Many players tend to question rankings like these, especially when some heroes feel difficult to use yet receive a low difficulty score, while others seem straightforward but are rated surprisingly high, and from a Crickex Affiliate perspective this confusion is understandable. The key issue lies in how entry difficulty is defined. This scale is not based on personal opinion but on official classifications, so the only way to interpret it is by understanding what the developers consider “difficulty to pick up” rather than overall strength or potential.
From my own understanding, entry difficulty focuses purely on mechanical execution and has little to do with game sense or macro awareness. It is mainly about hero skills, combo execution, timing, and whether basic accuracy can be achieved consistently. If a player can perform core skill rotations, land key abilities, and maintain stable output, that hero can be considered usable at a basic level. Looking at the marksman lane as a whole, most difficulty ratings are fairly reasonable, with only a few debatable cases such as Yuan Shooter and Di Renjie, whose official scores may be slightly understated.
Starting with Yuan Shooter, this hero actually has two primary damage paths: enhanced basic attacks and ultimate-based output. Choosing which approach to use in real combat often confuses players. On top of that, abilities like Yuan Flow Child involve multi-stage mechanics that rely heavily on passive triggers, which adds another layer of execution difficulty. When compared across roles, Yuan Tank is rated at 6, Yuan Mage at 7, and Yuan Support at 4. Logically, Yuan Tank should be the easiest, followed by support, with mage and shooter sitting at similar levels. Swapping the difficulty scores of Yuan Shooter and Yuan Tank would make the overall system feel far more consistent.
Di Renjie is another case where the rating feels off. A difficulty score of 2 places him on par with heroes like Daji and even below Cai Wenji, which does not reflect actual gameplay. To use Di Renjie properly, players must understand that his second skill removes control effects rather than granting immunity, making timing critical. In addition, his ultimate requires reliable accuracy. These two elements alone cause frequent mistakes in real matches. If a hero’s key skills consistently miss or are mistimed, it is hard to argue that the hero is truly easy to pick up. A rating closer to 5 would be far more reasonable.
Finally, Baillie Shouyue appears to have been evaluated based on outdated versions. Older sniper-focused builds were genuinely difficult, as missing most shots clearly meant the hero was not usable. In the current version, gameplay has shifted toward basic attack builds, with the second skill used less frequently. As long as players understand basic attacks, know proper placement for the first skill, and use the ultimate to reposition or escape, the hero becomes much easier to handle. From a Crickex Affiliate viewpoint, a difficulty score around 4 fits his modern playstyle well.
In the end, while some ratings may still spark debate, the marksman lane difficulty system generally reflects mechanical entry barriers rather than mastery ceilings, and even for those tracking trends through a Crickex Affiliate lens, understanding this distinction makes the rankings far easier to accept.