Genshin Impact Kuki Shinobu Build and Lore
Name: Kuki Shinobu (written in Inazuman (Japanese) way, the last name first)
Vision: Electro
Birthday: 27 July
Constellation: Tribulatio Demptio
Titles: Mender of Tribulations, Deputy Leader of the Arataki Gang
Kuki Shinobu is a high-risk healer who does better if her HP is at half or lower in Genshin Impact. Proper management of healing and damage is needed to keep her at optimal efficiency. Currently, her primary role is to apply Electro auras to enemies with her E and Burst, aside from healing.
Sanctifying Ring (E) creates a Grass Ring tied to the active character. It sends out a pulse every 1.5 seconds, dealing Electro DMG to nearby opponents, and heals the character on the field. Duration is 12s, meaning there would be 8 pulses. Healing is calculated based on Shinobu’s max HP and heals nearby allies.
Activation uses up a portion of her HP but can only reduce it to 20%. Past that, there won’t be any activation HP cost. Her first ascension passive gives her a 15% Healing Bonus when her HP is less than half. The activation cost lets her reach this quickly, though some management is needed, so she doesn’t get knocked out.
Gyoei Narukami Kariyama Rite (Q) makes a cleansing field around her, dealing AoE Electro DMG based on her max HP. The area will last longer if used when her HP is <50%. Her first constellation upgrade increases the field’s AoE.
Table of Contents
Genshin Impact Kuki Shinobu Builds
Healer/Support
With a focus on HP, Shinobu will be able to support the party with Electro applications, healing, and an ATK buff through artifacts. This build will not have much damage, even if her skills’ output depends on HP. The multipliers are small, though it won’t stop some players.
Possible Sets: Tenacity of the Millelith, Noblesse Oblige
Main Stats: 3x HP
Substats: HP, Elemental Mastery (for a slight boost to healing)
DPS Kuki Shinobu
Since the multipliers for her abilities are slight, a DPS Shinobu will rely on her regular attacks for damage. Fortunately, as an Electro user, she only needs a Cryo teammate to make Superconduct reactions for a boost.
Possible Sets: Pale Flame, Bloodstained Chivalry, Gladiator’s Finale, Echoes of an Offering, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
Main Stats: ATK%, Phys DMG Bonus, Crit Rate/DMG
Substats: Crit DMG/Rate, ATK, EM
Genshin Impact Kuki Shinobu Lore (Backstory)
The Kuki clan takes pride in serving as a shrine maiden. Thus, sometime after the family sent Shinobu’s sister Miyuki to the Grand Narukami Shrine for study, Shinobu’s turn came to do the same.
Shinobu did not like the stringent rules and traditions of the role. She’d ask why, but she always got the same answers. “It’s tradition,” or “That’s the way it’s always been done.” Maidens needed to fast for a specific number of days or have to repeat the same actions for a ritual. She chafed at the strict enforcement without explanations.
During this time, Shinobu would sometimes catch a chill during the night. Her older sister was assigned to another place, so she couldn’t ask for help. As a strong-willed child, neither did she ask the other shrine maidens.
She had heard about the ritual of twining thorny plants around the body to gain the protection of Narukami. She did just that and whispered prayers throughout the night.
It didn’t cure her chills; she got only tingling red marks.
Days passed, and each one taught her that the rules don’t have to be followed so rigidly. More than that, her clan was wrong, and that shrine maidens were not indispensable, as claimed by her elders.
Shinobu ran away from the temple soon after. She set out to find something she could be proud of to put on a name card. Thinking that she needed certifications (and to test herself), she studied to get a wide variety. She took courses from various industries, from tailoring to Human Resource Management. She even went to Liyue to study law!
This created its own problems, as she now has numerous titles she can put into her card. Junior Chef, Tailor, Legal Consultant, Actuary, Health Manager… the list went on and on. To this day, Shinobu still collects certifications. She doesn’t even know how many name cards she’s made (all with different titles).
Still, when she joined the Arataki Gang, she would always choose to start with ‘Deputy.’ This event also opened a slew of various odd jobs the gang could do. If anyone asks for certification, they could always just flash their Deputy’s card, which will always have the correct credentials for the job.
The people of Hanamizaka were worried initially but grew to love the Deputy’s influence on the troublemakers. Not to say that they were completely reformed. They still get into the occasional trouble, which Shinobu has to bail them out of. Itto’s terrorism of children (by stealing their snacks and/or toys) also hasn’t stopped. What their Deputy does is to replace the lost things to make up for it.
Once, when Shinobu cooked some Roasted Lavender Melon for the gang, the rest of the members asked her how it could be so tasty. She told them the story of her days while studying in Liyue. There was an eatery called the Wanmin Restaurant which she frequented. Despite having a high-level culinary license at the time, she was awed at the variety and ingenuity of the chef’s abilities. This led her to the realization that she shouldn’t rest on her laurels.
At that point in the story, the others cheered, not wholly understanding it but getting the feeling that it was something good. Shinobu wisely refrained from finishing the story, where said Wanmin Chef made her eat Salt and Pepper Slime. Also, she kept the secret ingredient to her Roasted Lavender Melon recipe (slime ooze) to herself.
She didn’t wear her oni mask from the start. Shinobu only started wearing it when a kid loudly exclaimed that she was ‘the unsmiling shrine maiden who looks cool’ while engaging in a serious negotiation. The rest of the gang, standing in line nearby at her behest, couldn’t suppress their laughter, which embarrassed their Deputy.
Since then, she has worn the mask, claws, and fangs bared. This was not the source of her nickname, ‘the demonic deputy.’ That came from the beating she gave the guys at the following martial arts demonstration in revenge.
