#hoyo doesn't give us a choice

[hydrachea]

Loving Xiao isn't optional. Loving Xiao isn't a choice. Mihoyo just looks you dead in the eye and says "you love Xiao" and you do. You love Xiao.

[mdhwrites]

Was Ratio a Good Free Five Star?

TL:DR All the things that make him look bad on paper as a free five star are exactly why he was frankly a FANTASTIC choice.

But I do mean it when I say that on paper he looks like Hoyo taking an L while we get left with Ratio. Not because he's bad though. For entrenched players like me, he was exciting. A main DPS that had to have a team comp that was pretty different from a lot of the other hyper carries out there since most supports, especially the hyper carry ones, don't do debuffs. If you try Tingyun and Bronya next to him, you'll often end up missing on MASSIVE damage since you need those three debuffs on the enemies. So who supports him best? That's an exciting question for someone with a wide variety of characters.

BUT.

A free five star like this is literally never for the entrenched players. It's a nice gift to them but this sort of thing is either a sign of desperation as they plead for old players to come back or it's a marketing trick to pull new players in. As Star Rail is still one of the best in its genre monetarily and Ratio was put out specifically because of all the awards it had just won, it was clearly the latter. A way to pull people in while the buzz around the game was big. Finally convert any last Genshin players who were on the fence while also finally moving people over from ALL the other team comp focused, turn-ish based gachas out there. A flex of dominance.

With that in mind... Think about who your first half a dozen, guaranteed characters are. Only half of Trailblazer has a debuff and it lasts one turn. March 7th has her freeze on her ultimate and that lasts for one turn. Dan Heng is the only member of the team with a debuff through his skill but it's only a two turn debuff and again: requires a skill point.

Then after that, the next three guaranteed are Asta, Serval and Natasha. Asta doesn't have a debuff without her trace ability to burn on basic meaning you have to get actually a decent bit into the game to actually get a debuff through her. Serval finally gives you a long lasting debuff with her Shock DoTs and can even extend those, making her not that skill point intensive. Then Natasha is, well... A healer who eventually dispels debuffs, not adds to them.

So two planets into the game and a new player could theoretically have a team of characters who all have debuff on skill but one of those debuffs lasts one turn and they ALL need to be using their skills most rounds in order to keep up the three debuffs to guarantee Ratio has good damage... On his skill. In a game where, unless you have a limited time 5 star that ISN'T free, you only have up to five skill points a round and that's only if you used a lot of basic attacks before hand. If you invest in her, you can swap one of them for Asta who I think would have her burn on basic to help but you'd still be running at a pretty extreme deficit mostly.

That is what you're guaranteed and so the shiny five star you were given, who was pushed towards you, is... Awkward. To put it mildly. Even potentially frustrating as every time you miss with his skill is a failure and feels AWFUL. Worse yet, you can so clearly see how he could work and how he could be strong!

And that's why he's amazing as the free five star.

I've jumped into plenty of long running gacha games that had guaranteed five stars or the like and do you know what happens? They make my brain turn off entirely for the starting content because they are usually demonstrably more powerful than anything else I have and the early game content wasn't designed around them. Even 3rd Impact, which I tried to get into now that it's on PC, has this problem where early on, they actually throw so many 5 star characters at you that you have to pick and choose between them instead of literally anyone else they give you early on. It's overwhelming but it also makes any curve of power just vanish as suddenly you are tackling content already meant to be easy with a character you don't have to think about with.

Ratio (and admittedly a lot of things about Star Rail) avoids this by being a character that requires characters who can work with him to function. He DEMANDS thought and in a way that leans into Star Rail's greatest strength: The fact that team comp matters. I could do an entire blog on how I think Star Rail is genuinely a breath of fresh air for turn based combat but this really is the big one for this blog. A new player is given this new five star who not only demands intelligence as a character trait but also for gameplay purposes. Can't figure out how to make him work? Then his gift is wasted on a fool like you. Maybe find someone a bit more your speed?

And as a Seele main who's only 5 star they used (besides Trailblazer) for over a month of play was Seele when the game came out... I wouldn't have wanted to be given Seele for free. Seele is a great character but she is monstrously powerful, even when played poorly. I don't even hyper carry with my Seele and I can tell you that she'll wreck house for a LONG time just on her own. She doesn't showcase the depth and strategy of the game, especially early on, and so a new player would just think that the game is simple and basic. They'd get bored with the character they potentially see as their win button and move on to a different game.

And for those stubborn enough to go "No, I am using Ratio!" then he becomes a goal. Not only does every limited 5 star that comes out suddenly look all the more appealing if they do debuffs (Boy was Kafka a fucking perfect pairing with Ratio's banner btw) but every four star is all the more exciting because hey, do they do debuffs? How many? How efficiently? How can they fit into the dream team that made me first get into the game?

Just by existing within a player's roster, one way or another, he raises questions about the game that ask the player to dive deeper into the mechanics of the game than they would have otherwise. Makes them think more about the early game, when it's going to be at its slowest, than most mobile games would ever even risk doing until they can hope sunk cost is keeping you there. He's not just a shiny trophy but an actual hook into players, old and new.

Frankly, if I had to say anything critical about choosing him, it's that he's just not had any good content associated with him. I think his quest, especially post 2.0, will mostly be a let down for any new players who came in partially because of him, especially if they decided to force him as their main. Admittedly, he's the like ONLY good thing about that quest (I could do a blog just about why that quest is bad) but even he doesn't get to shine in it. Penacony hasn't done him any favors either with his brief appearance so far. His writing is very strong though, easily some of the best of the smart characters in Star Rail, and his personality is interesting even in those appearances so they're not all bad, just that they could easily be disappointing to those new players who had to wait a while to get to see their boy in story.

But I suppose it had to falter somewhere. Hoyo has a tough act to follow if they ever give out a free five star for Star Rail again and keeping it in the realm of those who are simply intelligent, rather than having pulled off something only a genius could, is befitting for the good doctor. Have a good day everyone and until next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[ad-hawkeye]

ok so it's lit student again and im like, already lacking sleep but instead of sleeping i'm gonna go catch up on all of artem's cards Just Bc like i genuinely have no idea why it's always in the dead of night that i get hit with an overwhelming wave of adoration for artem?? i'm about to start YAPPING in your inbox again im so sorry DHAKDJKS *does it anyway*

continuing off my last ask they me think of the movie i watched recently called "past lives" that's fully centered around the concept of fate (it's so good 10/10 i really want to see artem review it),,, i won't spoil but it's like hshsjadhsjhdjshs "destined by fate" but fate doesn't tell you what it holds for you??

after watching it i looked up more about the term "inyeon" (korean term for fate or providence) which the movie heavily emphasizes on and found a reddit post talking about it (i'll paste the link below <3) where they quote a comment explaining its meaning and what it says is that inyeon isn't just about the person you're destined to end up with, but also the people you encounter in your life. basically, with inyeon, your string of fate isn't simply linear but also looped around every person you'll interact with. to reach the person at the end of your "string of fate," you're supposed to treat each interaction with respect or else you'll never find them AND LEARNING THIS MADE ME LOVE THE MOVIE EVEN MORE 🥹🥹🥹

a lot of destiny tropes give the characters an easy way to end up together kinda like the opposite of "doomed by the narrative" as in they could do simply nothing and still find their way to each other, but to reference the comment from earlier: your destiny doesn't end the moment your meet your "destined one." artemrosa learned so much and worked so hard before they became a couple a d still continue to grow both individually and together even after they started dating 🥹 they're still the same precious individuals that they were in their pre-dating arc, only wiser and stronger with combined forces 🫶 they aren't together just because fate wanted them to be, they Made it happen and they're still Making it happen‼️ something something every choice i made, every path i took (indirectly and directly) led me to you

like. i genuinely wanna know more about how they met/knew each other in college because it's SO fascinating to me that their paths have crossed so many times, and they don't just simply get together. a lot of things happen that they learn from that shapes them into their best versions that also complement each other. to me it's like,, no matter what happens, what they feel for each other or how the end up, their paths will always be destined to cross, whether it's by brushing past each other on the street and never meeting again or becoming each other's partners both in work and in life and as seen from the different universes that hoyo has shown us so far, we can see that they always end up becoming each other's most cherished person, despite the varying journies that led them to that point WUAWUAWUA

pls enjoy my rambling i might actually pass out from this 😭 good fucking NIGHT

p.s. this was not written with the proposal card in mind god bless 🙏 that's an example of "it happened bc the gods demanded it and they sent a lightning bolt down to everyone who opposed it"

https://www.reddit.com/r/redikomi/comments/16drqze/the_meaning_of_fate_in_yeon_%EC%9D%B8%EC%97%B0_in_korean/

omg shut up i literally read this AFTER replying to your last ask and we literally came to the exact same conclusion HAHAHAHA OMG NO WAY. SUFFICE TO SAY. YEAH. I ENTIRELY AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS.

THIS SPECIFIC SUBVERSION OF THE RED STRING TROPE is WHY i love it in artem's route!! ohhh it's so GOOOODDDD YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!! YOU HAVE TO BECOME BETTER PEOPLE!! my ass in 2021 would not shut UP about this and dear god im not going to shut up about it right now.

i just want to say you not only took the words out of my mouth but you also made them more concise and well said and ooughhh. Artem Fans. read this. NOW. you will all look at this post. oh im dizzy. oh im going so insane.

[intogenshin]

When I say hoyo doesn't address sensitive topics (that they themselves introduced) I don't mean that they should verbalize them in the text (though it would be like.. the bare minimum if they're not willing to go into it at least). As in, having a scene with explicit in-game racism and acknowledge it by calling the situation or the character committing the aggression "racist". Very little of it could be misinterpreted as anything else, the audience recognized what they were watching easily. Pointing it out would reassure the audience that it is an intentional choice with a purpose if it has one, but hoyo didn't have any, so more like a cheap way to not engage with it any further. Yet they didn't even do that.

They don't need to necessarily solve it either, the writing would feel pretty disingenuous and immature if racism was solved in a day.

Actually, I think the way hoyo does it (solve these big issues) is pretty awkward? They skip the development and go straight into solution, and it creates a dissonance between the world building and the audience.

For example: the Wall of Samiel

We started the Sumeru chapter with the introduction of this wall as an element of marginalization between the forest and the desert, and we're shown later that Dehya even smuggled people in.

In that sense, the narrative owes it to the audience to explore this deeper before dropping the retcon of "Acshually, the wall was good all along" we get when it's revealed that Rukkhadevata created it to protect the forest.

This specific element in the story had a lot of connotations recognizable in the real world for the audience and implications within the world building one moment, and then the next it doesn't.

We should have gotten, like, at least a quest that explored the perspective of eremites regarding the wall. And if they wanted the retcon, they could have done it as well by having one of these characters struggle with the feelings caused as a consequence of oppression vs the original intention of the wall, and see them reach an emotional resolution that could frame the eremites into positive lights of forgiveness, resilience, etc.

(I mean, my preferred option would always be to break down the mf wall and give the characters validation for their anger, but we're working with "the wall was always good" here.)

We get something loosely similar to this through Rahman in the archon quest, where he confronts his resentment against the dendro archon with the new understanding that deshret and rukkha were never enemies, which makes the eremites' collective desire for revenge misplaced (where have I heard that one before lmao). But, see, it's not an empathetic narrative towards the eremites, it makes their anger meaningless and frivolous (where did I hear that one again).

When Dehya expresses her anger in the archon quest, it was one of the most interesting and promising bits of the world building. A wide range of fans liked this moment a lot and wanted to see more of it through Dehya, we're feeling this anger with her, especially people who relate to the allegory or abstract portrayal of what this wall symbolizes, but then we're just told it wasn't a big deal and the characters got over it already.

It feels like an unfulfilled promise from the writing. And the plot relied on this element of the story, on the marginalization that motivated the eremites to hope for deshret's return, so if they fail to deliver the development of these themes, it only looks like they used them as a prop for the main story. Like, the in-game racism of this chapter is just makeup to support the main storyline.

And obviously using minor themes in a story to do exactly that is normal but, like, not racism bitch. Especially not considering the racism that this chapter was built on, the colorism of the designs and the orientalism overall.

This is one the most distinctive (/neg) characteristics of genshin's writing, they do it all the time. It's fine most of the time, like having the parallel of Marie Antoinette be a loveable girl failure slash cunning god with a nice character development who we all sympathize with - not a big deal. It's not a sensitive issue, who cares. But racism or colonialism? if they don't have the freedom to explore that within the medium or whatever excuse there is, then just don't do it man. Did we really need to see those microaggressions against brown people if they were not going to be followed by anything else.

[rossithepixie]

!!!!! ROSSI! i feel like! at some point! you mentioned that hoyo made certain choices with wriothesley's character model and outfit that contribute to how BEEG he looks, etc. and i was wondering! if you'd like to elaborate on that? 🎤👀

Oh gosh I can certainly try! No promises on how much sense I'll make. Let me just -pulls up a picture of him-

Now you just stand there and look handsome. Amazing job. So Genshin uses set character models and they come in different categories. For male playable characters they come in "Tall" and "Short" but the models themselves don really contain body variation. It's all about the clothes and how they use colors and patterns to break up their shape! Wriothesely is arguably the largest male appearance wise. (while neuvi might be the tallest looking of the tall models)

(full breakdown under the cut)

The seams in Wrio's vest do a lot of the heavy lifting here in how they guide your eyes up and out toward his shoulders. Same for the lapels of the vest. Not only that but the dark panels of the vest on his side give an illusion of even more weight and thickness. There looks like there's somthing to grab onto there. Also note the extra bit of dark paneling between the deltoid of his shoulder and the space leading to his neck. This further pushes your eye outward. Those slight breaks of darker color do a lot of heavy lifting of informing how we take in his form. The collar of his shirt and cuffs of his sleeves once again draw your eye outward.

This of course doesn't even touch on the extra layer they added with the coat draped over his shoulders that does actually bulk out his figure more but it's not really the point of this post since i'm talking more about how the clothes close to his body are what really make him feel large. Moving downward his pants utilize similar visual cues to make him feel wider. Those like grey splits leading down to the seems that vanish into the top of his boots work the same as the paneling in his vest. breaking it up visually makes it feel like there's more there.

I'll get to his boots in a second but i had to pause to take a couple pictures of him from different angles that made me feel very rude. they're terrible pictures from my phone so i apologize

Man has a great ass. No denying that. And a part of it is once again how colors are used to break things up, along with the lighter color of his pants allowing for more depth with how they have the shadows cast on him. It's like they framed his ass essentially.

-coughs-

Now if you'll look at the first image of him again i'll get back to his boots. The armor cuffs at the top of them once again splay outward somewhat and as you go down the leg you'll notice that mot of the detailing is done in such a way to keep forcing your eyes outward. Then the main part of the boot really is just chunky.

In conclusion hoyoverse does a really good job useing shape language and color to add variation to their character models despite using a limited range of actual models. I could probably do a similar rundown with Al haitham, who while not as big looking as wriothesley also feels bigger than say Kaveh or Kaeya despite all the characters i mentioned here using the same base model. Seriously though the take away should be that even if you have limited resources or are trying to reduce them while making something with a ton of characters there are lots of subtle tricks you can use to trick the eye of your viewer (positive)

I'm sure there's someone with a more professional background in character design who could give a more in depth and better articulated run down of all this. I'm pretty much all self taught and just really love art and character design. I could talk about this at length still though with a bit of back and forth since there are definitely things i glazed over.

Thank you so much for getting my brain going Amira! (I've talked my non artist roomate's ear off about this before and they just politely listen so i can get it out of my system)

[msviolacea]

why you should play honkai: star rail in 2024

Question and answer style, because it's what I like to do. It's long, y'all, and probably doesn't cover everything, but I've been typing and adding for like three hours so I'm yeeting it into the Tumblrverse now.

What is Honkai: Star Rail?

Honkai: Star Rail (from here either Star Rail or HSR) is an anime-style space fantasy RPG with turn-based combat and gacha mechanics for obtaining characters. It is the most recent (full) release from Hoyoverse (formerly Mihoyo), a Chinese video game company who is also responsible for Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, and Tears of Themis, as well as a bunch of older games.

What platforms can I play it on?

PC and mobile are free, PS5 costs $10 to download for what I assume are Sony reasons. I most enjoy it on PC or PS5, but the mobile version is very easy to run, and a good choice for using up your daily stamina and doing the character leveling grind in a casual way.

What's the story about?

A character (known to most in-game as the Trailblazer, see both gendered versions below) wakes up on a space station with no memories and a mysterious destructive energy contained inside of them. They are taken in by a group of interstellar travelers known as the Nameless, who travel the universe in a space ship shaped like a giant old-school train, and visit various civilizations to observe, help, and learn about the strange energy trapped inside of them.

More below, including information about the gameplay, characters, and the important caveat about why particular people may not want to play the game.

What's the gameplay like?

The combat is turn-based, using a four-character party. The game gives you a good number of characters for free just by playing the game, which is more than good to get you through the story elements of the game. There is exploration as well, though it is instanced and far more limited than you might be used to if you play Hoyo's 2 ton gorilla, Genshin Impact. I personally like that it's more limited, though - I've gotten really overwhelmed by Genshin lately, and I like that HSR lets me finish things without feeling like I'll never be done.

(An in-game screenshot showing you what the gameplay looks like, visually.)

How's the writing?

Snappy and modern - a good combination of sincere and humorous, with a lot of pop culture and meme references all over the place. The English localization is top notch, in my opinion, but it's obviously written in Chinese, and you can choose to play in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean as well.

What about voice acting?

The main story is fully voice acted, by some top-notch talent overall. There's a good bit of crossover between Genshin and HSR casts, for what are probably obvious reasons. The side quests are mostly text only, with a few exceptions.

The Trailblazer - your player character - is also voiced to a smaller extent. The dialogue you choose during quests isn't voiced, but you'll hear your character say some random things while you run around and explore.

What kinds of storylines are there thus far?

There are ... three and a half? areas so far in the game. If it follows Genshin's formula, they'll add another new world/area annually.

Herta Space Station - the tutorial area, mostly, but there's also some ongoing story there about scientists of dubious ethics. It's also the area we go back to when they want to make a point about the larger universe, usually.

Belobog/Jarilo VI - Space Siberia. A planet that was previously cut off from the galaxy 600 years ago, covered in ice and snow due to ... science magic plot bullshit. Steampunky in technology, Russian in a lot of naming conventions, stories that revolve around people learning how to live together and rebuild their society.

The Xianzhou Luofu - Space China. One of several world-ships of the Xianzhou, who lost their original home planet to ... lore bullshit, it's complicated. Very technologically advanced, home to a race of humans that have been cursed with immortality, along with a race of fox people and a race of dragon-people. Stories revolve around the ethics of immortality, overpopulation, and the consequences of war.

Penacony - Space ... Disney World? IDK, it's very weird so far. Centuries ago, it was a corporate prison world, but has since been taken over by a religious organization and turned into the most exclusive resort in the universe. But the resort part is entirely contained in dreams. So it's less of a planet and more of a hotel where you lay in dream water and experience a theme park in your mind. Story themes are still developing, but they're real fucked up, y'all.

So what is the Hoyoverse anyway, other than the company?

Hoyo is very clear that all their games take place in the same multiverse. There are characters who appear in nearly every game they make, in different forms, sometimes with the same names, sometimes with different names. (See: Raiden Mei and Raiden Ei from HI3 and Genshin respectively, or Bronya Zaichek and Bronya Rand from HI3 and HSR.) Knowing about the other games may give you some interesting character things to chew on, but have no doubt - you do not need to play any of the other games in order to enjoy one particular one.

HSR is uniquely tied to Honkai Impact 3rd by virtue of the fact that at least one character is the actual exact same person in both games. (There will probably be at least two later, but ... don't mind that right now. Unless you want to go down the HI3 YouTube lore rabbit hole like I have. In which case hit me up.) Welt Yang, the Astral Express's Team Dad, crossed universes after getting his start in HI3. His past is SUPER interesting, but again, not necessary for your HSR enjoyment. For my folks with more Western fandom backgrounds, think of him this way - what if, instead of the bullshit at the end of Endgame, Steve Rogers realized there was another version of [insert your favorite character Steve loves here, romantic or platonic, I'm not getting involved in that drama here] that he could help, and he found a way to jump universes to do so. That's Welt's vibe, more or less. He's amazing. I love him.

Anyway. There's a lot to the Hoyo multiverse, a lot of philosophical stuff that revolves around order and chaos and how the universe balances it, mixed with some Mass Effect Reaper-style bullshit, but if it ever becomes relevant in HSR, be sure they'll explain everything we need in full. The story of HSR stands on its own.

... but if the idea of multiple versions of the same person and different universes gives you a headache, well, this is your warning, I guess?

(Welt's splash art has a lot of HI3 references, which are partly what made me go down the lore rabbit hole, but mostly I wanted a picture of him because he's hot. You're welcome.)

What other fannish-type media would you compare it to?

There are a couple of easy ones. Genshin Impact fans will find things very familiar here, for a wide variety of reasons - more on the larger Hoyoverse below. For those with more western media experience, it's got the swashbuckling adventure of Star Wars combined with Star Trek's "explore strange new worlds" ethos. I'm sure there are a bunch of animes and Chinese/Japanese video games it can be compared to, but I haven't been in that audience particularly, so I can't name any for you myself. I can say that some of it tickles the same parts of my brain as FFXIV - they're VERY DIFFERENT games, don't get me wrong, but there's a similar tone in the "wink wink" punny pop culture English localization sometimes that makes me happy.

Okay, you know everyone here is from fandom, right? You know what we really want to know.

This question is inspired by my nostalgia for the old crack_van community on LJ - I miss the "here's a brief overview of the actual canon and here's what you can find in terms of pairings/fic/etc" format. So, if you want to know if it's worth it to get into this game for fandom reasons, here's a bit of what you can expect.

Popular pairings, according to AO3, and a brief description:

The juggernaut, if the fandom has one: Blade/Dan Heng, which has multiple permutations due to immortality and rebirth and such. This one's for you if you like a lovers-to-enemies vibe, or like creating happy endings where there are none and never will be in canon. Two very attractive men who were once lovers (pretty much canonically, as much as a mainstream Chinese video game will probably get, thanks to some word choices made in the in-game descriptions), made a huge society-shaking Very Big Mistake, and ended up each paying the price in different ways. Several hundred years later, one is regrettably immortal and certifiably insane about it, one has been reborn into a mostly different person and wants nothing to do with his past self, and they just keep running into each other on what seems to be a fated collision course.

(Dan Heng and Blade fighting, as they do. A lot.)

An alternative to above: If you like the immortal attractive dudes vibe but aren't as much into the forever enemies vibe, there's a good amount of fic pairing both of them with Jing Yuan, who is a former friend who got left cleaning up their mess after their Very Big Mistake and now has been the leader of their society for hundreds of years and both misses them a lot and also does NOT want to deal with their mess again. But he'll happily manipulate them into coming home when he needs them.

Oh look, we have women too! And people pair them! Seriously, there are two different f/f ships in the top 10 on AO3, which is refreshing! One is Bronya and Seele, who are the wholesome choice, the sweet stoic leader of her people and the blunt fighter who loves her. The first full story arc of the game is really their story, and it's a lovely less fraught enemies-to-lovers vibe.

If you want your yuri a bit more toxic, or at least less wholesome and not at all canonical, perhaps Himeko and Kafka will be your thing? Himeko is the elegant engineer/navigator for the Astral Express, your Trailblazer's team mom, smart and classy and a gorgeous redhead, what's not to love? Meanwhile Kafka is the sociopathic leader of the Stellaron Hunters, a group of dubious morality who exist to manipulate things in order to bring about a supposedly pre-written future. They only have like one scene where they actually talk to each other, but hey, that's more than enough, right?

(Kafka and Himeko, in their one scene together. Fandom has worked with far less.)

The ridiculous boys: Gepard/Sampo is still going strong, bless. If you don't want any of the drama of the boys mentioned above, just some attractive dudes doing ridiculous things, or if you like "cop and criminal" type pairings, here are your guys. Gepard is the leader of the local guard, Sampo is an underground criminal with his fingers in almost every pie. Cue shenanigans. Sampo is also a member of a very mysterious organization of galactic tricksters and clearly has larger lore relevance somewhere, but hey, you don't have to deal with any of that. Just let him and Gepard do their Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd thing and all is good.

(The stuffy military dude and the Loki-ass motherfucker. What could go wrong?)

OCs are always love: There's always plenty of Trailblazer fic out there. Male Trailblazer (Caelus)/Dan Heng seems to be the most popular, but you can find Caelus or Stelle paired with pretty much anyone out there.

There's also PLENTY of characters and pairings that are under-utilized, and deserve an influx of new energy. As usual, of course.

So, you said there's a reason I shouldn't play it?

Yeah. As mentioned before, it is a gacha game. It's a very forgiving gacha game, to be sure, and it's entirely possible to play as a free-to-play player, you do not have to spend a single cent on this game. However, gacha games are inherently problematic in many ways. So my caveat is this - if you have financial impulse control problems, gambling issues, or really sharp FOMO problems, I don't recommend you getting started playing this game. If you're good at being financially disciplined and not spending outside your entertainment budget, whatever that may be, you'll be fine. But if you have any doubts, then I suggest looking up someone on YouTube and watching a Let's Play instead.

Anyway. If anyone wants to add to this post, reasons why you love the game, fannish recs, whatever, go for it! I miss crack_van, y'all, and want it back on Tumblr terms. Maybe I can wish it into existence starting with this post. We will see.

[prismatic-glow]

navia explained + should you pull?

Hello everyone! Navia is out and I can't wait to talk about her!! Unfortunately I lost my 50/50 (to dehya...) so I won't be able to talk about my personal experiences playing her but I still have lots to talk about.

Here's what i'll be discussing today (table of contents i guess?)

1 ・❥・ brief overview of her playstyle

2 ・❥・explaining her essay of an elemental skill in a reasonable amount of words hoyo pls stop with the novels

3 ・❥・builds and teams

4 ・❥・ strengths and weaknesses

5 ・❥・ should you pull

let's begin!!

╰┈➤ part 1 ➤ navia's playstyle

Navia is a geo DPS with most of her damage coming from her skill. Her damage is frontloaded, meaning she deals a large amount of damage early on and very quickly. Her burst has some off-field geo damage over time and her passive gives her a Geo infusion. The damage of her skill is increased by stacks gained when you pick up crystallize shards Navia is pretty unique in that she can be played mainly off-field as a more quickswap unit or onfield to utilize her infusion

╰┈➤ part 2 ➤ wtf does her skill do

When any of your characters picks up a crystallize shard (from the crystallize reaction), Navia will gain 1 stack. She can have up to 6 stacks. When you use her skill, she consumes all stacks to fire shots of Geo damage The number of stacks consumed will increase the number of shots fired. When multiple shots hit the same opponent, the damage is increased. Every stack consumed past 3 stacks will also increase the damage The skill starts with 2 charges, meaning it can be used twice in a row without needing to wait for the cooldown Holding the skill will cause her to continually collect crystallize shards until it is released. TL;DR: Collect crystallize shards to gain stacks, then consume all stacks and fire shots based on the number of stacks consumed

╰┈➤ part 3 ➤ how to build navia

important note!! she just came out and I haven't seen many calculations yet so please take everything I say with a grain of salt The new Geo set is very good on her but the second set in that domain is basically useless. The domain is kind of a "resin trap" and not really recommended to farm. - If you play Navia with Furina, 4pc Marechaussee Hunter is her best set - 4pc Golden Troupe is also a good alternative to the new set but you need to use your skill very quickly upon entering the field. Because of the short duration of the buff once on-field, pretty much only your first skill will get the buff from the 4pc - Other than that you can just use 2pc/2pc artifact main stats: - attack sands - geo damage goblet - crit rate/crit damage circlet next up, weapons verdict ➤ signature weapon, BIS beacon of the reed sea ➤ gives useful stats redhorn stonethresher ➤ gives useful stats the unforged ➤ gives attack which can be nice wolf's gravestone ➤ gives attack which can be nice serpent spine ➤ amazing choice!! her best four star. At R5 it's very comparable to verdict in terms of damage ultimate overlord's mega magic sword (event weapon) ➤ really good choice, lots of attack and a bit of ER which can be useful in some teams sacrificial greatsword ➤ pretty good choice, helps a ton in teams where she's the only Geo character and finally, teams! Navia is actually very versatile so instead of listing very possible team, i'm gonna go over a few good teammate options bennett ➤ Insanely broken character, Navia really benefits from his attack buff. Bennet isn't usually a good choice as a healer in Furina teams but because Navia doesn't take up much field time, you can take some time to heal up your characters with Bennett's burst to build your Furina stacks xiangling ➤ Xiangling is also really broken. She can apply Pyro off-field which can be useful for Navia. She is pretty much always played with Bennett who, as mentioned, is a great character to play with Navia furina ➤ Great damage, Hydro application, and damage buffing. Navia's short field-time allows for more flexibility within your healer choices zhongli ➤ Amazing shielder. Provides Geo resonance which boosts her damage. He can also help produce crystallize shards albedo ➤ Geo resonance, off-field damage, can produce crystallize shards since she has a TON more characters she can work with, i'm also gonna provide some criteria for characters that can work well with her ➤ Off-field elemental application. can be through summons or effects that trigger with normal attacks ➤ DPS characters with downtime ➤ DPS characters with flexible field time (characters who can swap off during burst such as Noelle) ➤ Other characters with low field time

╰┈➤ part 4 ➤ strengths and weaknesses

+ Navia's teams are very versatile. She can fit in to a number of different teams and her low field time makes it easier to do so. She has good damage that is from her skill, meaning you don't have to build as much ER on her. She also has a very flexible playstyle and can be played on-field or off-field. She's also very easy to play - There is no character that Navia has "perfect synergy" with. This can make some of her teams feel a bit awkward. Her quick field time is nice but may feel weird if you don't account for it when building your teams.

╰┈➤ part 5 ➤ should you pull navia

i talk a lot in this section so you can skip to the end of it for a tldr) From what i've seen so far, Navia seems like a very balanced unit. You most likely wont regret pulling her unless you dislike her playstyle. But if you don't like her or her playstyle, she probably isn't a character you will regret skipping. Navia is an awesome unit with awesome damage and versatile teams. But you shouldn't feel forced to pull her because, in my opinion, she isn't "broken". Her very large amounts of frontloaded damage might make her seem game-breaking and OP but they are balanced out by her low amounts of sustained damage. This does not mean she is bad though!! As I said, she is balanced. I'm trying to push my point of her being balanced and not broken because, as Zy0xx said, her large frontloaded damage makes it easy for people to screenshot her numbers and say "look at this she's broken" which is kinda misleading. I'm not saying to get mad at people posting her damage or using it for thumbnails and call them liers or clickbaiters!! People are allowed to get excited for a character and who doesn't love big numbers. To sum it all up: Navia is a great choice if you want a DPS and a great choice if you like her. She's easy to play, strong, and you probably won't regret it. But skipping her isn't a huge, account ruining mistake and there are many other DPS characters and teams who perform similarly to her

that's all for today!! I hope this post was helpful. Don't hesitate to comment or send in an ask for more questions on Navia or literally anything else relating to what I do (more info in pinned post)

p7 of my explaining every character post will probably come later today

good luck on your pulls (or primo saving!!). If you're reading this, thank you for listening to what I have to say, I really appreciate it

Have an amazing day!!

-color