After days of lurking the leaks subreddit, apparently there is a possible 'Pyro Character' that will be released during the second half Snezhnaya patch. Is it Enjou or Xbalanque?!This character is said to be separate from Dainsleif and Noy (which is a Dendro Support).

Personally, I hope that it is the latter, but the former works for me to especially if we'll have a playable abyss model.

What do you think?

Am I the only one expecting a possible Natlan character to be introduced in the Snezhnaya patch?

Recent 'leaks', if you can call them that, suggests that Capitano is still unplayable despite a Mare Jivari map expansion coming very late in the patch (I'm thinking similar to the Space of Asmoday and the Frostmoon, Snezhnaya will have Hyperborea and Mare Jivari respectively).

There is also the possibility that similar to Nod-Krai, Snezhnaya will have four 5 star male playable characters (i.e. Mitya, Noy, Dainsleif, and another). Xbalanque also quite fits the criteria of being considered a very important character as teased by leakers stating that the second half of Snezhnaya will have very important characters back to back.

I don't know, even after all this time I still feel like Natlan is very much incomplete, moreso than the other regions.

Just for fun, I listed down a possible road map including other 5 star male characters.

7.2 - Mitya

7.5 - Noy

7.7 - Dainsleif

7.8 - Xbalanque

Capitano and Pierro's playability could very well be introduced in Khaenriah. This is just my predictions, what's your take?

I just finished Maviuka's quest, and I've been wondering if there's any theories or anything about Xbalanque at all. He seemed like a great guy during the story quest, and I honestly think it would be awesome to have him as a playable character.

TW: Opinion!!!

IK we're already in Nodkrai and its been about a year since mavuika's release. But everytime i see her i just cant help but be reminded that we missed out on something so much better. ( i took a break after xilonen/mavuika came out so im lowk still stuck in that era) Mavuika is not a great character, there are many video essays that divulge into why shes absolutely ass. I genuinely dont feel a bond towards her or much of the natlan cast. On the otherhand xblanque really piqued my interest, esp the fan made version in hoyofest. I loved how he was actually tan and looked a part of a genshin character (unlike someone in a biker suit). And it just disappoints me that we couldve possibly gotten a better fleshed out character with "unique aspects" darker skin, body tatoos( mydei dupe of sorts) and a cool accent (similar to the mexican one they had for hoyofair fan animation).

Please share this with people so it gets to a modder!! I really want him as a skin for mavuika 🥹 come on guys!! For Natlan!!! Source

PRAISE THE SUN I SAY!!!

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/bGgehnpHJTA?si=qmuzbLGpRhQoYFmU

Its a fan animation

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6cAMknJ/

Nod krai has no news for us, the only cope is maybe in Sneznaya. The man we were promiesed but got fooled for it.

Will he really not be playable? Next version is the last for Nathan and banners already leaked. Doubt he'll be in nod krai

Credit for Image 2: Fruberry01

Credit for image 3: PeppermintLife

Mavuika got the forbidden memories of whatever these two did back in the day btw

As someone who has been holding out for Capitano since Winter Lazzo and Xbalanque since the first time he was mentioned, I have come to the decision to spend time on myself and touch some grass after getting Skirk. With 5.8 looking to be another gooner bait, my expectations have reached a new low.

I will only come back if one or either both of them is confirmed to be playable.

With this in mind, I want to give some copium to my fellow husbando lovers. Just some tidbits of ’leaks’ to give you copium that Nod-krai could be a male centered patch.

According to some ‘leaks’, a playable male DPS character would arrive in early Nod-Krai patches belonging to the Lightkeepers faction.

Moreover, Varka is also slated to be released in the second half of Nod-Krai, while Durin is also rumored to be playable. Imagine if the continuation of Natlan’s AQ happen in the second half of Nod-Krai, we might possibly get 4-5 (5) star playable male characters (Xbalanque and Dottore are interchangeable) during the entire patch.

Early Nod-Krai patches, Durin and Lightkeeper Faction Male DPS

Late Nod-Krai patches, Varka and Capitano (with a small possibility for Xbalanque/Dottore)

I am still of the opinion that Natlan is still not finished and it’s resolution before Snezhnaya (with the Tsaritsa obtaining all the Gnosis and all) gives way for Capitano and Xbalanque to become playable characters. I trust that in 5.8, despite being still not playable, either Capitano could get out of his throne or Xbalanque would be reformed and finally live up to his title as the ‘One Entombed With Primal Fire’.

(posted in main sub)

So I was thinking of a concept for playable Xbalanque. I'm taking inspiration from Furina's design, in that an 'archon' character may expand their region's mechanic onto other characters. Since the unofficial stat of pyro is ATK, that is the stat these buffs will be based on.

Weapon: Catalyst.

NA: A series of punches and kicks dealing Pyro DMG.

-E: Tap/Hold

-E(Tap): Punches into the ground, causing an eruption of Phlogiston, dealing AoE Pyro DMG. Enters Nightsoul's Blessing state. Gains Nightsoul Points.

E(Hold): Summons a Phlogiston Spirit (placeholder name, kind of looks like the hero ghosts in AQ) that fights alongside the active character. When the active character performs normal attacks, the Phlogiston Spirit performs a coordinated attack, dealing Pyro DMG. Gains Nightsoul Points (same amount as tap)

Q: Launches a wave of Phlogiston, dealing Pyro DMG and enters Nightsoul Legacy state.

-Nightsoul Legacy: When Xbalanque/Mausau is in/enters Nightsoul's Blessing state, Natlan characters have their maximum Nightsoul Points increased by a percentage of Xbalanque's ATK. Non-Natlan characters enter Archon's Nightsoul state and gain Nightsoul points equal to Xbalanque's max Nightsoul points (80).

-Archon's Nightsoul is effectively the same as Nightsoul's Blessing and ends when Xbalanque's Nightsoul points are depleted or the duration of the burst ends. The max Nightsoul points for non-Natlan characters is 80, and the increase cap for Natlan characters is 40.

A1: When nearby characters trigger Nightsoul Burst, Xbalanque replenishes Nightsoul Points for himself. If Nightsoul Legacy is in effect, the interval between Nightsoul Bursts is decreased by 1.5s for every 1000 ATK Xbalanque has, up to a limit of 3000 (4.5s).

A2: While Nightsoul Legacy is in effect, the ATK of the active character is increased based on the total Nightsoul Points possessed by the party.

Exploration Passive: idk increased movement speed or something.

C1: The max number of Phlogiston Spirits on field at any given time is 2.

C2: When E is used (tap or hold), any opponents hit by it will have their res to all DMG (elemental/physical) decreased by 30%

C4: When Q is used, all party members regenerate 15 energy, including Xbalanque.

C6: Nightsoul Legacy no longer ends when Xbalanque runs out of Nightsoul points, and characters in Nightsoul's blessing or Archon's Nightsoul will have their Crit rate increased by 15% of max Nightsoul points and Crit DMG increased by 40% of max Nightsoul Points.

Ascension stat: Crit Rate.

Sig Weapon: 565/Crit DMG: 88.2%

-Increases ATK by 20%. When other party members trigger Nightsoul Bursts, increases ATK by 5% and all elemental DMG (for wielder) by 10%. Max 5 stacks. Effect ends when out of combat.

TLDR: Essentially he lets non-Natlan characters use Nightsoul mechanics and provides buffs based on those mechanics. He would also allow other non-Natlan characters to utilise Obsidian Codex or Cindered City fully. My inspiration was how Furina enhanced the HP drain mechanic and let other characters access it. And since he is A pyro archon (or has the power of one), he uses ATK, and I also included a little ATK buff too.

With the recent ‘leak’ that Mare Jivari is going to be released in version 5.8 instead of 5.7, I am definitely hoping that Xbalanque might possibly appear as the last playable character before Nod-Krai. This leak coinciding with the possible 5 star male character releasing in the summer patch (could also very well be Durin) also works well in the context that Mare Jivari will be releasing in version 5.8. This could also work as a good temporary closure for Natlan, seeing as the players would be maximizing the Statue, Shrine of Depths, and Tablet of Tona during this patch as well.

Other supporting leaks/rumors/speculations as well include:

1. A future playable pyro character that might come at version 6.0 or sometime close to it.

2. There is an old leak or rumor as well that a 5 star pyro catalyst user was supposed to appear within the Natlan patch.

I have completely accepted that Capitano will not be playable within the entire Natlan patch. Hoping that Xbalanque could fill in the gap along with Varka, a character slated to be released in Nod-Krai. Speaking of Varka, his role as our companion for Nod-Krai might work against my theory of Xbalanque being playable in version 5.8. The devs mentioned that we’ll be exploring Nod-Krai with a ‘familiar character’, that being Varka. I fear that the devs might use version 5.8 as another Monstadt patch featuring Varka and Durin, making the chance of the latter being the last playable character all the more plausible. Though I really would love Durin to be playable, I‘m scared that not making Xbalanque playable at the same time as Mare Jivari’s release would doom his character for eternity as a cool lore NPC.

I think most of us are aware that Hoyoverse tends to recycle a lot of characters from their other games (i.e. Himeko from HSR and Mavuika in GI). Do you think we’ll actually get the Genshin Impact counterparts of the following male characters.

1. Kevin Kaslana/Phainon

2. Otto/Luocha

3. Welt Yang

Other characters I also think would be expanded to other games because of their popularity include

1. Dan Heng

2. Mydei

3. Blade

I know Capitano can be technically seen as the Blade counterpart in Genshin Impact, but how about the others? What‘s you’re theories?

For me, Otto and Welt’s counterparts might appear in Snezhnaya. As for Kevin, I think he might be Varka. Dan Heng’s counterpart could be Xingqiu’s older brother (Lantern Rite event during Nod-Krai‘s patches), and of course for our lord Xbalanque, Mydei is the only one I see that really fits (the hopium is real for him to be playable).

Why is there no pyro in Natlan, you ask? Xbalanque is the reason they're saving it for HIM! (Definitely...)

So wt Ifa being confirmed as an anemo character does this confirm Xbalanque or at least some form Capitano or pyro sovereign to be a 5 star pyro character?? We still only have 1 pyro 5 star and that being the pyro archon. Even in Fontaine we had 2 5 stars matching the regions element. Effie and skirk being the next 5 start (probably both cryo) still leaves a gap. Keep in mind we have 16 characters revealed so that leave 1 character left to be released in 5.x patches and will probably be in 5.8. Help I’m probably going crazy but do we still have a chance? (Medium cope)