Mavuika
Night-Igniting Flame

“Wrath from the skies!”

Character Description:

Mavuika is a 5-Star Pyro Claymore-user who can act as both an On-Field Main DPS or an Off-Field Support/Sub DPS. As the Pyro Archon, Mavuika is one of the most powerful characters of her element, if not the most powerful. Besides her impressive combat potential, Mavuika has excellent exploration capabilities. She continues the trend of each Archon being “stronger” than the one before it. Gods help us all when the Tsaritsa comes out.

Character Materials:

Talent Books: Contention (9/63/114)(Mon/Tues/Sun)
Local Specialty: Withering Purpurbloom (168)
Monster Drops: Saurain-Crowned Warrior Whistles (36/96/129)
Regular Boss Drop: Gold-Inscribed Secret Source Core (48)(Secret Source Automaton: Configuration Device)
Weekly Boss Drop: Eroded Horn (18)(Lord of Eroded Primal Fire)

Character Abilities:

Normal Attack: Flames Weave Life

4 strike Normal Attack, 1 BIG slash Charged Attack, and a basic Plunge Attack. Strong base numbers but otherwise, not particularly special about them.

Elemental Skill: The Named Moment

Mavuika’s Elemental Skill is how she switches between On-Field DPS and Off-Field Support/Sub DPS. When she activates it, she deals a moderate amount of Pyro DMG, enters the Nightsoul’s Blessing state, and resorts all of her Nightsoul Points to max value (80).

The effects of the Skill after that are dependent on how she activated it, Tap or Hold. The initial hit generates 5 Pyro Particles and the CD for the Skill is 15 seconds. You can also switch between the two forms even after you’ve initially activated the Skill by Tapping the Skill.

Tap:

Creates a Ring of Searing Radiance behind her (like Raiden Shogun’s Burst counter or Wanderer’s Anemo ring). The ring itself is purely cosmetic but while it’s active, fire will periodically rain down on nearby enemies. Note, the fire drops down from above the enemy. It doesn’t come out of the ring itself.

The Ring deals Pyro DMG, will hit up to 10 enemies, and has a range of 6m (the size of Bennett’s Burst). If Mavuika is On-Field, the Ring’s damage will have regular ICD for applying Pyro (2.5 seconds or 3 hits) but if she’s Off-Field then the damage will always apply Pyro on hit.

The attack interval for the Ring is 2 seconds. While Ring of Searing Radiance is active, it will drain 5 Nightsoul points per second plus 3 additional points per hit. That’s about 13 seconds of uptime.

Hold:

Instead of creating a Ring behind her, holding Mavuika’s Skill instead summons a Flamestrider (the motorcycle). In that state, Mavuika can ride around on the Flamestrider at high speeds and use its hidden propulsion module to allow her to cross various terrains (climbing mountains, surfing over water, and flying through the air).

She can also fight while riding the Flamestrider. Her Normal, Charged, and Plunge Attacks are converted to deal Nightsoul-aligned Pyro DMG (meaning the base damage numbers change) which cannot be overwritten.

When sprinting while on the Flamestride, Mavuika will deal Nightsoul-aligned Pyro DMG to opponents along her path. Basically, she runs them over. The Flamestride drains Nightsoul points as follows:

• Base drain: 9/s
• Charged Attack: 11/s
• Normal Attack: 1/hit
• Sprinting: 10 + 29/s
• Climbing: 17/s
• Surfing: 14/s
• Flying: 12/s

There are also time limits for the various terrain traversal methods. Climbing lasts 1 second while surfing and flying last 3 seconds. And, if you are wondering why Charged Attack drains per second, it’s because you can hold the Charged Attack like normal Claymore Charged Attacks and effectively donut enemies. The Flamestrider form has a generic ICD for applying Pyro.

Elemental Burst: Hour of Burning Skies

Mavuika’s Burst is the first of its kind, in that it does not use Elemental Energy. Instead, it charges up through Fighting Spirit. Mavuika gains Fighting Spirit in 2 different ways.

1. When in combat, Nightsoul Points used by nearby party members (including Mavuika) are converted into Fighting Spirit. This is a 1:1 ratio. So, in Mavuika’s case, she can give herself 80 Fighting Spirit.
2. When nearby party members’ Normal Attacks hit enemies, Mavuika gains 1.5 Fighting Spirit. This can trigger once every 0.1 seconds (I don’t know why they even bother with this. Who attacks faster than once per 0.1 seconds?)

The max amount of Fighting Spirit Mavuika can have is 200. She can activate her Burst when she reaches 50% of her max limit (so 100 Fighting Spirit).

After activating her Burst, Mavuika gains 10 Nightsoul Points and enters the Nightsoul’s Blessing state. She then jumps into the air, mounts her Flamestrider, enters the “Crucible of Death and Life” state, and then hits enemies (assuming you don’t whiff it) with a powerful Sunfell Slice that deals MASSIVE amounts of AoE Nightsoul-aligned Pyro DMG. The CD on this Burst is 18 seconds.

While in the “Crucible of Death and Life” state, Mavuika gains increased interruption resistance, her actions will no longer consume Nightsoul Points, and the DMG for her Sunfell Slice and the Normal and Charged Attacks of her Elemental Skill are increased by the amount of Fighting Spirit she used when she activated her Burst. The duration of “Crucible of Death and Life” is 7 seconds, and the effects will be canceled if Mavuika leaves the field.

Ascension Passive 1: Gift of Flaming Flower

When a nearby party member triggers a Nightsoul Burst, Mavuika’s ATK increases by 30% for 10 seconds. Remember the CD for Nightsoul Burst is 18 seconds for 1 Natlan character, 12 for 2, and 9 for 3 or more. Plan ahead accordingly.

Ascension Passive 2: “Kiongozi”

After using her Burst, every point of Fighting Spirit that was used will increase the DMG that the current active party member deals by .2% (maximum increase of 40%). This effect lasts 20 seconds and decays over its duration until it reaches 0. Even more reason to wait for 200 Fighting Spirit.

Night Realm’s Gift: Exhaust Mode

Generic Nightsoul Transmission talent. Can be activated while sprinting, climbing, swimming, gliding, or in movement modes caused by certain talents (super specific, I know). When she enters the field, Mavuika gains 50% of her Nightsoul Points (40).

Utility Passive: Night-Shattering Radiance

The CD of Nightsoul Transmission is decreased by 20% for the party. So that would be a CD of 8 seconds instead of 10.

Constellations:

1: The Night-Lord’s Explication

Mavuika’s maximum Nightsoul Points limit is increased to 120 and gains Fighting Spirit 25% more efficiently. So, she can give herself 150 Fighting Spirit when she spends all her Nightsoul Points and Normal Attacks will give 1.875 Fighting Spirit per hit (if I’m doing my math right). Additionally, she gains 40% ATK for 8 seconds after gaining Fighting Spirit. – Well, isn’t that just gilding the lily?

2: The Ashen Price

When in the Nightsoul’s Blessing State, Mavuika’s Base ATK is increased by 200 and she obtains the following effects based on which form of her Elemental Skill she’s in

• Ring of Searing Radiance: Nearby enemies’ DEF is decreased by 20% (10m radius, same as Ganyu’s Burst)
• Flamestrider: Mavuika’s Normal Attacks, Charged Attacks, and Sunfell Slice deal increased DMG based on 60%, 90%, and 120% of her ATK respectively.

– Because she didn’t hit hard enough already . . .

3: The Burning Sun

Elemental Burst level increased by 3.

4: The Leader’s Resolve

The DMG increase gained from the Passive Talent “Kiongozi” will not decay and an additional 10% DMG will be gained. – This one is the GOAT, in my opinion.

5: The Meaning of Truth

Elemental Skill level increased by 3.

6: “Humanity’s Name” Unfettered

Buff the two states of her Elemental Skill.

• Ring of Searing Radiance: When the ring’s attacks hit enemies, a Flamestrider will crash into the struck enemy, dealing AoE Nightsoul-aligned Pyro DMG. – So, not only will she make it rain fire, but now summon motorcycle out of thin air to drop onto people’s heads? Dear lord.
  • Flamestrier: While Mavuika is riding the Flamestrider, she will summon a Ring of Searing Radiance to follow her that decreases nearby enemy DEF by 20% and deals Nightsoul-aligned AoE Pyro DMG to nearby enemies every 3 seconds. – Burn baby, BURN!

These improvements to her two forms cannot apply Pyro and are just extra damage. A decent amount of extra damage, I grant you but still, just damage. Furthermore, while Mavuika is riding her Flamestrider, and is not in combat, when her Nightsoul Points drop to 5, she will gain 80 Nightsoul Points. This effect can trigger once every 15 seconds. – Vroom, vroom forever.

Gameplay Overview:

Mavuika’s gameplay very much depends on what you need in the moment. If you are going to play her as Support, tap her Skill and switch her in and out as needed. She has almost perfect uptime on her ring if you just want to leave her Off-Field for 13 seconds, you can.

If you want her to be a main DPS, buff her, then hold her Skill, mount Flamestrider, and proceed to run over everything in her path. As for her Burst, it too can be utilized for both DPS and Support. For DPS, just keep Mavuika On-Field for the full duration.

For Support, use it and then swap her out. Since the “Kiongozi” passive affects the “current” active character, it will transfer over to whoever you switch to.

Artifacts:

Best: Obsidian Codex

This is the artifact you should build on Mavuika, regardless of whether you want her to be Support or DPS. I think the reasons for building it for DPS are rather obvious. As for Support, while you will lose out on the 15% Bonus DMG from the 2-Piece (since it only affects On-Field characters) you can still make use of the 40% Bonus CRIT Rate from the 4-Piece as long as you switch back to Mavuika every 6 seconds.

It’s a touch tedious but it will ultimately net more damage in the long run. Furthermore, if you use Codex, you can still have someone else in the party with Cinder City. Best of both worlds.

Decent: Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City

This artifact is an almost perfect second choice if it weren’t for 1 tiny little thing. The 2-Piece Passive. Mavuika has no need for Energy, so it is completely wasted on her. Other than that, the 40% Bonus DMG is great and would be nice on her.

However, since she wants other Nightsoul characters on her team to help her build Fighting Spirit, it would be better for one of them to have Cinder.

Niche: Unfinished Reverie

So, if you were to use this on Support Mavuika, due to her ridiculous consistent Pyro application, you could have permanent uptime on the 4-Piece effect, providing Mavuika with 100% Bonus DMG. That being said, don’t do this. There are better options. I’m only putting it here because it’s an interesting interaction. Do. Not. Do. This.

Stats:

1. CRIT DMG: Get a CRIT DMG hat and as much CRIT DMG as you can get on her substats. She hits harder already. Might as well make her hit harder.
2. CRIT Rate: Try to get a decent amount. If you are using Obsidian Codex, remember not to exceed 60%.
3. ATK: Her clock should be ATK and try to get some extra ATK substats. If it comes down to a choice between ATK and CRIT DMG, however, go for CRIT DMG.
4. Elemental Mastery: A good amount will be very beneficial. She can drive reaction teams well.
5. Pyro DMG: Pyro cup. Get one. That’s it.

WARNING: DO NOT GET A SINGLE POINT OF ENERGY RECHARGE. IT IS COMPLETELY POINTLESS!!!!!! NO ENERGY RECHARGE. PERIOD.

Weapons:

5-Star:           

Best: A Thousand Blazing Suns

Mavuika’s signature weapon and, in her hands, busted all to Hell and back. It even has a special effect when she’s wielding it (like Arlecchino’s spear). Not only does it provide CRIT Rate, ATK, and CRIT DMG but if it is wielded by someone who can enter a Nightsoul’s Blessing the Bonus ATK and CRIT DMG effects are increased. BFS indeed.

Good: Fang of the Mountain King

Of all the other claymores, this one provides the second-best damage. However, it does require you to build around Burning or Burgeon for full efficiency (you’d only really be able to have 3 stacks of Canopy’s Favor, never 6).

Decent: Wolf’s Gravestone

Always a good option, provides the 4^th best damage at base (not counting the ATK buff for hits against any enemy with less than 30% HP). Solid, dependable, and part of the Standard Banner set so you might even have one already.

Viable: The Unforged

Technically, this one deals MORE damage than the Wolf’s Gravestone. However, it A. requires you to have a shield character and B. is an Event Banner weapon that hasn’t rerun since May of 2022. That said, it will be part of the 5.3 Chronical Wish so you can always try for it if you want. Just know there are a few better, or at least more accessible, options.

4-Star:

Best: Blackcliff Slasher

I know, this weapon is a bit weird and not necessarily the best for solo fights. That said, in situations where you can proc the passive it will do the most damage of all the 4-Star claymores and, even when you can’t, it’s the only claymore that gives CRIT DMG, which is a big stat for Mavuika, so it’s still worth it.

Good: Tidal Shadow

If you can’t proc the Blackcliff Slasher passive, this claymore provides the most damage, assuming you proc its passive. Fortunately, that’s a lot easier to do with this weapon. Just bring a healer.

Decent: Luxurious Sea-Lord

The Bonus Burst DMG and the extra damage from the tuna surprisingly push this claymore to number 3. It’s not bad, honestly, and even manages to beat out the Beacon of the Reed Sea (which is a 5-Star).

Viable: Prototype Archaic

Of all the craftable weapons, this one provides the most damage and also doesn’t have any Energy Recharge. The damage is pretty decent.

Teams:

Melt

For Off-Field Forward Melt, you can bring a Cryo DPS like Wriothesley or Ayaka and just let Mavuika’s ring do all the work. You can also add in Citlali for the Cinder City buff. If it’s On-Field Melt you want, Mavuika with Citlali is your best bet. Shenhe, Kazuha, and Pyro Traveler with Cinder City also work.

Vaporize

Mavuika, Furina, Xilonen, and Bennett. Reverse Vaporize everything into oblivion.

Burn

Mavuika, Nahida/Emilie, Xilonen, and another Dendro character. You can even have both Emilie and Nahida if you want. You could also bring a Dendro DPS like Alhaitham or Kinich. Either way, as long as you are applying Dendro, the Burning will be eternal.

Archon (Burgeon)

Technically, the only Archon that Mavuika doesn’t work with is Raiden Shogun, since Raiden’s Resolve stacks build based on the Energy cost of her teammates’ Burst and Mavuika doesn’t have an Energy cost.

That said, if you stick Mavuika in a team with the other Archons, you need up with a potential Burgeon team thanks to Furina and Nahida. As for the fourth slot, you can decide if Zhongli or Venti is more appropriate based on the situation at hand.

Final Thoughts:

Mavuika, yet another Archon destined to break the game. She’s like a choose-your-own-adventure game. Whatever you need her to be, she is. As of right now, Xilonen and Citlali are her best friends.

Xilonen can provide 93 Fighting Spirit, Healing, and Pyro RES shred, while Citlali can provide at least 50 Fighting Spirit (the real amount depends on how you manage her Nightsoul Points), Cryo application for Melt, protection via a Shield, and Pyro RES shred. Just something to be aware of.

As for the character herself, Mavuika, and I cannot believe I’m about to say this, has the potential to be my favorite Archon (Zhongli forgive me). She’s almost flawless as a character.

We still need to wait for the end of the Archon Quest to see if there is some negative but, as for right now, she is both well written, and her gameplay is well designed. As a proponent, and collector, of the Archon, I would highly recommend pulling for Mavuika. She’s a powerhouse. Plus, she covers 4 different types of terrain traversal by herself. That’s always a plus. Glory be to MaMavuika.