Chapter 45: Luck Goddess Kiana! The Weight of Five Golds in One Multi-Pull!
Aside from the main story, the primary gameplay modes in Honkai Impact 3rd are the Abyss (Infinite Abyss) and Memorial Arena. Players compete with others in their group to clear specific stages within a time limit to determine their promotion or demotion. Regular play involves daily missions, farming materials, and upgrading Valkyries.
In-game, players enhance their Valkyries' combat capabilities by upgrading skills, leveling up, improving base facilities, and pulling for weapons and stigmata. Additionally, all A-rank Valkyries can be acquired through expeditions, Armadas, shops, and the soon-to-be-added Open World. S-rank Valkyries, however, generally need to be obtained through the gacha system.
In reality, features like Armadas weren't available at the launch of the original Honkai Impact 3rd. The early game was quite unpolished in many areas, so Su Mu optimized it by ensuring functions like Armadas were available right from the start. Furthermore, he didn't simply use the day-one launch version; the original content was quite sparse, with only the "Trio" having S-rank battlesuits.
He ultimately decided on a middle-ground approach, using Version 1.3 "Armada Sails" as the launch base. This included the Chronicles feature, unlocking the "Cursed Sword" and "Sealed Sword" (the Xuanyuan and Chiyou chapters). Other modes like Berserk Mode, Dorm visits, and Friend Assists were also launched simultaneously.
Currently, the active banners include the standard "Yellow Rabbit" Standard Crate, as well as Expansion and Focused Supply crates. The featured UP character is Murata Himeko's S-rank battlesuit—the PSY-type Fire dealer [Blood Rose]—along with the A-rank BIO-type battlesuit [Valkyrie Triumph]. To prevent the controversies that occurred in his previous life, Su Mu had done plenty of preparation.
As for the Standard Crate, it naturally features the familiar "Trio" S-ranks: Knight Moonbeam, Lightning Empress, and Dimension Breaker, along with their three initial B-rank suits and two A-rank suits each. After understanding the basic loop of Honkai Impact 3rd, the enthusiasm in the stream reached a fever pitch.
[Wait, it's a free game, but we can play with this many Valkyries?]
[Even if you don't spend money, as long as you put in the time, you can totally get these A-rank Valkyries!]
[With such a generous game company, aren't they afraid of going bankrupt?]
To help sell the characters, Su Mu thoughtfully created trial stages for all Valkyries. Pardo chose Blood Rose for a demonstration. Seeing the mature Auntie Himeko in a blood-red dress, swinging a massive greatsword with violent elegance, the bullet chat boiled over! This was followed by demonstrations of Moonbeam, Lightning Empress, and Dimension Breaker!
[The 'Light Wings Spread' is too cool! Kiana really is the coolest!]
[Lightning Empress's Ultimate is also awesome! Her leader skill grants SP, letting Valkyries burst out their Ultimates early!]
[Am I the only one who thinks Bronya's Dimension Breaker looks good? I have zero resistance to this kind of silent, deadpan loli!]
Viewers who were previously on the fence couldn't contain their excitement. They began opening their app stores and downloading Honkai Impact 3rd immediately! Converting these onlookers into players was one of Su Mu's main goals for the stream.
"Director Su! Our download numbers have hit a new record high!" Carole ran over excitedly. One must remember that at this hour, many people are at work or school. Despite that, the current download volume for Honkai 3rd had reached staggering heights! Su Mu believed that once this stream ended, the hype would continue to spread. This wave of downloads was only the beginning!
[Pardo, can you get S-rank Valkyries through the gacha? How does it work exactly?]
[Yeah, show us!]
At the prompting of the chat, Pardofelis opened the Supply interface and explained the rules. S-rank Valkyries have a 100-pull pity, but if your luck is good, it's possible to get them early. Every ten pulls guarantees at least one A-rank Valkyrie. For Stigmata and weapons, every ten pulls guarantees a 4-star item. The Expansion and Focused crates have limited-time rate-ups for specific Valkyries and gear, along with special pity counters.
[So, if I'm lucky enough, I can fully gear an S-rank Valkyrie in five single pulls?]
[?? LMAO, brother, are you planning to pull while lying in a coffin?]
[A person must have dreams! It's my turn, Draw!]
[Where's the guy who went to pull? How was it?]
[Good news: I got a full Stigmata set in a ten-pull.]
[And the bad news?]
[Bad news: It's Hannah (T), (M), and (B).]
[Pfft!!]
Clearly, the viewers now understood that gacha depends entirely on luck. If you really have the courage to pull from a "coffin," finishing a Valkyrie in ten pulls isn't impossible.
[Pardo! Pull for us!]
[I see other streamers have started pulling too. As the rep for the official stream, Pardo's luck shouldn't be too bad, right?]
Since it was launch day, Su Mu had thoughtfully sent out gacha tickets to all players as a reward and set up generous beginner missions to provide a large amount of Crystals. As a veteran Captain, he remembered the pain of grinding endlessly just to save up for one multi-pull, only to get "nine blues and one purple." Because he had been rained on, he wanted to hold an umbrella for others!
This was a deliberate strategy. When he played Honkai 3rd originally, many players quit early because they couldn't get an S-rank Valkyrie. Character progression is a vital part of the game; if you don't even have the characters, there's no point in discussing the rest. Allowing players to get S-rank Valkyries through moderate effort not only ensured healthy daily active users but also maintained player enthusiasm.
Pardo didn't waste any time. She used the reward tickets for a ten-pull on the Standard Supply. Nothing happened. This was normal, given the 100-pull pity. Elysia also tried a pull, but again, nothing.
[Normal. I see some streamers needing 70 or 80 pulls for an S-rank. Not getting one in twenty is within the realm of a normal person.]
[Seems like the official stream doesn't have a luck buff either. It really is all down to luck?]
"Is it really that hard to pull? Let me try!" Kiana, not wanting to be left behind, quickly grabbed the controller from Pardo. "I want Mei! Give me Mei, Mei, Mei!" She stared intently at the [Lightning Empress]art in the Standard Supply and hit the ten-pull button!
[Holy crap??]
[A gold light?]
[With Pardo and Elysia's previous pulls, it's only thirty pulls total, right?]
[That luck is okay.]
The viewers were calmly evaluating Kiana's luck, when suddenly... As Kiana continued clicking, one gold light after another flashed! Finally, when the results screen appeared...
Four Lightning Empresses and one Knight Moonbeam. A total of five S-rank Valkyries appeared in a row. Kiana scratched her head, looking a bit confused: "S-rank Valkyries... are they really that hard to get?"
"?????????"
The entire stream exploded!
END OF CHAPTER
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