On the launch day of Genshin Impact Version 5.0, the well known Genshin content creator Ying Ying Yue was livestreaming while producing a strategy guide.
When he reached the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame, he was presented with a choice between Easy Mode and Normal Mode. He selected Easy Mode first.
In Easy Mode, the people of Natlan do not prioritize attacking the player. Instead, they fight among themselves.
As long as the player is patient, they can stand at a distance and wait for the Natlan warriors to damage each other to low health, then step in at the final moment to finish them off.
Furthermore, the Natlan warriors in Easy Mode are only Level 20. Against such low level enemies, there is no need to use limited five star characters. Even a well built Anemo Traveler can clear them easily by triggering Swirl reactions.
"There is not much to explain in Easy Mode. Let us see what Normal Mode looks like."
As one of the most well known strategy creators in the Genshin community, Ying Ying Yue even made detailed guides for main story quests, striving to solve every difficulty players might encounter.
Just before Easy Mode concluded, he exited and reentered the challenge to attempt the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame in Normal Mode.
The moment he entered Normal Mode, he sensed that something was wrong.
"The difference between these two modes is way too large, is it not?" After only a few minutes, Ying Ying Yue felt as though Easy Mode and Normal Mode belonged to entirely different games.
Easy Mode: The enemies are practically primitive tribes fighting each other. Even a Traveler who just left Mondstadt could sweep through them.
Normal Mode: Enemy levels scale with World Level. They wield firearms, sniper rifles, and cannons. Many possess Visions and can trigger Elemental Reactions.
Their single hits are not overwhelmingly strong, but the relentless waves of Natlan warriors make it difficult to survive, especially with frequent flanking attacks.
Imagine defeating the enemy in front of you, only to be shot from behind.
Before you can react, another attack lands, triggering an Elemental Reaction that instantly eliminates a fragile character.
"This difficulty scaling is off." Ying Ying Yue quickly realized something was abnormal.
According to Genshin's usual design philosophy, a main story quest should be manageable even with only the free characters provided by the game.
But in Normal Mode, enemy damage and attack frequency were clearly excessive. Even players who had pulled strong characters might struggle, not to mention free to play players.
Was HoYoverse deliberately targeting F2P players?
No. Ying Ying Yue believed he simply had not yet discovered the intended solution.
As long as the correct strategy was found, it should be possible to clear the stage smoothly using only free characters.
Not every player shared that mindset.
Many players entered Normal Mode and were immediately overwhelmed by the Natlan warriors.
[Are Natlan people really this intense? They are actually using machine guns on me. I cannot even dodge properly.]
[My Arlecchino has never died in the Spiral Abyss, but she got surrounded and beaten to death by Natlan NPCs in a main quest.]
[The attack frequency in Normal Mode is absurd. They constantly trigger Elemental Reactions. They are more oppressive than Consecrated Beasts.]
[Is the developer out of their mind? It is just a main quest. Why is it this hard?]
[???]
[Did you not see that there is an Easy Mode? If you cannot handle Normal Mode but insist on playing it, then blame the developer when you lose, are you serious?]
For a time, debate about the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame intensified across the player community.
In the world of Genshin Impact, Caelus watched this unfold and clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"Excellent. This is exactly how you push players to the brink."
The experience players faced during the Pilgrimage was entirely Caelus's design.
He deliberately set Easy Mode to be extremely forgiving and Normal Mode to be punishingly difficult.
No matter which mode a player chose first, trying the other afterward would create a dramatic contrast.
Especially for those who suffered in Normal Mode. Upon switching to Easy Mode and realizing how simple it was, their mentality might collapse from regret.
As for players who insisted on completing Normal Mode from start to finish, brute forcing the stage with conventional builds would not work unless their characters were exceptionally well invested.
Only by discovering a specific strategy could they clear Normal Mode with lower investment characters.
And even after discovering that strategy, more surprises awaited them.
The Player World.
"I understand now."
After testing multiple team compositions, Ying Ying Yue finally figured out how to clear the challenge with minimal investment.
Just as he suspected, it was indeed possible to clear the Pilgrimage using only free characters.
After repeated attempts, he summarized the core strategy in a single word: run.
Although Natlan warriors surrounded the player, they did not all spawn simultaneously. Instead, their numbers gradually increased over time.
In other words, the longer one remained in combat, the more enemies would appear.
The optimal strategy was to disengage immediately. Once sufficient distance was created, additional Natlan warriors would stop spawning.
Meanwhile, because the warriors were competing for qualification, they would continue fighting each other.
After they weakened one another, the player could return to finish them off. Even with low investment characters, the stage could then be cleared.
"The best free character for mobility is Kachina." Ying Ying Yue felt relieved.
As expected, as long as one analyzed the mechanics carefully, Genshin's main story quests could be cleared even with free units.
After using this method to deal with several waves of Natlan warriors, Ying Ying Yue controlled Kachina and headed toward the Sacred Flame Arena.
According to the objective marker, reaching that location would count as clearing the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame.
Along the path were multiple devices that restored Phlogiston, allowing Kachina to repeatedly use her drill traversal ability to move quickly.
"Once I reach the Sacred Flame Arena, I can create a proper guide explaining the intended strategy."
Just as he thought this, a red streak flashed across the screen and struck Kachina, sending her flying.
"What?"
Ying Ying Yue stared at the screen in shock.
The red streak was a long red haired woman riding a motorcycle.
Her damage output was extremely high, nearly eliminating his fully defensive Kachina in a single hit.
Fortunately, Ying Ying Yue had equipped Kachina with full Defense artifacts earlier to prevent accidental deaths from stray enemies. That precaution saved her life.
Otherwise, that single impact would have forced him to restart.
Before he could finish feeling relieved, a bolt of purple lightning descended.
The Electro attack triggered an Elemental Reaction with the lingering Pyro aura on Kachina, causing an Overloaded reaction that instantly defeated her.
"Again?"
Ying Ying Yue stared at the screen.
This time, the attacker was a white haired girl of short stature. It was their old acquaintance, Iansan.
She was also heading toward the Sacred Flame Arena and happened to be traveling along the same route as Kachina, colliding with her in the process.
However, after the collision, Iansan did not stop. She continued sprinting toward the Sacred Flame Arena without hesitation.
"Are you treating me like a speed bump?"
...
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