I’ll admit it, I’ve been dragging a bit on my Genshin Impact dailies. I find myself falling in and out of love with the game as Mihoyo introduces some things I adore, but holds on tightly to the little things that just really burn me up. Right now, I’m thrilled that cross-save will no longer limit us to swapping between just mobile and PC, because I’d really like to give it a whirl on my PS4 Pro from the couch. On the flip side, I’m so ill from trying to get a couple of my new characters to level 90, I just don’t even feel like looking at the game right now. I’ve blown through all of my experience books, so now what?

Related: Cross-Save Is Going To Be A Game-Changer For Genshin Impact

I could write a novel about spreading yourself too thin in Genshin Impact. I think most folks, even the big spenders among us, would recommend you pick a main team and focus on building those characters for a while. Mihoyo will work you hard for resources in Genshin Impact, and if you aren’t diligently completing your daily chores seven times a week and maxing out on event reports, then you’re struggling. I wouldn’t label myself as someone who’s hardcore about the game anymore, but even when I was more diligent, I never had enough experience books or ascension materials to keep up with my characters.

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The thing is, to keep up with Genshin Impact’s real endgame material, the Spiral Abyss, a core team of four characters isn’t gonna cut it. You must expand your party and actually invest in those folks, too. While I’ll argue that gear ultimately matters more than anything else, if you want your core team of eight to hit 90, you’ve got a ton of damn work to do. It’s not easy, and I’m not saying it should be, but Mihoyo has Genshin Impact relying only on its experience book items to level. You get experience from killing monsters, too, but it’s an absolute waste of your time.

That’s what I’m so dang frustrated about, by the way. There’s no point in handing me a measly three experience points when you know it doesn’t actually make a dent in leveling Genshin Impact characters. I laugh about it now, but the day Genshin Impact launched, I ran around in beginner areas grinding out mob kills because I thought I was doing something productive. Instead, I just wasted several hours of my life.

In most RPGs, even those of the gacha variety, I’ve found grinding out mobs to work just fine and experience items were a bonus. Every time I ascend a character in Genshin Impact—another process that is painfully slow—I feel that renewed wave of frustration because I know I can’t just belt the task out on my own terms. Mihoyo gating my process behind not just ascension items, but another round of experience items, really grinds my gears. But whatever, we all know I’ll be fetching those books when the game hits PS4 since I can’t seem to stay away from Teyvat.

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