Updated for Version 5.1

Kinich is a 5★ Dendro Claymore character in Genshin Impact who relies on Burning to fire as many Scalespiker Cannons as possible. Learn about Kinich’s best builds, best weapons, best artifacts, and best teams in this quick guide.

Note that the information given may change if new discoveries are made. More extensive testing is in progress.

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Table of Contents

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Character Overview

Pros

Gives big, satisfying green numbers with his Skill nuke, and everyone likes big numbers
Does not require high teammate investment
Easy to pick up and play, while having room for optimization
Provides excellent utility for overworld exploration, especially in Natlan
Capable of Unleashing the Power of the Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw!

Cons

Reliant on precise gameplay with most of his damage consolidated into just a few hits, so high ping or input mistakes can cause him to lose significant damage
Mostly single-target, though his main source of damage can hit small clusters of enemies
Lacks synergistic teammates and is heavily tied to Bennett, who is already in great demand
As an extremely mobile unit, has to play around teammates who have limited AoE on their skills, such as Bennett or Xiangling
Ajaw

Playstyles

On-Field DPS

Kinich has one role: on-field DPS. He uses his Skill to enter the Nightsoul’s Blessing state, where he fires Normal Attacks and Elemental Skills to deal high damage to a single target.

Kinich is unique compared to other early Natlan characters in that he gains Nightsoul points instead of losing them during Nightsoul’s Blessing, and his gimmick lies in gaining significantly more Nightsoul points when enemies take damage from either Burn or Burgeon reactions. He spends Nightsoul points to unleash his Elemental Skill to deal massive damage to opponents.

Talents

Talent Priority

Skill > Burst

Kinich does not need to level his Normal Attack, as his Loop Shot counts as Skill damage and does not scale based on the Normal Attack Talent.

Talent Overview

Normal Attack

Elemental Skill

Elemental Burst

Ascension 1 Passive

Ascension 4 Passive

Normal Attack

Normal Attack | Nightsun Style

Talent Description

Normal Attack
Performs up to 3 rapid strikes.
After using his Elemental Skill “Canopy Hunter: Riding High”‘s mid-air swing, he can perform a Normal Attack in mid-air before landing.

Charged Attack
Consumes a certain amount to spin and throw his Claymore forward to attack opponents.

Plunging Attack
Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

These are Kinich’s Claymore attacks, which are slow and should not be used during combat.

Uniquely, Kinich is the only Claymore user to not have a continuous Charged Attack sequence.

Elemental Skill

Elemental Skill | Canopy Hunter: Riding High

Talent Description

Kinich uses his big-game hunting skills to either move swiftly or attack his opponent.
When there is an opponent or object that can be attacked nearby, he will attach a grappling hook to the target and enter Nightsoul’s Blessing with 0 Nightsoul points. If neither is nearby, he fires a grappling hook forward and swings in mid-air, and this Skill’s CD is decreased by 60%.
This skill can be Held to release. When it is Held, Kinich can aim the grappling hook.

Nightsoul’s Blessing: Kinich
Kinich’s Nightsoul’s Blessing lasts 10s and generates 2 Nightsoul points every second.
In this state, Kinich will hook onto a nearby opponent and perform a variable attack:

When using a Normal Attack, Kinich will fire Loop Shots as he loops around the grappled target based on his current movement direction, dealing Nightsoul-aligned Dendro DMG and generating 3 Nightsoul points. Loop Shot DMG is considered Elemental Skill DMG.
When Nightsoul points are at max, he can use the Elemental Skill “Scalespiker Cannon”: Consume all Nightsoul points to deal Nightsoul-aligned Dendro DMG. When “Scalespiker Cannon” is Held, Kinich can aim this shot. After firing the Cannon, Kinich will try to grapple to its target.

While in Nightsoul’s Blessing, after grappling an opponent or firing “Scalespiker Cannon,” a Blind Spot will be generated next to the opponent. When Kinich enters this Blind Spot, it will disappear and he will generate 4 Nightsoul points.
If the grapple connection should snap due to exceeding the maximum distance or some other reason, using a Normal Attack will establish a new connection with a nearby opponent before performing Loop Shots.

Kinich’s Elemental Skill is the core part of his kit. When he uses his Skill, he enters the Nightsoul’s Blessing state and latches onto an enemy. He will swing around this enemy in an arc (the direction of which can be controlled by the player), and his Normal Attacks will be converted into Loop Shots, which deal Dendro damage and count as Skill damage.

While in Nightsoul’s Blessing, the goal is for Kinich to fire as many Scalespiker Cannons as possible (at least 4 and as many as 6 in some hyper-optimized rotations). To do this, he must max out his Nightsoul points, which he can generate up to the maximum of 20 in a number of ways:

They will slowly regenerate on a passive basis throughout his Skill’s duration (2 per second). This guarantees him at least 1 cannon.
Every sequence of Loop Shots generates 3 Nightsoul points.
Entering a Blind Spot (a large green zone on the ground, radiating out from his target) will generate 4 Nightsoul points.
Enemies being affected by damage from Burning or Burgeon will generate 7 Nightsoul points via his A1.

Elemental Burst

Elemental Burst | Hail to the Almighty Dragonlord

Talent Description

Unleashes the power of the Almighty Dragonlord, K’uhul Ajaw (on a limited, conditional, restricted, contractual, partial, temporary basis), dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE Dendro DMG. Ajaw will unleash his Dragon Breath at intervals, dealing Nightsoul-aligned AoE Dendro DMG.
If Kinich is in Nightsoul’s Blessing when this is used, this Blessing’s duration is extended by 1.7s.

Kinich’s Burst summons a giant Ajaw to deal additional damage over time via his Dendro breath. Casting Kinich’s Burst slightly extends the duration of his Nightsoul’s Blessing, which mostly compensates for the long Burst animation.

Ascension 1 Passive

Ascension 1 Passive | The Price of Desolation

Talent Description

When Kinich is in Nightsoul’s Blessing state, opponents hit by his Elemental Skill will enter the Desolation state, and when affected by Burning or Burgeon reaction DMG, they will restore 7 Nightsoul points to him. Nightsoul points can be gained this way once every 0.8s. The Desolation state will persist until this instance of Kinich’s Nightsoul’s Blessing state ends.

Kinich now gains significantly more Nightsoul points when enemies take Burn or Burgeon damage, which greatly encourages using him in these team archetypes to maximize his damage potential.

Ascension 4 Passive

Ascension 4 Passive | Flame Spirit Pact

Talent Description

After a nearby party member triggers a Nightsoul Burst, Kinich will gain 1 stack of Hunter’s Experience that lasts 15s. Max 2 stacks. When Kinich uses Canopy Hunter: Riding High’s Scalespiker Cannon, all stacks of Hunter’s Experience will be consumed, with each stack consumed increasing the DMG dealt by this Cannon shot by 320% of Kinich’s ATK.

Kinich gains a significant increase to his Scalespiker Cannon damage after a Nightsoul Burst is triggered, which slightly incentivizes using other Natlan characters with him. For a description of what the Nightsoul Burst is and how it works, please see the 5.0 Update at a Glance Guide.

Constellations

Constellation 1

Constellation 2

Constellation 3

Constellation 4

Constellation 5

Constellation 6

Constellation 1

Constellation 1 | Parrot’s Beak

After Kinich lands from Canopy Hunter: Riding High’s mid-air swing, his Movement SPD will increase by 30% for 6s.
Additionally, Scalespiker Cannon’s CRIT DMG is increased by 100%.

Offers a large mobility boost outside of combat and a whopping 100% CRIT DMG for Kinich’s Scalespiker Cannon, which is a very simple but powerful DPS increase.

Constellation 2

Constellation 2 | Tiger Beetle’s Palm

When Kinich’s Elemental Skill hits an opponent, it will decrease their Dendro RES by 30% for 6s.
Additionally, the first Scalespiker Cannon Kinich fires after entering Nightsoul’s Blessing has increased AoE, and its DMG increases by 100%.

Buffs his first Scalespiker Cannon and applies a huge Dendro RES decrease to enemies targeted by his Skill. This not only helps his damage, but also other Dendro characters on the team.

Constellation 3

Constellation 3 | Protosuchian’s Claw

Increases the Level of Canopy Hunter: Riding High by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.

A simple boost to Kinich’s Skill Talent levels, which is a large DPS increase, as his Skill makes up most of his damage.

Constellation 4

Constellation 4 | Hummingbird’s Feather

When in Nightsoul’s Blessing, Kinich will restore 5 Energy after using his Loop Shots or after unleashing the Scalespiker Cannon. Energy can be regenerated this way once every 2.8s.
Additionally, Hail to the Almighty Dragonlord deals 70% more DMG.

Allows Kinich to Burst every rotation and increases his Burst’s damage. However, his Burst is not the main focus of his kit, so it is a smaller increase than the Constellations before it.

Constellation 5

Constellation 5 | Howler Monkey’s Tail

Increases the Level of Hail to the Almighty Dragonlord by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.

A simple increase to Kinich’s Burst Talent levels, which is a rather small DPS gain, as his Burst makes up a relatively small portion of his damage.

Constellation 6

Constellation 6 | Auspicious Beast’s Shape

After Scalespiker Cannon hits an opponent, it will bounce between opponents once, dealing 700% of Kinich’s ATK as Dendro DMG.
If this Scalespiker Cannon triggers the buffs that Passive Talent “Flame Spirit Pact” or the Constellation “Tiger Beetle’s Palm” grant to the Cannon, the bouncing attack will also obtain the relevant buffs.

Allows Kinich to overcome his flaw of dealing mostly single-target damage by offering a large 700% multiplier to his Scalespiker Cannons’ additional hit on a second target. Easily Kinich’s best Constellation.

Combos

Combo Notation

N = Normal Attack
C = Charged Attack
A = Aimed Shot
P = Plunging Attack
hP = High Plunge
lP = Low Plunge

E = Elemental Skill
tE = Tap Skill
hE = Hold Skill
shE = Short Hold Skill

Q = Elemental Burst

D = dash (cancel)
J = jump (cancel)
W = walk (cancel)

> = switch character
( ) = these actions are optional; please refer to the notes below
[ ] = repeat these actions the specified number of times

shE (Q) > dynamic NA & E combo	Kinich’s combo is fairly simple. He casts his Hold Skill — which is slightly faster than a Tap Skill — to enter Nightsoul’s Blessing. He can either use his Burst immediately or later in the rotation after any of his Scalespiker Cannons, depending on when you need the i-frames or the extra time for reactions to proc additional Nightsoul points. Once the above steps have been completed, continue using Loop Shots and Scalespiker Cannons whenever available until Kinich’s Nightsoul’s Blessing expires. N2E is the ideal combo, but depending on reaction uptime and Nightsoul point generation, N1E and N3E can be used as needed. Briefly holding his Elemental Skill when firing a Scalespiker Cannon will let you manually aim and fire more quickly than the Tap version. This can allow for hyper-optimized rotations with more cannons overall, but at the risk of missing, especially with smaller enemies.
shE > N2 E > Q > E > 3[N2E]	This combo utilizes Kinich’s A1 Passive to gain Nightsoul points during his Burst animation in order to immediately fire an extra Scalespiker Cannon. This combo does extend his field time, which may make him lose buff uptime for his last Scalespiker Cannon and should only be done when his Burst is available.
shE > 5–6[N2 shE]	Kinich’s ideal combo, which requires a great deal of skill to perform and is more reliable in pure Burning teams due to higher A1 uptime.

Mechanics

Kinich’s Skill only generates particles the first time his Scalespiker Cannon is used. This allows his particle generation to be frontloaded, so it is not a hindrance if you defeat an enemy or wave partway through his Nightsoul’s Blessing duration.

Artifacts

ER Requirements

Calcs for ER requirements can be found here (last updated for Version 5.1).

Kinich’s Elemental Burst is not a major part of his personal damage. Therefore in teams where his ER requirement is too high to justify Bursting every rotation, you can forego building ER% and simply cast his Burst whenever it’s available (usually every other rotation).

	Burst Every Other Rotation	Burst Every Rotation
Solo Dendro	100–120%	200–245%
Double Dendro	100–110%	175–220%

The above tables assume at minimum 1 Favonius proc per rotation.
Additional Favonius procs reduce Kinich’s ER requirements by ~15%.

Use the Energy Recharge Calculator to determine exact requirements for your team and rotation.

Artifact Stats

Stat Priority: CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG > ATK% > ER%

Building Energy Recharge on Kinich is optional if his ER reqs are too high to justify Bursting every rotation.

Artifact Sets

Weapons

Teams

Rotation Notation

N = Normal Attack
C = Charged Attack
A = Aimed Shot
P = Plunging Attack

E = Elemental Skill
tE = Tap Skill
hE = Hold Skill
shE = Short Hold Skill

Q = Elemental Burst

D = dash (cancel)
J = jump (cancel)
W = walk (cancel)

> = switch character
( ) = these actions are optional; please refer to the notes below
[ ] = repeat these actions the specified number of times

Teambuilding

Sources of off-field Pyro application are ideal for Kinich’s teams.
Kinich greatly benefits from having a 4pc Deepwood Memories holder on his teams, therefore this set should be equipped on the character who can best maximize its uptime.
- Units like Dehya, Thoma, Xiangling, or Lynette are often the best candidates to hold Deepwood.
If including Hydro units, note that Kinich’s damage benefits most from pseudo-Burgeon setups that include some Burning uptime. True Burgeon lags behind on Nightsoul point generation, resulting in fewer cannons and significantly less damage.

Burning / Burgeon

**Kinich — Pyro — Dendro / Flex — Hydro / Flex**

Kinich shines in teams with high Burning uptime or consistent Burgeons. As such, his teams follow a pretty standard formula.

Notable Teammates

Dendro

Pyro

Hydro

Flex

Dendro

Pyro

Hydro

Flex

Example Teams

This is not a comprehensive list of teams. The inclusion or exclusion of any given team does not necessarily reflect its power level.

**Kinich — Bennett — Emilie — Xiangling / Dehya / Thoma**

A pure Burn team with Emilie and Xiangling, Thoma, or Dehya to provide off-field Pyro application.

Sample Rotation (Dehya)
(Emilie E)¹ > Dehya 2[E] > Bennett EQ > (Emilie Q)² > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E

¹Use Emilie’s E if her Q is not ready
²Use Emilie’s Q if it’s ready

Sample Rotation (Thoma)
(Emilie E)¹ > Thoma (EQ/Q E)³ > Bennett EQ > (Emilie Q)² > Kinich shE (Q) combo

¹Use Emilie’s E if her Q is not ready
²Use Emilie’s Q if it’s ready
³Q E with Kitain only

Sample Rotation (Xiangling)
(Emilie E/Q)¹ > Bennett Q E > Xiangling Q E > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E > Xiangling N2²

¹Q if available, otherwise use E
²Catch Bennett’s particles

**Kinich — Bennett — Furina — Xiangling / Dehya / Thoma**

A Burgeon team with Furina to buff Kinich. The whole team has incredibly high ER requirements without 1–2 Favonius procs or extra Skill casts from Bennett.

Sample Rotation (Thoma)
Furina ED Q > Thoma (EQ/Q E)¹ > Bennett EQ > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E > (Thoma N2)²

¹Q E with Kitain only
²Catch Bennett’s particles; can skip if Thoma is C4+

Sample Rotation (Xiangling)
Furina ED Q > Bennett Q E > Xiangling Q E > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E > Xiangling N2¹

¹Catch Bennett’s particles

Sample Rotation (Dehya)
Furina ED Q > Dehya 2[E] > Bennett EQ > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E

**Kinich — Bennett — Xiangling — Chiori / Zhongli / Albedo**

A Burn team that incorporates Geo characters as sources of damage and additional defensive utility through Crystallize shields.

Sample Rotation (Zhongli)
Zhongli hED > Bennett Q E > Xiangling Q E > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E > Xiangling N2¹

Sample Rotation (Albedo)
Albedo E > Bennett Q E > Xiangling Q E > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E > Xiangling N2¹

Sample Rotation (Chiori)
Chiori 2[E] > Bennett Q E > Xiangling Q E > Kinich shE (Q) combo > Bennett E > Xiangling N2¹

¹Catch Bennett’s particles

A Burgeon team with Thoma and Xingqiu. Kinich uses his Elemental Burst at the start of the rotation for Dendro application, and Thoma should be built with full EM. Xingqiu’s high Hydro application leads to more Burgeons but may result in fewer Scalespiker Cannons due to lower Burning uptime.

Sample Rotation (Thoma)
Kinich Q > Xingqiu ED Q N1 > Thoma (EQ/Q E)¹ N1 > Bennett EQ > Kinich shE combo > Bennett E > (Thoma N2)²

¹Q E with Kitain only
²Catch Bennett’s particles; can skip if Thoma is C4+

Credits

caramielle., quincy, pjeljr, cuppacote, .whalien, madeofseaglass, lostguide, baloopy, clevernt

Team images made with the KQM portrait generator.

Obsidian Codex	Kinich’s best artifact set. The only other artifact set that’s worth considering is 4pc Unfinished Reverie, but 4pc Obsidian Codex is significantly better.
Fang of the Mountain King	Kinich’s signature weapon and also his unconditional BiS for all scenarios.
Earth Shaker	A powerful free weapon for Kinich that, in most teams, has 100% uptime on its passive.

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
ATK%	Dendro DMG Bonus	CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG

4pc Obsidian Codex	Kinich’s best set, offering 40% CRIT Rate and 15% DMG. Kinich’s first few Loop Shots will not be affected by Obsidian Codex; however, these do not make up a large portion of Kinich’s damage to begin with. Although the set description’s wording suggests otherwise, his first Scalespiker Cannon does actually benefit from the additional CRIT Rate.
4pc Unfinished Reverie	Unfinished Reverie is not too far behind 4pc Obsidian Codex, but the difference is large enough that it’s not worth farming for Kinich. Only use this set if you’re running a weapon with high CRIT Rate, or if you already have a set with good substats available.
4pc Marechaussee Hunter	Uptime on this set can be guaranteed with Burn / Burgeon self-damage or Furina. However, it is worse than the above sets even in those cases. As such, it is not recommended to farm this set specifically for Kinich.
4pc Golden Troupe	Though most of Kinich’s damage is Skill damage, he cannot get the full benefit of this set’s 4pc bonus since none of his Skill casts occur within the first 2s of his field time. It is not recommended to farm this set specifically for Kinich.
2pc Mixed Sets	2pc Bonuses: Dendro DMG Bonus, Skill DMG Bonus, ATK%, Universal DMG Bonus 2pc + 2pc sets are far worse than the dedicated 4pc sets, but they can be okay for transitioning while farming.
4pc Deepwood Memories	Kinich does not want to be the holder of this set; it’s much better for him and the team if another unit holds it instead. Using 4pc Obsidian Codex is better for his damage even if that means having no Deepwood on the team.

Fang of the Mountain King	Undeniably the best weapon for Kinich. Fang of the Mountain King provides a huge amount of Skill and Burst DMG Bonus on the condition that you use his Skill and trigger Burning / Burgeon reactions, which you should already be doing anyway. Although Fang gives a lower CRIT Rate secondary stat compared to other CRIT options, it offers a high amount of Base ATK to compensate.
Beacon of the Reed Sea	Beacon of the Reed Sea is most potent when Kinich is played without a shielder for the guaranteed self-damage from Burgeon or Burning (though Burning is less consistent).
Verdict, Redhorn Stonethresher, Wolf’s Gravestone	All competitive and viable options for Kinich due to their high base stats, albeit not much better than R5 Earth Shaker.
The Unforged	Performs best if Kinich is shielded, in which case it is about equal to R5 Earth Shaker.
Earth Shaker	Earth Shaker is an amazing F2P weapon that can have 100% uptime in Burgeon teams, but can struggle with uptime in Burning teams due to Burning only counting as a Pyro reaction when it is first applied onto opponents.
Serpent Spine	Serpent Spine is a superb option at higher refinements and with a strong shielder, but falls short of other options if these conditions cannot be met.
Tidal Shadow	Last-ditch option if Earth Shaker’s passive cannot be guaranteed, though it requires healing.

Emilie	Emilie is a superb choice for Kinich as she also benefits from high Burning uptime. Her high damage profile adds a lot to Kinich teams, and the additional Dendro particle generation can also help. It’s not recommended to use 4pc Deepwood on her as it drops her damage significantly. Stick with 4pc Unfinished Reverie.
Kirara, Yaoyao, Baizhu	Sustain options that offer Dendro Particles for Kinich and various small buffs / quality of life. They are prime candidates for holding 4pc Deepwood Memories, though Kirara won’t be able to maintain full uptime.
Nahida	Since Nahida’s Tri-Karma Purification doesn’t proc when refreshing Burning, she is unable to meet 4pc Deepwood’s trigger condition or provide significant personal damage for pure Burning teams. Her EM buffs provide little to Kinich, as he does not build EM. She can hold TTDS, but this is often not enough to justify her inclusion. She is more viable for Burgeon as a Deepwood and TTDS holder, but still isn’t a top pick.

Zhongli	Chiori	Albedo
Lynette	Fischl	Kuki Shinobu