The highly anticipated five-star Pyro Claymore character Dehya is finally about to make her grand Teyvat debut in the Version 3.5 update of Genshin Impact, but her arrival has been dampened by the massive changes her character has undergone.
Dehya has been extremely beloved among the Genshin community since she first surfaced in the massive leak that unveiled the entire Sumeru cast of characters before the Dendro region had even launched. She is the last member of this leaked cast to join the world of Teyvat as a playable character but fans have lost their initial excitement for the character following a few unexpected reveals.
The first factor that had players worried was the consistent changes Dehya underwent during beta testing. Changes are normal during the beta testing phase, but all of Dehya’s changes shifted her from an immensely powerful asset players were excited to wish on to a much weaker recruit players cannot find a use for.
A few different breakdowns of Dehya’s skillset have been shared on Reddit, and while some players think the upset among the community is a bit dramatic considering Dehya has not been officially released yet, almost all members of the community mutually agree there is no chance she will end up being a strong character after seeing miHoYo’s showcase and many beta players reviews.
Even if her uniquely strange skillset ends up suiting new characters that are released in the future, Dehya still will never be able to match the many other impressive five-star characters that already exist.
Players’ final straw was the official reveal during the Version 3.5 special livestream previewing the next update when miHoYo announced Dehya would be moving to the permanent “Wanderlust Invocation” wish banner once her initial debut run came to a close.
Genshin players know that all of the five-star characters within the standard banner are weaker than those who remain in the rotation as exclusive assets, so this is a rather grim indicator of Dehya’s skillset.
The Version 3.5 livestream also presented an appalling showcase of the character’s skillset, wherein she was struggling to vanquish a Hydro Slime. Slimes are one of the easiest foes to vanquish in all of Genshin and Dehya’s Pyro skillset should make her especially apt against a Hydro foe, but the showcase made a measly Slime look like the toughest foe of all with Dehya’s subpar skillset.
The situation is also upsetting for the many fans that were excited to wish on Dehya due to her being one of the very few playable characters present in Genshin with a darker skin tone than the rest. The playable character roster in Genshin currently includes over 60 recruits and—Dehya included—only four of them have a slightly darker skin tone.
Whitewashing has long been a prominent concern in the Genshin community and the Dehya situation is yet another instance where the community feels their concerns are not being heard. Many players have been expressing that the situation feels intentional due to the lack of darker skin-toned characters combined with their inferior skill sets.
One Genshin player expressed their frustration over the Dehya situation and shared that they had hoped to play as a character that kind of looked like them and also wasn’t “literally the worst” five-star character the game has seen.
Another player shared a meme on Reddit expressing their opinion that miHoYo makes “a few slightly darker characters” but then makes their skillset “trash” so the development team can “fill the skin-color quota and get away with it.”
One Genshin player shared their view on Reddit and expressed that they had once been really excited to recruit Dehya but now don’t even know what they would do with her if they did manage to obtain her.
Dehya’s skillset, which was demonstrated in miHoYo’s Version 3.5 special livestream, has most fans confused because it doesn’t seem to really fit within any team lineup. On top of that, it seems like many characters of a lower star rarity can actually outperform her.
With all of these factors combined, players have primarily taken their concerns to the Dehya Mains Reddit page to share their frustrations. There has also been some discourse about the situation on the regular Genshin Reddit and Twitter.
The decision to put Dehya on the standard banner is also quite confusing considering new players who primarily wish on the standard banner may obtain a character they cannot even build. This is also true of the five-star Dendro Bow character Tighnari, but regardless, it does not really make sense considering both characters require assets players cannot access until they are very deep in the main storyline and have reached the Dendro region.
Genshin players have many concerns over the Dehya situation, but her arrival is imminent. It is fairly unlikely anything will change before she is released which means players can only hope their concerns are heard for the arrival of future characters.
