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[Pejo]

Casuals don't whale for constellations and 5-star weapons. Casuals don't log in daily to spend their resin so they can build up their character for Abyss. They need that hardcore audience to keep the game going. They're the ones who keep these new characters and items relevant.

And let's be real, the amount of people who care about a character's power level is huge. Most online discourse is about that. From videos to tier lists to build guides and even leaks. So even if not everyone is a fan of Abyss specifically, it has always played a vital role in benchmarking characters' performance.

MHY doesn't really seem to gain anything from minimizing that aspect of the game.

Yep, all fair points. I don't think we'll truly ever see the split of hardcore/casuals from MHY itself. There are plenty of people that play that I've met in co-op that don't even have artifacts equipped on their showcase characters. Or me that uses Gladiator/Wanderer's sets on everybody as a now 3+ year "temporary" basis. Not sure how many people are at that level vs. ones that farm artifact domains for 160~ resin per day, but I'd be interested in finding out. You're definitely right that both can (and probably need to) exist to keep the game healthy. For me this isn't a big deal but I understand that it could piss off players that like the Abyss.

I get your criticisms about stats and such, but I feel like that's a problem with the core game mechanics, rather than Abyss itself. This new mode doesn't really address that, because those mechanics still make up the vast majority of this game.

I also doubt this mode will be more skill-based. MHY is able to control way more parameters for this challenge than Abyss. If anything, it's a more controlled environment for them to shill characters in.

Yea, no doubt that they will tailor these even further to sell banner characters, I guess I'm just in a wait and see with how it goes. I wish they'd have gone the route of multiplayer raids instead of another solo endgame mode. Something like Destiny's Nightfall raids would be so fun in this game.

I don't do Abyss just to get Primos. I do it because I want to challenge hard content with new characters, teams and builds. I don't (have to) repeat them because I know there's a new one in two weeks. I assume that's how it is for most players who even attempt the Abyss.

I don't really feel like it's a challenge though. It's a stat check. It's about killing things in time to get all of the stars. You're not gonna die in Abyss. Most of the time you don't even have to pay attention to what the enemies are doing. If anything it's just about getting them grouped up so you can press buttons in order and win. If they made it so you could get 1 shot, or even did some MMO raid style simon says/don't stand in the red circle shit, it'd at least be a LITTLE bit of a skill check. Now it's just stats/team comp/rotations. HoYo is really bad at creating genuine challenge in all of their games that I've played.

I really wonder what would possess those devs to make these changes.

Probably gonna change constellations and sell them to us to make it fun again.

 

[Nankatsu]

Reinstalled the game. No idea if I'll be back or not yet

 

[Pejo]

Ehhhhhh still not sounding good to me. Archon still sounds too frilly and festive for a supposed god of war. All they had to do was make her Amazonian-esque and I'd have C6'd her. But it sounds like we're getting red Furina mixed with Jean, design wise. Guess I'll wait to see what the final product looks like... Amber skin isn't dead yet, though! Also 2nd braided hair girl sounds like it might be more up my alley.

 

[Nankatsu]

What are the best teams for Cloud Retainer? I pulled her and her weapon when she dropped, but got so shafted in the process that I didn't even built her and took a break from the game.

Is she actually good?

 

[Pejo]

What are the best teams for Cloud Retainer? I pulled her and her weapon when she dropped, but got so shafted in the process that I didn't even built her and took a break from the game.

Is she actually good?

She pairs well with Furina or anyone you want to turn into a plunge DPS. She can be a strong plunge dps in her own right paired with C6 Faruzan.

Worst case scenario, you can ignore plunge altogether and just use her as an off-field healer.

I use her in my Shenhe cryo carry team, which probably nobody else on the planet runs.

 

[Nankatsu]

So is the game having yet another content creator crisis? I came across some recent youtube videos where it seems a decent chunk of content creators are stopping to cover the game?

 

[Pejo]

So is the game having yet another content creator crisis? I came across some recent youtube videos where it seems a decent chunk of content creators are stopping to cover the game?

This is probably the worst place to ask that, I don't think many people in GenshinGAF watch content creators about the game often. The only youtuber I ever watch is occasionally that iwintolose guy. I haven't heard of any new drama lately, other than people being down on Chlorinde/Sigewinne's beta changes.

 

[SSfox]

Oups just heard today that they changing the Theatre characters. Welp guess time to build my Thomas (he already 70 so won't take that long)

 

[Nankatsu]

This is probably the worst place to ask that, I don't think many people in GenshinGAF watch content creators about the game often. The only youtuber I ever watch is occasionally that iwintolose guy. I haven't heard of any new drama lately, other than people being down on Chlorinde/Sigewinne's beta changes.

Apparently the new contracts make sure if you cover genshin as a contentor creator you're forbidden to play Wuthering Waves, otherwise you get blacklisted by Mihoyo in terms of sponsorship.

Result: content creators are going in favor of Wuthering Waves

Drama is going wild.

 

[Pejo]

Boy I fucking hate this new iteration of Windtrace. Catch everyone 2x as the hunter is stupid as shit.

 

[Icymanipulator]

Boy I fucking hate this new iteration of Windtrace. Catch everyone 2x as the hunter is stupid as shit.

It takes way too long. Terrible event imo. Just want to get it over with.

 

[Nankatsu]

Boy I fucking hate this new iteration of Windtrace. Catch everyone 2x as the hunter is stupid as shit.

Can't give anxiety to those kids who are afraid of getting caught only one time.

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

I kind of like it as it forces the rebels to cooperate rather than just find a good spot and sit hiding. Also forces the hunter to focus on the signaling beacon rather than catch the rebel who is in sight.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I think it's a great improvement over previous versions. The hunter now has specific points of interest to check and the rebels have to come out of hiding and move around to complete a goal. Before, it was all just mindless wandering or waiting. It's much more involved now. I also think it's more balanced.

On the other hand, Itto's rock party event was really disappointing to me. Especially the story. They bring up the theme of the dog mystery, then kind of abandon it immediately after, only to have another character 'solve' it behind the scenes which we're told about in some notes. Why even bother? For a flagship event, it's way shorter and simplified than what we've gotten before.

 

[Pejo]

I think it's a great improvement over previous versions. The hunter now has specific points of interest to check and the rebels have to come out of hiding and move around to complete a goal. Before, it was all just mindless wandering or waiting. It's much more involved now. I also think it's more balanced.

I guess. I only enjoyed actually playing Windtrace in the first event. The reruns have been mostly AFK-ing for me since I just want the primos and don't find it fun anymore. But yea if you're invested in actually playing it, I guess it's more active at least? I'd be ok never seeing Windtrace again.

On the other hand, Itto's rock party event was really disappointing to me. Especially the story. They bring up the theme of the dog mystery, then kind of abandon it immediately after, only to have another character 'solve' it behind the scenes which we're told about in some notes. Why even bother? For a flagship event, it's way shorter and simplified than what we've gotten before.

It's pretty obvious that this is a filler patch while they work on the engine upgrade/Summer patch/Natlan. I don't mind it because I enjoy the rock band gameplay. I agree that the rest was awful though. And Kujou Sara still gets disrespected, even when she's not on screen this time. Somebody at HoYo must really hate her.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I guess. I only enjoyed actually playing Windtrace in the first event. The reruns have been mostly AFK-ing for me since I just want the primos and don't find it fun anymore. But yea if you're invested in actually playing it, I guess it's more active at least? I'd be ok never seeing Windtrace again.

Lots of people love Windtrace. I'm neutral on it. Don't mind when it comes around. But I respect that they're trying to improve upon previous versions. That alone makes me want to try out all the new events, even if many of them are kinda lame.

It's pretty obvious that this is a filler patch while they work on the engine upgrade/Summer patch/Natlan. I don't mind it because I enjoy the rock band gameplay. I agree that the rest was awful though. And Kujou Sara still gets disrespected, even when she's not on screen this time. Somebody at HoYo must really hate her.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I was comparing this to the Fontaine film festival or the Yokai event from 3.X (Which I think happened around the same time/month as this event?) and thought those were just so much better. Hopefully this rushed event pays off for future content.

 

[Pejo]

Resin cap increase finally! to... 200 only... Better than nothing I guess.

Also materials cap raised from 9999 to 99999

 

[deanote666]

Genshin: have moar resin

Me: but my artifact storage is always full

 

[Pejo]

Special Program this Friday.

 

[Nankatsu]

Slowly getting back, started exploring the whole area that was introduced with Cloud Retainer.

In terms of exploration they always ace it. It's quite probably my favourite parts of the game.

But then Paimon starts talking and I get PTSD flashbacks.

 

[Pejo]

Slowly getting back, started exploring the whole area that was introduced with Cloud Retainer.

In terms of exploration they always ace it. It's quite probably my favourite parts of the game.

But then Paimon starts talking and I get PTSD flashbacks.

Yea Chenyu Vale was great. Luckily the best parts of that area (like usual) are the unvoiced world quests. So while you still have to read Paimon's bullshit, you don't have to hear the screech the entire time.

Some of the music is really great there too.

 

[jonnyXx]

Resin cap increase finally! to... 200 only... Better than nothing I guess.

Also materials cap raised from 9999 to 99999

That's good but I wish they would increase the resin regen rate so we actually get more resin. I almost never let my resin reach the cap so increasing it wont do much for me. And how can they say they are listening to feedback about artifact loads but refuse to give us actual artifact ladouts.

I'm really rooting for wuthering waves to do well and put some pressure on hoyo. It's no coincidence that these things like resin cap increase and new endgame are coming at the time of wuwa's release.

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

Who do you think is the strongest 4* and weakest 5* in universe based on their feats and vision skills?

 

[InterMusketeer]

Who do you think is the strongest 4* and weakest 5* in universe based on their feats and vision skills?

The strongest 4-star would probably be Ningguang. She's the ruler of Liyue and has enough power to launch a palace to defeat the tentacle monster. Other possibilities would probably be Noelle (It's implied she might be stronger than virtually all other Knights of Favonius) and maybe Lisa (She shortened her lifespan in her quest for elemental power).

As for the weakest 5-star... Probably Itto? We know he lost against Kujou Sara in a duel. I'd imagine Nilou (Just a dancer) and Yoimiya (Just a fireworks saleswoman) are not that powerful either, though I'm no expert on character backstories.

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

The strongest 4-star would probably be Ningguang. She's the ruler of Liyue and has enough power to launch a palace to defeat the tentacle monster. Other possibilities would probably be Noelle (It's implied she might be stronger than virtually all other Knights of Favonius) and maybe Lisa (She shortened her lifespan in her quest for elemental power).

As for the weakest 5-star... Probably Itto? We know he lost against Kujou Sara in a duel. I'd imagine Nilou (Just a dancer) and Yoimiya (Just a fireworks saleswoman) are not that powerful either, though I'm no expert on character backstories.

Yeah I was thinking Beidou, Ninguang or Sara for 4* but not sure if Yanfei could be as well since she is full or part adepti. I have no idea about Faruzan and all. Come to think of it when or which quest was Faruzan involved in where info about get was given?

For 5* Nilou, Yomiya and Hu Tao. Itto is an Oni so he has to be stronger.

 

[Pejo]

That's good but I wish they would increase the resin regen rate so we actually get more resin. I almost never let my resin reach the cap so increasing it wont do much for me. And how can they say they are listening to feedback about artifact loads but refuse to give us actual artifact ladouts.

I was hoping for 240 + Overflow like Star Rail has. It's annoying that they won't do it when they literally already do it in their other game.

I'm really rooting for wuthering waves to do well and put some pressure on hoyo. It's no coincidence that these things like resin cap increase and new endgame are coming at the time of wuwa's release.

Yea same. I guess we'll see how it goes. I wonder how much WuWa has improved since the beta that I played, because if it's just around the same level it's gonna disappoint a lot of people. I thought they needed at least another 6-8 months and another beta or two after playing that beore it released, but they just decided to push it out the door a few months later.

I'm gonna try WuWa again and see how it improved for sure.

Who do you think is the strongest 4* and weakest 5* in universe based on their feats and vision skills?

Based on in-universe lore, strongest 4* is probably (ironically) Kujou Sara who is a Youkai like Yae/Itto which puts her at about Adeptus levels without the fanfare that Liyue gives Adepti. She's regarded by the characters as VERY strong and an excellent general/fighter, despite the game constantly shitting on her and making her look like a loser. Ningguang and Lisa are both regular humans that have accomplished a lot and have a lot of sway/power, and I'd argue that Beidou is up there by slaying that sea dragon (though she admits that her crew helped her more than the legend lets on). She's also very influential.

Weakest 5* is probably Baizhu. He keeps transferring sicknesses to himself and then depends on Chengye (or whatever the white snake's name is) - the weakened Adeptus, to keep him alive. Almost all of his power is granted by her outside of his skill as a doctor.

Yeah I was thinking Beidou, Ninguang or Sara for 4* but not sure if Yanfei could be as well since she is full or part adepti. I have no idea about Faruzan and all. Come to think of it when or which quest was Faruzan involved in where info about get was given?

Yanfei has long life but she has never been shown in lore to be a proficient fighter. Her biggest strength is longevity and her connections/sway she earned through being a lawyer.

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

I was hoping for 240 + Overflow like Star Rail has. It's annoying that they won't do it when they literally already do it in their other game.

Yea same. I guess we'll see how it goes. I wonder how much WuWa has improved since the beta that I played, because if it's just around the same level it's gonna disappoint a lot of people. I thought they needed at least another 6-8 months and another beta or two after playing that beore it released, but they just decided to push it out the door a few months later.

I'm gonna try WuWa again and see how it improved for sure.


Based on in-universe lore, strongest 4* is probably (ironically) Kujou Sara who is a Youkai like Yae/Itto which puts her at about Adeptus levels without the fanfare that Liyue gives Adepti. She's regarded by the characters as VERY strong and an excellent general/fighter, despite the game constantly shitting on her and making her look like a loser. Ningguang and Lisa are both regular humans that have accomplished a lot and have a lot of sway/power, and I'd argue that Beidou is up their by slaying that sea dragon (though she admits that her crew helped her more than the legend lets on). She's also very influential.

Weakest 5* is probably Baizhu. He keeps transferring sicknesses to himself and then depends on Chengye (or whatever the white snake's name is) - the weakened Adeptus, to keep him alive. Almost all of his power is granted by her outside of his skill as a doctor.

Yanfei has long life but she has never been shown in lore to be a proficient fighter. Her biggest strength is longevity and her connections/sway she earned through being a lawyer.

Yeah forgot Baizhu even existed. That's how impressive his character is.

 

[Nankatsu]

Yea same. I guess we'll see how it goes. I wonder how much WuWa has improved since the beta that I played, because if it's just around the same level it's gonna disappoint a lot of people. I thought they needed at least another 6-8 months and another beta or two after playing that beore it released, but they just decided to push it out the door a few months later.

I'm gonna try WuWa again and see how it improved for sure.

People are thirsty for a Genshin Killer, be it players that like Genshin or not. It just shows how comfy Mihoyo is, because up until now they barely improved things on community feedback. It's clear that for now WuWa is slighty itching Mihoyo, but realistically it's just that. The real possible damage comes after a few months WuWa has been around, because in it's first months it's perfectly normal for people to try it out and play less Genshin.

I'm rooting for WuWa 100%, specially because I prefer their art direction and combat, but people need to realize that they're making WuWa facing a behemoth.

It's a shame there's no console schedule for any time soon.

 

[Pejo]

Well Wuthering Waves is out. I'm gonna give it a shot for the rest of the night. Once I'm done rerolling I'll post my friend code for anyone else here playing on Americas.

 

[Nankatsu]

Installed Wuthering Waves on my Potato PC and it runs nice on low specs, while still looking pretty good.

Just did the first major boss fight and combat it's pretty good. The parry and dodge mechanic work well and it really gives a extra layer to combat that Genshin doest have at all.

Connect my PS4 controller to my PC and to my surprise the games UI instantly converted to PlayStatuon layout.

Game should have launched on consoles too.

 

[manj]

Installed Wuthering Waves on my Potato PC and it runs nice on low specs, while still looking pretty good.

Just did the first major boss fight and combat it's pretty good. The parry and dodge mechanic work well and it really gives a extra layer to combat that Genshin doest have at all.

Connect my PS4 controller to my PC and to my surprise the games UI instantly converted to PlayStatuon layout.

Game should have launched on consoles too.

didn’t get to play beta or anything but first impressions compared to Genshin?

 

[jonnyXx]

Oh snap, Sethos is going second half.
Chevreuse+Fischl on first half is a possibility again.

 

[Pejo]

didn’t get to play beta or anything but first impressions compared to Genshin?

I did play the beta, and my opinion is virtually unchanged since then. I'm puzzled that they didn't clean up the main story quest a bit, it's a fucking mess.

Anyways, good combat (the big sell), worse open world puzzles, pokemon gearing is amusing for a while, worse quests, terrible localization to English, world feels empty.

Whether you enjoy the game is going to entirely depend on how you like the character designs, combat, and pokemon aspect.

I probably won't be a daily player, but I'll log in for events that sound fun and keep an eye on things until they have some time to improve it. Pretty much everything I (and a lot of others from what I read) gave feedback on in the beta remained untouched for the release. The game probably could have used another year of dev time before release, but as I mentioned before, they were probably bleeding money and needed to get some income to balance the costs, so they released it like this.

I actually think the EN version is in a worse spot than Tower of Fantasy was back at launch. ToF's story and beginner experience is a shitshow, but at least it's not listening to 400 pages of dialogue about Chinese terms & technobabble, and at least they gave you a lot of up-front pull currency to roll the gacha. WuWa's early game is borrrriiiinng and very dissatisfying.

Oh snap, Sethos is going second half.
Chevreuse+Fischl on first half is a possibility again.

Hell yea, if Chev's on the banner, it's a dream come true for me.

*edit*

LMAO

 

[Nankatsu]

didn’t get to play beta or anything but first impressions compared to Genshin?

I also did not play the beta.

First impressions are nice, combat instantly clicks and the dodge and parry mechanics really add a satisfying layer and depth to the combat, that you can't find in any other gacha game, mainly Genshin. I think this is the main selling point of this game for now.

Visually most characters look extremely good, and I really like that you have a decent mix of sword, gun and hands combat in here (these are the only types that I found out for now, dont know if there are more).

The MC design is very well made in my opinion.

So far, from the novice banner that currently has discounts, I got Aalto (which is the drippest character ever) and Yuanwu. Next pull is my guaranteed 5 stars. Let's see how that goes.

In terms of synergy of teams and characters I have yet to explore it in more depth.

Transversal is also a huge step up. The wall running, grappling hook and gliding is extremely fast and easy to use and works really well.

VA is a mixed bag, specially the english one. Some dubs seem off. Switched to japanese and it sounds way better, but I struggle a bit when there is combat and voice acting going on at the same time, makes me look at the subtitles which, in english, I don't need to do.

In terms of world exploration I need to do a bit more to see how it fares. Just unlocked the main tools to dig deeper on that regard.

Narrative wise I liked it, but you can see that it, concept wise, it's not that different from Genshin.

Overall I think it has a very solid base, but it remains to be seen how it will fare in terms of content vs Genshin. It's not fare to compare both games at their current states in that regard. One just launched and the other one has 4 years in the market. Of course it has much more content for you to play.

 

[deanote666]

US2VLGSXCAT9

6A2ULZTFVBCV

BS3DLYAFVAUH

Expire tonight. Get them while they're hot!

 

[InterMusketeer]

Livestream wrapped up a while ago. Sethos will be on the first phase banner with Clorinde and Alhaitham, so that leak was false. Hopefully we'll still get Chevreuse on there too.

They talked a bit about the new mode, said the rewards from Abyss are increased from 600 to 800... Of course not mentioning it has been cut in half.

Finally, they showed a teaser for Natlan:



Looks like it's not so much mounts as you becoming the creature. Not what I hoped for, but the creatures all have their own unique abilities, so it would be a bit weird to ride them under the soil or in the lava. Looks pretty fun to me as an additional form of exploration and play, similar to the diving in Fontaine.

 

[Nankatsu]

Livestream wrapped up a while ago. Sethos will be on the first phase banner with Clorinde and Alhaitham, so that leak was false. Hopefully we'll still get Chevreuse on there too.

They talked a bit about the new mode, said the rewards from Abyss are increased from 600 to 800... Of course not mentioning it has been cut in half.

Finally, they showed a teaser for Natlan:



Looks like it's not so much mounts as you becoming the creature. Not what I hoped for, but the creatures all have their own unique abilities, so it would be a bit weird to ride them under the soil or in the lava. Looks pretty fun to me as an additional form of exploration and play, similar to the diving in Fontaine.

No mounts at all?

 

[InterMusketeer]

No mounts at all?

Probably too much effort to properly animate all characters sitting on a mount. For Hoyo standards anyway.

 

[Nankatsu]

Probably too much effort to properly animate all characters sitting on a mount. For Hoyo standards anyway.

So will it be a different animal per element? Because going by the preview that's the feeling I got.

 

[InterMusketeer]

So will it be a different animal per element? Because going by the preview that's the feeling I got.

Seems that way. They only showed three, but there's more symbols representing different creatures.

 

[Icymanipulator]

Haven’t logged in for 3 days or so, just busy. Longest stretch of not playing since I started last July. Combination of nice weather and other games and stuff just eating up too much time.

I’m happy to see Resin total will go up though, that’s a good change. Though, 240 would have been better

 

[Pejo]

Finally, they showed a teaser for Natlan:

Natlan looks neat. Kind of "land of the lost" vibes. Hate the designs of the pokemon Saurian creatures. They look like little kids toys. I was really hoping mounts was a thing, I don't want to run around as these little ugly fucking things for the entirety of Natlan exploration. Also not a fan of the graffiti on the cave walls, but I guess they wanted something to differentiate it from Sumeru's desert mountain regions.

Overall, my initial impression is "meh".

 

[Pejo]

Damn, WuWa getting grilled by CN fans it seems. They're emergency hiring writers/directors to improve the story and all this:



TL;DR, free 5* selector, skip feature being improved, story being rewritten, combat fixes, + more.

At least they seem serious about making the game a success. A developer made a throwaway account and explained that the Kuro dev team is in hell right now. They've been forced into 18 hour days for improvements and bug fixes and stuff since the game released. I think everyone that played the beta knew that this game wouldn't be ready by May but the investors and shareholders were probably calling the shots. It's a shitty situation for them to be in right now, but I called almost all of these problems word-for-word.

Anyways, I like Kuro, they usually do right by their players, and I hope they can pick things back up.

 

[Nankatsu]

Damn, WuWa getting grilled by CN fans it seems. They're emergency hiring writers/directors to improve the story and all this:



TL;DR, free 5* selector, skip feature being improved, story being rewritten, combat fixes, + more.

At least they seem serious about making the game a success. A developer made a throwaway account and explained that the Kuro dev team is in hell right now. They've been forced into 18 hour days for improvements and bug fixes and stuff since the game released. I think everyone that played the beta knew that this game wouldn't be ready by May but the investors and shareholders were probably calling the shots. It's a shitty situation for them to be in right now, but I called almost all of these problems word-for-word.

Anyways, I like Kuro, they usually do right by their players, and I hope they can pick things back up.

Investors and shareholders are really greedy as fuck. Kudos for the team for holding the fort and keeping on improving the game.

They could (and still can) cope with the heavy expectations people are putting on them and the game.

Genshin Impact is established. They can continue to deliver shitty content and the mob will follow until a solid alternative comes around. Sad but true.

I'll keep playing and exploring the PC version. In a sense, glad it didn't launch on consoles for now.

 

[Pejo]

Looks like they redesigned the Pyro archon based off of the old rumor (new on right). Looks like they got rid of the Fontaine-esque frills and exposed some more skin, gave a tattoo. More in line with what I wanted. I remain hopeful.

 

[InterMusketeer]

Good to see a more tribal design, though I'm still not a fan of the mask. The phoenix theme is a bit too heavy handed as well for my taste, what with all the feathers.

 

[Pejo]

Good to see a more tribal design, though I'm still not a fan of the mask. The phoenix theme is a bit too heavy handed as well for my taste, what with all the feathers.

Keep in mind this is an artist's rendition based off of a description. I don't think they have any designs in the game currently that are THAT busy on the head, so I'm guessing it's just an interpretive choice by the artist. I think a tasteful amount of phoenix/sun crow feathers can be cool.

 

[deanote666]

So we're going from 2300AD technology in Fontaine to 65000000 BC in Natlan? (Chrono Trigger reference).

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

Need WuWa advice. Just downloaded the game on my PC. Who to pull for, what to do etc. Any info appreciated.

 

[Nankatsu]

Need WuWa advice. Just downloaded the game on my PC. Who to pull for, what to do etc. Any info appreciated.

Unlock the Novice banner and pull on there first.

Top tier units to aim are Verina and Calcharo from what I've seen, besides the obvious limited event one which is Jiyan (but that one uses a different type of tickets to pull on the banner).

After that banner is gone you also get access to another 5 star selector.

Beware that all banners share the same main currency (which is astrite) but then each banner has a different conversion material to pull on it.

The easy one to get is Lustrous Tide (green orb), the harder ones are Radiant Tide and Forging Tide (yellow orb).

From the 4-star ones Mortefi seems to be the better one, specially if paired with Cadenza weapon.

EDIT: For anyone playing the game, when you get access to the Permanent character banner, do a single pull and you will automatically get Baizhi.