In Rios's memory, the hype video for Natlan's major version update featured the various characters making appearances as they prepared to participate in the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame.
Although due to Rios's strategy, the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame had been temporarily canceled, coincidentally, Mavuika and the others were just about to hold it again.
As long as he made some slight changes to the dialogue, he could directly use the original version.
"However, I still need to add myself in."
In the original hype video, there was a scene of Mavuika standing in the center of the colosseum delivering a speech.
Rios had no intention of altering this scene; only after that, he wanted to shift the camera to a high vantage point, filming the scene of himself seated on the high seat as well.
He wanted to strike a pose of being high above everyone, looking down on all of them, as if he were a cut above everyone present.
Then, through Mavuika's words, let the audience know that he was the Pyro Archon.
"Doing the hype video to this extent will be sufficient."
Because most of the plot was directly copied from the original version, Rios quickly completed the production of the hype video.
Next up was the character design for version 5.0.
[Traveler (Customizable)]
[Kinich (Demotable to 4-star)]
[Mualani (Demotable to 4-star)]
"What does 'demotable to 4-star' mean?"
Seeing the text that appeared in the design module, Rios was somewhat puzzled.
This demotion to 4-star... was it what he thought it meant?
[Responding to host.]
[Because the Natlan version has an extra 5-star character in the form of the host,]
[the Genshin development team allows one of the original 5-stars to be turned into a 4-star, thereby balancing the number of 5-stars and 4-stars.]
"So conscientious?"
Rios was somewhat surprised.
Not making money when there's money to be made—is this the miHoYo I know?
[If the host is unwilling, modifications can also be skipped.]
"..."
Rios thought for a moment and asked in his mind: "If it's changed from 5-star to 4-star, will the character's stats change as well?"
[Responding to host.]
[Yes. After a 5-star character becomes a 4-star character, the Genshin development team will adjust the stats, limiting them to 4-star levels.]
"So that's how it is."
Rios could understand; Natlan's 5-star characters all had triple-scaling stats, so if they were demoted to 4-star without any changes, then truly everyone could crush the Abyss.
"Turn Mualani into a 4-star."
Rios said.
[Confirmed?]
"Confirmed."
In the world before Rios transmigrated, Mualani had high damage output, but her handling feel wasn't great, to the point that Genshin later specifically adjusted her.
Rios originally wanted to pull for Mualani, but after passing the trial stage, he was dissuaded by Mualani's feel.
As for the handling feel, there was no way for Rios to fix that.
But he had a method to reduce players' dissatisfaction with Mualani's feel.
That was to adjust Mualani from 5-star to 4-star, but with stats close to 5-star.
During this period, the 4-star DPS characters Gaming and Sethos that Genshin released had stats approaching 5-star levels, so a 4-star version of Mualani would likely be the same.
This way, players' dissatisfaction with Mualani's handling feel would decrease.
When Mualani is 5-star: "This character has high damage, but doesn't feel great to use, so forget it."
When Mualani is 4-star: "I'm sorry for not letting Lady Mualani use her full power."
Mualani being 4-star had other benefits as well.
That was having one more 4-star character who could trigger the Brave Heart set, and this character was Hydro element.
Natlan characters equipping the Brave Heart artifact set could increase damage when triggering elemental reactions in the Nightsoul's Blessing state.
If triggering Vaporize reaction, then the entire team could gain 40% Pyro DMG Bonus and 40% Hydro DMG Bonus; other reactions would follow suit.
With Mualani equipping the Brave Heart set, she could provide team-wide damage buffs, have her own output capability, and equip the Scroll of the Hero of the Dragon-Slaying Saga to increase teammates' ATK—an ultra-strong support character.
Actually, Mualani as a 5-star could use this playstyle too, but how many people would be willing to spend money pulling a 5-star DPS just to use her as support?
But if Mualani is 4-star, the situation changes dramatically. Although her handling feel can't be changed, with 5-star-level capabilities, her situation would be much better than Gaming and Sethos.
At the end of the Natlan version, Citlali would be released—that's a DPS who needs all teammates to be Cryo and Hydro elements to maximize damage.
Mualani, who provides buffs and can fill in DPS during gaps, would simply be the most suitable teammate.
[Mualani demotion successful]
[No other characters can be demoted further]
After seeing Mualani's rating change from 5-star to 4-star, Rios focused his attention on the Traveler.
"How should I set this up to make it good?"
Rios was stumped for a moment; making her a DPS would definitely not outdo the current triple-scaling DPS from Natlan.
Making her support, but there was already a 6-star character Bennett ahead.
If it was just off-field application, the original Pyro Traveler could do that.
"I still need to reference miHoYo's other games."
After racking his brains in recollection for a while, Rios's eyes lit up: "Good, let's make it Super Break!"
It just so happened that the Traveler was a girl, so her name would be Lumine.
Pyro Lumine form, activate!
Normal Attack: An utterly ordinary slash!
Elemental Skill: The Traveler enters the Nightsoul's Blessing state, delivering a slash rich in Pyro elements to the surroundings, then continuously increasing the current on-field character's ATK until the Nightsoul's Blessing state ends.
Considering Bennett ahead and Emilie behind, the Traveler's ATK increase for characters probably wouldn't be too high.
The key part was in the Elemental Burst afterward.
Elemental Burst: The Traveler enters the Nightsoul's Blessing state (if already in the Nightsoul's Blessing state, restore Nightsoul to maximum), during which the current on-field character's Nightsoul-aligned damage will transform into [Super Nightsoul] damage, becoming 1.X times the original.
Genshin has no Break, so naturally no Super Break.
But the Natlan version added Nightsoul, which was perfect for giving the Pyro Traveler a Super Nightsoul damage.
After Natlan characters get the Pyro Traveler, their damage would easily be boosted, and players would surely like a support they could get without spending money.
[Super Nightsoul] was just something Rios came up with offhand; polishing it into a cooler name could be left to miHoYo's writers.
After all, designing characters is like this: the designer just needs to design the skill mechanics; the writers and number crunchers have far more to consider.
Talent 1: When characters in the party trigger Pyro-related reactions, the Traveler will recover energy.
For Natlan characters with triple-scaling stats, damage is definitely sufficient, so effort needs to be put into comfort.
As a support Pyro Traveler, she can't get stuck on ER; she must ensure the Burst can be used every rotation, so cycling ability is crucial.
Talent 2: When the on-field character releases damage with [Super Nightsoul] properties, a Pyro elemental coordinated attack will be performed.
That said, although Natlan characters' stats are sufficient, who would complain about a support providing more buffs, making the main DPS's damage even higher?