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Genshin Impact, the Gacha-based RPG from Chinese studio miHoyo, has grown massively since its 2020 release. A steady stream of new updates, characters, and events have kept players coming back again and again, pouring both time and vast amounts of money into the popular title. One of Genshin Impact's biggest draws is its huge roster of interesting characters and well-designed weaponry, but not all of them are easy to acquire.
Many of Genshin Impact's most-desirable characters and weapons can only be obtained by participating in the game's Gacha system and hoping to get lucky with Wishes. Thankfully, there is a pity system in place that makes getting 4-star and 5-star items in Genshin Impact slightly easier, though some players may be confused about certain aspects of this mechanic. For those fans that are looking to have these confusions alleviated, this guide has full details on Genshin Impact's pity system.
Updated April 1, 2022 by John Higgs: Genshin Impact continues to grow into spring 2022, with no sign of a pause in the stream of new characters, events, and regions. The game updated to version 2.6 this March, introducing a slew of new content including the 5-star character Kamisato Ayato, the Chasm region, the Haran Geppaku Futsu sword, and much more.
Though many players are anxious to get their hands on Ayato and the sword designed for his build, only those with enough Wishes to trigger Genshin Impact's pity system are guaranteed a shot at them. On the other hand, players who aren't interested in the elegant head of the Kamisato Clan will be wise to save their Wishes for whichever character is next on the update list.
How The Pity System Works In Genshin Impact
To put things simply, the pity system in Genshin Impact guarantees that players will always receive items of certain rarities within a designated number of Wishes. For instance, if a fan makes nine consecutive Wishes without earning an item of 4-star rarity or higher, then they are guaranteed to obtain such an item on their tenth Wish. Something similar is in place for 5-star rarity items, though the pity system does not kick in here until a player has made 89 Wishes without getting one of those very rare items.
This means that the chance of pulling a 4-star or 5-star item is actually a bit higher than what is indicated on a Banner, which is only the base rate at which those items are awarded. More specifically, the rate for 4-star items climbs to 13-14.5% when factoring in the pity system. The rate for 5-star items rises to 1.6-1.85% when doing the same. While this is not an extremely significant jump, it may at least help fans with their eyes on items like Genshin Impact's Rust Bow feel more hopeful.
Is The Pity System Per Banner Or Overall?
The pity system tracks Wishes on a per-Banner basis. This means that Genshin Impact players cannot make 89 Wishes on the Standard Banner, and then receive a guaranteed 5-star item from an Event Banner by putting their 90th Wish there. However, fans' pity progress will carry over to new Event Banners when they launch, as well as apply to both of the currently-active Event Banners at the same time. Thus, if a player is sitting at 89 Wishes without a 5-star on the Venti banner when it ends, their first wish on the subsequent character promo banner will guarantee a 5-star.
Anytime a player receives a 4-star or 5-star character from an Event Banner, they will have a 50/50 chance of it being the character (or one of the three characters in case of 4-stars) that is featured on that Banner. If they lose this 50/50 and receive a character that isn't featured, the next time they get that same chance they'll be guaranteed to receive the featured character. For example, players who get a non-Venti 5-star character from Venti's banner will be guaranteed to get the featured character the next time they get a 5-star on any Event Banner.
The Soft Pity System In Genshin Impact
In addition to the hard pity system in Genshin Impact that guarantees a 5-star for every 90 Wishes, there is also a soft pity cap that increases the odds of getting a 5-star before 90 has been reached. Although the exact numbers aren't known, it's clear that the odds of getting a 5-star character increase significantly after players have made at least 74 Wishes since their last 5-star. Because of this system, it's likely that most players won't have to go all the way to 90 to receive a 5-star character.
Regardless of whether the soft pity was triggered, the counters toward a guaranteed 4-star or 5-star item immediately reset upon receiving an item of one of those rarities. While this may be well understood from the preceding description of the mechanic, it is worth clarifying. Fans should not expect the pity system to kick in if their Wishes in Genshin Impact are consistently returning items of the higher rarities.
How Weapon Banners Are Different In Genshin Impact
Although the Weapon Event Banner uses the same pity system as the other Genshin Impact Banners, it works a little differently. While the rate of 4-star drops is the same in a Weapon Event Banner, the hard pity cap for 5-star weapons drops from 90 to 80. The soft pity cap is also lowered, increasing the odds of players gaining a 5-star anywhere after their 64th Wish.
In place of the 50/50 chance to get the featured 5-star character on a Character Event Banner, the Weapon Event Banner uses a system called the Epitomized Path. This allows players to select which 5-star weapon they are most interested in, and accumulate Fate Points every time they get the wrong one. Once players have accumulated 2 Fate Points, their next 5-star weapon is guaranteed to be the one they selected as their Epitomized Path.
Genshin Impact is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5, and later on Switch.
Source: Fanbyte