The next Genshin Impact update is set to bring the Electro Archon, Raiden Shogun (Baal), as a playable character. She will be the third of the Archons to have their own character Banner. While her kit may be the most impressive of the Archons thus far, there are still some concerns. While it's fun to play as the Archons, presenting them as just any 5-star character does them a disservice. These characters are literal gods in the game, but that isn’t apparent in their playable forms. The Archons in Genshin Impact simply need to be more powerful.
New playable characters always start out at level one with no Constellations, no equipped Artifacts, level-one Talents, and a 1-star weapon. It is the player’s job to level that character up to a point that they are useable. This process is also necessary for the Archons since they also start out at level one. While Genshin Impact doesn’t necessarily rely on immersion - considering Aloy is being added as a character - this playable Archon mechanic almost completely breaks it. It simply doesn’t make sense that the in-game god characters are on the same level as everyone else.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to make the Archon characters stronger would be to forgo part of the usual pattern. Instead, when players pull Baal, for instance, she could automatically start at the level of the player’s highest-level character. So, if the player has raised Diluc to level 80, and they pull the Anemo Archon Venti, then he would also start at level 80. Not only would this make them more exciting to get, but it also makes the gods actually stand out from the other 5-star characters. This wouldn’t be a game-breaking buff; it would just give them an edge that the playable god characters need. Besides, the classic Genshin Impact grind would still be necessary for getting these characters better weapons and Artifacts, and their Talents would still need to be upgraded.
Genshin Impact’s Playable Archons Need To Stand Out
Another way to make the Archons special would be to simply make them stronger. They really shouldn’t be on the same level as other 5-star characters; they need to be beyond them. It just doesn’t make sense for literal gods to do the same amount of damage as “ordinary” characters. Although Baal hasn’t released yet, from what has been leaked from the 2.1 beta test, her skills look like they are going to be powerful, but, fans will have to wait for her official release to know for sure. However, Venti and Zhongli, the Geo Archon, have been out for quite some time, and while they have some interesting skills and are used by many players, they simply don’t live up to their godly status.
While Zhongli received a buff alongside other Geo users, it still didn't make him as powerful as an Archon should be. Archons need to do more damage or have a very short cooldown - or no cooldown at all - for their skills. If this is too much to give players before they reach level 90 and Adventure Rank 50 in Genshin Impact, then future playable Archon characters could be saved until then. Right now, there isn’t a whole lot of incentive to reach those milestones, so adding the Archons as a reward could fix that.
Regardless of how miHoYo wants to go about it, the playable Archons need something more. They are the gods of Genshin Impact, and they should play like it. Even if players have to wait until the highest level of the game to get them, their added strength would make them worth that wait.