Starting the Sara Build Journey
Alright, so I finally decided to actually build Kujou Sara properly. I mean, she’s been sitting at level 20 forever, right? Felt bad. Today was the day to fix that. My goal? Get her hitting decent numbers as a support for my Raiden Shogun team, mostly focusing on her buffing power.
Artifact Hunting Headache
First things first: artifacts. Knew she needed high Energy Recharge to keep her burst up often and Electro Damage. Tried farming the Emblem of Severed Fate domain – you know the one in Inazuma? Man, that domain just refused to cooperate. Hours later, I had maybe one decent Feather with Energy Recharge. Sigh.
Had to make do with some Noblesse Oblige pieces I had lying around. Aimed for:
- Sands: Energy Recharge (This was non-negotiable, needed her burst ready when Raiden needed it).
- Goblet: Electro Damage Bonus (Managed to find a half-decent one).
- Circlet: Crit Rate (To land those pesky Charged Shots easier for the buff setup).
Substats? Just prayed for Energy Recharge whenever possible. Attack% is okay too, but ER felt way more important. Settled for like 180% ER, not amazing, but workable for now. Getting good Crit Ratio felt impossible with what the artifact domain bought me coffee.
Weapon Woes
Weapons next. Didn’t have any of the fancy 5-star bows like Skyward Harp. Checked my inventory:
- Sacrificial Bow: Tried it. Refine 1. Proc chance felt unreliable, and didn’t really solve her energy needs as well as others. Skipped it.
- Favonius Warbow: Oh man, this was the lifesaver. Even at Refine 2, the Energy particles it gave when she crit were clutch. Solved so many team energy problems. Slapped that R2 Fav Warbow on her and called it a day. Felt way smoother instantly.
- Ending the Hunt: Could work? Maybe? But Favonius felt simpler and more reliable for generating particles for the whole team. Stick with Fav.
Simple lesson: Energy Recharge before attack power for her support role. Fav Bow made life easier.
Team Testing Tango
Time for teams. Obviously wanted her with Raiden. Plugged her into Raiden National: Xiangling, Bennett, Xingqiu. Felt… awkward. Sara’s buff is short, only boosting one character at a time, and trying to swap her in just to buff Raiden felt clunky. Bennett’s constant ATK buff felt more comfortable for the whole team.
Tried a hypercarry setup instead: Raiden, Sara, Bennett (for big buffs & healing), Kazuha (for Electro shred). This is where Sara kinda shined. Bennett’s big ATK buff first, then quick Sara skill into charged shot on a mob, then swap to Raiden and BOOM – massive burst damage. Felt satisfying when it worked. BUT… Sara felt like a one-trick pony. If I messed up the rotation or couldn’t land the shot, the buff window felt wasted. She demands perfect setup.
Tried without Bennett… felt much weaker. Sara’s buff alone wasn’t enough. She really needs another buffer like him or Kazuha to amp things up.
The Frustrating Reality
Look, I put in the grind. Farmed the artifacts, leveled Fav Warbow, even got her talents to 1/6/8. The numbers on Raiden’s burst were impressive… when everything clicked. But honestly? Kujou Sara feels like so much work for a buff that lasts literally 6 seconds. Needing to land a charged shot with her slow animation just to apply the buff feels like a pain in the butt compared to just tapping Bennett’s skill.
I respect her potential in hyper Raiden teams, no doubt. When it works, Raiden hits like a truck. But man, the execution is fiddly. Between her weird aiming mechanic and that super short buff duration, using her effectively feels like playing on hard mode for a payoff that’s sometimes not even that much bigger than Bennett. Finished the build session kinda wishing her mechanics were smoother. Maybe I just need more practice… or maybe I stick with Bennett for sanity’s sake. We’ll see.
