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I made a tier list based off this post:
https://www.reddit.com/Genshin_Impact/comments/l0ac0x/i_hate_tier_lists_but_understand_their_usefulness/ It's a long tier list for the 1.3 update, but I hope it's useful for some of y'all. I assessed the constellation powers of each character based off late-game content and left some additional info below each character's assessment.
SS-Tier being the highest score and C-tier being the lowest.
The order of the weapons and artifact sets are not in any particular tiered order. F2P weapons will always be first in recommendation followed by whatever else fits in the character's build.
Just a disclaimer: tier lists will always be flawed, especially when there are so many opinions and information to go off from. Micromanaging a tier list can be very tedious, it's tough to set an evaluation for a character when you have to compare them to another 20 to see if the tier is valid. So if there's any issues with their tiers, feel free to share your opinion - I'm always keen to re-edit. This was just originally a small fun thing I did after seeing some tier lists online, so I apologise in advanced if any characters aren't in your preferred tier.
I'll be updating this every now and then until the end of 1.3.
Terminology: DPS: Damage dealer or damage-per-second
Elemental Burst: Ultimate, Q ability, that one big move icon on the screen that requires energy
Elemental skill: Your E ability or that smaller move icon on the screen.
4P or 2P: Four-piece artifact / Two-piece artifact
F2P: Free to Play players, F2P weapon recommendation is listed first.
Cleanse: Removes elemental debuff from ally/allies with their own elemental application. eg. Bennett's burst which applies pyro on yourself and teammates or Diona's shield which applies cryo on self when cast.
Main DPS: The carry who is on the field most of the time and uses supports from the team to dish out damage. All main DPS are viable if you put in enough commitment.
Detonator: Damage dealers who have a high damage output in a short period of time. Previously labelled "Burst" but was changed to a more less confusing label to encompass overall burst damage and elemental bursts. Transformative bursts like Xiao, Razor, and Noelle are not included because of their kits.
Enabler: The support that allows the damage dealers to maximise their damage. This role utilises their kit by buffing, applying extra damage and crowd control, and setting up elemental reactions for overall team damage output potential.
Battery: The energy recharger of the team. Creates energy for the main DPS and supports.
Utility: A broad category that includes healing, cleansing, debuffing, taunting, buffing, and shielding.
Sub DPS: Includes all the battery characters, detonators, and enablers
Support: Includes all the utility characters
S / A: Borderline S-tier and A-tier
AMBER | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | C | C | C | B |
| C1 | C/B | C | C | C | B |
| C2 | B | B | B | C | B |
| C4 | B | A | B | A | B |
| C6 | B | A | A | A | A |
- Pyro Ganyu
- Decent pyro application but gets a huge boost in potential damage at C2 with her deployable bunny.
- Low energy burst but the utility of her burst is lackluster compared to other 4 star pyros since it does only damage and constant pyro application for a short period of time until you reach C6. Her deployable elemental skill does, however provide taunt and a considerable amount of energy for her teammates and this enabling and battery potential doubles at C4.
- At C1, her physical damage potential is possible with aim-shot cancelling - similar to Fischl. Very high skill ceiling, but her arrows can hit enemy weak points if you master this approach.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Crescent (F2P), Amos Bow, Blackcliff Bow, Sharpshooter with 4P Wanderer's Troupe if charged attack DPS. 2P Crimson Witch + 2P Noblesse / Gladiator / Wanderer's will also work for more flexible builds. Skyward Harp, The Stringless if C2/C4+ with 4P Crimson Witch of Flames. Compound Bow, Amos Bow, Skyward Harp if C1 physical build with 2P Gladiator's Finale/ 2P Bloodstained Chilvalry
Sub DPS: Favonius Warbow (F2P), The Stringless, Skyward Harp with 2P Crimson Witch of Flames + 2P Noblesse Oblige or 4P Noblesse if you want to use her for her burst or if you want to capitalise on her C6. 4P Crimson Witch of Flames if C2+ and detonator.
KAEYA | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery |
| C0 | B/A | B/A | A | B |
| C1 | A | B/A | A | B |
| C2 | A | A/S | S | B |
| C4 | A | A/S | S | B |
| C6 | A | S | S | B |
- 5 Star Husbando
- A great physical DMG DPS considering that he has the highest sword-held basic attack multipliers in the game. A staple for freeze, superconduct, and melt comps. Elemental skill has a relatively short cooldown, good battery, and long range.
- Deployable burst makes him an excellent cryo enabler and battery, however its true potential is locked behind C2. C6 increases his burst damage while also reducing the energy requirement for his burst.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Rancour (F2P), Aquila Favonia, The Black Sword, Primodial Jade Cutter, Blackcliff Longsword with 2P Gladiator + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry for flexible physical damage. 4P Blizzard Strayer for freeze comp and additional critical damage.
Sub DPS: Any recharge weapon, Festering Desire (F2P) with 2P Blizzard Strayer + 2P Noblesse / Bloodstained / Gladiator's / Wanderer's or 4P Wanderer's Troupe.
LISA | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | B | C | C | C |
| C1 | C | B | C | B | C |
| C2 | C | B | C | B | C |
| C4 | C | A | B | B | C |
| C6 | B | A/S | B | B | C |
- Strong ara ara energy
- Slow energy recharge and odd play style, her elemental skill cooldown and charge is too long to be capitalised with and also leaves her vulnerable.
- High burst cost for decent damage, second ascension talent allows her burst to reduce enemy DEF. Would be ranked higher in the tiers if her burst didn't push enemies away and had a lower energy cost. Her true potential unlocks at C6 as a detonator as she applies conductive status on surrounding enemies when she switches onto the field. This allows for high electro damage potential with her elemental skill in a small window of time.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), Favonius Codex, The Widsith, Solar Pearl with 4P Thundering Fury or 2P Thundering Fury + 2P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Thundersoother
Sub DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), any recharge weapon with 2P Thundering Fury + 2P Noblesse Oblige / Gladiator's or 4P Thundersoother
NOELLE | Constellation | Main DPS | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | B | C | A |
| C1 | C | B | C | A |
| C2 | C/B | B | C | A |
| C4 | C/B | B | C | A |
| C6 | A/S | B | C | A |
- Pancake rock maid, literal definition of "one man army".
- Her giant sword knows no limits, except her constellations. C6 increases her damage by a considerable amount and solidifies DEF as her main stat while also increasing the duration of her burst.
- Can't regenerate energy well, but her excellent shield and decent heals make up for that as a support. With her low energy recharge and relatively high energy burst, she requires a team built around her to enable her DPS potential to the fullest.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Whiteblind or Archaic Petra (F2P) Wolf's Gravestone, Skyward Pride, Serpent Spine with 4P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Retracing Bolide
Support: Whiteblind (F2P) or any recharge weapon with 4P Retracing Bolide or 2P Maiden's Beloved + 2P Defender's. 2P Retracing Bolide's effect doesn't carry its buff to other allies.
FISCHL | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery |
| C0 | B | B | S | S |
| C1 | A | B | S | S |
| C2 | A | B | S | S |
| C4 | A | A | S | S |
| C6 | A/S | A | SS | S |
- Electro Chunnibyo
- Best electro support in the game at C6, her burst resets the cooldown of Oz. Oz can constantly apply electro on the enemy and allow for many main DPS' to shine. Her second ascension talent is an excellent quirk for potential damage. A staple in electro-charged comps.
- An extremely flexible 4 star unit, can be either a physical main DPS or electro support.
- Her physical damage potential can reach higher with aim-shot cancelling. Very high skill ceiling, but her arrows can hit enemy weak points if you master this approach.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Compound Bow (F2P), Skyward Harp, Rust, Amos Bow, Viridescent Hunt with 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry or 2P Thundering Fury + 2P Gladiator's / Bloodstained
Sub DPS: Favonius Warbow or Prototype Crescent (F2P), Skyward Harp, The Stringless with 2P Thundering Fury + 2P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Thundersoother. 4P cooldown effect of Thundering Fury does not work unless she's on the field. Elemental mastery is weak with electro supports; Stringless being the only exception with its passive.
BARBARA | Constellation | Main DPS | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | B | C | B |
| C1 | C | B | C | B |
| C2 | C | B | C | A |
| C4 | C | B | C | A |
| C6 | C | B | C | A |
- Sadge 1.3 Barbara
- Has high healing output and can apply hydro on the enemy with her deployable elemental skill, albeit long cooldown - however, she has no decent support outside of heals except at C2 which gives additional hydro damage to allies with her E and C6 which allows her to ressurect a fallen ally.
- Her basic attacks have good multipliers in comparison to Mona, however the rest of her kit does not align well with the main DPS role.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), Solar Pearl, Widsith with 4P Wanderer's Troupe or 4P Heart of Depth or 2P Heart of Depth + 2P Gladiator's
Support: Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, Prototype Amber with 4P Maiden's or 4P Instructor
XIANGLING | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | A | A | A/S | B | C |
| C1 | A | A | A/S | B | A |
| C2 | A | A | A/S | B | A |
| C4 | A | A | S | B | A |
| C6 | A | A | S | B | S |
- Destroyer of slime condensates
- Best pyro application in the game with her deployable elemental skill and elemental burst. A staple in melt and vaporise comps and excellent support for a pyro main DPS at C1 and C6. Her second ascension talent drops chillis for additional attack damage.
- A very flexible unit with high attack ratios. Huge enabling potential spike at C4.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Crescent Pike (F2P), Primodial Jade, Skyward Spine, Deathmatch with 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry or 4P Crimson Witch of Flames
Sub DPS: Prototype Starglitter (F2P), Skyward Spine, Dragon's Bane, any recharge weapon with 2P Crimson Witch + 2P Gladiator's. 2P Crimson Witch + 2P Noblesse if C4. The 4P effect of Crimson Witch does not work if she's not on the field.
ANEMO TRAVELER | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | B | A | C | A |
| C1 | C | B | A | C | A |
| C2 | C | B | A | C | A |
| C4 | C | B | A | C | A |
| C6 | C | A | S | C | S |
- More like hurricane tortilla
- Big knockback and crowd control with their elemental burst and skill; the con of knockback could be easily thwarted if played around with enough. Elemental burst and skill can be infused with other elements. Long elemental skill cooldown and leaves them vulnerable while charging.
- Being an anemo pushes them higher in the tier as a support with access to 4P Viridescent Veneer. Very large power spike at C6 with its additional shredding capabilities with their elemental burst. This could also allow for other builds other than 4P Viridescent Veneer.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Rancour, Festering Desire (F2P), Skyward Blade, Aquila Favonia with 4P Gladiator's Finale or 2P Viridescent + 2P Gladiator's
Sub-DPS: Festering Desire (F2P), any recharge weapon with 4P Viridescent Veneer
GEO TRAVELER | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | B | C/B | A | C |
| C1 | B | B | C/B | A | B |
| C2 | B/A | A | C/B | A | B |
| C4 | B/A | A | C/B | S/SS | B |
| C6 | B/A | A | C/B | S/SS | B |
- Stepping stone and king of rock tumours
- Underrated damage potential. Big power spike at C2 and battery capabilities increased a lot at C4.
- Elemental skill has low cooldown and gives additional crit rate to allies and self at C1. Geo construct can be used to block enemy damage. Also an excellent battery for geo comps.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Rancour or Festering Desire (F2P), Skyward Blade, The Black Sword, Summit Shaper with 4P Gladiator's Finale or 2P Archaic Petra + 2P Gladiator's Finale
Sub DPS: Festering Desire (F2P), Harbinger of Dawn, any energy recharge weapon with 2P Archaic Petra + 2P Noblesse Oblige / Gladiator's or 4P Noblesse Oblige. 4P Archaic Petra for additional supporting capabilities.
BENNETT | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | A | S | A | S | S |
| C1 | A | SS | SS | S | SS |
| C2 | A | SS | SS | S | SS |
| C4 | A | SS | SS | S | SS |
| C6 | A/B | SS | A/S | S | S |
- The alpha chad of 4 star supports
- Elemental burst increases team damage output through the roof and cleanses the team with pyro. Fastest healing tick rate in the game although hampered by a 70% max HP heal limit. Low investment cost since his burst only scales off his base ATK. Elemental skill has a short cooldown and its cooldown is reduced by half in his burst at second ascension talent, making him the GOAT of pyro batteries.
- Main DPS potential is very high without constellations when paired with Chongyun or Xingqiu for melt/vaporise comps. A one man army capable of carrying his own team by himself.
- Bennett's C6 is the only detrimental upgrade out of the lot in this list. The constellation changes all melee damage and cryo/electro infusions into pyro damage when you enter his field. While it may boost his own DPS potential and other pyro damage dealers with its additional pyro DMG bonus, it is not best paired with skills like Chongyun's cryo infusion and Keqing's electro infusion. He also loses main DPS potential when paired with Chongyun as he loses access to melt.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Festering Desire or Iron Sting (F2P), Skyward Blade, The Black Sword, Primodial Jade Cutter with 4P Crimson Witch of Flames
Support / Sub DPS: Festering Desire (F2P), any recharge weapon with 4P Noblesse Oblige or 2P Crimson Witch + 2P Noblesse Oblige
DIONA | Constellation | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | B | B/A | A/S |
| C1 | A | B/A | A/S |
| C2 | A | B/A | A/S |
| C4 | A | B/A | A/S |
| C6 | S | B/A | S |
- The better Qiqi + actual furry, ew.
- Excellent support with her shielding, healing, and cleansing capabilities. Her cryo application is alright with her short cooldown elemental skill and her burst which deals continuous cryo damage. Her shield and burst cleanses elements very well.
- While C1 greatly increases her enabling output, her true potential is unlocked at C6, allowing her to give 200 elemental mastery to the team when her burst is out and increases her healing output to a great measurable amount.
Recommendations:
Support: Favonius Warbow (F2P), Sacrificial Bow with 4P Maiden's Beloved or 4P Noblesse Oblige
XINYAN: | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | B | C | B | C | B |
| C1 | B | C | B | C | B |
| C2 | A | A | A | C | A |
| C4 | A/S | A | A | C | A |
| C6 | A/S | A | A | C | A |
- Xinyan mains WYA
- A very expensive 4 star unit, her initial value without constellations is low. Her true potential is unlocked at C2 with her burst giving a guaranteed crit-hit and allows her to recast her shield. C4 is highly recommended to increase her DPS potential.
- Mixed stats are an issue, she may seem like a pyro enabler at first glance but she's more of a physical damage enabler for characters like Razor. Her elemental skill has a long cooldown but it can increase physical damage, cleanse herself with pyro, omit consistent pyro damage (if level 3 shield), and shield her allies.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Snow-tombed Starsilver, Prototype Archaic (F2P), Wolf's Gravestone, Blackcliff Slasher, Skyward Pride, Serpent Spine, The Unforged with 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry or 4P Gladiator's Finale.
Sub DPS: Whiteblind (if using her primarily for shields), Snow-tombed Starsilver or Prototype Archaic (F2P), Favonius Greatsword, Sacrificial Greatsword with 2P Bloodstained Chivalry + 2P Noblesse Oblige or 4P Noblesse Oblige
BEIDOU | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | B | B/A | B | B | C |
| C1 | B | B/A | B | B | B |
| C2 | B | A | A | B | B |
| C4 | B | A | A | B | B |
| C6 | B | A/S | S | B | A |
- Queen of Counters
- Although her supporting capabilities are locked behind a high energy costing burst, her elemental skill provides a lot of defensive and offensive options with her short cooldowns. At C6, her enabling potential increases by a lot with her elemental burst.
- Her main DPS potential is locked behind her heavy reliance on being able to counter enemy attacks. Enemy AI can be very random and forces Beidou's DPS at a lower tier than it should be. If her elemental skill could taunt to force enemies to hit her, she would most likely be in a higher tier.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Archaic, Snow-tombed Starsilver (F2P), Wolf's Gravestone, Rainslasher, Skyward Pride with 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry or 4P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Thundersoother
Sub DPS: Prototype Archaic (F2P), Sacrificial Greatsword, Skyward Pride with 2P Thundering Fury + 2P Gladitator's Finale / Noblesse Oblige or 4P Thundersoother
XINGQIU | Constellation | Enabler | Detonator | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | S | S | S | B |
| C1 | S | S | S | B |
| C2 | SS | SS | S | A |
| C4 | SS | SS | S | A |
| C6 | SS | SS | SS | A |
- Hydro swords go brrRR
- Best hydro support in the game, but heavily reliant on energy recharge to cope with his high costing burst. His initial value is great, but his damage and enabling potential goes through the roof at C2. His main DPS potential is also very underrated.
- Although his elemental skill has a long cooldown, it does provide damage reduction, decent hydro application, and a lot of energy.
Recommendations:
Sub DPS: Prototype Rancour or Iron Sting (F2P), Sacrificial Sword, Skyward Pride, any recharge weapon with 4P Noblesse Oblige or 2P Heart of Depth + 2P Noblesse Oblige. If at C6 Xingqiu, there's no need to invest in an energy recharge weapon - probably should just focus on energy recharge on your sands if need be.
RAZOR | Constellation | Main DPS |
| C0 | A |
| C1 | A |
| C2 | A |
| C4 | A/S |
| C6 | A/S |
- Electro furry bait
- Damage potential is almost comparable to a 5 star's potential. Elemental burst increases his attack speed to a very considerable amount and his character ascension stat allows for additional physical damage. Has in-built energy recharge in his kit to combat his 80 energy burst.
- His true damage potential is locked behind his first 4 constellations which increase his damage output, crit-rate, and decrease enemy DEF. While most of his damage is physical, his electro output is considerably alright.
- However, although his damage potential is high - he is a selfish DPS who needs to take up a lot of field time to maximise his damage. His team should utilise characters with deployables that match his kit such as Qiqi, Diona, Xinyan, and Xingqiu.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Archaic or Snow-tombed Starsilver(F2P), Wolf's Gravestone, Serpent Spine with 4P Gladiator's Finale
CHONGYUN | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | A | B | B | A |
| C1 | B | A | B | B | A |
| C2 | B | A | A | B | S |
| C4 | B | A | A | A | S |
| C6 | A | S | A | A | S |
- Popsicle boy
- His true utility and enabling potential is locked behind C2 which allows his elemental skill to reduce the cooldowns of elemental skills and bursts cast in his field. Although his elemental skill can be both a blessing and a curse with his cryo infusion, it can also increase weapon attack speed and reduce the cryo resistance of enemies.
- While having the lowest basic attack ratios of all the claymore users, he makes up for it with his kit and constellations. Having a burst with high multipliers, especially at C6, pushes him slightly higher in the list considering the cooldowns and buffs he can give to himself and his teammates. Shorter burst cooldown window from 12 - 10.2 seconds at C2 makes him a very valid 4P Noblesse Oblige user. Currently, there is no 4P artifact set that suits his DPS potential but if a cryo set were to come out that could maximise his melt reaction damage, he would be casted higher in the tier list.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Archaic (F2P), Wolf's Gravestone, Skyward Pride with 4P Gladiator's Finale or 2P Blizzard Strayer + 2P Gladiator's Finale
Sub DPS: Prototype Archaic (F2P), Sacrificial Greatsword, Skyward Pride with 4P Noblesse Oblige or 2P Blizzard Strayer + 2P Noblesse Oblige
SUCROSE | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | B | A | B | S |
| C1 | B | B | A | A | S |
| C2 | B | A | S | A | S |
| C4 | A | A | S | S | S |
| C6 | A | S | S | S | SS |
- Anemo wallflower, budget Venti
- Has the highest support ceiling in the game; scales very well late game with an elemental mastery packed build. Capable of crowd controlling enemies, anemo debuffing, and increasing the team's elemental mastery. Her support potential shines at C4 where she can easily obtain her elemental skill with her basic attacks allowing her kit to shine without worry of cooldown. Even with low investment, her support potential still stands out well when paired with Viridescent Veneer.
- Her main DPS potential is incredibly underrated. With her ascension stat being anemo damage and her being a catalyst anemo user, she can become an on-field carry with Fischl, Beidou, and Xingqiu behind her back dealing damage with deployables. C4 and C6 is recommended.
Recommendations:
Main DPS / Sub DPS / Support: Mappa Mare (F2P), Sacrificial Fragments, Favonius Codex with 4P Viridescent Veneer
NINGGUANG | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | A | A | B | C | B |
| C1 | A | A | B | C | B |
| C2 | A/S | S | A/B | A | B |
| C4 | A/S | S | A/B | A | B |
| C6 | S/SS | SS | A/B | A | B |
- Missile Launcher, Queen of GEO
- Excellent damage output, greatly increases her DPS potential with every passing constellation. Low energy requirement for burst and a catalyst user that can spam basic attacks. She unlocks her highest damage potential at C6, where her output alone is comparable to Diluc vaporise comps.
- Her damage ceiling stretches further as you learn to mitigate her basic attack animations with her animation-cancelling techniques.
- She is a capable niche support for geo teams being able to buff the team's geo damage with her deployable elemental skill. C2 also pushes her enabling, bursting, and battery potential by increasing her own damage output and provides additional energy to the team with its multiple elemental skill casts.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Solar Pearl, The Widsith, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Skyward Atlas, Memory of Dust, Eye of Perception with 2P Archaic Petra + 2P Gladiator's Finale
Sub DPS / Support: Solar Pearl, Favonius Codex, Memory of Dust, Eye of Perception with 2P Archaic Petra + 2P Noblesse or 4P Noblesse or 4P Archaic Petra
ZHONGLI | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | A | S | S/SS | B | S/SS |
| C1 | A | S | S/SS | B | S/SS |
| C2 | A | S | S/SS | B | S/SS |
| C4 | A | SS | SS | B | S/SS |
| C6 | A | SS | SS | B | SS |
- CEO of GEO, he died for Geo's sins so they could rise again. The true covenant holder.
- Best shielder in the game, his utility support potential is now comparable to Bennett, Sucrose, and Venti with the new buffs. With his shield being capable of shredding all elemental and physical damage resistances and having 100% uptime potential, he has become viable in all comps and also validates Zhongli's potential as a main DPS. Second ascension talent and shield shred combined doubles his basic attack and elemental skill damage with additional HP% scaling.
- Deployable elemental skill does decent damage, but the energy recharge is random and its area of effect is relatively small. C4 greatly increases his enabling potential by extending the petrification status of enemies and the size of his burst. C6 expands his role as another healer, removing the need for an additional healing support in the team.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Crescent Pike (F2P), Vortex Vanquisher, Primodial Jade Winged Spear, Blackcliff Pole, Skyward Spine, Deathmatch with 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry / 2P Archaic Petra or 4P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Retracing Bolide
Sub DPS / Support: Prototype Starglitter (F2P), Skyward Spine, Favonius Lance, Blackcliff Pole, Deathmatch with 2P Archaic Petra + 2P Noblesse Oblige or 4P Noblesse Oblige or 4P Archaic Petra
XIAO | Constellation | Main DPS |
| C0 | S/SS |
| C1 | S/SS |
| C2 | S/SS |
| C4 | S/SS |
| C6 | SS |
- Edgy anemo grasshopper, plunge attack spam is no joke
- With the highest base ATK and his transformative burst, his damage output is considered the highest in the game when considering other units and their solo output. With his burst time and talent passives assessed, his damage potential is slightly higher than Diluc's vaporise comp. However, his overall main DPS potential is limited by his element, lack of team synergy, high energy cost of his burst, and burst downtime. For optimal damage, he requires another anemo to battery his burst and some energy recharge built into his kit.
- C6 solidifies his position in the highest tier and changes his playstyle in accordance to his elemental skill.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Starglitter (F2P), Primodial Jade Winged Spear, Skyward Spine, Blackcliff Pole, Deathmatch with 2P Viridescent Veneer + 2P Gladiator's Finale
TARTAGLIA | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery |
| C0 | A | S | B | B |
| C1 | A | S | B | B |
| C2 | A | S | B | B |
| C4 | S | SS | S | A |
| C6 | SS | SS | S | A |
- Who? I only know Childe.
- Although his damage output is hampered by the long cooldown on his elemental skill, his burst potential makes up for it with his elemental skill's passive: Riptide. Each Riptide has an individual elemental reaction proc and damage bursting potential, spreading to other enemies like the plague. Such reaction damage validates electro-charged comps. To maximise his damage potential, he is best paired with C6 Fischl oand C6 Beidou. At C6, his position in the highest tier is certified with the complete removal of his elemental skill cooldown.
- A very expensive unit to build around in comparison to other 5 stars.
- Heart of Depth is tailor-made to fit his playstyle.
- His enabling potential is greatly increased at C4. Riptide automatically triggers every 4 seconds his elemental skill lasts, greatly increasing his hydro application and damage.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Crescent (F2P), Rust, Skyward Harp, Viridescent Hunt with 4P Heart of Depth
Sub DPS: Prototype Crescent (F2P), The Stringless, Skyward Harp with 2P Noblesse Oblige / 2P Heart of Depth / 2P Wanderer's Troupe
GANYU | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | SS | A/S | A/S | A | A |
| C1 | SS | A/S | A/S | A | A |
| C2 | SS | A/S | A/S | A/S | A |
| C4 | SS | S | SS | A/S | S |
| C6 | SS | S | SS | A/S | S |
- Cryo Bazooka
- The platinum standard for a 5 star character. Theoretically, she has the highest damage output in the game with a melt comp + 4P Wanderer's Troupe. However, being a charged aim shot damage dealer - her skill ceiling is higher than other main DPS'. Her charged attack and frostflake bloom damage is no joke when coupled with her ascension talents which give her additional crit-rate and bonus cryo damage when she's in the vicinity of her burst. Arguably, C1 is one of her best constellations as it reduces cryo resistance and gives her bonus energy.
- Her enabling potential is one of the best in the game, almost too good. When using her elemental burst to apply cryo on the enemy, her ice shards are usually the ones procc-ing the melt damage and not the main DPS. While being an occassional drawback for melt teams, her burst's overwhelming enabling potential with its almost 100% uptime potential is well suited for freeze comps. Her utility potential is greatly increased at C4 as her burst increases the amount of incoming damage enemies take in its field.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Crescent (F2P), Amos Bow, Blackcliff Bow with 4P Wanderer's Troupe for melt comps, 4P Blizzard Strayer for freeze comps, 2P Blizzard Strayer + 2P Gladiator's Finale for flexibility
Sub DPS / Support: Favonius Warbow (F2P), The Stringless, Sacrificial Bow with 2P Blizzard Strayer + 2P Noblesse Oblige
ALBEDO | Constellation | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | A | S | A | A |
| C1 | A | S | S | A |
| C2 | A/S | S | S | A |
| C4 | A/S | S | S | A/S |
| C6 | A/S | S | S | A/S |
- Elevator boi
- A great battery with high enabling potential. His elemental skill lasts 30 seconds on the field and deals AOE geo damage in a wide radius with battery and damage potential being comparable to Fischl's Oz. Being a geo enabler, he also provides shields through crystallise and also increases the team's elemental mastery with his burst at second ascension talent.
- Mixed stats are usually an issue, but going full DEF build to maximise his elemental skill damage is very valid. C2 solidifies DEF as his main stat to build and greatly increases the amount of damage his burst deals. C4 and C6 allow a considerable increase to his utility capabilities with him being a niche pick for plunge attack teams and defensive teams utilising crystallise.
Recommendations:
Sub DPS / Support: Harbinger of Dawn (at refinement 5), Blackcliff Longsword, Festering Desire with 2P Archaic Petra + 2P Noblesse Oblige / 2P Gamblers / 2P Defenders or 4P Archaic Petra or 4P Noblesse Oblige
QIQI | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | C | C | B | C | B |
| C1 | C | C | B | C | B |
| C2 | B | C | B | C | B |
| C4 | B | C | B | C | A |
| C6 | B | C | B | C | A |
- Hu Tao's best mate, #buffqiqi
- Best healer in the game. However, there is no content in the game that requires the healing that Qiqi provides for her team. While being only a heal bot, she does provide some utility at C4 which allows her to reduce the attack damage of enemies and C6 which allows her to resurrect fallen allies. Although her elemental skill is deployable, the cryo application is slow and is hampered by a very long cooldown.
- Her damage output potential is limited by the large energy requirement of her burst and the lack of energy she creates from her elemental skill. Even though attack is her primary stat, her basic attack multipliers are very subpar in comparison to Kaeya. At C2, she gets a small boost in her basic attack damage output against enemies affected by cryo.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Rancour (F2P), Aquila Favonia, The Black Sword with 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry or 4P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Blizzard Strayer
Sub DPS / Support: Prototype Rancour (F2P), Sacrificial Sword, any recharge weapon with 4P Maiden's Beloved for full support or 2P Maiden's Beloved + 2P Noblesse Oblige / Gladiator's / Bloodstained / Blizzard Strayer or 2P Blizzard Strayer + 2P Noblesse Oblige / Gladiator's for sub DPS.
JEAN | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | B | A | A | A | S/SS |
| C1 | A | A | A | A | S/SS |
| C2 | A | A | S | A | SS |
| C4 | S | A/S | SS | A | SS |
| C6 | S | A/S | SS | A | SS |
- Dandelion TIGHTS
- Jack of all trades, however master of one role. The flexibility of her unit makes her the platinum standard for supports alongside Venti, Zhongli, and Bennett. Being a healer, cleanser, crowd control check, an anemo debuffer, and a battery - she can fit into any team. With her second talent ascension reducing the amount of energy required for her burst, she's also a decent burst damage dealer. Her enabling potential is pushed higher at C2 where she gives the team additional movement and attack speed when she retrieves an energy orb.
- Her fall damage exploit is no joke. Her charged attack is unique in comparison to other sword users, allowing her to crowd control her enemies into the air and dealing a considerable amount of damage. She's also one of the only physical damage users who can use 4P Bloodstained Chivalry properly. Her main DPS potential is greatly increased at C1, where her short cooldown elemental skill gains additional damage and pulling strength. C4 also shreds anemo resistance off enemies by a considerable amount making her a high tier main DPS and S tier enabler.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Rancour or Festering Desire (F2P), Aquila Favonia, Skyward Blade, The Black Sword, Blackcliff Longsword with 4P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Bloodstained Chivalry or 2P Gladiator's / 2P Bloodstained / 2P Viridescent
Sub DPS / Support: Festering Desire or Prototype Rancour (F2P), Skyward Blade, The Flute, Sacrificial Sword, Favonius Sword, any energy recharge or attack bonus weapon with 4P Viridescent Veneer or 4P Noblesse Oblige or 4P Maiden's Beloved or 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Viridescent / 2P Bloodstained / 2P Noblesse Oblige
KLEE | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | SS | A/B | A/B | A | C |
| C1 | SS | A/B | A/B | A | C |
| C2 | SS | S | S | A | A |
| C4 | SS | SS | S | A | A |
| C6 | SS | SS | SS | A | SS |
- Terrorist, Destroyer of Worlds. Dynamite really does come in small packages.
- Her initial value is great as a main DPS, having access to a catalyst and area of effect pyro damage. Her damage ceiling increases as you learn to mitigate her basic attack animations with her animation-cancelling techniques. At C1, she gets a boost in damage potential with her attacks and skills randomly proc-ing additional pyro damage.
- With her deployable elemental skill and multiple charges, she can be an enabler for some vaporise and melt comps. Her enabling and utility potential increases with C2 which allows her to reduce enemy defence by a considerable lot with her elemental skill and C4 which turns her into a detonator when her elemental burst goes off. C6 gives additional energy and pyro damage to her teammates when she uses her burst.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Solar Pearl, Skyward Atlas, The Widsith with 4P Crimson Witch of Flames or 2P Crimson + 2P Gladiator.
Sub DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), The Widsith, Skyward Atlas, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Favonius Codex, Sacrificial Fragments with 2P Crimson Witch of Flames + 2P Noblesse Oblige / Gladiator's Finale
MONA | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | B | SS | S | B | S |
| C1 | B | SS | SS | B | S |
| C2 | A | SS | SS | B | S |
| C4 | A | SS | SS | B | S |
| C6 | A | SS | SS | B | S |
- "Wow, you did 120K damage with your Childe? I can do 800K with my Mona"
- A staple in high DPS damage showcases. Her elemental burst is one of the best in the game - having the ability to multiply damage output by a great amount, crowd control mobs of enemies, apply hydro to a large AOE, and work well in tandem with elemental reaction comps. Not only that, she also receives energy recharge when she ascends, allowing her to spam her burst often. Her deployable elemental skill provides a taunt, a considerable amount of energy, and consistent hydro application, however it does have a long cooldown which hampers on her enabling potential. At C1, the elemental reaction damage output of her burst increases by a considerable amount.
- Her damage potential is considerably DPS friendly. Being a catalyst user, she can constantly apply area of effect hydro damage without being limited by her elemental skills. At C2, her damage potential spikes as she can randomly proc her charged attacks with her basic attack spam. C6 Mona also scales up the damage potential of her charged attack.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), Solar Pearl, The Widsith, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Skyward Atlas with 4P Wanderer's Troupe or 4P Heart of Depth
Sub DPS: Mappa Mare (F2P), The Widsith, Favonius Codex, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Skyward Atlas with 2P Noblesse Oblige + 2P Wanderer's Troupe / Heart of Depth or 4P Noblesse Oblige
KEQING | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator |
| C0 | A/S | A |
| C1 | A/S | A/S |
| C2 | A/S | A/S |
| C4 | S | S |
| C6 | S | S |
- Electro furry bait, Kekw-ing
- Her charged attack spam is the fastest in the game and deals a very high amount of damage in a short window of time. Gains crit damage as an ascension stat and additional crit rate + energy recharge when using her burst. Having a low energy cost with her burst, she has a very high uptime with her electro damage despite being a physical damage / electro damage hybrid.
- However, being an electro damage dealer does have it's limitations. Electro-related reaction damage doesn't have considerably high multipliers compared to amplification reactions like melt and vaporise. Electro-charged is the best contender for damage over time and should be paired with Xingqiu to maximise her potential.
- Damage output heavily reliant on stamina. Her charged attack energy cost is slightly higher than other sword users.
- C4 and C6 have the greatest impact on her potential damage, increasing her overall electro damage output.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Rancour (F2P), Aquila Favonia, Skyward Blade, Summit Shaper, Primodial Jade Cutter, The Black Sword, Lion's Roar with 2P Thundering Fury + 2P Gladiator's Finale or 4P Thundersoother or 2P Gladiator's Finale + 2P Bloodstained Chivalry
VENTI | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator | Enabler | Battery | Utility |
| C0 | A | S | SS | SS | S/SS |
| C1 | A | S | SS | SS | S/SS |
| C2 | A/S | S/SS | SS | SS | SS |
| C4 | S | SS | SS | SS | SS |
| C6 | S/SS | SS | SS | SS | SS |
- Sadge alocoholic, allergic to furries
- The first platinum standard support since the game's release. His burst is among the best in the game, being capable of absorbing other elements, crowd controlling mobs of enemies in a large radius, and dealing an incredible amount of damage. His enabling capabilities are also boosted by his ascension talents which reduce the energy cost of his 60 energy burst and his ascension stat which gives additional energy recharge. C2 allows for additional shred on top of Viridescent Veneer and C6 shreds on top of that shred.
- As a main DPS, he is best paired with Jean for anemo battery-ing each other. His elemental burst coupled with Stringless greatly increases his damage potential. All of his constellations increase his damage output by a considerable amount.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Crescent or Favonius Warbow (F2P), Stringless, Sacrificial Bow, Viridescent Veneer, Skyward Harp with 2P Viridescent Veneer + 2P Gladiator's Finale / 2P Noblesse Oblige or 4P Viridescent Veneer
Sub DPS / Support: Favonius Warbow (F2P), Stringless, Sacrificial Warbow with 4P Viridescent Veneer or 4P Noblesse Oblige
DILUC | Constellation | Main DPS | Detonator |
| C0 | SS | S |
| C1 | SS | S |
| C2 | SS | S |
| C4 | SS | S |
| C6 | SS | S |
- Budget Bennett, Batman
- The first platinum standard damage dealer since the game's release. One of the best DPS damage dealers in the game with low technicality and high damage output. With pyro infusion from his elemental burst and being a claymore user, he has one of the highest damage outputs in the game being only beaten by Ganyu and Xiao. Paired with Xingqiu, he can maximise his damage potential with vaporise. All of his constellations are a considerable damage boost to his DPS potential and solidify his place in the highest tier.
Recommendations:
Main DPS: Prototype Archaic (F2P), Wolf's Gravestone, Skyward Pride, Blackcliff Slasher, Serpent Spine with 4P Crimson Witch of Flames or 2P Crimson Witch + 2P Gladiator's Finale.
Check the comment I posted in the comment section for additional info. First of all, sorry if my title seems to put down therapy, because it was also very helpful and put me on the path that led me to the point where I felt confident enough in myself to take this leap.
For my whole life, I was terrified of psychedelics, I thought they were just not for me, and that my brain wasn't designed for them, so I had accepted that in this lifetime I would sit on the sidelines when it came to anything more mind-altering than pot. I have a history of anxiety, depersonalozation, depression, and long term opioid addiction, not to mention I can't even smoke weed or drink without having a terrible and anxious experience (anyone that knows what de-personalization/de-realization is knows the absolute hell of living with it long term, and after learning to live with that mysterious condition (that peaked in high-school and was probably triggered by marijuana) I considered myself someone who was always mentally driving along the edge of a steep cliff and barely hanging on to the wheel.
^
When I was in a really dark place in November, hopelessly addicted to oxycodone and supplementing it with adderall to stay energized, I had this feeling that I no longer had much to lose, so I tried a quarter tab of acid that was given to me by a relative, and I was blown away at the experience. I remember thinking "Holy shit, I was SO wrong", it's amazing how culture and the portrayal of psychedelics in media can make you think you know what something is like, when in reality it was basically the opposite. Instead of hanging on to my sanity for dear life, I could not have felt more at ease. I was playing Rainbow Six online with friends that night and was laughing my ass off, and couldn't stop talking. (I know the real psychonauts will probably scold me for playing games instead of like, going out in nature, but there are no rules, do whatever makes you feel comfortable)
^
Now, after doing a few more quarter tab experiments to make sure I was stable and used to the sensations, I carefully worked my dose up to a half tab the other week (I have a super low tolerance to all drugs, if I was told it was a full tab I would have believed it) and I started watching Disney/Pixar movies on it, both old nostalgic favorites and even new ones, and it has quickly become my favorite thing to do. I get more positive emotion out of these evenings alone than months of normal existence previously, even just laughing at something by myself was a very rare occurrence before, but watching something like The Simpsons had me in tears. In 2020, the thought of me laughing and crying at something like fucking Mulan from 1998, by myself in my basement, would be laughably outrageous to the old cynical me, even just the prospect of watching a kids movie or even feeling strong emotions from one would seem highly unlikely, but fuck me, I've literally been having the time of my life no matter what i've been doing, and the couple friends that have participated with me have had just as much fun and we could talk all night like we were on coke, minus all the downsides
^
What acid has done for me is opened up long forgotten parts of my childhood brain and unlocked rusty old emotion switches that I forgot I had, and showed me what's on the other side of the curtain that surrounds you during depression and addiction. Opiates mask your emotions and make you forget what things felt like before you were hooked on them, LSD is like a lifehack that has the power to override all that, and has blown those doors back open and given me a huge wake up call & hope that there is joy waiting for me in sobriety. The thought of taking pills gets less exciting after every session, and I've already switched to low dose suboxone and cut my adderall dosage big time, which has completely changed my daily life schedule from revolving around taking my pills at certain times of the day, to feeling like I can do whatever whenever, spending more time being productive and social.
^
You don't need to leave the planet or have an ego death to reap these benefits, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise (though eventually I want to get to that point). "Damaged goods" personalities like myself, and i'm sure many of you, need to start small like I did and take it slow. The idea of a bad trip seems like a very distant threat, because I don't put myself in the position for a bad trip to arise. A bad trip virtually never comes from just the drugs themselves, it requires an ignition source, like being in a bad unfamiliar setting, being with the wrong people, or if you're hyper aware of your mental/physical state like me, taking too much before you have climatized yourself to the sensations. It's not like you saw it on TV or in dumb teen movies like Harold and Kumar, taking 1/4-1/2 tab of acid does not make you see things that are not there, or lose control of yourself, in fact it's the opposite, it enhances you and everything around you. If you do your research and eliminate ammunition for a bad head-space, you are not going to have a bad time, it's as simple as that.
Thank you LSD.
^
Oh, and I personally recommend watching "The Imagineering Story", it's a Disney+ 6 part series on the rise of Walt Disney and the inception/construction of Disneyland and all the other parks, as well as the inspiration and inside workings of all the best rides and attractions. Angela Bassett the narrator has the most soothing voice ever, and it's probably the single most inspiring and amazing show i've ever watched (I already thought it was incredible before the acid, while on acid it's awe inspiring). It's also great because she covers even the controversial and dark eras of Disney along with the political clashes, so it's very emotional but visually incredible with 4k footage all the way back to the 1950's. It's my new life goal to go with my friends to L.A. and go to Disneyland on (a managable) dose of acid.
submitted by Tl;dr: fans of a video game are excited about the release of what could be the spiritual successor of their video game. Said developer makes very bold promises and obviously fails to deliver, finally releasing a very disappointing game and alienating most of the community. I recently stumbled upon this subreddit; I've enjoyed reading most of the posts here and figured I had a few stories to share as well. From 2012 to about 2018, I was active (though with intermittent breaks) in a community of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 players. This was a small community, with no more than a few hundred active members at its heyday and only a few people active now. Despite its small size, there were definitely a few memorable instances of drama. This is one of those stories; it actually involved another game called Theme Park Studio, which – as you may expect from the title – was not what it promised to be.
Background Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 was released in October 2004, developed by Frontier and published by Atari. It was primarily a theme park management game, where players have to earn money and keep guests happy in a theme park by constructing and maintaining rides, shops, paths, scenery and more. There was also a sandbox mode that allowed players to build without any monetary restrictions. A small but active community set out to build roller coasters and theme parks (and occasionally completely different projects) in this sandbox mode and share their results online.
While the game was good for its time and viewed positively by many, it did have some downsides. Firstly, the game used a grid: when placing rides and scenery, you were confined to this grid and had little freedom to place things where you want. Secondly, the roller coaster construction system was limited compared to similar games, and as a result most roller coasters were hardly very smooth. Thirdly, the game was poorly optimized. As an example: the game had a day-night cycle, but the game was basically unplayable at night, so people set the game to only daytime.
Over time, people became more and more ambitious in their projects, and these problems became more apparent. As a solution, lots of custom content (akin to mods in other games) was made by members of the community: custom scenery objects, custom rides and even custom roller coaster tracks. These objects were much more versatile and looked much better than most in-game content. As a result, people almost exclusively used custom content to build their projects. Combined with some smart picture and video editing, almost nothing was still recognizable from the original game.
While custom content brought a whole new level of versatility and arguably kept the community running for a long time, the aforementioned problems still persisted. Because the game was being pushed to its limits, people were wondering when a sequel was coming. By 2012, there was no word yet by Atari on a potential sequel, and many similar games from other video game publishers had failed to offer any meaningful improvement to Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. However, this was soon to change.
The spiritual successor Enter Pantera Entertainment, a small, unknown video game publisher and developer. In November 2012, they posted a trailer to
Theme Park Studio, which presented itself as a theme park building tool. Unlike Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, which had a focus on park management, the focus was on building attractive theme parks and rides. Many of the aforementioned issues were solved in this game: there was no grid-based system that dictated where you had to build, roller coasters could be constructed with much more freedom, and the graphics looked more modern. One major feature was the ability to import custom content. Obviously this was also possible in Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, but only using third-party software. That the developers were now anticipating for this was a good sign.
The community was generally excited about Theme Park Studio: it looked to be the spiritual successor to Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. The staff from Pantera would even visit the forums (at the time, most of the community was active through online messaging boards) and would happily provide updates, answer questions and take suggestions. This left a good impression with most of the community.
Over the coming months, more and more promises were being made on new features and huge amounts of content. The game was looking to become a very ambitious project. Now, it would later be discovered that little development had actually been done on the game: the trailer had really only showed footage from Pantera’s earlier title, Hyper Rails. Nevertheless, the release date was set for summer 2013, and the community was still optimistic for a long time.
In April 2013, a
Kickstarter campaign was set up. For the uninitiated, Kickstarter allows for developers to source crowdfunding for a project. Developers set a goal and have a set time to achieve that goal. People can ‘back’ a project by donate towards that goal, and in return receive rewards based on the amount they donated. Money only goes towards the project if that goal is actually reached; otherwise the ‘backers’ receive their money back. Well, Pantera set a goal of $80.000 for Theme Park Studio, to be fulfilled within a month. Backer rewards were ambitious: lower amounts would get you the game for free, both a physical and digital copy, and perhaps some merchandise, while those who backed larger amounts were allowed to suggest or design certain rides for the game, and the highest-tier backers (think $500 or more, which only a few people donated) would get you an invitation to a big release party. Now, keep these rewards in mind, as they’ll become important later on.
It took a while and people feared the goal wouldn’t be met, but thanks to enough promotion and a few generous donations, about $100.000 was raised, and the goal was met. Despite Pantera’s ambitious promises, the community was optimistic. Some high-standing members of the community were even assisting in the development of the game and were offering their custom content – made for Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 – to be used in Theme Park Studio. Unfortunately, as we would later discover, this hard work would never really pay off.
Early access The Kickstarter campaign offered a release date of September 2013. As time went on, it became very apparent that this was unachievable. The game was delayed several times; first to later in 2013, then to April 2014. Finally, they announced that instead of waiting for the complete game, Theme Park Studio would enter Early Access on Steam in February 2014.
Early Access allows people to play a game before its full release. People can play the game and offer feedback to the developers, who can use this feedback to improve the game and add new content in free updates to the players. In this case, that would mean that Theme Park Studio would first release as a basic theme park builder, and that other features, such as new rides and the custom content importer would be added later.
Early Access is an example of something that works well on paper, but is often butchered in practice. When done well, Early Access is a win-win situation: players don’t have to wait to play the game but can get involved in its development, and developers will receive money which they can use to fund the rest of the development. Unfortunately, it is rarely done well, and there are many games released through Early Access that are flat-out unplayable or clearly unfinished. Similarly, many games never leave Early Access or only leave many years later, because developers have little incentive to improve and complete a game they’ve already received money for.
Well, Theme Park Studio would turn out to fit the latter category. Upon release, the game was... disappointing. Most notable was the lack of ability to build roller coasters: players could only build flat rides (simple rides such as a merry-go-round or a Ferris wheel). The game was also poorly optimized and didn’t look particularly great. Still, many people called for the community to be patient and wait for new updates to come: Pantera had provided a route map for the implementation of further updates to provide some perspective.
This implementation was generally very slow. For example, the ability to build roller coasters – a rather essential part of a theme park construction tool - didn’t come until August that year; even then, people weren’t happy about it, as it was unintuitive and difficult to use, and many considered it hardly an improvement from Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. The community slowly grew divided. A sizeable group defended Theme Park Studio and called for people to be patient, but a growing group had become very critical of the game and its developers. However, besides lacking updates and producing a game of low quality, there were other glaring issues as well.
Pantera loses approval Now, remember the aforementioned Kickstarter rewards? As time went on, it became increasingly clear that many of these rewards would never be released. Many people complained about not receiving digital access to the game once it was released through Early Access, despite promises from Pantera – and that was the easiest reward for them to fulfil. Even to this day, some people are yet to receive digital access. People were also losing hope about higher-tier rewards, such as physical copies of the game, merchandise and the release party.
Probably the most controversial reward tiers were those that allowed backers to design rides, however. More than 100 people had pledged enough money to have a ride suggestion implemented into the game. It turned out, however, that many of these suggestions would never see the light of day. On the forums, people complained about their suggestions being rejected, while some received no response from Pantera. When eventually an update was released that was supposed to contain rides suggested by backers, people noted that way fewer rides were added than that there were backers. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I think no more than 10% saw their rides actually published in-game.
Now, resentment grew towards Pantera for failing to uphold their end of the bargain and releasing an unfinished, low-quality game. By this time, there was also not much left of the actively involved, feedback-taking staff that represented the game when it was first announced: the developer became notorious for failing to take and accept constructive criticism. Many people had their posts removed and accounts banned from the official Theme Park Studio forum for speaking out against the developer.
Another absurd rule on their forums was their stance on ‘dark rides’, mainly indoor rides based around creating an atmosphere above being thrilling, such as a haunted house. As the name suggests, many dark rides are dark: the atmosphere is creepy or scary, and many horror themes are used. Well, the forum banned the posting of rides containing demonic themes or otherwise being ‘sacrilegious’, effectively meaning most dark rides. This pissed off the community, as quite a few people made dark rides and this was seen as infringement on their creativity. It also spawned a series of memes on rides that were “
too dark and sinister for Theme Park Studio”. Another questionable decision by the development team was to add VR support; while becoming the only theme park building or management game to have it, it was generally criticised because it would add very little to the game and so many other aspects of the game needed much more working on. I’m sure there were other decisions made by Pantera that received significant backlash from the community, but these I remember best.
The aftermath Over time, interest in Theme Park Studio faded away and people generally gave up hope that they would ever receive their Kickstarter rewards. There were still a few avid supporters of the game, but the broken promises, slow progress, disappointing results and bad PR meant most people in the community had changed their stance over the years. The game was forgotten and slowly faded into irrelevance. There was no real way for backers to get their money back or otherwise hold Pantera accountable for the unfulfilled promises, an issue that other failed Kickstarter campaigns unfortunately also have. Amazingly, some of the backers reported actually receiving a physical copy of the game, albeit five or six years after the initial Kickstarter campaign, but similarly there are still people waiting for their rewards to this date.
Theme Park Studio was finally released in December 2016, after many years in development. It released without much fanfare and definitely without a release party that backers had paid hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars for; many people didn’t even notice it had left Early Access. The game never took off and its reviews on Steam are mostly negative. The entire fiasco made people much more sceptical of other new games: from 2014 onwards, many other theme park simulation games were announced and released, but people were much more cautiously optimistic about these games (and rightfully so; many of them failed, but those are stories for another time).
Eventually, the true spiritual successor to Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 was released: Planet Coaster, developed by Frontier (the original developers of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3). It was released in November 2016, prompting some to think that the definitive release of Theme Park Studio only weeks later was a hasty attempt to piggyback off of that success. It did almost everything Theme Park Studio promised and offered the possibility to build much more detailed and complex rides. Over time, many people who played Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 switched over to Planet Coaster because of the vast improvements.
People generally forgot about Theme Park Studio, and many people wanted to leave it in the past. It’s hard to find many of the original forum posts on the topic. RCTLounge, one of the major forums on the topic, was closed in 2016 due to inactivity. In 2018, Shyguy’s World, another forum on the topic, actually removed the Theme Park Studios board and deleted all posts to forget about the ‘dark and sinister’ affair. As the forum’s owner said: “
The first rule of Theme Park Studio... you do not talk about Theme Park Studio”. The official Theme Park Studios forums are also down and the website is vastly outdated. Most of this post was sourced by memories, the Wayback machine and the few threads I could still find.
Many people agreed that Pantera was probably a well-intentioned company that had simply bitten off more than they could chew. Clearly they had vastly underestimated the difficulty of this project and lost any drive to complete the project as it went on and support disappeared. Nevertheless, all the drama resulted in a bitter aftertaste for many people and changed people’s outlooks on the future releases of similar games.
submitted by Photos here:
https://imgur.com/a/67P8dz5 First build in ~20 years...I decided to get the best gaming PC little money can buy, for Christmas for my 11yo son -- and, in all honesty, for myself too :)
He was playing the likes of Minecraft, Roblox, and various Flash games online, on an old laptop.
The guideline for the build was: budget
£400, best bang for the buck, cut corners where possible.
I got to have fun researching and building. The kid got a gaming computer, an understanding of what's inside the black box, and hands-on experience. We both had a great time together!
TL;DR: AMD Radeon
RX 580 (SH): £125 Intel Core i3
10100F: £76 Gigabyte mobo: £58 Seasonic S12 III
550W: £50
256GB SSD +
2TB HDD: £0 (see below) Crucial
2x8GB, 2666 MHz: £40 CiT Flash case + extras: £40 Mechanical keyboard: £22
\*
Grand total: £411. Close enough!
Do you think there's anything obviously wrong?
The long story, piece by piece.
Case: CiT Flash: £35 Could have saved £5 on something even cheaper, but it's a
really small price to pay for side
and front tempered glass panels and 4
oh, so bling fans! The kid loved it.The metallic walls are super thin, as expected. It's fine, just don't use it to hammer nails.
For the price, it turned out to be great: adequate hidden space behind the right panel for "cable management" (euphemism for the jumble of cables, but hey, they're out of sight), 4 very RGB fans (but not addressable, they just connect to a SATA power cable and there's a button to change modes)Unexpectedly, even the wife
loved liked it!
The 3 front intake fans were place
very close to the front panel, but were easy to move further back inside the case for more adequate air flow. One exhaust fan in the back. Positive pressure FTW!
It even has metallic mesh dust filters on top (magnetic) and bottom (not).The one thing it does not have is a dust filter where it actually matters - the front panel, which brings me to...
Ghetto dust filters: £5 I ordered a pack of
dryer sheets and a strip of magnetic tape to hold them in place, and covered the front fans. Sorted, and I tell myself it doesn't look too bad!
CPU & Mobo: Intel 10100F: £76, Gigabyte H410M S2H: £58 I was sure it will be an AMD system (Ryzen 3100) for the longest time, but was swayed to the blue side by lack of availability or price hikes. The cheapest Intel motherboards were also a bit cheaper than the cheapest AMD counterparts.
It had to be a gen 10 Intel, to have
some chance of upgradability later, without replacing the motherboard too.
The motherboard was the winner of the race to the bottom. No frills. 2 RAM slots (but hey, no way to install the RAM in the wrong slots!).
I assume it will support the current line-up of gen10 CPUs
and future gen11's.In a couple years it will be time to look at the SH market for CPUs. [EDIT: It appears I was wrong. Bummer.]
Also, "BONUS"! - cheaper memory, since this combo only supports RAM < 2666 MHz. Thanks, Intel! \s
RAM: Crucial 2x8 GB, 2666 MHz: £40 Again, cheapest one that fit the bill. Black friday-ish price drop. No XMP. Oh well, Intel won't let me use faster RAM anyway.
PSU: Seasonic S12 III 550W 80+ Bronze: £50 Could have gotten something cheaper, but remembered the advice of our forebears:
don't skimp on the PSU, don't meet the fire brigade.Seasonics are widely regarded as some of the more trustworthy PSUs, and this had enough power for the GPUs that would fit the budget.
Of course it's not modular. Why pay extra for modular when I can spend 5 minutes of my life to secure the unused cables to the case?
At some point I could have bought the 650W version for the same price, but I had already bought this one and had opened the package.
Storage: Micron 256GB SSD + Seagate Desktop SSHD 2TB SSHD, £0!! Gutted an old laptop for the SSD.
Remembered I had a box of PC parts laying around, unused for years. There were a bunch of hard drives, one of which I was thrilled to discover had a quite decent 2TB capacity, and it's a
SSHD! (is that even still a thing?)
GPU: Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 580 Pulse 4GB: £125 + blood, sweat and tears I didn't expect it to run an eye-candy game like Forza Horizon 4 at 3440x1440, everything maxed out, at ~55 FPS. I'm impressed. So far, of all Xbox Game Pass games we tried, the only one that gets choppy is MS Flight Simulator.
The GPU saga I started looking at GPUs in November. Was considering a GTX 1650 Super (new) or a GTX 980 Ti (SH), each going for about £140 and wondering if that's a good enough deal.
Then December 1st came and the global GPU drama kicked in!"You thought
£140 was too much for a GTX 980 Ti? How does
£210 sound? HA!"
For weeks, I couldn't find
anything half-decent within the budget. I saw "recently sold" cards at decent prices, but they were getting sold
so fast I didn't stand a chance. Xmas was getting closer and I was getting desperate.
So I wrote a bot.
It scours eBay and messages me when cheaper cards show up. The 'buying' part is manual.There are
definitely other people out there that have automated the process, because the time to react for a deal seems to be 1-3 MINUTES!
That's how I could get my hands on the RX 580 for an acceptable £125! Xmas was saved!
Peripherals Dell ultra-wide monitor, 3440x1440, 60 Hz: £0 I happened to have one around.
Keyboard: Aula Assault RGB, mechanical, £22 This one was firmly in "splurge" territory, but the kid
was chuffed with the crazy lighting patterns and the (way too) clicky blue (probably knock-off - but still) switches.At the end of the day, £22 for a new mechanical keyboard (that turns out to be built like a tank) is not a bad price.
Here are five games you can play online with a bunch of friends and stay connected during this situation. These online multiplayer games include online board games, online Ludo, online Quiz, and more. The best multiplayer Switch games you can play with your buddies right now. By Heather Wald 29 May 2019. Gather your friends together and let the good times roll with our pick of the best Switch ... Puyo Puyo Tetris is an excellent mash-up of the two brilliant puzzle games that you can play online with friends or strangers. Better yet, one of you can play Tetris while the other plays Puyo Puyo... Q: Can two players play with one Nintendo Switch? Two players can play any multiplayer game using one Nintendo Switch. Each Switch comes with two controllers so there is one for each player. Add friends to your Nintendo Switch by clicking the icon on the upper left side of the home page screen. You will have to use your code to enter friends. Your friend code is under your picture next to your name. You can send a friend request by entering a friend’s code. You can also search for users ... Other cross-play games you can play. If none of the above interest you – or you just want to know what other cross-play games are out there – here's a quick list of 30 other cross-play games ... You don't need a subscription to play any Switch games solo, but when it comes to playing with a friend – or just anyone who owns the same game as you online – you may not know the best ... Nintendo Switch Online App Open the app on your smartphone or tablet to voice chat in compatible games. Plus, enjoy special features for games including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash... You can play Local Play with up to thre other players who have a Nintendo Switch console and either the 51 Worldwide Games game or the 51 Worldwide Games: Local Multiplayer Guest Edition demo software. Online Play can be played with friends you have registered from your Nintendo Account or with anyone in the world. Complete these steps. Launch 51 Worldwide Games from the HOME Menu. If this is your first time playing the game, you will need to follow the prompts to create a figurine before ... Online Play. Great games to play with—or against—other players with Nintendo Switch Online. Nintendo Switch Online membership (sold separately) and Nintendo Account required for online play. If you already have Nintendo Switch Online (which you need anyway to play any of the games on this list online), then you automatically have free access to Tetris 99. In this Tetris-meets-battle-royale hybrid, you'll compete against 99 others online to see who is the Tetris champ in this twist on the classic game. Since you likely have the online service anyway, this is probably the best deal on an excellent game the Switch has to offer.
The Switch was built with Multiplayer in mind. It's the whole reason the Joy-Con's exist. What are some of the best games that utilize this capability?🔔GET ... Bored? Want to hang out with your friends? In this video, I give you guys ideas of online games to play with friends that are (for the most part) free!GAMES ... We present our Top 10 BEST Nintendo Switch games that are out as of the end of 2019! Pokemon Sword and Shield, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Mario Odysse... Join the secret club!https://www.youtube.com/user/dashiegames/join I CAN'T STOP PLAYING CADENCE OF HYRULE ON NINTENDO SWITCH! #freegame As well as Team Sonic Racing, For The King, Resident Evil 4, Assassins Creed 3! Am I add... how to play any cracked games online for free welcome to my channel like and subscribe that will help alot :) watch the entire video for better understanding... Short on cash? No Problem! here is little list of the best free games you can get on the Nintendo Switch to keep you busy in Isolation or any other time!TEE ... The Switch has a boatful of great online games, but which are the best? We know, that's why we've made a video about it.Check out our full site: http://www.n...
