The dendro element themed around nature is
certainly one of Genshin Impact’s biggest mysteries. The game heavily revolves around the use of
the elements both in and out of combat, so it’s pretty interesting that this 7th element
is barely implemented into the current version. So I figured I would throw out some ideas
and predictions to contribute to the ongoing discussion. There have been some great videos recently
about this topic which I recommend watching, but I think my ideas are unique enough to
warrant me making my own video. I will be discussing multiple aspects of the
element’s possible implementation, including its theme, character mechanics, elemental
resonance, and its elemental reactions. Just a disclaimer, I will NOT be referencing
ANY leaked information because we really don’t know what’s credible or not, and everything
is always subject to change. However, that does not mean that my predictions
are baseless. As a matter of fact, the main source of my
ideas is a convincing pattern that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk much about. And it might just be the best hint we have
about dendro that isn’t based on a leak. That thing, is the existence of the element
using samachurls. Okay, now I know you may be thinking, “how
does this relate to actual dendro characters?” But just hear me out. Unlike hilichurl grenadiers and shooters who
simply apply elemental statuses on their attacks, samachurl abilities are rooted in their element’s
identities. Anemo samachurls create three small tornados
that pull you in, similar to how anemo traveller, Sucrose, and Venti have abilities that group
up enemies. Geo samachurls create pillars, which are considered
geo constructs. Much like the ones created by geo traveler,
Zhongli, Albedo, and Ningguang. Hydro samachurls create a healing zone, and
although Barbara is the only hydro character that can heal, she is the game’s only dedicated
healing character. Furthermore, the soothing water hydro resonance
increases all healing by 30%. The cryo samachurl… is a reskin of the geo
one so I’m just going to pretend that he doesn’t exist. And there are no pyro or electro samachurls
in the game. So now finally getting to dendro samachurl,
his ability is to create three thorny vines that are destroyed with the burning reaction. Also he can create this field which applies
dendro for potential burning but it’s pretty insignificant. I don’t think dendro characters will be
focused on creating structures since that steps a bit too much into geo territory. Instead, I got the impression that the theme
is crowd control which isn’t focused on pure upfront damage. This is further evidenced by dendro slimes,
which can make a poison cloud that forces you to move out or get hurt. Keeping this idea in mind, I’ve come up
with three mechanics for potential Dendro characters. And I will be visualizing my ideas through
beautifully hand crafted MS paint animations. The first is an adaptation of the dendro samachurl’s
ability that is more suited for a playable character. Since this one is also the most basic, we’ll
say it’s for the Dendro traveller. The elemental skill will create a small thorny
bush that hits any enemies that get too close to it, dealing dendro damage, applying the
dendro element, knocking the enemy back, and generating dendro energy particles. Of course, larger enemies would not be able
to be knocked back. To make it more natural to play around, your
basic attacks will be able to reach past the bush, and you can jump over it if you want
to. Since elemental bursts tend to be large area
of effect attacks, I think it would be fitting to have the traveller send out a wave of thorny
roots. Any enemy hit would take dendro damage and
be inflicted with the rooted status. What makes this form of immobilization different
from freeze and petrify is that enemies will still be able to attack, just not move. Next up we have Baizhu, the only real confirmed
dendro character that we know about. He showed up during the Archon Quest in Chapter
1, Act 2, and we can clearly see that he has a Dendro vision on his waist. We don’t know much about his character other
than the fact that he is Qiqi’s caretaker, that he is a doctor who makes very bitter
but effective medicine, and that he is in pursuit of eternal life. If we use his medicine as the base idea for
his kit, maybe he could be someone centered around choosing to heal or deal damage, similar
to Moira from Overwatch. According to Herbalist Gui, the pharmacist
of the Bubu Pharmacy, Baizhu has a weak body. This would probably make him a catalyst user,
since catalysts are the only weapon that aren’t physically carried. And of course, I cannot ignore Baizhu’s
white snake companion, Changsheng. Based on our other two characters who have
their own familiars, Baizhu’s elemental skill would probably have Changsheng become
a turret which periodically deals targeted AoE dendro damage. If the skill is recast while Changsheng is
active, she targets the player character and heals them instead. His elemental burst would empower Changsheng,
allowing her to do even more damage and healing but at the same time. I think an interesting idea for this would
be to have her produce poisonous clouds which deal rapid dendro damage. What would make this different from other
damage over time abilities though, would be that the damage ramps up the longer the enemy
is inside the poison. Similar to the “badly poisoned” status
effect from pokemon. My last and probably best character idea is
for the Dendro Archon, the God of Wisdom. When I think of God of Wisdom, I don’t imagine
someone that can just run in and kill everything. I instead think of carefully planning a strategy
before going into battle. An elemental skill that fits this idea is
a trap that you would have multiple charges for. It would be high risk and high reward, dealing
massive amounts of damage but only when used correctly. To implement this, detonating multiple traps
on an enemy simultaneously multiplies the damage dealt. But having the traps just deal dendro damage
would be pretty boring, so it would be cool if they instead exploded into minions, making
the Dendro Archon a summoner type character kinda like a cicin mage. This would work especially well with a shaman
character thematic or something similar. To set these minions apart from Guoba and
Oz, they would attract aggro from enemies but also be able to be killed. For the elemental burst, an Archon of course
needs to have something big and flashy. To fit in with the previously mentioned themes,
his burst would create a giant plant at the location of any traps and places where traps
recently detonated. The plants would flail, dealing lots of damage,
and similar to the traps, having multiple simultaneous hits would do bonus damage. The best weapon for this kit would probably
be a bow since you would be able to keep your distance from enemies, luring them towards
the traps while still dealing damage. If they wanted to make him a full blown solo
DPS carry, they could make it so that enemies marked with charged shots take increased dendro
damage. There are a few other dendro related things
that are worth talking about. First up is the resonance for having two dendro
characters in the party. Each existing resonance targets specific basic
stats. Pyro gives attack, hydro gives healing, electro
gives energy recharge, cryo gives crit rate, geo buffs shielded characters, anemo buffs
stamina, movement speed, and skill cooldowns, and four unique elements increases resistances. That leaves the major stats of crit damage,
health, and elemental mastery. Since I feel like dendro won’t be a very
offensive element like the first four, I can’t imagine it giving increased crit damage. So I think it’s pretty likely that it would
grant health, elemental mastery, or maybe even both. Moving on to elemental reactions, we know
that it won't be like anemo and geo, which can only swirl and crystallize. This is because dendro has one unique reaction
in the game, being burning. Based on this, I’ve come up with debuffs
for the other three elements. Dendro plus cryo would inflict wither, slowing
enemy movement speed and attack speed while doing a small bit of damage overtime. The slow would be much stronger than the one
caused by cryo alone. Dendro plus hydro would inflict soak, decreasing
all elemental resistances, but not physical. Probably around 20% or so to be on par with
Zhongli’s elemental skill. Last is dendro plus electro, causing confusion. This would cause enemies to briefly be able
to deal damage to other enemies. I don’t know if this would be difficult
to code in, but it’s just an idea. For anemo and geo I think they would do the
normal swirl and crystallize reactions, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up doing
something completely unique. The final things that would have to be implemented
when dendro is added is its artifacts and ascension materials. For certain we would have a two set bonus
that grants 15% increased dendro damage. If dendro’s elemental reactions all actually
do grant debuffs, then a four piece could be something like all debuffs have extended
durations. For ascension materials, they need a boss
that can drop gemstones and a boss material. Probably a new hypostasis or regisvine, but
it would be cool if it was something completely new. So that’s everything I’m predicting about
dendro. Honestly, I have no idea when it will be coming,
but when it eventually does, it’ll be exciting. I don’t mind waiting though because longer
development and testing usually means a better final product. But anyways, let me know if you’re excited
for dendro and if you have any cool ideas about how it will be implemented. Also, I have to mention that the channel is
extremely close to 10 thousand subscribers. It actually blows my mind how far we have
come in such a short amount of time. I’m so glad that you guys enjoy my videos,
and I’m so grateful that you guys give me the opportunity to share something I’m passionate
about. I will soon be putting up a community post
where you can comment questions for me to answer in an upcoming video, if you’re interested. So thank you to everyone who has subscribed,
and as always, thank you for watching.
