Let’s take a look at one of the first faces we meet in Natlan – Genshin Impact’s Kinich. He’s a five-star dendro user who plays a role in the archon quest and is part of the Scions of the Canopy tribe. He has a pixelated dragon, Ajaw, that tags along with him as he zips through forests and plains, and also helps him in combat.
As we approach Genshin Impact’s Natlan, we’re finally learning more about the area. You can keep up with the new Genshin Impact banner and Genshin Impact updates here, so you don’t miss anything. Oh, and here are the new Genshin Impact codes, too.
Here’s everything you need to know about Genshin Impact’s Kinich:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Kinich build?
Kinich is a five-star character who uses a claymore and the dendro element.
Rarity | ★★★★★ |
Element | Dendro |
Weapon | Claymore |
Best weapon | Fang of the Mountain King |
Substitute weapons | Earth Shaker, Serpent Spine |
Best artifact set | Obsidian Codex |
Artifact substitutes | 2pc of Unfinished Reverie and 2pc of Deepwood Memories |
Main stats | -Sands: Attack -Goblet: Dendro damage bonus -Circlet: Crit rate/damage |
Sub-stats | Crit damage/rate, attack, elemental mastery |
Kinich has a kit tailored toward the burn and burgeon reactions, meaning he’ll excel next to off-field pyro units – once again, Genshin Impact’s Xiangling and Genshin Impact’s Thoma are needed.

The best weapon for Kinich is the Fang of the Mountain King claymore, paired with a full set of Obsidian Codex artifacts to boost his Nightsoul damage. As for stats, you want plenty of crit rate and damage in a 1:2 ratio, and some elemental mastery to help those elemental reactions happen.
How do I use Kinich?
Kinich has a very interesting kit, that can be hard to get used to. He has vastly different movement mechanics to every other character, so we’ve simplified it here.
Out of combat, you can use Kinich’s elemental skill to grapple through the air. If you’ve played Wuthering Waves, it’s similar to the mechanic in that. You can also perform a second jump to get even further through the air.
In combat, you can grapple onto enemies – you can then move side to side while attached to them so your attacks target the enemy. A mark will appear on the ground – swing into this, and it charges your Nightsoul points, allowing you to use your elemental skill and fire off a big dendro hit. Kinich’s elemental burst unleashes Ajaw on the enemy, who remains even if you’re off field.
As mentioned above, it’s best to use pyro with him, but whichever elements you choose, set them up before you swap to Kinich as you can then bring the damage with his skills.
What are the best weapons for Kinich?
Kinich has a signature weapon – the Fang of the Mountain King – which is perfect for his kit. It boosts burn and burgeon damage, which pairs excellently with his passive skill. It isn’t easy to get a signature weapon alongside a new character, so we recommend some other choices.
For those lucky enough to own a Beacon of the Reed Sea, you can safely use this on Kinich as well. In terms of pure stat sticks, the Serpent Spine is a good choice that adds to Kinich’s overall damage and crit rate.
Fang of the Mountain King | Stat: Crit rate Effect: Gain one stack of Canopy’s Favor when hitting an opponent with an elemental skill. This can trigger once every 0.5 seconds. After a party member triggers burn or burgeon, Kinich gains three stacks. This can trigger once every two seconds, including when he is off field. Canopy’s Favor increases skill and burst damage for six seconds and can stack six times |
Weapon banner |
Earth Shaker | Stat: Attack Effect: After a party member triggers a pyro-related reaction, Kinich’s elemental skill damage increases for eight seconds. This can trigger even when he is not on field |
Battle Pass reward |
Forest Regalia | Stat: Energy recharge Effect: After triggering burning, burgeon, quicken, aggravate, spread, bloom, or hyperbloom, a Leaf of Consciousness appears on the field, lasting ten seconds. Picking this up grants extra elemental mastery for Kinich for 12 seconds. One leaf can appear every 20 seconds |
Forged |
Beacon of the Reed Sea | Stat: Crit rate Effect: After Kinich’s elemental skill hits an opponent, his attack increases by 20% for eight seconds. After he takes damage, his attack increases by 20% for eight seconds. The two effects can trigger even when he is not on the field. Additionally, when not protected by a shield, Kinich’s max HP increases by 32% |
Weapon banner |
Serpent Spine | Stat: Crit rate Effect: Every four seconds Kinich is on the field, he deals 6% more damage and takes 3% more damage. This effect has a maximum of five stacks and will not reset if he leaves the field, but will reduce by one stack when he takes damage |
Battle Pass reward |
What are the best artifacts for Kinich?
The best artifact set for Kinich is the Obsidian Codex set, as it boosts his damage while using the Nightsoul state – that is to say, his elemental skill. You can use the Unfinished Reverie four-piece set, though this is better used on Emilie alongside Kinich. Really, this set will get better when more off-field pyro units come to the game.
If you’re struggling for a good four-piece set, because let’s face it, we all are – you can mix and match a two-piece of Deepwood Memories with Obsidian Codex, or even Golden Troupe to add some basic damage boosts.
If you have another character in your team with a set of Deepwood Memories, don’t use it on Kinich, as the effects don’t stack.
Obsidian Codex | Two pieces: While Kinich is in Nightsoul’s Blessing on the field, his damage increases by 15% Four pieces: After Kinich consumes one Nightsoul point while on the field, his crit rate increases by 40% for six seconds. This can trigger once every second |
Obtain from the Sanctum of Rainbow Spirits domain in Natlan |
Unfinished Reverie | Two pieces: Increases attack Four pieces: After leaving combat for three seconds, damage dealt increases by 50%. In combat, if no burning opponents are nearby for more than six seconds, this damage bonus decreases by 10% per second until it reaches 0%. When a burning opponent exists, it increases by 10% instead until it reaches 50%. This effect triggers if Kinich is off-field |
Obtain from the Faded Theater domain in Fontaine |
Deepwood Memories | Two pieces: Increases dendro damage Four pieces: After elemental skills or bursts hit opponents, the targets’ dendro resistance decreases by 30% for eight seconds. This effect can trigger even if Kinich is not on the field |
Obtain from the Spire of Solitary Enlightenment domain in Sumeru |
Golden Troupe | Two pieces: Increases elemental skill damage | Obtain from the Denouement of Sin domain in Fontaine |
Artifact stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Sands: Attack
- Goblet: Dendro damage bonus
- Circlet: Crit damage/rate
Sub-stats:
- Crit rate/damage
- Attack
- Elemental mastery
If you need a refresher on all things artifacts, we’ve got a handy Genshin Impact artifacts guide for you.
What are the best Kinich team comps?
Kinich is another DPS at the mercy of Genshin’s lack of off-field pyro characters. His kit specifically mentions burn and burgeon reactions, and as such, you should aim for these when picking a team. This means that the classic teammates of Xiangling, Bennett, and Thoma are your best choices here. If you have Emilie, she can help improve the burn damage and add extra dendro application, too.
You can use Kinich in a lot of dendro reaction comps, but you should aim for pyro-related reactions overall. Remember that Kinich doesn’t heal or shield himself, so keep a healer or shield character on hand for harder battles.
What are Kinich’s skills?
Here are all of Kinich’s individual skills, including his passive talents.
Active skills
Normal attack | Nightsun Style Normal: Performs up to three attacks dealing damage. After using his elemental skill, Kinich can perform a normal attack in mid-air Charged: Consuming stamina, Kinich throws his claymore forward to hit targets Plunging: Kinich plunges to the ground dealing damage in a small AoE |
Elemental skill | Canopy Hunter: Riding High Movement When there are no enemies or interactive objects nearby, Kinich fires a grappling hook to perform an aerial swing. Hold the skill to aim where the hook goes. Combat After using his skill, Kinich links enemies together with his grappling hook and enters the Nightsoul Blessing state. He generates Nightsoul points automatically. In this state, he can perform Loop Shots on enemies caught by the hook, using normal attacks. This also creates Nightsoul points. When his Nightsoul points are full, Kinich can use his skill to unleash Scalespiker Cannon, dealing Nightsoul and dendro damage to the target |
Elemental burst | Hail to the Almighty Dragonlord Almighty Dragonlord Ajaw appears after using this skill, dealing heavy AoE dendro damage that is Nightsoul-aligned. When on the field, Ajaw periodically unleashes Dragon Breath, dealing dendro damage |
Passive skills
The Price of Desolation | In Nightsoul Blessing, opponents hit by Kinich’s elemental skill enter the Desolation state when affected by burn or burgeon reactions. This restores seven Nightsoul points to Kinich |
Flame Spirit Pact | When a party member triggers a Nightsoul burst, Kinich gains a stack of Hunter’s Experience that lasts 15 seconds. He can have two stacks. When he uses a Scalespiker Cannon, he uses the stacks, each of which increases the damage of the Cannon by 320% of Kinich’s attack stat |
Night Realm’s Gift: Repaid in Full | When in the air after using his mid-air swing, Kinich can consume ten phlogiston points to perform another swing. When in an area with phlogiston mechanics, Kinich can use Nightsoul Transmission. When you switch to him in the air, he can perform one of the following: -Fire a grappling hook at a coilgrass sigil and move to it -Use Kinich’s elemental skill to hit opponents If neither of these trigger, Kinich fires a grappling hook and swings through the air |
Swift Envoy | When in an area with phlogiston mechanics, picking up harvestable items increases the party’s movement speed by 15% for ten seconds. Kinich also pings the location of Natlan resources on the mini-map |
What are Kinich’s constellations?
If you throw a lot of wishes at Kinich’s banner, chances are you might get a constellation or two. Here’s what each level unlocks:
C1 | Parrot’s Beak After Kinich lands from Canopy Hunter: Riding High’s swing, his movement speed increases by 30% for six seconds. Scalespiker Cannon’s crit damage increases by 100% as well |
C2 | Tiger Beetle’s Palm When Kinich’s elemental skill hits an opponent, it decreases their dendro resistance by 30% for six seconds. Additionally, the first Scalespiker Cannon he fires after entering the Nightsoul state has an increased AoE, and damage increases by 100% |
C3 | Protosuchian’s Claw Increases the level of Kinich’s elemental skill by three, up to a maximum of level 15 |
C4 | Hummingbird’s Feather In Nightsoul’s Blessing, Kinich restores five energy when using his Loop Shots or the Scalespiker Cannon. He can regenerate energy in this way every 2.8 seconds. Hail to the Almighty Dragonlord deals 70% more damage |
C5 | Howler Monkey’s Tail Increases the level of Kinich’s elemental burst by three, up to a maximum of level 15 |
C6 | Auspicious Beast’s Shape After the Scalespiker Cannon hits an opponent, it bounces between opponents, dealing 700% of Kinich’s attack stat as damage one time. If this triggers buffs from passive talent ‘Flame Spirit Pact’, |
What are Kinich’s ascension materials?
To get Kinich up and running nicely, you want to ascend him as far as you can. Below is a table showing which items you need, and how many, for each ascension all the way up to level 80.
20➔30 | 20k mora One nagadus emerald sliver Thre saurian claw succulents Three juvenile fangs |
40➔50 | 40k mora Three nagadus emerald fragment Ten saurian claw succulents 15 juvenile fangs Two overripe flamegranates |
50➔60 | 60k mora Six nagadus emerald fragment 20 saurian claw succulents 12 seasoned fangs Four overripe flamegranates |
60➔70 | 80k mora Three nagadus emerald chunk 30 saurian claw succulents 18 seasoned fangs Eight overripe flamegranates |
70➔80 | 100k mora Six nagadus emerald chunk 45 saurian claw succulents 12 tyrant’s fangs 12 overripe flamegranates |
80➔90 | 120k mora Six nagadus emerald gemstone 60 saurian claw succulents 24 tyrant’s fangs 20 overripe flamegranates |
Here’s where to find all the items you need to ascend Kinich:
- Nagadus emerald – obtain from normal and weekly bosses – especially the dendro hypostasis and jadeplume terrorshroom – or craft via alchemy
- Saurian claw succulents – you can find these plants growing in the are around People of the Springs and Toyac Springs
- Overripe flamegranates – this item drops from the Gluttonous Yumkasaur Mountain King boss in Natlan
- Juvenile fangs, seasoned fangs, tyrant’s fangs – these items drop from saurian enemies in Natlan. You can craft them into higher rarities at an alchemy bench, and purchase them from the stardust exchange
What are Kinich’s talent materials?
As well as ascending Kinich’s level, you should work on his talents. Each can be upgraded to level ten (without his constellations), and here are the materials you need. Note that you need the following materials for each of his three talents.
1➔2 | 12.5k mora Six juvenile fangs Three teachings of kindling |
2➔3 | 17.5k mora Three seasoned fangs Two guides to kindling |
3➔4 | 25k mora Four seasoned fangs Four guide to kindling |
4➔5 | 30k mora Six seasoned fangs Six guides to kindling |
5➔6 | 37.5k mora Nine seasoned fangs Nine guide to kindling |
6➔7 | 120k mora Four tyrant’s fangs Four philosophies of kindling One denial and judgement |
7➔8 | 260k mora Six tyrant’s fangs Six philosophies of kindling One denial and judgement |
8➔9 | 260k mora Nine tyrant’s fangs 12 philosophies of kindling Two denial and judgement |
9➔10 | 700k mora 12 tyrant’s fangs 16 philosophies of kindling Two denial and judgement One crown of insight |
Here’s where to find and farm all of the items above:
- Kindling talent books – farm these in the Sublime Turning domain in Natlan on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays
- Juvenile fangs, seasoned fangs, tyrant’s fangs – these items drop from saurian enemies in Natlan. You can craft them into higher rarities at an alchemy bench, and purchase them from the stardust exchange
- Denial and judgement – you can get these as a reward for the weekly Knave/Arlecchino boss in Fontaine. If you don’t get the right drop, you can transform them at an alchemy station
Talent priority
- Elemental skill > elemental burst > normal attack
Who is Kinich?
Kinich, a Huitztlan saurian hunter from Natlan, appears to be a somewhat cruel, ruthless, and utilitarian member of society. If you believe the rumors of those talking about him, of course.
He takes on commissions to hunt saurians and other creatures, including aberrants, and return them to where they came from or to whoever asks for them. It looks like he’s assumed to be a hunter of saurians, but actually works to rid Natlan of monsters.
Taking a look at Kinich’s constellation name, Chimaera Alebriius, it appears that he and his kit take specific inspiration from Mexican culture. Alebrijes, where Alebriius comes from, are sculptures of fantasy creatures, often in bright colors. Chimera, on the other hand, is an often fire-breathing creature found in mythology. This ties in very well with Kinich’s role as a Saurian hunter, and the fact he has Ajaw with him.
Who is Ajaw?
You may notice a pixel, crocodile-shaped creature appearing with Kinich – who also got a drip marketing picture. This is Ajaw, a ‘self-proclaimed almighty dragonlord’. Ajaw features in Kinich’s combat and idle animations and seems to want to get rid of Kinich by any means necessary.
While we eagerly await entry to Natlan, check out our builds for characters like Genshin Impact’s Emilie, Genshin Impact’s Furina, and Genshin Impact’s Yelan to help build key characters.