I am very much a casual player with Honkai: Star Rail (HSR). I check in here and there, play some events that peak my interest, and pull for characters that I like. I’ve never completely cleared end-game content and don’t have much interest in doing so. However, I have been seeing a lot more about the added Voracity mechanic of the game and the impossibility to clear content.
It’s been a long-time conversation in the community because the Voracity mechanic is just an element to a much broader problem: the game’s power creep. It wasn’t that drastic at first. In the early 1.X versions, it made sense there would be some power creep on original characters and some that would fall out of favor.
However, as more versions of the game have come out, the power creep has only gotten worse. Super break, the Memosprites, and now with Elation. I’ve written a previous article about predictions for Gilgamesh and Rin coming out in the game and how they’ll likely be unreliable units in the main game because HSR relies on mechanics which was pretty accurate with what I know of the characters now. These mechanics have fueled the power creep and FMO (fear of missing out) in the game.
How exactly can mechanics fuel the power creep? It should just be a mechanic in battle, right? I think if HSR had done that, the power creep wouldn’t be such a big problem. Unfortunately, it seems that in order to advertise new characters and incentive players to spend money in the game, these mechanics have been boosted in terms of damage. What started as Super Break granting more break damage is now Elation granting large boosts and extra attacks with high attack power.
A DPS (damage per second) unit doing 50,000 in damage is now seen as normal. If a character can’t reach a million in damage, it’s not that great of a DPS. Even the support characters released are reliant on these mechanics, boosting them such as sparking an Elation burst or enhancing Memosprites.
The boosted numbers of these mechanics are further shown through how high HP (health points) the bosses have now. Many of these bosses need these mechanics in order to be cleared as without them often leads to team wipes or long battles. What used to be quick farming of 15 minutes to clear a few bosses for materials has extended that a single boss battle may take 15 minutes without the right team.
As a casual player, I often just have the boss fights happen in the background while I do other things because the combat takes so long it becomes repetitive to the point I don’t want to take part in it at all. I used to like the turn-based combat of the game, but as the boss’s HP bars increase and mechanics matter more than the actual characters or builds, I’ve lost interest in the combat itself.
I think it’s too late to fix HSR’s power creep. However, how could it have been fixed?
The best way would have been to keep the battle mechanics but to not increase the damage output. Certain enemies and bosses can retain their necessary mechanics in order to clear faster, but they don’t need to have astronomically large HP bars. The convenience of clearing things faster and getting mechanics would have still enticed players to pull for characters. In fact, the appeal of new characters alone would have been enough to have certain players spend money in the game.
I think if these things were in place, the new Voracity mechanic would not have been as much of a problem. Yes, it would still be more difficult for casual players like myself, but for those dedicated to the game? For players who attempt to build the best characters and teams? For players who dedicate time and effort into the game? The new Voracity mechanic under these conditions would not be impossible to clear like they are now.
What are your thoughts about HSR’s newest Voracity mechanic? What things do you think HoYoverse should have done or still can do to prevent such a huge power creep problem? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or in our Boss Rush Discord!
Featured Image Source: HoYoverse
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