Fontaine is one of the seven primary regions in Teyvat. It is the nation that worships Focalors, the Hydro Archon, and the God of Justice. Fontaine prides itself as the hub of culture and the arts and has a newspaper called The Steambird. Fontaine also has a research institute that studies various technologies, but it was the site of a large explosion in the past.
Since we’re already in Version 3.7 and we’ve already met Charlotte- a playable character from Fontaine who won’t be released yet, it’s safe to say the floodgates for the Fontaine hype have opened. The leaks are pouring in- pun intended- and we may have a compilation of what we can expect from the Hydro Traveler.
The Hydro Traveler’s Initial Kit Leaks
The Dendro Traveler is said to be the best version of the Traveler and it’s true because even today the Dendro MC gets consistent and considerable Abyss usage and it was more so before units like Yaoyao, Baizhu and Kirara were released. The Hydro Traveler, according to some leaks, will be competing with one of the best if not the best 4-stars in the game- namely Xingqiu.
According to leaks, the Hydro Traveler’s kit will be centred around damage reduction or damage mitigation- similar to Dehya. Though the following leaks are highly STC (Subject to Change), what’s at least believable is that several sources claim similar things so there must be at least some truth to them.
Elemental Skill
Their elemental skill will likely be in the form of a Hydro shield that also periodically applies Hydro to surrounding enemies and gives a slight buff. Another source claims that it will sprout bubbles similar to that of Abyss Mages or large Hydro Slimes and when these hit enemies they will be debuffed or weakened.
Elemental Burst
As for the elemental burst- there are lots of claims. The most popular claim is that it will provide team-wide buffs and will be functional off-field. During the duration of the burst, the active character will periodically unleash powerful attacks that also lower the ATK of enemies- thus reducing incoming damage. One of the passives is also stated to increase the burst damage based on the no. of enemies surrounding your character or the no. of times you’ve recently taken damage- another feature similar to Dehya.
All of this suggests that the Hydro Traveler will have an HP-scaling kit but this already presents a major problem. The Traveler wields a sword and there aren’t many swords that buff HP in the game- the ones that do exist are both limited 5-star weapons. Because of the nature of the Traveler’s Hydro kit, many theorycrafters also believe that he’ll synergise perfectly with Dehya and perhaps that’s what Dehya was made for.
Another interesting leak is that it would seem that underwater exploration would be impossible or very difficult without the Traveler. The Traveler will supposedly get a special blessing from the Hydro Archon to move freely underwater. It’s already been leaked that underwater exploration in Fontaine will involve bubbles of Oxygen which will be like an underwater Stamina system. If leaks about the Traveler are to be believed then it’s likely that they will be the best character to use for underwater exploration either because they won’t need much Oxygen or not much of it.
Ever since Dendro, it’s felt like Hoyoverse has started paying more attention to the Traveler’s kit and viability in the game. If the above leaks are to be believed, even though the Hydro Traveler may quickly fall off the Fontaine meta once other Hydro characters are released (esp. The Hydro Archon), there’s still a high chance many players will choose to build them for their underwater exploration skill alone. While they may be heavily powercrept in the Spiral Abyss, most players still only care about and pay attention to the overworld. Even if the Hydro MC is an average to a decent unit, players will still keep them in their party for easy underwater exploration and if so then they are bound to build him- at least well enough for him to be functional in the party too. So what do you think?
