Best Kinich build in Genshin Impact

Swing into action.

An image of Kinich's splash art from Genshin Impact. This character has a green aesthetic and a grappling hook.
Image via HoYoVerse.

Kinich’s the second five-star character introduced with Genshin Impact‘s 5.0 update, which welcomes players to the Natlan region. As a member of the Scions of the Canopy, Kinich zips around Natlan with a grappling hook and has a dragon companion named Ajaw.

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If you’re going to roll for this new five-star, here’s the best Kinich build in Genshin.

Genshin Impact: Best Kinich Build

An image of Kinich's burst in Genshin Impact, where he unleashes his dragon into the air.
Unleash your power. Image via HoYoVerse.

Kinich’s a Dendro five-star DPS who deals massive damage by activating the burning reaction. Although he wields a Claymore the majority of Kinich’s damage comes from his Elemental Skill, a grappling hook that allows him to swing around opponents and launch ranged attacks.

Kinich can also use his grappling hook in the overworld, letting Travelers explore Natlan easily. To unlock Kinich’s full potential, make sure to level up his best Weapons, Artifacts, and Talents.

Best Kinich Weapons

An image of the Fang of the Mountain King, Kinich's best weapon.
A devastating weapon. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Since Kinich is a Dendro DPS that scales with ATK, he has many different Weapon options. You’ll want to focus on Weapons that provide either ATK percent or CRIT stats to boost his damage. Here are the best Weapons for Kinich:

  • Fang of the Mountain King (five-star)
  • Beacon of the Reed Seas (five-star)
  • Verdict (five-star)
  • Serpent Spine (four-star)
  • Earth Shaker (four-star)

Fang of the Mountain King is Kinich’s signature weapon and best-in-slot option, meaning it’s custom-made for Kinich’s kit. This weapon increases Kinich’s Elemental Skill damage by 60 percent, offers 11 percent CRIT Rate, and has a massive 741 base attack.

Beacon of the Reed Seas and Verdict are two five-star Claymores that also synergize with Kinich’s kit. Both these weapons offer massive ATK buffs, but they’re locked behind previous banners. If you happen to have either of these Claymores, we suggest using them with Kinich.

Finally, Earth Shaker is the best free-to-play four-star Claymore for Kinich, and it can be crafted in Natlan. This Genshin weapon increases Elemental Skill Damage when a party member triggers a Pyro-related reaction. You can also use Serpent Spine if you have purchased the Claymore for $10 from the in-game battle pass.

Best Kinich Artifact Sets

An image of the Obsidian Codex Artifact Set from Genshin Impact. This increases elemental damage and crit rate.
An incredible Artifact Set. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Kinich’s best Artifact Set is by far the Obsidian Codex added in the 5.0 Natlan update. This new set increases Kinich’s damage by 15 percent whenever he’s in the Nightsoul’s Blessing state or using his Elemental Skill. Obsidian Codex offers a massive 40 percent CRIT Rate increase whenever Kinich consumes Nightsoul Points to launch a blast with his Scalespiker Cannon.

If you have not farmed any Obsidian Codex pieces, you could always use artifacts from the Unfinished Reverie set. This Artifact Set increases your burning damage, but the stats seriously fall short when compared with Obsidian Codex.

Best Kinich Artifact substats

While most Dendro DPS characters want to maximize their Elemental Mastery, Kinich scales on ATK. This means that you’ll want to build Kinich with typical DPS stats, so he requires a lot of investment to perfect his build. Here are the artifact stats you should focus on:

  • Sands: ATK percent
  • Goblet: Dendro DMG bonus
  • Circlet: CRIT Rate or CRIT Damage

Both the ATK percent Sands and the Dendro Goblet will greatly increase Kinich’s damage, while the Circlet can round out your CRIT stats. If you are unable to consistently deal critical hits we suggest prioritizing your CRIT Rate over Damage.

Since the Obsidian Codex Artifact Set does offer a 40 percent CRIT rate increase, you should include this bonus when calculating your CRIT ratios.

Best Kinich Talents

An image of Kinich using his Elemental Skill to swing around an enemy.
Kinich swings around enemies to deal damage. Image via HoYoVerse.

No matter how you build Kinich, you should level him to 90 and invest resources into upgrading his talents. Here is the best order to upgrade Kinich’s talents:

  • Skill
  • Burst
  • Normal Attacks

Kinich deals all his damage with his Elemental Skill and Burst, so you don’t have to worry about wasting resources to increase his Normal Attacks. If you can only upgrade one skill, then invest everything into his Elemental Skill.

Best Kinich Constellations

An image of Kinich wielding his signature weapon.
Game over. Image via HoYoVerse.

While Kinich is one of the strongest characters in Genshin, you can further increase his damage by unlocking his constellations. If you love Kinich and have extra primogems, roll for his first and second constellations.

Kinich’s first constellation increases his Scalespiker Canon CRIT damage by 100 percent, and also offers a movement speed increase after using his grappling hook. His second further increases his Scalespiker Canon damage by an extra 100 percent, shreds Dendro resistances, and increases his AOE range.

Author
Image of John Wildermuth
John Wildermuth
John is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles and wields a degree in English. He is constantly staying up to date on the latest and greatest games, and has been writing about gaming for over a year now. When he is not playing games, he can be found reading sci-fi and fantasy books or working on ceramics.