Genshin Impact, from AR 6 to AR 40 in a few months, without money

 I tried Genshin Impact when it was a few months old.  People at work had been playing and I was interesting in trying it.  I was terrible at it.  I was determined not to spend money--something that my co-workers were doing--and I didn't go far.  When Honkai: Star Rail became available, I was still at AR 6 in Genshin Impact.  That's a long time.

After playing Honkai: Star Rail for a while, and getting my characters up to high levels (many are at level 80 now), I started to play with Genshin Impact while I was bored waiting for the energy to be recharged in HSR.  With level 80 characters and at game level 60+, it takes a long time to level up characters.

Now, in Genshin Impact, I'm up to AR 35 and my main character, in both accounts, is at level 60.  I need to finish the Dvalin/Stormterror quest to go further and reveal many opportunities.  I've made decent progress or I wouldn't be at AR 35, but there is much to experience.  I haven't made it to the peak of Dragonspire and I haven't be allowed to see Inazuma, although the occasionally talk about it.

I've finally got a 5-star character on both accounts: Dehya.  So far, the 4-star characters seem more reliable, but all characters seem to have incredible weakness and they fail at the wrong time.  Most weapons are 3-star varieties with lots of duplicates, so using the Refine function helps.  I've unlocked the weapons upgrade materials sites, so it's easier to do that.  Upgrading the characters is another matter.  How do you upgrade a character that isn't strong enough to fight for the materials it needs?

Well, just having made it to AR 35, I have that ascension challenge happening.  I need to get the other characters up a few levels.  However, the things I need to accomplish don't seem possible.  I guess all I can do is be patient, upgrade artifacts and weapons and keep trying.  The ascension challenge wants all characters at level 60.  The other characters are at level 40 right now, except for Dehya, who is at level 60 on one account and level 50 on the other.  Her materials are much easier to get.  I need two others at level 60, though.  My main character is now at level 70 on both accounts.

 The mechanisms in Honkai: Star Rail seem to be almost the same as Genshin Impact.  It's just in the presentation where they differ.  The fighting style is the biggest difference, of course.

Update 2023.10.09: It took a while to make it past the Ascension challenge.  One account worked quickly, but the other struggled and I finally got a team with a characters at levels 70, 50, 40, and 60 to work.  It took so long that the second account went directly from AR 35 to AR 39.  The first account to succeed went from AR 35 to AR 37 but they're both nearing AR 40 right now.

Upgrading weapons works, but upgrading 4-star weapons is more difficult, of course.  My trouble is that I have characters from Inazuma, which is not open to me yet.  You can't upgrade characters with unavailable items.

Still, I haven't spent any money on the game.  My frustration level may not be any higher than those spending money, though.

Update 2023.10.11: Make that AR 40, on both accounts.  I still have much to learn.  I really wish I had 4-star weapons on both accounts.  The mix of 4-star characters is good enough.  The Dehya character has been extremely useful, even though most rankings I've seen are not positive.  Keqing should be interesting, once I can move her past level 20.  I ended up having to use Noelle with a strong weapon to get past AR 35 on the lagging account.  My previous experience was that the character was not useful but she was enough to handle the situation to upgrade Kaeya, and will be needed again.

Update 2024.03.08: Up to AR 42, but not really making progress.  My main character is at level 80 on both accounts and the weapon is at level 70 on one and close to that on the other account.  It's interesting to have the same characters on both accounts and frustrating not to have certain characters on both.

I got into the new area with this latest release, but I still have early quests with the Adepti to finish in order to progress.  At least, I got to see the Lantern Festival around Lunar New Year.  That was the main reason I started Genshin Impact years ago.

Update 2024.09.04: At AR 43 this week, after having trouble with the battle when entering Natlan.  I've lost interest after finding some of the puzzles and battles too difficult.

Trial of the Equilibrium: Part Six

On one account, I'm at level 65, which means I have to face the Trial of the Equilibrium again.  This time, the characters are at level 80.  I had the Main Character, March 7th, Bailu, and Welt Yang.  I still have Traces to finish but 7/10 isn't bad.

Well, it took a few minutes.  Always, remember the personal shield, Cosmic Fried Rice, and an energy drink or something to help your DEF.

The other account might struggle more, but it's been good in the past.  I may wish to strengthen the Traces more than 7/10.

The new version struggle with the assassins went quickly.  Jing Yuan and Imbibitor Lunae were good, even though they were at level 78, which is lower than my own characters and in the one case, I only selected three characters for the team.

 I'm sure that you can appreciate that I haven't spent any real money on playing the game.  It's taken a lot of patience and planning to get to this point without paying for anything.  I'm not paying anything to play Genshin Impact, and it's certainly difficult to get even 4-star characters there.

Update 2023.09.05: How did everyone do with their free pulls?  On one account, I got an extra Himeko and an extra Yukong.  This is especially important because Yukong is my only Imaginary character on that account.  The other got an extra Herta and a Yukong-specific Light Cone, Past and Future.  Eidolons are good.  Both are getting an extra Sushang because of the Aurum Alley event.

With both accounts into level 65, I wonder what else will happen as I complete characters.

Update 2023.09.12: I've been completing every character I can.  I've been working the Aurum Alley event, as well.  Mostly, I'm waiting for Traiblaze power to be regenerated and credits to be enough.  I was playing the event with Bailu at Scalegorge Waterscape and I noticed level 85 characters afterwards.  When did that happen?

I've also been working on Genshin Impact again and I'm up to AR 32 on both accounts.  I see so many prerequisites and I'm not sure where they are.  I'm finding new temples for artifacts and weapon ascension materials lately.  I'm getting caught up in little side quests, but they might be exactly what I need to move further.  I have a feeling that I need to finish Dragonspire quests before I can find Inazuma.  I found Fontaine after dealing with the desert.  I don't suppose I can use the Waverunner and take it all the way to Liyue and on to Inazuma.  There always seems to be something in the way.

Honkai: Star Rail, Level 80 characters, Genshin Impact revival

 As I'm past the Trial of the Equilibrium: Part Five, I've been increasing my characters to maximum levels.  I've got four characters on each account at level 80.  It's been a while to achieve that.  I've got most of their Light Cones to level 80, as well.

Finishing the Traces has been difficult, due to Echo of War constraints.  Finding Eidolons will take time and much patience.

While I've been waiting, I've been messing with Genshin Impact again.  I was at level 6 for a year or two, but now, I'm at level 17 on one account and level 16 on the other.

Running around the beautiful landscape with a group of four has been interesting, especially when they aren't as powerful as their enemies.  I only have one four-star character on each account, with Rosaria on one, and Kuki Shinobu on the other.  Since I got to Adventurer level 15, I was able to level up the characters to near level 40.  That has greatly increased their chances of winning.  Stamina is always a problem, and the characters seem to want to climb anything, as if they're trying to commit suicide by lack of stamina.

I've thankful that I have two accounts.  I have different experiences in Genshin Impact, and that leads to greater success for both, eventually.

The next few months of both games should be interesting.  Version 4.0 of Genshin Impact will arrive soon but I'm still not at a level where I would notice.  It feels as though the training wheels will be gone soon, though.  By the time Honkai: Star Rail reaches version 4.0, I should have all of my characters at maximum.

Update 2023.08.13: The Genshin Impact training wheels are gone at Adventure Rank 20 on both accounts.  It feels as though Spiral Abyss is the Simulated Universe from HSR.

Update 2023.08.17: Is it strange that I've barely accomplished anything in Genshin Impact and I'm suddenly in the new area of Fontaine?  I'm up to AR 21 now.  I've recently been dealing with The Sign of Apaosha, which seems a bit advanced.  Still building characters on Honkai: Star Rail, at level 63.

Update 2023.08.22: I'm at AR 23 on both accounts in Genshin Impact and managed to cover quite a bit of territory and light up teleport sites.  On Honkai: Star Rail, I'm getting a couple more characters up toward level 80 and Traces are on the rise, as well.

Update 2023.08.27: I'm at AR 26 on one account and AR 25 on the other.  Midsummer Courtyard seems like Trial of the Equilibrium.  I finally went there after wondering why I had too many points for AR 25.  It wasn't easy, as there aren't really any instructions or directional indicators.  I didn't even know to go to the tree for the rewards and didn't get anything the first time.  Spiral Abyss is almost as confusing, but there is some indicator of what's happening.

On Honkai: Star Rail, I'm still working on building characters to their maximum levels.  This is taking time and resources.

Update 2023.08.31: On Genshin Impact, I've got enough points on the other account to be at AR 27, but I can't get pass the Midsummer Courtyard trial.  Apparently, I need better characters, better weapons, better artifacts.  I'm not sure how I did it on the other account.  Never mind, the Electro Hypostasis was a problem, but learning how to work against it helped.  I'm not sure how the other account accomplished this because I really don't remember that part at all.  Both accounts are at AR 27 now.

Honkai: Star Rail is all shiny and new.  Breezed through the challenges with trial Imbibitor Lunae at level 78.  On one account, I accidentally stopped adding characters and only had a group of 3, rather than 4.  They were all easy wins, though, with level 80 characters.  The Aurum Alley management tasks are annoying, moreso than the Belobog Museum tasks.

Update 2023.09.06: On Genshin Impact, both of my accounts are now at AR 30.  Things are looking more difficult again, as they seemed to be approaching AR 15.  Updating characters to level 50 is difficult with many of them.

Trial of the Equilibrium: Part Five

 I'm at level 60, which means I have to face the Trial of the Equilibrium again.

Five star characters will be helpful, although not entirely necessary.  One account has Yanqing, Bailu, Bronya, and Gepard, while the other has Himeko, Seele, and Clara.  I just received Welt Yang on the account with Bailu.  After seeing what this character can do in a tryout, I have interest in seeing how he faces difficult enemies.  Getting him to level 70, along with his 5-star Light Cone, is taking some time.

On the account that doesn't have Bailu, I received her 5-star Light Cone and it is giving Natasha much-needed endurance.  That also took some time to get to almost level 70.

Previously, I mentioned upgrading Traces with the Echo of War environments.  You can make some important changes by finishing some of these enhancements--more DEF, more ATK, more HP.

 It's finished

 I tried one account and then, the other.  Both were finished in just a few minutes.

I had Qingque, March 7th. Bailu, and Dan Heng on one team.  That's the account that also has Yanqing, Welt Yang, Bronya, and Gepard.  I wanted to see how Welt Yang did in the Trial, but he wasn't necessary.  I'm surprised that everyone did so well.  However,  there must have been some mistake on the rewards, as nothing much appeared.

The other account had Dan Heng, Natasha, Clara, and Seele.  That account also has Himeko, which I was finishing upgrading.  I considered using my main character, which is on the path of Preservation, rather than Destruction.  He doesn't have many Eidolons, but he is powerful.

Well, I'm ready to Ascend my main character on the way to level 80.  They want 180,000 credits for the character and 200,000 credits for the Light Cone, which might take a while to finish four to six characters.  Is there life beyond level 80 yet?

Update 2023.07.19: Updated to version 1.2, On one account, I've got the main character (Preservation) up to level 80, but his Light Cone is only at level 71.  On the other account, I have longer to go, as I was trying to get Welt Yang to level 70, as well as getting my main character (Destruction) to level 80.

The account with the Preservation main character has completed the mission with Phantylia, The Ascended, etc.  After completing a new Forgotten Hall, I got the 4-star character Yukong.  Since characters that can create Imaginary Damage are few, this is good.  However, during the episode, the main character reverted from Preservation to Destruction, which was surprising but was during a battle.

Both accounts are through the battle with Phantylia.  That's amazing without any level 80 character. Still haven't spent any real money.

Apple Silicon Software Development seems slow

It's been about three years since the initial M1-based machines from Apple became reality.  Why is development lagging?

Steam Hardware Survey

The other day, Steam requested my computer's details.  One is an AMD Ryzen 7 with Geforce RTX 3050 Ti (laptop version, of course), and the other is a 2020 MacBook Air M1.  In reporting, Steam shows AppleVirtual processor and 1440x900 resolution, which is far from the truth, unless of course, you don't care to make your software the best and take advantage of the actual power that is available.

I've only had my 2020 M1 MacBook Air for about a year, but it seems as though most applications are only compatible through emulation.

I could understand why Adobe wouldn't be quick about it.  They were dragging their feet on the way to Mac OS X in 2000.  They wouldn't port Premier Pro, and Apple brought out Final Cut and Aperture.

Intuit was also complaining, but then, they wanted us to move to Windows because they told people "the Mac is just too difficult to program" or some such, used to justify the higher price and lower functionality.

What got me over the years was that Microsoft was Apple's enemy and yet, their software was better for Mac OS X than that of Adobe, Apple's friend.

It's 2023, not 2003

It still feels as though little has been accomplished since the M1 and other Apple Silicon processors have been available.  The performance is so good that you might not notice the speed of Intel emulation.  Mouse cursor positioning doesn't seem all that stable, though, as of macOS 12.x.

It's been almost three years and I would expect that developers would want to show what their applications could do on better hardware.

Valve Software might not be doing as well as they want people to believe, but I suspect that they could buy a couple of M1-based Macs and update Steam for Apple Silicon.  If that worked out, they could re-jig Source to 64-bit compatibility, as well as Metal compatibility.  Apple might even help them, just to get more games on M1 Macs.  I should note the rumor that Valve and Apple talked about making Proton work on Macs and Apple refused.  Whether it happened or not, things need to be better than running Windows executables on another operating system.  Steam Deck with Proton works but it's not always wonderful.

It really wouldn't hurt Apple to create a division for games and keep it to help third parties develop outstanding games.  A couple of games I had for Windows are available in Apple Arcade but unavailable elsewhere.

It's interesting that Evernote is a Universal binary, but Dropbox is Intel-only.  Google Drive is listed as Apple Silicon, not Universal.  LastPass is Intel-only, but thankfully, Malwarebytes is Universal.

Serif's Affinity applications are Universal, but it seems a number of creative applications are not.  I'm thankful for Capture One Pro being Universal, as well as Affinity Publisher, Designer, and Photo.

How many years until Intel is completely gone from Apple machines?  When Apple pulls the plug on Rosetta 2 will they step up or step away?

Update 2024.07.29: I just updated to macOS 14.6, a Sonoma release.  I got an update for Steam, but I 99% know that it's Intel-only.  I checked updates on GOG Galaxy some 20 minutes ago and I'm waiting for it to finish.  That's perplexing since the Windows version updated a few days ago and I didn't have to check.  It told me.  It's time for the Heroic games launcher.

Electronic Arts finally got around to retiring Origin for the EA launcher, which is Universal.  Most of my games are still Intel-targeted.  Death Stranding is Apple Silicon only and is not available on Steam yet.  Divinity - Original Sin 2 is Intel only.

I've been reminded in some forums that there are 200+ Mac games.  I've also been reminded that you can use Whisky with the Heroic launcher to play some Windows-only games.  There are a few well-known games coming to Mac, including a new Assassins Creed (Shadows?) game.  I have a few of them but Ubisoft hasn't made a game I've loved since the original Rayman on Atari Jaguar.

Of course, it's not all about games, but they are essential to home users.

Update 2024.08.16: Now that the Qualcomm ARM-based machines using a Nuvia-developed SoC have been released, it should be interesting to see if there will be ARM-based games on Windows.  Apparently, the Windows' equivalent to Rosetta 2 is not so amazing.

Perhaps, if game developers start to design games for ARM on the desktop, they'll be able to target Macs as well as Windows machines.  Considering that the M1-based machines arrived in 2020, it's a bit frustrating waiting for something to happen.

I've downloaded Whisky and the Heroic Games Launcher but I haven't tried much, as I am not restricted to macOS, having a Windows 11 machine and a Steam Deck.  I need to focus.  I probably need more than my 1 TB drive and it might make sense to have a big, external drive for my Windows-based games for Mac since I have 230+ games on Steam alone and only a few are native to Mac.

Update 2024.09.02: I was just taking a look at the Steam hardware survey results.  macOS is around 1.3% of the total.  Is that surprising when Valve went out of its way to kill Counter Strike that was working and develop Counter Strike 2 with no executable for Macs?  All of their 32-bit executables from 2010 (?) still work on older machines but unless Rosetta 2 will run them, what's the point?

Why Apple and Valve couldn't even reach a compromise sends a message that isn't necessarily true.  Mac gaming isn't exactly alive but it's not dead, either.  However, the late 1990s were much better than now.

I tried Heroic Games launcher and downloaded a game that I know runs on Apple Arcade and it was fine on Mac.  I've been a bit slow to download much else because of the storage required.  I tried one of the Resident Evil games, which is native for Apple Silicon, and that was surprisingly good on an M1 MacBook Air.  If they have the RE Engine converted, they should be able to port to the whole series.

Unreal Engine 5 runs on macOS but it's the headlines about how bad its performance is on Windows that got my attention.  Trying new technologies is difficult but bringing a gaming system to a crawl is not good--just ask the Starfield people.

Update 2024.12.11: There are a few more games out for Apple Silicon:

• Resident Evil Village
• Resident Evil 7
• Resident Evil 4
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows

I've seen a mention or two about other games and that the Resident Evil Engine was ported, so any in the series could be ported.

With the M3 and M4 SoCs supporting ray tracing and other advanced technologies, there could be more games arriving, but Apple really needs one set of machines for gaming.  They need exceptional air flow, not the thinnest enclosures ever.  That said, my M1 MacBook Air is far ahead of most of the Intel-based Macs and about as fast as my Windows machine, AMD 5800H with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050Ti.  The MacBook Air's graphics are way ahead of my 5800H's iGPU but not nearly as fast as the 3050Ti, of course.

What happened to the Nuvia/Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite/Plus?

Update 2025.06.13: This week, Apple announced that Rosetta 2 will be diminished with the new macOS Tahoe.  Developers are going to have no choice but to make their software Apple Silicon native.

Since it will be diminished, it will supposedly be effective for older games, maybe other older software that has no chance of being updated.  We'll learn about it soon enough.

 Hopefully, this will inspire developers to work at bringing their software to Apple Silicon after five years of hardware. 

Update 2025.10.30: Since the M5 14 inch MacBook Pro and M5 iPad Pro, people are surprised how fast the SoC is.  I'd like to see the MacBook Air with M5 SoC in spring 2026.  I'm not really happy or trusting of macOS 26 but it's part of the deal.  It's not that my M1 MacBook Air has become slower but that the games run much better on the M5.

I continue to get beta versions of Steam and yet, no native version for me.  I know that they're out there. It's interesting that Windows-based games are running, and running well, at that through Crossover.  I've had some success with the Heroic Games Launcher.  Whisky has been finished. 

Honkai: Star Rail, 2 months later

 Did you think that you would get so far?  Did you find the right combination to get what you wanted?

I have a co-worker, who is at a low level, asking me again if I got Silver Wolf.  I haven't.  I don't believe that I need her.  (I now have Welt, and his 5-star Light Cone, on one account!)

I've learnt plenty about my characters and in the Trial of Equilibrium, Part Four, I found that two 4-star characters work just fine.  Properly fitted, a 5-star character can do better, but that isn't necessary.  Bailu can revive "the dead", unlike Natasha, but Natasha has done just fine where I didn't have Bailu.  (However, I have a 5-star Light Cone that I want Natasha to use, but I don't have another Abundance character to host it until it's at maximum level. Having two doctors on the other account works wonders.)

Finding the right combination for a character is important.  After Trial of the Equilibrium, Part Four, I removed the relics of all important characters and used recommended sets.  This provided a much bigger upswing in the statistics than guessing which ones would work well.

As well, I found two 5-star Light Cones for the main character in Herta's Store.  This not only makes a difference for the main character, but allows another character to use a powerful Light Cone.  Destruction Light Cones have been in short supply for me.  On the other account where I switched the main character to Preservation, this still helped to bring March 7th up a notch.

I've chosen to raise the level of Qingque just after the main character, because of the Quantum damage.  This has resulted in easier victories against Arumaton Gatekeepers.

Getting supplies to push characters to level 70 is difficult.  I need loads of credits and loads of materials for the Synthesizer.  This will take time.  I can only imagine that pushing them to level 80 will be almost impossible and require loads of time.  Still, I'm not paying real money.

Update 2023.07.09: This really is taking time.  I find the materials to update a Light Cone on one character and run out of money.  Then, I can't seem to get enough Trailblaze power to complete Calyx runs.  Version 1.2 is arriving shortly.  I guess it won't be much different, since I'm already everywhere, trying to accomplish everything.

Those Traces on the edges need to be in use.  You need to complete Echo of War battles to complete the two that are keeping those from being used.

Complete the two toward the bottom and work your way up each line to increase abilities.

Honkai: Star Rail, One Month Later

Isn't it amazing how far we've come since May 1st?

I had no real clue what this game would be but I knew that I had no luck with Genshin Impact and would try anyway.  I didn't want to spend real money.  That would probably limit things more than I would hope.

I have two accounts.  I started one on May 1st and hit a road block quickly, and I used another account that was also connected to Genshin Impact.

One account has Yanqing, Bailu, Bronya, and Gepard, while the other has Himeko, Seele, and Clara.  It's good to have such characters for the sake of progress.  The set of four have been able to take on level 53 characters and win.

 I've seen some lists that say some of the characters I have aren't the best.  Still, they're 5-star characters and are more capable than 4-star characters, in general.  It's odd to think that I have all of these characters at level 50 or more.  They'll be at level 60 within a day or two.  I noticed the Aptitude Showcase has characters at level 80.

Yanqing seems to do most of the work for Bronya, while she increases damage potential.  Bailu is a more versatile doctor than Natasha but either will do.  Gepard, being a Preservation character is an interesting mix of attacking enemies and keeping allies safe.

Himeko is useful but falls too easily, similar to Serval.  They can both deal a lot of damage but they'll be out of the battle sooner than others.  Seele is holy-shit amazing but she leaves the battle too quickly.  Clara is a strange mix of her and Mister Svarog.

IMHO, some of the characters like Dan Heng are much more than 4-star characters and some of the 5-star characters aren't as good as they could be.  I guess that they can't have 4.5-star characters, though.  It's interesting to use Dan Heng and Yanqing on the same team.  Much more is accomplished quickly.

There are so many little things to do to make these characters do their best.  Changing things once you think it's finished is difficult, but it works in the end.  I've switched Light Cones at fairly critical times simply because a 5-star Light Cone arrived.

The good thing in all of this is that I'm not spending money and I'm giving Honkai: Star Rail the attention it needs without making it an obsession.  I've seen loads of people spend hundreds of dollars on Genshin Impact.  I wouldn't, which is partly why I'm only at level 8 and you have to be at level 15 for anything interesting to happen.  On Honkai: Star Rail, one account is at Trailblaze level 44 and the other is at level 42.  That's pretty good, especially since no real money has been involved.

Of course, you need to get your character's level and Light Cone level as high as possible, but make sure all Traces are complete and buy 4-star Relics when possible.  Switch when necessary.  You can always build them on one character and switch them later.  Enhancing Relics is something I haven't found straightfoward.

Update 2023.06.13: Most of the 5-star characters are at level 60 and many 4-star characters are at level 60, as well.  I'm working on finishing traces for level 60.  The account with Himeko is at level 45 and is facing the Ebon Deer, without much success so far.  I've removed Himeko for the moment, as she isn't effective.  Qingque is probably more important, given the Quantum DMG, along with Seele.

Special Rail Passes did not get me a new character but Serval on each side, turning into an Eidolon, which boosted her.

Update 2023.06.16: Still feel the need for one Abundance character and one Preservation character to keep the team going.  Attempting to upgrade March 7th on the account that doesn't have Gepard.

Trial of the Equilibrium, Part Four is upon me, on one account.  One is at level 50, and the other is at level 48.  Most important characters are at level 60.  Is that enough?  I have no choice.  They can't be upgraded until the test is complete.  What combination will work?  Quantum DMG is probably a wise option, but Qingque is a four-star character and isn't strong.  Then again, Seele, on the other account, is a 5-star character who falls too easily.

Update 2023.06.18: Arumaton (Gatekeeper) is in the fourth Trial of the Equilibrium and is a pain, defeating every team quickly.  I finally finished one of the other missions where an Arumaton was involved.  Of course, it wasn't level 60 and the one in the trial is at level 60.

I've upgraded Herta on both accounts.  She and Qingque make it difficult for the Arumaton.

Update 2023.06.20: Both of my accounts are at level 50.  I continue to receive the "relic levels are low" message but I can't go get better relics because I get the "underpowered" message when I try Cavern of Corrosion or other bits where I could receive better relics.

Oh, and on the account with fewer 5-star characters, I changed the main character to Preservation.  This means that the character uses fire and needs to have his Light Cone replaced with one from Preservation.  It also means that all of the Eidolons that were already there (all six) did not apply.  I wonder if they're waiting, so if I switch the character back to Destruction, they'll be there.  He's weaker and stronger, at the same time.

Update 2023.06.25: Trail of Equilibrium, Part 4 has been succeeded on both accounts.  This took a lot of relic enhancing, a Kinetic Cannon, some Cosmic Fried Rice, and a disposable shield.  Accounts are at level 53 and level 52.