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As Yinlin's banner is nearing it's release on June 6, 2024 (read about the schedule change), I wanted to share my thoughts on both character and weapon banners, how worthy it is to pull, or what value does it have.
When Thunder Pours
The limited 5-star Resonator for When Thunder Pours Character Event Convene is Yinlin, and the 4-star characters that will feature a rate up are Taoqi, Aalto and Yuanwu.
Yinlin
Yinlin is the strongest Sub DPS/Amplifier in the game in terms of raw power. She has higher damage than any other Sub DPS that can come quite close to some Main DPS carries. So much so that using Void Thunder instead of the Moonlit Cloud set is a viable option for her.
Yinlin's most meta team is Calcharo - Yinlin - Verina. Standard lineup where you'll be buffing your team with Verina, triggering swap cancels between Yinlin and Calcharo, and when it's time... use Yinlin's Outro Skill to buff Calcharo and finally use his Liberation without any swap canceling to decimate.
Character rating: 10/10
Taoqi
Taoqi is probably one of the weakest Resonators in the game right now. She got nerfed quite hard on release and her shielding power is not as strong as it used to be. She mostly scales off Def%. Her damage mostly comes in the form of a mini-nuke, and with her Forte she can generate a shield (extra health) for your team.
The shield itself is quite valuable, it can prevent getting one-shot by certain moves and if you like playing Danjin she can help sustain her because while Danjin drains her health, she won't drain shields.
Taoqi's outro skill is a 38% Skill Damage Deepen, which is not super popular right now in the game. It can be used to buff a Danjin or Chixia quite well. However, Danjin is most commonly used as a SubDPS to Havoc-Rover and Chixia is just not great either. Hopefully the future will bring out the best of Taoqi but right now she's a great choice of character.
Character Rating: 4/10
Aalto
Aalto's main strength is his supportive ability when used with Jiyan. He will provide a 23% Aero Damage Deepen which is certainly not bad. It does fall short compared to Mortefi's 38% Heavy Attack Deepen, and Mortefi does have an easier time outputting his damage, however, Aalto is still a valid choice. He gains quite a lot of self-power from sequences so if you get him at a high sequence and you consider building him for fun or because you really like him, he's a super fun character so don't be afraid of trying him out.
Character Rating: 6/10
Yuanwu
One of the more interesting kits, Yuanwu's gimmick is how much faster he can break the vibration bar (stagger bar) of enemies, specifically bosses. You may find this gimmick really comfortable for yourself, I know a lot of more casual players will enjoy it as they might struggle to parry and the extra vibration damage is really useful for that.
In terms of meta he's not the best character in any team, but not a bad option. Simply put it, he's like a good flex tape option kinda like Spectro-Rover. His damage is not bad and because he's a defense scaler he gives you an excuse to use your Verina on another team.
He pairs decently well with Yinlin and her Electro & Liberation Deepen outro skill affects Yuanwu quite a lot.
Character Rating: 6/10
Absolute Pulsation: Stringmaster
This weapon is Absolute Bait... get it?
But why? You might be wondering... as the 36% crit rate main stat causes you to drool. To be quite real with you the weapon is strong. But crit isn't the only good stat in the game. Once you reach endgame builds with lots of crit from your Echoes, the extra crit from this weapon becomes less valuable. Not to mention Yinlin gets 15% crit rate from her passive talent after using Resonance Skill.
According to my calculation (a sneak peek for the future), Yinlin's signature weapon is about 22% stronger than the Standard Banner Rectifier - Cosmic Ripples. However, Yinlin is not even a Main DPS so that 22% isn't even as impactful as it would be on someone like Jiyan.
If you want to save your Asterite, save up those standard pulls and get yourself a Cosmic Ripples. If you have the Battle Pass, the weapon over there Augment is also a good option. Stay tuned for Yinlin's guide for more info on that.
The 4 Star Weapons that are on rate-up during this banner are all great weapons. There is even an F2P option for Yinlin, assuming you go for it.
Overall Rating - Banners
My overall rating would be:
Character Banner: 8/10
Why? Because the 4-star options are just not great, but Yinlin herself is so good that it is enough to carry this banner. IF you built pity on Jiyan's banner, you're in luck.
Weapon Banner: 7/10
While I like the 4-star options there, I do think pulling for weapons without proper saving plans is a huge risk for F2P and light spenders, as those pulls could have been used on more playable characters. However if you do decide to pull on it and you manage to find some good 4-stars there, you'll be quite satisfied.
