u/SanicHegehag

I think even the most dedicated players will agree that Character Kits have become a convoluted mess. A modern character's kit reads something like:

"Tapping this character's skill will put them in the Happy Meal state. While in the Happy Meal State, each Normal Attack will generate one French Fry Stack. When the Character has 3 French Fry Stacks they enter Milkshake mode. Tapping the Skill in Milkshake Mode unleashes the McFlurry Swarm, dealing Area of Effect Oreo Damage. If the character holds their skill while in Milkshake Mode, French Fry Stacks convert to 2 All Beef Patties, allowing the character to perform the Mac Attack, doing damage to a single target. After doing the Mac Attack, no more French Fry Stacks can be generated for 6 seconds."

Translation: Skill, do 3 attacks, then Skill again for AoE or Hold Skill for a single Nuke.

Fixing these explanations would be helpful, obviously.

That said, the problem is deeper than just the excessive wall of text Hoyoverse insists on. What Hoyoverse has failed to understand is that some players are genuinely stupid.

Case in point, I was doing some Stygian co-op today. We're building Teams for a Menacing run, and I select Skirk for the Automaton. The next player selects Ayaka (fine), then the next selects Shenhe (also fine). Player 4 adds Linnea. When asked politely to swap to a Hydro Character, they asked Why, because Linnea is their strongest character. Someone said that Skirk needs just Hydro and Cryo on the Team, and their response was "Is that why my Skirk does no Damage?".

Now, I know Hoyoverse realizes that players a dumb. They put in a whole system of Auto Selecting Artifacts to keep people from putting Defense Goblets on their Mavuikas. However, they're still doing massive walls of text when many players don't even know the basics of how their own characters are played.

We need something like the Collected Miscellany videos that give foolproof descriptions on how characters are used, and then bake them into the game somehow.

If you're 100% hyped and ready for The Tsaritsa, I'm not here to Yuck your Yum. I've just got to be honest with my gut reaction to what we've seen the last few days.

If I had to describe a "worst case scenario" (without being unrealistic) for her kit, it would be a near 1:1 match for the recent leaks.

Works best in Stellar Conduct, but only as the on-fielder and wants Mitya? Pass.

Works with Stellar Swirl, but really needs Cons (that's fine for me, honestly, because I'd get Cons if they're worth it), but really only buffs Vesna...

So, we basically have a on-field DPS who has overlap with at least 3 other Teams (Sandrone, Wriothesley, and Cyno), then supports one Stellar Swirl Character, but not the other... Literally the "Best Case" scenario for this kit it just ramping up Powercreep, which would be an enormous negative for the overall game.

I hope all of this is the "Zibai is an Anemo Support for Varka" or "Sandrone is a Geo Character" kind of leak we all joke about someday. Having the beta drop in a few weeks and seeing all of this debunked would be genuinely hilarious.

That said, if it is true, then Odette will legitimately be the Cryo Archon.

To start this, I have to open with a simple statement. When Imaginarium Theater first launched, I hated it. The first iteration was easy, required no skill, and stages had the weirdest qualifications to clear them with a star.

In terms of endgame content, it was pretty terrible.

Over time, it evolved into what it is today.

Now, I believe it's challenging enough to be considered true endgame content, and rewarding enough that it's worth the effort. More than that though, there is a brilliance to how it's played and how well it pairs with Stygian Onslaught.

Stygian Onslaught is all about perfection. Ideally, you plan your characters, your builds, and your rotations. With extremely good gameplay, you can shave off valuable seconds and clear increasingly difficult modes. If you have the right characters, you can craft perfect matchups, and ensure your victory.

Imaginarium Theater embraces chaos. The difficulty is lower, but the challenge can be greater. Yes, it comes down to luck of the draw, but that's what keeps it interesting.

Today, I simply ran out of DPS characters. I had been saving my Skirk, but there was no one else I could use to clear a stage. I was already so far in, I decided to just go for it. I used one of my strongest characters to clear a random stage, wasting that pull.

After the battle, I pulled Sandrone, But had already used Ineffa, and hadn't pulled Yae Miko. I had to use her against a group of Electro Lectors to make her kit functional.

When I eventually made it to the end, I had no more Skirk uses left, and no way to use Sandrone. What did that mean? It meant that despite having two of the strongest Cryo characters in the game, I was about to fight the last boss with Ayaka being supported by Barbara.

It was fantastic.

This isn't something I would have willingly planned for, but having everything on the line with a character I haven't played in years was an exquisite way to end the run.

So much of the current game is about crafting teams with 100% synergy, with every DPS having a must pull support. Imaginarium Theater reminds me of the early game, when you just play who you had, and you made the most of it.

As much as I appreciate the precision and min maxing that goes into Stygian Onslaught, the absolute chaos of Imaginarium Theater can't be matched.

I don't know how it went from a mode I hated to being my favorite one, but I absolutely love it now.

I follow the leaks, but I don't necessarily believe all of them (Zibai is an Anemo Support for Varka, right?). The only thing we know for a FACT is that she's Cryo. Outside of that, it's obvious that she will utilize Stellar Reactions, and could very likely use a bow. Everything else is essential pure speculation and unverified rumors.

With that in mind, what could happen that would move you from "Pull" to "Skip"?

For me, I pull who I like, so it takes a lot. There has to be something I specifically don't like.

So, here's my list.

1 - Mavuika 2.0. That's probably the easiest way to put it. If she's just a DPS who wants to take supports from the rest of the Snezhnaya Characters, then it's a pass for me. I'd rather play the other Teams instead of sacrificing all of the Supports for her.

2 - Random, incoherent aesthetic... This could also be considered Mavuika 2.0. If The Tsaritsa rolls out on a Motorcycle, I don't even know what I'd do. Thankfully, I really don't see this happening.

3 - Highly restrictive Team. This is the reverse of Point 1. If she's a DPS but absolutely needs Danica, Mitya, etc, I'm skipping just because I don't want to pull all of the other characters.

4 - Abysmal Gameplay. If her kit somehow plays like Lyney or something equally terrible, I'm not going to suffer through awful gameplay.

Honestly, I feel like 2 and 4 aren't likely, but I'm genuinely worried about 1 and 3...

Ever since *that* Columbina video, some people seem to have a hard time understanding that these aren't lore videos.

We don't want another "I'm Tired" video in a year with someone who wildly misunderstands Hoyofair and is mad because Hoyoverse doesn't base their characters on Fan Theories.

If I'm alone in Waymo, is it illegal to rub one out?

Also, if there's cameras, isn't that an invasion of *my* privacy?

About to file a Class Action, and I need some advice (and maybe some others who have fallen victim to Waymo's fascism).

Sandrone Floats

Vesna Floats / Flys

Vodyanitsa has weird Mermaid Movements

Mitya is rumored to have "Arlecchino Style Movement".

So far, Odette is the only character who doesn't have some kind of movement gimmick.

Calling it now. The Tsaritsa is going to Float / Fly / Elsa Bridge... Fire up your Eternal Speculation Engines, but consider this a LOCK!

It's a combination of laziness and an inability to really do much with the PS5 interface, but I just have never gotten around to building my Teapot. I run a Bitcoin Farm in the House to get the currency, but my actual Teapot is lacking.

The premise is simple. I'd need someone on the NA Server (since I'd need the code). I'd send you a few screenshots of everything I've got. You'd built out a Teapot (Mondstadt Map), then send me the replication code so I could recreate it. I know it'd be a LOT easier to just let someone access my account, but that's not feasible for me.

I'm not sure how interested anyone would be in taking on this challenge, and how much someone would charge for this (I'd pay with Primogems).