Genshin Impact

[hyorinryu]

Anyone playing Genshin Impact?

For the uninitiated, in a nutshell, it's basically a mobile Breath of the Wild. It's looks pretty impressive to me.

[NucleusWaffles]

I played it before, but frankly its not BoTW enough for multiple reasons;

1. Small map, the art style is BoTW, but the updates are too slow, would recommend playing after they do significant expansions

2. Unintelligent foes, the game suffers from all other mobile games in that while the Graphics are great, the NPCs continue to lack the depth and diversity available in console games, such as BoTW

3. Fun is social factor dependent, the game's lack of merits on its standalone is compensated by a 'very' active player base on social media and gacha elements, if you like these aspects you will find it fun.

Also the game runs out of juice really quickly and becomes repetitive, the best part are the voicelines.


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Summary, its really GTA gameplay wise with a BoTW skin mod, where most of the time you are driving a car.

My verdict is that its better binged than played now as-is, I quitted after finishing Dragonspine with ADV 48, SSRs Qiqi/Zhongli/Mona

TIMESWORN RIME something something

[hyorinryu]

Fair enough, my IRL friends play it and I have a Discord. I'm thinking once I upgrade my artifacts, and clear abyss, I may transition to a similar pattern. I really like the environment though, it looks great and I can't wait to see what they'll do with future content.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

608047285 if anyone wants me on their friends list for some reason, but I'm not doing coop because PS4 (and bad wifi in any case).

Looking forward to the Lantern Rite, though after picking up Ganyu, I'm saving as much as I can for Hu Tao because reasons. VA reasons.  (EDIT: RIP me, lost the 50/50 to Keqing)

Screw these Hypostases though.

[Ghaleon]

I mostly do my dailies, spend resin, and quit for the day. Honestly I'm fairly happy with it since the 'daily' routine in this game is so short. I don't like daily quests in principle because they make you feel like you have to invest an hour or two every day for some game even if you don't feel like it, but in this one you can crank em out in like 15 minutes. Spending resin takes a bit longer, but with the condensed resin thing, that I can normally do in like 10 minutes too, so yay.

I really like the game when there is new content though, so I'm happy to keep being 'productive' with it with my dailies each and every time new content is out. I haven't bought any gems yet, but I've been saving up forever, have 19k primogems at the moment, and 30 free wishes. I like Hu tao's design, but I don't know her playstyle yet, and I'm already set on getting Keqing. I know she isn't the power creep meta or whatever but just the fast sword user with long twintails has me sold by itself =P. Plus purple is one of my 2 fave colours so there's that too. I just hope the game doesn't make me 180 pull pity her. I got Tartaglia by 'mistake' trying to get diona. pulled 50 times for her, didn't get her, got childe instead. argh. I am doomed to not get any bows too. Still don't have a 4* bow other than the prototype made one, so it's hard for me to make good use of him. I kinda dislike his playstyle too.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

pfft I pulled Childe C1 (already had him C0) in my first 20 on his banner trying for Rosaria, then Mona C1 (also previously C0) in another twenty. Still no Rosaria (and frankly at this point I'm just not going to try for her again this banner), but at least now I don't have to worry again about the 50/50, just whether or not I'm going to the pity zone.

[Ghaleon]

I pulled 40 for her and got nothing of note except my C6 for Fischl. I'd consider the childe/mona in 40 pulls a pretty cool win though tbh. i mean I don't use Childe myself despite having him (didn't want him, got him by mistake myself), but he may end up being useful in the end later on, and Mona is a nice free get herself. I'm not too bummed though, moving towards my pity 90 was half my goal anyway so I did that. I kinda doubt I'd even use her, I have hu tao after all, and she's very evidently good even though I don't have homa contrary to what some people say. Hu Tao is actually really good because unlike so many other top tier dps, her dps can scale off hp, so all those almost good artifacts but you got hp on them instead nooo...suddenly they are good, and I have a TON, so.. yeah lol. I did get Keqing though, and I'm using her as my main still, but busting out hu tao is still very satisfying. It's also nice having her in my 2nd abyss party to carry it while my 'main' is in another.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the cast I have currently, and kinda wish I could get the 5* weapons for them easier than new 5* characters, but the characters sell better so I guess Mihoyo is incentivised to keep them churning out.

[hyorinryu]

I didn't pull that much. I already have Hu Tao.

pfft I pulled Childe C1 (already had him C0) in my first 20 on his banner trying for Rosaria, then Mona C1 (also previously C0) in another twenty. Still no Rosaria (and frankly at this point I'm just not going to try for her again this banner), but at least now I don't have to worry again about the 50/50, just whether or not I'm going to the pity zone.

You get Hu Tao?

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

You get Hu Tao?

Nope. Lost a full pity 50/50, and expended all my primogems afterward failing to nab her back on that banner. When she comes back, I'll probably be in a better position to grab her, but I'm running lean on primos in preparation for (likely failing to get either) Yanfei and Eula and are currently not budgeting for more Welkins and definitely not budgeting for top-ups.

[Neovereign]

Got the C1 for Tartaglia, but sadly, not C2 I was gunning for. Likely will be skipping the banners for a bit to build up wishes too. Zhongli doesn't have the Royal Guard counter that Beidou has, so I will pass just like last time.
Roster is already pretty pleasant and filled with fun playstyles and interactions, so I likely won't be pulling for anything new yet. Yanfei seems like she prefers staying on field, and it would harm my play to have another on field Pyro character in either team.
Also still can't concrete decide on a 4th party member, but Xingqiu has been fitting well so far.

[Ghaleon]

So because I blew most of my gems on Hu-tao, I didn't have much saved up for Zhong-li, who  I kinda need since I didn't have Diona until recently (since she's free now), and therefore, hu-tao without any good shield user is not ideal (she's great even without them though). But I'm like oh well, I may as well try to get him with the 30 pulls I can do despite being a full 180 a way from pity. To my astonishment, I got him on pull 30. Woot.

Now I just have to un-lazy and really try and organize my artifacts for abyss. I think that's my biggest hurdle in this game is just dealing with artifacts. I try to farm th em, and level them up to 8 or 12 when they are potentially good, and they NEVER EVER are. So I am really half-assed with the ones I kept (which aren't great). I need to scrutinize all the ones I have that aren't pure trash and level them up accordingly, etc. blah.

[Neovereign]

But I'm like oh well, I may as well try to get him with the 30 pulls I can do despite being a full 180 a way from pity. To my astonishment, I got him on pull 30. Woot.

Oh, congrats.
I've been ignoring artifacts and actually getting some lv 16s to 20 since they're decent for a while now because it feels like the Elements and reactions do more. I need an Electro Claymore healer so my spiral abyss teams can be perfect. Tired of not being able to use Hu Tao on one team because I need Bennett for heals and pyro while still needing a claymore user.

[Ghaleon]

Thanks!

I've been mainly trying to get artifacts with decent crit% and crit damage for my main deepsers. But every time I find an artifact with both stats, it inevitably gets its 4,8,12 level ups into hp or def or something. arrgh. I should probably focus on my non deepsers more I suppose since they don't require such a demanding set of crit stats, but since the main dps is the character you're spending the most time with, I want to do that first =(.

I'm curious how an electro claymore would help, healer or not? What do claymore users do in abyss that other characters don't do? Do you just have a badass 5* claymore or something? I know claymores mine ore faster, and they can bust constructs faster, but the only constructs I can think of in abyss are geo shamen people who stand on their pillar things, but rather than bust them I just prefer shooting them off with a bow, or using an aoe ultimate to blow em off and kill em. Or just kill em before they cast that to begin with. Generally shamans are my first targets since they are squishy, have no shield mechanics, and tend to cause the most trouble if left alone. Do claymores do bonus damage against elemental shields or something? I don't know because the game just never really gave me any of them. I never got Razor until way late, and noelle from the starter wish thing was just a waste kind of because I got c6 barbara before I got like c1 anyone. So a self-healing tankish character was just not useful for me who had overkill healer practically day 1. So my experience with claymore mechanics in general are nil. I generally use ninguang for my ore farming too. my first 5* weapon was a catalyst, and she's the only catalyst user I like, so I put it on her and she's awesome now =P.

[Neovereign]

Thanks!

I've been mainly trying to get artifacts with decent crit% and crit damage for my main deepsers. But every time I find an artifact with both stats, it inevitably gets its 4,8,12 level ups into hp or def or something. arrgh. I should probably focus on my non deepsers more I suppose since they don't require such a demanding set of crit stats, but since the main dps is the character you're spending the most time with, I want to do that first =(.

I'm curious how an electro claymore would help, healer or not? What do claymore users do in abyss that other characters don't do? Do you just have a badass 5* claymore or something? I know claymores mine ore faster, and they can bust constructs faster, but the only constructs I can think of in abyss are geo shamen people who stand on their pillar things, but rather than bust them I just prefer shooting them off with a bow, or using an aoe ultimate to blow em off and kill em. Or just kill em before they cast that to begin with. Generally shamans are my first targets since they are squishy, have no shield mechanics, and tend to cause the most trouble if left alone. Do claymores do bonus damage against elemental shields or something? I don't know because the game just never really gave me any of them. I never got Razor until way late, and noelle from the starter wish thing was just a waste kind of because I got c6 barbara before I got like c1 anyone. So a self-healing tankish character was just not useful for me who had overkill healer practically day 1. So my experience with claymore mechanics in general are nil. I generally use ninguang for my ore farming too. my first 5* weapon was a catalyst, and she's the only catalyst user I like, so I put it on her and she's awesome now =P.

Yeah. Kinda just gotta keep going for the artifacts over and over. No helping it.

Claymore users in abyss are mainly for enemies that have physical shields, rather than elemental ones. The Geo Fatui staff guy, Hilichurls with shields, and Mitachurls with big shields. Though the latter two can be dealt with the freeze reaction if you don't want claymore on your team. Otherwise, Claymores are only a bit more stagger for enemies when attacking them.
They can also break Geo constructs more easily (Like the geo shamans) but you usually have a bow for them anyways.

[Ghaleon]

Ahh, yeah. shields. I always forget about that because I just so happen to rotate electo and pryo as my main focus, and their combination blows shields up. I started with fischl and.. uhh. cook spear girl, then invested in keqing, then hu tao, etc.

I do hope that inazuma buffs electro. Not only it it a weak element for reactions, but like 3/4 of the domains punish elemental electro reactions. Not only that, but cold hard counters electro, fire hard counters cold, water hard counters fire, and electro is  SUPPOSED to hard counter water, but  in the other cases, it takes only 2 or 3 elemental skills to bust their shields, but electro takes like 20 to bust a water shield. wtf? I still like keqing though because I like fast moves using swords,  oh and long twintails, oh and purple is my tie fave colour (with green). GAH. Keqing, why are you so for me but so anti-meta. why?!

[Neovereign]

Really hoping Electro gets buffed and slightly changed. But REALLY hoping Electro Traveler is actually fun to use and good. They're already able to get to max level and have good artifacts that don't care about an element.
I like how Lisa's playstyle is with setting charges on enemies then nuking them. But thanks to Electro stuff, she isn't that great to actually use.
Also why does her burst push enemies away even without pyro it hurts.
Back to vaporize and permafreeze team... I can only wish Millelith set worked with more chars like Xingqiu too.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

So, how's everyone doing with Genshin Impact: Wind Waker? I just wish activated Windrider Teleports acted as Waypoint Teleports, too...

Ugggh, I hate how Eula's ascensions are locked behind the Cryo Hypostasis. I hate dealing with that thing.

[Neovereign]

The boat stuff was nice. They did it pretty well. I'm not astonished by anything new there, but I'm not disappointed either.
The Hypostasis symphony 2, er I mean boss domains were very annoying. Geovishaps are always annoying, tedious, and boring to deal with in all of their forms. Rhodea wasn't too bad, even with it's modifiers. But Twin Kenki makes me wish I was fighting Agni and Rudra in DMC 3 instead. Even with Tartaglia and his limited range splash damage, it's faster and safer to just shoot at them from afar. At least with Agni and Rudra, you were rewarded for trying to fight them close together despite the heavier risk. And failing to beat them both in time wasn't just a cheap revive either.
It was more fun than Windtrace, at least. These make me miss Theatre Mechanicus though...

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

Inazuma time!

Also, it looks like they've finally convinced Sony to allow cross-save from PS. They just had to put in a collab character - Aloy, from Horizon Zero Dawn, as a free 5-star Cryo archer. A timed exclusive, she'll show up in 2.1 for Playstation users, and 2.2 everywhere else. Her Sword of Descension-like weapon's effect only procs while on the Playstation, which is a weird flex, but okay.

She's going to have to go hard on the crit archer angle if she wants to be anything but a worse Diona or Ganyu...

[hyorinryu]

Inazuma time!

Also, it looks like they've finally convinced Sony to allow cross-save from PS. They just had to put in a collab character - Aloy, from Horizon Zero Dawn, as a free 5-star Cryo archer. A timed exclusive, she'll show up in 2.1 for Playstation users, and 2.2 everywhere else. Her Sword of Descension-like weapon's effect only procs while on the Playstation, which is a weird flex, but okay.

She's going to have to go hard on the crit archer angle if she wants to be anything but a worse Diona or Ganyu...

Eh. The burst support slot is still open if she wants to go there. By burst support, I mean someone like Kaeya, Venti or Zhongli. New area is pretty fun. Has anyone tried using the boat around the Monstadt/Liyue area?

[Neovereign]

Eh. The burst support slot is still open if she wants to go there. By burst support, I mean someone like Kaeya, Venti or Zhongli. New area is pretty fun. Has anyone tried using the boat around the Monstadt/Liyue area?

The storm that you needed Beidou's ship to pass by prevents you from going back to any of the other regions. But if there's a blind spot, you could probably reach and hang around there with a boat.

Inazuma time!

Also, it looks like they've finally convinced Sony to allow cross-save from PS. They just had to put in a collab character - Aloy, from Horizon Zero Dawn, as a free 5-star Cryo archer. A timed exclusive, she'll show up in 2.1 for Playstation users, and 2.2 everywhere else. Her Sword of Descension-like weapon's effect only procs while on the Playstation, which is a weird flex, but okay.

She's going to have to go hard on the crit archer angle if she wants to be anything but a worse Diona or Ganyu...

I doubt she'll beat out Ganyu, but depending on her skill and burst, and maybe even passives, she could beat Diona in damage and in different usefulness. I hope
The cross-save is great. But unequipping the exclusive wing glider is a tiny bit irking.

Inazuma has been fun. Especially the way of getting around with Electro marks. Looking forward to future characters, and hope there's some supports instead of DPS every single banner.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

I just love how Aloy's Collected Miscellany is voiced by Alice instead of Dainsleif.

Also I wish Kokomi's banner was before the Shogun's... (On the one hand, extremely rude soft pity getting the Shogun, but an extremely quick Diluc shortly afterward, so maybe I'm not completely boned trying to nab Kokomi? Hopefully?) (EDIT: pfft instant glod star on the next ten means I'm back into 50/50. Welp.)

[Neovereign]

Holy heck Raiden Shogun has been fun. And even more points for the fact that it works well with Tartaglia's stance cooldown. Would still like if Electro reactions were changed. It doesn't have to be damage. Freeze is great for it's effect. And Electro seems like it could've gone the way of buffing/debuffing with how Superconduct is Physical damage focused. Otherwise, looking forward to more support characters like Xingqiu, hopefully instead of dps every banner.

Aloy is interesting, but a bit of a hassle to play. Just stuck using an anemo char or waiting for enemies to run into her droplets before you can get back to her. That or wait for the long cooldown for her skill to finish. Also not many ranged supports with reactions that actually do something for her to work with aside from Xingqiu. Superconduct is useless as ever on those that aren't physical focused chars, so Raiden, Fischl, and Burst support Beidou (or even Lisa) can't help much there.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

KO KO (mi) DA YO

(seriously wtf my luck - pulled both Kokomi and the Everlasting Moonglow insanely early. Maybe this will get me off my dependence on Noelle (lolno).)

[Neovereign]

KO KO (mi) DA YO

(seriously wtf my luck - pulled both Kokomi and the Everlasting Moonglow insanely early. Maybe this will get me off my dependence on Noelle (lolno).)

Nice early pulls. And good luck with her. Not having party healing outside of burst pushed me away from her. Moreso since I always use Xingqiu and Tartaglia, so It's rough going for more 5 star hydro chars.
She definitely doesn't look bad at healing when she has to, though. Likely shines best in co-op. Which makes me wish there was more co-op stuff without Resin to do. I'd be down for some permanent co-op Hyakunin Ikki-type thing with small rewards.

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

So part of the 1st Anniversary rewards is a little theater segment that chronicles a bunch of interesting stuff about the adventure so far - stuff that might have ended up in the Teyvat Times, had it kept going. I dispute being in the top 10% of hilichurl kills in the US server... (though that's probably just x number of kills for that thing, rather than commit mass genocide) (Note: the link leads to my theater segment; if you play Genshin yourself and are logged into hoyolab, you can click it to get a reward... I think.)

[Neovereign]

I now have 2 R5 Favonius Lances that are going completely unused.
I hate the weapon banner... But I really need a 5 star bow for Tart...

New event is alright. Good possibility for content to do outside of events and an alternative to Abyss, but who knows if they'll keep it...

[Ionasal kkll Solciel]

Eula and Albedo reruns let's goooo  Kokomi-focused artifacts let's goooo

I'd like to have an Albedo, but I'd like C2 Eula more, though I'd have to get insanely lucky with the pulls to get that off in the primos I have stocked. Considering Hu Tao was 81, I don't like my chances right now.

[Neovereign]

Pulling for Polar Star gave me two more 5* catalysts I can't use, because I only have Sucrose, Ningguang, Barbara, and Lisa.
Thus, I'm hoping that Yae is really good and I can use one of these on her. Don't have too much interest in any current rerun characters, and Geo chars usually only care about other Geo chars, so I don't want the new ones either.

[Reimu6]

I have baal, klee, and jean all at like lvl 1 and untouched. My main prty is diona, mc(geo/anemo), xiangling, and barbara. I have dodoco on Barbara for charged attack vaporize. can hit like 9k if lucky, and im ar45. Still too lazy for ascension.