Since Genshin Impact debuted in 2020, its roster of playable characters has rapidly increased. The game is approaching a point where the large number of characters makes fans wait a considerably long time to obtain specific 5-stars. If players are seeking a specific character, they could be waiting for a year or more before that specific Genshin Impact character’s banner is featured again.
The current two-banner system in Genshin Impact cannot keep up with the influx of new characters that come with every major title update. Whether this new system means more banners or a rework of the current live systems, something has to change, otherwise the wait for specific characters is only going to get worse.
Genshin Impact’s Ever-Growing Roster
Genshin Impact’s major title updates typically span the course of nine version updates. Over the course of these updates, several new Genshin Impact characters are typically added. Since the launch of 3.0, up to the current 3.6 version update, seven new 5-star characters have been featured on the limited banners – though two of them, Dehya and Tighnari, were added to the standard banner following their featured rate-up banners.
Every version update’s banner cycle is typically broken into two halves, and each half has different featured banners. Following the 2.8 update, each half typically has two limited banners, either being one new character and one rerun character, or two rerun characters. Even with this many rerun banners, some characters are being left out of rotation for an incredibly long time. Mondstadt’s beloved physical DPS, Eula, has been absent from featured banners since December 14, 2021.For example, Shenhe debuted in Genshin Impact in Version 2.4, and did not get her first rerun until 3.5 - a 20-banner gap.
The Benefit of More Banners in Genshin Impact
The simplest way to fix this issue is to have a third banner running at any given time, one that's dedicated to rerun characters. This would give players more choice on how to spend their hard-earned (or hard-purchased) primogems while helping prevent 20+ banner droughts for characters that fans are eagerly awaiting reruns for.
As the game continues to grow, it will be harder to keep up with both new characters and rerun characters, so adding banners would alleviate the stress and FOMO tied to banners that come around once every two years. This would also give players more opportunities to gain constellations for the 5-star Genshin Impact characters they want. This may also limit the impulse to “whale” for constellations when a specific character’s banner is live, as fans would have more assurance that the wait for the next banner would not be nearly as long.
Reworking Genshin Impact’s Epitomized Path Mechanic
An alternative approach to this dilemma would be to add a modified epitomized path option to the limited banner, similar to what some Genshin Impact fans are suggesting for the standard banner. Since limited banners have the same 4-star offerings, the change could mean that there is only one limited banner with three 5-star characters tied to it. Players could simply pick which 5-star they want to set a path for, and after they lose the 50/50 they will get their chosen 5-star on the next pull.
While this seems no different than the option of having a third banner, down the road this option could allow players to select one out of a list of perhaps four or five different 5-stars to set a course for as more get added. This option may help limit the overwhelming number of options that multiple Genshin Impact banners may have for newer players with one simplified banner that players can decide what is featured on.
Adapting Genshin's Weapon Banner for More Characters
One potential side-effect of adjusting the character banner format is that it would be a great opportunity to introduce a second, rotating weapon banner. There are several 5-star weapons that are not tied to any limited 5-star characters, such as Memory of Dust or Summit Shaper. Additionally, with Tighnari and Dehya being added to the standard banner, their exclusive weapons Hunter’s Path and Beacon of the Reed Sea, respectively, are not going to be featured as regularly. A second weapon banner could rotates in these “independent” weapons and weapons for characters who are no longer limited-run.
There are many players who would kill to have a better shot at weapons like Amos Bow, Wolf’s Gravestone, and Primordial Jade Cutter, all of which are occasionally featured on the limited weapon banner but can be found on the standard. The second weapon banner would be a perfect opportunity to feature those weapons without being in contest with other limited 5-star weapons. Some of these weapons not tied to any specific 5-star are among the best weapons in Genshin Impact, so a more dedicated path to acquire them would go a long way.
Whether Genshin Impact adds more banners every update, reinvents its pathing option, or comes up with a new solution entirely, Genshin Impact is approaching the point where a solution must be made so thatsome limited 5-star characters are not left behind. There are players who have been playing since before 3.0 that may only think Eula is a character who appears as an NPC. While not every Genshin Impact update brings a new 5-star character, they come at such a frequency that it's hard to keep up.
Genshin Impact is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.
