Genshin Impact Gacha-of-the-Wild All

I mostly wish I could trade my Hu Tao for Yoimiya.

Very excited to see the leaks, though. My guesses, just for posterity:

- Raiden will be like Ganyu in several ways-- she'll be a powerful carry that also has surprisingly high support value, and be the first new character in a long time that starts to make people worry about power creep. Her support value will be in the realm of being a wildly effective full team battery, since I expect that the pattern of the Traveller's elemental abilities echoing the respective archon's will continue.

- Kokomi will be the first genuine hydro carry and will be spectacular at driving fireworks teams -- instead of what everyone wants which is either a five star Barbara replacement or a second truly good vaporize enabler so that they can build two OP teams despite only having one Xingqiu.

- Sara will be an electro Xingqiu, but electro reactions won't get a buff (Raiden will just have wild talent numbers, or a character specific boosts to reactions) so she won't be as wildly useful as she could be otherwise.

Dyni wrote:

Wow, I definitely did not see that Aloy announcement coming. Free 5*!

Woooooo!

I haven't had time to even make it to Inazuma yet this week. Hopefully tonight. How about everyone else?

So far so good. Got through the initial quest stuff and started exploring the first island. Found a bunch of chests, solved a few little puzzles, solved some bigger puzzles. Experimented a little bit with the new electro traveler. Of course they have continued with the "switch talent books every talent level" for this character, and you can only farm one set of books per day, but, it's a nice support character even at low level talents. Looking forward to seeing what it does once it's built.

The event where you can get a free Beidou has started today, but it looks like it'll be at least a few days before enough areas unlock to get her from the event shop. Also, I need to unlock the Statues of the Seven on a couple other islands before I can get to the areas of this event easily.

EDIT:
BTW, in case anyone missed this, you can now buy teleport waypoints in your teapot, so no more needing to sprint all the way across your map to get to the traveling salesman.

Tscott wrote:

EDIT:
BTW, in case anyone missed this, you can now buy teleport waypoints in your teapot, so no more needing to sprint all the way across your map to get to the traveling salesman.

It's also nice you can teleport directly into your teapot from the map, no need deploy the teapot from the item menu first!

Mantid wrote:
Tscott wrote:

EDIT:
BTW, in case anyone missed this, you can now buy teleport waypoints in your teapot, so no more needing to sprint all the way across your map to get to the traveling salesman.

It's also nice you can teleport directly into your teapot from the map, no need deploy the teapot from the item menu first!

Awesome. I just set mine up and hadn’t realized that yet. That is an amazing ease-of-use update to the teapot system.

I haven’t played in like 8 months. Got tired of the AR grind to see more story among other things. Excited to find out they lowered the requirements and I can now do all Archon quests including the new ones if I want to. Used the free primogems to do a 10 pull and got the new Ayaka character. Not sure if I was due for pity or just got lucky. These two factors have me likely to play at least a little bit soon.

zeroKFE wrote:

I mostly wish I could trade my Hu Tao for Yoimiya.

I wish I could trade Traveler for her

I like what I've seen of Yoimiya, but now that I've seen the upcoming Inazuma characters, I may be giving her a pass as well.

I am committed to collecting all the archons at this point, so a chunk of my resources will be reserved for Baal.

IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/jicwvlfjrqc71.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e791561cb5980dda5a7886f10e0b91f2e2febe9)

I'm a big fan of the designs for both Sara and Kokomi as well. Though I agree with Mantid about wishing Kokomi wasn't yet another Hydro Catalyst user.

IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/jnuhivkjrqc71.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2359b09b20a655caf95a62de1aa3a88cc0616c65)
IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/scmisznjrqc71.jpg?width=2250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb8ae37c84f0f70d3c99c4aa007ab77e322466cf)

I'm crossing my fingers that one of them will show up on Baal's banner, though I highly doubt that will be the case.

steinkrug wrote:

Used the free primogems to do a 10 pull and got the new Ayaka character. Not sure if I was due for pity or just got lucky. These two factors have me likely to play at least a little bit soon.

Nice! Either way, she looks like a great character to form a team around.

I'm crossing my fingers that one of them will show up on Baal's banner, though I highly doubt that will be the case.

Yeah, I'd be stoked to have a Raiden/Sara banner, but it's almost certainly going to be Kokomi/Sara. Not only to help promote sales on what will unquestionably be the less popular banner, but also because they try to also avoid doubling elements on banners (although it's certainly happened from time to time).

EDIT: For me, as much as I'd love to roll Yoimiya, it's going to be Raiden for sure. If Kokomi ends up being a healer/off field hydro applicator though, I might try for her instead of chasing constellations for Raiden -- there are a TON of free gems (and full on fates) available to be won out of the new Inazuma content, after all.

EDIT 2: Oh and also, there is still Yae Miko to come.

IMAGE(https://www.pcgamesn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/genshin-impact-yae-miko-banner.jpg)

Sure, electro catalyst maybe doesn't sound like the most fun, but if she's a strong healer/support, who knows?

Also, Yae Sakura/Kasumi in Honkai Impact (who Yae Miko seems to be universe alt for) is a sword user. Tinfoil conspiracy hat time -- perhaps Raiden won't be the only Inazuma character to have a stance shift to use a weapon other than what she has equipped?

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/5pRg9yo.jpg)

My resolve is weakening. I'm convinced there's no right or wrong answer to the "Ayaka or Yoimiya" question, but melee is my preferred playstyle, so trying to main dps a bow user may be a bit of an adjustment for me. I've got a level Blackcliff sword that's currently unused that would work well with Ayaka and her dash is fun to use (I've played around with the trail run a bit). I'm thinking I may pull for Ayaka after all, and decide if I want save or try my luck for Yoimiya or later on.

Plus, I'm usually weak-willed when it comes to the bright and shiny thing that's available right now.

EDIT: I pulled for Ayaka and got her right when I hit soft pity. Plus with the wish I got for leveling her up to 20, I pulled one wish on the regular banner and got the 5-star Amos Bow- so I guess I'm saving for a Ganyu rerun now?

EDIT: I pulled for Ayaka and got her right when I hit soft pity. Plus with the wish I got for leveling her up to 20, I pulled one wish on the regular banner and got the 5-star Amos Bow- so I guess I'm saving for a Ganyu rerun now?

Nice! Ayaka is looking pretty great from early testing and it's hard to argue with her aesthetics, so that's a great pull. I forget, did you get Venti during his rerun? If so, look into permafreeze setups with Xingqiu (or Mona if you have her) for a VERY strong team combo.

----

And now, it's time for that once every six week holiday: leak day!

Raiden

Animations: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Imp...

Skill Descriptions:
https://genshin.honeyhunterworld.com...

My thoughts:
We'll see if this holds up through testing, but damn, is that exactly what I hoped it would be -- her skill is a strong off field damage support (basically, an electro version of Xingqiu's burst), and her burst attack is a high damage burst mode and team battery. Assuming the numbers hold up she's going to be very powerful, very versatile, and will enable a lot of new interesting team comps. She's also likely to put Fischl out of business, though, (especially for people who have build Beidou) so if you're thinking of rolling Raiden maybe hold off on investing much more in Fishl.

Oh, and for anyone who's got a Eula/Beidou/Diona/Fischl team, it's about to get wild in here when you swap in Raiden.

Kokomi

Animations:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Imp...

Skill Descriptions:
https://genshin.honeyhunterworld.com...

My thoughts:
5 star Barbara, who is a mermaid instead of a nun idol. Her skill is an off field regen plus (potentially?) a good water reaction enabler, and her burst is a burst healing mode, that maybe (depending on how the numbers work out) will also be a strong burst damage mode too. Might open up a lot more options for building "Morgana" (Ganyu/Mona/Diona/Venti) style teams -- like maybe Ganyu/Ayaka/Kokomi/Venti? And she might also provide enough water application to replace Xingqiu in at least some vape comps. Also, if electro charged gets buffed and her burst is actually a strong damage mode, she might make another strong comp paired with Raiden.

Sara

Animations:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Imp...

Skill Descriptions:
https://genshin.honeyhunterworld.com...

My thoughts:
An interesting and different support character. She has several different ways of triggering a strong atk buff (of similar power to Bennett, maybe stronger?), with additional energy battery capabilities and at C6 also a buff for electro DMG. From the skill descriptions though, it all sounds like it might be a bit fiddly to manage, and how much that is the case is really what will determine her utility. Also, whether her atk buff stacks with his, but even if not, she represents a way to get a powerful buff into teams where Bennett doesn't work or into a second abyss team.

EDIT:

Aloy

No animation leaks yet.

Skill descriptions:
https://genshin.honeyhunterworld.com...

My thoughts:
Looks like a fairly straight ahead selfish cryo DPS unit. Her skill is a cluster bomb style AOE attack, and if it lands enough hits she converts her normal attacks to cryo damage (after which her cryo damage ramps up over time), and her burst is a low cost AOE nuke. Her skill also debuffs the enemy's atk and brings a moderate sized team atk% buff, although since the rest of her kind sounds like she's going to be a selfish DPS after triggering the skill, that last part is probably more of a concession in case you have to switch out unexpectedly or something. As with all selfish DPS units the devil is going to be in the details of how big her numbers are and what teams you can build around her field time. I expect that for F2P or L2P players (especially those who lack a good cryo DPS) she's going to be an awesome addition. For folks who already have Ganyu or Ayaka, however, she'll probably be more of a fun curiosity.

zeroKFE wrote:

Nice! Ayaka is looking pretty great from early testing and it's hard to argue with her aesthetics, so that's a great pull. I forget, did you get Venti during his rerun? If so, look into permafreeze setups with Xingqiu (or Mona if you have her) for a VERY strong team combo.

Nope, I didn't get Venti- that was my first 5-star pull and I lost the 50/50 and got Jean instead. I've no regrets about that, except she isn't as "show-off-y" as Venti is. She can't vault into the air and start gliding on a whim.

I also lost the 50/50 for Kazuha who can pogo-stick up cliffs with his E-skill. So I won't deny that the fact that Ayaka's dash that allows her to, more or less, walk on water added to her appeal for me.

Although she's currently only level 60 with trash artifacts I've already run around with Her, Rosaria, Sucrose and Xingqiu to try out a freeze team for a bit. It was fun, and it can only get better from here.

So, I have been interested in playing more Genshin Impact, ever since it came out. Only played for a little bit for some weeks. It just never happens. Probably because I am just reminded of the gacha grind whenever I think about it.

But Aloy? Uh, yeah. That is a really strong argument...

Yeah, from that leaked data she’s going to be a great character for newer players and those who don’t engage with the gacha banners. And she’ll be free too!

I just want to say I'm loving Inazuma and all the new game mechanics and puzzles it brings. Tonight I actually had to ask myself if I was still playing Genshin Impact, because all of a sudden I felt like I was in a Tomb Raider game discovering long lost secrets.

Since tomorrow is Sunday I'll be able to farm talent books for Ayaka, but I'm also just shy of being able to ascend her up from 70 to 80, because of course the game shorted me one boss item (I've currently got 11 of the 12 needed) and I've picked over the whole island all the sakura blooms and I still need 20 more. I hope they refresh quickly.

I’m digesting that leak on Kokomi. Her being Barbara 2.0 kinda cools me on her a bit, even if her animations are amazing. Might have to wait to see how she plays and what the leaks on Yea Mimi tell us.

Current leaks put Raider and Sara on the first banner and Kokomi on the second. Theme wise that makes sense, but don’t know if it will stick to release.

Tscott wrote:

Since tomorrow is Sunday I'll be able to farm talent books for Ayaka, but I'm also just shy of being able to ascend her up from 70 to 80, because of course the game shorted me one boss item (I've currently got 11 of the 12 needed) and I've picked over the whole island all the sakura blooms and I still need 20 more. I hope they refresh quickly.

You're welcome to join my world and harvest blooms if you see me on.

peanut3141 wrote:
Tscott wrote:

Since tomorrow is Sunday I'll be able to farm talent books for Ayaka, but I'm also just shy of being able to ascend her up from 70 to 80, because of course the game shorted me one boss item (I've currently got 11 of the 12 needed) and I've picked over the whole island all the sakura blooms and I still need 20 more. I hope they refresh quickly.

You're welcome to join my world and harvest blooms if you see me on.

Thanks. They respawn every 48 hours, so the ones I farmed Friday night started showing up again last night and I was able to ascend her to 80.

Now I’ll have plenty of time to gather enough blooms for the final ascension to 90 as I’ll need to farm a couple bosses many times each to get all the mats I’ll need. Plus I want to raise her weapon to 90 and improve her artifacts before I commit all the resources into her final ascension.

FYI, there's a bundle available for Genshin from Prime Gaming. Doubtful you can redeem multiple codes from various Prime users in your household, but let me know if you try and it works.

https://gaming.amazon.com/loot/gensh...

Looks like we'll be getting a monthly bundle through the end of the year.

I figured it would show up on Prime Gaming eventually, just surprised it took this long.

Also I'm a little confused about the current web event. Is it a one-and-done reward? I'm not complaining about free primogems, but seems like a bit of work for something that took only a minute or two to complete...

Cool, I’ll have to see what’s involved to connect my account to my prime account when I get home tonight.

I was also confused about the new web event. I didn’t get any rewards. I saw 4 shops but saw something about how I supposed to choose 6 items, but redoing any of the shops just replaced the old item with the new one. I thought maybe I had to wait for a day to see new shops.

Tscott wrote:

Cool, I’ll have to see what’s involved to connect my account to my prime account when I get home tonight.

I was also confused about the new web event. I didn’t get any rewards. I saw 4 shops but saw something about how I supposed to choose 6 items, but redoing any of the shops just replaced the old item with the new one. I thought maybe I had to wait for a day to see new shops.

Every 2 minutes the items will cycle out. You need to collect the 4 luxurious items and the 2 delicious foods and then go see Ayaka. It can be done in ~10 minutes if you get lucky with RNG.

Shadout wrote:

So, I have been interested in playing more Genshin Impact, ever since it came out. Only played for a little bit for some weeks. It just never happens. Probably because I am just reminded of the gacha grind whenever I think about it.

But Aloy? Uh, yeah. That is a really strong argument...

Just to be clear, all of the story, quest, and exploration can be done without any grinding at all. It's extremely F2P friendly in that regard.

The only real gacha grind is for FOMO with new characters. That grind is very real

Mantid wrote:

I’m digesting that leak on Kokomi. Her being Barbara 2.0 kinda cools me on her a bit, even if her animations are amazing. Might have to wait to see how she plays and what the leaks on Yea Mimi tell us.

Same here. I love her animations, but Barbara 2.0 isn't enough to steal my primos unless she has some substantial team benefits or damage potential we're not able to account for yet.

I'm still pretty early on in Inazuma, but I'm having a great time exploring it already. I like that some of the fodder enemies are beefier without obnoxious shields.

Lvling also felt fairly grindy when I was playing. Requiring doing dailies MMO-style, instead of the actual fun stuff.

Shadout wrote:

Lvling also felt fairly grindy when I was playing. Requiring doing dailies MMO-style, instead of the actual fun stuff.

Character leveling or Adventure Rank leveling?

Character leveling is glacially slow from fighting because it's done almost entirely through consumable books. You'll earn these through questing, exploring, and events. You can also expend resin at leylines later on if you need more.

IIRC, they lowered Adventure Rank requirements in general a few patches after launch, so while slow, it shouldn't be a barrier. You can hit AR20 in a matter of days and AR28 a few days after that to unlock the Serenitea Pot. That's the last piece of content gated by AR rank.

You can earn a large chunk of AR quickly from completing the four daily commissions, but you also earn it through questing, exploration, domains, and bosses if you don't want to do those. There shouldn't be much stopping you from just questing and exploring the world.

Was thinking of adventure rank I believe. Needed to get to 20-something to unlock new quests or something.

Dyni wrote:

The only real gacha grind is for FOMO with new characters. That grind is very real ;)

I had to google FOMO, but, yeah. This is so true. I've slowly come to realize that while there are something like 16 or 17 5-star characters in the game (and more to come), at any given time there are only five core 5-stars plus one limited character that are available to get. If you really want Hu Tao, for example, right now the only thing you can do is wait to see when (or if) she gets a re-run banner.

Also, since getting Ayaka, I keep staring at the Weapons Banner and looking at "her" sword which looks so awesome, and would be amazing to see her wield in game. So far I've been able to talk myself down, but there's no promises I won't break down and wish in the next 12 or so days. I keep telling myself I need as many wishes as possible if I want a chance at trying to beat the 50/50 for Yoimiya next banner- plus the Black Sword I am using is close to one of her best in slots, even if it doesn't match her aesthetic appearance-wise.

Yeah, don’t do the weapon banner.

I mean, technically if you would be equally happy with either 5 star weapon then sure, maybe. But if not, you need to be sanguine with 240 rolls to get what you want.

Also, the Inazuma craftable sword maybe isn’t super good for Ayaka, but it is far and away the best aesthetic match.

Edit: Actually, if you find yourself having energy issues, it might be a solid pick mechanically as well.

zeroKFE wrote:

Also, the Inazuma craftable sword maybe isn’t super good for Ayaka, but it is far and away the best aesthetic match. :P

Yep. I've also been wrestling with that- do I take a slight drop in power for aesthetics and hope that when (or if) I get enough sword billets to get the Inazuma craftable to R5 is makes up for it? So far I've just kept my lvl 90 ,R1, Black Sword in hand because it costs zero resources to keep everything as it currently is.

Edit: Actually, if you find yourself having energy issues, it might be a solid pick mechanically as well.

True, but I don't think it truly shines in that regard until it gets to R3 or better. It's something I may eventually move towards, once I have a better artifact set for her (or IF I ever get a better artifact set... STOP GIVING ME THE HYDRO SET ITEMS FROM THAT DOMAIN MIHOYO!!!!!)

Disclaimer- I still think it's not a great idea to pull on the weapon banner.

But I did get my sword on the 23rd pull...
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/jDzZHFF.jpg)
Right now I'm all in on this character and she may be the first with a skill I'll crown. I'm still trying to get decent artifacts for her, but even with subpar artifacts she's dealing more damage than Jean and Rosaria- my two previous main hitters.

Congrats! That's awesome luck!

Tscott wrote:

Disclaimer- I still think it's not a great idea to pull on the weapon banner.

But I did get my sword on the 23rd pull...

Congrats! If I knew I'd get a weapon within 23 rolls, I'd roll too