bigger number when its buff lands on the Elemental Mastery option, though you are rolling a die every time she comes in.
Artifacts 4-piece Gilded Dreams, or two 2-piece Elemental Mastery sets while you farm it. 4-piece Viridescent Venerer instead when the team is built around one element, since it strips that element's resistance off everything she swirls.
Main stats Elemental Mastery sands, Elemental Mastery goblet, Elemental Mastery circlet. Around 120% Energy Recharge is plenty, since the Skill is the part that buffs and the Burst can sit out a rotation.

Works well with

PyroHydroCryoElectro

Those four are the elements she can swirl and the four her Elemental Mastery passive watches for. Teams that leave their element on the enemy while she drifts get the most out of her.

Don't bother

  • Her normal and Charged Attacks. The drift does the hitting and the Charged Attack costs 50 stamina.
  • Bursting every rotation. Building Energy Recharge to manage it costs you Elemental Mastery, which is the stat that matters.
  • Building her for her own damage. Her hits are there to trigger Swirl. Swirl damage cannot crit at all until C6.
  • Recasting the Skill to stop the drift early. That ends the Swirl buff you cast it for.

Want the full theorycrafting version? Read Mizuki on KeqingMains.