The first UP banner for Punklorde in Version 1.5 was Veyl. As a Fire-type Harmony character, Veyl's abilities were all at the five-star passing grade. And as the game's second five-star Harmony character, Veyl naturally had her own unique mechanics.
Veyl's Basic Attack was a simple uppercut with her bionic arm, dealing Fire damage to an enemy, just like any other character.
But her Skill, "Drone Swarm," was the core of her kit. Each time she uses her Skill, Veyl gains a stack of "Drones." Each drone increases the SPD of all allies by a maximum of ten percent, stacking up to four times. Each drone also applies a [Lock-On] status to one enemy. Locked-on enemies are more susceptible to damage and their weaknesses are easier to break.
Veyl's Ultimate, "Total Network Coverage," increases the Energy Regeneration Rate of all allies (except herself) by eighty percent and sends the drones into Overload Mode. In Overload Mode, the buffs provided by the drones are doubled. After one turn, the drones are forcibly cleared.
Her Technique's effect is to immediately grant herself one "Drone" stack.
As a Harmony character, Veyl's functionality is clearly focused on the team's overall cycle. Wherever Veyl is present, the entire team's rotation becomes terrifyingly fast, capable of firing off two Ultimates in a single turn even without the buffs from the Simulated Universe.
Therefore, characters who heavily rely on their Ultimates are a perfect fit for Veyl. At the same time, the four-star Tingyun has officially been declared unemployed…
After all, this was a clear-cut direct upgrade to the four-star Tingyun. If you paired Topaz with Veyl, you could probably make Jing Yuan great again!
Oh, my apologies, perhaps Jing Yuan isn't the optimal choice. In the current pure Fire team, a familiar face has re-ascended to godhood!
And that is! Himeko!
The Himeko, Topaz, Veyl, and Wende team makes its grand debut!
Himeko has been elevated to an unprecedented height here! One Ultimate per turn, and her follow-up attacks are even easier to trigger with Veyl's support! Add in the support from the five-star Wende, and she can successfully take on any content!
However…
The five-star Tingyun! Multi-hit AoE damage! Armor penetration! Damage on top of damage! Comes with her own CRIT Rate! One swing of her fan and your own parents won't recognize you! This little lady is about to go on a rampage!
Although she can't make use of Topaz's follow-up damage bonus, just swap Topaz for Silver Wolf, and the entire Star Rail universe won't be able to withstand this little lady's damage!
This was the collective sentiment after everyone used the trial version of the five-star Tingyun in the Version 1.5 Punklorde quest. It felt good! Damn good!
White hair, golden eyes, soft, fluffy fox ears and tail, and those long white legs and little sandals. Oh my god! The Thirst!
Himeko? You can help me farm materials for my Tingyun for a few days! The moment my Tingyun arrives in the second half of 1.5, the Fire element will once again stand at the very pinnacle of Honkai: Star Rail!
---o---
"Is this Veyl? Isn't this just a fast charger! This is so damn satisfying to use!"
Dogzi, who was currently finding a random mob in the Neon Metropolis to test her out, leaned back in his chair with a look of pure bliss. Maxed out! Everything was maxed out! Auto-battle maxed out! You don't have to lift a finger, and you don't have to worry about mistakes. As long as you stack Veyl's SPD to the max, and your main DPS isn't too terrible, what can't you beat?
One Ultimate per turn plus a damage buff, now tell me, isn't that satisfying!
You think that's all? There's more!~~
Veyl's signature Light Cone, "Morning Sleepy Face," also stacks one layer of "Sweet Milk" per turn. Each layer of Sweet Milk stores HP based on 5% (10% at S5) of the wearer's HP, up to five layers. A layer is stored when the character acts or is attacked. When the Sweet Milk stacks are full, it immediately restores the accumulated HP and 20 Energy for the wearer, and also restores one Skill Point.
In other words, not only does this Light Cone provide some survivability for the easily targeted Harmony characters, but it also provides a Skill Point. While it might seem underwhelming and not particularly outstanding at first glance, even a bit low-tier, it's actually a very useful Light Cone.
After all, although Veyl's Ultimate increases Energy Regeneration Rate, her Ultimate's own energy cost is a whopping 150. In that light, this "signature weapon" is quite "specialized."
Of course, not having her signature weapon isn't a dealbreaker. The new Punklorde event, "Rebuild the Old District," gives out a free four-star Light Cone called "Hope of Punklorde." This Light Cone also increases Energy, and at S5, it provides a full 45 energy. That's a lot! If her signature weapon didn't also provide a Skill Point, this thing would be more signature than the signature itself!
Version 1.5 Punklorde had many events, and Veyl's Companion Mission was naturally not going to be missed.
In Sister Guoguo's livestream, having just pulled Veyl to E6, she changed into a cyberpunk cosplay outfit. Although Veyl's ascension materials had just become available, for someone who had saved up over a hundred fuel canisters, this was a trivial matter. With the brute force of her "violent mom and dad team," a fully maxed-out Veyl was born…
Next, Sister Guoguo switched her team to Kafka, Veyl, Himeko, and Wende. And she named it… "The Four-Mom Squad!"
[Wait, that name sounds really problematic, but when you think about it, it's not. But the homophone is definitely problematic. So is the problem with me or with you?]
[The hell is a Four-Mom Squad? Between the biological mom, adoptive mom, and male mom, you've now added someone else's mother, is that it?]
[Yukong: Requesting to join the team.]
[If Yukong joins, wouldn't it be the "Wu-ma-yi" (Five-Mom) Squad? The punchline of this joke is…]
[Cyno, can you please sit down? It's very uncivilized to stand up and use your Ultimate!]
[Thanks, I'm freezing again…]
"Veyl's Legend Mission! Engage!!!"
Sister Guoguo jogged all the way to Veyl's orphanage, stood at the entrance, shouted, and then walked right in.
[Mmm… Veyl… mmm… Yukong, mmm…]
[Cao Cao thief! What are you 'mmm'-ing about!]
[Mmm-hmm, of course!]
[Hmm?]
[Mmm-hmm!]
[So it's mmm-hmm, huh?]
[I don't even know what 'hmm' means anymore…]
---o---
"Er…"
At the exit of the legendary reservoir, Wende stood there, looking extremely awkward, unsure of what to do.
A system screen materialized before his eyes.
[Version 1.5 is now live. There is no main story quest in this version.]
Behind him, the others once again entered that state of being frozen in place…
"I… (CYBERTRON)!!!!"
"We've made it all this fucking way and you won't let us continue? You really are a piece of [birds chirping and flowers fragrant] work!"
A vein bulged on Wende's forehead as he began to furiously curse at the system screen.
This time, the system had truly broken his defenses! Just one more step! Just a little bit further! Are you trying to squeeze toothpaste out here!?