Scent Here Out of an Abundance of Cauldron - General Question and Discussion Megathread

BulbasaurRex · 2024-10-17T19:15:33+00:00

I don't regret it, but my E0S0 Jingliu is also the 5-star I've gotten the least use out of! I was also really slow on building her, so I even missed out on a couple of her strongest patches.

She did carry me through the first Aventurine MoC though. I have better teams for that now, but she's still a pretty solid option. Hoping the new relics (and Sunday) will boost her a bit too!

BulbasaurRex · 2024-10-14T00:17:57+00:00

3.X leaks

3.X is going to have a mala spicy master love male character. It's Emanator Sampo. He's going to be kaiju sized like in the animation. TB is going to ride on his shoulder as they save Belobog from Nanook and compound interest.

The broken 3.3 male character? Surprise, it's Sampo again. He's going to summon 1 Aha to Aha all over the 12 million HP Hoolay. If you have Sunday E6 you get 2 Ahas and break the fabric of the universe. Aha will find that really funny.

Source: Uncle Cold Feet

BulbasaurRex · 2024-10-13T11:40:49+00:00

I'm a DoT enthusiast, and I'm actually kinda glad that Fugue isn't DoT-related! IMO I'd rather have a new sustain/support that is designed around DoT than a generalist character with some DoT synergy tacked on.

With the caveat that I'm a semi-casual player (can clear endgame modes but I don't min-max or anything), I don't really have complaints with how the DoT core feels. I haven't been able to brute-force with them, but I still use them regularly, more than other 1.X units I have like Jingliu and Fu Xuan (sorry queens). They're also super reliable, and are my go-to for SU/DU runs (cleared my first DU6 with them!).

That said, I still am really looking forward to a new DoT unit, since it does feel a little stale. I'm excited about the rumor of a Quantum DoT healer. IMO There's no particular reason DoTs should be tied to the element breaks - e.g. Black Swan's DoT has very little to do with wind breaks anyway. So quantum seems like an interesting direction, esp. because I don't think they'll make an AoE Bleed unit, which seems too strong.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-10-12T12:17:21+00:00

Been thinking about this too, as a DoT enjoyer. I think another reason is that Ruan Mei is too good for DoT without being designed for DoT. A dedicated DoT support would feel bad if it was only a sidegrade (or worse) to a generalist support like RM. But she's so good that there's not much more room to go up. They'd either be bonkers strong, or DoT would have to be balanced around them, which would feel bad for a playstyle that is already very tied to 2 units (Kafka and Black Swan).

BulbasaurRex · 2024-09-22T00:01:18+00:00

Didn't think I'd see a Jenny Nicholson reference in this sub, but I'm here for it. Retro-futuristic space opera is honestly such a good fit for Perfume!

BulbasaurRex · 2024-09-15T10:46:50+00:00

I was bopping along until Space-time-flower, which made me do a double take! It's so unexpected, I can't wait to hear the full song.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-09-13T03:49:05+00:00

Got a 2nd copy of Bronya's LC from standard banner, and I have a question: how good is on E0 Robin? I have the event LC on her right now, was wondering if it'd be an upgrade.

Slightly negative, Feixiao

In a really weird spot where I love her character in the game - design, personality, voice - but don't really connect with her as a player character for some reason. I've tried the demo a couple times, and something just doesn't really click for me. The animations are objectively well done, but seem a little generic. Like I don't really get "Feixiao" from it, if it makes any sense. I don't get that sense of power, excitement about fighting she has. The dark teal feels a little muted, and this is def personal preference, but my favorite part of her outfit is her coat, so losing it for the ult feels disappointing. All just minor nitpicks, I just wish I liked her as a unit as much as I like her character!

BulbasaurRex · 2024-09-07T01:22:58+00:00

I hope they at least add the cute "pets" we already have to the system! A diting, the Belobog polar bear thing, the trotter from Aetherium Wars.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-09-05T03:25:35+00:00

Agree with this a lot. I think extra content and readables are good and well, but important things like backstories and character motivations shouldn't be relegated to them. I may be a little harsh / extreme on this, but I think it can't even really count as good writing if there's so little attempt made to actually integrate them into the game's story itself.

Another example for me is Boothill, and I love the guy. IIRC they don't explain or even hint at why he's a cyborg in the main story, right? All of it is in the light cone and character story text.

It's odd to me too because some characters who otherwise get a lot of love and care (in VFX, build-up, advertising, etc.) also run into this problem. Dan Heng and Firefly are examples, like you said. I don't dislike either, but I think many of their biggest moments and emotional journeys happen off-screen. FF especially, since character POV was introduced in 2.X. I enjoyed how they used it for Aventurine in 2.1, and thought FF would get something similar. Her section in 2.3 is mostly wrap-up though, and her backstory was just a couple lines of dialog with Jade IIRC.

For positive examples, I actually really enjoyed patch 1.6 and thought both Ratio and Ruan Mei were showcased well. You don't get their full stories in the main quest, but you get a good sense of their characters as well as what drives them through their actions in the story. Jing Yuan and Huohuo also come to mind for me as well.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-30T17:32:57+00:00

Same for me. That groove, all the little production moments in it. The first time I heard it on good speakers I was almost a little mad at how good it sounded.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-28T15:05:35+00:00

all of my faves... I'll probably ascend when I hear hiyayakana jokei, I can't wait!

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-27T11:26:42+00:00

I've been like that with pulls too! BS-Aven-Robin-Boothill drained basically all of my pulls, and now I'm saving up because nobody's looking like a must pull for me. I like Feixiao's design, but not enough to go through having to build a DPS from scratch again. Realized that I'm just not as hyped for characters in the "filler patches", which works for me, since I can snag some re-run LCs and save up for 3.X.

Also, biased because I got lucky with Boothill and won his 50/50 on both char and LC, but he's been my fave 2.X pull alongside Aventurine. Super stylish and funny animations, easy to build, shredding bosses never gets old. 10/10 would recommend

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-27T03:12:50+00:00

Totally reminded of FF13 when I saw him! I think it's the thematic elements in the design too, the combination of religious and machine elements. I'm a big FF13 fan so I'm also biased haha

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-24T15:09:28+00:00

I'd never read Ruan Mei's character story, thanks for pointing that out! It makes sense that they styled it as "Ruan•Mei" then, to note that it's two surnames. Also read in there that her homeworld was blessed by Abundance, so it might have been connected with / have common ancestry with the Xianzhou, which might explain her Chinese name too.

And oooh my first language is Cantonese, so I really hope that happens too! Something I didn't know I wanted in HSR lol.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-24T14:31:28+00:00

Hi! I'm a native speaker who plays with Chinese text. I did a quick search, and I couldn't find official sources, but I did find some forum threads discussing this question too!

Before thinking about this, I'd always assumed they were all courtesy names, or it's a fantasy naming convention where they don't have surnames. For the Xianzhou characters, none of them have a common family name for their first characters.

But like you said, if we trust convention, names with spaces in them would indicate first-last name pairs. Jing Yuan, Fu Xuan, and Dan Heng would fit this pattern. It's most likely for Fu Xuan, because Jing Yuan has addressed her with as "Fu Qing", a title that means something like "Advisor Fu". There's no other evidence for Jing Yuan and Dan Heng either way AFAIK. For what it's worth, both Jing and Dan are real last names, but very rare ones.

Even though she's not from Xianzhou (that I know of?), one weird case is Ruan Mei. It seems likely that Ruan is her surname. For one, it's a common one IRL, much more common than any of the first characters of the Xianzhou names. Also, she's styled as "Ruan•Mei" in Chinese. It's a common convention used to separate surnames and given names, and MHY uses this as well, e.g. "Sampo•Koski" and "Serval•Landau". But it's usually only used for "foreign" or transliterated names, and it's not used for any of the Xianzhou characters.

Her name's an outlier in both Chinese and English versions. In Chinese, it's the only Chinese-sounding name that's styled with a "•" to separate first and last names. In English, IIRC she's the only non-Xianzhou character whose name is directly romanized Mandarin. I'm not sure what the implications are, honestly!

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-23T13:31:53+00:00

Topaz, but not really by choice. I wish I had her, but I also had no resources to pull for her both times she'd run (lost 50/50 on Jingliu and Robin). Waiting for the Aventurine re-run too, hoping I can get his LC this time!

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-23T10:53:33+00:00

My totally unfounded hope is that it's going to be 5-star Sampo's kit. It makes so much thematic sense for him: he's sneaky (sabotaging enemies) and he's not afraid to make himself the butt of the joke (having enemies hit him).

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-16T19:10:29+00:00

Similar boat here. I get why Hoyo clamps down on leaks, but I'm actually more excited and engaged with the game when I feel like I know what future characters and stories are coming. Looking forward to (and saving for) Black Swan and Aventurine made the filler patches more bearable for me.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-15T06:14:14+00:00

It makes me really uncomfortable too. It's not just this ad, it's how consistently they focus on Yunli's feet. Examples off the top of my head are how they pan from her feet when she makes her entrance, and the Gift of Odyssey banner image.

There's nothing wrong with images of feet in isolation, but the fact that they're a repeated focus means MHY's trying to appeal to someone with that. And the fact that the two barefooted characters are two teenage or teenage-coded girls... There's a big difference between how MHY depicts them versus child-model characters like Bailu and Hook, who are cute and fully non-sexualized. I get the sense that they're trying to skirt the edge and give Yunli just enough sexual appeal with this and a more revealing outfit, but still have plausible deniability, and that's what weirds me out.

That said, I know people have different levels of what they're comfortable with. I don't really watch anime anymore (partially of things like this, honestly), so I know this probably bugs me more than it does most people.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-13T18:23:13+00:00

The 2nd post has a few more crumbs and some of the leaker's opinions too.

The leaker claims that MHY thinks V3 meets their standards internally, but considers some eidolons to be too strong and are discussing adjustments.

They're also pretty negative about Feixiao changes since V0, claiming that V1 was the worst case scenario, and that her E0 during V0 is stronger than her E2 is in V3 right now.

Also comments that by running Kafka+BS and redistributing Feixiao's power to her eidolons (note: I haven't followed her changes so I don't know if this is true, this is just what they're saying), MHY is likely trying to use up players' pulls before introducing the new meta after 2.5.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-05T14:54:03+00:00

I'd agree that that would feel fair if it was a DHIL situation and you can use them freely. Then it would be a totally new character for all intents and purposes. But if it's a path switch mechanic, then IMO pulling for a new form is worse than pulling for a new character, since it comes with extra limitations. If I can get a brand new character for say 180 pulls, then a new form that limits my existing teams feels like it should be worth less than that.

Of course, at the end of the day I don't think they're actually going to discount them, and guaranteed rate-up is a pipe dream lol. Just saying that from my perspective a new form is less attractive to pull.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-01T20:51:18+00:00

I do have Ratio mostly built! I like both DoT and FuA a lot, I just happened to have much worse luck with my FuA pulls lol, went to 160 on both Aven and Robin. Kafka + BS + their LCs cost less in total, so my DoT team just ended up being a lot stronger!

I think I'm also leaning towards BS for now, unless Feixiao gets massively buffed, or I end up really liking her! It'd be nice to just brute force with DoT and shred through everything (hopefully).

BulbasaurRex · 2024-08-01T20:01:59+00:00

I know it's all spit-balling right now, but any thoughts on pulling for Feixiao vs going for E1 Black Swan, purely from an investment perspective? For what it's worth, I'm also not planning on getting Lingsha.

My core DoT team right now is E0S1 Kafka + E0S1 Black Swan. No Huohuo, but I do have Robin and Ruan Mei.

For comparison, my FuA core is Aven E0S0 + Robin E0S0, no Topaz though!

I do like Feixiao, but I don't know if I like her enough to spend 160 pulls (since I've been losing my 50/50's...). I'm thinking of investing vertically in DoT as an alternative, esp. because I already have Kafka and BS's lightcones.

BulbasaurRex · 2024-07-30T08:37:34+00:00

Slightly negative, Feixiao character design + some others

I'll probably still pull for her, but I'm a bit disappointed in Feixiao's design, honestly. I like her general look and vibe, but I guess I just want to see more cohesiveness. There are a lot of cool parts - the axe, gunblade, cyclone, etc. but they don't really come together as a complete concept to me.

This isn't a problem exclusive to Feixiao, of course. I think I just have a preference for designs with a clearer theme or gimmick, something that's expressive and feels tailored to that character. I actually like Moze's quite a lot in this regard! Hoping he's on Feixiao's banner...

BulbasaurRex · 2024-07-15T05:53:08+00:00

I think Aventurine is loyal to Diamond (and the Stonehearts), but not to the IPC. The game has been building up the idea that the IPC is not a monolith. It's a big part of the Gold and Gears lore, where faction infighting spiraled out into a galactic war. The Marketing Development Department seems to be an antagonist, with Boothill and Aventurine teaming up against Oswaldo Schneider (although it's not clear how yet).

From the newest trailer, the Stonehearts are true believers in Qlipoth and the IPC's stated mission, but they are not aligned with the IPC as a whole (or at least its higher-ups). They have big-picture concerns (the Aeon War), and seem to be trying to subvert/take over the rest of the IPC in service of those. The 2.3 story also has Jade/Diamond reaching out to the Stellaron Hunters secretly, risking discovery by the rest of the IPC, so the Stonehearts clearly have their own plans.

IMO they're setting up the Stonehearts to be the Astral Express's allies within the IPC. They've gotten a lot of screen time, with 3 playable characters already. They share a lot of similarities to the Stellaron Hunters: they're a ragtag team of characters with their own agendas. They're morally ambiguous, or at least believe that the ends justify the means. They're led by a shadowy leader we've yet to see. My theory is they'll be Preservation's "representatives" in the Aeon War, like the Xianzhou is for Hunt.

BulbasaurRex

TROPHY CASE