Before making her debut on September 1 as a free five-star character, MiHoYo and PlayStation have dropped some clips of Genshin Impact gameplay with Horizon Zero Dawn’s protagonist Aloy and her icy abilities.
The first video comes directly from the official Genshin Impact Twitter account. It’s short, at only 40 seconds long, but it gives a solid visual representation of how Aloy might slot into your character lineup. Aloy tumbles around while tossing out ice bombs and shooting a flurry of arrows. She seems like a high-mobility kind of character, capable of getting in, dealing chilling bursts of damage, and dodging away while knocking bolts.
PlayStation’s even shorter 14-second clip showcases much of what the Genshin Impact Twitter account already demonstrated. There’s also another look at the dramatic impact of what appears to be her ultimate ability, a charged ice arrow that explodes while doing a massive area-of-effect attack.
Developer MiHoYo detailed more of Aloy’s abilities in a PlayStation Blog post. Aloy is a Cryo user whose attacks all deal with ice in some form. Her Freeze Bomb, for example, explodes on impact and deals Cryo damage. But after the explosion, multiple Chillwater Bomblets are dispersed, doing more Cryo damage when touched while also decreasing enemy attack damage.
When Freeze Bomb or Chillwater Bomblets hit an enemy, Aloy gains one Coil stack, which increases her normal attack damage. And with the talent Combat Override unlocked, Aloy can buff her party’s attack for a limited amount of time after securing a Coil, which she can stack up to four at once.
This is just one of a few ways Aloy can buff herself and her entire party.
Aloy also has a unique, four-star weapon called the Predator Bow that can only be unlocked on PlayStation consoles but can be used on all platforms with cross-save. When equipped, her normal attack damage gets a 66-point increase right off the bat. And dealing Cryo damage pumps up her normal and charged attack power by 10% for a short six-second timeframe.
For the uninitiated, Aloy is the heroine of Guerrilla Games’ incredibly popular Horizon Zero Dawn, the PlayStation exclusive that dropped in 2017 to critical acclaim. A sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, is coming to both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 but has reportedly been delayed to next year.
Aloy hits Genshin Impact on September 1 with Version 2.1, which ends the Inazuma nation’s storyline while introducing new characters and enemies. To unlock Aloy, you must reach at least Adventure Rank 20 in the action-RPG.
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