Updated for Version 3.3
Kuki Shinobu is a 4-star Electro Sword character that provides healing and off-field Electro application.
More extensive testing is in progress. Note that the information given is subject to change if and when new discoveries are made.
The full-length guide is currently in the process of being written. Join our Discord to check on and participate in the theorycrafting process.
Table of Contents
Playstyles
Aggravate
Kuki’s strong off-field presence with both her damage and healing makes her a very useful asset for any Aggravate team.
Hyperbloom
As a consequence of how Internal Cooldown works with Bloom reactions, Kuki is an excellent trigger of Hyperbloom, since her Skill hits every 1.5s in a wide AoE. As one of the few effective Hyperbloom triggers whilst also being a healer, Shinobu solidifies her worth as the Electro slot in a Hyperbloom team.
Pure Healer
Kuki’s healing as an Electro character is her main selling point. Due to healers only needing relatively low investment, she can be slotted in many teams as a pure healer while offering her Electro application for various utilities.
Character Overview
Talent Priority
Skill > Burst >>> Normal Attack
Kuki’s Normal Attacks do not provide anything of use in her teams.
Level 90 is a very significant increase in Kuki’s damage in Aggravate and Hyperbloom teams, so it is recommended to level her.
Talents
Normal Attack | Shinobu’s Shadowsword
Talent Description
Normal Attack
Performs up to 4 rapid strikes.
Charged Attack
Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash 2 rapid sword strikes.
Plunging Attack
Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.
Kuki’s Normal Attacks provide no value in her teams.
Elemental Skill | Sanctifying Ring
Talent Description
Creates a Grass Ring of Sanctification at the cost of part of her HP, dealing Electro DMG to nearby opponents.
Grass Ring of Sanctification
Follows your current active character around. Deals Electro DMG to nearby opponents every 1.5s and restores HP for the active character(s) within the ring’s AoE based on Kuki Shinobu’s Max HP.
The HP consumption from using this skill can only bring her to 20% HP.
Kuki’s Elemental Skill provides consistent healing and deals damage based on her maximum HP at 1.5s intervals — at the cost of losing 30% of her current HP. Kuki has a 45% chance to generate an Elemental Particle on each hit of her Skill.
Elemental Burst | Gyoei Narukami Kariyama Rite
Talent Description
Stabs an evil-excoriating blade into the ground, creating a field that cleanses the area of all that is foul, dealing continuous Electro DMG to opponents within its AoE based on Shinobu’s Max HP.
If Shinobu’s HP is less than or equal to 50% when this skill is used, the field will last longer.
Kuki’s Burst deals 7 instances of AoE Electro damage; the number of hits can be increased if Kuki’s HP is less than 50%, resulting in 11-13 total hits.
Ascension 1 Passive | Breaking Free
Talent Description
When Shinobu’s HP is not higher than 50%, her Healing Bonus is increased by 15%.
Increases Kuki’s Healing Bonus by 15% if her HP is less than 50%. Mostly a QoL Passive, it keeps Kuki alive through multiple Skill uses.
Ascension 4 Passive | Heart’s Repose
Talent Description
Sanctifying Ring’s abilities will be boosted based on Shinobu’s Elemental Mastery:
· Healing amount will be increased by 75% of Elemental Mastery.
· DMG dealt is increased by 25% of Elemental Mastery.
Grants Kuki EM scaling on both her healing (75% of EM) and Skill damage (25% of EM), making her healing output viable even for Aggravate and Hyperbloom builds.
Constellations
Constellation 1 | To Cloister Compassion
Constellation Description
Gyoei Narukami Kariyama Rite’s AoE is increased by 50%.
Increases Kuki’s AoE on her Burst, which can be helpful when dealing with multiple enemies.
Constellation 2 | To Forsake Fortune
Constellation Description
Grass Ring of Sanctification’s duration is increased by 3s.
Increases Kuki’s Skill hits from 8 to 10 after the initial Skill cast, which results in 100% Skill uptime and increases her Energy generation due to the extra hits.
Constellation 3 | To Sequester Sorrow
Constellation Description
Increases the Level of Sanctifying Ring by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.
Grants 3 levels to Kuki’s Skill. Increases healing by a noticeable amount. The damage increase is negligible.
Constellation 4 | To Sever Sealing
Constellation Description
When the Normal, Charged, or Plunging Attacks of the character affected by Shinobu’s Grass Ring of Sanctification hit opponents, a Thundergrass Mark will land on the opponent’s position and deal AoE Electro DMG based on 9.7% of Shinobu’s Max HP.
This effect can occur once every 5s.
Dealing damage with the active character’s Normal Attack while having Kuki’s Skill active procs her Constellation 4 which deals Electro damage. The proc can trigger reactions and generate Energy separately from Kuki’s Skill. This effect can only happen once every 5 seconds.
Constellation 5 | To Cease Courtesies
Constellation Description
Increases the Level of Gyoei Narukami Kariyama Rite by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.
Grants 3 levels to Kuki’s Burst. Slightly improves Kuki’s Burst damage, but since most of Kuki’s damage comes from reactions, this increase isn’t impactful.
Constellation 6 | To Ward Weakness
Constellation Description
When Kuki Shinobu takes lethal DMG, this instance of DMG will not take her down. This effect will automatically trigger when her HP reaches 1 and will trigger once every 60s.
When Shinobu’s HP drops below 25%, she will gain 150 Elemental Mastery for 15s. This effect will trigger once every 60s.
Upon reaching 1 HP, Kuki gains 150 EM for 15s. This can only happen every 1 minute. A helpful Constellation as Kuki likes to be at low HP, increasing her survivability and giving her a DPS spike when it procs.
Combos
N# = Corresponding number of consecutive Normal Attacks
| Combo | Usage |
| Skill > N1 > Burst | Using Kuki’s Skill before her Burst will allow her to heal some of the HP she lost on cast. The N1 should be done after casting her Skill to proc C4. Without C4, the N1 shouldn’t be used. |
Hyperbloom
Design: cuppacote
Content: cuppacote
Artifacts
Artifact Stats
 Sands |  Goblet |  Circlet |
| Elemental Mastery | Elemental Mastery | Elemental Mastery |
Substats
EM should be prioritized over other stats since other stats don’t provide anything of use in Hyperbloom teams. ER isn’t a priority as Kuki’s Burst is not the main focus of this team, using her Burst every other rotation would prove to be better than sacrificing EM for additional ER.
Artifact Sets
| Artifact Set | Notes |
 4pc Flower of Paradise Lost | Although this set is Kuki’s best set for Hyperbloom damage as it increases Hyperbloom DMG% by a considerable amount, it is not recommended to farm it purely for Hyperbloom. Farming Gilded Dreams will prove to be beneficial because of the other set in the domain, Deepwood Memories, which boosts Hyperbloom damage by a large amount. |
 4pc Gilded Dreams | The 2-piece effect increases EM by 80 and the 4-piece increases it by 100-150 depending on the flex slot. |
 2pc EM + 2pc EM | Cheap option compared to 4p Gilded Dreams while providing similar results. |
 4pc Thundering Fury | The 2p and CD reduction do not help Hyperbloom Kuki but the unconditional passive does buff Hyperbloom damage. |
Weapons
| Weapon | Notes |
 Freedom-Sworn | Highest EM secondary stat on a Sword with a passive that will benefit the other team members with its ATK% buff, making it the best weapon for Hyperbloom Kuki. |
 Key of Khaj-Nisut | HP% Passive increases Kuki’s healing. This weapon only becomes better than the 4 star options if all 3 stacks obtained, this is much more consistent at C4 due to it granting her an extra Skill proc. It is not recommended to prolong rotations to gain extra stacks at lower Constellations. |
 Xiphos’ Moonlight | Identical EM to Iron Sting but with an ER passive that benefits the whole team. |
 Iron Sting | Craftable Sword with an EM secondary stat. Refinements aren’t impactful as Hyperbloom Kuki doesn’t need DMG%. |
 Toukabou Shigure | Functionally the same as Iron Sting, it grants the same amount of EM with some DMG% which Hyperbloom Kuki doesn’t benefit from. |
Teams
Teambuilding
- Needs Hydro/Dendro characters with high Elemental application rate to produce Dendro Cores.
Notable Teammates
| Character | Notes |
 Dendro Applier: Nahida, Dendro Traveler, Collei | Most Dendro characters can function as the Dendro slot in Hyperbloom teams, as the only thing required from them is Dendro application, which most of them can provide in addition to other utilities. |
 Hydro Applier: Xingqiu, Yelan, Kokomi, Ayato, Candace, Tartaglia, on-field Nilou | Reliable Hydro application, whether on-field or off-field, is needed for Dendro Core generation. Most Hydro units can function well in this slot and will provide things other than Hydro application like healing and/or damage. |
 Flex: Fischl, Beidou, Yae Miko, Hydro unit, Anemo unit, Dendro unit | The 4th slot in Hyperbloom teams should not affect the Dendro Cores in any way. They can be useful for dealing additional damage, buffing or crowd control. |
Example Teams
Nahida is the driver in this team. Yelan and Xingqiu provide off-field Hydro application and damage. Kuki’s healing gets increased with Hydro Resonance as well.
Aggravate
Design: euphorysm
Content: mocha_biscuit
Artifacts
ER Requirements
Assumes Kuki and another Electro character, 1 Favonius weapon proc per rotation. Kuki not catching any particles directly.
| Scenario | C0 | C2 | C4 |
| 15s rotation | 160%-170% | 150%-160% | 140%-150% |
| 20s rotation | 130%-140% | 125%-135% | 120%-130% |
| w/ Fischl (15s) | 140%-150% | 130%-140% | 120%-130% |
| w/ Raiden (18s) | 100% | 100% | 100% |
It is not recommended to run Kuki as the solo Electro character for Aggravate teams as her personal damage output heavily relies on her Burst. Each additional Favonius proc takes off ~10% from ER requirements.
Use Zakharov’s Energy Recharge Calculator for specific ER requirements.
Artifact Stats
Sands | Goblet | Circlet |
| Elemental Mastery | Electro DMG Bonus | CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG |
Substats
ER (until requirements are met) > EM ≥ CRIT Rate/DMG > HP%
If healing with EM | Electro | CRIT is not sufficient, an EM Goblet can be used instead.
Artifact Sets
| Artifact Set | Notes |
 4pc Tenacity of the Millelith (4TotM) | The 2-piece provides 20% HP and the 4-piece grants the whole team (including Kuki herself) 20% ATK and 30% Shield Strength. Due to Kuki’s 100% uptime on her Skill translating to 100% uptime for this set’s effect, it is basically tailor made for her kit. |
 4pc Emblem of Severed Fate | Can be the best option for Kuki’s personal damage if her ER needs are high (>145%). |
 4pc Thundersoother | The 35% DMG Bonus increases Kuki’s personal damage greatly if the passive has high uptime; this is not usually feasible if used with Nahida due to her high Dendro application. |
4pc Thundering Fury | Although Kuki does not benefit from the cooldown reduction on the 4-piece, She does benefit from the 2-piece and the increased reaction damage. |
4pc Gilded Dreams | Gilded Dreams increases EM by a substantial amount which would improve both Kuki’s healing and damage. |
 4pc Noblesse Oblige (4NO) | Kuki benefits only from the 2-piece effect and there are usually better holders for this set. If another user or a 4TotM set isn’t available then 4NO can be a good option for team DPS. |
 2pc combinations | Seeing as Kuki is a low priority unit in Aggravate teams, she can make do with any 2-piece combination of EM/ER/DMG%. |
Weapons
| Weapon | Description |
 Primordial Jade Cutter | Kuki can make use of the HP%, Flat ATK and high CRIT Rate secondary stat. |
 Mistsplitter Reforged | Kuki cannot proc all 3 stacks due to her lack of Infusion, but 2 stacks of the Elemental DMG Bonus in addition to the CRIT DMG substat make it an excellent weapon in Aggravate teams. |
 Haran Geppaku Futsu | Although the Normal Attack DMG increase is not useful for Kuki, she can still make use of the 12% Elemental DMG Bonus and the high CRIT Rate substat. |
Key of Khaj-Nisut | The only HP% Sword which will strengthen Kuki’s healing. Can be used to buff the whole team’s EM if timed correctly with C4. |
Freedom-Sworn | Kuki scales with EM on both her healing and damage, which makes her an excellent holder of Freedom-Sworn. She also has an easy time activating the passive with her multitude of attacks and Aggravate. |
 Festering Desire | Solves all of Kuki’s Energy problems while simultaneously buffing her damage. |
Xiphos’ Moonlight | Grants enough ER (even at R1) for Kuki to forgo all ER from artifacts, in addition to increasing her personal damage with the EM substat. The whole team benefits from the weapon due to Kuki stacking EM, which increases the ER share from the weapon passive. |
Iron Sting | Best craftable weapon if Festering Desire isn’t available. EM secondary stat and DMG% benefit all parts of Kuki’s kit. |
 Toukabou Shigure | Similar to Iron Sting damage wise and utility wise, sharing the same EM substat. |
 Favonius Sword | While it is worse for Kuki’s personal damage compared to other weapons, Favonius is extremely helpful to Energy-hungry teams. |
 Skyward Blade | Resolves all of Kuki’s Energy problems while increasing her CRIT Rate slightly. |
 Sapwood Blade | ER substat alleviates the need for ER from artifacts. The leaf generated from the passive can increase Kuki’s teammates’ damage depending on which character picks it up. |
Teams
Teambuilding
- Bringing a second Electro reduces Energy requirements and allows the second Electro to make use of the Quicken aura, thus increasing the team’s total damage.
- Needs a Dendro character to activate Quicken aura to enable Aggravate.
Notable Teammates
| Character | Description |
Dendro Applicator: Nahida, Dendro MC, Collei, Tighnari | Responsible for creating Quicken aura while also making use of said aura with Spread. |
 Electro Flex: Fischl, Keqing, Beidou, Raiden, Yae, Cyno, Lisa | The main damage dealers of the team. Kuki is run with them in order to generate Energy, deal damage and heal. |
Flex: Zhongli, Sucrose, Kazuha, other Anemo VV holders, 2nd Dendro, Bennett | The flex units in Kuki teams may provide buffs, crowd control and/or damage |
Example Teams
This is not a comprehensive list of teams, and the inclusion of a certain team or lack thereof does not necessarily indicate the power level of the team in question. This list is not ranked.
A 4-star oriented Aggravate team. Due to the low CD of all the members, it is possible to run a 15s rotation.
Pure Healer
Artifacts
Artifact Stats
Sands | Goblet | Circlet |
| HP% or Elemental Mastery | HP% or Elemental Mastery | Healing Bonus, HP%, or Elemental Mastery |
Substats
HP% > EM > ER ≥ CRIT Rate/DMG
It is recommended to build some CRIT Rate if using Favonius Sword.
Artifact Sets
| Artifact Set | Description |
4pc Tenacity of the Millelith | The 2-piece increases Kuki’s healing and survivability while the 4-piece allows her to buff the team with 20% ATK. |
 4pc Ocean-Hued Clam | The 2-piece will increase Kuki’s healing while the 4-piece will increase her personal damage. |
 2pc Maiden Beloved / 2pc Ocean-Hued Clam | 2-piece sets to maximize Kuki’s healing. |
Weapons
| Weapon | Description |
Key of Khaj-Nisut | The best Sword for Kuki’s healing due to its enormous HP secondary stat. 3 stacks of the passive can be gained semi-reliably with [E→N1→Q] if C4 is activated. |
Freedom-Sworn | Having the highest EM secondary stat in the game, Freedom-Sworn proves to be a very good weapon for healer Kuki, as it improves her healing while buffing the team’s damage. |
Xiphos’ Moonlight | The passive can increase ER in accordance with EM, the latter of which Kuki’s healing scales off. |
Iron Sting | An EM stat stick, it increases damage as well as healing. Refinements only affect Kuki’s damage. |
Toukabou Shigure | Same EM substat as Iron Sting with similar passive. |
Favonius Sword | Does nothing for Kuki’s healing, but helps alleviate the ER issues of some teams. |
Sapwood Blade | The leaf generated from the passive may prove to be helpful for other EM scaling characters in the team. |
Teams
Teambuilding
- Kuki can be slotted as a healer in any team as long as her Electro application doesn’t interfere with the team. Due to Kuki being very flexible as a healer, this Quick Guide will not mention any specific team.
Credits
Contributors: Sew#2409, Seima#4597, idkanonymized#4166, Davjac123#0413, Nociii#0111, uhinf1999