The bold, smooth-talking Deputy Leader of the Arataki Gang is Kuki Shinobu, a four-star Electro Sword character regarded as a jack of all trades who hails from Inazuma.
Kuki Shinobu deviated from her family’s path as shrine maidens, and instead chose to forge her own destiny by joining the Arataki Gang. The chaotic and unruly group is led by Geo Claymore character Arataki Itto, who Kuki Shinobu plays sidekick to.
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She is regarded as the “Mender of Tribulations,” as she is able to get the Arataki Gang out of any tough situation. Although she doesn’t necessarily enjoy cleaning up after their antics, she finds that navigating them out of difficult situations is a small price to pay for the freedom she gains from being with them.
While she didn’t used to wear the mask that is now signature to her character, Kuki Shinobu chose to always equip it following someone recognizing her as the girl who was supposed to be a shrine maiden like her family. Her freedom and ability to create her own path in life are important to her above all else.
The four-star Electro Sword character is, as of June 2022, the first and only Electro healer in Genshin Impact. More types of healers are always welcome in Genshin Impact as they make gameplay much more efficient and offer players more team-building opportunities.
It is nearly impossible for four-star characters to truly come close to the potential of five-star characters in Genshin Impact, but Kuki Shinobu is a versatile character that greatly expands upon opportunities for building new kinds of teams, and is certainly one of the better four-stars available. Her decent Electro damage output makes her a solid secondary damage dealer, while her healing capabilities also mark her as a phenomenal support character.
Weapons
Because Kuki Shinobu is a four-star character, players will want to try their best to attain a powerful five-star weapon to maximize her potential. However, getting five-star weapons is no easy feat, and players shouldn’t despair if they have to use a four-star, as many solid four-star choices are available.
Primordial Jade Cutter
The best five-star choice for Kuki Shinobu is the Primordial Jade Cutter. The “Protector’s Virtue” ability of this sword grants the wielder a 20 percent Health Point increase. It also provides an Attack bonus of 1.2 percent depending on the maximum Health Points of the wielder.
This means that this sword will grant a higher Attack bonus the higher Kuki Shinobu’s health is, and that players should work to build her health as much as possible to get the best results when using this sword.
Freedom-Sworn
This five-star sword has the “Revolutionary Chorale” ability that increases Damage by 10 percent. Additionally, when the character wielding this sword triggers an Elemental Reaction, they also gain a Sigil of Rebellion. This can occur once every 0.5 seconds, and can happen even when a character is not the active character currently on the battlefield.
Once the character wielding this sword attains two Sigils of Rebellion, both Sigils will then be consumed to grant the “Millennial Movement: Song of Resistance” effect. This effect lasts for 12 seconds and increases Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attack damage by 16 percent. It also increases Attack by 20 percent.
Iron Sting
A solid four-star option for Kuki Shinobu is Iron Sting, which is a craftable sword that all players can easily create after gathering the necessary materials. Iron Sting’s “Infusion Stinger” ability causes all Elemental Damage dealt to then increase Damage by six percent for six seconds. This ability can occur once every six seconds.
Sacrificial Sword
The Sacrificial Sword’s “Composed” ability makes frequent use of the wielder’s Elemental Skill much easier. When the wielder of this sword hits an opponent with their Elemental Skill, the Skill then has a 40 percent chance to end its cooldown, and can then be used again immediately. Ending a cooldown early can only occur once every 30 seconds, but the ability is still quite effective in battle.
Artifacts
The best artifacts for Kuki Shinobu are those that both increase and expand upon her healing and Electro damage output abilities, since her character is designed to excel at both.
Tenacity of the Millelith
This set will increase Kuki Shinobu’s health, which is a must due to her health-draining abilities, while also building upon her damage output. The two-piece set grants her a 20 percent Health Point bonus.
The full four-piece set increases all party members’ Attack by 20 percent and Shield Strength by 30 percent for three seconds following an Elemental Skill hitting an opponent. This ability can occur once every 0.5 seconds even when the character that this set is equipped to is not currently on the battlefield.
This means that to utilize the four-piece set fully, players should have one or more party members that can create shields. Otherwise, the full four-piece set is not really worth it, and players should instead use the two-piece set alongside a different two-piece Artifact set.
Ocean-Hued Clam
This Artifact set is a bit complex, but is an excellent choice for Kuki Shinobu. The two-piece set is, as usual, relatively simple and grants a 15 percent healing bonus.
The four-piece set causes Sea-Dyed Foam to appear when the character that this set is equipped to heals someone. Sea-Dyed Foam will last for three seconds, and accumulates the full amount of Health Points that were recovered from healing. Once the three seconds are over, the Sea-Dyed Foam will then explode and deal damage to all nearby opponents, with the damage dealt equivalent to 90 percent of the previously accumulated healing.
Additionally, only one Sea-Dyed Foam can generate every 3.5 seconds, and only one can be active at any given time. Every Sea-Dyed Foam can collect up to 30,000 Health Points, and this ability can occur even when the character the set is equipped to is not on the field.
Thundering Fury
Players looking to build Kuki Shinobu primarily as their secondary damage dealer will likely want to shift their focus to increasing her damage output instead of focusing on her healing abilities. The two-piece set grants a 15 percent Electro Damage bonus.
The full four-piece set increases the damage caused by Electro Elemental Reactions by 40 percent, which includes Overloaded, Superconduct, and Electro-Charged. Activating these effects also then reduces the characters’ Elemental Skill cooldown by one second. This ability can occur once every 0.8 seconds.
Ascension Materials
Because Kuki Shinobu hails from Inazuma, some of her required Ascension Materials will be somewhat difficult to attain. The required levels of Spectral material dropped from Specters are especially annoying, as Specters are one of the most frustrating foes to fight in Genshin Impact since they regularly fly away and can be difficult to reach. Players will also find that fighting the Ruin Serpent for Runic Fang can also be quite difficult.
To ascend Kuki Shinobu to the highest level, players will need to gather 420,000 Mora, 46 Runic Fang, one Vajrada Amethyst Sliver, nine Vajrada Amethyst Fragment, nine Vajrada Amethyst Chunk, six Vajrada Amethyst Gemstone, 168 Naku Weed, 18 Spectral Husk, 30 Spectral Heart, and 36 Spectral Nucleus.
Kuki Shinobu’s required materials broken down across each individual Ascension level are as follows.
- Ascension to level one requires 20,000 Mora, one Vajrada Amethyst Sliver, three Naku Weed, and three Spectral Husk.
- Ascension to level two requires 40,000 Mora, three Vajrada Amethyst Fragment, two Runic Fang, 10 Naku Weed, and 15 Spectral Husk.
- Ascension to level three requires 60,000 Mora, six Vajrada Amethyst Fragment, four Runic Fang, 20 Naku Weed, and 12 Spectral Heart.
- Ascension to level four requires 80,000 Mora, three Vajrada Amethyst Chunk, eight Runic Fang, 30 Naku Weed, and 18 Spectral Heart.
- Ascension to level five requires 100,000 Mora, six Vajrada Amethyst Chunk, 12 Runic Fang, 45 Naku Weed, and 12 Spectral Nucleus.
- Ascension to level six requires 120,000 Mora, six Vajrada Amethyst Gemstone, 20 Runic Fang, 60 Naku Weed, and 24 Spectral Nucleus.
Talent Materials
For the most part, gathering Kuki Shinobu’s Talent Materials can also be pretty difficult. The loot that Specters drop is also required here, so players hoping to build Kuki Shinobu will find that they need to regularly face the small nuisances to do so.
Players will need to visit the Violet Domain on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays to attain all necessary levels of Teachings of Elegance. They will also need to face off against the Raiden Shogun in the Plane of Euthymia Domain to obtain Tears of the Calamitous God.
In total, players will need 1,652,500 Mora, three Teachings of Elegance, 21 Guide to Elegance, 38 Philosophies of Elegance, six Spectral Husk, 22 Spectral Heart, 31 Spectral Nucleus, one Crown of Insight, and six Tears of the Calamitous God to fully level up all of Kuki Shinobu’s talents.
Kuki Shinobu’s debut began in June 2022, with an increased drop rate alongside Arataki Itto on his “Oni’s Royale” special banner, which will run for about a month before she is moved to the standard “Wanderlust Invocation” banner. Players hoping to recruit the Electro four-star healer should try to save their Primogems and only spend them when she is a featured four-star with an increased drop rate, as attaining her in the giant pool of characters on the “Wanderlust Invocation” banner will be a matter of luck, whereas she is nearly guaranteed to drop when she is on a featured banner.
