The Real Danger In Genshin Impact Is The Environment

Gamers might have initially mocked Genshin Impact with extreme prejudice because they viewed the game as nothing more than a blatant Breath of the Wild clone, but that tone quickly changed. In less than a month, Genshin Impact wiggled its way into gamers' hearts thanks to, among other features, a robust elemental interaction system (i.e., Elemental Reactions) that goes beyond the simple "douse fire enemies with water for extra damage” elemental weakness system of other RPGs. And, since Genshin Impact is a live service gacha game, it is constantly being updated. The latest patch, Version 1.1, recently hit game servers and brought a slew of new content, as well as the unintended side effect of making the environment even more deadly than the game's enemies.

Recently, gamers have noticed that the amount of damage characters and enemies take from various environmental effects has increased significantly. Take, for example, the common tactic of setting grass ablaze with a fire skill — and then spreading that fire with a wind skill to create a fire tornado that immolates everything in its path. Before the update, grass flames that licked character and enemy feet did about as much damage as the Lick attack in Pokemon, but now the flames rip through health bars like dry paper. The same applies to other elemental combos such as electrifying water. Gamers have taken notice and asked Genshin Impact's developer miHoYo what's the deal with the suddenly fatal elements.

According to an official post on the miHoYo forums, the cause is quite simple: The developers fixed a problem where "Elemental Reactions caused by the environment would not accurately scale up with the player's World Level." However, by trying to fix one problem, miHoYo accidentally created an even bigger one. Reports came pouring in about Elemental Reactions wreaking havoc in the open world, whether players were fighting or just minding their own business while gathering resources. And, fights against already dangerous enemies such as the Oceanid have mutated into trials that far surpass their intended difficulties.

The Genshin Impact team at miHoYo has admitted that despite their best intentions, the patch's result has gone far beyond what the devs envisioned, and in the worst way possible. The company is currently brainstorming on how to fix this accident, and for now, players should approach the game and its environment with caution, use different combat strategies, and try not to die.