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Archons are some of the most powerful figures in Teyvat, and HoYoverse has ensured that this is still the case when releasing them as playable characters. Many fans save their Primogems, so they’re guaranteed to get the Archon of a new region. I have all of them in my Genshin Impact account except for Mavuika. While her character and personality aren’t terrible, she’s arguably the worst Archon due to her design and kit. Arguments about Mavuika have been raging in various online forums, and for a good reason. The Pyro Archon is quite disappointing so far.
Bad Character Design
HoYoverse has been a master at making their characters look unique despite the limited body types. Unfortunately, they have fumbled when designing Mavuika. I don’t understand what they were thinking when they decided to give her a biker outfit. Mavuika is the Pyro Archon in Genshin Impact. She’s the figurehead of that nation, yet her design doesn’t show that she belongs to that region. In fact, due to her outfit, I thought that she was actually a tourist who visited the area.
Mavuika’s skin-tight outfit certainly has Natlan patterns. The black, red, and gold color scheme is good and fitting for the Pyro Archon. However, that doesn’t change the fact that she looks out of place whenever she stands next to other Natlan characters. Frankly, Mavuika feels more like a Zenless Zone Zero character than Genshin Impact.
Her motorbike definitely doesn’t help. Whose great idea was it to add a literal motorbike to a game set in a fantasy world? Oh, some people would argue that you could find locomotives and robots. Here’s the thing, though: the ancient Khaenri’ah robots aren’t something you will expect to see in the modern world. Even Fontaine’s locomotives look too fantastical and unrealistic, but Mavuika’s motorbike design is too modern.
Questionable Kit
Another bad aspect of Mavuika is her kit. First of all, the fact that her motorbike is the main focus of her combat just makes her feel even more out of place in Genshin Impact. If you want her to be a DPS, then you need to get on the motorbike. Although she can still use Claymore, that mode is more designed for a sub-DPS role.
My main gripe with Mavuika’s kit is that she needs to be paired with Natlan characters. Unlike regular characters who require Burst energy, the Pyro Archon wants to be extra special. She uses Fighting Spirit to activate her Burst. The problem is you can only gain this resource reliably by using Nightsoul attacks. Technically, you can also use regular attacks, but the speed is much slower.
To activate Mavuika’s Burst, you need 200 Fighting Spirit. Normal attacks will only generate 1.5 Fighting Spirit. On the other hand, when a party member consumes Nightsoul charges, those points will be converted into Fighting Spirit. That means you only get 150 Fighting Spirits after dishing out 100 normal attacks. Technically, you can activate her Burst early with only 100 points, but you won’t get her full passive damage bonus like when you spend 200 points.
This is the biggest downside since you can only use her full potential by putting Mavuika in a Natlan team. The other Archon units don’t have the same problem. All of them can be considered a great character for the majority of the team due to their powerful kit. They are also not picky and can use regular Burst energy instead of Fighting Spirit.
I’m not saying that pulling for Mavuika is a mistake. Overall, she’s still a decent character, but she’s not as good as other Archons. While the other Archons are pretty universal and flexible, Mavuika demands to be placed within a Natlan team. Since I don’t have any Natlan characters except for Kachina, who I got for free, pulling for the Pyro Archon seems like a bad idea.
