Nikolai Kuznetsov

Nikolai Kuznetsov is a fan-created character for *Genshin Impact.*

## Character Information

Type: Original
 **Rarity** | 5-star
 **Model Type** | Tall Male

Nikolai Kuznetsov is an orphan from Snezhnaya who lives in Mondstadt with his partner Aleksander Snezhevich and friends Kirsa Laeknir, Ottoline Regensturm, and Alpheus Dubois. He lives a quiet and secluded life, but is a personality that others can only describe as completely chaotic.

## Character Backstory

Nikolai grew up on a snowy mountain in Snezhnaya. As a child, Nikolai was prone to sickness, and a mysterious illness ravaged his body at the age of three, nearly taking his life but settling for his eyesight instead. Nikolai's sight has been completely clouded by cataracts ever since. He is fully blind.

His mother, Li Mei Peng, was estranged from her family in Liyue and his father, Dmitry Kuznetsov, was raised by his aunt after his own parents died, leaving him orphaned at a young age. When he was six, his mother birthed a girl called Liu, and Liu tragically passed away before she was even a year old. Throughout Nikolai's childhood, he learned a lot from both of his parents. His father taught him how to hunt and survive on his own, and his mother taught him the art of empathy and kindness. Nikolai was a naturally curious child and any question he asked was answered with grace and honesty from his parents.

When Nikolai was eleven years old, a horde of Fatui conducted a raid on his community. They burned and pillaged everything, striking down men, women, and children alike. Nikolai's parents died in the fire, and Nikolai managed to escape to the mountainside, where he spent the next few days alone until a man (who was actually a Fatuus) found him and invited him to the House of the Hearth. Nikolai decided to trust the man, and he willingly followed him to the House of the Hearth. It is unclear whether anybody else survived the village raid.

Nikolai spent a total of six years in the House of the Hearth. His first few years were quite peaceful, but when he was fourteen, The Knave, noticing his resilience and exceptional evasion abilities, decided to use him as a "test" for a new line of soldiers. A Mirror Maiden named Akilina was placed over him as his supervisor.

The next three years of his life were filled with nothing but suffering. Both Akilina and The Knave personally trained him, but they were never quite satisfied enough with his performance. Eventually, training turned into little more than a beating session as Nikolai began to lose his strength and will to live. At the end of every day, The Knave sent him to The Doctor, and The Doctor made sure he was alive enough to continue training the next day. He was not allowed to interact with his peers, and he was constantly accompanied by Akilina everywhere he went. Although these events were turning him out to be a shell of a person, Nikolai barely remembers any of it, only knowing for sure that all of it happened in the first place due to the feeling of fear that courses through him at the mention of The Knave.

Nikolai was seventeen when he managed to escape the House of the Hearth. During one particularly brutal training session, he felt a rush of energy and caused so much chaos on his way out that The Knave was more intent on fixing what he had messed up than finding him anymore. The same night he escaped was the night he received his Hydro vision, which appeared in his hand as he slept.

The first place he went was back to his village on the mountainside. He found it scorched and abandoned, the same way it was when he left it years earlier. The only thing left was one of his mother's lotus-shaped hair sticks, which he wears in his own hair to this day. He spent the next year wandering, stealing for food and running from the Fatui before stumbling upon Alpheus in the Fontainian countryside. Alpheus extended a helping hand and brought Nikolai back to Mondstadt, where he became close friends with Alpheus, Alpheus's childhood friend Ottoline, and Ottoline's best friend Kirsa. Later, he falls in love with a Fatui soldier sent to kill him.

## Talents

**Of Bygone Mistakes**: Performs up to 5 attacks that deal Hydro DMG to enemies. Upon hit, every other attack grants Nikolai one Acrylic Bead. The maximum amount of Acrylic Beads Nikolai can possess is three, and each bead will disappear 7 seconds after it is created. When at maximum capacity, Nikolai cannot generate any more Acrylic Beads until all have dissipated.

* Charged Attack: Rushes the enemy with water, consuming Stamina to deal one instance of Hydro DMG. If Nikolai possesses any Acrylic Beads when a Charged Attack is performed, this Charged Attack DMG is increased, scaling with the amount of Acrylic Beads on the field.
* Plunging Attack: Gathers the might of Hydro and plunges toward the ground from mid-air, dealing AoE Hydro DMG upon impact with the ground.

**A Day in the Life**: Uses the moisture in the wind to create Departed Memories, an AoE field of hanging lotus flowers. Departed Memories will spawn at Nikolai's current location on the field, dealing Hydro DMG intermittently and taunting enemies. Departed Memories will generate 4 energy for Nikolai every 3 seconds. Lasts 12 seconds, with a cooldown of 20 seconds.

* If Nikolai possesses any Acrylic Beads at the time of casting, Departed Memories will increase his Normal and Charged Attack DMG by 8% per Acrylic Bead for 7 seconds. This DMG boost is counted independently for every Acrylic Bead.

**Honor thy Father and Mother**: Summons a giant six-petaled lotus flower made of water, marking nearby enemies with Blooming Tide and dealing one instance of Hydro DMG. Enemies marked with Blooming Tide have their Hydro RES decreased by 20% for a maximum of seven enemies. Lasts 10 seconds with a cooldown of 18 seconds. Costs 80 Elemental Energy.

**Guiding Hands:** When Nikolai is in the party, Snezhnayan specialties are displayed on the mini-map.

**Strength in Solitude:** If four or more enemies have been marked by Blooming Tide, all enemies' Hydro RES is decreased by an extra 10%.

**I'm Not Done Yet:** When Departed Memories is cast, if Nikolai has less than 25 Energy, the Energy regenerated by Departed Memories is twice as fast (4 Energy every 1.5 seconds). A maximum of 32 Elemental Energy can be regained in this manner.