Genshin Impact Version 3.0 did indeed redeem Kuki Shinobu by releasing the Dendro element. Today, Kuki has her own secure place in the Genshin meta and with more Dendro teammates and team comps, she cna get even stronger. Those who got their Cookies (Kuki) before or during the Sumeru patches can now build her without hesitation as a dependable and strong unit.
Hyperbloom Kuki in Genshin Impact’s Dendro Meta
Kuki best performs in Hyperbloom teams since her E skill has a dependable AoE Electro coverage and her burst too has an AoE Electro effect. In the Dendro meta, Kuki fulfills multiple roles. She’s a reaction enabler and a healer and she scales off of both HP and Elemental Mastery. While her personal damage and reaction damage depends on EM, her healing scales off of HP.
She provides the team with both survivability and strong reactions. Since her E skill follows the active character around, she’s also very easy to use and reliable to constantly proc reactions. Below we’ve discussed her best artifacts, weapons and teammates for a Hyperbloom team centred around her.
Artifacts
Because her reaction damage and personal damage relies on EM, that will be the priority stat when going for her artifacts. Her best set is undeniably the new Gilded Dreams set which gives her tons of EM to trigger powerful Hyperbloom reactions. After EM, players can prioritise HP and Energy Recharge to boost her healing and supportive role.
Players can also use the Instructor’s Set of they are below AR45 since you can only reliably farm for 5-star artifacts after AR45. If you are looking for a bit more survivability with HP, then you can also use the Tenacity of Millelith set provided you have a reliable shielder like Zhongli in the party.
Weapons
Her best weapon among the 4-stars is actually the F2P craftable weapon Iron Sting. Her best 5-star option is Freedom Sworn which is unmatched by any other. Both these weapons provide Kuki with tons of EM from their secondary stat to buff her damage in a Hyperbloom comp. If you are lacking in the ER stat then you can also go for Favonius Sword which has an ER secondary stat.
Team Comps
Kuki’s best team comps include a Hydro applier who can apply Hydro off-field. The best candidates are Barbara and Kokomi. We do not recommend Xinqiu even though his Rain Swords can apply Hydro upon contact because he’s still best used in other teams.
Her favourite Dendro teammate for now is the Dendro Traveler who’s a very strong and reliable off-field Dendro applier. With more Dendro units in the future, this can however change.
The fourth slot is a flex slot which can be filled by Zhongli for survivability and resistance to interruption. His shield also shreds 20% RES of all elements which is another damage boost for your team.
You can also use Anemo units like Kazuha or Sucrose to shred enemy resistances and buff elemental reactions with their EM functionalities. Venti can be useful against multiple enemies or waves of mobs since he’s an expert in grouping. His burst also has high damage so that makes things easier too. These characters can also group the Bloom cores together with their skills and bursts which is another useful feature.
You can also use Sayu for a fun and unique playstyle where she rolls across the battlefield tripping and swirling opponents- all the while still triggering Hyperblooms with Barbara and Kuki’s E skills. You can also use another Electro teammate like Yae Miko, Keqing or Fischl for energy battery and further support for Hyperblooms.