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Everything We Learned From The Genshin Impact Version 3.6 Special Program!

HoYoverse, the game studio behind Genshin Impact, has been fighting (and losing) the battle with leakers since before the game even launched. In recent months they’ve gone to great lengths to try and deplatform particularly prolific leakers like the notorious Ubatcha, subpoenaing Discord and later Twitter to expose users’ information, and they’ve been partially successful at what they set out to do, forcing all but a few of the most high-profile leakers using both these platforms to deactivate and go into hiding…for a little while, at least. Not long enough, evidently, because the contents of yesterday morning’s Version 3.6 Special Program were already being distributed on social media weeks ago by leakers who have probably deliberately remained low-profile because they’re the very same people resuming operations under new identities.

Baizhu from Genshin Impact, standing in the doorway of Bubu Pharmacy. He is tall, with long green hair and spectacles, and a white snake wrapped around his throat. He wears a purple-and-black crop-top, trousers, and a white coat as a cape. A jade orb levitates over his gloved left hand.
Baizhu | clutchpoints.com

Now, I have no personal problem with leaks, and I think they can be very helpful for players who want to be strategic about where and when they spend their money (even if it’s just in-game currency, because that stuff is hard to earn). But there’s leaking details about an upcoming character’s kit to give folks a slight head-start when pre-farming Ascension Materials and Artifacts, and then there’s spilling an entire version’s worth of information, right down to the minigames – and this is the latter. I mean, you’d think HoYoverse would have learned from the wildly positive reception to the completely unexpected announcement of the Genshin Impact anime during the Version 3.1 Special Program that they should always have something more to offer than what leakers have already spoiled, even if it’s just a tease of future content, but the bare minimum is too difficult for them most of the time, so…

Anyway, what did we learn from yesterday’s Special Program? Well, not much, but for the sake of my upstanding readers who don’t look at leaks and were genuinely surprised, I’ll feign shock wherever necessary, although I personally suspect that HoYoverse knows they were beaten to the punch this time, given how little energy was put into organizing this Special Program. Not convinced? The limited-time character banners and weapon banners were “announced” during an intermission, fighting for attention with redemption codes. And it’s not like Yoimiya’s on the banner or anything. Version 3.6 features the return of Nahida, one of Genshin Impact‘s most successful characters, alongside the extremely popular Nilou, followed by the release of fan-favorite Baizhu and his signature weapon (and a random Ganyu re-run). Two new Artifact sets were later revealed in the same fashion, including the Vourukasha’s Glow set supposedly designed to buff Dehya (it won’t, unfortunately, but it’s a nice gesture).

The release of a whole new area in the desert of Sumeru was almost as hastily glossed over during the actual program, remarkably given the sheer size of this map-expansion and the amount of content waiting to be discovered there, including a new weekly-boss – the leafy dragon Apep, unlocked after completing Nahida’s second Story Quest, which explores what happened to the dragoniform deities named Sovereigns who once ruled Teyvat – a new world-boss – the Iniquitous Baptist, whose ability to wield three Elements at once will make her a pain to fight in the Spiral Abyss – and a whimsical new gameplay mechanic that allows the player to maneuver through difficult terrain in the form of an adorable dragon. A limited-time Event in Version 3.6 will also make use of this mechanic, giving players the ability to drop bombs on enemies.

The male version of The Traveler from Genshin Impact, wearing a black-and-gold outfit with a long blond ponytail, facing off against Apep, a giant leafy green dragon under a dome of what looks like green stained glass.
The Traveler fighting Apep | theloadout.com

The centerpiece of Version 3.6 is the Akademiya Extravaganza being held on the grounds of the Sumeru Akademiya, during which representatives from all six Darshans (schools of thought) will be competing for a grand prize in what is described as a trial of wits as well as physical and martial prowess. Representing Amurta, the school of biology and environmentalist philosophy, Forest Ranger Tighnari is returning to Sumeru City all the way from Gandharva Ville. Faruzan, the four-star Anemo bow-user available as a reward for participating in the Event, represents her alma mater Haravatat, the school which studies semiotics. Kaveh, the so-called “Light of Kshahrewar”, is the obvious choice to represent that Darshan, the school of technological sciences and innovation. Rtawahist, the school of astronomy and astrology, has put forward the sleepwalking Layla as their champion. Spantamad, whose members specialize in studying the Elements that make up Teyvat, settled on Cyno, the Akademiya’s General Mahamatra. And Vahumana, the school of historical studies, has selected a mysterious new student at the Akademiya whose name will be different for each player.

Each Darshan will have their own booth set up at the Akademiya while the Extravaganza is ongoing, and players will find minigames here that represent the schools’ six highly individual ideologies. For instance, Kshahrewar challenges you to create the shortest possible path to a destination by assembling random objects in different ways, while Haravatat tests both your skills of deduction and your ability to read between the lines by presenting you with a puzzling story and letting you guess what really happened. Meanwhile, unrelated to the Extravaganza, Akademiya scholars wandering in the desert will enlist the player’s help defeating giant sandworms known as Wenut in the Fulminating Sandstorm Event, and a maverick student will hire you to test out a potion that provides your team with random buffs in the Brewing Developments Event. And finally, the Overflowing Mastery Event will make a comeback, boosting rewards in various Domains for a short while.

Besides Nahida’s second Story Quest, a Story Quest for Baizhu and a Hang-out Event centered around Layla will also be made available in Version 3.6, giving players the opportunity to get to know these two characters better at their leisure. No Hang-out Event for new playable character Kaveh, though, which is extremely disappointing given that he might just be one of Genshin Impact‘s most popular characters already, despite having appeared only two or three times in-game. Claymore-users are generally known for their brute force and aggressive animations, but Kaveh, the first Dendro claymore-user, refuses to get his hands dirty while fighting and lets his sentient toolbox Mehrak do all the heavy lifting for him, while he strikes a pose. He’s not only ridiculously endearing, however – Kaveh brings to the game an interesting new playstyle built around the Bloom reaction (as opposed to Hyperbloom or Burgeon, its offshoots), with an Elemental Burst that immediately detonates all Dendro Cores in its vicinity. Obviously, he’ll need to be paired with someone who does an insane amount of Hydro application, and with Nilou on the banner preceding his release, I’m guessing that would be her.

Kaveh from Genshin Impact, standing in Sumeru City in front of a fountain. He has light-blond hair, and wears a billowy white shirt with a red shawl, and carries a suitcase in his left hand.
Kaveh | genshinresource.tumblr.com

As for Baizhu, the five-star Dendro catalyst-user is a nice addition to our current line-up of healers and shielders, his ability to heal the whole party during open-world exploration just by picking up certain plants and flowers would be incredibly helpful, his voice is soothing, and his attack animations are graceful, so I see the appeal. I’m probably not gonna pull for him (though I might pull for Kaveh on his banner), but that’s fine: I spent most of my Primogems on Dehya’s banner anyway, and I want to start saving up for the new Hydro characters that will presumably release alongside the region of Fontaine in Version 4.0 or earlier. Unless a new Geo character comes out before then and throws a wrench in my plans.

What do you think of Genshin Impact Version 3.6 so far, and which characters are you planning to pull for? Share your own thoughts, theories, and opinions, in the comments below!

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Baizhu And Kaveh Revealed For “Genshin Impact” Version 3.6

If you thought the two-year wait for playable Scaramouche was unbearable, just think of how Baizhu mains (to be) have been suffering since before Genshin Impact was even released, when the green-haired, Dendro Vision-wielding doctor was among the characters first introduced in the game’s early closed beta tests – only for him to be a quest-exclusive NPC upon launch. Now, it’s not uncommon for a future playable character to appear in the game shortly before their release, giving them a chance to develop a fanbase, but few characters have had as long an interval between their introduction and their official release as Baizhu, or disappeared for so long during that interval period. Even Scaramouche became a major antagonist whose story spanned several Events and two Archon Quests. Baizhu, by contrast, has only appeared a few times, and it is still unclear if he’s actually all that relevant.

Baizhu from Genshin Impact, standing against a white and green background. He is pale, with long blue-green hair, spectacles, and a white snake wrapped around his throat.
Baizhu | videogames.si.com

But it seems that HoYoverse has finally remembered Baizhu exists, or else he has some role to play in the story yet to come that requires him to be playable, because in Version 3.6 the long wait ends and Baizhu will join Genshin Impact‘s ever-growing roster alongside Kaveh, another Dendro character. We know next to nothing about either character’s kit and playstyle, so today’s post will be brief, focusing exclusively on the characters themselves (of course, there are the usual number of leaks going around, but I won’t be discussing any of that or entertaining discussion of leaked content in my comments section…what I will say, however, is that every leak I’ve seen pertaining to Baizhu has directly contradicted another, so take them all with a grain of salt until the Version 3.6 beta test begins).

Baizhu, from what we currently understand of his backstory, was born frail and sickly, and has spent his entire life working as a doctor in the hopes of one day stumbling across a treatment to his own relentless maladies. At some point, however, he became discontent with surviving and started aspiring to live – forever, that is. I imagine this is about the time when Baizhu received his Dendro Vision, although the green gemstone has probably proved less useful to his pursuit of immortality than the whispered advice of the magical white snake named Changsheng, who remains loosely coiled around his neck, and his study of the undead child Qiqi, who is something like an adopted daughter and apprentice to him now. Baizhu manages Liyue’s Bubu Pharmacy with assistance from Herbalist Gui, and has established a reputation for being one of Teyvat’s greatest doctors – though in early appearances of the character, it was suggested that he might be overcharging or even swindling his patients. I believe HoYoverse abandoned that idea, for there is no trace of Baizhu’s deceitful side in more recent months.

Kaveh, dubbed the “Light of Kshahrewar” by students of that Darshan which studies technology, is Sumeru’s most in-demand architect and interior designer – although you wouldn’t guess it from his current living conditions, which leave much to be desired. Conned by an elusive client out of his fortune, a frantic Kaveh had no other choice but to ask for help from Alhaitham of the Haravatat Darshan, his financially well-off rival. As roommates, the two men do everything in their power to avoid each other during the day, because when they absolutely must interact, one of them always finds something trivial to quarrel about (redecorating Alhaitham’s apartment, in particular, poses a challenge for two people so fundamentally at odds on the matter of interior décor), but that hasn’t stopped players from shipping them – quite the opposite! And you know I don’t even like Alhaitham all that much, but him and Kaveh both being so goddamn irritating is exactly what makes the “frenemies-with-benefits” trope work in this instance.

Kaveh, a character from Genshin Impact, sits at a table with a goblet in his hand, smiling. He is pale, with short blond hair, red eyes, and wears a red-and-brown shawl over a loose white tunic with a plunging neckline.
Kaveh | pockettactics.com

Assuming that Baizhu and Kaveh will debut together on the first banner of Version 3.6 (technically, it’s not officially confirmed that Baizhu is a five-star and Kaveh a four-star, but it’s pretty likely), will you be pulling for them or skipping their banner entirely based on what you know of the two characters thus far? In time, we’ll start to see kit leaks, and then there’ll be all the usual discourse about whether you should pull for either one, but which one do you want? Share your own thoughts, theories, and opinions, in the comments below!