Topic: Honkai Star Rail

@themightyant I did use (TB fire) with UM but once I got Aventurine I transferred that to him instead. He's a much better all rounder as TB shields don't do anything against high damage AOE. Aventurine also increases the whole party's effect RES by 50% with his talent which prevents a lot of the peskier debuffs. His ult also gives her 15% CD. I do miss Acheron getting her ult quicker though.
I do wish I pushed for her E2 as needing 2 additional Nihility that aren't Kafka or Swan is a tight rope in most high level activities.

@Judal27 That's some sweet relic luck. Hope it continues dude. I've seen some crazy god tier stats with 80% CR and 220% CD. Looks like you're almost there.

@Shigurui Sweet. Thanks for the code dude.

@Shigurui thanks

@z0d15g0d I completely agree Adventurine is much better all around for defence etc, he just isn’t as good specifically at gaining stacks for Acheron as only his Ult gains a stack and as he doesn’t taunt you rely far more on luck to proc the lightcone.

@Judal27 Nice stats! Yes pioneers domain is very strong on lots of characters!

I’m well behind those stats but I’m at the point where my Acheron beats any content I throw at her - as long as she’s suited, and sometimes when she isn’t. For my account I realised it was more useful to build up other areas of my account to make it more rounded than chasing numbers, but we’re all in a different position.

@z0d15g0d lol yea I don't think I'm ever gonna see numbers like that. She could definitely use a better body piece if I ever stumble across it tho. But I'm happy I even managed to bring it up that high

@themightyant she is a monster man but especially with her cone. But yea i feel the same. That's why I'm trying to get Robin cause I don't have a single 5* harmony. But at the same time I feel like I don't have enough DPSs so I'm hoping to get firefly after Robin

Random post: I gave Wuthering Waves a go. Here's my quick review. As 90% of it is an unashamed Genshin clone (that's not a bad thing in my book) with many things being 1:1 with very small twist I am going to compare it to Genshin below

Pros compared to Genshin

• Echo system. Instead of relics and domains when you beat an enemy you have a chance to get an echo of that enemy (think of it a bit like Pokemon) and you can equip these. What I REALLY like about this is it incentivises exploring the world and fighting enemies as the end game. What's the point of fighting Hilichurl 3000 in Genshin? Plus it means this isn't time gated it isn't tied to RESIN and you can keep farming if you want to keep playing.
• The combat system seems much more skill based and is interesting with intro and outro skills as you swap character
• Gacha seems more generous so far (though I also got very lucky, getting the best DPS Jiyan literally on my second pull, then getting Verina and Mortefi - the current best support and sub-dps shortly after.)
• World feels great to explore with fresh ideas. They could literally say this was Genshin's new area and I would buy it.

Cons

• No controller support on mobile/tablet is a huge problem ESPECIALLY as it's a more skill based game.
• Story hasn't grabbed me fully yet. There was one bit (with Scar) that I just wanted to skip and went on for half an hour. Snooze.
• It's a little bit jankier than Genshin in all areas. Just less polished all around.
• Production value is high but not as high as Genshin e.g there are times you are introduced to a character and in Genshin you would get a beautiful cinematic (Razor, Dliluc etc.) but here you don't. Also VAs aren't as good.
• Buggy. Crashed several times, lots of hitching etc. It literally won't even boot up on my PC gets stuck every time. Needs fixes. So I played on tablet

Conclusion
It's OK. If you liked Genshin you will probably like this. It's nice to have a new world to explore and I really like the Echo system. That said because it's more skill based a controller feels like a necessity to me and I won't be playing it anymore on mobile/tablet until they fix this, or ideally it comes to PS4/5. It also feels like it needs several patches.

@themightyant Lol "Unashamed" is definitely the right word. The Echo system is one of my favorite mechanics as some of the Echo's I've got are even 1 shotting "Elite" enemies. Now if only I can find an Echo that heals the team. It's great that we don't have to rely on resin and it does give a reason to explore and hunt down enemies. Came across a lvl 150 enemy thankfully they cant climb walls lol.

The gacha does seem more generous as I've got 4 5* resonators already including Jiyan at E1. Hopefully this keeps up.
Combat seems more fleshed out than Genshin. The intro and outro skills are pretty cool to use especially with full energy. Being able to counterattack has save my bacon in boss fights a good few times.
It's been fixed on PC now. At first I had to launch it from the .exe file in it's save location as I was having the same issue as you. You definitely need to use a controller to enjoy the combat.

You can skip the cutscenes but it gives a warning message lol. I use the skip for the sidequests as they have little bearing on the main plot. Also I agree Scar is a joke (not sure how far you've gotten so will keep lips sealed). The VA quality is nothing compared to what Hoyo brings. It feels like it was their least funded department.

As it's still fairly new I'm expecting they will do lots of updates in the near future as there have been a few so far. Hopefully they keep this up as I quite enjoy the game regardless of the currently confusing storyline.

@z0d15g0d My PC version definitely NOT fixed, it just doesn't boot. Others with similar lower end hardware seem to be having the same issue online. I like the game, but can't play properly without controller support on mobile, it's too much of a frustrating experience, so will likely drop it for now or perhaps just keep dailies going to see if they fix this anytime soon.

@themightyant That sucks. Hope they have a fix soon. I've recently encountered a bug where all audio except SFX cuts out. No matter how many times I restart it cuts out 5 mins into playing. Ruined what would have been a very enjoyable boss fight. I'll stick to dailies also until that's fixed.

On a more fun note. Gonna get my Fu Xuan on tomorrow. Will try to pull for her LC also. Hopefully the events have decent jade drops too. I tried new pure fiction and managed to do up to stage 3 3* without DoT characters. The 2nd skill option helped out a lot as it's free wind DoT damage on enemy spawn.

@z0d15g0d Yes also been pre-farming for Fu Xuan tomorrow. I have to remember this is HSR where my luck sucks though... but I wouldn't mind winning the 50:50 for once. Been saving PF and MoC till I has Fu Xuan.

Predictably I lost the 50:50 again... is that 4 or 5 in a row? I forget... I know it was Silver Wolf back in 2023 last time I won anyway. It also took 154 wished to get Fu Xuan, practically bankrupting me again. Also didn't get any good 4 star weapons in all those wishes, mostly I got 10+ copies of Pela and Luka who I already had E6 by then.

...So that's all the bad news. The good news was all those copies got me enough shop credit to buy Gepard's 5-star weapon for Fu Xuan, which is her #1 in terms of tankiness, though her signature is better for support. I also had some pretty good relics for her and though she isn't 100% built i've already got here to:

HP: 6668 (currently 7206 with Matrix activated) I should be able to get her to almost 7500 with my current relics once fully upgraded.
DEF: 1983 (very high) plus the +24% Def when attacked from LC
SPD: 148. Means she almost always gets Matrix activated before enemies attack.
Effect RES: 26.8%
ERR: 19.4%

ATK, CR, CD don't really matter for her.

Edit: Should also add I'm running SPD boots and ERR rope, one of these can be swapped for HP% if needs be.

So what does that all mean? So far very impressed, I completed the current MoC when I could not before I was getting steam-rollered, this is why I wanted her to give sustain in the toughest battles. Very happy so far.

Other good news: upgrading Fu Xuan got me 3 more standard wishes, now 285 on that banner, next month or so should be Bronya finally for my Jingliu team, I also saved enough store credit to get her LC, i'd been stashing it. Might level buy and level that after Fu Xuan. Additionally losing 50:50 to Welt made him E1 which is his best Eidolon... I guess it could have been worse.

So as ever: win some, lose some, but mostly happy despite the dire 5-star luck continuing. How did all your wishing go?

@themightyant - I was on a guarantee for Fu Xuan but it pushed me to 83 (3 pity, 80 pulls), that's the furthest I've been pushed. Got her LC at 71 from 51 pity so happy enough with that.

@Shigurui Nice, though a shame you got pushed close to hard-pity too. She seems pretty OP to be honest, like Adventurine. The 12% team wide Crit rate boost is also very helpful, there's definitely some characters I can change from a CR to a CD body piece because of that rather than trying to get another 4 sub stat CR rolls

@themightyant - I was a bit pissed getting so close to hard pity but I can't complain really with the amount of early and back to back 5* pulls I've had lol. Yeah that CR bump makes life a bit easier if you need to find the subs. Great addition to any team.

Did any of you pull for Boothill? I managed to get him on my alt account. I mainly run FuA/single target on this account so thought he'd be a solid addition. Not fully built yet, 8/8/8 and running him with a full on soup team, Aventurine, Bronya, flex Xueyi/Hanya/Silver Wolf. Just playing around with comps to see what sticks. Still building Harmony MC and Gallagher so not tried those yet but he's a fun unit so far.

@Shigurui I used him during the event and he is pretty fun. His physical damage debuff can be pretty useful in a mono physical team. Set elite and bosses up to take extra damage from Clara if you don't have SW. I don't fully understand his kit though.

@Shigurui Nah, Fu Xuan and my rotten 5-star luck bankrupted me. Well done on getting him.

I haven't got Harmony MC yet, as I haven't played the latest story - the start literally sent me to sleep. But I plan to next week before the related event expires, been busy playing other games... but thankfully not a spoiler THIS was the thing I mentioned a month or so ago that got spoiled when I was looking up Robin's kit pre-release.

I reached 296 wishes on Standard banner after this weeks SU reward and have started to farm for Bronya. It is tempting to use up some stellar jade on a few wishes (I already did a few much earlier) but i've said to myself I will get her as soon as I have fully farmed her, whether by free wishes or Jade, whichever comes first.

Outside that I very slightly regret using my store credit to get Gepard's LC for Fu Xuan as i've been using Trend of the Universal Market with her on Acheron as it can massively increase the number of stacks / number of Ults you get. But it's a solid cone that will come in use in harder content/other characters.

@themightyant - I know the feeling, from day one I lost every single 50/50 on my alt until Aventurine, then got wins on Topaz's LC and now Boothill. Hopefully your luck will turn around too mate.

@z0d15g0d - Kit wise he's a bit like Blade, as in skill into enhanced basics and superbreak is HSR's version of Dendro from Genshin, it doesn't care about elements.

I tried playing the main Robin / Firefly story quest and promptly fall asleep. Granted I was tired but that’s three times now. The writing is so drawn out and poor. Need to push through.