Elena is rubbish

[Zook The Quest For Tasty Memes]

So I almost didn't finish this game when Elena appeared.
Just a horrible character with seemingly nothing to redeem her and the tasks she asks you to do with the pulsars and lighting is seemingly impossible. I didn't even get around to attempting the gold dragon because if I can't do the others then why bother?
I was looking forward to collecting all the achievements which is something I don't do often. Soon as this thing came along I realized there was no chance and it took a lot of the goodwilll the game had built up away.
A real shame she turned up right at the end to spoil things :/

[NickMcSleighten]

I totally understand. I didn't like Elena at first either, especially with her missions that felt waaay too difficult.
They're possible though! And likely you can do them so you can shoo Elena off to the Everdoor for your achievements lol

Here's a few tips on her missions if you like (I'm gonna mark them as spoiler for anyone looking to do this bit without tips and tricks)
The Gold Dragon is the same as the other dragons just twice as long, it's leagues easier if you have the Double Jump, Glide, and the Dash ability.
Sometimes you can skip the jumping across the dragons back part entirely if the Gold vein is low enough for you to double jump and dash on to lol

The Lightning I noticed tends to strikes within a reasonable distance to Stella - ie. if you're on the top of the boat, lightning won't strike the bottom and vice versa.
So it'd be super helpful to edit a couple of your buildings to be really high up with little to no difference in elevation and stand on it when the storm comes so that you don't have to move too much!

I never much liked any of the Pulsar missions but I did notice that having the ability, I forget what they call it, where Stella uses the everlight to make a ring around herself make it a hell of a lot easier because she can touch a wide range of the pulsars at once! It's especially useful when 3 fly by that're near to each other - which thankfully happens a lot towards the end of the pulsar missions
Also staying low on the boat seemed to help too which eventually had the pulsars aim downwards, though they don't always so I like to have one building ridiculously tall so I can scale the ladder and get pulsars at any elevation!
Though, one time, I did have pulsars fly at me from upside down. I HATED that way and refused to bother for the rest of that round lmao may be best to wait for it to end and try again if they come from beneath

Outside of that, the only other Elena relevant achievement is upgrading her house three times, which, if you still want to get all the trophies, I recommend doing because it's basically a big middle finger to her and may make you feel better lmao

Character wise she grew on me
I feel her nuance is more apparent when she talks about her life. She comes off to me as a distant person who has big feelings but refuses to connect with anyone because she's been hurt hard in the past and while she has good intentions to raise up people around her, she does so her way while thinking "pain will make you strong"
Which, while it has good intention, really sucks in action, yknow?

That's just how I feel though! Hope this was helpful if you decide to try again :)

[FrostRanger]

Elena is one of my favorite characters actually. Yes, she does have a difficult personality, but her intentions behind it are good and she does seem to want to see other succeed. One area where this is particularly apparent is when one improves their time on the gold dragon. She tells the player that while they did not make the time set, they did improve and she will not tell them their time because she does not want them to get discouraged. To me that says that she is someone who has high expectations for her students and only hard on them because she wants to push them to be the best they can be. Does she overdo it at times? yes. but her heart is in the right place. I also really appreciate her lack of nagging, after being nagged so much by Atul to bring him fried chicken Elena is like a breath of fresh air.... She is probably the least demanding passenger all things considered. The only things she asks for are a simple dwelling, some healthy food and to respect her personal space. Plus she does not affect the mood of the other passengers negatively *glares at Bruce and Mickey*. All in all if you can get past her tough exterior and difficult quests, she isn't a bad character at all.

[The Sojourner]

As a passenger, her needs are light, yes, but she has the most demanding quests out of anyone (save perhaps for Buck, whose quests are still pretty easy, even if numerous and adventurous). And she gives you nothing of value — her 3 challenges award you resources you already have (or can easily obtain elsewhere), and her rewards? Two treasure maps for unsellable objects, one of which you have to choose to let go of, and both of which may well be Stella's personal items (which, side note, makes me wonder if Stella actually gave into a demand while she was caring for Elena in the backstory). "But the reward is in the challenge!" you may say. Well, that's part of why I'm glad Elena is an optional character. I feel like I could challenge myself just fine without Elena's help.

Actually, the most difficult part about her is her mood more than anything. In fact, if sufficiently agitated, she not only can nag (e.g. "You still need to give me one of those items."), but she criticizes.

[wyrdplace]

While I MIGHT be able to do the pulsars and lightning, I seriously doubt I'll ever do the dragon. I tried it and it took twice as long as allotted. I have slow reflexes, coupled with tendonitis, so... no. It's not going to happen.

[wyrdplace]

Also, I ADORED Buck and his little group of gamers. I was so sad to see that questline end. But I game with friends, so it's very close to home for me.

[melindusty]

Elena is an interesting character--she's understandable a lot of times, and a lot of her dialogue is fine. When she really get's grating however if if you're the slightest bit bad at platforming (or are playing on a keyboard) and you have to constantly put up with her verbal abuse. I don't mind having to try again until I've done something correctly, but the constant berating really put a damper on my motivation. It doesn't help that the one way to get back at her is to violate her personal space, something that I have no desire to do.

I've curious if the devs meant her to be actually sympathetic, in which case they really should have changed her dialogue depending on your progress. Giovanni is a scumbag and a cheater, Astrid is a gossip, and Gustav is pretentious, but adults take their issues out on the people under their power are a special degree of bad.

[Daisy Ninja Girl]

I also found her a very unsympathetic character, although with the Beverley Upgrade she's a bit easier to handle - if you're having trouble on her challenges, she will tell you that she can grade you on the curve/give you points for tenacity and clock the difficulty down bit by bit. They're still freaking hard (I'm also clumsy with my hands), but on the other hand, being able to do the Gold Dragon on the original difficulty on my second playthrough, when it had been an immovable barrier on the first was an incredibly good feeling.

You will also find out that she thinks something nice about you, if you do the Archive Room Upgrade. (That was a nice bonus!)