Genshin Impact added plenty of new content and bug fixes in its most recent patch, but not all have gone over well with the fanbase. One particular “fix” to a popular character’s mechanics drew enough ire that the team at HoYoverse has decided to roll it back.
Neuvillette is considered an incredibly strong character in Genshin Impact because of his high damage output and ability to heal himself. He deals damage primarily through Charged Attacks, which is essentially a Hydro Pump, you can aim freely.
Some players took this “aim freely” ability and extended it to “aim everywhere all at once.” They discovered that, during Neuvillette’s Charged Attack, they could whip the game camera around quickly, changing the ability from a focused Hydro Pump to a huge Surf attack that hits all enemies around him.
Pokémon references aside, here’s a video of what that looks like.
After several months and one rerun banner, HoYoverse nerfed Neuvillette’s spinning ability by reducing the maximum camera speed while Neuvillette used his Charged Attack. Now, when attempting to use the technique, Neuvillette rotates slowly in place. No longer can he spray water in every direction like a broken lawn sprinkler.
But it seems this change had more of an impact than expected, and by implementing the fix, HoYoverse essentially blocked a chunk of the playerbase from using their character the way they are used to. Not only that, people who played with Neuvillette as intended (with his Charged Attack as a focused beam) have struggled with his slower turning rate as they try to aim at fast-moving enemies. It’s a lose-lose for all Neuvillette players.
Accusations of false advertisement
The “spin to win” playstyle was popularized almost immediately after Neuvillette made his debut, becoming a meme within the Genshin Impact community. Most importantly, you didn’t need any special hardware or software to play Neuvillette this way. All you needed to do was spin your camera around as rapidly as possible with whatever control scheme you were using. Given how easy it was to perform, most players assumed it was just a quirky but harmless way to play their character.
HoYoverse’s silence didn’t help, either. Neuvillette released in September of 2023, and had a rerun banner in April 2024. The Genshin Impact team had months to announce that Neuvillette’s “spin to win” behavior was a bug and would be fixed in a later update. However, its silence on the matter reinforced the idea his playstyle was valid and intentional.
So when Neuvillette’s “bug fix” was suddenly introduced with very little prior notice, players were pretty unhappy. Some of them had pulled for Neuvillette specifically to play him as a deadly spinning Beyblade top. This involves months of saving in-game currency, or spending real-life money on Genshin Impact’s gacha banner. The frustration is pretty understandable.
Rolling back Neuvillette’s nerf
Just a day after the “bug fix” went live, HoYoverse released a statement apologizing for the change. Neuvillette’s turning ability will return to normal in a future update. It remains slow for the rest of Version 4.8, but at least we know it will be fixed.
As for when the changes will be rolled back, that’s up in the air. Things will probably return to normal with the next version update, 5.0, which releases on August 28.
Apologems
If you don’t own Neuvillette, you might think none of this affects you. On the contrary, all Genshin Impact players will receive 1,600 Primogems as an apology, whether or not they play Neuvillette. That’s a full 10-pull on any banner. This is on top of the 100 Primogems issued when HoYoverse “fixed” him in the first place.
Genshin Impact has offered apology Primogems (“apologems”) in the past for unintended game behavior. However, the largeamount is unusual, and much higher than the 100 Primogem compensation when Yae Miko’s targeting mechanics changed.
The rollback also means Neuvillette joins the tiny group of characters that have received direct buffs or nerfs after release. Zhongli received significant buffs to his kit shortly after release due to pushback from the community. Yae Miko’s targeting behavior was adjusted when she released, but this change was reverted soon afterwards.
