Greetings Travelers! It is that time once again to complete the activites designated by the Archons at MiHoYo in exchange for Primogems. This guide will show your the basics of the event and some good tactics to try out!
Table of Contents
Hide and Seek!
The crux of this new event is to play high and seek, but with a few twists. If you’ve played prop hunt, this will be very familiar to you. Three ‘Rebels’ will be tasked to hide from a ‘Hunter’, each of whom have a variety of useful abilities to seek or remain hidden. Rebels can disguise themselves as different objects depending on the map in an attempt to blend in, but the Hunter has a skill to capture any enemy nearby, costume or not, so a disguse isn’t fool-proof! Beyond that Rebels can choose to either gains a few seconds invisibility on a short cooldown or the ability to place distractions around the map, while the Hunter gets to conjure footprints that point in the direction of Rebels every 30 seconds or so. And finally once per round an orb will form that will grant an elemental burst to whomever picks it up – either a massive speed boost for the Rebels, or one of three choices to help detect or capture Rebels for the Hunter! I’d suggest leaving the defaults other than for quest requirements and have fun – but if you want a few tips, read on!
Choose your Character!
The most important part of this event to stress is it’s just for fun. Even if you lose every single time you can still grab all of the Primogems. So feel free to play anyone! However there are a few types of characters that have a special advantage in this event.
- Klee/QiQi/Diona
- These three characters are, well, short. And that makes it easier to hide or slip into the tightest corners of the map. Often times a prop might be more efficient, on some map where the props are bigger the smaller body can be all you need to hide effectively.
- Bunnyhoppers
- These are the shorter males in the game, for example Venti, Bennet, or Aether. If you start to run and spam your jump button with these characters, it’s actually faster than running, which is incredibly useful when running, chasing, or trying to find a new hiding spot. What’s even better is that you can keep up speed once you run out of stamina if you time it right, making them a great choice!
- Mona
- Lastly Mona gets her own catagory for being…the best. Her running animation renders herself buried in the water underground. Not only does this mean simply holding right click can make anywhere a hiding spot, but when you are chasing down your foes it’ll be harder for them to see you coming – and likewise harder to spot you in an escape. You can still spot Mona if you watch out for the water, but it’s an extra tool that no other character can match.
Climb up High!
Generally when looking for a hiding spot, somewhere high up is a good place to start. This gives you a better view of the Hunter, meaning you can react if you think they have figured out your direction rather than being taken by surprise. The capturing mechanic also requires the two characters to be on the same elevation, means they have to climb up to get you, which is time you can spend flying away. This is particularly useful on the Springvale map as you can see above – you can force the Hunter to spend 20 seconds climbing up to you, then jump off in any direction as you hear them approach. Just be careful as the capture does extent slightly upward, meaning they don’t have to be all the way to the top to get you. In addition lots of the maps have an area high up that’s visited less commonly, so consider hiding out there!
Climb a tree.
While the game encourages great use of propes, sometimes they can be more distraction than they’re worth. Trees again mean they have to climb after you, while also giving you natural protection from the leaves that doesn’t obscure your own vision at all. I’ve spent almost an entire match in a tree, with the Hunter being right underneath me but still not able to find me until their Elemental Burst forced me to leave!
Be Creative!
This game mode heavily rewards creativity. One of the best examples I’ve seen is that simply standing near some npcs like above was enough to fool someone into overlooking them! Props especially encourage this if you can place them in natural looking places – but be warned any prop will look suspicious just for existing and Hunters should regularly check most that they see. Something like the above might fail once people know the trick, but if you get a unique idea – use it!
Try this on for size!
Bushes can be your best friend, but some of the props can give you an enormous advantage in this regard. In the Dawn Winery you can disguse yourself as this tiny lantern, which can make for a perfect disguse next to any bush you find! Just be aware it doesn’t give off it’s own light reflection on the ground, so you will look amiss next to lanterns! You’ll be all but invisibible in the right spot.
Try Diplomacy!
And finally, the most fun I’ve had in Windtrace was actually in ignoring all of the above and hiding in plain sight. You can simply request that your fellow players help you out if, say, there’s one of the achivements you haven’t been able to get yet. Or just for a bit of fun. Not all players will respond to chat, but it can make for some really unique games like the one below that I enjoyed a LOT – try it out for a change!
In all, Windtrace is a fun little distraction of an event that is worth it for the rewards, but even beyond that I played on two accounts just as an excuse to try it more! It’s a wonderful change of pace I hope you can enjoy! And remember…if you find a great hiding spot, you can even bring up another tab and read more tips on Traveler.gg while you see the Hunter try to find you!
