Sangonomiya Kokomi, the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island, is a character that has been pivotal to the development of Genshin Impact’s storyline in Inazuma. From heading the resistance movement against Raiden Shogun’s Vision Hunt Decree to overseeing the Traveler’s activities in the new Three Realms Gateway Offering Event, players are bound to interact with this semiaquatic strategist.
As with most notable characters in the game, Kokomi is also playable (provided you got lucky with your Wishes). She’s a Hydro Catalyst user who slots comfortably into the role of a healer, but possesses a variety of unique strengths that might make her the optimal choice for your team. For those who choose to utilize her, this list will cover some tips to optimize Kokomi’s potential and make her a fishy force to be feared.
Don't Destroy Your Thrilling Tales Of Dragon Slayers
Kokomi is one of the best users of Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, a three-star Catalyst weapon that you might not have given a second thought to. It provides HP as its secondary stat, which benefits both Kokomi’s healing and damage abilities. On top of that, its passive will massively buff the ATK of the next character you switch to, meaning your DPS character will pack more oomph than usual.
Prototype Amber and Sacrificial Fragments can also be good four-star options for Kokomi’s weapon, but the former will cost you Forging materials while the latter relies on some decent gacha luck to obtain. As a three-star drop Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers is fairly common, so most players have at least one copy and getting its Refinements should be easier as well.
Grab All The Energy Recharge You Can
With support characters like Kokomi, you’ll typically want to have their Elemental Burst ready to use on cooldown. Not only does this ensure smoother team rotations, but it can also be vital to keeping team members alive or finishing off bosses at the last second.
Kokomi’s Burst has an Energy cost of 70, which is certainly not the highest in the game, but will still take a little bit of effort to recharge. Energy Recharge Sands will greatly help if you’re struggling in this department, and you’ll also want to seek out as many ER substats on your Artifacts as possible. Depending on your weapon of choice and your other teammates, Kokomi will require roughly 160-210 percent ER in order to use her Burst as soon as its cooldown ends.
Use Your Normal Attack Frequently
Every character in Genshin Impact has Normal Attacks they can use, but not all are created equal. Normal Attacks usually ramp up in damage the farther you get in their sequence, and some characters have as many as nine separate hits in their full Normal Attack string.
Kokomi’s Normal Attack string has just three hits in its sequence, meaning you can get to your hardest-hitting attack faster. This process also takes less time as a result, making it less likely that your attack string will be interrupted by an enemy you need to dodge.
You Can Walk On Water
Since Kokomi’s Burst is used almost exclusively for extra damage and healing, many players forget a small side effect it possesses: throughout the duration of her Burst, Kokomi can walk on water.
Although this trait will rarely be useful in combat scenarios, it can be useful during exploration. If there’s treasure on an island you’re not quite sure you can swim all the way to, activate Kokomi’s Burst and walk to gain some distance first. Once it runs out, remember that she also has a passive talent that reduces your Stamina consumption while swimming. Between these two abilities you should be able to conquer the sea and reach your destination.
Position Your Jellyfish Well
Kokomi’s usefulness on your team will often hinge upon her Skill’s Bake-Kurage, or jellyfish. This is the primary means by which she heals, applies Hydro to enemies, and passively deals damage.
As such, the placement of this Skill is critical. It has a fairly long cooldown and cannot be repositioned like Fischl’s Oz, nor does it follow you. The ideal position for your jellyfish is close enough to your enemies to affect them while also being in range of your characters who are dealing damage or being healed. In this way, you’ll benefit from everything the Bake-Kurage has to offer.
Utilize Your Jellyfish Often
Even though Kokomi’s Skill has a lengthy cooldown of 20 seconds, it can still achieve near 100 percent uptime via proper use of her Elemental Burst. With the help of her First Ascension Passive Talent, using Kokomi’s Burst refreshes the duration of any existing Bake-Kurage.
If you use this ability right before her jellyfish expires, you’ll be able to extend its duration long enough for her Skill to come off cooldown once more. Keep in mind that there is no in-game timer for the duration of Kokomi’s Bake-Kurage, so you’ll have to keep track of the 12 seconds in your head.
Remember That Kokomi's Hydro Hits Quickly
One of the primary reasons why you would choose Kokomi over other Hydro characters like Barbara and Mona is that her Hydro application is very fast, very consistent, and hits multiple enemies easily.
The constant application of Hydro to enemies is what enables Kokomi to be used in such a wide variety of compositions. Most teams in Genshin Impact are driven by Elemental Reactions, and Freeze teams, Vaporize teams, and Electro-Charged teams all depend on keeping enemies nice and moist. With her Skill and her Normal Attacks, Kokomi can perform this job swimmingly.
Critical Stats Aren’t Critical
Having high Crit Rate and Crit DMG is certainly an important component of endgame character-building, with many players pouring thousands of Resin into trying to obtain that elusive 1:2 golden ratio. Fortunately for players going through Artifact withdrawal, Kokomi doesn’t need any Crit stats.
As the result of her Flawless Strategy Passive, Kokomi gains a 25 percent Healing Bonus in exchange for losing 100 percent Crit Rate. Thankfully, her damage during her Burst also scales off Healing Bonus, so her attacks will still be tough for enemies to shake off.
Kokomi Can Provide Solid Damage As Well As Healing
Kokomi’s primary function in most team compositions is to be a healer via her Skill’s passive aura and her Burst’s active healing. This capability lets her slot nicely into most teams facing most encounters, but astute fish fans know that Kokomi can deal some impressive damage of her own.
During her Burst, Kokomi’s attacks will gain bonus scaling relative to her HP and Healing Bonus, upgrading their damage from shrimp-status to whale-sized-wallops. Combine this with damage sources from other characters like Beidou’s Burst or Fischl’s Oz and soon enough you’ll have a whirlpool of destruction by Kokomi’s hands.
Hydro Resonance Is Worth It
Elemental Resonances are a key facet of team-building in Genshin Impact, but sadly Hydro Resonance is often the last to get invited to the party. In most cases, the increased healing it provides your team simply isn’t as strong as ATK or Crit Rate bonuses granted by other Resonances.
Kokomi actually makes Hydro Resonance worthwhile though. The bonus healing lets Kokomi keep your team’s health topped-off in the thickest of battles, and the extra healing can be converted to extra damage as well if Kokomi is using the Ocean-Hued Clam Artifact set.
