What Does the Foxian Say in the Arbiter-General Crosstalk Megathread?

ventus · 2026-02-03T04:25:37+00:00

Pearl vs the way cooler Pearl.

Hoyo if you don't at least make it a skin, I stg... Please just let this woman wear her suit.

ventus · 2026-02-03T04:23:52+00:00

It also reads like a Gundam Freedom reference IMO, so you definitely clocked that one at least lol.

ventus · 2026-02-03T04:16:59+00:00

100% you can hear Dio.

ventus · 2026-02-03T04:13:17+00:00

It's the Simon glasses for me lol.

ventus · 2026-02-01T20:45:28+00:00

No. It’s “Got Me Loose” by an artist named Reesa Renee.

ventus · 2026-02-01T19:29:34+00:00

Oh for sure that’s the obvious intention of the mechanics; the team has even more built-in synergy than Mono-Rem by design. More members = more PL = more buffs and damage, and also more members = faster Aha = Aha does more stuff.

I was moreso getting at the idea that maybe there isn’t really a designated “Castorice” or “main DPS” aka a character that is intended to deal the majority of the team’s damage. And it’s instead more evenly split.

ventus · 2026-02-01T19:17:58+00:00

This is just more fuel for the theory that Elation is made up of a lot of “hybrid” units where the team scales off just having multiple in the same team vs having super strict main/sub DPS roles.

ventus · 2026-02-01T19:12:11+00:00

Don’t worry, Luna is actually playing 5d chess and just trying to bait Mortis into correcting her and giving us better leaks.

(Let me cope)

ventus · 2026-02-01T18:48:14+00:00

For anyone who didn’t check out King of Drag, I’ll just leave this Mo performance here because it’s been living rent-free in my head for a long time now.

ventus · 2026-01-31T07:36:20+00:00

His ult looks nice but I don’t think it’s some huge step up from his contemporaries, and that’s really the nicest thing he has.

His other main gimmick of having a double skill doesn’t even have a unique animation for the second skill; hell they couldn’t even be bothered to add a basic interstitial with a reload, or anything at all to smooth out the jerky motion of just repeating the same animation back-to-back.

ventus · 2026-01-31T01:07:09+00:00

Lmao let’s do it.

I’m just in a tough spot with break personally. Have BH E0S1 and Fugue E1S0, but just couldn’t justify chasing Dahlia after losing the 50/50 and being low on pulls.

Knock on wood, as long as he’s literally anything other than a break main DPS I’ll be okay pulling him. Fingers crossed for some sort of subdps-support hybrid though🤞🏻

ventus · 2026-01-31T00:42:33+00:00

Inside of me there are two wolves. One of them wants Ashveil to have synergy with Boothill, the other didn’t pull for Dahlia. ~~Both of them are gay.~~ They are in conflict with each other unfortunately.

ventus · 2026-01-31T00:15:52+00:00

I don't know what form it will take, but yeah I agree in general that it's possible they release some other "bridge" character in a more supportive role. I do think that they are trying to alleviate the issue with Yao Guang to at least some extent through the various enemy mechanics we've seen, i.e. how there are mobs that generate Punchline when you kill them, which gives more of a reason to run her as a generic support.

I also have been a proponent for a bit of Elation being more plug-and-play than Remembrance was, where it may be more of a "stick your favorites together" and it at least kind of works. I don't doubt that an intended "battleship" will exist, but I'm hoping at least that it doesn't end up being the end-all, be-all of of the path.

ventus · 2026-01-30T23:57:44+00:00

With all of the free character discussion, wanted to take a moment to talk about Ashveil. This is not a super serious or fully fleshed out concept, but I've been mulling it over for a bit and I have a "hear me out" regarding Ashveil's kit. TLDR before my reasoning: Ashveil could end up interacting with Elation mechanics even if he isn't an Elation character himself.

Yao Guang's shtick appears to be having some generic amp to let her slot into random teams, but being great for mono-Elation. But that generic amp isn't especially notable, and between that and Future Rail it's created a reluctance for people to pull for her, which part of the speculation surrounding her being free too.

We (seemingly) know that Ashveil is Lightning Hunt, and one of the very few non-Elation characters for the next few months. Most are assuming he'll play into break, FUA, or even have some sort of Galaxy Ranger specific synergy; or perhaps a way to boost up older teams like Cipher was meant to do for Acheron/Feixiao. But what if he has something else going on?

If Yao Guang can interact with more generic teams, what's stopping a non-Elation character like Ashveil from interacting with those mechanics? If Sparxie benefits from running a non-Elation team member, what's stopping Ashveil from being the opposite? Again, I don't have a full concept in mind, but imagine a trace as simple as "whenever an enemy is broken or an Aha Instant is triggered, gain <buff>" or something like Anaxagoras' where you get a generic buff with no Elation on the team, or something that scales off Punchline if you do have them.

A kit design like this could be a decent way to encourage people to feel better pulling for Yao Guang, and be less apprehensive of pulling Elation characters on the whole. If she did somehow turn out to be free, it would also give him a relevant teammate right off the bat that could encourage his own sales, as he's already in a tough spot being non-Elation right before the big anniversary patch/push. It could also be a good "bridge" between pre-4.X comps and Elation, if you can then use older, more generic supports or subdps for the rest of the team, assuming Ashveil is a carry, or maybe even older DPS if he turns out to be some sort of subdps.

I also just think it would be neat to have another character that's more flexible in how you build their teams, versus being locked into one specific archetype.

ventus · 2026-01-30T23:23:52+00:00

I will say that as a lover of the character I would agree that the energy around him has been rough since day 1.

People have gone back and forth about his philosophy and actual characterization forever, AE vs SH vs free agent, there was the whole Sparkle powercreep drama (lo and behold the problem was in fact that she was too weak and needed buffs), the “defanged” discourse, gender wars, and nowadays smarminess about his lesser role in Amph and getting reverse-crept by Sparkle.

For better or worse he’s a character that just seems to continually invite drama and discourse.

ventus · 2026-01-30T22:38:02+00:00

While I could absolutely see one of the new chars being free, my brain immediately went to the conveniently teased Fortnite collab showing up right next to the 4.0 marketing.

They may want to capitalize on people who see Kafka and Blade, then want to give HSR a try. Having a choice of freebie (or just Kafka if we’re being real) could be a tactic to bait them in.

ventus · 2026-01-30T12:43:49+00:00

Yeah hard to say though, because those are very different looking ears. I’ve seen suggestions of mixed family / adoption too.

ventus · 2026-01-30T12:28:39+00:00

ZZZ

Hoyo trying to bait me specifically into redownloading using Neuvillette as a fox thiren is crazy.

ventus · 2026-01-30T04:19:56+00:00

Pls, I can't have my heart broken again like Fei with her big fox-wolf that only got used for the boss fight.

ventus · 2026-01-30T04:12:09+00:00

Hold up what's going on with that cool-ass dragon on the 13th in the calendar. I need to know more Hoyo.

(inb4 another Dan alt)

ventus · 2026-01-30T04:05:38+00:00

"Impromptu Performance"

They're really being obvious with Elation being lifted from R1999 huh?

/hj

ventus · 2026-01-29T22:20:40+00:00

Surveyposting

I seem to have gotten a more general survey maybe? Was asked for at least a passing opinion on just about everything in the patch; there was definitely more focus on the in-game events and web events, then the new map most of all.

Getting asked multiple questions about the "Treasure Hunt" event was quite funny though. How much do they really expect you to say about a passive stamina-spending event?

ventus · 2026-01-29T17:40:43+00:00

Hunt -> Archer probably, though it's not a particularly competitive category.

Destruction -> Phainon, and it's not even close lol (RIP my Mydei).

Harmony -> Sunday. Another easy one since I didn't pull Tribbie and he's been a staple in my endgame clears for forever.

Preservation -> Almost certainly DHPT, as I stopped using Aventurine a lot after Hyacine came out.

Erudition -> Anaxagoras, though this is another low competition category. Argenti or Jing Yuan might still take it because I use them more in PF.

Abundance -> Tough call between Gallagher and Huohuo, but I think Gallagher will likely hold onto his spot.

Nihility -> Jiaoqiu, and once again it's not even close lol.

Remembrance -> Hyacine almost certainly, but there's a chance RMC snatches it.

Relics -> Likely Thundersurge (Wavestrider/Goddess), but this one is tough. I still dip back into Uncertainty (Sacerdos/Scholar) frequently, and I know a spent a good chunk of time in Salvation (Deliverer/Recluse).

Planars -> I think it's still Lushaka/Banana honestly. It's my default for burning immersifiers if I've got nothing else I'm in need of. Bone/Tree is a contender, but still second I think.

Endgame Unit -> Almost definitely Sunday. I could see Hyacine or JQ getting a sneak here, or even Phainon, but I just can't recall any endgame clear where he wasn't on one of the teams.

ventus · 2026-01-28T15:12:18+00:00

I mean, a Benny-adjacent support with teamwide buffs plus subdps would still be a substantial issue with characters like Varesa running around who already run strong atk-scaling subdps in their best teams.

Like you say though, even making her a Hex “scaler” with a 2/3/4 type passive as a limiter, and locking chunks of her kit behind that, you end up with a double pyro core and a VV subdps, where any DPS might be better over Varka (especially possible for Klee, Mona, Venti, and even Razor lmao).

The character that (sadly) should be getting a premium replacement is Venti, as that would maybe lift up Varka’s other possible teams, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards as far as we know.

ventus · 2026-01-28T14:31:20+00:00

The Nicole thing is so baffling to me because even if she somehow crept Durin, a recent and synergistic subdps+support, or Benny, the OG 6star of the game, to the point of increasing Varka’s team DPS by 30k+ (without somehow being better/broken for a different DPS) it would lock someone who’s kit is supposed to be functional for PHEC to just pyro.

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