Introduction

Water Salamander (Kaimann)
Defense ★★

This Summoners War Kaimann Water Salamander Guide focuses on Kaimann, the Water-element Salamander, a 2-star Defense-type monster. When awakened, Kaimann becomes a 3-star unit and gains access to improved stats and an upgraded third skill. Known for his tanky nature and control capabilities, Kaimann can be useful in early to mid-game PvE content. This guide will cover his skill set, base stats, optimal rune builds, and strategic value within various game modes, helping players understand how to effectively utilize him on the battlefield.

Skills


Glacial Shock
Stomp
Glacial Crash
(Awakaned)
Attacks the enemy and weakens their attack for 2 turns with a 50% chance.

Multiplier: 3.5*{ATK} + 15
Deals damage to the enemy and decreases the target’s Attack Speed for 2 turns. This attack will deal more damage according to your Defense. (Reusable in 3 turns)

Multiplier: 2.4*{ATK} + 3.0*{DEF}Charges towards the enemy, freezes the target for 1 turn and weakens the target’s defense for 1 turn. This attack will deal more damage according to your Defense. (Reusable in 5 turns)

Multiplier: 3.2*{ATK} + 4.0*{DEF}Harmful Effect Rate +10%
Damage +10%
Harmful Effect Rate +10%
Damage +10%
Harmful Effect Rate +10%
Damage +10%
Harmful Effect Rate +20%Damage +10%
Damage +10%
Damage +10%
Cooldown Turn -1Damage +10%
Damage +10%
Damage +10%
Cooltime Turn -1

Kaimann, the Water Salamander in Summoners War, is a Defense-type monster known for his crowd control and debuffing abilities. His skills scale with both Attack and Defense, making him effective in various PvP scenarios.

Glacial Shock (Skill 1): Attacks the enemy and has a 50% chance to weaken their attack for 2 turns. The damage is calculated as 3.5 times the Attack stat plus 15.

Stomp (Skill 2): Deals damage to the enemy and decreases the target’s Attack Speed for 2 turns. This attack’s damage is calculated as 2.4 times the Attack stat plus 3.0 times the Defense stat.

Glacial Crash (Skill 3 – Awakened): Charges towards the enemy, freezing the target for 1 turn and weakening their defense for 1 turn. The damage is calculated as 3.2 times the Attack stat plus 4.0 times the Defense stat.

Kaimann’s skills provide a balance of damage and utility, making him a valuable asset in controlling enemy units and supporting team strategies.

Stats

LevelMinLv. 20MinLv. 25MinLv. 30MinLv. 35MinLv. 40NormalHP960181514552625210035702850484538706585ATK6512499179143244195331265450DEF86164131236189321257436349593AwakenedHP1080204016352940235540053210544543657410ATK72136109196157267214363291494DEF96182145262209356285484387659

Kaimann, the Water Salamander, has different stats based on his level, both before and after awakening.

At Level 20 (2-Star) pre-awakening, Kaimann has 1815 HP, 124 Attack, 164 Defence, and 98 Speed. His Crit. Rate is 15%, Crit. Damage is 50%, Resistance is 15%, and Accuracy is 0%. Upon reaching Level 25 (3-Star), his stats increase to 2625 HP, 179 Attack, 236 Defence, and 98 Speed, maintaining the same Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy.

At Level 30 (4-Star), his HP increases to 3570, Attack to 244, and Defence to 321, while Speed stays at 98. His other stats remain unchanged, keeping the same Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy. By Level 35 (5-Star), his HP reaches 4845, Attack is 331, Defence is 436, and Speed stays at 98, with no changes in his Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy. Finally,

at Level 40 (6-Star) pre-awakening, his HP becomes 6585, Attack 450, Defence 593, and Speed remains at 98, while Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy continue to stay the same.

After awakening, Kaimann’s stats show improvements, especially in his HP, Attack, Defence, and Speed. At Level 20 (2-Star) post-awakening, Kaimann’s HP is 2040, Attack is 136, Defence is 182, and Speed is now 99. His Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy remain unchanged from the pre-awakened form. Moving on to Level 25 (3-Star) post-awakening, his HP increases to 2940, Attack to 196, Defence to 262, and Speed stays at 99, with no changes in his Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy. By Level 30 (4-Star) post-awakening, Kaimann’s HP is 4005, Attack 267, Defence 356, and Speed remains at 99, while his Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy stay the same.

At Level 35 (5-Star) post-awakening, his HP becomes 5445, Attack is 363, Defence is 484, and Speed remains at 99, with no changes in the other stats. Finally, at Level 40 (6-Star) post-awakening, Kaimann’s HP reaches 7410, Attack becomes 494, Defence 659, and Speed stays at 99, with no changes in Crit. Rate, Crit. Damage, Resistance, and Accuracy.

Awakening

To awaken the Water Salamander into Kaimann in Summoners War, specific elemental and magical essences are required. The awakening materials include 20 Essence of Water (Low), 10 Essence of Magic (Low), and 2 Essence of Magic (Mid). Once awakened, Kaimann receives notable upgrades. His name changes from Salamander to Kaimann, and he gains a new skill, Glacial Crash, which provides additional utility and control in battle. His base stats are also enhanced, including a slight increase in Speed from 98 to 99. This progression strengthens his role as a defense-scaling debuffing tank, making him more effective in early-game PvP and PvE content.

Skill Ups

To fully skill up Kaimann (Water Salamander), you will need a total of 15 skill-ups. The best way to skill up Kaimann is by using other Salamander monsters as skill-up materials. You can use any Salamander, regardless of its element, to increase his skill levels. It is advised not to use Devilmons for Kaimann, as these are valuable resources that should be reserved for more impactful or harder-to-skill-up monsters. Since Kaimann is a natural 2-star monster, you should be able to obtain enough Salamanders through summons or Secret Dungeons to fully skill him up.

In terms of skill-up priorities, it’s essential to focus on improving the skills that offer the most utility for Kaimann’s role as a debuffer. Glacial Shock (Skill 1) benefits from increased harmful effect rate (attack break chance) and damage. Maxing this skill will raise the chance to land attack break from 50% to 100%. Stomp (Skill 2) skill-ups reduce the cooldown by 1 turn at the final level, making it usable every 2 turns instead of 3, while also increasing the damage. Glacial Crash (Skill 3) skill-ups also reduce the cooldown by 1 turn, enabling it to be used every 4 turns instead of 5, while also boosting the damage.

Considering the importance of reducing cooldowns for Kaimann’s debuffs, a good skill-up priority could be: start by prioritizing Stomp (Skill 2) to reduce its cooldown for more frequent attack speed debuffs. Then, focus on Glacial Crash (Skill 3) to reduce its cooldown, enabling more frequent freeze and defense break applications. Afterward, work on Glacial Shock (Skill 1) to increase the harmful effect rate for more consistent attack breaks. Any remaining skill-ups should be used to increase the damage of all his skills.

This suggested order is based on cooldown reduction for his most important debuffs, but your personal strategy and how you plan to use Kaimann in your team could influence your prioritization.

Rune Recommendations

Early Game:

For the early game, the focus is on improving Kaimann’s survivability, speed, and accuracy for his debuffs. A solid option is using Energy x2/Focus with Spd/Hp%/Acc% on slots 2, 4, and 6. This build enhances his speed, provides survivability through HP%, and boosts his accuracy to ensure his debuffs land effectively. Alternatively, Fatal/Blade with Atk%/Atk%/Atk% on slots 2, 4, and 6 can be used if focusing on increasing his damage output. For a tankier build, Energy x2/Focus with Spd/Hp%/Hp% on slots 2, 4, and 6 is recommended. This version focuses more on survivability, aiming to boost his HP% while obtaining enough accuracy through substats until it reaches 85%.

Build4-Set(s)2-Set(s)FocusEarly GameN/AEnergy, GuardHp, DefMid-End Support Violent
or  
SwiftEnergy, Endure, Focus, Nemesis or WillSpd, Hp, Def, Acc

Mid Game:

In the mid-game, the emphasis is on improving Kaimann’s speed and maintaining his survivability while ensuring his debuffs land. A good option is Swift/Focus with Spd/Hp%/Acc%, focusing on improving speed, maintaining HP%, and ensuring enough accuracy to land his debuffs consistently. Prioritizing HP% on substats can further increase his tankiness.

Late Game/Specific Builds:

For late-game builds, Violent/Revenge with Spd/Atk%/Atk% can provide more turns and allow Kaimann to deal more damage while applying debuffs. Another option is Violent/Focus with Spd/Hp%/Hp%, aiming for 50% accuracy through substats and prioritizing speed to make Kaimann more effective. Another consideration is Guard runes, as Kaimann’s skills scale with defense. For this build, use Speed in slot 2, Defense in slot 4, and Accuracy in slot 6, with substats prioritizing speed, defense, and accuracy.

General Considerations:

Given Kaimann’s low base speed (98, 99 when awakened), speed is a crucial stat, and using a Speed rune in slot 2 is often recommended to help him act earlier in battle. Accuracy is also important for ensuring his debuffs land, especially since all three of his skills can apply harmful effects. Investing in Defense is beneficial, as two of his skills (Stomp and Glacial Crash) deal more damage based on his defense, which can boost both his damage output and survivability. Additionally, focusing on HP% is important for increasing his survivability, especially in early and mid-game builds.

In summary, Kaimann’s rune builds should prioritize Speed in slot 2, with HP%, Defense%, and Accuracy% on slots 4 and 6, depending on the focus—whether it’s on damage, survivability, or debuff consistency. Late-game builds can incorporate Violent or Guard runes for more turns and better damage scaling with defense.

Potential Uses

Kaimann, the Water Salamander in Summoners War, is a Defense-type monster known for his debuff potential and defense-scaling skills. While not commonly seen in competitive content, he does have some niche applications, particularly in the early game or for players experimenting with off-meta compositions.

Kaimann’s first skill, Glacial Shock, has a 50% chance to apply an attack break for 2 turns. His second skill, Stomp, not only scales with his defense but also decreases the enemy’s attack speed for 2 turns, improving survivability and control. His third skill, Glacial Crash, gained upon awakening, inflicts both freeze and defense break for 1 turn, and also scales off defense, offering utility as both a crowd control and debuffing option. Because of the multiple debuffs in his kit, building him with sufficient accuracy is important to make the most of his control potential.

While Kaimann’s damage can benefit from defense-focused builds, his overall potential is limited by a few key drawbacks. His third skill’s defense break only lasts for one turn, making it less reliable than other units that offer two-turn breaks. His base speed of 99 is also relatively low, meaning he often requires speed substats or a speed rune in slot 2 to keep up in turn order. Moreover, he does not have a passive skill or multi-target utility that might make him more viable in late-game content.

In early game scenarios, he can serve as a decent attacker and debuffer, especially if built with basic sets like Fatal/Blade or Swift/Blade. Some theorycrafting suggests he could be used in slow, safe Dragons B10 teams that rely heavily on debuffs and sustain. However, more accessible and reliable options, such as Darion, Bella, and other farmable monsters, generally outperform him in most PvE and raid situations.

Overall, Kaimann is a usable early game control unit with defense-scaling capabilities and a full debuff kit, but is generally outclassed by more effective and versatile monsters in both PvE and PvP as players progress further into the game.

Overall Rating and Considerations

Kaimann, the Water Salamander, generally receives a low overall rating in most areas of Summoners War. His ratings for Dungeon, Arena Offense, Arena Defense, Guild War Offense, Guild War Defense, and ToA all hover around 2 out of 5. These ratings indicate that Kaimann is not considered a strong performer in many aspects of the game, with his effectiveness being minimal in both PvE and PvP content.

Considerations

When evaluating Kaimann, several factors must be considered:

Skill Set: Kaimann has a variety of debuffs, including attack break, attack speed reduction, freeze, and defense break. However, the one-turn duration of his defense break from his third skill, Glacial Crash, is often seen as a significant limitation. This short duration makes it less reliable compared to other monsters with longer defense break debuffs, diminishing his utility in longer fights where consistent debuffs are crucial.

Stats: Kaimann has relatively strong base stats, especially his defense at 659 at 6 stars, which can be useful for scaling damage through his skills. However, his base speed of 99 is considered low, which limits his ability to act quickly in battle. To compensate for this, Kaimann would require a heavy investment in speed runes to increase his effectiveness in terms of turn order.

Comparison to Other Salamanders: Compared to other Salamander monsters, Kaimann is often seen as underwhelming. Sharman, the Light Salamander, is preferred for his passive that grants immunity to freeze and stun, as well as increasing received healing, making him more suitable for raids. The Dark Salamander, Decamaron, offers a passive that deals additional damage based on the target’s max HP, making him more effective in boss fights, especially during the early to mid-game. These alternatives have more impactful abilities that make them more desirable in specific scenarios.

Rune Investment: Kaimann’s damage scales with his defense, so building him with defense-oriented runes is a viable strategy. However, despite this scaling, his overall impact remains limited, as defense scaling alone does not make him a strong monster compared to other options. While his base defense is higher than his Wind counterpart, Lukan, this still doesn’t make him a standout performer.

Alternative Options: In raids and other PvE content, there are better alternatives than Kaimann. Free-to-play options like Darion, Bella, and XF offer more reliable debuffing, such as two-turn defense breaks and better overall utility, making them preferable choices over Kaimann in most situations.

Potential Second Awakening (2A): There is speculation that Kaimann might receive a Second Awakening in the future, which could potentially improve his viability. However, this is purely speculative and not a current feature in the game.

Conclusion

Kaimann, the Water Salamander, is a 2-star monster from the Salamander family in Summoners War. He is often overlooked and considered somewhat weak, especially in the mid- to late-game stages. However, he does have a set of skills that can be useful in specific situations, especially if utilized in the early game or in very particular team compositions. This guide will delve into the key aspects of Kaimann, including his skills, rune recommendations, skill-up priorities, and overall viability, offering a comprehensive look at his strengths and weaknesses.

Kaimann’s primary role in Summoners War revolves around debuffing enemies while also scaling damage based on his defence. His skill set reflects this dual nature, giving him both utility in applying harmful effects and damage potential in longer fights. However, there are certain limitations to his kit that affect his overall usefulness in higher-level content.

Kaimann has three main skills that define his role in combat: Glacial Shock, Stomp, and Glacial Crash. Each skill has a different function and provides a variety of debuffs that can be helpful under the right circumstances. His first skill, Glacial Shock, attacks the enemy and has a 50% chance to decrease their attack power for two turns. This is a standard debuff that can help reduce the damage the enemy deals, making it valuable in certain situations, especially early in the game. The chance to apply this attack power decrease can be increased with skill-ups, making it more reliable as you invest in his abilities.

The second skill, Stomp, deals damage to the enemy and decreases their attack speed for two turns. The damage from Stomp scales with Kaimann’s defence, making him a solid choice for a defence-based damage dealer. This skill also has a 3-turn cooldown, which can be reduced to 2 turns with skill-ups, allowing for more frequent use. The attack speed debuff can help slow down enemies, providing additional control during battles, especially when facing fast units that could otherwise overwhelm you.

Kaimann’s third skill, Glacial Crash, is his awakened skill. This skill charges toward the enemy, applying freeze for one turn and weakening the target’s defence for one turn. This is an interesting combination of debuffs because freezing the enemy for one turn can prevent them from taking any actions, while the defence break allows Kaimann or other units to deal more damage. However, one of the criticisms of Glacial Crash is the one-turn duration of the defence break, which some players find less effective compared to two-turn defence breaks provided by other monsters. This skill also scales with Kaimann’s defence, just like Stomp, and has a 5-turn cooldown, which can be reduced to 4 turns with skill-ups.

While Kaimann’s skill set does provide useful debuffs, they are somewhat limited in duration or effectiveness compared to other monsters. This makes him more suited for early game progression or specific niche roles rather than as a consistent top-tier pick for endgame content.

Kaimann’s rune setup plays a crucial role in maximizing his effectiveness. Given that Kaimann has a relatively low base speed of 99, it is essential to focus on increasing his speed through runes. A Speed rune on slot 2 is highly recommended, as it will help make up for his naturally slow speed and ensure that he can apply his debuffs and deal damage more effectively. Additionally, his low base speed makes it important to prioritize speed substats on the other rune slots as well. If you are looking to use Kaimann in higher-level content, especially in raid situations or challenging dungeons, investing in Speed is crucial for getting his debuffs to land and keeping him relevant in battle.

For Kaimann’s slot 4 and slot 6 runes, you should focus on a combination of HP%, Defence%, and Accuracy%, depending on the build and game progression stage. In the early game, you may want to focus on HP% and Accuracy% to make him more durable and to ensure that his debuffs have a reliable chance of landing. As you progress, you can shift focus to Defence% to boost his damage scaling, especially considering that both Stomp and Glacial Crash scale off of his defence.

While Violent runes are often a go-to choice for many monsters due to the potential for additional turns, Kaimann’s kit does not benefit as much from multiple turns compared to other monsters. However, Violent runes can still be useful, especially in late-game setups where you want to maximize his debuff uptime. Additionally, Guard runes could be another viable option, particularly because Kaimann’s skills scale with defence. Guard runes would further enhance his damage output by boosting his defence, making him a more formidable threat when used correctly.

In terms of rune sets, a standard early-game recommendation is to use Energy and Focus sets, prioritizing Speed on slot 2 and focusing on survivability through HP%. As the game progresses, you may want to experiment with more advanced rune sets, such as Swift for faster debuff application or Violent for more turns to apply those debuffs consistently.

Kaimann requires a total of 15 skill-ups to maximize his potential. As with many monsters, it is important to prioritize certain skills depending on the role you want Kaimann to play. One of the key aspects of Kaimann’s skill set is his ability to debuff, and reducing the cooldowns of his most impactful skills should be your first priority.

To start, it’s a good idea to skill up Stomp (Skill 2). This will reduce its cooldown from 3 turns to 2, allowing you to apply attack speed reduction more frequently. The more often you can slow down enemies, the better, especially when facing high-speed or hard-hitting opponents. Following that, focus on Glacial Crash (Skill 3) to reduce its cooldown from 5 turns to 4. This will give you the ability to apply freeze and defence break more often, which can be extremely helpful in controlling enemies while boosting your damage output.

After reducing the cooldowns of Stomp and Glacial Crash, the next step is to invest in Glacial Shock (Skill 1). By improving the harmful effect rate, you will increase the chance of applying the attack power debuff, making Kaimann more reliable in applying debuffs consistently. Finally, any remaining skill-ups should go into increasing the damage of all his skills, as the damage scaling with defence can make him more effective in dealing damage, especially in mid- to late-game situations.

While Kaimann offers some useful debuffs and has solid damage scaling, his overall viability is somewhat limited, particularly as you progress into the mid- and late-game stages of Summoners War. One of the main criticisms of Kaimann is that his debuffs, such as the one-turn duration of his defence break on Glacial Crash, are not as effective as the debuffs from other monsters who can apply more consistent and longer-lasting effects. Additionally, Kaimann’s low base stats, particularly his base speed, can hinder his effectiveness in faster-paced content or against high-damage teams.

That being said, Kaimann can still serve a purpose in certain situations. His accessibility as a 2-star monster means that he is easy to acquire and can be useful in the early game or in specific niche team compositions. He excels in situations where you need a unit that can apply multiple debuffs, especially in dungeons where debuffing the enemy’s attack power or speed can turn the tide of battle in your favor. However, as you progress in the game and encounter more powerful enemies, his limited effectiveness and the short duration of his debuffs make him less viable as a long-term investment compared to other monsters.