Originally uploaded to Bilibili.tv
Nicole has had a rough development cycle. In her first iteration she was the original form of the Second Descender, a higher power who had been corrupted into a powerful pawn of the game's primary antagonist. She was then changed into an angel while the pawn side was separated and changed into being a member of four equally powerful pawns. Angels were still meant to be extremely rare in this world because most of them were forced to give up their minds or their powers. Nicole became the only angel to give up neither but at the cost of her voice. Then miHoYo created Zibai and also made her an angel. She has her voice, powers and mind thus Nicole was demoted again. Even so, she was an angel meaning she was still at a godlike power level. In practice, she should have worked in conjunction with an even more powerful witch. Now she's been relegated to being a power boost for the new gimmick in the game.
Nicole has become a higher rarity edition of the highly praised Bennett support character. They both serve the purpose of applying ATK stat buffs to their team however Bennett requires the use of his Burst to do which needs enough Energy to use. Nicole's buff comes from her skill which can be used at any time. However the cost for both is not being able to apply their element which is part of the main combat system of the game. Reactions make up the brunt of a team's damage.
But this is why Durin is also on the banner. Durin's buff is entirely made up of applying his element and then improving on the damage its reactions can produce. In other words, it's a good idea to have both Nicole and Durin on the same team. And in fact, this means Nicole only has one true team, a Varka team that's rounded out by Venti. All three of these teammates are part of the game's new gimmick.
As for the rest of the banner's characters, Razor and Fischl are both part of that same gimmick as is the new character Prune. Fischl on her own is still a very good character since she can apply tons of Electro for reactions. Razor not so much. Prune can substitute Venti on that previously mentioned team but isn't as good because she's not as rare.
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