Kuki Shinobu Quick TL;DR Healer/Support Build Guide

Updated for 3.1 😁

PSA #1: A Healer is that friend that cheers you on from the sidelines. They’re always good vibes.

PSA #2: Both of Shinobu’s abilities scale with HP, and she can really pack it on for a small stature. Give her some HP to maximize her ninja healing!

Quick rundown of E:

1. Shinobu sacrifices 30% of her current HP to activate it – If she’s already 20% HP or below, it will not drain any HP to use.
2. The ring pulses 8 times total, once every 1.5s – The heal DOES NOT need to hit an enemy to proc and will always heal every pulse.
3. Has a 12s duration, with a 15s CD – That means only a 3s downtime (a.k.a. it’s very spammable for a heal)

Shinbou’s E is her core ability, as it defines her as a healer. It’s a fairly strong heal with zero drawbacks — assuming you’re not activating it when about to be attacked. Think Barbara E without the annoying Wet self-proc + you do DMG.

Important note: This means that EM is a priority as a substat. Shinobu’s healing and DPS benefits a lot more from raw HP scaling (plus it’s easier to stack) than from her A2 passive.

Another way to look at it: if you had 200 EM, that would mean per E tick she would heal 150 HP more or 1,200 HP (150 x 8 ticks) overall. It’s not that much, so don’t prioritize it.

Think Hu Tao but as a healer. The name of the game is to keep her below 50% HP to not only maximize her heal, but also her burst DPS if you want to build her as one (going in-detail below)

Quick rundown of Q:

1. The description is confusing, so here it is simplified: LESS HP = MORE DMG
2. When above 50% HP – Q lasts 2s and can only deal a total of 40.4% of Shinobu’s Max HP
3. When below 50% HP – Q lasts 3.5s and can only deal a total of 69.2% of Shinobu’s Max HP
4. Her Q does snapshot – so you can hyperstack buffs to utilize max DPS

Within the 2s/3.5s, Shinobu can deal a pretty sum of damage, which may make her seem viable as a burst DPS — it’s not

Unless you want to invest heavily on optimizing her artifacts, Shinobu can only go one direction. A hybrid build of Healer/Burst DPS will stunt her potential in either fields.

Which then leads to people thinking her burst is a good Electro applicator – except it’s not cause her Q’s application is the standard 2.5s. What this means is that even though during her Q it constantly does Electro DMG, once someone proc’s a reaction Shinobu’s Q cannot apply Electro for another 2.5s. Meaning she can only proc Electro with her Q reliably MAYBE 1-3 times, depending on if 1) you hit them with the initial cast and 2) if you cast Q while UNDER 50% HP to get the 3.5s duration…

Talent Leveling Order: E > Q (Don’t need to level NA)

You can prioritize leveling Q if you want to run her as a burst — Highly NOT recommends though

WEAPON #1 (Recommended for best Heals): Freedom-Sworn

How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)

Freedom-Sworn is really only considered for the EM it provides. Although minimal, every bit helps, and the 198 EM (at level 90/90) does provide a small buff to Shinobu’s healing and DPS. Plus the weapon stacks incredibly well with Shinobu’s E, allowing your party to benefit from the 16% NA/CA/Plunge buff and 20% ATK buff.

Primordial Jade Cutter can be viable if you really want to run burst DPS Shinobu. The CRIT% is an extremely necessary stopgap + the weapon’s HP and ATK buff can be extremely helpful for bolstering Shinobu’s Q DMG.

Mistsplitter Reforged is not worth considering as 1) you can’t optimally stack and 2) it’s better suited for other characters.

WEAPON #2 (Recommended for 4-star Heals): Iron Sting

How do I get it D: ? – Forge (Prototype x1, Crystal Chunk x50, White Iron Chunk x50)

Iron Sting is an extremely F2P viable option for Shinobu as it provides a decent amount of EM for her A2 passive. Which means more heals and DMG. Stacking the weapon skill is extremely easy, as Shinobu’s E will constantly provide the 18% DMG buff at all times.

Favonius Sword can be worth noting as it provides good ER%, allowing Shinobu to have a higher uptime on her mid-cost Q. While Shinobu doesn’t prioritize CRIT% (unless burst DPS), her E is up frequently enough to benefit from the occasional CRIT proc here and there. Sacrificial Sword can also be considered just for the raw amount of ER% it provides.

Festering Desire is an odd choice, but if you’re really starved of ER% (and don’t have the mentioned above) it can serve as a cushion. Shinobu’s E isn’t really used for DMG, so the weapon skill is practically useless however.

ARTIFACTS (Recommended for best Heals): Ocean-Hued Clam

How do I get it D: ? – Slumber Court Domain (AR 30 locked, 20 Resin per run)

I’ll explain other build alternatives below!

Full Healer = 4x Ocean-Hued Clam is the go-to for a full Healer build. Not only does it provide a 15% Healing Bonus, but it also provides a massive heal at the end in case of emergencies. Shinobu’s heal procs frequently, and heals a decent amount, which allows for the 4x bonus proc to heal a decent amount as well. Run 2x Ocean + 2x Maiden until you can farm 4x Ocean.

Burst DPS = 4x Emblem of Severed Fate will require a tiny bit of ER% optimization, but can be utilized efficiently regardless. Just keep in mind that the burst DPS needs ER accumulation to really benefit (otherwise running 4x Noblesse will do the job as well).

Buffer Support = 4x Tenacity of the Millelith not only provides Shinbou with a 20% HP buff, but also provides a good 20% ATK buff for her team as well. Her E will keep the proc active, effectively making it a 100% uptime for the ATK Buff (yet again 4x Noblesse can also accomplish the job).

Main stats:

Sands	Goblet	Circlet
HP%	HP%	Healing Bonus% or HP%

(For Healer/Buffer) = Substats: HP > EM > ER% > CRIT values

(For Burst DPS) = Substats: CRIT values > ATK% > EM > ER% > HP

If you want other characters let me know. Hope this helped. Bye.