Guide
How the kit works
Start with Surfshark Wavebreaker. It gives Mualani 60 Nightsoul points and puts her on the Sharky Surfboard. While riding, she moves faster, resists interruption and turns Normal Attacks into Sharky's Bites. These deal Hydro damage based on Max HP and count as Normal Attack damage.
Touch enemies to mark them and gain Wave Momentum. You can gain a stack from the same enemy every 0.7 seconds. At three stacks, use a Normal Attack for Sharky's Surging Bite. It consumes the stacks on a hit. Hitting a marked enemy also launches Shark Missiles at up to five nearby marked enemies. Damage per target falls when several enemies are hit, down to 72% at three targets.
After a Surging Bite hits, Heat-Resistant Freshwater Floater creates a Puffer. Pick it up for 20 Nightsoul points; this passive creates at most two Puffers per skill use. Use Boomsharka-laka for a tracking Hydro attack. Natlan's Greatest Guide adds damage based on Max HP when the Burst consumes stacks gained from nearby party members triggering Nightsoul Bursts.
Build and why
Four pieces of Obsidian Codex are the leading set choice. The two-piece bonus increases on-field damage during Nightsoul's Blessing by 15%, and consuming a Nightsoul point gives 40% CRIT Rate for six seconds. Account for that bonus when choosing artifact stats.
Four pieces of Heart of Depth are an alternative: they give Hydro DMG Bonus and boost Normal Attack damage after the skill. Unfinished Reverie is another option if the team can keep a Burning opponent nearby. A two-piece Tenacity of the Millelith and two-piece Heart of Depth combination gives HP and Hydro DMG Bonus.
Use HP Percentage or Elemental Mastery on the sands, Hydro DMG Bonus or HP Percentage on the goblet, and CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate or HP Percentage on the circlet. Favor CRIT DMG and HP Percentage in substats, followed by CRIT Rate, Elemental Mastery and Energy Recharge.
Surf's Up is the first weapon choice: it raises Max HP and boosts Normal Attack damage after the skill, with Vaporize helping replenish its stacks. Sacrificial Jade gives Max HP and Elemental Mastery after more than five seconds off-field, but its bonuses end after ten seconds on-field. Reliquary of Truth gives CRIT Rate and Elemental Mastery; its CRIT DMG effect requires Lunar-Bloom damage. Ring of Yaxche is another option that converts Max HP into a Normal Attack damage bonus after the skill.
Leveling priority
A sensible talent order is Surfshark Wavebreaker, then Boomsharka-laka, then Cooling Treatment (NA). The skill contains the bites you use while riding, while the Burst gives you another Max HP-based Hydro hit. The ordinary attacks are less central to that plan.
For ascension, collect Sprayfeather Gill, Mark of the Binding Blessing, the Varunada Lazurite materials and the three whistle materials: Sentry's Wooden Whistle, Warrior's Metal Whistle and Saurian-Crowned Warrior's Golden Whistle. Talents use those whistles too, along with Teachings of Contention, Guide to Contention, Philosophies of Contention, Lightless Mass, Crown of Insight and Mora.
Constellations worth it
The Leisurely "Meztli"... is the first upgrade to look at. It increases the first Sharky's Surging Bite after entering Nightsoul's Blessing, and its missiles, by 66% of Max HP. That added damage still follows the skill's reduction against multiple targets. Outside combat, the constellation also reduces Nightsoul point and Phlogiston consumption.
Mualani, Going All Out! is the next standout. She starts with two Wave Momentum stacks and gains another when picking up a Puffer. Picking up two Puffers in one state also restores 12 extra Nightsoul points over two seconds.
Surfing Atop Joyous Seas adds three skill levels, while Sharky Eats Puffies restores Energy from Puffers and increases Burst damage. Same Style of Surfboard on Sale! adds Burst levels; you can leave it for later if your focus is the bites. Spirit of the Springs' People removes the once-per-state limit from C1's damage increase, so its value depends on getting more Surging Bites during the state.
Common mistakes
Don't attack as soon as you touch an enemy if you have time to build three Wave Momentum stacks. The stronger bite consumes those stacks, so check your momentum before committing. Pick up the Puffers it creates to recover points and keep riding longer.
Don't treat the surfboard bites as ordinary talent damage when choosing gear: they count as Normal Attack damage, even though they come from the skill. Avoid stacking more CRIT Rate than you need while Obsidian Codex is active, and don't expect Sacrificial Jade's off-field bonus to last indefinitely after switching in.
