Genshin Impact is a huge game. Few open-world games compare to its scale and the number of things players can do in it, especially from a free-to-play game perspective. With this massive size, there're a few hidden gameplay gems that most players don't find out about until they've invested many hours into it.
With the "Invitation of Windblume" event on the horizon, new game modes and activities are on the way, so it's important to be aware of what will change and what players will be able to do. On top of game-changing techniques, there are fun and refreshing new things to keep veteran players coming back for more.
Get A Round Of Applause
Barbara is an idol in the world of Genshin Impact, and her fans are all over the town of Monstadt. When in Monstadt, players can set Barbara as their main character and attack towards the people in the area.
Since she's a healer, this does no damage to the characters and it also makes them clap for her as they enjoy her song. It's a neat little Easter Egg that most players never notice since they'd have to attack an innocent NPC.
Elemental Sight
For most players just starting the game, elemental sight seems like a pretty useless ability. It allows players to see certain element affinities for enemies, see the elements of attacks, and track down targets during specific quests and story events.
In terms of open world game play and exploration, elemental sight doesn't seem all that useful since it only does something in specific situations. While exploring, players can actually use elemental sight on the spirit statues to see which direction the spirit is from the statue. This makes collecting the spirits easier even if they don't know exactly where they are when the statue is spotted.
Bunny Hopping
There're tons of little tips and tricks to help players move around the world of Genshin Impact better. Some techniques help players move faster, and others can preserve stamina but there's one that does both and is useful to cut down travel times. This technique is called Bunny Hopping, or B-Hopping for short.
To consistently pull off a B-Hop, all players have to do is cancel the initial run animation and momentum with a jump. Doing the jump properly will propel the character forward and use a microscopic amount of stamina. Only certain characters have effective B-Hops so be sure to try it out on all characters in the party to see who can do it the best.
Become A Cartographer
For many, Genshin Impact is all about exploring the lively world and finding its secrets waiting to be uncovered. For this type of player, the map is the most important tool they have access to. The game doesn't tell players straight up what the map can do, and it has a lot of important little features that can make anyone's life a lot easier.
Players can mark their maps with dig sites for ore, find daily challenges and boss fights, as well as mark their own points of interest for whatever reason they might have. There're external resources like GI World Map that serve to help explorers find materials and grind to level up their characters or equipment.
Test Your Aim
Throughout Genshin Impact, there're little challenges that players can take part in for a bit of XP and materials. They're fun little games thrown about the world and can be hard to find consistently without an external map.
The development team has included a new mode in the Spring 2021 update that makes these challenges a mini game of sorts. The mini games will test player's abilities to shoot moving and stationary targets quickly, and test their skills against other players.
Fall Guys?
Some of the other mini games included in the new "Invitation Of Windblume" event seem to be inspired by the mini games and game structure of Fall Guys. There's a game mode where players have to climb an incline and dodge objects that could impede their progress. There's also a game where certain platforms will fall and players will need to skillfully move around them until they're the last one standing.
The inspiration is clear and it's very refreshing to see that they developers of Genshin Impact are breathing new life into the game. These modes add a break from the grinding and battling by supplementing them with a social and casual experience for players to enjoy.
Falling With Style
A key part of the Genshin Impact experience is the gliding. Players can use gliding to travel long distances quickly and scout out an area they want to explore before dropping down to the ground. It's a welcome mechanic that a lot of open world games have struggled to implement effectively, but it doesn't serve much use besides travel.
After the Windblume update, gliding mini games will be readily available to players, in the form of what looks like agility challenges. Players will collect essences during their glide and increase their point value by the amount of time it took to complete the course and how much essence they were able to collect. Turning key elements of the game into fun mini games will definitely make the game a more complete experience overall.
Play A Rhythm Game
In the trailer for the "Invitation of Windblume" event, Venti is seen playing his harp with a scenic field of flowers in the background. The game interface changes and a bunch of circles pop up on the screen. These circles close quickly and button presses can be heard, synchronizing with the circles.
To the astute viewer, this is clearly some sort of new rhythm game function being added to Genshin Impact in the new update. It's unclear how long the function will be available but it's a big surprise that almost nobody saw coming.
Mining More Efficiently
To upgrade equipment and get stats up to par, players will have to mine in Genshin Impact. A lot. Mining can become really tedious because depending on the characters in a party, some might need a lot of hits to actually expose the ore.
Two-handed weapons like greatswords and clubs are way more efficient at mining ores, often taking half the amount of hits swords would take to expose ore. This makes for speedier conversions on mines and since these weapons usually have more range, it also increases the chance of hitting multiple lodes at once, speeding up the mining process twofold. Explosive abilities and the traveler's Geo ability also mine very quickly.
Create Footholds
After reaching Liuye, the player gains a Geo ability for their traveler. The Geo ability does a lot of damage and spawns a large rock that can come out of any surface in the wild. What's great about this ability is it's extremely useful outside of combat. Players can aim the Geo ability at a mountain they want to climb, and simply make footholds up the mountain so they don't run out of stamina. This essentially means any mountain is surmountable with this ability as long as players have the patience.