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One Year In, We are Still Playing [Genshin Impact]
cursedking
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
https://genshin.mihoyo.com/en
What is Genshin Impact?
A F2P open world action RPG gacha game that basically rips its exploration straight from Breath of the Wild, it's developed by miHoYo
But what IS Genshin Impact?
GI is kind of a weird game when it comes to gachas, clearly meant to appeal to a larger console audience as well as mobile gamers. If you are a fan of the large open world and style of Breath of the Wild you'll probably feel right at home. There's climbing, swimming, gliding, and you'll absolutely run out of stamina at the worst time and die because of it. There's puzzles to discover and chests to open literally everywhere. There's dungeons and world bosses and the action combat is extremely smooth with unique abilities for each character along with a fairly involved elemental combo system. Seriously, look at this chart:
1.3 is out February 3rd
Systems
Cross Save: PC, IOS, Android. PS4 does not currently allow cross-save to my knowledge
Cross Play: Yes, all players can play with each other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TRFPx09j_8Getting Started with Genshin
Now that we're 4 months into the launch of the game, it can feel pretty intimidating to get started! Before we get to quick tips, the most important thing - This game plays like Breath of the Wild, and you can engage with exploration/story quests without ever engaging with the gacha elements. None of the content is hard enough to force you to spend money to roll on any characters. Getting new characters is fun, and some of the end game content requires stringent party lineup, but this is not a game about paying to win. Most of the community here is F2P or very light levels of investment.
Leveling Up
Characters
- Character Rarity: Characters come in two different flavors - 4* and 5*. The gap between 4* and 5* characters is sometimes not that wide, so don't let it color your preconceived notions of who is good or bad.
- Character Levels: Characters level up just like in any rpg, and gain some stats when they do. In general, you are going to use EXP books to level characters
- Character Ascension: Certain aspects of a character are gated behind Ascensions, which are triggered at certain level blocks (20, 40, 50, etc.). You need three different "types" of materials to ascend a character. Elemental Stones, Enemy Drops, and Farmable Ingredients. You also get free draws for ascending characters.
- Character Talents: Finally, characters can enhance their attack, skill, and boost by upgrading their Talents. Characters always have three upgradable talents, and they all use Talent Books and Enemy Drops as materials.
Weapons
- Weapon Rarity: Weapons can be 3,4, or 5*. In general, 4 and 5 star weapons can only be gotten by rolling wishes. There are 4 star craftable weapons but the materials to craft these weapons are rare
- Weapon Levels: Weapons are levelled up using Enhancement Gems.
- Weapon Ascension: Weapons can ascend just like characters, at the same level caps as characters.
- Weapon Refinement: Weapons can "eat" the same type of weapon to increase their secondary ability. This can be done up to five times.
Artifacts
- Artifact levels: Artifacts can "eat" any other artifact to gain levels and therefore more of its given stat. Every 4 levels, the artifact will generate a new "substat" up to four of them, and after that will level up those substats randomly.
World Level/Adventure Rank
Your Adventure Rank is the overall sum of experience in the world. You level this up with quests and exploration. Once your AR hits certain ranks, it will raise your World Level, which alters the difficulty of mobs in the world, the levels of domains you can tackle, and engagement with certain systems (like co-op)
Resin
This is the energy system in the game. You use Resin to complete World Bosses, Domains, and Ley Lines. Resin generates at 1 per every 8 minutes. The Resin cap is 160.
- Fragile Resin: This is an item that will immediately give you 60 Resin. These are currently rare and un-farmable. I recommend not using these at all until your World Level is 6 or higher
- Condensed Resin: Cram 40 Resin into a fairy and turn it into a consumable item that doubles your reward for Domains. Incredibly useful and time saving. You can only hold 3
Exploration Help
There are two key items you'll find while exploring Tevyat: Anemoculous and Geoculus. There are a lot of them, and they are used to level up your stamina. I recommend using this interactive map to mark them off when you find them: https://genshin-impact-map.appsample.com/#/
Primogems, Fates, and their usage
There are two currencies for making wishes (rolling the Gacha) in the game - Acquaint Fates and Intertwined Fates. Acquaint Fates, the blue ones, only work on the permanent banner. The permanent banner has a set number of 5* characters (Jean, QiQi, Diluc, Mona, Keqing) and almost all of the 4* characters currently in the game, as well as a selection of weapons. Intertwined Fates are pink/blue and are used on the Rotating Character and the Rotating Weapon banners. Primogems are the "free" currency that you get for doing certain things in the game. The exchange rate for Primogems to Fates is 160 - 1. Meaning a ten draw costs 1,600 Gems. It is my opinion that you should never be using Primogems to buy Acquaint Fates. You get these naturally through other means and it is simply not a good financial investment to put your gems towards anything other than a character banner that you are interested in. Weapon Banners should also be avoided for F2P players. That is Whale Territory.
Pity
GI has a pity system on its draws. Every Ten Draws on a specific banner guarantees a 4* item or character. Every Ninety Draws guarantees a 5* item or character. In regards to the rotating banners, this count is agnostic and carries across new banners. For instance, if you draw on a character banner 50 times and do not get the featured 5*, on the next banner you are guaranteed to get a 5* drop in at least 40 draws. Additionally, there is a secondary pity system for getting what you actually want. After 90 (80 in the weapon banner) draws, you have a 50% chance of getting the featured character. If you do not, in your next pity draw you will have a 100% chance to get the featured character. This is also carried across banners.
Quick Tips for new players
- Artifacts are more important than the game leads you to believe. Artifact set bonuses and stat gains are critical to a character being viable, even early on in the game. I use this google sheet for help with what artifacts are useful and what stats a character should be aiming for
- Once you get a team you like, you can use this calculator for numbers research https://genshinimpactcalculator.com/genshinCalc
- The "Cup" slot Artifacts can roll a "boost specific element damage" main stat. This is incredibly important to almost every character's build. Do not throw away any (4 or 5*) cups that have an elemental or physical damage boost. You never know when a character would like one.
- Leveling your character is not as important as Ascending your character. Ascension is the gate for leveling up talents and getting your character's unique stat growth boosted. The max level is 90, but in general, most characters should not be levelled past 80, and some support characters do not need to be levelled past 60/70.
- Co-op can make Domains easier and is a very painless process. If you're having trouble with a domain, click the match button and you should pretty instantly get into a 4 person party.
- The Monthly Shop will showcase 2 characters you can "buy" each month. The currency used for these characters is generated by wishing, and it's possible to get enough to buy at least one from the free pulls you can generate.
Redeeming Codes
You can redeem codes on the official website here: https://genshin.mihoyo.com/en/gift
I use this resource for checking what new codes there are: https://www.pockettactics.com/genshin-impact/codes
WE ARE FRIENDS (UID Codes)
CursedKing - 604215413
Waveform - 600033021
eMoander - 605683619
AshtonDragon - 607945231
Vagrant_winds - 600592891
akjak - 607100652
Tiger Burning - 600156921
Spoit - 606501461
metaghost - 600369657
Who-Psyd - 602809720
obifett - 611314541
Maddoc - 603856499
Mighty - 604890762
411Randle - 606218000
Up Job - 604461209
Shadowfire - 601577365
Travan - 602633876
Gabriel_Pitt - 619806399
The Wolfman - 603168926
Nought - 704337850
RidleySaria - 607033509
Xantus - 615366746
Fencingsax - 643060301
Types: Boom + Robo | Food: Sweet | Habitat: Plains
cursedking on
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that new thread smell
Smells like crappy artifacts in here!
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Speaking of which I'm at 15/16 for that friendship level 10 cheevo, speak about a long-ass commitment to get that one done. At least the teapot helps with it these days.
63 days to go from 1-10, if you do all daily commissions and spend 180 resin a day. 50 days if you also put them in the Serenitea pot. If you farm 10 random event quests a day, those numbers drop to 52/43.
It is a hell of a grind, but at least it's a passive one, and it's not like the reward is gamebreaking or anything. I've just started doing dailies with 3 low level characters and one super carry.
That said, I do think finding an excuse to mix up your party every now and then is a good idea. I'd probably get bored if I just relied on Ganyu or Xiao all the time. Been really enjoying using parties with Sara since she was added. With her C2, I'm not seeing any signs of me getting tired of activating her E, switching to someone to get buffed and use their burst, then using her charge attack, switching to someone else to do the same, and then using her burst and switching to the fourth character (usually Raiden). It's such a satisfying rotation.
In terms of weekly bosses:
Stormterror: easy enough to power through with a crappy party
Wolf: This is the only one you can swap party before collecting rewards, so piece of cake
Azhdaha: I swap in Zhongli for one of the spots so at least three people are getting rewards
Childe/Signora: I do these co-op so at least I'm getting double companionship bonus for one of my guys and I pick a decent one so the other players aren't carrying me too hard.
Although to be fair, maybe I was just looking for an excuse to not fight Azhdaha anymore. What a terrible fight. The only other one I really have a problem with is Dvalin, but Ganyu makes that fight very quick and painless.
some of them are neat.. but some of them are kinda ridiculous BS like the "light up the fog" achievement where you have to find 50ish individual things, some of which are way out of the way...with no quest to track your progress. spent like 2 hours running back and forth, checking and double checking... convinced it was bugged or something..
Yeah, ultimately I printed up a map and crossed things off. I think you have to trail the twins through that area first, otherwise they end up interfering with the game's memory of which torches are on or off.
I'm at 23/31 here, just about to hit 10 with Raiden and pretty close with Lisa. I keep Jean in my party and bring in three others for daily commissions mostly because Jean is kind of a powerhouse for most of the basic content for me.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
if you get a perfect score you are a https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Discantus
Right now I'm running around at level 40 with this party and having a hard time clearing timed challenges. Not sure if this is because I need to focus on gearing them up with weapons and artifacts beyond what I find on the ground and merge, or because my team comp is whack.
C0 Xingqiu
C0 Alloy
C0 Sucrose
C1 Xiangling
Here's the rest of my crew.
C3 Traveler
C1 Noelle
C1 Rosaria
C1 Chongyun
C1 Beidou
C0 Diona
C0 Klee
C0 Jean
C0 Fischl
C0 Lisa
C0 Kaeya
C0 Amber
It's a little disheartening that Klee is the only character I have the internet ranks as a "main DPS"; I don't even like using ranged characters that much.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Ashton runs with Beidou as a main dps, but I don't know what constellation level is required for her to really shine.
I will say that Razor is currently available in the shop for 34 of the whatever currency. If you can afford that, he is an instant party main/carry. I played the entire way through with him and had absolutely no trouble with content. I only switched him out when I got Eula, the actual 5* physical claymore character (rather than the 4.5* character Razor really is). You could make a pretty salty party with Razor/Jean/Fischl/Rosaria, actually. Razor wants to be on the field as much as possible, and all of those characters can thrive at just hopping in to do their thing and then zipping back.
Edit:
You could also swap in your c6 Barbara for Xingqiu. Not going to be quite as much damage but will still give reactions for Xiangling while keeping everyone up. And Xiangling is fine as main dps, slap a crescent pike on her and go to town.
Klee, Xingqiu, Xiangling, Diona gives you a Pyro vape comp with a bit of extra burst from XL ult and shields for Klee which means she isn't worrying about staggers. Especially good if you have Dodoco Tales from the Summer event.
Fischl, Rosaria, Beidou, Diona gives you a basic Fischl auto-attack comp with Superconduct and shields for Fischl. Not great while Fischl is c0 but still not bad, as you can get a 4* Phys Dmg bow through crafting.
“One client, two clients… three clients!!” Gets me every time
*because she runs a funeral parlor for context :biggrin:
At your current level, I wouldn't worry too much about using a top tier main dps. Jean, Xiangling (with a Crescent Pike), Kaeya, Fischl, or any claymore user is more than good enough. Maybe even Aloy, but trying to get her little grenades to hit enough times to boost her normal attacks might be frustrating. There are teams that use Sucrose as the on-field dps, but I wouldn't recommend that at low levels, since teams like that rely on good artifacts that aren't even available yet.
I’ve been eyeballing Razor whenever I look at the character list in Piamon’s menu. But I don’t think I have the 34 whatever stardust and I’m not sure I can get that many by the time that store rotates.
But maybe and I’m going to give it a try.
his hold skill detonates all ore in the radius. quite a boon at lower AR to help level weapons.
I wish I could C3 him, but I got to C2 this time around and that'll do.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Serpent Spine is quite popular..
the bow has a neat passive.
So for a short answer, my recommendation is dropping Aloy for Jean like a lot of others have said. Also put some consideration to raising Beidou, Diona and Fischl because they're very good. In general, you want to focus on a team on either freezing (Aloy) or Melting (Xiangling), not having both options. When you start farming artifacts, I heavily recommend prioritizing the Viridescent Venerer set for Jean/Sucrose because it will do a lot of good work. For early game (hell, they still work in late game too), if you want to gear up, some good craftable weapons (when you get the recipes) are the Prototype Rancour (sword) and Prototype Archaic (Claymore), though the Claymore is pretty much only if you do decide to start raising Beidou.
My overall recommendation is focusing on building supports in general and sticking with a couple DPS because when I started playing, I did it the other way around and am paying for it now. So that's just another vote for Sucrose, Fischl, Xiangling, Diona and Xingqiu. Supports are versatile and what you use to build around the DPS, not the other way around. Again, learned this the hard way!
For a long answer, I spoiled it because it's 1) Very long and 2) Entrenched in Late Game Think. Your focus shifts over the course of the game and while it sounds overwhelming, it's only overwhelming if you kinda let it be. More than not, you can just reduce it to a list of goals while you play casually. Feel free to skip the long answer, 100%, because it probably just reads like gibberish and I don't wanna scare you off from the game.
Xingqiu, Sucrose, Diona and Fischl are all fantastic Enablers, which is kinda Support+.
-Sucrose shines once you get her a good set of Viriddescent Venerer artifacts and a Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers or maybe even an Elemental Mastery book (though I'm not sure what the returns are on that.) Swirl is based on a lot of factors now, though, including level, which means you can't run her as effectively at low-cost like you used to.
-Diona is an ideal Cryo Battery and then some. Her skill gives a shield and lots of particles (more if you give her a Sacrificial Bow or Favonius Warbow) and her Burst throws down a healing radius. Her only real downfall is that she just doesn't really apply Cryo but you're going to be running her with another Cryo character most of the time anyway, so that's covered.
-And Fischl is just a really really great off-field support. Pump up her Attack, Crit and Electro damage, throw down Oz and switch to a Pyro/Cryo/Hydro dealer and you're gold.
Honorable mentions here go to Chongyun (He is the master Cryo attack enabler and does some decent damage), Kaeya (Good Battery and Off-Field Support Burst), Lisa (Her burst lowers defense with one of her locked talents) and Noelle (She shields and can do a little bit of healing)
Rosaria, Jean, Beidou and Klee are all very good DPS options for varying reasons.
-Jean has good damage output, can make effective use of the Viridescent Venerer set, has a Burst that can heal just about as much as you'll need at any given moment and her passive lets her heal the entire team on hit (not every hit but a lot of them). Her skill can also make short work of enemies that are vulnerable to gravity, since you can blast them into deep water (if there's any nearby) to drown them, or just blast them against walls to deal extra damage, or just blast them up in the air to have them fall and take damage that way. While activating Swirl for VV.
-Beidou is a monster. Very good damage, very good Skill, very good Burst. At High Constellations, she gets even better. Her skill is a parry that you can use to pull off perfect parries and her Burst is off-field that originates chain lightning from your on-field character for good damage as well as reactions.
-Klee just does a lot of Pyro damage. A LOT. She's kind of a meme character but she's also just very powerful. I don't have her myself, so I can't attest to everything but one of the best bits of synergy I've seen with her is using her skill and waiting for the bomb to explode into mines and then using Jean's skill to aim and launch the mines. That's just wild. Her main downfall is that she's a 'Greedy' DPS. She wants to be on field all the time, so you have to build around that. And her range can be kinda comically short sometimes for being a ranged character.
Honorable mentions here go to Traveler (specifically Anemo Traveler) and Kaeya. You've already replaced the Traveler with Jean, kinda, (possibly not literally but mechanics-wise) but their Burst can be very powerful for reactions. As stated with Klee, the Traveler's Tornado can pick up the mines and take them, making it a pyro tornado. And Kaeya is very good all around. His skill cooldown is short, his burst is good to build around and he can do a good amount of damage. Some people swear by him and you'll usually see him with a Blizzard Strayer artifact set paired with another cryo character like Rosaria or Chongyun to maximize him.
And then you have Xiangling who is a Secret 6*. (Not really but kinda) Her Burst is great for damage and reactions so long as you can get someone to apply fast enough (Xingqiu and Tartaglia are good for this for Hydro at least), you can power her up with Artifact sets a lot of characters anyway (Noblesse early and Emblem of Severed Fate for a big upgrade when you can) and one of her best weapons is a weapon you can get and upgrade just by fishing. If you can eventually get her to C4, her Burst gets longer which obviously just makes her that much better. She Enables, she can DPS, she can carry a team, she's just very very good.
Now for possible teams out of who you have right now, my first ideas are probably:
-Xiangling, Xingqiu, Sucrose and Jean. Xiangling and Jean can take turns DPSing normally and when you really need to bring the hurt, you hit someone with Xiangling or Xingqiu's skill, use Sucrose's skill to swirl and group and then Burst Pyronado and Rain Swords. Having Jean and Sucrose activates the Impetuous Winds Resonance, which reduces stamina consumption and cooldowns which can be really handy and Sucrose is going to be your main Swirl enabler/VV holder. If you go with this team, Jean will want like a 4-Piece Gladiator's Finale or something to just make her hit harder. (She very likely won't need Maiden's Beloved for healing).
-Beidou, Fischl, Xingqiu and Jean. Usually this team will want Bennett instead of Jean but you don't have him and the team doesn't rely on him, it's just made better. Jean works just as well because she fills a niche he does (Healing) and she can Swirl. In this team, you can run her with VV and be fine.
-Rosaria, Kaeya, Xiangling or Xingqiu (you don't want both in this), and probably Jean again. Again, this is where Bennett would replace her but, yeah. Rosaria's probably going to be your main DPS in this team (or share it with Jean) and it focuses around Melt or Freeze. Rosaria and Kaeya give you the Shattering Ice Resonance for more crit which is very good if you're also running a Blizzard Strayer set on Rosaria. Use Rosaria and Kaeya's burst a lot as well as Xiangling/Xingqiu's to get your secondary effect, Jean heals and uses VV.
The Solar Pearl is quite a good catalyst if you're lacking good 4* catalysts like I am thank you for nothing, game.
(I have an R1 Widsith, but that's not enough damnit)
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
that was my position... until i bought my first Solar Pearl..
then the game decided to shower me in catalysts and I haven't even bothered to level the Pearl past 20 ;p
Jean was the first unit I triple crowned. I still don't regret it. She's damn fun, and she can put in some serious work.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Switch: SW-1493-0062-4053
But I also just love Klee's whole concept and how she plays. If she's not your cup of tea, then yeah you certainly can't go wrong with Jean.
Last leak I saw about the next weapon banner had Staff of Homa and Summit Shaper as the 5*s. Not sure how reliable it was though.