I wasn't keen on getting Shorekeeper but I heard she gives buff to Rover (you must understand, I love my Rover so much! Anything for her!) during the livestream so I thought I might as well try. I'd been trying to get Aalto during Xiangli Yao's banner so I know I'm pretty close to getting a 5-star character. I was also very ready to get another copy of Verina.

The results...

I finally got my last copy of Aalto! LOL (also got Yangyang's last copy after him)

I... didn't get Verina. I got Shorekeeper... It kind of shocked me lol

71st pull btw

I'm in no hurry to build her but I'm slowly getting all her materials (the troublesome ones). Oh yeah, I reached UL70 recently and I think now I'm getting 4-5 ascension materials...? Not much but still very helpful! I can get enough for one character in a week. I'm only limited by the weekly bosses materials *sigh*...

My RuRu account also managed to get her. I did intend for this account to pull for her because she doesn't have Verina. I've been using Baizhi (maxed out copies) on my Fenn account and honestly I'm not really liking her gameplay... (maybe I just need to upgrade her skills more and get better echoes for her...)

I'm so excited about the new map! I want to know more about them and their members (and NOT only about the Shorekeeper). I'm guessing we'll get that in the next patch? I'm also happy to meet Aalto again :)

Love the music in this patch!
(Gahh now I want to try playing it on the piano)

Done!

Oh yeah, it's probably only me but Black Shores is giving me Mass Effect vibes for some reason lol... there's this one side quest where it's making me recall one of the Mass Effect DLCs (and a few quests) I've played and honestly I was a bit scared if it has any consequences in the future. Probably not... since it's a very short quest but oof. I guess it's bringing out "war" flashbacks from Mass Effect :P

Shorekeeper's story is... fine, I guess. I did shed some tears (but that might be the hormones at work lol). I like it fine. Nothing more, nothing less. Although since I'm playing as the female Rover (where it feels more like sisterly love, in my opinion), it doesn't feel much like it but it probably will feel fanservicy as a male Rover... judging from the posts I saw on Reddit *sigh*. 

Also... I finished defeating all the red enemies pretty fast this time around. I guess I've grown :P

I think the Tambourine Duo were the most troublesome ones that I had to switch Yao out with Aalto for some ranged weapon help. The second most troublesome is the Cyclone Swarm, since they can heal each other up. This one gets easier when you fight them separately (get the one you're fighting out of the healing range). Interestingly on Reddit, they give tips on how to keep them as a group (to attack them in one go, I guess? Only one gave similar tip to mine)  I was left with two of them in my first try and while I was diligently fighting one of them, the other just keep healing the one I'm fighting... making my attacks mean nothing, which is annoying... so I think it's better to fight them separately. The other three just need a healthy amount of dodging XD (I especially hate the Hedgepuff because getting caught into the bubble sometimes insta-kill me *sigh*)

I could manage better now probably due to having stronger resonators. I think the most traumatic(?) red enemy I faced (so far) will forever be the Level 120 Lightcrusher. Oof.. even now I can't get used to Lightcrusher's attacks and would always dodge/attack at the wrong time.

I can't wait to get this trophy through this lol
[Edit 2024-12-02: Oof just realised that this isn't doable with the hologram version. Illusive Realm then, huh. *sigh*] 

And I had a look at my record and realised the time I took to defeat Inferno Rider is the same with Crownless (for Difficulty 1 and 2) which I find interesting...