1. Overview
2. Skills Analysis
3. Playstyle & Optimal Damage Cycle
4. Gears Recommendations
5. Team Building
6. Who should get Kasumi?
Coming in Patch 3.7, Darkbolt Jonin is the fourth Yae Sakura battlesuit, as well as the first SP Valkyrie in Honkai. She is obtainable through regular farming and various in-game events, and therefore will be available to almost every player.
For the sake of simplicity, in many instances, I will be referring to her as Kasumi, which is the name she has been known for back in CN Beta days. No, I'm not calling her DJ.
Strengths | Weaknesses |
Decent single-target Lightning damage, suitable for 1v1 fights. | Lack of Physical damage and shield-breaking capabilities, making her vulnerable to interruption in some cases. |
Compatible with various equipment setups, with good F2P options available. | Underwhelming AoE damage, unsuitable for Abyss mobs clearing. |
Synergizes well with many existing elemental supports, such as Phoenix and Blood Dance. | Takes a large amount of time and resources to completely max out, which can become a drawback to casual players. |
Diverse skill sets and fast-paced playstyle making her very fun to play. | Has to compete directly with many elemental powerhouses, most notably Hawk of the Fog and Lightning Empress. |
SP Skills is a new mechanic introduced along with Kasumi. What this system means is, for every time you rank up Kasumi (A Rank included), there will be a new skill available for acquire. Since these skills function identically to regular skills, I will include them in regular skill descriptions, with a purple mark indicating which rank a skill unlocks at.
Unlocks a kinetic energy gauge that maxes at 500, or 5 small bars. This gauge is required to perform Combo attack by Kasumi.
[SSS-Rank SP skill] Zakti gauge's capacity is increased to 600 (6 small bars). Kasumi starts a battle with 400 Zakti.
Kasumi performs a 4-sequence Basic Attacks, dealing a total of 350% of Melee Physical DMG, 530% of Lightning DMG and recovers a total of 8.5 SP. The 3rd and 4th attack gives Kasumi Interrupt Resist and 20% Damage Reduction, and the final hit paralyzes enemies for 0.5 second upon hit.
In combat, these defensive skills are virtually meaningless. 0.5 second of paralysis is too short to shove in any tangible damage buffs, and since Kasumi cannot continue her Basic Attack sequence following an Evasion (unlike Flame Sakitama or Memento), she will have a hard time fighting shielded mobs. The only use of her standard Basic Attack, therefore, is to replenish her Zakti and SP gauge.
Following a small delay after the 3rd and 4th Basic Attack, you can tap the ATK button when a light circle appears for a special, alternative attack. Kasumi will jump to the air, throw a range of Kunais dealing 4x20% of Lightning DMG, and inflicts each enemy with a Darkbolt Mark on hit.
[S-Rank SP skill] Kasumi herself also gains 20% Total DMG for 11s by performing this attack.
Immediately after Darkbolt Pursuit, you can tap the ATK button to perform a Jonin Finisher (which deals 300% Lightning DMG, recovers 3 SP and 50 Zakti), or hold ATK to chain directly to her Combo Attacks.
Speaking of Darkbolt Marks, here's what it looks like:
An enemy with Darkbolt Mark takes 30% bonus total DMG. This fully stacks with Conductive debuffs, or stigma effects such as from Newton B. A Darkbolt Mark lasts for 10 seconds, and reapplying it on an enemy will reset its duration. It's always recommended to mark enemies before launching Combo Attacks for maximum damage.
Along with the aforementioned Darkbolt Pursuit, you can also inflict Darkbolt Mark on enemies using Kasumi's QTE.
When you have at least 1 bar of Zakti, tap and hold ATK to unleash a Naraka Finisher to enemies, dealing [100% + 50%] of Lightning DMG against enemies in a small range. Each Naraka Finisher costs 1 bar of Zakti, and you can chain multiple Naraka Finishers by mashing ATK button as long as you have enough Zakti.
For every kill scored by Naraka Finisher, Kasumi recovers 1.5 bar of Zakti. This attack also deals 15% more Lightning DMG to enemies below 30% HP.
Each Naraka Finisher casted boosts Total DMG of the next one (within 2 secs) by up to 10%. Therefore, it's recommended to fill the Zakti gauge all the way up, then unleash them all in one short burst.
[SS-Rank SP skill] Naraka Finisher gains enhanced range and Attack speed, and each Finisher deals an additional 220% Lightning DMG.
Kasumi's Ultimate attack has 2 phases. The first phase summons Rakshamaru, deals a total of 610% of Lightning DMG to a wide area in front, and provides Kasumi with an instant boost of Zakti.
Within 12 seconds after the initial cast, pressing the ULT button will perform Kasumi's second Ultimate. This attack deals a total of 1400% of Lightning DMG, paralyzes enemies for 4s, but also takes quite some time to finish.
Similar to Memento, Kasumi's Ultimate is considered a great way to refill her Zakti gauge for quick damage bursts. And keep in mind that both of her Ultimates are individual triggers, not a Burst mode.
Kasumi's Ultimate Evasion creates a Shadow clone at her feet. The Shadow pulls in nearby enemies, then explodes after 3s to deal 400% Lightning DMG, and trigger a 3-second Time Fracture.
For 5s after a successful Evasion, Kasumi gains invincibility and increased Move speed. You can tap the ATK button to perform a Jonin Finisher, or hold ATK to chain directly to Naraka Finisher, her Combo Attacks.
Needless to say, performing Evasions is crucial in getting competitive performance with Kasumi. However, since Kasumi is unable to continue her Basic Attack sequence following an Evasion, a failed Evasion will lead to a considerable performance hit.
Triggered off an Ignited enemy, this skill deals 400% of Lightning DMG, mark them with Darkbolt Marks, and paralyzes enemies for half a second.
In theory, it's always recommended to enter the battle with QTE to maximize Kasumi's damage. However, as there aren't a lot of reliable Ignite sources in the game (easiest ones including Blood Rose's Ultimate and 2-piece New Year set), building around her QTE isn't always the best idea.
From the skill descriptions, it can be easily seen that Darkbolt Jonin shares a lot of similarity in terms of gameplay with the previous Yae Sakura battlesuits. Her Combo Attack resembles Miko's Ultimate, her timing-reliant Darkbolt Pursuit a carbon copy of Flame Sakitama's, and her switch-and-burst playstyle is clearly inherited from Memento.
For a team consists of Darkbolt Jonin, Molotov Cherry and Lightning Empress (LE), an example damage cycle could be:
Watch this team in action: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av79587885
Mag-Typhoon is the best weapon for Kasumi in terms of raw damage, and no other weapons come close to it. This weapon straights up gives Kasumi 50% Lightning DMG, its Active Skill makes enemies take 25% more Lightning DMG, and being a PRI-ARM gives it unmatched stat bonuses compared to regular weapons. Kasumi cannot apply Conductive debuffs with it however, it's a LE exclusive bonus.
Players below Lv.80 can equip MagStorm on Kasumi for its 40% Lightning DMG buff. Since it can be crafted through Bounty Mark, most players can get this weapon with minimal costs.
Scratch it, this is the best weapon for Kasumi. Say no more.
Monet T and Goemon M-B is the best performing stigma build for Kasumi. This setup gives a maximum of 90% Lightning DMG and 65% Total DMG, with the highest bonuses being applicable for Combo Attacks performed right after Ultimate. You can replace Monet T with Shakespeare T in case you don't have the full setup, or just the full Goemon set.
The full Monet set also works fine on Kasumi. This setup gives a maximum of 90% Lightning DMG, 15% Total DMG and 15% ATK Speed at 30 Combos and above. Replace Monet B with Newton B or Tesla Band B during boss fights.
Early-game players can use the Edison set for a 50% Lightning DMG buff, even if timing for the 50% Total DMG every 12 seconds can get a little bit tricky.
Phoenix and Lightning Empress (LE) are all perfect fits for Kasumi. Phoenix contributes supplementary damage, buffs elemental attack, and drops SP packs for her team; while Lightning Empress can cast Conductive debuffs that make enemies take a whopping 70% more Lightning DMG. This setup requires having 2 MAG-Typhoons to take full effect, one for LE and the other for Kasumi.
Any Blood Dance carrier can also greatly improve Kasumi's performance, though I particularly recommend Rozaliya because she has innate Time Fracture and no intrusive Switch animations.
Darkbolt Jonin is Mihoyo's first experiment of a SP character, and while the SP mechanic leaves more to be desired (after all, it's just a couple more skills that unlocks as the character ranks up), it is undeniable that Darkbolt Jonin is well-designed and very fun to play. As such, she is recommended for new and casual players, who liked the fast-paced playstyle of previous Yae Sakura battlesuits.
However, that's not to say Kasumi is the perfect character. As of Patch 3.6, she is suffering from many glaring issues:
Due to the above reasons, her end-game competitive performance is below average. She can still achieve high Memorial scores under optimal setups, but she has very limited boss coverage and, in most cases, is totally overshadowed by HF.
Watch this quick comparison between Kasumi and HF: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av78307988/
However, that is not the end of the story. From the information in CN test server, Darkbolt Jonin is getting substantial buffs in Patch 3.7. Some most impactful buffs include:
Be mindful that since these numbers are from CN Test server, it's likely to be changed in the Live version. However, if these buffs were to stick, things would look very optimistic for Kasumi in the upcoming patches. I still recommend all players to play and enjoy Kasumi's Event stages, even if she isn't a good competitive investment at the moment.