Mizuki

General overview

Mizuki is pretty different from the other ambushers (in more ways than just his kit), which has caused him to be pretty harshly misjudged by a lot of people. Do not be fooled by this. Consistent true AOE DPS is a rare niche in this game, and he can punch surprisingly high above his weight class. His relatively low multipliers mean that he might struggle to handle really strong enemies on his own. But he can easily clean up everything else so the rest of your team can help him take out the tough guys!

E2? Very worth it if you use him a lot. Masteries for his first two skills pack a surprising punch.

Game modes

Mizuki isn't a consistent high-risk CC pick, but his crowd control can find a good place in some strategies. He's normally a bit of a luxury pick in IS, but is very worth taking if you get the Hand of Superspeed. He also does quite well in SSS if you feed him a lot of SP.

Talents

Talent 1 - Traumatic Hysteria

E1 Attacks deal an additional 30% arts damage to the target with lowest HP

E2 Attacks deal an additional 50% arts damage to the target with lowest HP

This talent is nominally just a bonus that lets you take out weakened enemies faster, but his skills interact with it to inflict a lot more pain than the numbers might suggest.

Talent 2 - Countertransference

E2 When there are enemies with less than 50% HP in range, ATK +10% (+2%)

A nice extra buff that synergizes with his first talent.

Skills

Skill 1 - Awaken

Skill effect: The next attack deals 230%/300% physical damage and increases the damage multiplier on talent 1 to 2.3/3 times. Can store 2/3 charges.

Overview: This skill is surprisingly powerful, especially if he's been sitting idle for a while and unloads all his charges at once. It offers no other utility, but if you want pure consistent DPS from him, this can't be beat.

M3? Mastery on this skill is well worth it if you use it a lot. Even if you don't, you might want to get it to M1 for the extra charge.

Skill 2 - Prisoner's Dilemma

Skill effect: Attack interval reduces (greatly), ATK +20%/30%. Talent 1 targets 1 additional enemy and binds for 1/1.3 seconds.

Overview: The DPS on this is nothing gamebreaking, but it's still very good, and his talent gets a nice boost from being able to target an extra enemy. The main appeal here is the bind. The only thing to keep in mind is that the enemies that are bound will be the ones with the lowest HP remaining, but that also means that it's guaranteed if there's only one or two enemies in his range. The uptime is also fantastic.

M3? If you're going to do masteries on this, it's pretty much mandatory that you go all the way to M3. The first two don't do very much on their own. The main reason for mastery is the increase in uptime, but his DPS and bind also get a nice bump with the extra decrease in his attack interval.

Skill 3 - Moon in the Water

Skill effect: Attack range expands, attack interval increases, ATK +105%/150%. Talent 1 targets 2 additional enemies and stuns for 1 second. When attacks hit less than 3 enemies, lose 15%/12% max HP.

Skill range:

Overview: Strangely enough, skill 3 is Mizuki's most underwhelming skill due to its middling multipliers and strangely high SP cost. I don't think the HP loss isn't that much of a drawback if you just stick a healer on him, though. Despite its drawbacks, this skill is still very usable as long as you temper your expectations for what it is. He gets some nice damage from his talent, and the stuns, while short, can help keep troublesome enemies at bay.

M3? M3 gives him quite a bit more attack, a slightly lower SP cost, and less self-own damage. If you like this skill, you should consider M3ing it, but if you don't use it much, you'll probably be fine with leaving it at level 7.

Module - Entreaty of the Herald

Level 1: Slows the movement speed of enemies within range by 20%

Level 2: Talent Upgrade: Attacks deal an additional 55% arts damage to the two targets with lowest HP

Level 3: Talent Upgrade: Attacks deal an additional 60% arts damage to the two targets with lowest HP

Overview: This module makes an astronomical difference in Mizuki's performance. The base effect gives him a much needed bit of crowd control, which also means more time for him to attack enemies that walk by him. On top of that, level 2 permanently adds an extra target to his talent, which has a ripple effect on skill 1 and skill 2 because they give him even more targets. Level 3 can be skipped if you'd like, but if you like to use him, it doesn't hurt to go all the way for the extra stats and talent upgrade.

Module - Dark Blue Seed

Level 1: 65% chance to dodge Physical and Arts attacks and is less likely to be targeted by enemies

Level 2: Talent Upgrade: When there are enemies with less than 50% HP in range, ATK +15%. Recovers 5% max HP when an enemy is killed by Mizuki

Level 3: Talent Upgrade: When there are enemies with less than 50% HP in range, ATK +20%. Recovers 10% max HP when an enemy is killed by Mizuki

Overview: This module leans towards speccing him into more of a survivability role. It doesn't synergize with his kit very well, so if you have to pick one, his first module enhances his performance a lot more. If you like this module, though, you'll probably want to at least get it to level 2 so he can heal himself. Level 3 is pretty marginal, but it might be appealing if you want to counteract the HP loss from skill 3.