With the impending 2.1 update on the horizon (pun intended,) Genshin Impact fans are waiting with bated breath for the new content drop, including Horizon Forbidden West protagonist, Aloy. While there has been little information regarding Aloy's actual gameplay, some new leaked video from a reputable source shows off the character's abilities and combos, whetting the appetite of hungry Genshin Impact fans in lieu of an official trailer.
The auburn-haired archer will be joining the fray as a playable character in Genshin Impact update 2.1, and, thanks to data mining and leaks, Genshin players know that the character is a five-star bow user who comes under the Cryo class. Importantly, Aloy will be available to anybody over the Adventure Rank of 20, making her one of the more accessible characters in the gacha game's extensive pool of protagonists. Unfortunately for PC users, she will only be accessible to PS4 and PS5 players initially, with the character's PC release slated for Genshin Impact's 2.2 update.
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The video, leaked to reddit, shows off some of the abilities that Aloy can use in Genshin, starting with the archer tossing a cluster of Cryo bombs onto the ground using Frozen Wilds, before the player switches to Kazuha to gather the bombs up using her Chihayaburu technique. The potential for powerful combos with Frozen Wilds is made apparent here, with interaction between other abilities and the Cryo bombs likely allowing for some quick-switching elemental mix-ups. Genshin is known for its unique elemental combat, and it will be interesting to see how powerful Aloy is a character, especially given that she is free.
The end of the video displays Aloy's Ultimate, Prophecies of Dawn, which sees her tossing a power cell filled with glowing Cryo energy in an arching trajectory through the air, before firing an arrow into it and blasting the fluid into a damaging mist. The animations for Aloy's abilities are fantastic, and the translation of her character into the Genshin Impact art style works surprisingly well, despite the games' entirely different aesthetics. It will be interesting to see how Aloy combines with other new characters in 2.1, with the addition of Divine Priestess Kokomi and Electro Archon Baal to the Genshin Impact roster.
Although PC fans will have to wait for Aloy's addition to their party, PlayStation players are likely to get their hands on the Cryo archer fairly soon, with update 2.1's arrival predicted to be just around the corner. The fact that she will be free to those with an AR of 20 or above will be a nice boon for players unwilling to open their wallets for the gacha game's vast array of characters, and could herald the addition of more free characters to Genshin, and even characters from other franchises joining the fray.
Genshin Impact is available for Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5, with a Switch version in development.
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