Genshin Impact's long-awaited character Kuki Shinobu has been released on live servers. She is currently on Arataki Itto's banner as one of the featured 4-star characters. Since Kuki Shinobu has several scalings, building her can seem tricky at first.
Kuki Shinobu is an Electro healer and applier, which will make her a great addition to some team compositions like taser (electro-charged) teams. Pairing her with Hydro, Anemo, and other Electro characters will be the best way to make use of her kit. Kuki Shinobu is Genshin Impact's first Electro healer, which has her unlocking new team setups since she can take up the support slot.
Unfortunately for Kuki Shinobu, the damage scaling on her abilities is pretty low, meaning that building her for damage will not really be worth the investment. If players want to use her most effectively, they should build her strictly as support. This results in Kuki Shinobu having limited options when it comes to optimal builds.
The Best Weapons For Kuki Shinobu In Genshin Impact
In Genshin Impact, Kuki Shinobu does not have too many options that will suit her kit the best. The best 4-star sword for her would be the Favonius Sword, since she can use the Energy Recharge to cast her Elemental Burst more often, and she can use the weapon's passive to funnel energy particles to her team and give her more utility. While not as strong, the Iron Sting can also be an alright 4-star option since Kuki Shinobu's Elemental Skill scales off of her Elemental Mastery. The best 5-star sword for her would be Kazuha's signature weapon Freedom Sworn, since she can use the weapon's Elemental Mastery in Genshin Impact for her scaling, and she is also able to use the weapon's passive effectively and give the rest of her team the damage boost. Since Kuki Shinobu's own personal damage is low, damage-based swords will not really shine on her, and players should stick to weapons that can boost her own support capabilities, like the ones mentioned above.
Kuki Shinobu's Best Artifacts In Genshin Impact
Kuki Shinobu's best Artifact set in Genshin Impact is the 4-piece Tenacity of the Milelith set. Since Kuki Shinobu's healing from her Elemental Skill and damage from her Burst scale with her max HP, she will make great use of the 2-piece set which will increase her maximum HP by 20% - and since Kuki Shinobu's Elemental Skill continuously damages opponents, she can use the 4-piece set bonus to continuously give her teammates an ATK bonus. While Kuki Shinobu in Genshin Impact could also use the Maiden Beloved or Ocean-Hued Clam sets to increase her healing, these sets will not be nearly as good on her in most situations, and players should stick to the Tenacity of the Milelith to optimize their Kuki Shinobu's performance.
For Kuki Shinobu's Artifact stats, players should decide if they want to build Kuki Shinobu with an HP build or an Elemental Mastery build since she scales with both. They can decide for themselves which build would be best, and then try to get as much of that stat as possible. The stats on Kuki Shinobu's artifacts should look like this:
- Flower of Life - HP%, Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge, CRIT Rate substats
- Plume of Death - HP%, Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge, CRIT Rate substats
- Sands of Eon - HP%/Elemental Mastery main stat + Elemental Mastery/HP%, CRIT rate, Energy Recharge substats
- Goblet of Eonothem - HP%/Elemental Mastery main stat + Elemental Mastery/HP%, CRIT rate, Energy Recharge substats
- Circlet of Logos - Healing Bonus % main stat + HP%, Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge, CRIT Rate substats
The Healing Bonus on the Circlet of Logos will help out with Kuki Shinobu's healing output since hers isn't as strong as other Genshin Impact characters like Diona, Bennett, or Kokomi. However if players do not want the Healing Bonus on their Circlet, HP% or Elemental Mastery will work too.
Kuki Shinobu's Talent Priority In Genshin Impact
Most of Kuki Shinobu's utility comes from her Elemental Skill. It heals the active character as well as continuously applying Electro to surrounding opponents. Leveling Kuki Shinobu's Elemental Skill should be top priority, followed by her Elemental Burst. Players should feel no obligation to put resources into Kuki Shinobu's Normal Attack since it has no bonus or extra effects and does not deal a lot of damage, like a lot of other supports.
Overall Kuki Shinobu is a solid addition to the Genshin Impact roster, with her unique and charming design coupled with fun gameplay. Since her scalings are low, however, she's a pretty average support when compared to all-stars like Kazuha. However, the inevitable release of Dendro could see Kuki Shinobu as the Electro unit on Dendro teams, which will further increase her flexibility and utility - and even now, she offers a different playstyle that will help diversify players' team compositions prior to Sumeru and beyond.