Aloy is one among my favourite characters in all media. She’s an authorized badass within the Horizon sequence, with crossover appearances in varied different video games. One in every of these crossovers is Genshin Affect, the place Aloy is taken into account one of many worst playable characters within the roster. 

So, what occurs if you determine to important an objectively dangerous character in a character-based RPG like Genshin? I’ve positively gone by some Aloy-induced phases of grief due to my choice. A lot of negotiating that alternative, too, however as they are saying, the place there’s a will, there’s a manner, proper? 

Aloy arrived in Teyvat on September 1, 2021, for PlayStation customers. Since I didn’t have a PlayStation, I compelled my pal to log into my account on his console to assert her. Once I obtained my account again, there she was. Anime-fied, however positively nonetheless Aloy. She even had her personal particular Imaginative and prescient form.

As a theorycrafter, I instantly checked out her package. To my delight, Aloy may deploy bombs that appeared similar to the Freeze Bombs in Horizon Zero Daybreak. She additionally had a novel Coil stacking mechanic whereby she may infuse her Regular Assaults with Cryo injury.

That’s the place the excellent news ended. Aloy’s Talent had a punishingly lengthy cooldown, and there was one other lengthy wait between when she may get hold of Coil stacks. With out sacrificing her injury with Sacrificial Bow, it was practically not possible to persistently achieve her Cryo infusion, rendering this a part of her package just about non-functional.

Apparently, Aloy’s Burst had a a lot shorter cooldown in comparison with her Talent. Perhaps the optimum play was to disregard Aloy’s Coil mechanics and simply spam her Burst? I hunkered right down to attempt to make it work.

Stage 1: Denial

I modified Aloy’s construct repeatedly in an effort to make her practical. Freeze Aloy didn’t have the constant injury to compete with different Cryo choices. Mono Cryo Aloy made extra environment friendly use of teammates, however didn’t repair Aloy herself. Reverse Soften Aloy resulted within the largest numbers, however a lot of the group’s total injury got here from Xiangling or Rosaria.

I even created detailed spreadsheets to attempt to simulate Aloy’s injury in varied groups with completely different builds. The numbers have been at all times abysmal.

There’s no manner HoYoverse launched a personality this dysfunctional, proper? Each character in Genshin Affect is viable. I should be doing one thing mistaken.

Stage 2: Anger

I turned to my Genshin mates on Discord, who had principally reached the identical conclusion. We commiserated on how horrible Aloy’s package was. She could have been a free character, however she deserved higher than this. After some personal bitching and letting off steam, I turned once more towards discovering an answer.

Stage 3: Bargaining

At this level, I threw all of my fancy spreadsheets into the trash. There was no swish strategy to play Aloy. Larger numbers needed to come from stronger gear alone.

I stole my Skyward Harp from Fischl and gave it to Aloy. I pulled for Shenhe to spice up Aloy’s Cryo injury. Absolutely, a 5-star weapon and 5-star help would make Aloy’s injury value it. 

It didn’t matter that Fischl was an precise meta unit who would make higher use of the weapon. It didn’t matter that I spent helpful Primogems pulling for a devoted help character. I used to be the loopy Aloy girl pouring every part she had right into a horrible character.

Stage 4: Melancholy

Alas, it was to no avail. It doesn’t matter what I did, Aloy simply was less than par. Her groups may clear the Spiral Abyss, however they struggled to realize the total 36 stars.

And so, sadly, I benched my Aloy. For months, she sat unused, gathering mud. As an alternative, I went to work on ending my extremely laborious playthrough of Horizon Zero Daybreak. Genshin Aloy was only a unhappy shadow of Horizon Aloy.

Stage 5: Acceptance

Over the course of the subsequent a number of updates, HoYoverse continued to launch highly effective new characters in Genshin Affect. The introduction of Dendro shook up the meta in unpredictable methods. There have been now numerous alternative ways to construct highly effective groups, and it turned simpler than ever to clear the Spiral Abyss.

Earlier than even beginning an Abyss run, I already knew that my Raiden Nationwide, Nilou Bloom, and Ganyu Freeze groups have been as much as the duty. I needed a problem.

It turned out one of many solely challenges left was doing a full away from Abyss with Aloy.

Aloy is now not benched. It takes her longer to clear tough content material, however I don’t care anymore. It makes me completely happy to see my favourite online game character dwelling her greatest life as an adventurer in Teyvat.

As an added bonus, Aloy is without doubt one of the solely feminine characters in Genshin Affect who wears correct pants. If I’m going to discover the rugged open world of Teyvat, I don’t need my character sporting a night gown and heels. Aloy seems to be like she belongs within the untamed wilds.

The co-op expertise has been surprisingly healthful, too. It’s been years since Aloy was distributed to gamers, so having her in any respect has turn out to be one thing of a flex. I’ve by no means gotten a destructive response from different gamers relating to Aloy’s injury. Most individuals are simply excited to see a uncommon character.

Aloy is a lesson in taking part in what you like, not what’s meta. I’ve lengthy uninstalled Horizon Zero Daybreak to create space for different video games, however seeing Aloy in Genshin Affect makes it really feel like she by no means left my laborious drive.

Nonetheless, I can’t wait to begin shredding machines in Horizon Forbidden West on the subject of PC. Aloy deserved higher.