Genshin Impact 2.6: Why Mistsplitter Reforged is currently the best 5-star sword

The second half of Genshin Impact version 2.6 will be giving players the chance to pull for arguably the most coveted 5-star sword currently in the game: The Mistsplitter Reforged.

First introduced in version 2.0 alongside Kamisato Ayaka’s first banner (who is also getting a rerun), the Mistsplitter Reforged was once owned by the Raiden Shogun and then bestowed to one of her retainers, Takamine the Mistsplitter.

Takamine famously wielded the weapon in defense of Inazuma during the Cataclysm 500 years ago, where the legendary sword was shattered. Its pieces were later recovered and reforged, hence its name, and the Mistsplitter Reforged is now arguably the best sword in all of Genshin Impact. For now.

Here are a few reasons why you should tap into your primogem pool to pull for this legendary sword:

Crit Damage at your fingertips

We all know how hard it is to farm for a decent crit ratio. But seeing as the Mistsplitter Reforged ascends with Crit Damage (DMG), you won’t have to lose your mind farming endlessly for that perfect crit artifact.

The weapon's 44% Crit DMG at full ascension will help you focus on rolling for other important substats, like Crit Rate or Attack, in your artifacts.

Not only that, the Mistsplitter Reforged has a whopping 674 base attack — tied with the Aquila Favonia for the highest base attack among all swords.

With its top-tier base attack, Crit DMG substat, and unique passive, the Mistsplitter Reforged is the best weapon you can get for damage-per-second (DPS) builds without much restrictions.

Not only exclusive to Ayaka

The Mistsplitter Reforged is known as Kamisato Ayaka’s best-in-slot (BiS) 5-star weapon, though it is not exclusive to the Shirasagi Himegimi.

This is because the weapon's passive can be activated by characters other than Ayaka, not to mention its already great stats.

Here's the description for the Mistsplitter Reforged passive:

Mistsplitter's Edge

Gain a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus for all elements and receive the might of the Mistsplitter's Emblem. At stack levels 1/2/3, Mistsplitter's Emblem provides a 8/16/28% Elemental DMG Bonus for the character's Elemental Type. The character will obtain 1 stack of Mistsplitter's Emblem in each of the following scenarios: Normal Attack deals Elemental DMG (stack lasts 5s), casting Elemental Burst (stack lasts 10s); Energy is less than 100% (stack disappears when Energy is full). Each stack's duration is calculated independently.

Don't be intimidated by that wall of text, this isn't the Ocean-Hued Clam.

The Mistsplitter Reforged passively gives its wielder a 12% elemental damage bonus that can be increased further when you gain stacks of the Mistsplitter's Emblem.

To gain these stacks, you simply need to hit an enemy with a normal attack that has been infused with elemental damage and use your Elemental Burst. Gaining all three stacks will give you a 28% elemental damage bonus on top of the 12% the weapon passively provides, meaning you get a whopping 40% elemental damage bonus.

That's almost as good as the 46% elemental damage bonus you will get from a maxed-out elemental damage bonus artifact.

The Mistsplitter Reforged is Ayaka's BiS weapon because she can easily get all three stacks, but other characters can do so as well. These include Ayaka's own brother, Kamisato Ayato, as well as Keqing, Kaedehara Kazuha, and Bennett (at C6).

But just because the other characters can't reliably activate all of the Mistsplitter Reforged's stacks doesn't mean they can no longer use the weapon.

Any sword-wielding character will love to have the Mistsplitter Reforged because of its high base damage, Crit DMG substat, and elemental damage bonus.

But what if you get unlucky and end up with... The Unforged?

The Mistsplitter Reforged’s second banner pairs it with The Unforged, which I'd argue is one of the most underrated 5-star weapons in the game.

If your gacha luck doesn't work out for you, getting The Unforged isn’t much of a loss.

The thing with 5-star claymores is that most of them are very niche. For example, only Eula can fully utilize the Song of Broken Pines.

However, The Unforged competes with Wolf’s Gravestone for being the best generalist 5-star claymore in the game.

If you have claymore wielders that need a boost in damage, then the Unforged (as long as you can maintain a shield to proc its passive) is still worth using. Copium.

The 4-star Favonius weapon series on the banner is something you don’t want to gloss over either.

All Favonius weapons are underrated, as slapping one on your support can help remedy energy problems for your team.

The bane of the weapon banner, however, is The Bell. It’s literally the most useless weapon in-game, as there is no claymore wielder that scales off of HP (as of 2.6). I hope you never pull it.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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