Honkai Star Rail

Or right, I put them under Destruction. That’s still not a lot though.

For the longest time they were the worst path, by FAR. PF's introduction was the first time most of them actually were effective.

Like Herta was considered the worst character in the game.

Edited by Memers on Mar 27th 2024 at 9:51:31 AM

Just finished the story. It took me three tries to finish the boss and while I still don't like gambler man I can't deny that this patch's story was really good. I'm a little confused about what exactly happened after the fight (particularly what that place Acheron and gambler man went to was and gambler man's actual plan) and how Firefly survive and what her deal is but hopefully those things will be explained in due time.

I did get spoiled that Firefly was a Stellaron Hunter though thankfully not the details of that. It's a little disappointing that the Sam = Firefly theory is true since that means the Sam suit probably won't be playable. Still, I don't completely hate the idea.

Aventurine is in real Penacony, a place that can only be reached by invoking "death" in the Dreamworld. His plan was to make a public spectacle and prove to the masses that "death" DOES exist in Penacony, I'm a bit less clear what he hoped to gain from exploring real Penacony though

I'm curious about how the real Penacony or at least the part Aventurine gets sent to seems to be touched by one of IX's shadows.

Also I heard that the EN localization omitted the part where Sunday accuses Gallagher of being a Pathstrider of Enigmata, so I'm now interested on what Hoyo will reveal about Mythus and their factions in future patches.

A little tidbit I just remembered is that when you first go to see Gallagher, one of the Bloodhounds you meet to get to him doesn't seem to know his name - but it's kinda lost in the middle of him being traumatized by his first encounter with TB. But in retrospect...

As for his claim about how the stowaway is supposed to be a "white-haired lad" instead of a "white-haired girl/lady", I thought it was either the guards somehow being stupid enough to misunderstand the order or once Boothill got drip marketed, they were actually searching for Boothill as he has white in his hair. But with the revelation of Gallagher's role in the story, it seems he's intentionally obfuscating it because Firefly could be important to his plan to be let free. That and the possibility of him doing it in the name of Mythus.

I more think that Misha is the key to everything.

I'm not saying that Gallagher is the key to the mystery. If anything, I think Misha being connected to the mystery in a major way seems to be obvious considering the opening dream where he's calling for Mikhail, kind of like Dan Heng's dream about Blade at the start of the Luofu arc. Then there's how only the TB can see him in the Dreamscape and the entire Child's Dream area with the voices.

Edit: Speaking of A Child's Dream, I wonder if Sparkle sending the TB and Firefly to it is meant to be similar to how Aventurine tries to get himself to the real Penacony at the end of 2.1 by letting them see a hidden part of Penacony

Edited by Billy5545 on Mar 28th 2024 at 9:08:55 PM

Ok, I'm back, first off I managed to win the 50/50 and nab Luocha, along with a full-out kitted Pela and a Gallagher. I think I'm going to get Xueyi for mono quantum since I also got lucky with Sparkle.

The story has been very, very good so far, though you need do to take breaks because it's very cutscene heavy. Aventurine got an impressive writing, made me feel like he would fit in with the League of Villains.

Acheron's on the other side is okay but a bit short, though considering that her backstory is better explained in the videos I can understand why there's no an in-deep look on her. Also, I do think we need to add the Continuity Nod trope now because Welt's conversation with her really requires the player to know about Honkai Impact 3rd because I could only guess that they were talking about Kevin because of the VA connection in her video.

The mystery is interesting, I didn't see that the Watchmaker would actually considered an enemy of the family. That Hanu event turned out to be lore hidden in plain sight from the looks of it. As for the Family, I'm interested in seeing who is behind Something upon Death in general.

The Sam = Firefly reveal is okay too. There's a lot of implications one can draw from Acheron's conversation with Sam to reach that conclusion. Also, Boothill finally shows up in voice, he was surprisingly entertaining.

Now, the Aventurine boss fight. What the fuck is with this boss fight? I'm really lucky to have Luocha now because that second phase really punishes you for not having Ao E fighters in your team. I'll try again with Destruction!Caelus, March 7th, Serval and Luocha after I build up the latter.

Edited by raziel365 on Mar 28th 2024 at 1:18:36 AM

I swear if me getting lucky enough to get Acheron after only two pulls causes me to not get Aventurine when it’s his turn I’m going to be so mad.

I had a lot of fun just having Aventurine on a team during his segment.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Mar 28th 2024 at 2:51:36 AM

If you have Fire TB s/he's okay against Aventurine.

But the devs are becoming quite heavy-handed trying to say "Please stop trying to clear everything with a single-target/hypercarry team".

And done!

As I expected, Destruction!Caelus, March, Serval and Luocha were the right combination for this boss fight. It does turn it into a battle of attrition but if it works, it works.

Aventurine's conversation with Acheron was interesting, and while I'm sure that we will see Aventurine again, if this was his true death it would have been good enough for me too.

And now the IPC brings the big guns, I guess we are going to face Topaz and Jade in 2.2.

Gallagher being an Enigmata was something I didn't see coming, I was spoiled that he was an amalgation but not of the victims per say, and now that Sunday is out of the game it's time to see what happens now.

Speaking of that, the Sam/Firefly reveal. It's funny how something so simple can also be so effective. And the writers seem to be really commited to make Firefly and the Trailblazer a thing. I dig it, now I want to see what the interlude brings for everyone.

Edit:

I also considered Fire!TB but decided against it because Aventurine is not hurt by Fire so it would have made the fight an even longer slug. I do suggest using them if they add him to the Simulated Universe.

Edited by raziel365 on Mar 28th 2024 at 4:50:30 AM

x4 Just do not bring anyone with only single target attacks, the dice all get added together.

...You don't need to have everyone win the gamble. Having a harmony character lose is fine, as long as they don't die

That attack hits hard and he gets a second turn right after to finish people off. My Silver Wolf died… 3 times.

I'm just saying, my first try was March, Kafka, Serval, and (destruction) Stelle, which failed. Then I swapped out Serval for Ruan Mei and won without too much effort

I think that's because Ruan Mei's skills revolve around Weakness Break (which puts a stop to the gimmicks) and because she deals Ice damage (which is one of the boss' weaknesses).

Either way, the main point is that this fight in particular is rather picky on who you can bring along.

It's because Ruan Mei doesn't need to act to get 90% of her (extremely high) value. She's guaranteed to lose the gamble, but March's shields are enough to negate the damage, and the imprisonment and debuff don't do anything meaningful

Sidenote, y'all know the fight got nerfed yesterday yeah?

Huh. What changed?

Yeah, I saw it mentioned on Reddit. No idea what exactly they nerfed but it doesn't surprise given how difficult this fight is already.

The update notes weren't specific outside of saying that the difficulty level has been adjusted but presumably it gives your harmony units the ability to not instantly eat shit when they inevitably lose the dice roll. I beat him on his original difficulty but it took 3 tries, incredibly careful management and also lmao Argenti ult and Luocha heals.

I don't know, maybe they lowered the boss' DPS throughout the fight but kept the dice mechanic as is.

We're fresh from the release of a very powerful new DPS whose kit screams "play me alongside 2 Nihility units (plus a sustain)", so the boss' design might be part of a global messaging saying "you do not need to bring Harmony units in every single fight, sometimes they don't fit". After months and months of "Monke see fight, monke pick Bronya/Ruan Mei/Tingyun/Sparkle", the difficulty might be on purpose.

This one is designed for powerful ults since you get a free one if you win the dice game - I'm sure Xueyi for example would work quite well despite not hitting on one of his weaknesses.

The toughest part is finding a sustain that can survive the dices without getting chain-trapped - and even though they're "not meta", March & Fire TB can do it pretty well.

(And if you absolutely want a Harmony unit, then the free one you get, Asta, is the one most likely to survive without an issue)

Edited by Bexlerfu on Mar 29th 2024 at 8:53:49 PM

Honestly the fight would be more than tolerable if they made it so that he didnt get a second turn after the dice mechanic, that would remove the one shot ability of it.