Board 8 > Genshin Impact Topic 12: Believing in the Heart of the Gacha

(+) Yeah! (+)

You both got one right, looks like it was Yelan and Ganyu.

I do like Eula's look though!

There's actually a few more I could go for...Jean, Shenhe...I need to go over this list more closely.

Ah whoops. Well yeah you will be waiting a while for those two. Ganyu at least has a normal rerun frequency so she will probably show up again before the end of the year, but Yelan is a PREMIUM support (she's the 5* version of Xingqiu I mentioned) and so far Mihoyo has been limiting their runs to one per year.

Jean is another standard-only character, and Shenhe is good but is very niche - she buffs ice characters so is only worth going for once you have Ganyu or Ayaka

Edit: That said I think many of the the current and upcoming banners are good to pull on. Yae Miko and Yoimiya are relatively easy to build (Inazuma mats aside) because you have XQ for Yoi and get free Dendro units for Miko, next set is Kazuha (another "one run per year" premium support) and Al-Haitham (a meta DPS), and next patch is some DPS units, Kokomi (best healer in the game), and Wanderer (who is not great but is the best unit for getting around the overworld lol)

oh, lol, I assumed the pale blue royalty chick was Ayaka.

edit: I misread. It was short blue hair.

Yelan is fantastic. Not sure when she will return since we will somewhat soon be headed to an entirely new region with a load of new characters to summon for.

I wish i had Yelan so I didn't have to use Xingqiu.

azuarc posted...

I vehemently disagree with this statement. You're talking about 7 wishes for a choice 4-star. Given the power level of characters like Bennett, Xingqiu, and Fischl, being able to add them to a new account at C0 early on is vastly more valuable than earning yourself a tenth of the way toward pity. The knee-jerk reaction of "see 5 glitter, make a wish" is extremely counterproductive to all accounts, but especially when the characters in the shop have value.

I am looking at things in the long term, an active f2p player will eventually end up with most if not all 4 stars as they rotate through the featured banners, but their resources to obtain 5 stars are very limited and it seems a waste to expend it to get a 4 star character a little bit sooner. It is not like the storyline content of genshin is exceptionally difficult, until you get to the Abyssal Moon Spire team power is more a quality of life thing where you can clear out groups of overworld monsters more quickly.

Got Yun Jin.

I'm sure 4-star updates domt mean much to the folks who have been on here for years lol.

Yun Jin is a pretty good pull. A lot of the 4*s are solid even if a few are so good theyre considered secret 5*s by the players (Xiangling, Bennett & Xingqiu for example)

Ganyu has been my single most disappointing unit. I had a team waiting for her and everything and it just hasn't been what I was hoping for at all. She only ever gets used in fringe Abyss rounds.

Yelan, on the other hand, has been my best unit. And best-looking wink wink nudge nudge.

Seriously though, she's a beast. She doesn't have the defensive utility that Xingqiu does, but she hits for insane damage constantly. It's not even a burst damage, it's just total constant waylaying. Ideally, you'd pair her up with someone like Raiden, Nahida, or Kazuha for repeated reactions all over the place, but for those with basic rosters, even just throwing her in with a combo of Fischl/Xiangling or something would still do wonders.

I haven't ever used Yun Jin, so I dunno what kind of advice to give you there.

Yun Jin boosts normal attacks well. She combines with characters like Yoimiya or Ayato who enhance their normals. At least I found her reasonably effective with Ayato, along with other attack speed boosters to really take him into overdrive. A pretty decent but niche support.

PrinceKaro posted...

I am looking at things in the long term, an active f2p player will eventually end up with most if not all 4 stars as they rotate through the featured banners, but their resources to obtain 5 stars are very limited and it seems a waste to expend it to get a 4 star character a little bit sooner. It is not like the storyline content of genshin is exceptionally difficult, until you get to the Abyssal Moon Spire team power is more a quality of life thing where you can clear out groups of overworld monsters more quickly.

1) The only reason I have all four-star characters is because I've gone out of my way to make that happen. I used my Lantern Rite picks to complete my account, and I pulled on banners with 5-stars that I didn't really need. These characters would not have simply fallen into my lap otherwise. So no, a long-term player isn't just magically going to end up with all the four-stars.

2) A new player won't ever become a long-term player if they aren't enjoying themselves. Even a waifu > meta player is going to want the appropriate support characters. If you simply get locked out of that character because you reason "eh, I'll get them some day" when that constitutes two years or more of making your gameplay experience more miserable...because you wanted LESS THAN A TENTH OF A PITY...that's just stupid. Like, it's not even a ten-pull. I'm not sure how many wishes worth of glitter would make me question this trade-off, but it's definitely more than seven.

3) On most support characters, constellations are not unwelcome. Bennett's fine at C1, but that C1 makes a noticeable improvement in his consistency. However, other characters in question want to be C6. Plus, if the character in question is Amber, Lisa, or Kaeya, you literally won't get their constellations because they're only found on the standard banner and you get, like, 10 of those wishes per month, spread across all the possible four-stars in the game.

I am not advocating auto-purchasing every character that appears in the shop just because you don't have them maxed yet, but targeted selection is extremely efficient here and far outweighs the benefit of restricting yourself to the gacha.

Im missing some 4*s, but not too many and theyre also ones I dont really care about having. I cant even recall the last time I saw Heizou in game. He feels like a huge nobody so far

Alright, finished the prologue and messed a round just a bit after that, Rank 20. Mostly enjoying myself so far! Still have to get used to some combat stuff. Got the Electric Priestess.

I think it's no surprise to anyone that knows me that my biggest issue is the exploration. GOD I just hate it, I don't understand why people like this stuff in any game. Stamina is the worst, and climbing is like pulling teeth. I'd gladly pay around $50 just to unlock all the fast travel points right now.

https://genshin-impact-map.appsample.com/#/ if you want to just hotfoot it to the anemoculi.

C6 Kaeya!

Currently just going around the map points grabbing the tower unlocks and ignoring mostly everything in between for now, lol. This is exactly how I played Far Cry 3 and 4 back in the day.

I'm doing dailies just fine, will need to figure out what a lot of these weeklies even mean. Also need to figure out the best way to spend Resin, just been doing this Ley Line Weapon Ascension material one because it's the only weekly I have left that I have a basic grasp on (well, besides 10 boss kills, but I'm not going to fight that Dragon 9 more times over the next 2 days.)

Those aren't the bosses, actually. You can only do 3 of those per week, and that's a different weekly.

Bosses are the Hypostases and Big Whopperflowers and stuff that are scattered around that don't require a loading screen.

Oh like the big elemental cubes and the wind balls? OK yeah that should be easy then, I've probably added to that total without even realizing it.

Resin spending tips for starting out:

- Leylines (exp books and mora especially) are always good because you will burn through these like crazy while building characters
- Ascension mats for weapons you're using (from domains) and characters (from open world bosses) to keep them up to date. It's a good idea to prefarm these to get ahead of your next tier of rank ups - some of the difficulty spikes are pretty brutal if you're behind, and some of the world bosses require specific strategies/elements you may not have ready to go
- Talent books to max out your DPS unit skills and any important support skills (eg if you have a healer, level their healing talent, you can ignore their basic attack). These are like Traces but unlike Star Rail they are not nearly as scarce. You do not need to prefarm these, just go to your current tier.
- Weekly bosses with the discount are pretty good value for resource drops (shards and artifacts, rare chance for a weapon etc.) and you will eventually need the boss mats. After your discounts are done they're still ok value but not necessary. (Also do the Amber and Razor quests if you haven't, a weekly boss is hidden behind there. When you unlock 5* story quests, all of the Archons stories besides Venti also lead to weeklies)
- Under NO circumstances should you spend resin on artifact domains until you are high enough AR to do the highest difficulty, besides maybe one for the book requirement. You can get by just with random artifacts from chests until then

Oh, shit, I haven't even seen the skill level up screen yet and I've got 5 characters to 40. You'd think I'd realize that was a thing since all I'm doing in Star Rail right now is leveling Traces!

I think it doesn't even unlock until you get another tier or two deeper

I don't think I have any supports yet, unless the free Barbara is one of them? Also got that 4* Cat Girl when I pulled Yae Miko who I THINK is some kind of healer?

Xingqiu qualifies as a support, probably Kirara does too. Anyone who doesn't spend a lot of time on the field attacking.

Barbara is the F2P healer, she's not very good but can be made to work if you're desperate. Especially because Hydro is kinda just a busted element.

The catgirl is a shielder, which is basically as good as a healer since you don't typically need two defensive units. I don't know much about her but I heard she's very solid for a 4*, and Dendro is also very powerful so she'll pair well with Yae Miko.

There's other types of supports but they're not as obvious and depend on your team setup (Yun Jin qualifies), so you don't have to worry about it too much for now, but if you start lagging behind on resources it's safe to just focus on a couple of damage dealers.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/5/AAeolZAAEiEd.jpg

Current spread, not pictured is Yanfei.

Sceptilesolar posted...

Xingqiu qualifies as a support, probably Kirara does too. Anyone who doesn't spend a lot of time on the field attacking.

Ah yeah I should've been more specific. Xingqiu is a support but also a DPS, he does damage from off-field so you'll want to keep his stats/skill/burst up to date but he's not AS important as whoever is on field and probably doesn't need basic attack. Same for characters like Xiangling or Beidou.

Versus like...Kiara or Dendro Traveler where you want their effects but don't really care about their damage so you barely need to level anything.

(edited down because I was being way too freaking verbose, but feel free to ask for clarification)

Pick a team of four to stick to, and save your resources for them. There will come a point later where branching out will make sense. For now, fight the overworld bosses for character ascensions, the weapon domains for weapon ascensions, and when the time comes, talent domains as well. Don't bother with artifacts until later; just use what you pick up. But this should be the focal point of your resin, plus weekly bosses.

Important question: Are you playing the characters you like, or do you want suggestions on what would make for the most powerful team? Miko+Beidou is a good start since they both (especially Beidou) want energy and a second member of the same element helps that out. They both work from off-field, so you have freedom to play them with pretty much anyone. A hydro or especially dendro character would make for good reaction damage.

If it were me, and feel free to ignore this, I'd use Xingqiu and Kirara with them. Alternatively, Barbara and Dendro Traveler. This is only considering who you have right now and not future pick-ups. You might not know this yet, but Traveler can use any element. You just have to travel to the corresponding nation to attune to that element. (It's like the Trailblazer, except you have to go back to switch.)

I like Beidou and Miko the most, I just didn't think I should be fielding 2 lightning. If so then hell yeah I'm going for that!

Yeah I knew about the element swap thing, I already have Earth and Dendo from exploration. I....forgot to check what the ice mountain gives me even though I picked it up (3 characters froze to death on the way!), so I dunno if that's technically a different nation.

The element switching requiring the travel is a bit annoying. I get why it's like that due to the open world puzzles, but going backwards from SR to GI has certainly warped my quality of life expectations.

The snow mountain isn't its own nation, it's technically Mondstadt but kind of a wildcard area that is disconnected to it (doesn't have wind oculi to collect etc.). Besides Sumeru all of the nations have one of these. You'll actually need to do Inazuma's (place called Enkanomiya) for Yae even though it's side content.

And yeah the exploration is kind of a big problem but it's the worst for Inazuma which you can't even get to without doing the main story. I had to deal with this when I started with Raiden but I totally forgot how much worse Yae's stuff is to get. You'll want to prioritize the main plot until you unlock that.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/5/AAeolZAAEiEd.jpg

Current spread, not pictured is Yanfei.

I'd go with Yae, Beidou, Xingqiu, Kirara, Barbara with what you have. Though problem with Kirara is her Ascension mats are pretty far. Take care of them and either do a hyperbloom team or electro charge team.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I like Beidou and Miko the most, I just didn't think I should be fielding 2 lightning. If so then hell yeah I'm going for that!

Having two of the same element gives resonance. And Electro resonance is one of the better ones for Bursting a lot.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I like Beidou and Miko the most, I just didn't think I should be fielding 2 lightning. If so then hell yeah I'm going for that!

When you first start, doubling on an element seems bad. You want the most coverage for reactions and taking down shields, right? But eventually you learn what works for shields, and as long as you aren't playing a mono team, you're probably okay to handle whatever the game throws at you.

The thing that's tricky is energy. Understanding energy isn't the easiest concept in the world, but the short version is particles are generated by hitting/killing enemies and by using skills. Some are white (neutral) and some have a color (elemental). How much of a character's burst meter they gain depends on if they match the element (white particles are somewhere in-between) and if they're the one on-field at the time. I have no doubt you're aware of those particles, but for me they just blend into all the on-screen effects, alongside the giant pile of numbers, so I would forgive you for not thinking much about them.

Beidou is notorious for needing an electro teammate to help her with her burst. Even if you perfect counter every time, you probably need some kind of extra help. Later on, you can tailor her gear to help this, but 2- and 3-star artifacts don't give a ton of Energy Recharge (ER). Only the middle slot of the five can have it as a main stat.

As for double electro specifically, electro was considered one of the weaker elements in the game before dendro. However, both of dendro's reactions can make use of electro and can really help carry it. Whether you throw in hydro for hyperbloom (dendro+hydro, then electro) or aggravate (dendro+electro to make vulnerable, and then pummel with electro,) dendro is a great support for electro. If you've already been to Sumeru, you may want to think of dendro traveler longer term. I know you don't have any other anemo currently and there's lots of puzzles, so I get why they're anemo.

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

You'll actually need to do Inazuma's (place called Enkanomiya) for Yae even though it's side content.

Oh god, I didn't think about that. Really should have warned you.

One of the biggest problems in the game for newer players is that the ascension materials -- both the random plant and the boss materials -- are usually centered around the nation the character is from, and sometimes not in the most generous of fashions. Miko has one of the absolute worst placements for her boss material. You're going to have a hard time ascending her past 40. It requires AR28 (iirc) just to start the quest to be allowed to go to Inazuma and then you have to do a bunch of extra shit to open up the side area where her boss drops are...and you have to full-clear that map's quests to reach the boss, too. Any Inazuma character is bad, but Yae is especially bad. If you want to stick with her, you may want to power through the main quests as soon as they unlock.

The main quest is my #1 goal at this time so no worries there, I'll only be doing enough content to reach the level requirements.

I wasn't 100% on going for Yae, but I saw the next banner is 2 prettybois so no chance I was pulling for that.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/5/AAeolZAAEiEd.jpg

Current spread, not pictured is Yanfei.

First thought: Kaeya, Xingqui, Yae, Barbara. Get a Sac. Sword for Xingqui.

Freeze comp w/ Yae helping out with tazing and helping Kaeya out with Physical.

Unfortunately, "get a sac sword" isn't always that simple. Ushi, which 4-star weapons do you have, out of curiosity?

And after shortening your name to Ushi, I'm reminded of https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Ushi

One tower left.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/4/AAeolZAAEiLe.jpg

Man what the fuck.

azuarc posted...

Unfortunately, "get a sac sword" isn't always that simple. Ushi, which 4-star weapons do you have, out of curiosity?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/5/AAeolZAAEiLf.jpg

Alright WHOOOOOO glad to have Tha rover wiwjat the fuck is this??

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/7/AAeolZAAEiLh.jpg

What, the two small areas you're missing on your map? They're quest-dependent, iirc. At least the one against the desert was when Sumeru first launched.

Wait is there a card game in this thing I'm going to be unlocking soon?

.....Uh oh.

azuarc posted...

What, the two small areas you're missing on your map? They're quest-dependent, iirc. At least the one against the desert was when Sumeru first launched.

This is going to nag at me for so long lol.

I still don't have that tiny patch by the desert unlocked lol

It's a really long quest chain.

And yes, there's a card game. The current limited time events are centered around it, too...which means I need to look at it again before long.

Just reached 24.

Seems like a loooot of stuff unlocks at 25.

I need to do that Spire thing to get the panda girl.

I've had a good dozen people try to join my world, is this just random matchmaking or something?

If you don't want that, go into your co-op settings and set it so randos can't send join requests.

Goddamn these Consecrated Beasts on Floor 12 of Abyss. So much HP and they do so much damage

Consecrated Beasts: The new Geovishaps

They've killed so much of my desire to make good abyss teams to 36* since being introduced. At this point the thing I'm looking forward to most for Fontaine is keeping them out of every Abyss cycle

I feel like there's something I'm misunderstanding about bounties, because I can't find any of the 3 I'm being offered after activating them.

AHHHH I figured it out, I have to use tracking to find trails. Bleh.

I really wish there was a super fast way to spend Resin, still 100 to go on this weekly challenge but I should make it.

Got enough for another regular banner pull and got Faruzan.