It has been over a year since we started playing Genshin Impact. I’m sure we’ve made countless mistakes, like spending our resources wrong, pulling the characters we ended up benching, and misusing our resins. Moreover, we may have been guilty of creating a team full of DPS characters or even going as far as giving a character a wrong artifact set. Hello, Bennett with a Crimson Witch of Flames build.

That aside, we could be playing this fantastic open-world adventure RPG the wrong way. Sure, we’re all free to do whatever we want in Teyvat, like Venti frolicking around Mondstadt, but sometimes, we stick to conventions and even try to make it a competition.

With this in mind, let’s try to answer the question: are we playing this singleplayer/co-op adventure RPG the wrong way?

The focus on meta

In this context, meta is the aspect wherein we build characters and create team compositions to maximize their abilities. For example, Ayaka with a Mistsplitter sword and Blizzard set are a must and should be in a team with characters like Kazuha, Shenhe, and Kokomi to maximize permafrost and cryo damage. Moreover, they need to have artifact sets with specific and ideal stats. Of course, obtaining them is somewhat tricky, thanks to the game’s rather scary RNG elements.

Focusing on meta is not the best way to experience the game; one could argue it’s pretty stressful. Imagine (or not, because this has happened to all of us) farming countless hours and spending your resins without obtaining the artifacts or the stats you need. Plus, there’s always the unwanted possibility of upgrading them, but no thanks to the RNG, not improving the stats you wanted to. Yes, we’re talking about the times wherein the Defense, and Defense Percentage stats were boosted instead of the Crit Dmg percentage.

Copying whales and streamers

Focusing on the meta brings us to another part of the game, attempting to copy streamers and whales.

Although their inputs and copying their builds are something more people need to do, it’s important to note that most of them are whales. Some of their five-star characters deal massive amounts of damage since most have “whaled” on Genesis Crystals and have likely maxed out their characters’ constellations. A C0 Eula is significantly weaker than a C6 one, while a C2 Ayaka’s burst adds two cryo blades, making her more powerful.

4-star injustice

It’s a grave error to treat four-star characters as non-essentials when, in fact, some of the best support/DPS-support characters belong in the category. There’s this fixation with five-star characters and the belief that they’re all categorically better than characters like Rosaria, Bennett, Xinqiu, and Diona.

The thing is, many four-stars can play a variety of roles. For example, Diona acts as a shielder and healer, while Bennett and Yunjin are vital support characters, enhancing attacks. Rosaria and Xinqiu make for fantastic DPS and elemental application characters, making them an asset in every permafrost-oriented team. Moreover, don’t get me started on Xiangling and Ningguang, who are five-stars disguised as four-stars.

Invest in the lore and events

We can’t deny that the combat and character-building aspects of Genshin Impact are its main draw. It’s fun pulling for and obtaining the characters you desire, and even more so when you start building them.

However, apart from its action-packed fights, its lore and events are something we would all want to focus on. The recently-concluded Irodori Festival is a testament to how good the events are; it was fun seeing characters from other nations interact with each other, like Ayaka and Venti and Klee and Yoimiya. Although some events, like the flower arranging part, are left wanting, the sword parry event and my personal favorite, Hyakuin Ikki, are nothing short of exciting.

You don’t need to have the strongest characters, and correct builds to enjoy the lore and events. Play the game at your own pace, and although having the right artifact sets helps, there should be no pressure.

Pick, build, and play with the characters you want

Unfortunately, the way the game is played doesn’t allow you to get this done quickly. We all have limited resins and character, talent, and weapon upgrade materials - all of which require dozens of hours of farming. Getting this done requires a lot of effort and significant time investment.

Overall, there’s no right or wrong way to play Genshin Impact. However, focusing on the meta and only using recommended characters isn’t the best way. With this in mind, it would be a better idea to try them all out, see which ones fit your playstyle and team composition and build the ones you’re comfortable with. After all, you don’t need to have the perfect characters to enjoy what Teyvat has to offer.