How to Actually Build a Team Around Kirara in Genshin Impact (Yes, She’s Better Than You Think)

Let’s get something out of the way first:
Kirara’s not the flashy one.
She doesn’t have a giant dragon summon.
She doesn’t melt enemies with 10,000% crit damage.
She doesn’t even have a flashy animation when she uses her skill—just a little cat paw and a soft pfft sound.

And yet?
I’ve cleared Spiral Abyss 12 with her as my main DPS.
And I didn’t even pull for her.

Yeah. You read that right.

Kirara—Genshin’s resident sleepy cat girl with the floating umbrella—was written off by half the community as a “limited-time gimmick.” People thought she was just a cute event character with a gimmick skill: “summon a cat that follows you around and occasionally attacks.” Cute. But useless.

Turns out? She’s quietly broken.

Here’s why.

Kirara’s Elemental Skill—“Cat Nap”—doesn’t just summon a cat. It summons a tiny, floating, hyper-agile damage sponge that auto-attacks enemies within range. And here’s the kicker: it doesn’t need you to be on field. You swap out, and the cat keeps hitting. It scales off your ATK, applies Pyro, and most importantly—it doesn’t use up your energy. That means you can go full burst rotation with your main DPS while the cat chills in the background, ticking away like a silent countdown timer.

So what does that mean for teambuilding?

You don’t build Kirara as a traditional DPS. You build her as a passive, persistent, auto-attacking Pyro engine.

The best teams? They’re built around free damage.

The Real MVP Team: Kirara + Xiangling + Xingqiu + Bennett
This isn’t some meta-tier theorycraft. This is what actually works in Abyss 12, no mods, no cheat codes.

Kirara — Your Pyro battery. She sits in the back, cat out, auto-attacks, melts enemies. You never have to swap back to her unless she’s down.
Xiangling — Your main Pyro source. Her Guoba explodes every 4 seconds. Adds more Pyro, triggers Vaporize.
Xingqiu — Hydro application. Keeps enemies wet for Vaporize, gives you a shield, and his burst lasts long enough to cover your whole rotation.
Bennett — The glue. Buffs ATK, heals, and gives extra Pyro DMG with his burst.
That’s it. No Raiden. No Hu Tao. No overcomplicating.

The cat attacks. Xiangling’s guoba explodes. Xingqiu’s swords drip water. Bennett’s sword glows. You swap between them. The enemies die. It’s dumb. It’s efficient. And it’s ridiculously easy to run.

I’ve seen people try to main Kirara with Eula or Ganyu. Don’t. She’s not a freeze enabler. She’s not a freeze trigger. She’s a burner. And she works best when you let her burn while you do other things.

Her weapon?
If you pulled her banner and got her signature bow, “The Cat’s Tail”? Congrats—you’re golden.
If not? Mitternachts Waltz is the next best thing—ATK%, Pyro DMG Bonus, and it boosts her skill damage.
No 5-star? Go Rust. It’s free. It’s good. It’s better than half the 4-stars people waste on her.

Artifacts?
4-piece Emberdancer is the dream—+40% Pyro DMG when you hit with a Pyro attack. Perfect for her passive cat.
If you don’t have it? 2-piece Emberdancer + 2-piece Gladiator’s Finale. ATK% on main stats. Pyro DMG on substats. Don’t bother with CRIT unless you’re already at 70%. She doesn’t rely on crits—she relies on frequency.

Talent priority?
Skill > Burst > Normal Attack.
Her burst? It’s cute—it summons a giant cat head that deals AoE Pyro. But it’s long cooldown, low frequency. Her skill? Every 10 seconds. That’s your engine. Keep it running.

I used to think Kirara was a joke. Then I put her in my team for the “Crimson Witch” event, thinking I’d just test her. I cleared the whole thing without swapping her out once. The cat just kept hitting. My damage numbers? Higher than my Hu Tao team.

And the best part?
She doesn’t need you to be rich.

You don’t need to pull for her. You don’t need to farm for 5-star weapons. You don’t need to min-max substats to perfection. She’s forgiving. She’s chill. She lets you play the game, not grind it.

So if you’ve got Kirara sitting in your character list, collecting dust?
Pull her out. Try her.
Swap her in. Let the cat do the work.

And if you’re thinking about pulling for her next banner? Or just want to top up for the next event?
Don’t overpay.

I’ve been using BuffGet for my Genesis Crystal purchases since last year. No weird delays. No fake “limited-time” offers. Just a clean 30% off every time. I top up when I see a good event coming—not because I’m addicted, but because I’ve learned that in Genshin, the best characters aren’t always the ones with the most hype.

Sometimes, they’re just the ones that let you breathe.