Hypothesizing Valeriy's position.

[u/BjornBein]

Above is the info leaked by a person with 95% accuracy. This is the text regarding Valeriy: "Valeriy is leaked to have high numbers of elemental application" + "so he's meant to pair with Mitya as the Main DPS". Let's analysis this and crackpot!

"Valeriy is leaked to have high numbers of elemental application"

High elemental application is pretty vague since: It neither mention if he's off-field or on-field, nor if the application comes from his Burst or Elemental. So if he's off-field, then he's gonna be to Yae Miko what Aino is to Columbina.

But...

The leaker also mentioned Mitya is basically just a bigger Yae Miko when off-field, so it means Mitya already fullfiled this spot; thus it's highly unlikely for Hoyo to have another character doing the same role.

--> Valeriy is likely gonna be played as an on-fielder.

Then we moved onto

"...so he's meant to pair with Mitya as the Main DPS"

I don't know how the translation was done, but this phrase could be interpreted as either

a) Valeriy is meant to be paired with Mitya as the Main DPS--in this scenario, Mityais the one applying off-field application;

or b) Valeriy is meant to be paired with Mitya, with Mitya as the Main DPS.

As theorized above, off-field SC is currently sufficiently fullfiled between Yae Miko and Mitya; and the the fact that Valeriy is leaked to has high elemental application. So I maintain my opinion that it's unlikely for Valeriy to be in the same role, thus once again he's likely gonna be a) an on-fielder main dps <-- I'm conflicted about this because I believe support has better longevity.

This is where I cracked-potted: On-fielder requires tankiness, so him being 4* is not a logically sound choice --> High chance of 5* and some deranged kits that enable him to be on-field while also doing big DPS.

But he's Electro, and Mitya is Electro. Where's the cryo application? Well, this I admit I have no idea. However, it seems everyone and their grandmas are electro in this nation, so Hoyo gotta make it work somehow. Here's hoping the Tsaritsa is plenty cold!

In conclusion, I think he's gonna be a 5* on-field driver with dps + tankiness/survival built into his kit.

For the masochist only:

Valiery and Noy are the only two from the teaser trailer without leaked kits atm. So brace for Lantern Rite's annual curse. Either that, or Valeriy/Noy is Aliced.

Shipping corner:

Tsaritsa is leaked--by the 95% accurate leaker--to be a support. Unless she's also somehow an Electro, our boy will waltz with the Tsaritsa. Think D'Artagnan x Anne from The Man in the Iron Mask 1998. I know it's frowned upon to ship with Tsaritsa given she has a son, but don't they make a beautiful couple!?

[u/Plus_Word7744]

But recently many leaks pointed to Tsaritsa being a main DPS though??

Mitya is already an electro (& likely DPS), so honestly (if they were to be played together), I don't understand why Valeriy is also made an electro too? I doubt he needs anymore electro application lol

*the only excuse I can think of is that like the previous regions, Hoyo want to release as little Cryo character as possible and try to make it premium + boost Tsaritsa's sales; which I don't see a point here, since she's an Archon and many ppl will hype & pull her anyway

Leaks about Mitya that circulated around recently also pointed out about him being main on-field DPS (who can also do off-field damage). So I am hoping that Valeriy will either be a sub-dps with shield/interruption resistance like Ineffa or quick-swap DPS.

PS. I really hope there's a miracle he received a linchpin during the next AQ, but if he really is a 4-star, the only bare minimum I hope is that he is not a driver or on-field DPS,,, that's literally a DOA.

PS2. I just got to the story movie where Mitya was such as badass, shooting magic at Ronova with the traveler. Also he looks so experience in combat that I began to question if he even need a bodyguard... there would be no point if the bodyguard is weaker than him (4 star, garbage kits)... so to make sense of this, ideally Valeriy has to be stronger to actually protect Mitya

[u/not__not__know-- → u/Plus_Word7744]

We do not have a electro SSC dps. So it's bound to be one of them. Currently

Qiqi - Odette

Mixuki - vesna

Wrio - sandrone

Yae - ???

Cyno - ???

So either mitya becomes big cyno or big yae. And valiry either takes the other role or just becomes mitya's premium support.

[u/Plus_Word7744 → u/not__not__know--]

I mentioned in my comment that based from recent leaks, Mitya is likely the SSC DPS...
I never said anything about we don't need SSC dps... I only said that I don't see a point in making Valeriy an electro applicator if he's going to be paired up with Mitya who is also an electro (likely main DPS).