How to play Kinich in Genshin Impact: Rotations, playstyle, and ideal stats

Kinich is a brand new Dendro 5-Star unit in Genshin Impact 5.0. He is an on-field DPS character who scales off ATK, making him both a reliable damage dealer and a sufficiently easy-to-build character. Kinich is the second Natlan 5-star unit to be released, and his banner is featured in the second half of version 5.0, alongside Raiden Shogun's rerun banner.

Kinich belongs to the Scions of the Canopy tribe, which is known for its prowess in exploring and hunting. Needless to say, he is an expert explorer as well, with traversal abilities similar to that of the Yumkasaurs. Kinich can use his grappling hook to traverse long distances very quickly, making him a great character for exploration.

This article discusses the most efficient way to play Kinich, along with his ideal stats and rotations, to make the most out of his kit.

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How to play Kinich in Genshin Impact

Kinich's kit overview

Kinich is a 5-Star Dendro character, whose role in the party is that of an on-field DPS. As with all Natlan characters, Nightsoul mechanics play an integral part of his kit and contribute to increasing his damage potential.

1) Elemental Skill

Kinich's main source of damage is his elemental skill, which works in two different ways. If you use his Elemental Skill when no enemies are nearby, he will simply use his grappling hook to swing in mid-air and traverse a significant area of the map very quickly. If he has enough Phlogiston remaining, he can perform a second swing in mid-air before landing on the ground.

If his Elemental Skill is used when there are opponents nearby, Kinich will attach his grappling hook to the enemy, and instantly enter Nightsoul's Blessing state with zero points. In this state, all normal attacks that he performs will be Loop Shots, which will both deal Dendro DMG to the enemy and also generate Nightsoul points for Kinich.

When Nightsoul points accumulated via the aforementioned way are at max (as seen on the Nightsoul bar to the left of the active character), Kinich can use his Elemental Skill again to aim and fire a cannon at the enemy, dealing massive Dendro DMG.

Additionally, he has a passive that lets enemies affected by Burning or Burgeon generate extra Nightsoul points for him (when he is in Nightsoul's blessing state). This makes Kinich a perfect fit for Burning/Burgeon teams.

2) Elemental Burst

Using Kinich's Elemental Burst unleashes the wrath of the Almighty Dragonlord, K'uhul Ajaw, dealing instant AoE Dendro DMG. For the next 15 seconds, Ajaw will continue to remain on the field and deal AoE Dendro DMG at fixed intervals. If Kinich is already in the Nightsoul's Blessing state when his Elemental Burst is used, the duration of this state is further extended.

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Kinich's playstyle and rotations

Since Kinich's main source of damage comes from the Elemental Skill cannon shot he fires with max Nightsoul points, regenerating this point tally should be your main target. Kinich starts with zero Nightsoul points when you use his Elemental Burst, and further gains more in the following ways:

• Two Nightsoul points per second
• Three Nightsoul Points for using a normal attack
• Seven Nightsoul Points for attacking enemies affected by Burning/Burgeon

Thus, the ideal playstyle and rotation for Kinich is using his Elemental Skill to attach his grappling hook to a nearby enemy, followed by using his normal attacks to deal damage to the enemy and generate Nightsoul points for him. Once his Nightsoul points are at max (aka the bar to his left is full), use his Elemental Skill once again to fire a cannon shot at the enemy.

Kinich's passive lets him deal more damage when he is added to Burning/Burgeon teams (Image via HoYoverse)

Note that if the enemies are affected by Burning/Burgeon, Kinich will generate Nightsoul points faster, letting you use his Elemental Skill cannon shot more often. This means Kinich's rotations in a Burning/Burgeon team will be slightly different than that of a non-Burning/Burgeon team. If you do add him to a Burning/Burgeon team, try and make sure to constantly trigger Burning/Burgeon reactions so that he can restore Nightsoul points more quickly.

When Kinich's energy is full, you can use his Elemental Burst to summon Ajaw on the field, who will inflict AoE Dendro DMG over the next 15 seconds. Try and use his Elemental Burst when he is already in the Nightsoul Blessing's state, as this will extend the duration of this state by 1.7 seconds.

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Kinich's ideal stats: Artifacts, main stats and talents

Ideal stats for Kinich's build (Image via HoYoverse)

The best artifact set for Kinich is the 4-piece Obsidian Codex. He is a DPS unit, and this new Natlan artifact set is the best set for maximizing his damage output. Make sure to equip artifacts with the following main stats:

• Sands: ATK%
• Goblet: Dendro Dmg Bonus
• Circlet: Crit Rate/Crit DMG

Other substats you should focus on include ATK% and Elemental Mastery, as he can benefit from both. Kinich is a DPS character who scales off ATK, so try and get his overall ATK as high as possible.

Since Kinich's Elemental Skill is his primary source of damage, try and level up his talents in the following order:

Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack

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Check out these Genshin Impact articles:

• Best Genshin Impact Kinich build guide
• 7 best weapons for Kinich in Genshin Impact
• Kinich or Raiden Shogun: Best character to pull in Genshin Impact 5.0 Phase II