Genshin Impact: Of Leaks and Sangonomiya Kokomi

One of Genshin Impact‘s upcoming expected characters is one Sangonomiya Kokomi, as previewed on their official channels (Twitter). Many people are quite excited for her proper introduction, being a cute princess and implied to be influential and powerful at the very least.

So, what’s the big deal? If you know where to look, there are plenty of leaks for Genshin, and Kokomi is simply more content to mine for from beta clients. This is despite the fact one such leaker had to face legal consequences and publicized the aftermath. No matter how many “subject to change” disclaimers are plastered all over as-yet unreleased content, people will still gather round to discuss them. If it wasn’t already clear, this article will talk about leaks and unofficial content.

Older players may recognize this discontent sounding similar to Zhongli’s initial release, which eventually saw him undergo a swathe of changes. What are the latest concerns over Kokomi?

SKILLS?

Kokomi is listed as a Hydro Catalyst user, the third in the game after Barbara and Mona. Her Elemental Skill brings both damage and healing utility, remaining on the field for a fixed duration. Her Burst can refresh this duration, which is fair enough. Both Skill and Burst also deal Hydro DMG on cast. A problem appears to arise from her Skill not having frequent enough intervals to apply Hydro. This in turn suggests her Skill will not be a reliable enabler for Elemental Reactions. Further, to fully utilize her Burst, Kokomi would prefer to stay on the field, elaborated in the following section.

STATS?

Kokomi will supposedly gain Hydro DMG% as her Ascension bonus stat. Her Skill is based off her ATK for its effects, while her Burst utilizes her HP. Her Burst then provides bonus DMG based off her Healing Bonus. At a glance, that looks like four different stats you might have to consider for her artifacts, which makes her sound unfocused. If you want to maximize one stat, how much are you really missing out from the rest of her skills?

TALENTS?

One of Kokomi’s supposed Talents is to reduce her Crit Rate by 100% while gaining Healing Bonus in return, removing the need to ever try for Crit DMG for her artifacts. The potential to change up the “meta” is there, as many, if not all, characters want that Crit Rate / DMG balance to make the really big numbers. If you want Kokomi to do a lot of damage, her base numbers will probably need to be really good.

BARBARA?

Some will argue that Kokomi is a dud character, as if you wanted a healer, Barbara exists. You might see others yet say that Kokomi’s attack animations are slow, so even if her numbers are good, Barbara can do it faster for more consistency. Barbara being a Hydro attacker has also been done, and she doesn’t suffer from Kokomi’s drawback of having no Crit Rate.

THE PROBLEM?

We have to remember that this discontent is rising from unofficial data. Whenever she’s released, will she really be “unworthy” to get? Genshin‘s 5-star characters typically come in every 3 weeks, limited to their release banner with no guaranteed rerun schedule. It often takes quite a lot of time to not only get the resources to obtain these characters, but also to raise them to a sufficient level to challenge content.

As it stands, there are concerns that Kokomi isn’t on par with her peers in Genshin. Game balance can be a tricky tightrope to walk, so we’ll have to see what miHoYo can do. After all, everything mentioned here is subject to change.

Download

Genshin Impact

Publisher: miHoYo

Developer: miHoYo

Release Date: 2020-09-28

Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Step into Teyvat, a vast world teeming with life and flowing with elemental energy. You and your sibling arrived here from another world. Separated by an unknown god, stripped of your powers, and cast into a deep slumber, you now awake to a world very different from when you first arrived.