Genshin Impact’s Fischl isn’t only one of the first characters available when the game launched. She was also one of the earlier ones to be introduced. And in November 2020, a lot of people spent more time with her due to the Unreconciled Stars event, which allowed you to go through quests and earn her as a reward for continually clearing milestones. While this event offers a taste of what to expect from the heroine, a lot of people are about to see how both in and out of battle, Fischl’s reactions are delightful.
Part of this is based on her general personality. Fischl is a young woman who, even though she possesses a Vision like every other resident of the world, is completely dedicated to the idea of being the Prinzessin der Veruteilung. Which maybe isn’t helped much by Oz, her Electro raven familiar Ozvaldo von Hrafnavines, who also refers to her as a princess and serves as a companion/translator/maybe even a bit of a babysitter. She is dedicated to her mindset.
Which is part of what helps make the storyline quests in Unreconciled Stars entertaining. It honestly is a rather serious subject matter. The meteors did put people to an unnatural sleep and we even see that the Fatui are interested in what is going on. But at the same time, we have Fischl insisting that this is a dark curse and suggesting courses of action that… actually help? Watching Mona react to her for the first time is certainly amusing, adding a bit of levity as we start to understand what’s happened in the Star of Deceitful Dreams portion. And it provides hints of what people can expect from having Fischl around in general.
Even her idle animations involve her hamming it up. One has her explaining how she “created another universe and founded paradise” with elaborate gestures, before… being distracted or embarrassed by something. Or if she comments on the weather and suddenly forgets about normal chores like laundry or to lean into her affectations.
But while the reactions that develop her personality and set her apart as a character are fun and unique, it’s her actual usefulness in battle that can make her even more handy. She’s a four-star Electro archer, which means you can use her to kick off some of the best Elemental Reactions in the game. I mean, to start you could use her normal charged attack to ensure the Electro element is tied to an enemy from a distance before you send in someone else to take advantage of that. As a reminder, Electro combined with Hydro results in Electro-Charged enemies continually taking damage over time, while Electro with Cryo or Pyro offers a Superconduct or Overloaded AOE attack.
But perhaps best of all is how Oz factors into all this. He comes up for Fischl’s Elemental abilities and is generally great. If you have her use the Elemental Burst Midnight Phantasmagoria, then she becomes Oz briefly. You can guide him around, attacking enemies with Electro energy, and then he’ll stick around even after the attack ends and Fischl returns. But also, Oz is great on his own with Nightrider. Pressing the trigger summons him and leaves him in a spot dealing Electro AOE damage, even if you remove Fischl. So even if you don’t care for squishy archers or her personality doesn’t appeal to you, you can have her show up on the field for a minute, summon Oz, then send her away while a character who would benefit from those Electro attacks with their own abilities, like Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Klee, and Mona.
Basically, Fischl can be fun. Her reactions during events are pretty good, she has funny lines, and her idle animations are pretty good. (Especially if she breaks character.) But even if you don’t care for her personality or her general class, her in-battle reactions can be pretty great. As an archer, you could use her charged up to set up a reaction before you send in someone you might be more comfortable using. And since Oz is so handy to have around, it’s great to have her send him in to help with Electro attacks. She’s generally useful, especially since the event offered her up for free.
Genshin Impact is available for the PlayStation 4, PC, and both Android and Apple iOS devices. It will also come to the Nintendo Switch. The Unreconciled Stars event that offers Genshin Impact’s Fischl for free will run until November 30, 2020.
