Genshin Impact Kuki Shinobu trailer introduces the first new 4-star character in months

Genshin Impact's new trailer properly introduces Kuki Shinobu, the game's first new 4-star character in months.

Shinobu, who developer Hoyoverse describes as a "jack of all trades" in her new character demo trailer, is arriving with phase two of the big Genshin Impact 2.7 update. She's second in command of Arataki Itto's notoriously lazy gang, which is apparently why she chooses to wear a face mask (never mind the bright green hair). She spends her time reading, taking exams, bailing out her gang from the Inazuma police department, and of course, kicking ass with lightning-charged whips and swords.

Kuki Shinobu will be the game's first electro healer as well as the first new 4-star character to be added to Genshin Impact since Yun Jin arrived as part of the 2.4 update. Shinobu is a support character whose elemental skill, Sanctifying Ring, sacrifices "a certain percentage" of her health to project an AoE that both heals nearby friendly characters and deals Electro damage to surrounding baddies. 

She sounds like a good all-around healer and sub-DPS to have when things get dicey, plus it doesn't hurt that she's got the rough-and-tumble background of a gang deputy leader but with a more sensible, organized work ethic compared to her colleagues. 

Here's a preview of Kuki Shinobu's Elemental Burst attack, in which she plunges her sword into the ground and creates an AoE field that deals continuous Electro damage to opponents in the area based on her max HP. 

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Shinobu's continual skill damage and HP-scaling burst make her a solid fit for the Tenacity of the Millileth artifact set, which would add some buff utility to her kit. If you're more interested in her background, you'll get to know Shinobu more closely through the hangout quest rolling out alongside her release.

In case you're thinking of checking it out, here's why you should be playing Genshin Impact in 2022.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.