Genshin Impact 1.6: Kaedehara Kazuha Announced

Kaedehara Kazuha is an upcoming 5-star character to be released in Genshin Impact's 1.6 patch. A young swordsman from Inazuma, Kazuha's design captured many fans' attention in Friday's 1.6 livestream. Here's what you should know about this new character.

Genshin Impact 1.6: Kaedehara Kazuha Announced

Kazuha's banner will be the second character banner in the 1.6 patch, after the Klee rerun, miHoYo told us during Friday's livestream.

Kazuha is an anemo sword user, and will be the first playable character from Inazuma. He's a "wandering samurai" with a falling leaves motif, and is currently with Beidou's Crux Fleet. His attacks are graceful, and his dialogue lines contain a poetic beauty.

Kazuha's Elemental Skill, Chihayaburu, pulls enemies together within a small radius, dealing anemo damage and launching enemies and himself into the air. While Kazuha is in the air via this effect, he can unleash a special plunging attack, dealing anemo damage and creating a small wind tunnel that continuously sucks objects and enemies in.

The tap effect of Chihayaburu can be used in midair. If you hold the Elemental Skill down, you can charge up and unleash stronger anemo damage in a greater area of effect. Additionally, one of Kazuha's Ascension passive skills states that if Chihayaburu comes into contact with another element, an Elemental Absorption will occur, allowing the skill - as well as Kazuha's plunging attack - to deal additional damage of that elemental type.

Kazuha's Elemental Burst, Kazuha Slash, is a powerful attack that deals anemo damage to surrounding enemies in one slash. After the slash is unleashed, it leaves behind a field called Autumn Whirlwind, which continuously deals anemo damage to enemies within its area-of-effect over time. Elemental Absorption can occur within this field as well, causing it to deal additional damage of the element it comes into contact with.

Kazuha's second Ascension passive skill states that upon triggering a Swirl reaction, Kazuha will grant his teammates bonus elemental damage of their corresponding elements. This allows him to boost his team's damage further as a support.

Finally, Kazuha's Exploration talent, Cloud Strider, decreases sprinting stamina consumption for his party members. We've already seen this talent on characters like Kaeya, so there's nothing surprising there.

Based on his talents, Kazuha seems like an excellent choice for a utility support. As an anemo user, he can shred enemy resistances through the Viridescent Venerer artifact set, not to mention provide elemental damage bonus through his Ascension passive. Chihayaburu's wind tunnel that groups enemies is highly useful for area-of-effect damage dealers like Tartaglia, and the Autumn Whirlwind field left by his Elemental Burst allows him to deal damage from off the field.

Overall, Kazuha should be a great addition to any team looking for a support that can boost his team while dealing damage offscreen. If you wish to acquire him, his banner will likely begin three weeks into the patch, around June 23, 2021.