In Caelus's memory, the teaser video for the major Natlan version depicted various characters appearing on screen in preparation for the Holy Night of the Return of Fire.
Although the Holy Night of the Return of Fire was temporarily canceled due to Caelus's strategy, by coincidence, Mavuika and the others were just about to hold it again.
With just a few line changes, the original version could be reused.
"However, I still need to add myself in."
In the original teaser video, there was a scene where Mavuika stood in the center of the arena giving a speech.
Caelus didn't plan to change this plot point; however, afterward, he wanted to pan the camera upward to capture himself sitting in a high seat.
He wanted to strike a lofty pose, looking down at everyone as if he were superior to all present.
Then, through Mavuika's words, he would let the audience know that he was the true Pyro Archon.
"This level of teaser video is enough."
Because most of the plot was copied from the original, Caelus quickly completed production of the teaser video.
Next was the character design for Version 5.0.
[Traveler (Designable)]
[Kinich (Star Reduction Available)]
[Mualani (Star Reduction Available)]
"What does 'Star Reduction Available' mean?"
Seeing the text appearing in the design module, Caelus was a bit confused.
Does this "star reduction" mean what he thinks it means?
[Responding to Host]
[Because the Natlan version includes one additional five-star character—the Host]
[The Genshin Impact production team allows one original five-star character to be adjusted to four-star to balance the total number of five-star and four-star characters]
"So generous?"
Caelus was somewhat surprised.
Turning down revenue? Is this the Old Mi he knows?
[If the Host is unwilling, no modification is required]
"..."
Caelus thought for a moment and asked in his mind, "If a character changes from five-star to four-star, will their base stats also change?"
[Responding to Host]
[Yes. After a five-star character becomes a four-star character, the Genshin Impact production team will adjust their base stats to four-star standards.]
"Just as I thought."
Caelus understood. The five-star characters in Natlan all had extreme power creep stats. If they were downgraded to four-star without adjustments, everyone would easily clear the Spiral Abyss.
"Turn Mualani into a four-star."
Caelus said.
[Confirm?]
"Confirm."
In the world Caelus lived in before transmigrating, Mualani's damage output was very high, but her gameplay felt clunky, to the point that Genshin Impact later adjusted it.
Caelus originally wanted to pull for Mualani, but after playing her trial stage, he was discouraged by her feel.
The issue of gameplay feel was something Caelus couldn't solve.
But he had a way to reduce players' dissatisfaction with Mualani's handling.
That was to lower Mualani from five-star to four-star, while keeping her performance close to five-star level.
Recent four-star DPS characters released in Genshin Impact, such as Gaming and Sethos, were already close to five-star standards in terms of performance. A four-star Mualani would likely be similar.
This way, players' dissatisfaction with her gameplay feel would decrease.
When Mualani is a five-star:
"This character deals high damage, but she feels awkward to play, so I'll skip."
When Mualani is a four-star:
"I'm sorry for not being able to let Lady Mualani display her full strength."
If Mualani were a four-star, there would be additional advantages.
She would become another four-star character capable of triggering the Natlan artifact set effects, and she is a Hydro character.
Natlan characters wearing that artifact set can increase damage when triggering an Elemental Reaction while in the Nightsoul's Blessing state.
If Vaporize is triggered, the entire team gains a 40% Pyro DMG Bonus and 40% Hydro DMG Bonus, and so on for other reactions.
If Mualani wears this artifact set, she becomes a powerful support who can buff the entire team's damage, provide personal damage output, and even equip Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers to increase teammates' ATK.
In fact, Mualani could use this playstyle even as a five-star. But how many players would be willing to spend Primogems to pull a five-star DPS just to use her as support?
If Mualani is a four-star, however, the situation changes completely. Although her gameplay feel cannot be altered, with near five-star-tier performance, her situation would be much better than Gaming's or Sethos's.
Toward the end of the Natlan version, Skirk would also be released—a DPS who requires a team composed entirely of Cryo and Hydro characters to maximize her damage.
Mualani, who provides both buffs and supplementary damage during downtime, would be an ideal teammate.
[Mualani star reduction successful]
[No other characters can be star-reduced]
After seeing Mualani's rarity change from five-star to four-star, Caelus shifted his focus to the Traveler.
"How should I design this?"
Caelus was briefly at a loss.
If he made the Traveler a DPS, they wouldn't compete with the current extreme power creep DPS units.
If he made them a support, Bennett was already the so-called "six-star" ahead of them.
If it were simply off-field Pyro application, the original Pyro Traveler could already do that.
"I should refer to miHoYo ( Old mi) other games."
After thinking for a long time, Caelus's eyes lit up.
"Alright—Super Break!"
Since the Traveler happened to be female, her name would be Lumine.
Firefly Type-IV, launch!
Normal Attack: A standard sword slash.
Elemental Skill: The Traveler enters the Nightsoul's Blessing state, dealing AoE Pyro DMG to nearby enemies, and continuously increases the active character's ATK until the Nightsoul's Blessing state ends.
Considering Bennett precedes her and Iansan will follow, the Traveler's ATK buff value should not be too high.
The core mechanic lies in the Elemental Burst.
Elemental Burst: The Traveler enters the Nightsoul's Blessing state (if already active, restores Nightsoul points to maximum). During this period, Nightsoul-aligned damage dealt by the active character is converted into [Super Nightsoul] damage, dealing 1.X times the original damage.
Genshin Impact does not have a Break mechanic, so naturally, it does not have Super Break.
However, the Natlan version introduces Nightsoul mechanics, making it suitable to implement a "Super Nightsoul" damage system for the Pyro Traveler.
After Natlan characters obtain the Pyro Traveler, their damage output will increase significantly. Caelus believed players would certainly welcome a strong support available for free.
"Super Nightsoul" was just a placeholder name Caelus came up with. As for refining it into a more impressive term, that would be left to Old Mi's localization and writing team.
After all, in character design, designers create the skill framework, while the writing and balance teams handle naming and numerical tuning.
Passive Talent 1: When a party member triggers a Pyro-related Elemental Reaction, the Traveler regenerates Energy.
For Natlan characters with extreme stats, damage is already sufficient. The focus should be on gameplay comfort.
As a support, the Pyro Traveler must not suffer from Energy issues. It should be ensured that their Elemental Burst is available every rotation, so Energy regeneration is essential.
Passive Talent 2: When the active character deals [Super Nightsoul] damage, a coordinated Pyro attack is triggered.
Even though Natlan characters already have sufficient stats, who would ever complain about a support providing more buffs—or about the main DPS dealing even more damage?