Gentry of Hermitage Wish Character Banner: Is It Worth Rolling?

I’ll get straight to it!

Characters

Zhongli

Why he’s so good:

1. Extremely strong shield with low CD’s – If the strongest shield in the game isn’t appealing to you, then you probably haven’t experienced how easy this game is with shields. Zhongli’s shield has a strong base shield scaling, can get 25% stronger when hit, and scales off HP — which is the easiest stat to attain and amass. Not to mention that the shield lasts 30s, and has an easy CD of 12s. Also absolutely obliterates any Geo shields (both elemental and physical shields).
2. High burst capability and great CC – Man literally tosses a meteorite at his enemies. With one of the highest scaling bursts in the game, he fits most teams as a support/burst DPS. Every enemy (except massive enemies like Lawachurls and bosses) will get petrified for 3s+, preventing them from doing anything so you can wail on them with zero consequence. Just make sure to have a battery on your team to ensure you can generate energy fast for him!
3. Received an immensely strong tweak – In 1.3, Zhongli (and Geo resonance) got a massive buff. Essentially made everything in Zhongli’s kit, including his Normal/Charged attacks, scale a portion of his max HP. Along with more quality of life changes to how his E works, these buffs made it much more viable to make Zhongli into a main DPS + an even stronger support/burst DPS character.

So 2Board, should I roll this banner? – Yes

Yes, but there’s a catch: if you have C3+ for Zhongli OR want/need a shielding character (or just want Yanfei 😂).

Sadly, Zhongli’s constellations aren’t exactly appealing for DPS. To quickly run it down, his C1 does technically double his energy generation, but 2x of a low number is still a low number. His C2 is only viable in co-op, as it just shields allies when he ults (only applies to characters on the screen). The reason why his C4 is appealing is due to an increase of petrify by 2s, and his C6 also heals allies who are shielded.

Otherwise, shields are great in this game for essentially ignoring most fight mechanics, or just helping tank through a DPS phase of most enemies. So if you’re direly in need of a shield character, Zhongli, Diona, and Noelle can all scratch that itch!

Plus, it’s worth rolling just to get the new character: Yanfei. Here’s a quick rundown of all the 4-star characters on this banner!

Yanfei – Newest addition to the character roster. A Pyro catalyst user who has a similar gimmick like Klee/Ningguang does regarding gathering stacks and reducing stamina consumption. Her E does a decent amount of damage for how low the CD is, and her Q is a sizeable AoE Pyro attack. Her main niche revolves around her Charged Attack, with her kit granting several buffs to the damage, stacking ATK, low stamina consumption, and overall good DPS cycle! TL;DR Guide on her will be coming out soon!

Noelle – Not very useful for her heals, but can be turned into an amazing shielder. She can be a great fit for Geo Resonance, and even viable for main DPS with her Q. While her kit is fairly barebones, Noelle’s A4 passive acts as a second wind, preventing any character from getting one shot. Being both Geo and a claymore user, she also does a great job simply breaking shields while also generating your team some additional crystallize shields.

Diona – Boasting the second strongest shield in the game, and arguably the lowest CD, Diona is a reliable character. Her E is an extremely low CD skill that not only shields, but also applies Cryo to multiple enemies. On top of granting a strong shield, she’s also an ideal support as her Q grants a big AoE healing field that applies Cryo to enemies. She also scales off HP, making her essentially the Cryo, bow using version of Zhongli. If you need a Cryo user on your team, Diona may be a great fit to fulfilling multiple roles.

While for veteran players, this banner may be a hit or miss due to already having multiple copies of Noelle and Diona, all the characters on this banner have decent constellations anyways. Regardless, it’s still worth to roll for at least a single pull of Yanfei just to have her! Or you can just save up your primogems for Eula’s upcoming release!

Hope everyone gets the characters they want, and get lucked out! Bye.