Which character should I be pulling?
Context: I'm f2p and new to the game, currently I hadn't even gotten to the Natlan archon quest yet so I know nothing about the new characters beyond their elements...
The only 5star I know out of the upcoming banners is Neuvilette \^\^;
I'm also not fully in the know of which character combinations will be good, for example I don't know how lunar stuff works at all, and watching tutorials doesn't give me confidence unfortunately, so I'd rather ask here...
I don't want to look back in a couple of months and regret not pulling for a character that is super relevant to my teams just because I wasn't aware. I was told Columbina fits, but other sources say she won't add much, leaving me confused.
The question then is, would you say I should pull any of the upcoming banners? or would it be better for me to save for the future?
My favorites to use are Kaeya and Zhongli, I will not be shelving them anytime soon, and Ideally I'd like to get and play Xiao at some point in the future (I love him. No other reason)
https://preview.redd.it/vswhlfovv8dg1.png?width=342&format=png&auto=webp&s=765876a63dfd179493a8362b4b9cfd624d8dbe59
https://preview.redd.it/1t0rqn5su8dg1.png?width=645&format=png&auto=webp&s=0e9fb13ad61b92cb335810e9196f62077c78c896
The only 5star I know out of the upcoming banners is Neuvilette \^\^;
I'm also not fully in the know of which character combinations will be good, for example I don't know how lunar stuff works at all, and watching tutorials doesn't give me confidence unfortunately, so I'd rather ask here...
I don't want to look back in a couple of months and regret not pulling for a character that is super relevant to my teams just because I wasn't aware. I was told Columbina fits, but other sources say she won't add much, leaving me confused.
The question then is, would you say I should pull any of the upcoming banners? or would it be better for me to save for the future?
My favorites to use are Kaeya and Zhongli, I will not be shelving them anytime soon, and Ideally I'd like to get and play Xiao at some point in the future (I love him. No other reason)
https://preview.redd.it/vswhlfovv8dg1.png?width=342&format=png&auto=webp&s=765876a63dfd179493a8362b4b9cfd624d8dbe59
https://preview.redd.it/1t0rqn5su8dg1.png?width=645&format=png&auto=webp&s=0e9fb13ad61b92cb335810e9196f62077c78c896
Commentaires
Yes, you have a very limited roster and there is no reason for you to not pull characters
There are things people have been pretty certain about such as "Varka will be anemo claymore" that they take into account when planning their future team, right? I'm trying to learn all I can but I still don't know half as much as a more experienced player :/
And then what I've been hearing so far are things like "If you play Zhongli you will benefit from Columbina lunar crystalize" vs "You don't have the classic team for Columbina so she won't do much for you, save your resources for a later banner".
I don't need a guarantee that I'd like the characters, just an educated opinion. What would you do in my stead?
Hint: Nothing
You won't get an educated opinion on characters that are not even leaked yet, you are much better off just looking into in-depth guides of existing characters rather than people parroting each other on unreleased ones.
If I were you I would get Columbina + Zibai
honestly? columbina, ineffa, neuv, and zibai are all p good pulls for any account.
columbina, ineffa, and zibai all grant moonsign damage, which transforms normal reactions to, like, reactions +.
ineffa is an amazing shielder w 100% shield uptime and can buff herself. bina is a great subdps who gives huge buffs to her team. both ineffa and bina are solid entry options to lunar dmg and provide a lot of account value.
zibai is a main dps who will focus on lunar-crystalize. shes a p basic geo unit (def always) whose main draw, imo, is being a huge meta dps... but shes limited bc a lot of her dps is locked to lunar hydro/geo. shes still fantastic w other elements but she sky rockets w columbina, a hydro char, and another geo char.
that leaves neuv, another main dps, who is p great at clearing *all* content. he's v easy, just charge attacks and bursts fr. he slots in well w most teams.
now, u mentioned that u enjoy kaeya and zhongli (and that u want xiao, bc angsty boys r for u-- dw i get it). ull always need two teams in genshin for spiral abyss, so another shielder like ineffa wouldnt hurt. throw zhongli w xiao (whenever he reruns 😭) and ineffa w kaeya and ur halfway to two teams already, lol. u can always throw neuv or bina in for freeze teams. neuv/kaeya isnt super synergistic but it isnt terrible (bina would be better--- altho we dont have a lunar freeze yet).
go test out columbina and ineffa during the trial runs rn-- see if u like either of them. i think theyd prob be the best additions for u. and both are p solid at c0.
I thought about it some more just now, and about Ineffa... I was considering building Layla as a second shielder to work with Kaeya, because while I know Ineffa's buffs are so much better, I thought I don't have the hydro to make her truly shine, do I...?😭
I'll eventually get Aino, maybe she and Xingqiu will do enough off-field for it to work out, but I get the sense that ineffa deserves better, and I don't know if I have enough resources to get more than one character this period.
As for Columbina... what I usually do with Zhongli is microwave with geo traveler then use whichever dps I feel like (Dehya, Razor...) + Bennet, which is why I've been told she's a good match, but similarly to Ineffa it feels like she'd be wasted on this sort of thing. Do I get her anyway? Do I wait and see and maybe catch her rerun if things change?
It's like, there are all these strong characters coming up, but they all need specific teammates which I don't have bc I wasn't around for those banners :( I may be overthinking it, but gosh I wish I had the chance to get someone like Kokomi
as for ur hydro teams--- xingqiu is an amazing hydro applicator. his only real issue is energy recharge (bc his elemental skill has a long cooldown) which can be mitigated by aritifacts or using sacrificial sword or favonius sword (both obtainable from pulling on any banner). his best f2p option is anemona kaguichi, iirc.
i also wouldnt *super* sleep on barbara. as a cat user, she can p consistently apply hydro. **except** that her ES applies 'wet' status to u and that can really bite bc it means that u get impacted by electro/dendro/cryo/pyro in the same manner enemies can. ive def frozen myself a ton when using her as a hydro applicator lol.
the zibai/neuv banner *will* feature aino-- and truthfully, id say shes the best f2p hydro applier. she just bursts and applies a big old hydro sprinkler. her burst cost is low-- so usually one burst, then one ES, and shes set until the next rotation. her build needs are p low-- just throw some ER and favonius on her and shes golden fr. aino, by herself, can easily work well w ineffa.
as for bina, she can easily turn any microwave into a lunar-microwave. that in itself is a huge boost. and while she prefers moonsign teams (ineffa, flins, nefer, lauma, etc.) shes no slouch w being the wheelchair for other lunar reaction teams.
all four upcoming characters/banners are strong. again, id stick with focusing pulls on either ineffa or columbina.
archons usually run once per version, so binas rerun will prob happen later 7.x. natlan characters have rerun p frequently compared to other areas (initial launch usually btwn 5.0 - 5.5 then a rerun btwn 5.8 and rn, 6.3)--- but most chars 3rd rerun ends up btwn 7-10+ patches since their second rerun. idk if thatll happen w ineffa bc she *is* a p major player but if scarcity is something ur worried about, she would be the one to choose over bina.
id say that bina and ineffa would prob provide the best value for ur team--- from there its just figuring out if u want to gamble for when ineffa runs next or if u want to go full on for bina rn.
the next banner (zibai/neuv) is still p good but i think the best aspects of it, for you, would just be aino, lol. and thats doofy. pulling for four stars is a much bigger gamble than gunning for the 5star, imo.
What I'm going to do is spend as many of my wishes as it takes to get C0 Columbina, then use the rest to try for Ineffa, and hopefully it'll work out... if it doesn't, I still have the rest of the banner uptime to farm more wishes! I'll update with how that went in a bit
Edit: great news!! I got Bina at 40 wishes and Ineffa after 60 more 🥹 I also somehow got Yanfei (?? I didn't expect to get a non-banner 4star) and zero Fischls (even weirder... C2 Sethos C3 Ifa and the rest were weapons)
I'm very VERY happy rn
yanfei is a pretty good 4star pyro dps-- so u def got a good deal w her (altho fischl is best girl).
enjoy ur new chars! im sure ur teams are gonna seem so much cooler w both of them, lol.
\> I'm also not fully in the know of which character combinations will be good, for example I don't know how lunar stuff works at all
Bro you got 2 weeks to look at that, you can free test Bina / Ineffa right now before pulling.