Sumeru Characters that Could Eventually do with a Buff in Genshin Impact
While there might be some characters from this region that need a little bit of touching up, Sumeru probably won’t be getting a faction buff any time soon. Unlike Mondstadt, Liyue, and, somewhat, Inazuma, by the time Hoyo got to Sumeru, they were pretty decent at designing characters. However, Sumeru will, eventually, need to have its roster tuned up. As such, these are the characters who, currently, could use some help.
Call Forth the Scholars
If we assume that the Sumeru Faction Buff will be similar to Mondstadt’s, then 2 characters of the same Faction will need to be in the party to activate. To that end, I think the Faction that hits most of the characters who need Buffs, and is highly relevant to Sumeru, is the “Academia”.
All the characters listed below have some connection, no matter how tangentially to the Academia. And, to be fair, even in the case where the link is minor, the fact that Razor counts as Hexenrei gives us a little wiggle room.
Nahida
The Dendro Archon really doesn’t need a Buff at this point in time. However, things may change later down the road. Taking a look at her kit in its entirety, I would say that she could do with a slight change to her Skill. Either increase the number of enemies that can be marked or have the mark jump to a new target after its current one dies.
Tighnari
Tighnari could use a bit more consistency. Give his Skill Charges so that he can use his unique Aimed Shot more often and maybe have the zone created by his Skill inflict a Debuff, such as anyone inside will take more damage from Dendro-related reactions. He could also do with a touch more Energy Recharge, but that issue could be alleviated with the Charge mechanic on his Skill.
Cyno
Energy. That’s Cyno’s biggest issue. His Burst has the potential for great up time, but he almost never gets to utilize it because it takes so long for him recharge all his Energy. The best option is to lean into his quick-time gameplay. If he hits his special Skill timing during his Burst, he will receive a decent amount of Elemental Energy.
He could also do with a little bit more forgiveness when he makes a mistake. If, for any reason, he isn’t able to complete his full Elemental Burst duration, he should be refunded some of the Energy cost and CD. This will help him be more consistent and feel less punishing to play.
The Wanderer
Better numbers and a slight rework of his 1st Passive. As of right now, I can be very difficult to get more than 1 Element for his Passive because of reactions. Perhaps give it a window of opportunity. For example, when a target is affected by an Element, it lingers even after being used to trigger an Elemental reaction. Kind of like an echo. It can’t be used to trigger another reaction, but it would still be present for him to get the corresponding Buff.
Kaveh
Kaveh needs… quite a few things, actually. First, more Energy Recharge (shocking, I know). Second, more uptime on his Burst. Third, if Hoyo really wants to make people interested in playing him, he needs to remove the internal CD on Dendro Cores. If they want to keep it balanced, they can just have it so that the CD removal is only active while he’s On-Field.
And, finally, if Hoyo really wanted to be nice, they could let him switch out without dispelling his Burst. He’d still need to be the character On-Field to gain all the benefits, but at least you could swap out really quickly if you forgot a Buff and not waste his Burst.
Honorable Mention: Dehya
Dehya’s relationship with the Academia is nearly non-existent. However, if they can come up with something halfway believable for why she would be included, I’d go with it just because she needs the help. Better numbers, more Energy Recharge, and do something with the damage mitigation. Have her do more damage the more damage she absorbs or something because, right now, it’s just a thing in her kit that everyone forgets about.
