In Genshin Impact, gamers try to compile their dream team of characters collected via gameplay and the game’s gacha mechanic. When new character banners arrive, new character trials come along with them. In theory, these trials let Travelers test out what each potential recruit can do to decide where to focus their pulls. But as the new Kinich trial reminds fans, the default builds for trial characters in Genshin Impact aren’t always created equal. They’re bad more often than not, but some gamers think that might be the point.
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Character trials let players test out a character’s abilities by completing a series of challenges. Usually, that involves taking on a string of enemies, but it might feature some other tasks depending on the character. The trial versions of characters come with a default, uneditable build. And as gamers have pointed out, those builds often don’t have the best stats, meaning they don’t necessarily show the characters in the best possible light. As one Redditor notes, Kinich’s character trial build is especially bad.
The base attack stats for this trial version of the 4-star Dentro Claymore are pretty abysmal. Trying to bring him into the challenge of facing off against 5 big bosses in a row doesn’t necessarily go well. Trust me, I tried, and he got totally flattened. For many Genshin Impact players, seeing poor builds for trial characters is a major frustration. After all, you’re trying to see if the character will make a solid addition to your lineup, but it’s hard to tell when you can’t beef up their stats as you normally would. However, that might be part of the master plan when it comes to a gacha game like Genshin.
“It’s All Coming Together” Bad Trial Builds Entice Gamers to Pull for Genshin Impact Characters
As the top comment on this post about Kinich’s trial notes, the trial versions of certain characters can be “so bad it makes me tempted to wish for them and build them even better myself.” And as one response notes, that might very well secretly be the point. Using the iconic “Oh yeah, it’s all coming together” gif of Kronk from Emperor’s New Groove, another comment shares the theory that bad builds might actually be a winning strategy.
If a character build in a trial doesn’t show them off to the best of their ability, but players like the basics of what they see, it might entice them to wish for that character. And a wish means you’ll need in-game currency, which could well convert into real-life sales for Genshin Impact. Many gamers think that might be why HoYoverse doesn’t make those trial builds too good – they want you to see the potential and yearn to realize it by nabbing the character for yourself.
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However, the strategy can backfire. Not all players are going to see this as a challenge worth approaching. As one comment says, “if trial characters are bad, I won’t be pulling,” as that bad trial builds give the impression that “this character is weak in gameplay.” I’ll confess, I fall into the latter camp myself. One trial round with Kinich, and I’m much less interested in pulling for him… even if a male character banner is always a welcome surprise in Genshin Impact. Even though she’s also a trial, the other banner character, Raiden Shogun, doesn’t seem quite as nerfed in her sample build.
At any rate, it seems players have some mixed feelings about the purpose behind these character trials. But, if nothing else, they do let you get a feel for the characters’ attacks and abilities, even if they’re not at their full power.
What do you think of character trials like the newest Kinich one in Genshin Impact? Let us know in the comments below!
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