Players of gacha games have likely heard of Genshin Impact at some point in their journey, especially with the game’s riveting storyline combined with its exciting action-packed gameplay. However, perhaps what got gacha players excited with Genshin Impact was its cast of amazing characters, each with unique appearances as well as interesting sets of abilities. As with other gacha titles, players don’t just need luck, but also special currencies to acquire their beloved characters, which Genshin Impact locks behind a banner system.
Like most gacha titles, certain characters are only available in certain banners. However, Genshin Impact does spice up the gacha formula by having multiple options for banners, as well as many ways of acquiring its currencies, called Wishes and Fates. How should players approach this system?
How To Get Wishes
The gacha mechanics in Genshin Impact are all encapsulated within the concept of Wishes. Players can Wish by spending Fates, of which there are two kinds depending on their chosen banner. Players can acquire Fates with the following methods.
- Trade them for 160 Primogems: With 160 Primogems, players can obtain 1 Acquaint Fate or 1 Intertwined Fate. From the banner screen, Primogems are immediately spent if they have the required amount for a single pull or a ten-pull (1600 Primogems) without having to exchange them.
- Masterless Glitter from Paimon’s Bargains: In the banner screen, players can access the Shop menu and trade in-game collected currency via Paimon’s Bargains. They can acquire one Fate of their choice by trading 5 Masterless Starglitter, which they can get when securing a copy of a character they already possess.
- Masterless Stardust from Paimon’s Bargains: Masterless Stardust is an alternate currency players can use to get Fates, and they can acquire it through various tasks in the game. Players can trade 75 Masterless Stardust for one 1 Fate, and they can get up to five of each Fates in this way per month.
- Battle Pass: Every ten levels of the Battle Pass gives players one Fate reward. Free players can immediately get one Acquaint Fate, while those who get the Premium Battle Pass also get a free Intertwined Fate.
Beginners’ Wish
When playing Genshin Impact for the first time, players can slowly unlock a slate of free characters throughout the first few hours. In addition to Amber, Kaeya, and Lisa, the gacha title is generous enough to offer another character for players to use: Noelle. This Claymore-toting trainee-maid of the Knights of Favonius is available only through Beginners’ Wish, a banner specifically made for new players. Beginners’ Wish is exactly the same as the Standard Banner, except for the lower cost and the guaranteed acquisition of Noelle before it ends. Here are things to take note for the Beginners’ Wish:
- Cost: 20% less cost for 10-pull. This means while the Beginners’ Wish still needs one Acquaint Fate per Wish, it now only costs 8 Acquaint Faint for a standard 10-pull.
- Pity: The first 10-pull guarantees Noelle, with the second 10-pull guaranteeing one other 4-Star or 5-Star character.
- Deadline: 20 Wishes. The Beginners’ Wish only lasts for 20 Wishes, and it disappears afterward. This serves as a way for the game to introduce the gacha mechanics to newcomers.
Guaranteed Noelle, Small Selection
As mentioned, the most notable characteristic of the Beginners’ Wish is its inclusion of Noelle as part of its guaranteed acquisitions. Throughout the banner, players are sure to grab Noelle within their first 10-pull, as well as one other 4-Star or 5-Star character.
Meanwhile, the player can nab characters and weapons from a smaller pool of beginner-friendly characters. While there aren’t any 5-Star or 4-Star Weapons that can be accessed via this banner, there are some 5-Star characters present. These include Diluc (Pyro), Jean (Anemo), Keqing (Electro), Mona (Hydro), and Qiqi (Cryo).
Wanderlust Invocation
Also known as the Standard Banner, the Wanderlust Invocation serves as the “permanent” banner where most 4-Star characters and a handful of exclusive 5-Star characters appear. Compared to other Character Banners, the Standard Banner doesn’t expire, meaning most characters follow a fairly structured probability range. There aren’t any boosted odds, which are usually present in exclusive Character Banners.
This usually makes the Standard Banner the last in line for Wish priorities. Not only does it have an exclusive Fate currency, it’s also the one with no hard “deadline” for its offerings. Here are other things to take note of the Wanderlust Invocation:
- Cost: 1 Acquaint Fate for a Wish, and 10 Acquaint Fates for a standard 10-pull.
- Pity: There is a 0.6% chance to get either a 5-Star Character or Weapon, and a 5.1% chance to get a 4-Star Character or Weapon. Guaranteed 4-Stars happen every 10th Wish, and guaranteed 5-Stars happen within every 90th Wish. These guarantee rates overlap and don’t affect each other.
- Deadline: No time limit
Standardized Cast
Generally, there’s not a lot of “appeal” trying to grab characters from the Standard Banner, as all of them will try to make appearances in the Character Banners anyway. For instance, every 5-Star Character in the Beginner’s Wish appear in the Standard Banner, with Tighnari (Dendro) and Deyha (Pyro) being recent additions.
Likewise, 5-Star Weapons include all Skyward variants in addition to the following:
- Wolf’s Gravestone (Claymore)
- Primordial Jade-Winged Spear (Polearm)
- Amos’ Bow (Bow)
- Aquila Favonia (Sword)
- Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds (Catalyst)
Finally, among 4-Star characters, only major support units are notable acquisitions. These include:
- Barbara (Hydro)
- Bennett (Pyro)
- Gorou (Geo)
- Layla (Cryo)
- Xingqiu (Hydro)
- Yanfei (Pyro)
Weapon Event Wish
While players can acquire random weapons throughout any of the banners, Genshin Impact also offers a banner exclusive for rarer weapons. Also known as the Weapon Banner, this Wish roster ties 5-Star weapons as the main stars of the show. The Banner features two 5-Star Weapons and five 4-Star Weapons.
Interestingly, each 5-Star weapon serves as the “primary” armament tied to the characters presented in the Character Banners. Given the lack of immediate capturable characters, the Weapon Banner is recommended only for players who want to pursue a favorite 5-Star character’s most ideal growth path. Here are some things to note:
- Cost:1 Intertwined Fate for a single Wish, and 10 Intertwined Fates for a 10-pull.
- Pity: There’s a 0.7% chance to get a 5-Star Weapon, and a 6% chance for a 4-Star Character or Weapon. This time, the 4-Star guarantee happens during the 10th Wish, and the 5-Star guarantee happens within the 80th Wish.
- Deadline: The Weapon Event lasts as long as the current Character Banner, which usually runs for 21 Days.
Epitomized Path, Pity Carry Over
Unique to the Weapon Banner is the concept of the Epitomized Path. Whenever a new Weapon Banner is released in Genshin Impact, players can choose either of the game’s promoted items as their “Epitomized Path.” This means that, should players not get their Epitomized Path weapon by the time they get a 5-Star, the second time they get a 5-Star will always be the Epitomized Path weapon. The Epitomized Path can be replaced at any time, and resets to zero after acquiring the chosen weapon or if the player chooses another Epitomized Path.
Pity also works differently in the Weapon Banner. For instance, there’s a 75% chance that a 4-Star pull is any of the featured 4-Star Weapons. There’s also a 75% chance that the 5-Star pull is any one of the featured 5-Star Weapons. Pity acquired in the Weapon Banner is carried over to the next Weapon Banner.
Character Event Wish
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of all Genshin Impact gacha gameplay, the Character Event Wish, also known as the Character Banner, serves as the highlight of any patch release. The Character Event Wish puts at the forefront a pair of characters, usually new releases. Brand-new 5-Star characters are allocated to the Character Event Wish, which highlights their arrival in the game. There are three 4-Star Characters highlighted in Character Event Wishes that have boosted probabilities. Here are other things to take note about this banner:
- Cost: 1 Intertwined Fate for every Wish, with a 10-pull costing 10 Intertwined Fates.
- Pity: There’s a 0.6% chance of acquiring a 5-Star Character or Weapon, and a 5.1% chance of getting a 4-Star Character or Weapon. Players get a guaranteed 4-Star every 10 Wishes, while they get a 5-Star guaranteed after 90 Wishes.
- Deadline: 21 Days, a timeline shared with the Weapon Event Wish.
Grab The 5-Star Before They’re Lost
The most exciting element involving Character Banners is its boosted odds, particularly for their set of featured characters. Genshin Impact players get an additional 50% chance of acquiring the featured character of a particular category provided they reach pity. For instance, there’s another 50% chance of getting a featured 4-Star Character once players reach 10 Wishes. The same probability is applied when players are about to get a featured 5-Star within 90 Wishes. It helps to note that the odds of getting a 5-Star are seemingly boosted within the 70th to 90th Wish.
This mechanic is tied to the nature brand-new characters, who often take time to get their respective reruns. For instance, Alhaitham has yet to get a second rerun since his January 2023 release, while Shenhe, who was released in January 2022,had her second rerun in March 2023.
Character Event Wish-2
While almost identical in principle to the Character Event Wish, the Character Event Wish-2 is special as it is heavily tied to previously-existing 5-Star units. As this banner highlights reruns, players who are gunning for a previously released character may want to Wish in Event Wish-2 instead of using their Fates for a new character in Event Wish-1. There may be instances where both Character Banners are reruns, which means their treatment is identical to Event Wish-2.
- Cost: 1 Intertwined Fate for every Wish, with a 10-pull costing 10 Intertwined Fates.
- Pity: Gamers have a 0.6% chance of acquiring a 5-Star Character or Weapon, and a 5.1% chance of a 4-Star Character or Weapon. Players get a guaranteed 4-Star every 10 Wishes, while they get a 5-Star guaranteed after 90 Wishes.
- Deadline: 21 days, shared with the Weapon Event Wish.
Rerun Opportunities, Pity Sharing, & Carry Over
The most exciting part about Character Event Wish-2 is how this features previously-released characters. Moreover, pity is shared between Character Event Wish and Character Event Wish-2. This means that players who don’t get a 5-Star Character/Weapon within 49 Wishes and those who don’t get a 4-Star Character/Weapon within 9 Wishes in Event Wish-1 may grab Event Wish-2’s offerings by the time they get to 90 Wishes (for 5-Stars) and 10 Wishes (for 4-Stars).
Players who haven’t grabbed their 5-Star by 50 Wishes should likely switch over to the other banner if they have a change of heart. If not, a few 10-pulls will likely guarantee their favored character. Moreover, both Event Wish-1 and Event Wish-2 carry over their pity to the next Event Wish batch. This means players can theoretically plan the acquisition of characters if they “try their luck” not getting their favored characters in a current banner, “saving up” pity for characters they’re waiting to rerun.
Genshin Impact is available on PC, iOS, Android, PS4, and PS5.