JKE-X2 Kenshin
| JKE-X2 Kenshin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Pistol |
| Type | Tech |
| Ammo | Handgun Ammo |
| Armor Pen | 50% |
| Charge Time | 0.5 s |
The JKE-X2 Kenshin is an Arasaka Tech pistol that can shoot through walls. Its electromagnetic rails let a charged shot go straight through cover. An enemy hiding behind a desk or a thin wall can still be hit. The Kenshin works best in a Technical Ability build, where it can hit enemies who think they are safe. The in-game line sells it as elegance in lethality. The Kenshin is also the base gun for the Iconic pistols Ambition, Apparition and Chaos. Weapon shops across Night City stock the Kenshin and enemies drop it, so it is available for most of the main story.
Combat
The Kenshin is a Tech weapon. Holding the trigger builds a charge, and a charged round can pierce obstacles that would stop a normal bullet. An uncharged tap fires like an ordinary pistol. The Kenshin can switch between fast follow-up shots and slower, heavier charged shots.
The Kenshin is strongest against enemies in cover. Instead of waiting for a head to appear, V can charge a shot and fire through the obstacle. The pistol takes a small scope. The scope helps when the target hides at the far side of a room or a street.
How to Get JKE-X2 Kenshin Guide
- Buy the JKE-X2 Kenshin from a weapon shop in Night City.
- Loot it from enemies who carry one.
- Buy the crafting spec from the weapon shop in Wellsprings and craft the pistol.
JKE-X2 Kenshin Map Location
The map shows the weapon shop in Wellsprings.
JKE-X2 Kenshin map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Compatible Mods
7 scopes and 11 weapon mods are compatible with JKE-X2 Kenshin.
| Name | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Add-Vantage | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| CQO Kanone MINI Mk.72 | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| Handyman | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range, more headshot crit chance at top tier |
| Hyakume | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| Kanetsugu | 
|
Adds zoom, effective range and crit chance |
| OS-1 GimletEye | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| Type 2067 | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range, lowers bullet spread |
| Name | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Better Half | 
|
Raises crit chance with the second half of the magazine |
| C-Thru | 
|
Charged shots pierce cover sooner and lose less damage |
| Equalizer | 
|
More damage against Elite enemies |
| Parallax | 
|
Longer range and less sway when aiming, Stamina stops regenerating |
| Pax | 
|
Makes the weapon non-lethal, more damage outside combat |
| Pinpoint | 
|
Tighter bullet spread after each headshot, stacking |
| Shuffler | 
|
Drawing the weapon refills part of the magazine |
| Spinetickler | 
|
Fully charged hits can cause an EMP blast |
| Supercharger | 
|
Faster charge and lower Stamina cost, less armor penetration |
| Wallpuncher | 
|
Charges to 200%, full armor penetration, no cover penalty |
| Zenith | 
|
More crit chance, tighter spread and faster swap after drawing |
Crafting Spec
The weapon vendor in Wellsprings sells the JKE-X2 Kenshin spec. The spec lets V craft JKE-X2 Kenshin in the crafting menu. Every spec in the game is listed on the Crafting Specs page.
The table shows what crafting JKE-X2 Kenshin costs at each tier.
| Tier | Components |
|---|---|
| Tier 3 | 30 Tier 3 components |
| Tier 4 | 30 Tier 4 components |
| Tier 5 | 30 Tier 5 components |
Upgrades
A stronger Kenshin comes from a higher tier. Shops and enemies offer higher tiers as V levels up, and a crafted pistol matches a bought one of the same tier. With the crafting spec from Wellsprings, V can build a new Kenshin at V's current tier from crafting components.
Character Builds
The Kenshin uses perks from two attribute trees, Technical Ability and Cool. Technical Ability holds the Tech weapon perks. Bolt speeds up charging and adds damage to charged shots. It also makes a shot count as fully charged if the trigger is released just before full charge. Lightning Storm adds extra charge speed for each Bolt. Shock Value makes Bolt shots ignore armor. Chain Lightning turns them into electrical arcs that jump to nearby enemies. In Charge stops Tech weapons from firing on their own at full charge. Cool holds the pistol perks: Focus, Deadeye, Quick Draw, Long Shot and Run 'N' Gun. Run 'N' Gun removes the Stamina cost of hip-fire.
For cyberware, the Kiroshi Stalker Optics highlight enemies behind cover while V aims a Tech weapon. They show exactly where to fire a charged shot. The Feedback Circuit restores Health on every hit with a fully charged Tech shot. Its mod slots take pistol and Tech weapon mods. C-Thru lowers the charge needed to pierce cover. It also reduces the damage lost when shooting through cover. Supercharger speeds up charging. Spinetickler adds a chance of an EMP blast on a fully charged hit.
Select a Build
Ping reveals enemies behind walls, and Tech weapon shots pierce the cover between them. A charged shot released at the click of Bolt deals the most damage. With a Militech Sandevistan, the charge starts first and time slows at half charge so the Bolt shot lands as a headshot.
Attributes: Body 17, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 4, Cool 20.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Adrenaline Rush | 
|
Body 15 | More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode |
| Juggernaut | 
|
Body 15 | More speed and damage during Adrenaline Rush |
| Calm Mind | 
|
Body 15 | Adrenaline lasts longer before it decays |
| Focus | 
|
Cool 9 | More headshot damage and free shots while aiming |
| Head To Head | 
|
Cool 9 | Kills reset Focus |
| Deep Breath | 
|
Cool 9 | Time slows while Focus is active |
| Rinse And Reload | 
|
Cool 9 | Faster reload after a kill while aiming |
| Deadeye | Cool 15 | More headshot damage and no spread at high Stamina | |
| California Reaper | 
|
Cool 15 | Stamina back after a headshot kill |
| Long Shot | 
|
Cool 15 | Full damage at any range during Deadeye |
| High Noon | 
|
Cool 15 | Fast slowed reload after a headshot kill |
| Nerves Of Tungsten-Steel | 
|
Cool 20 | Guaranteed crits on headshots during Deadeye |
| Slippery | 
|
Reflexes 4 | Harder to hit while moving fast |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Unlocks the Dash and makes it cheaper |
| Ready, Rested, Reloaded | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Cheaper rifle and SMG fire and faster reloads |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Sharpshooter | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Faster aim and stacks that ease Stamina use |
| Gundancer | 
|
Reflexes 15 | No slowdown while aiming |
| Glutton For War | 
|
Technical Ability 4 | Kills recharge Health items and grenades |
| All Things Cyber | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Stronger cyberware stats |
| Bolt | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Faster charge and Bolt shots that hit harder |
| In Charge | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Tech weapons hold a full charge |
| Shock Value | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Bolt shots ignore armor |
| Lightning Storm | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Faster charge after each Bolt |
| Internal Clock | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Wider timing window for a Bolt shot |
| License To Chrome | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Stronger cyberware, more armor and a Skeleton slot |
| Chain Lightning | 
|
Technical Ability 20 | Bolt shots arc Electrical damage to 3 nearby enemies |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heal-On-Kill | 
|
Circulatory System | Health back from each kill |
| Kiroshi Cockatrice Optics | 
|
Face | More crit chance |
| Microgenerator | 
|
Hands | Reloading an empty gun charges an electroshock shot |
| Immovable Force | 
|
Hands | Less recoil and tighter spread |
| Cellular Adapter | 
|
Integumentary System | Tech weapon damage and resistances from Technical Ability |
| Optical Camo | 
|
Integumentary System | Near invisibility for a few seconds |
| Reinforced Tendons | 
|
Legs | Double jump |
| Para Bellum | 
|
Skeleton | More armor |
Notes
- Ambition, Apparition and Chaos are Iconic variants of the JKE-X2 Kenshin. Ambition comes with the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Weapon Categories
All Pistols
Every pistol is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic Pistols
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambition | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Apparition | 
|
+150% | 50% | Kabuki |
| Catahoula | 
|
|||
| Chaos | 
|
+150% | 50% | Kabuki |
| Cheetah | 
|
+150% | Dogtown | |
| Crimestopper | 
|
+85% | Dogtown | |
| Death and Taxes | 
|
+125% | Japantown | |
| Dying Night | 
|
+125% | 25% | Little China |
| Genjiroh | 
|
+85% | Japantown | |
| Her Majesty | 
|
+150% | ||
| Kappa x-MOD2 | 
|
|||
| Kongou | 
|
+150% | Arasaka Waterfront | |
| La Chingona Dorada | 
|
+100% | 25% | The Glen |
| Lexington x-MOD2 | 
|
+175% | Little China | |
| Lizzie | 
|
+150% | Kabuki | |
| Malorian Arms 3516 | 
|
+150% | Northside | |
| Ogou | 
|
+50% | 25% | |
| Pariah | 
|
|||
| Plan B | 
|
+200% | Badlands East | |
| Pride | 
|
+150% | Corpo Plaza | |
| Riskit | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Rook | 
|
Dogtown | ||
| Scorch | 
|
|||
| Second Opinion | ||||
| Seraph | 
|
Little China | ||
| Skippy | 
|
+85% | Vista Del Rey |
Standard Pistols
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-22B Chao | 
|
+85% | ||
| AR Raygun Supreme 9000 | 
|
Badlands East | ||
| HA-4 Grit | 
|
+125% | ||
| HJKE-11 Yukimura | 
|
+85% | ||
| JKE-X2 Kenshin | 
|
50% | ||
| Kappa | 
|
|||
| Liberty | 
|
+150% | ||
| M-10AF Lexington | 
|
+125% | ||
| M-76e Omaha | 
|
50% | ||
| Nue | 
|
+125% | 25% | |
| Slaught-O-Matic | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Tamayura | 
|
+150% | 25% | |
| Ticon | 
|
50% | ||
| Unity | 
|
+150% |