For "Honor of Kings: Chess", which doesn't rely on "fast reflexes," why is the network still so important?

When first starting to play "Honor of Kings: Chess," many people might think: it's not an FPS, nor is it a MOBA where you have to cast several skills in a second, so a slightly slower network shouldn't matter much.

Once you've played for a while, you realize that's not entirely the case.

Especially when you need to quickly adjust your lineup, refresh, move units, or handle critical turns, if there is always a slight delay between your actions and the server's response, the game will feel very strange.

It's not that you can't move at all, but rather that you always feel a step behind.

This feeling is sometimes even more frustrating than a clear disconnection.

Because your first reaction is often not that there is a network problem, but rather doubting whether you clicked correctly or if your device is lagging, and you might even click several times. As a result, when the network recovers, the previous actions are executed all at once, which messes up your rhythm.

Overseas players are more prone to this situation, and the reason is actually not complicated.

When you are abroad and connecting to a domestic server game, the data transmission has to travel a longer distance than for domestic players. Once the distance increases, there are more network segments in between, and as long as one segment becomes congested, latency and fluctuations can occur together.

It's fine during the day but lags at night; this situation is especially common.

Sometimes it's not "lag," but a kind of indescribable lack of smoothness.

There is a typical phenomenon when playing domestic games from overseas.

The speed test looks good, web pages open quickly, and overseas videos play in high definition, but as soon as you enter a domestic game, the experience is different.

This is not surprising.

The network paths and stability requirements for ordinary web pages and games are not exactly the same. When watching videos, the platform can pre-cache part of the content; games are different, as many operations require continuous data exchange with the server.

So when playing "Honor of Kings: Chess," you might encounter these situations:

The initial loading is occasionally slower than others;

The first few turns are fine, but then latency suddenly starts to appear;

During auctions or lineup adjustments, the click response is noticeably slower;

The Wi-Fi signal looks full, but the game still occasionally pauses;

It's comfortable to play during the day, but it becomes frustrating during the evening peak hours in the dormitory.

These don't necessarily trigger a network error, but they certainly affect your mood while playing.

To put it simply, what overseas players are really afraid of is not a single instance of high latency, but the network state fluctuating.

Don't rush to change your line; your device and Wi-Fi are also worth checking.

When encountering lag, I generally don't recommend blaming everything on the network immediately.

First, check your device.

If the game graphics themselves are not smooth, the interface stutters when dragging, and the device is obviously overheating, then lower the graphics settings first and close background programs that consume high resources.

It's not surprising that a laptop experiences frame drops when running a game while having dozens of browser tabs open and various other software running.

The same goes for mobile phones.

If the device temperature is already very high, the system will automatically reduce performance to control the heat, and the graphics will naturally become unsmooth.

In such cases, just adjusting the network doesn't make much sense.

But if the graphics are always smooth, and it's just that there is occasionally no response after an action, or the game loading speed is inconsistent, then it is more likely a network link issue.

There is also a very practical little trick.

On the same device, play for a while using your home Wi-Fi, then try using your mobile hotspot.

If the hotspot is significantly more stable, the problem is likely with your local broadband or Wi-Fi environment; if it's the same after changing the network, then you need to consider the line connecting overseas to the domestic server.

This kind of test is very simple, but much more useful than changing settings randomly.

In overseas dormitories and shared housing, the network is particularly prone to "changing faces" at night.

Many international students should have this experience.

The game was fine in the afternoon, but by 8 or 9 PM, the whole network feels like a different one.

Videos start buffering, download speeds slow down, and game latency goes up.

The problem is often not that your computer suddenly broke, but that everyone on the same network has started using it.

Someone is watching 4K videos, someone is downloading large files, someone is live streaming, and someone else is playing games. When everyone crowds onto one network, the stability of the local Wi-Fi will naturally be affected.

Therefore, for computers that can use an Ethernet cable, try to use a wired connection as much as possible.

If you can only use a wireless network, prioritize 5GHz or Wi-Fi 6, and try to minimize obstacles like walls and excessive distance.

Don't underestimate these basic adjustments; sometimes just moving the computer a little closer from the corner of the room can significantly reduce network fluctuations.

Of course, if there is no obvious problem with the local network, but it is still unstable when connecting to the domestic server, it is time to deal with the other part of the line.

HiCN mainly optimizes the path for overseas connections to domestic servers.

HiCN return-to-China accelerator is more suitable for solving problems such as excessively long links, detours, and peak-hour fluctuations when overseas devices connect to domestic games and network services.

What it does is not to suddenly make your computer's performance higher, but to perform network optimization for the return-to-China direction, allowing data transmission to take a more stable path.

For "Honor of Kings: Chess," this stability is actually quite important.

Because it doesn't necessarily require you to push the latency to an exaggeratedly low value, but at least it shouldn't be normal one moment and suddenly jump high the next.

I actually think that when playing this kind of game, keeping the network at a relatively stable level is more meaningful than occasionally seeing a particularly beautiful latency number.

HiCN currently supports Windows, iOS, Android, and routers.

If you mainly play on a computer, you can use the Windows version directly; if you play more on your phone, use iOS or Android; if you have many devices at home, the router version will be more convenient.

Especially in overseas households or shared housing environments, it is common for one computer to be playing games, a phone to be playing music, and a TV to be streaming shows.

Handling the return-to-China network needs centrally will be much simpler than struggling with each device separately.

Don't just focus on "Honor of Kings: Chess"; there are actually many similar scenarios in daily overseas life.

Many overseas Chinese and international students use return-to-China accelerators, and usually not just for one game.

Maybe you play "Honor of Kings: Chess" during the day, watch domestic videos at night, listen to NetEase Cloud or other domestic music apps while eating, and watch sports live streams on weekends.

These needs have one thing in common: you are overseas, but you are mainly connecting to domestic network services.

So when choosing a tool, if you only look at whether one specific game works, it's a bit of a waste.

In addition to network optimization for domestic games, HiCN can also cover daily usage scenarios such as listening to music, watching shows, and watching live streams.

From a practical experience perspective, this "one tool for multiple scenarios" approach is much easier.

You don't need to install one thing to play games today and change to another to watch shows tomorrow.

Overseas life is already trivial enough; if you can worry less about the network, the experience will really be much better.

When playing "Honor of Kings: Chess," I recommend testing the line this way.

After turning on the return-to-China accelerator, don't think it's solved just because you see a decrease in latency once.

It's best to play a few full games.

Focus on a few areas:

Is the loading more stable than before when entering the game and matches?

When lineup adjustments are frequent, is there any noticeable lag in operation feedback?

During evening peak hours, does the latency suddenly fluctuate significantly?

Can the network state be maintained after playing for half an hour or even longer?

These have more reference value than looking at a single moment's number.

If the experience with the current node is average, you can also switch to another line and compare.

Overseas networks are very region-dependent.

The network environments in Singapore, Los Angeles, Vancouver, London, Berlin, or Sydney are all different, so the performance of the same line in different places may naturally vary.

Therefore, the most practical way is to test it yourself.

What others say about latency is only for reference; your own actual experience is the final standard.

One last word: prioritize stability, then talk about low latency.

When playing "Honor of Kings: Chess" overseas, there is really no need to always pursue so-called "extreme numbers."

As long as the network is stable, the operation feedback is normal, and the match process doesn't suddenly go haywire, the overall experience is often already much improved.

What is truly troublesome is sudden changes in latency.

Being smooth one minute and suddenly freezing the next—this kind of network fluctuation is what most easily affects judgment and operation.

So a more reasonable approach should be:

Ensure device performance is fine, keep local Wi-Fi as stable as possible, and then optimize the line connecting overseas to the domestic server.

Handling these three things together usually has a more obvious effect than adjusting one place alone.

If you often play domestic games overseas and also listen to music, watch shows, or watch domestic live streams, the HiCN return-to-China accelerator will be more suitable for this comprehensive usage scenario. It supports Windows, iOS, Android, and routers. New users can first experience 3–7 days of free trial, and decide after seeing how it actually performs in your area.

One last thing: enter the code 1124, and you can receive free membership acceleration time.