Kikoru Shinomiya (Waterside Respite)

Kikoru Shinomiya (Waterside Respite)

★★★★★
Supporter
Slash
Water
Ax

Review

Kikoru Shinomiya (Waterside Respite)
Profile Update

Kikoru Shinomiya (Waterside Respite) is a really good Water Support and the game’s first character to introduce the Water attribute. Rather than focusing on personal damage, she excels at empowering her teammates through powerful buffs, SP regeneration, and Action Order manipulation, making her one of the strongest offensive supports available.

Her kit revolves around maximizing the team’s damage output. Kikoru’s Combat Skill boosts a single ally’s Combat Skill damage while advancing their Action Order, allowing key damage dealers to act sooner. Meanwhile, her Ultimate grants High Summer, a unique state that enhances the Combat Skill CRIT DMG of every ally except herself. Combined with her Passive, which grants stacking All-Attribute DMG Dealt buffs whenever allies consume SP, she provides continuous offensive scaling throughout longer encounters.

One of her greatest strengths is her ability to generate SP. Her Ultimate restores 3 SP by default, with additional recovery unlocked through her Additional Passive. When built with sufficient CRIT DMG, her Combat Skill also restores SP every few turns while granting even stronger offensive buffs. Because many of her passive effects unlock at specific CRIT DMG thresholds, investing heavily into this stat is essential to unlock her full potential.

Her Ascensions significantly enhance her value, with A1 standing out as the best early investment thanks to its team-wide CRIT DMG increase and stronger Passive stacking. Later Ascensions further improve her buffing capabilities, making her scale extremely well into endgame content.

Overall, our new Kikoru is an great support whose combination of damage amplification, SP recovery, and turn manipulation makes her an excellent addition to nearly any team built around powerful skill rotations.

+ Pros

  • Good offensive support with multiple team-wide buffs.
  • Advances allies' Action Order for faster damage rotations.
  • Provides strong SP recovery, enabling frequent skill usage.
  • Passive buffs continuously increase team damage.
  • Scales extremely well with CRIT DMG investment.

− Cons

  • Relies heavily on reaching **CRIT DMG thresholds** for maximum effectiveness.
  • Personal damage output is relatively low.
  • Requires careful stat optimization to unlock her full kit.
  • Support-focused gameplay offers limited impact in solo carry situations.
  • Higher Ascensions noticeably improve her performance, making her somewhat investment-dependent.

Best Weapons

Ax-Allycs
#1
Ax-Allycs
Ax
Ax-Xmas25
#2
Ax-Xmas25
Ax

Best Uniparts

Fungal-Type Unipart α
#1
Fungal-Type Unipart α
ATK and Crit
Caudata-Type Unipart β
#2
Caudata-Type Unipart β
ATK and Crit

Ascension

A1 KEY

Fleeting Coolness

  • While in High Summer state, all allies' CRIT DMG +35%.
  • Max stack count of All-Attribute DMG dealt buff applied by Passive Skill +10.
A2

Basking in the Sun

  • After an ally activates Combat Skill, applies CRIT DMG +12% (2 turn(s)) to the activator. Max 5 stack(s).
A3

Composed Look

  • Normal Attack, Passive Skill Lv. +2.
  • Normal Attack, Passive Skill Max Lv. +2.
A4 KEY

Tidal Pulse

  • After activating Ultimate:
  • 1. Randomly destroys 1 of the target's PLT.
  • 2. This unit's Ultimate Gauge +45.
A5

Season of Growth

  • Combat Skill, Ultimate, Follow-Up Skill Lv. +2.
  • Combat Skill, Ultimate, Follow-Up Skill Max Lv. +2.
A6 KEY

Fruitful Summer

  • The "Combat Skill DMG dealt buff" applied by Combat Skill becomes a "DMG dealt buff."
  • The "Combat Skill CRIT DMG buff" from High Summer state for all other allies become a “CRIT DMG buff.”

Featured Teams

These are some recommended lineups. You can see a complete list for this character and more in the full Teams Guide page.

Gameplay Video

Video Review

Active Skills

Normal Attack: Diving Slash

Normal Attack

Deals Slash DMG equal to 55% of this unit's ATK to a single Kaiju.

Charge: 60
Range: ST Attack

Combat Skill: Deliciously Cool

Support
  • Applies Combat Skill DMG dealt +25.6% (1 turn(s)) to a single ally.
  • Advances the target's next Action Order by 50%.
Charge: 90
Range: Allies

Ultimate: Waterfall Drop

Slash Water
  • Deals Slash and Water DMG equal to 223% of this unit's ATK to a single Kaiju.
  • After attacking:
  • 1. SP +3.
  • 2. Applies High Summer (2 turn(s)) to this unit.
  • High Summer:
  • 1. All other allies' Combat Skill CRIT DMG +42%.
  • 2. After turn arrives, turn duration of High Summer -1.
Range: ST Attack

Follow-Up Skill: Splash Surge

Slash Water

Deals Slash and Water DMG equal to 77% of this unit's ATK to a single Kaiju.

Charge: 60
Range: ST Attack

Passive Skill

Waterside Exhilaration

  • At the start of battle, advances this unit's next Action Order by 50%.
  • Based on this unit's CRIT DMG, activates the following effects. Can be activated 1 time(s) every 2 turn(s):
  • [100% or more]: After activating Combat Skill, SP +1.
  • [190% or more]: After activating Combat Skill, SP additionally +1.
  • If this unit's CRIT DMG is 190% or more, after activating Combat Skill, applies DMG dealt +22% (1 turn(s)) to the target.
  • Each time an ally consumes 1 SP, applies All-Attribute DMG dealt +0.6% (2 turn(s)) to all allies. Max 10 stack(s).

Passive Skills

Sunlit Cheers

Lv. 40
  • After activating Ultimate:
  • 1. Applies DMG Taken Reduction +5% (2 turn(s)) to all allies.
  • 2. SP additionally +1.

Breezy Boost

Lv. 60

After activating Combat Skill, this unit's Ultimate Gauge +15.

Fiercer Than Anyone

Lv. 80

If this unit's CRIT DMG is 135% or more, all allies' CRIT Rate +15%.