Sixth months after launch and Genshin Impact is still going strong. Google Play's Best Game of 2020 has already netted developer miHoYo close to a billion dollars. The success is well deserved since the game lives on more than 10 million Android devices (to say nothing of its popularity on iOS, PlayStation and Windows machines).

RELATED: Genshin Impact: 10 Things We Want In Future Updates

The scale of the updates to the game has diminished a bit, but the developers have faithfully stuck to their every-six-weeks schedule. Although the main story quests haven't been updated since patch 1.1 casual and hardcore fans are staying busy in Teyvat anyway. Perfecting techniques to maximize DPS and completing self-imposed challenges for Internet clout are some of the ways the pros stave off boredom. Here's how you can keep up with the Genshin elite.

Updated March 26th, 2021 by Joseph Burrell: Recent updates have been less ambitious after version 1.2, while updates 1.3 and 1.4 garnered mixed reviews, but miHoYo has at least taken steps to smooth out Genshin's core gameplay experience, which has altered the way some of these techniques and challenges are performed.

10 Variable Casting Speed Ningguang

Ningguang miHoYo official birthday art

Employing the walk-cancel isn't sufficient to make you a Ningguang pro, but it is necessary. As the name implies, boosting Ningguang's attack rate is as simple as walking and attacking. While Genshin's mages can't move and attack simultaneously, this is good news for Ningguang, as her lengthy spell animation is interrupted by walking. The result is a stutter-step between attacks that noticeably increases the frequency of Ningguang's boulder hurling.

Since this list's initial posting, Ningguang mains discovered that walk cancelling sped up her auto-attacks, but could freeze her charged attack animation. Patch 1.4 fixes the frozen charge attack bug and makes targeting more reliable during burst attacks. Due to her high charged to auto-attack damage ratio you should try to charged attack as often as possible. Keep in mind that Ningguang is the only character who doesn't need stamina to charged attack, as long as she has at least one "jade" from an auto-attack, for this reason walk cancelling one or two auto attacks, then charged attacking is optimal for her DPS.

9 Klee's Jumpy Dumpty Damage Bumpy

Klee in Mondstadt in Genshin Impact

What's not to like about pint-sized pyromaniac Klee? Out of the box, she's ready to scorch through almost any boss. Klee only got scarier when players discovered that jumping nearly doubles the rate of her bomb-throwing (as seen in this YouTube guide) -- only natural for a character with a sidekick named Jumpy Dumpty.

Some have made controller macros that perfectly execute jump-cancels, but doing this isn't recommended for reasons mentioned below. Instead, simply practice timing jumps after Klee's first throw, then try jumping after her first two throws and stick with the rhythm that suits you. Klee, like Ningguang, also benefits from walk-cancelling, though not as much as she does from jumping, so you have plenty of options.

8 Successfully Dodging as Mona

Mona With Weapon Genshin Impact

Astrologist-extraordinaire Mona is still a fan favourite. With a kit designed to buff the whole party and a dash mechanic that's uniquely her own (until Ayaka drops), Mona's popularity is justified. At launch, however, her dash was as much a hazard as it was a feature. Patch 1.3 corrected the issue described below, but we're preserving this bit of Genshin history because it's funny to look back and wonder how Mona was released like this in the first place.

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The downside to her super sprint was that while Mona enjoyed as many invulnerability frames as everyone else, her i-frames used to begin later in her animation. The result was that Mona could be stun-locked and juggled to death by enemies or simple stage hazards. For that reason, solo Mona domain runs were a bragging right among pros much like solo Amber runs.

7 Full-Automatic Archery

Genshin Impact Fischl rapid fire bow

Fischl, Venti, and antagonist-turned-playable-character Childe are among the game's strongest characters, but it's their elemental skills that make them special rather than their bows. However, archers do benefit from an astonishing (and forbidden) glitch called aim-cancelling.

Rapidly zooming in and out of aim mode while firing dramatically increases archers' attack rate. Using this tech is not recommended though, as it appears that miHoYo considers it a bannable offense. This is likely because many players abuse the tech via macros, like Klee's jump-cancel, or simply because it increases DPS so far beyond what is intended.

6 Aim Mode Life Hacks

Genshin Impact Ganyu Aimed Life Hack

The bow-user glitches just don't stop. Aimed mode is divisive among Genshin fans, if you're a Ganyu main then you already love it, but almost everyone else finds bows to be frustrating. One reason for this is that strafing in aimed mode is clunky and causes your character to trip on the slightest height variations in the landscape.

Aim mode seems to lock your character on a given plain vertically. One Reddit user discovered that this verticality lock could be used to cheese mini-games like The Shimmering Path and prevent you from falling. Go forth and levitate to victory.

5 The Andrius Dog Show

Genshin Impact Andrius boss fight screenshot

The greatest strength belonging to Genshin's main character -- simply called "Traveler" regardless of what name you pick -- is the ability to swap elements and the skills that come with them. For now, Traveler can choose to control the anemo (wind) or geo (earth) elements.

RELATED: Genshin Impact: The Wolf Of The North Challenge Guide

One niche use for geo is against Andrius, who puts up one of the hardest fights in the game. The noble Wolf of the North hilariously struggles to overcome the otherwise unimpressive boulders spawned by the geo-wielding Traveler. Simply cast your boulder in front of Andrius before he jumps for his pounce attack and he should get stuck on top of it. It's less than honorable but very entertaining.

4 Beidou's Bird Batting Practice

Genshin Impact Beidou parrying Oceanid birds

Genshin's Pirate Queen, Beidou, has a one-of-a-kind counterattack. Unlike other elemental skills, Beidou's shouldn't be used on cooldown. Instead, save her skill for parrying big hits to maximize Beidou's damage output. One might intuitively think that Beidou's counter requires absorbing damage first before dealing it back at her opponent, but an astute Reddit user found that she can counter just before taking damage too.

Mastering this is necessary for defeating the Oceanid boss with Beidou, as the bird enemies it spawns attack fast enough to escape Beidou's range if she doesn't counter at precisely the right time. With some practice, you'll be hitting those birds clear out of the park.

3 Shooting Star Express

Genshin Impact Xiangling

With enough imagination you can become your own golden meteor to better imagine how wishing for Diluc or Keqing must feel (those pesky Primogems and wishes). A quirk of the plunge attack is that it sends you hurtling in the direction your feet are pointing after you jump, which should be downwards... but isn't necessarily. Find an updraft close to an overhanging obstacle and try to wedge yourself between the draft and said obstacle. Try to get stuck so that you're more horizontal than vertical, then attack.

This clip from Reddit shows Xiangling rocketing across the map as she "plunges" through the sky. This trick won't help you in any of your quests, but it sure is entertaining.

2 Three Stars in Spiral Abyss Chamber 3-2

Genshin Impact Spiral Abyss

The Spiral Abyss is the primary way that Genshin Impact keeps players busy once the story quests run dry. The Abyss is first unlocked at rank 20, but at this point, your party is  too weak to clear very many floors. There is incentive to try, however, in the form of a free Xiangling gifted to those who finish floor 3 chamber 3. Unfortunately, floor 3 chamber 2 cruelly throws far too many enemies with far too much HP at you, more than can be defeated in an honorable way by those new to rank 20.

RELATED: Genshin Impact: 5 Best Weapons For Each Class (And 5 Worst)

There are a handful of tips that make the Abyss manageable, one of which is ejecting enemies from the ring with anemo blasts and charged attacks whenever possible, like on 3-2. Even with this strategy understood, 3-2 remains a race against the clock. The faster you can clear each chamber the more stars you receive and rewards you earn -- but a three-star rating is tricky even after leveling your party. The earlier you complete this challenge the more admiration you'll earn from the professionals.

1 Extreme Bird Hunts

Genshin Impact Ganyu Trickshot

Trick-shot videos and compilations are a mere eventuality for any game with FPS or over-the-shoulder shooter mechanics. When this list was first posted the "Nothing Special, Just Practice" achievement was a big deal, as shooting down eagles in flight took extreme patience and accuracy. Since then countless guides on how to find eagles that fly close to the ground have been posted, and that accolade has lost its prestige.

Nevertheless, extreme bird hunting continues to be the community's favourite unofficial mini-game. Ganyu is Timmie's greatest nightmare thanks to her super long-range pigeon-seeking missiles. No Cocogoat? No problem. Xiangling also has some pretty inventive techniques for catching poultry.

NEXT: Genshin Impact: Everything You Need To Know About The City Reputation System