Genshin Impact Mona

An in-depth guide on how to build Genshin Impact’s Astrologer Mona Megistus.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Mona is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst character who specialises as a Burst DPS and Support, and is available on the Character Event Wish and Wanderlust Invocation Standard Banners. Keep reading to find out what materials are needed to Ascend Mona, her best builds and an overview of how to use her effectively.

Mona Ascension Stat

All characters in Genshin Impact have a particular stat that levels up alongside their base stats. For Mona, this extra stat is Energy Recharge. This helps her to charge up her powerful Elemental Burst quicker, making her a reliable Burst DPS and Support.

Mona Ascension Materials

Once you have obtained Mona and maxed her to Level 20, she can be further leveled up through Ascension. The materials you will need to Ascend Mona are as follows:

Level 20

• Varunda Lazurite Sliver x 1
• Philanemo Mushroom x 3
• Whopperflower Nectar x 3

Level 40

• Varunda Lazurite Fragment x 3
• Cleansing Heart x 2
• Philanemo Mushroom x 10
• Whopperflower Nectar x 15

Level 50

• Varunda Lazurite Fragment x 6
• Cleansing Heart x 4
• Philanemo Mushroom x 20
• Shimmering Nectar x 12

Level 60

• Varunda Lazurite Chunk x 3
• Cleansing Heart x 8
• Philanemo Mushroom x 30
• Shimmering Nectar x 18

Level 70

• Varunda Lazurite Chunk x 6
• Cleansing Heart x 12
• Philanemo Mushroom x 45
• Energy Nectar x 12

Level 80

• Varunda Lazurite Gemstone x 6
• Cleansing Heart x 20
• Philanemo Mushroom x 60
• Energy Nectar x 24

Varunda Lazurite Slivers, Fragments, Chunks and Gemstones can be obtained by defeating the Oceanid, located in Liyue, and the Hydro Hypostasis, located in Inazuma.

Cleansing Heart can be obtained by defeating the Oceanid, located in Liyue.

Philanemo Mushrooms can be found growing on the sides of buildings in Mondstadt. They grow in abundance in Mondstadt (on the sides of the Knights of Favonius Headquarters and various houses,) in Springvale, and the Dawn Winery.

Whopperflower Nectar, Shimmering Nectar and Energy Nectar can be obtained by defeating Whopperflowers, which can be found all over Teyvat.

Mona Talent Materials

In order to make Mona stronger, you’ll need to upgrade her talents. The materials you will need are as follows:

• Whopperflower Nectar
• Shimmering Nectar
• Energy Nectar
• Teachings of Resistance
• Guide to Resistance
• Philosophies of Resistance
• Ring of Boreas

The Teachings, Guide and Philosophies of Resistance can be obtained by completing the Domain of Mastery: Frozen Abyss every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Meanwhile, the Ring of Boreas is a potential drop from the Weekly Boss Wolf of the North.

Mona Best Weapons

Mona’s weapon options mainly capitalise on increasing her CRIT stats, or her Energy Recharge / Elemental Mastery.

• Skyward Atlas (5*)
• Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds (5*)
• The Widsith (4*)
• Wine and Song (4*)
• Solar Pearl (4*)
• Mappa Mare (4*)
• Favonius Codex (4*)

Mona can benefit a lot from both Skyward Atlas and Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds. Both weapons can enhance her DPS capabilities, but aren’t so good for a Support build compared to the 4-star weapons. You could also use Memory of Dust on her, but the passive is incredibly niche and therefore not recommended over the aforementioned weapons if you have them.

In terms of her 4-star weapons, you have a few options depending on what stats you want to focus on. The Widsith and Solar Pearl will increase her CRIT DMG and Rate respectfully, which are ideal for a more DPS-focused build. The Widsith’s passive also massively benefits Mona, increasing either her ATK%, Elemental DMG% or Elemental Mastery significantly – although the RNG can make this weapon a little finicky.

If you’re looking to increase her Energy Recharge, Wine and Song or the Favonius Codex both work great, although you may find Wine and Song’s passive works a little better on her.

If your Mona’s Elemental Mastery could use some work, especially for a more supportive build, Mappa Mare is your best option. Sacrificial Fragments isn’t recommended as its passive doesn’t really benefit Mona, whereas she can make good use of Mappa Mare’s Elemental DMG Bonus passive. Not to mention, Mappa Mare is also craftable, meaning it’s a good F2P alternative.

Mona Best Artifacts

Mona benefits from high Energy Recharge, and given her Ascension Stat is Energy Recharge, 4-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate works best on her. It increases both her Energy Recharge and her Elemental Burst DMG based on her overall Energy Recharge. In fact, with around 200% Energy Recharge, Mona’s Burst will gain around 50% DMG Bonus. Alternatively, you could use 2-Piece Noblesse Oblige and 2-Piece Heart of Depth for a similar DMG output, although you will be missing out on the extra Energy Recharge that Emblem of Severed Fate provides. 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige is another option if you want to fully go into support, although this isn’t recommended over the previous Artifact suggestions.

For low-level players, 4-Piece Instructor works well until you’re able to get higher level Artifacts.

For your Artifact main stats, you will want to run:

• ATK% Sands
• Hydro DMG Bonus Goblet
• CRIT DMG/Rate Circlet

In terms of Artifact substats, you’ll want to focus on ATK%, Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery and both CRIT DMG and CRIT Rate.

It’s worth mentioning that one of Mona’s Passive Talents, Waterborne Destiny, increases Mona’s Hydro DMG Bonus by a degree equivalent to 20% of her Energy Recharge rate. Not to mention, if you’re using 4-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate, she’ll also deal higher Burst DMG with higher Energy Recharge. Therefore, you should definitely try to invest in her Energy Recharge! That being said, you don’t need to go above ~200% if you want to maximize your Mona’s stats. 200% Energy Recharge will give her a Hydro DMG Bonus of around 40%.

How to Use Mona in Genshin Impact

Her Elemental Skill, Mirror Reflection of Doom, creates an illusory Phantom that continuously taunts nearby enemies, attracting their fire. It also continuously deals Hydro DMG to nearby enemies, and when its duration expires, the Phantom explodes and deals AoE Hydro DMG.

Her Elemental Burst, Stellaris Phantasm, applies the Illusory Bubble stats to opponents in a large AoE. The Illusory Bubble traps opponents and makes them Wet, and renders weaker opponents immobile. When the Illusory Bubble sustains DMG, it applies an Omen to the opponent, which gives a DMG Bonus and also increases the DMG of the attack that caused it. The Illusory Bubble is also removed and deals Hydro DMG in the process. The DMG Bonus does not apply to the Hydro DMG dealt in this instance.

Mona can be quite confusing to use, given how fiddly her Burst is. The way you’ll use her Burst will also differ slightly depending on what kind of team composition you’ll be using.

In a Vaporize team comp, you’ll want to use this rotation when Mona’s Burst is ready: apply Pyro, switch to Mona and use her Burst, wait around 2 seconds and apply Pyro again. The reason this is so specific is because in order to trigger Vaporize with the Hydro applied by Mona’s Burst, you need to apply Pyro beforehand. You’ll also want to wait around two second before using Pyro after using Mona’s Burst because her Burst has an internal cooldown and won’t apply Hydro to your opponent right away. If you used Pyro straight after Mona’s Burst, for instance, you wouldn’t trigger Vaporize as Hydro wouldn’t have been applied yet.

In this kind of team comp, you’ll need your token Pyro DPS such as Diluc, Hu Tao, Klee or Xiangling. You’ll also want to bring Bennett along for his heals, buffs and Pyro Resonance. Finally, you’ll want to bring some form of Support / another Sub DPS, so an Anemo unit like Sucrose or Kazuha works well, as well as Xingqiu for additional Hydro / Vaporize DMG.

Mona also works great on Freeze team compositions. The most well-known one is dubbed “Morgana”, and is a permafreeze comp consisting of Ganyu, Mona, Diona and Venti. However, Ayaka can be used in place of Ganyu. Much like with the Vaporize comp, you’ll want to use this specific rotation regarding Mona’s Burst: apply Cryo, switch to Mona and use her Burst, then apply Cryo again. The reason for this is because by using Cryo first, you’ll be able to Freeze your opponent before using Mona’s Burst. Then afterwards, by using Cryo again you won’t pop the Illusory Bubble, and so the Omen will last longer and you can continue to attack with Cryo – all the while being buffed by the Omen.

Still with me?

The other characters on this team will enhance your overall DMG. A general rotation could look like this: use Ganyu’s Burst, use Venti’s Burst, use Mona’s Burst, and then go to town with Ganyu’s Charged Attacks. Ganyu’s Burst applies Cryo and Venti’s Burst will help to Freeze enemies before you use Mona’s Burst. Between rotations, feel free to use a combination of your characters’ skills, and use Diona’s Burst to keep everyone nice and healthy!