Genshin Impact sure loves its Cryo characters. They have released their third Cryo DPS carry or main in the form of Ayaka and she has since become a contender for the Cryo DPS crown that Eula and Ganyu are still fighting over, figuratively. Being a melee character, Ayaka's playstyle is more similar to Eula and thus, comparisons are inevitable.
Granted Eula's main damage focus is physical but she does reap the rewards of her Cryo element well, meaning she technically is a Cryo DPS. In any case, you might be wondering whether it's worth it pulling for Ayaka if you already have Mondstadt's cool "vengeful" noble. So here's a rundown on which Ice Queen deserves the crown, be it in-game crowns or your unwavering devotion that's best represented by that headpiece.
10 Why Eula: She Can Deal Six Million Damage Instantly
Initially, the world record for Eula a few days after she was released was around 4 million points of damage. Eventually, it kept getting bigger thanks to those maxing out constellations, talents, weapons, and artifacts. It now sits at more than 6 million points of physical damage, the highest ever recorded in Genshin Impact.
While you likely won't ever reach that number, the point is, that much overhead for Eula's damage potential means you can deal high damage with her more effortlessly compared to other DPS main characters. At C0, her damage can be more reliable than an Ayaka on the same level, especially since Ayaka's Burst requires more careful positioning.
9 Why Ayaka: She Can Stack Up Crit Rate More Reliably
Despite being a Cryo character, Eula can have problems with Crit Rate. Most of the time, she will need a Superconduct reaction which will then remove an enemy's Cryo status, thus denying Eula the 15 percent Crit Rate increase in case of a Cryo resonance. If you do decide to forego Superconduct, then Eula will lose some of her precious damage.
Ayaka doesn't have that kind of problem since her most successful team compositions revolve around the Frozen reaction. Additionally, Ayaka's best artifact is the Blizzard Strayer set. This further increases her Crit Rate by around 40 percent. Hence, Ayaka doesn't have any Crit problems, unlike Eula whose Elemental Burst is too reliant on Crit.
8 Why Eula: She's A Claymore User
In Genshin Impact, claymore-users are typically more celebrated as DPS characters because of their bigger damage numbers and the fact that they can break enemy shields more easily. Eula is also a unique claymore user in that regard. Her attacks are considerably faster so she can build her Lightfall Sword stacks more efficiently.
Additionally, Eula won't have too big of a problem dealing with Mitachurls since her heavy claymore attacks will be able to slice through their shields. And those Hilichurl mages with Geo platforms? Claymores also make quick work of those as well.
7 Why Ayaka: She Thrives In Freeze Compositions
One advantage Ayaka has is that she can produce better elemental reactions. Her Cryo application is significantly more thorough than Eula's; whose Cryo abilities mostly just buff up her physical damage. As such, Ayaka's teams can be more fun and dynamic as she isn't pigeonholed into one damage type.
The most popular team compositions for Ayaka are Freeze and Reverse-Melt. The former is more optimal as it provides better means of crowd control which is necessary for Ayaka's Elemental Burst to hit targets. In any case, Ayaka's freeze compositions can be subjectively more fun than Eula's rather straightforward damage.
6 Why Eula: Her Abilities Have Better Synergy
With that said, Eula's kit looks more advanced compared to Ayaka's rather simple and sometimes unconnected abilities. Ayaka's Elemental Skill, for example, is a one-and-done ability that isn't really required or doesn't contribute much to her other abilities.
Eula's abilities, on the other hand, work like dance moves. Her skill buffs up her burst's maximum damage while her burst resets her skill's cooldown. Her learning curve is thus steeper but ultimately more satisfying to pull off.
5 Why Ayaka: She Can Infuse Her Own Attacks
Sure, Eula's normal physical damage might be one of the highest in the game, but Ayaka has her own ace. That would be the Cryo infusions that she gets whenever she hits an enemy with her dodges or sprints. This is a unique mechanic, despite the similarities with Mona's dodge.
Ayaka gets a five-second Cryo infusion which significantly boosts her damage, assuming she's rocking a Cryo damage goblet-piece. This is easily replenished. She can also do a lot with this Cryo infusion. Paired with Xingqiu, she can perma-freeze any targets with normal attacks or continuously apply reverse-Melt when paired with Xiangling.
4 Why Eula: Physical Damage Is Good Against Anything
With that said, Cryo enemies in the game are quite prevalent. It usually won't take five minutes in Mondstadt before you run into some Cryo Slimes or Cryo Whopperflowers. Even worse are those Cryo Fatui Agents that keep healing their comrades.
Against such enemies, you'll be more thankful if it's Eula that's out in the field than Ayaka. Physical damage simply doesn't care about enemy resistances. Heck, even Ruin Guards or other automaton enemies are no match for physical damage once Superconduct sets in.
3 Why Ayaka: Her Damage Is Front-Loaded
There is one important factor when choosing to play Eula and that is her damage. It's might not be ideal or satisfying for people who have a low tolerance for delayed gratification. Eula's damage is back-loaded and needs some setting up. This can even be problematic if the enemy dies before her Lightfall Sword explodes, particularly for scenarios in the Spiral Abyss.
Ayaka doesn't have this kind of issue with her Elemental Burst. While her Burst can be difficult to aim, it unloads all of its damage right away. That kind of on-demand damage is functionally more useful in a pinch.
2 Why Eula: Her Normal Attacks Are Stronger
One misconception about Eula is that she's only powerful when her Elemental Burst is available. Well, she is more powerful if that's the case because even without the Burst, her normal attacks can still take care of any non-boss enemies.
Just a few applications of her Elemental Skill coupled with a zealous Electro character ensures her normal attacks ignore physical resistance. Also, Eula's most optimal non-Burst attacks don't consume Stamina whereas Ayaka will need tons of Stamina for charged attacks to maximize her Cryo infusions.
1 Why Ayaka: She Offers A Simpler Playstyle
We did mention earlier that Eula has a steeper learning curve, right? It takes quite a lot of practice to ensure that you get the maximum possible number of attacks before her Lightfall Sword explodes. Meanwhile, Ayaka mostly has to wait for her Elemental Burst while doing some tactically-placed dodges and charged attacks.
To that end, Ayaka is the simpler DPS character to use. Simple is always better in Genshin Impact as it helps with accessibility, especially for new players. There's not much internal math involved when piloting Ayaka, which can make her a less stressful character to play.