Planeswalker
You can, but the results are much, much worse. Nahida gives way too much value. Constant Dendro, EM buffs, energy, all things Cyno really wants. Yaoyao is best used as an onfielder/driver. She's really not ideal for Cyno and makes rotations really awkward because of the length both of them have to be onfield, whereas Baizhu you hit Q then don't think about it. Yuegui doesn't really apply enough Dendro if you're just using her E and never using her burst, especially if you're not using Nahida. As for Kuki, she's much better in Alhaitham teams than Cyno teams. She's not providing anything Cyno wants except for heals.
I enjoy playing Cyno a lot more than Alhaitham, but it's kind of wild how much more ftp-friendly Alhaitham is compared to Cyno. To really get the most out of Cyno you need so many more premium team pieces. The only characters you really want with Alhaitham are Kuki (or Raiden if you're one of those psychos who built her for hyperbloom) and any decent hydro applicator.
Edited by PhiSat on Apr 16th 2024 at 10:57:46 AM
Oissu!
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
eh, the Faruzan-build meme is not nearly as prevalent as people think.
My money is on "outclassed 4 star DPS on-fielder."
Planeswalker
Before Faruzan there was Sara. But then, Sara was barely ever used in the first place because of how absurd Raiden National is.
With buffers his usefulness could go either way. If he's meant to use with Cyno he'll probably have to convert EM into attack and generate a lot of energy, or again heal and give massive interruption resistance like Baizhu does. If he's a sub-dps he'll have to be better than Fischl in some way to be useful (more AOE could do the trick).
If he's a DPS or an electro infuser it's joever before it even began apart from plunge meme teams.
Oissu!
Planeswalker
No. Kuki is a hyperbloomer who happens to heal a single character. She generates next to no energy and her healing isn't strong enough. Most people don't recommend using Kuki with Furina because she doesn't heal enough. You use Kuki to hit hyperbloom seeds off-field, which is why she's so good with Alhaitham.
Edited by PhiSat on Apr 16th 2024 at 11:47:18 AM
Oissu!
Huh, it had never occurred to me how rare it is for characters associated in lore to have gameplay synergy. But I've definitely seem memes of shipping Wanderer with Faruzan just because of how weird it is that she's so tied to him mechanically, so I guess I should've thought more about it.
...Speaking of ships, whichever dev it is that keeps insisting on inserting more and more Xiao/Traveler subtext had a field day with his new birthday mail being basically a confession, and we get a free Dream Solvent out of it. I approve of this level of generous simping!
Wonder what are the good pairs in story AND in gameplay? These suggestions simply assume the characters are compatible, not necessarily their BEST teammates.
Raiden Shogun x Kujo Sara
Hu Tao x Zhongli (although almost everybody that interacts with Zhongli is technically good with him).
Neuvillette x Furina
Lyney x Lynette
Nahida x Nilou
Chongyun x Xingqiu
Diluc x Kaeya
There are others but I'm tired.
One thing I do like is the Harbingers. On paper they'd work well together if you look at their elements, but if you actually put them on a team, they'd clash since they're all on-field DPS units.
feels very lore accurate
also i'm making a lil assumption about arlecchino but her kit screams on-field dps, so
Heart of Stone
Speaking of Arlecchino, here's the lil animation
Some takeaways: Her real name is Peruere, she was raised by the previous Arlecchino in the House of the Hearth, she's under some sort of curse, Snezhnaya has auroras, the previous Knave had Hydro abilities
Capitano was already a Harbinger when she became one, and given the others in the scene were Scaramouche, Pierrot, and Signora, who are all centuries old, definitely raises some questions about him
Edited by asterism on Apr 16th 2024 at 7:23:52 PM
Heart of Stone
Planeswalker
Nahida + any of the characters who helped free her from her prison (Cyno, Alhaitham, and Nilou)note
Furina + Neuvillette
Hu Tao + Zhongli
Hu Tao + Xingqiu (they are canonically good friends)
Chongyun + Shenhe
Raiden + Sara
Diluc + Kaeya
Meanwhile the list of characters who are friends (or more) but have no synergy is really long.
The previous Knave looked like she was using Cryo. She tossed a frozen sword at Peruere to incapacitate her temporarily.
The Harbinger roster is... Odd. It almost implies Arlecchino's flashback happened a long time ago. But Arlecchino couldn't have become the Knave too long ago since Freminet lived under the previous Director. But he was somehow spared from the King game when it's implied all the other children murdered each other at their "Mother's" command. Arlecchino looks much older than she did in the trailer now, but Lynette and Lyney are older than Freminet and Arlecchino is already setting Lyney up as her successor... The timeline here is very confusing.
The trailer also confirms that this current Arlecchino, and not her predecessor, was behind the Shrine Maiden plot in Inazuma and the attempted bombing of Watatsumi Island.
Edited by PhiSat on Apr 16th 2024 at 12:43:05 PM
Oissu!
I wonder what'll happen if you try to name the Wanderer "Peruere"
Heart of Stone
Apparently Peruere/Arlecchino's flashback covers roughly 10–20 years ago; per Lyney's Story Quest, he and Lynette had been recently adopted when they were briefly apprenticed to Cesar ten years ago, while Freminet's fifth Character Story reveals that he was already adopted by Crucebana, the previous Arlecchino. This implies that while Freminet was brought into the House of the Hearth ahead of the twins, he is much younger than them by that time (perhaps preschooler-aged), while the twins were rescued in the cusp of their teens (given that they were already street magicians of note, and Lyney is being groomed to succeed Peruere). It is also likely that Crucebana's death games were reserved for a select few who show the most potential to succeed her, such as Peruere and Clervie.
Inferring from that video, Peruere was a child when she first met Clervie; in her early-to-mid-teens when she was forced to kill her friend, then avenged her on Crucebana, and spent a while in prison before the Tsaritsa pardoned her and gave her a place among the Harbingers; and was already a few years into her tenure as Arlecchino when she rescued Lyney and Lynette. Also, given that Peruere is implicitly Not Quite Human (she shares the same blackened hands as Caterpillar, a "cured" hilichurl), having a different growth spurt compared to "normal" Teyvatians cannot be ruled out.
As for Efim's plot to sabotage the ceasefire between the Shogunate and Watatsumi, some grunts suggest it was unauthorized, which may be why he was recalled to Snezhnaya; moreover, given that he looks older, he is likely from a batch under Crucebana (and may have inherited her ruthlessness), while Lyudochka's stronger moral compass implies she was from that under Peruere.
In addition, it seems that once they come of age the Hearth orphans (or at least those not selected for the death games during Crucebana's tenure) are then outsourced to other Fatui divisions, implying the House of the Hearth is a recruit farm (Efim and Lyudochka were implicitly part of Signora's division; Katarina and Nikolay, under the Ninth Company, which answers to Pulcinella; Trofin, under Dottore).
Planeswalker
The plushie montage about the game the children were going to go through suggests one of Dottore's segments was performing experiments on the children. Peruere's curse seems independent of that, but perhaps it's not and Dottore was the one who managed to turn a Hillichurl back.
Oissu!
I feel like you guys are being ignorant about the siblings - Lyney, Lynette and Freminet make for a great team. Lyney marks local specialties, Lynette marks restoration fishies and Freminet reduces swimming stamina consumption. Throw in Nerw for swimming speed and you have premium underwater exploration team.
Wait, do we know if Arlecchino has an exploration passive? If she could take Nerw's place, we would have the most fitting and wholesome family squad ever.
I think the reason for the harbingers present is simply because we never got to see Signora and Scara in winter outfits.
Ey, migi vuru?
Planeswalker
Hey guys, is there Word of God on what element the previous Knave was using? I'm pretty sure it's Cryo due to how pale the effects were and the icy-looking sword plus its explosive reaction to coming into contact with Peruere's fire, but there's a user insisting it's Hydro and I don't want to start an Edit War on the character page.
Edited by PhiSat on Apr 17th 2024 at 10:55:09 AM
Oissu!
Is "we don't know for sure so let's leave it blank" an option?
From watching the video I'm leaning towards Hydro, as they reminded me a lot of Tartaglia's water knives.
Edited by Stage7-4 on Apr 17th 2024 at 10:38:13 AM
Unless we get a direct confirmation as to Crucabena's element (or whether she was using a Vision or Delusion), you could go for the relatively neutral "Ambiguous Situation" and/or "Elemental Powers" tropes.
Planeswalker
To me it looked like Chongyun's ice blades. But I concede that both Hydro and Cryo possess the ability to create solid bladed weapons from their element.
I'll leave it at Elemental Powers and link to this thread.
Edited by PhiSat on Apr 17th 2024 at 11:59:54 AM
Oissu!
I grant you, that's not an issue with underwater exploration, since you're using Fontemer abilities, but it's not an indication of great design that the extremely close siblings are actively hampered by being on a team together.
Edited by asterism on Apr 17th 2024 at 8:06:37 PM
Heart of Stone
I'll take note to not underestimate the necessity to link my posts to Humor Mode.
Schezo Wegey confirmed for King
Meandering Warlord
Alternate title: Fatui Harbinger does a Robin Hood.
Edited by TheGrayShadow on Apr 17th 2024 at 9:20:02 AM
"There's no such thing as pure freedom in this world. Even the wind cannot blow forever."
My money is on an electro charged support but not good for Cyno without C6.