Most Mika guides quote his Physical DMG buff as 30 percent. Against a single boss at C0, his own talent text says you will be running on 10 percent.
Quick answer. Mika's Detector stacks give 10 percent Physical DMG each and cap at 3, but the text that generates stacks 2 and 3 requires additional opponents. Fight one target at C0 and you get exactly one stack from his fourth ascension passive. Constellation 2 is the fix, not Constellation 6. His other half — a 13 to 25 percent ATK SPD boost and a Max-HP-scaling party heal — works on every team regardless of element, which is why "he is pointless outside Physical" is the single most repeated wrong thing about him. Build Max HP, run 4-piece Noblesse Oblige or Song of Days Past, and skip Tenacity of the Millelith.
Every talent and constellation number below is quoted from his in-game text. Anything built on top of those numbers is labelled as derived.
Why Mika is worth building on October 9, 2026
Mika is a featured 4-star on both Version 7.1 Phase 2 Event Wishes. HoYoverse's in-game announcements 21888 and 21889 use identical wording: "During this event wish, the 4-star characters 'Ode and Oblation' Dahlia (Hydro), 'Golden Vow' Candace (Hydro), and 'Coordinates of Clear Frost' Mika (Cryo) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!"
Both wishes run from 2026/10/13 18:00 to 2026/11/03 14:59 Server Time — a per-region time, not one global instant, so trust the countdown in your own client. Phase 1 ends at 2026/10/13 17:59. Full month layout: our October 2026 banner schedule.
Unlike Candace, Mika is not in the Standard Wish pool — he is a limited-banner 4-star with irregular reprints, so a three-week double-banner window is the cheapest constellation farming you will get for a while. The other featured 4-stars have their own guides: Dahlia and Candace. The 5-stars those banners are selling: Skirk and Escoffier.
What Mika's talent text actually says
Mika Schmidt is a 4-star Cryo Polearm user from Mondstadt, released on 21 March 2023 — a surveyor in the Knights of Favonius Reconnaissance Company, the unit Eula captains, and Huffman's elder brother. His ascension stat is HP, reaching 24 percent at sixth ascension, and his base HP at level 90 is 12,506.15. That is the first real clue about how to gear him: HoYoverse scaled him on health, not attack.
His Elemental Skill, Starfrost Swirl, has two presses. Tap fires a Flowfrost Arrow that "can pierce through opponents." Hold aims and fires a Rimestar Flare which, on hitting, "will rise before exploding, launching Rimestar Shards into a maximum of 3 other opponents." Either version, on hitting at least one enemy, generates 4 Elemental Particles and puts the party into the Soulwind state.
Soulwind lasts 12 seconds against a 15-second Skill cooldown, and raises the whole party's ATK SPD:
| Talent level | ATK SPD bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | 13% |
| 6 | 18% |
| 9 | 21% |
| 10 | 22% |
| 13 | 25% |
That is a range, not a fixed value, so Mika's Skill level buys something at every level — the opposite of the finding in our Candace build, and why a blanket "support talents do not matter" rule is wrong.
His Elemental Burst, Skyfeather Song, heals once on cast and then applies Eagleplume, a healing-on-CRIT-hit buff:
| Talent level | Cast healing | Eagleplume healing per trigger |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12.17% Max HP + 1,172 | 2.43% Max HP + 234 |
| 9 | 20.69% Max HP + 2,383 | scales between the two ends |
| 13 | 25.86% Max HP + 3,223 | 5.17% Max HP + 643 |
Eagleplume lasts 15 seconds against an 18-second Burst cooldown, triggers at most once every 2.5 seconds, and the Burst costs 70 Energy.
Two things follow. Both of his states are shorter than their own cooldowns — 12 against 15, and 15 against 18 — so Mika has no 100 percent uptime build. And every healing number on him is a percentage of Max HP, which makes HP percent his damage stat.
The Detector stack trap
This is the part that gets quoted wrong everywhere.
His first ascension passive, Suppressive Barrage, states that Soulwind grants the Detector effect, "increasing their Physical DMG by 10% when they are on the field." Then it explains generation, and the exact wording is what matters:
- "If the Flowfrost Arrow hits more than one opponent, each additional opponent hit will generate 1 Detector stack."
- "When a Rimestar Shard hits an opponent, it will generate 1 Detector stack." Each Shard can do this once.
- "The Soulwind state can have a maximum of 3 Detector stacks."
Read the first bullet again. The tap Skill generates stacks only from opponents beyond the first, so against a solo boss the tap gives zero stacks. The hold path is no better: the Skill description sends Rimestar Shards into "a maximum of 3 other opponents", and a solo boss has no other opponents, so no Shards fly and no Shard stacks exist.
His fourth ascension passive, Topographical Mapping, adds one guaranteed path: when a character under both Eagleplume and Soulwind scores a CRIT Hit, Soulwind grants 1 Detector stack — "During a single instance of Soulwind, 1 Detector stack can be gained in this manner" — and the Soulwind-only ceiling rises by 1.
So here is the derived reality:
| Situation | C0 | C2 | C6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 opponent (solo boss) | 1 stack, +10% | 2 stacks, +20% | 2 stacks, +20% and +60% Phys CRIT DMG |
| 2 opponents | 2 stacks, +20% | 3 stacks, +30% | 3 stacks, +30% and +60% Phys CRIT DMG |
| 4+ opponents, Hold | 4 stacks, +40% | 4 stacks, +40% | 5 stacks, +50% and +60% Phys CRIT DMG |
Note what C6 does and does not do. It raises the stack ceiling by one; it generates nothing. Against a solo boss there is no extra stack to fill the new slot, so C6 adds no Detector percentage there at all — its value in single-target is purely the 60 percent Physical CRIT DMG line.
Constellation 2, Companion's Ingress, is the breakpoint that matters. It grants a stack when the Flowfrost Arrow first hits an opponent or when the Rimestar Flare hits — unconditionally, no second opponent required. Against single-target content it doubles his Physical buff. C6 is the flashier constellation, but for the Spiral Abyss halves that are one boss in a box, C2 is where his value steps up. This is the same "read the condition, not the headline number" problem we flagged in the Crown of Insight priority guide.
One more line in Suppressive Barrage is a rotation trap: "if Starfrost Swirl is cast again during this duration, the pre-existing Soulwind state and all its Detector stacks will be cleared." Recasting mid-Soulwind rebuilds from zero, so the 3-second gap between Soulwind ending and the Skill returning is structurally unclosable.
Best Mika artifacts
4-piece Noblesse Oblige is the safe default: 2-piece Elemental Burst DMG +20 percent, 4-piece party ATK +20 percent for 12 seconds after Burst. Mika bursts on an 18-second cooldown and his Burst does no damage worth protecting, so the set buffs everyone on any team, Physical or not.
4-piece Song of Days Past is the healer-scaling alternative. Its 2-piece is Healing Bonus +15 percent; its 4-piece records healing for 6 seconds, then adds "8% of the total healing amount recorded" to the next damage instances, removed after 5 triggers or 10 seconds. The critical line is the cap: "A single instance of the Yearning effect can record up to 15,000 healing."
A derived number worth knowing before you farm it. At Burst level 9 his cast heals 20.69 percent Max HP + 2,383 to every party member. If the record sums healing across all four characters, you saturate the 15,000 cap at roughly 6,607 Max HP — below his base 12,506 at level 90, so any Mika saturates it instantly. If it counts only a single instance, you would need about 60,957 Max HP, which is unreachable. The published text does not settle which reading applies, so treat the set as likely always capped rather than scaling forever.
4-piece Maiden Beloved is the straightforward healing option: +15 percent Healing Effectiveness on 2-piece, +20 percent healing received for 10 seconds after a Burst on 4-piece.
Do not run 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith on Mika. Its 4-piece grants 20 percent ATK and 30 percent Shield Strength when an Elemental Skill hits an opponent — but only for 3 seconds. Mika's Skill is a single projectile on a 15-second cooldown. Derived uptime: 20 percent. The set is fine on units with repeated skill contact; he has none.
Main stats are simple because every number on him is Max HP based: HP percent on Sands, Goblet and Circlet, with Energy Recharge on the Sands if your team starves his 70-cost Burst. Substats go Energy Recharge, then HP percent, then flat HP.
Best Mika weapons
- Favonius Lance — 44 to 565 base ATK, Energy Recharge 6.7 to 30.6 percent, R1 60 percent chance on CRIT Hit to generate 6 Energy, 12-second cooldown. The default. It needs CRIT to proc, so keep some CRIT Rate substats if you rely on it.
- Black Tassel — a 3-star with 38 to 354 base ATK and HP 10.2 to 46.9 percent: the biggest HP percent on any Polearm, free, and refinable from the gacha floor.
- Dialogues of the Desert Sages — 42 to 510 base ATK, HP 9 to 41.3 percent, and R1 restores 8 Energy when the wielder heals, once per 10 seconds, working off-field.
- Staff of Homa — HP +20 percent at R1. Only if you own it and no Hydro or Geo unit wants it more.
- Engulfing Lightning — Energy Recharge 12 to 55.1 percent, for a Mika with no other battery on the team.
- Skip Prospector's Drill: its ATK percent scaling does nothing for a kit with zero ATK terms.
Best Mika teams
The most common complaint about him runs roughly: Mika's kit is centred on Physical damage, so he is pointless on a non-Physical team. Half of that is true and half is contradicted by his own talent text. The Physical half (Detector, 10 percent per stack) only pays a Physical carry. The universal half — 13 to 25 percent party ATK SPD, 4 particles per Skill, and a Max-HP-scaling heal on an 18-second Burst — pays everyone.
- Physical core. Eula with Mika is the canonical pairing: she is the Reconnaissance Company captain he surveys for, she is Cryo, and she scales on Physical. Add Raiden Shogun for Energy and a Cryo resonance partner. This is the only team where Detector matters.
- Cryo enabler. Any Cryo main DPS wanting a fourth slot that heals and batteries. Four particles per cast on a 15-second cooldown is competitive Cryo battery output.
- Universal ATK SPD slot. Normal-attack carries of any element gain from the ATK SPD line regardless of Detector. Here Mika is a healer who speeds up your rotation; ignore the Physical half entirely.
Rotation: Burst first for Eagleplume, then Skill for Soulwind, then leave the Skill alone until Soulwind expires.
Mika constellations ranked
- C2 Companion's Ingress — the only constellation that changes his single-target math. Doubles the C0 Physical buff against a solo boss.
- C4 Sunfrost Encomium — Eagleplume healing restores 3 Energy to Mika, up to 5 times per Burst. Derived: 15 of 70 Energy, 21.4 percent of his Burst self-funded.
- C6 Companion's Counsel — +1 maximum Detector stack and "active characters affected by Soulwind will deal 60% more Physical CRIT DMG." The extra stack only materialises in crowded rooms; the CRIT DMG line is the real prize, and only on a Physical team.
- C1 Factor Confluence — Soulwind cuts the Eagleplume healing interval by a percentage equal to the ATK SPD increase. Derived at Skill level 10: 2.5 seconds becomes 1.95 seconds.
- C5 and C3 — talent levels only.
Mika ascension and talent materials
Zero to sixth ascension: 420,000 Mora, 46 Pseudo-Stamens, the Shivada Jade line (1 Sliver, 9 Fragments, 9 Chunks, 6 Gemstones), 168 Wolfhook, and 18 Recruit's / 30 Sergeant's / 36 Lieutenant's Insignia.
- Pseudo-Stamens drop from Lv. 30+ Setekh Wenut. The level gate is the real constraint.
- Wolfhook is a Mondstadt local specialty; Wolvendom has the densest routes.
- Fatui Insignias come from any Fatui enemy, so they accumulate passively.
- Talent books are Teachings of Ballad from the Forsaken Rift domain, open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Useful banner detail: Dahlia uses the same Ballad line, so one domain run on those days feeds both featured 4-stars.
- His weekly boss material is Mirror of Mushin, a Lv. 70+ Joururi Workshop reward.
Priority if you are short: Skill first (it is a real range), Burst second, Normal Attack never.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mika worth building in 2026? Yes, if you have a Physical carry or a normal-attack carry who wants ATK SPD — a party-wide ATK SPD buff is element-agnostic and rare. If you have neither, he is a generic healer-battery.
Is Mika only good in Physical teams? No. Only the Detector half of his kit is Physical-locked. The ATK SPD bonus, the 4 Elemental Particles per Skill and the Max-HP-scaling party heal apply on any team.
What is Mika's best artifact set? 4-piece Noblesse Oblige for a universal party buff, or 4-piece Song of Days Past if you want his healing converted into damage. Avoid 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith — its 3-second window against his 15-second Skill cooldown gives roughly 20 percent uptime.
What is Mika's best weapon? Favonius Lance for Energy, Black Tassel if you are free-to-play. Black Tassel's 46.9 percent HP at maximum is the largest HP percent substat on any Polearm and he scales entirely on Max HP.
Which Mika constellation should I aim for? C2. It grants a Detector stack with no requirement for extra opponents, which doubles his Physical buff against single-target bosses. C6 is stronger but only on a Physical team.
When is Mika on banner? He is a featured 4-star on both Version 7.1 Phase 2 Event Wishes, running 2026/10/13 18:00 to 2026/11/03 14:59 Server Time, per HoYoverse in-game announcements 21888 and 21889.
Does Mika need CRIT? No. His healing and his buffs contain no CRIT terms, so build HP percent and Energy Recharge. If you crown anything, crown the Skill: its ATK SPD bonus is a genuine range, worth 3 percentage points from level 10 to 13.
Want more on this patch?
- October 2026 Genshin banner schedule
- Dahlia build guide
- Skirk or Escoffier: which to pull
- Active Genshin Impact codes
Talent, passive and constellation text quoted from Mika's in-game descriptions. Banner dates and wording from HoYoverse in-game announcements 21888 and 21889. Figures labelled as derived are our own arithmetic on those published values. Accurate as of October 9, 2026.
