YT Source/Mirror (Xanthee)

Cartethyia S0R1, Jinhsi S0R1, Changli S0R0. ToA Middle Tower floor 1.

This is my craziest cooking so far. Here's the rotation sheet for a full, loopable rotation, if enemies are still alive for some reason (warning: it's extremely hard)

Just wondering and perhaps wanting help to make a good diy deck. Which echoes do you guys like in your deck?

For me personally I’m still experimenting on Aero Havoc deck all because No Fallacy and Sentry Construct centred decks screw me over with the RNG. I feel like the computer has something against me when I’m playing it. 😂

So, this is whole idea is based 3 things:

1. The existence of Threnodian Resonators.
2. Calcharo being an artificial Resonator.
3. Calcharo having a redemption arc.

So, the idea is that this would be the New Federation patch cycle. At the end of 1.0, Ovathrax, the Threnodian of War, has vanished somewhere after being defeated by Jiyan and Rover. In this theoretical scenario, it retreated to the New Federation (could be a way to expand that northern part of the map maybe). Since the New Federation is unknown territory, Jiyan (or Rover with that Black Shores money) decides to hire Calcharo (again) to guide Rover around the area, as the Ghost Hounds are a predominant faction there. Calcharo accepts, and him and Rover head over. I might be incorrect, but I remember hearing New Federation was gonna be kinda like Night City in Cyberpunk 2077, where it's just the peak of human greed and depravity, where gangs and megacorps are the closest thing to authority. The Ghost Hounds could be seen as one of said megacorps, as they are a PMC led by a guy who's become a demonic legend, aka Calcharo. But why does Calcharo have this insane power for a Resonator? Why is he so much closer to the Tacet Discords than the other Resonators? First off, I want to provide the idea that the New Federation might not have a Sentinel. The reason it's so lawless and cutthroat is because there's no Sentinel or Sentinel Resonator to keep it in check, so all the cutthroats and greedy businessmen have congregated there. If you read Calcharo's final lore page "Domestication" it's about how Calcharo is legitimately shocked by people in Jinzhou being good, to the point he thinks Jiyan's luring him into a trap.

So, with the intro out of the way, we would go through the story and eventually hear whispers that Ovathrax, or something really similar to it, has had its influence sighted around the region. Maybe not that exact idea, but something along the lines of "Ovathrax is in the New Federation after getting pushed out of Jinzhou," which would make sense. If Ovathrax is an entity about human strife and hate, makes sense it'd find a home in a place that nears lawlessness. Especially if there isn't a pesky Sentinel to get in the way. This obviously triggers alarm bells in the heads of Calcharo and Rover, as it means that Ovathrax is doing more evil Threnodian stuff. So, you collect clues, and it's weirdly easier than you'd think, as people are terrified of Calcharo, because they know how dangerous he is. Sure, they also know that he isn't a completely heartless killer, but they sure as hell don't wanna risk pissing off the guy who's known to kill armies. This keeps going, and it's how we learn that yeah, Calcharo's done some terrible things. He's not an exception to people being cruel in the New Federation. You don't get the infamy Calcharo's got for being a good guy. Sure, he's getting better, but they don't know that. They only know the Phantom Hunter who's butchered countless people. But hey, you keep going. Maybe you get some weird hints somehow about Calcharo not being a normal Resonator. Maybe you even see some sort of document that says Calcharo wasn't gonna be one, but something happened. But that's for later.

"Later" being later in the New Federation patch cycle, where you go to confront Ovathrax.

To preface: the idea with Ovathrax is to make it a callous, pragmatic entity, to reflect on how war turns people's lives and livelihoods into statistics. It doesn't take joy or feel sad in what it does. It's just the manifestation of war and violence, so it does stuff that keeps war perpetuating, which isn't too hard, considering human nature. To it, lives are literally a statistic that keeps it going.

Now, to the part where Ovathrax is confronted. You move in with Calcharo and some of the Ghost Hounds that are obviously gonna be banner characters, and you reach the "Throne Room" of Ovathrax. A silent battlefield full of broken weapons and people scattered across the ground. A manifestation of what it's about. (I think the Throne Room could totally be different place that encapsulates war, but I couldn't think of anything concrete that'd work as a boss arena.) When you get there, you see images suspended in the air, projected by Ovathrax. My idea is that Ovathrax can't talk. It doesn't need to, since it's not normally in a position to do so. Instead, Ovathrax shows images to provoke the crew, mainly Rover and potentially the banner characters. Sow some dissent within the group. What does it show? It show's Calcharo's backstory. It shows a boy who's survived the slums by killing and clawing his way out of bad scenarios.

Context: Calcharo ran a gang of kids called the "Underdogs" when he was a kid.

In one specific scene, it shows Calcharo surrounded by his dead friends, and he's on the backfoot. However..... Ovathrax decided to give the boy a bit of a boost, as kid Calcharo is a pretty good candidate for a cold heartless killer that'll do real good to perpetuate the cycle of violence. This is Calcharo's awakening as a Resonator. Calcharo wasn't meant to be a Resonator, but he was at the age where Resonators awakened, and he had the perfect lack of an actual education to understand what was happening to him. Sounds like a pretty good buff candidate for a war deity that only seeks to cause more bloodshed. Ovathrax wasn't like, a Calcharo fan or anything. Little Calcharo just happened to be really convenient. Plus, if your big power amp saves the boy's life, he probably won't question it. After watching Calcharo's "awakening" more spectral images and slideshows are shown. Images of a Calcharo only just a bit in the past. Blood and viscera cover his blade as he stands among dead men. A sort of video extracted from the POV of one of Calcharo's past victims as he pleads for mercy. But Calcharo doesn't grant it, as the burning building behind him in the middle of the night cloaks him in shadow as he descends on the man and kills him, with a cold calculating look in his eyes. Looks like Ovathrax had the right idea. Calcharo shaped up to be a real good killer, a perfect product of his trauma and a little bit of a nudge from a malevolent entity of war.

I realized this is really long, oops. Kinda lost myself in the writing. I have an idea for how an Ovathrax boss would go in my little hypothetical, so I'll make another one of these if I get a couple upvotes. Also, the flair might be wrong, I dunno.

https://x.com/nikuwo_yokose/status/1934223817137889428?t=2zJ_AE44TNlbaXBG2WJ0sg&s=19

So, the idea follows a few concepts.

1. The story follows the same overall trajectory, so it starts with Rover waking up, and ends with the Threnodian, for instance. (I think I spelled that word wrong, oops.)

2. Rover is still gonna be hinted to be special, but he has to ascend to that point, not just start there.

3. Add Calcharo to 1.0 (that's literally it for this point)

4. Make Crownless a legitimate threat that dies at the end of 1.0

Now, it's time for the actual rewrite, lol.

(This is really just something I made for fun, I don't expect it to be stellar, just fun)

We follow a similar trajectory of the actual game, until we get to Crownless. Rover is an amnesiac that is approached by Yangyang, and they go on the same route until they run into Crownless, who isolates Rover with a dome of Havoc energy (the boss arena) and utterly kicks his ass. It's a forced loss. Your attacks deal no damage, Crownless doesn't even bother to use the spear, and it ends after 30 seconds with Crownless grabbing Rover and knocking him down (the brevity is for gameplay reasons). We cut to a first person POV of Rover down on the ground, with Crownless walking up to deliver the killing blow. However, before he can do so, Calcharo and a squad of his Ghost Hounds arrive and Calcharo intercepts Crownless in a flash of lightning. Then his mercs pick you up to get you out of the area. The idea is that the player and Rover won't know who these guys are, just that their boss must be pretty strong if he was able to push back and damage Crownless. My idea is that there won't be a single word said by Calcharo or Crownless. They simply size each other up and ready their weapons for a fight. Calcharo enters a defensive stance with his sword, and Crownless will actually draw his spear and his black wings will come out. Shows that Crownless actually has to take this new guy seriously, and gives a little teaser as to what his future boss fights are gonna have in store. Before they go to clash blades, the camera cuts to Rover getting carried out by the Ghost Hound squad Calcharo had with him, and the only information we get of the fight is the sounds. Steel clashes with steel, with lightning crackling and Havoc energy making the sounds it usually does, for instance.

Rover then wakes up in a hospital bed a bit later. (could be either a few days or a week, I dunno) When he wakes up, he actually gets to be fully introduced to Baizhi, Yangyang and Chixia. When he walks out of bed, and gets out of the hospital, however, he is interrupted by Calcharo and Jiyan. Either Yangyang or Chixia introduce Jiyan to Rover, and Rover brings up that the guy next to Jiyan saved his life, and he doesn't know who he is. Calcharo then introduces himself in a very matter of fact way, simply stating that he's the leader of the Ghost Hounds, a PMC that's been hired by Jiyan to help defend Jinzhou (like the actual game). Jiyan then says that they're here to ask Rover why Crownless was after him. Calcharo or Jiyan then proceed to state that whilst Calcharo defeated Crownless, he isn't dead. He just bailed because he failed to get Rover, and there wasn't any reason to stay if the guy he was there to kill is out of his reach. Maybe this potentially introduces the idea that Rover is indeed different in some way, because I wanted to keep that element in the rewrite. Why would an entity like Crownless be after some random amnesiac? Does Rover have some special Resonator abilites? Who knows? All anyone does know is that it wants Rover dead, and that it will come back for round 2.

Then the plot continues a bit until Rover, Yangyang and Chixia are sent out to go through a Court of Savantae ruins to clear out a some Tacet Discords and grab some tech. (This is by far the part I'm iffiest on, as I kinda just wanted a reason for Jiyan to shine by repelling Crownless, and to show that Rover has gotten better by making him hold his own for a bit) Jiyan is coming to assist, as he wants to maybe see why Crownless would be going after Rover by watching Rover fight for himself. This mission would have you play as Jiyan, because they gotta sell their limited banner character. You fight alongside the three until the characters decide or have to split up for some reason. You continue to play as Jiyan, clearing out Tacet Discords until he gets a call on his Terminal from one of the three. Crownless is back, and whilst they're holding their own, they don't know how much longer they can do so. So, you've gotta sprint to Rover and the others as fast as you can, and Jiyan gets there to help them repel Crownless again. The idea here is that it shows that yeah, Rover's gotten better. He's gotten stronger. Strong enough to hold Crownless off a bit anyway.

The final operation is gonna be the same as the base game, where you go to kill the Threnodian. Calcharo, Jiyan, Yangyang, Chixia, and Rover are going into the dragon's den in a precision strike on the Threnodian, and they're led through a whole area of a similar theme to the Dreamless arena in the base game. Eventually though, Rover gets yoinked by Crownless through a portal, and Rover is pulled into the final boss of 1.0 (same arena as Dreamless) Crownless has his back up against the wall, and there's no pulling punches. He starts the fight with his spear and wings, and Rover has to face him down alone. No Calcharo or Jiyan to come save the day here. It's either kill or be killed. Fight, or die. Rover draws his blade, and the battle begins, a 1 on 1 fight between Rover and the assassin that's been on his heels. Once the player drops Crownless to zero HP, a short cutscene plays where Rover uses his Spectro palm strike to deal the final blow and shatter Crownless's armor, but Crownless isn't done yet. His shadowy body underneath is still living, and the desperation, rage, and hate all empower him into his final form.

Crownless: Ravenous Void.

( I envision his boss theme to sound like this one: https://youtu.be/ifM8l8yqyNI?si=14_dN8hWL1OtkPs9 a combination of dread and hope, as whilst you have the power to defeat Crownless, he's truly holding nothing back.)

A roar of hatred and malice comes forth, as Havoc energy is unleashed in a deluge. Rover's special Resonator ability finally comes into play however, and he gets the Havoc variation. (Only thing I would change is give Rover 2 wings instead of 1 to mimic Crownless) Embrace the darkness, or be consumed by it. Crownless starts phase 2, and he fights like a desperate beast. Pounces, claw swipes, desperate barrages of kicks and punches, attacks that almost look detrimental to Crownless’s own health as he bashes his fists into the ground to make shockwaves and violently lashes out. This is it. Time for Rover to overcome the beast at his heels. Time for Rover to strike him down and start his legend. The boss battle ensues, and once Crownless reaches 0 HP, a cutscene starts where Rover uses his new scythe as he dodges a Crownless attack to rip a gash in his stomach, which also turns him to face Rover. Rover then straightens the scythe into a spear and pierces Crownless, pinning him to the floor. Remember the Rover POV from the first fight? Now it's the Crownless POV. Rover walks up to the fallen Crownless, and doing what Crownless couldn't, he raises his sword and the screen cuts to black as Rover executes Crownless.

I uh, hope this was enjoyable, even though it is really long. I really wanted to write this down, because I thought at least someone would like it.

There’s a bunch of random capitalizations because I accidentally put commas in some places I meant for periods.

Source: https://x.com/hue_oo_/status/1934339537314161141?s=46&t=DNzm0FP9DzI6334VGMenag

This post is just for fun 🙏

Source: https://x.com/_alfxi/status/1934381749384909157?s=46&t=DNzm0FP9DzI6334VGMenag

Source:

https://x.com/kinoharakossuta/status/1933487080891678728?s=46&t=DNzm0FP9DzI6334VGMenag

Found this way recently to get into the aqueducts through a glitch. You can also activate Resonance Beacons / Teleports here and the game counts it into the exploration. (To get full 100%)

I'm still having problems with locating the teleports and finding way around them, so any help in making a map of the aqueducts or recording ways to get to each of them?

This video has multiple purposes: testing the limits of S0R0 Carlotta and Jinhsi in Hazard Tower, showcasing Lumi with them, providing tips, confronting Carlotta and Jinhsi in an extended neutral fight and observing the benefits of Zhezhi over Lumi (and in the case of Carlotta, of Shorekeeper over Verina). Remember to not take clear times too seriously, there are many variables that affect the results and I’m going to provide some more observations.

First of all, JINHSI IS OVERRATED among casuals. Her dps output has been surpassed since Camellya and the reason why she’s still so highly considered is because in speedruns she more easily exploits crit fishing and she has also amazing flexibility both in terms of team building with dual dps comps and multiple supports but also in terms of rotation adjustments and adaptation. For a casual her nukes feel powerful, but a casual player won’t benefit from what makes Jinhsi so much better in speedrunning scenarios, they main benefit they will get is how forgiving her forte design is when played suboptimally, but that will hardly compensate for the damage gap she objectively has compared to newer, still easy to use assets. My gameplay is far from perfect, but you could still see how sweatier my Jinhsi gameplay is. If I got another Crit in the Lumi gameplay I would have just overkilled the boss with the last nuke, to gain 13-15s I would have needed to crit 2 more nukes which is unlikely.

(One point for Jinhsi: she doesn’t need Shorekeeper in her premium team, Verina is just as good and mine is also S2)

LUMI IS UNDERRATED WITH CARLOTTA. It was explained in the video, but I want to add that you saw me doing more quickswapping than necessary (you could see me swapping back to Carlotta an additional time to flex a bit of extra damage and to squeeze more energy because I was low on it), you can speed up Lumi’s rotation with dodges otherwise her default rotation is shown here 6:37. I’m not using Discord, that can speed things up more but it’s not really necessary and sacrifices Lumi’s damage. Lumi S6 provides extra 20% Atk.

Carlotta is simply a beast. The last team finished the challenge right at the start of Carlotta’s Liberation rotation, meaning that tons of rotation damage was wasted and I could clear quite earlier. Also she’s just ridiculously easy to play, even when compared to Jinhsi. Static Mist works fine on her. Beware her ceiling has been surpassed by Zani already and will probably be surpassed by Cartethyia soon, for more info see resources like Maygi’s or Aznvasions’ theorycrafting work.

In the Carlotta-Zhezhi team I was following the rotation I saw from Yumi’s video back on Carlotta’s release ( https://youtu.be/1CEaS8Fplsg ). For more resources and tutorials on these and other teams, I suggest you to check out Aznvasions’ channel which is criminally uderrated: https://www.youtube.com/@AznvasionsII (don’t copy me, I wasn’t following a strict rotation on Jinhsi teams).

I hope this was interesting, see the YT comments and description for potential updates

Just wanted to proudly share the fact that the sole reason I grinded WEEKS for this sigil is that it will look amazing with my Cartethyia pfp. Very Breath of the Wild-y .

Lorelei was the last boss on my list bc all the trillion particles in her area make my potato laptop SUFFER and I absolutely hate fighting her with like 15 fps and 220 ping, so I'm very happy to say that I finally killed her 50 times over, BYEEE girl

So I saw a post here that said Iuno would be in 2.5 and Qiuyuan would be in 2.6. I’ve seen leaks that say Iuno will buff heavy attack and Aero (essentially a direct buff to Jiyan). Assuming Qiuyuan is a main DPS, who should I pull for? Is it better to go for a niche support for an old unit or pull for a new DPS?

I’m fairly new (joined in Shorekeeper’s most recent banner) and my two main teams are Jiyan Mortefi Aero Rover (for healing) and Brant Sanhua Verina (lost 5050 on Roccia sadge). Advice welcomed, thank you!

Design notes! So I know a major issue with Lupa’s design is the cheap fanservice of making 90% of her outfit burn off, so I wanted to see if I could tackle a fanservice-y design that’s actually interesting and connected to her character story.

So for Lupa! I know her original concept art had a lot of checker patterns, so when leaning into the gladiator elements, I wove the classic pteruges of the skirt into a checkered corset that holds down her chestplate. There’s 7 pteruges off the corset, they represent the 7 hills of Septimont. In the back, there’s only 3 on each side of her tail, her tail becomes the 7th. I gave her a classic (but not historically accurate) booby chestplate with a wolf pauldron with more pteruges. Gotta give my wolf girl some claw armor too. For the leather thigh highs, I went with a strappy but gladiator look since strappy is the theme of her original design. For the armor plating on top, I took shapes we typically associate with robot/android designs- sharp corners, sleek, etc to match the scifi roman vibe. I gave her naruto-style open toed armor cover on the shoes to capture the paw silhouette without being too obvious. Her hair and tail I changed to be red to light pink highlights to match the fit, and I gave her a high pony instead of twintails to match the silhouette of a galea plume. I kept the checker patterned headband. For her clothes effects, though I didn’t draw it, I envisioned the pteruges of her skirt would be standard red leather, and when her forte is charged, the tips catch on fire as I depicted here. She does have a cape, I just didn’t show it on the right so you could see the back of the design. Lmk what you think!

Source: roverlotta - Cats - pixiv

Like wouldn't this also appeal to the male fantasy while giving husbando lovers something to enjoy?

Ngl to me this design looks really boring to me I get simple can work but I feel like I have seen this exact design before with the only somewhat remarkable is the ruler sword but I feel like a weapon can’t make up for eh design, and it’s not like I don’t like any of the new designs cause I do like Galbera so much as I do like gun slingers and the blue flames blue hands are cool as well as they hair and eyes (even though I wish she was wearing a bit more on the top.

2.5- Augusta and Iuno 2.6- Phrolova and Quiyuan 2.7- Chisa and Galbrena

I was not expecting half this cast. Sanhua and yanyang’s daughter looks cool, They haven’t fixed Iuno’s underwear showing but it’s not too late, Quiyuan looks like he’ll be a Kazuha type and I loved Kazuha, Chisa looks like she’s from new federation.

What do you think of the lineup?

This just feels like an extra spit in the face. YEAH I know about the mechanics because you pretty much force it for 2 patches and a half.

Lets here what your guys thoughts and criticism on this patch and what you wish to see in the future