Players of gacha games have likely heard ofGenshin Impactat 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 withGenshin Impactwas 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, whichGenshin Impactlocks behind a banner system.
Like most gacha titles, certain characters are only available in certain banners. However,Genshin Impactdoes 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
Thegacha mechanics inGenshin Impactare all encapsulated within the concept ofWishes. Players can Wish by spendingFates, of which there are two kinds depending on their chosen banner. Players can acquire Fates with the following methods.
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Beginners’ Wish
WhenplayingGenshin Impactfor 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 throughBeginners’ 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:
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 theStandard Banner, theWanderlust Invocationserves 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:
Standardized Cast
Generally, there’s not a lot of “appeal” trying to grab characters from the Standard Banner, as all of them will attempt 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.
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Likewise, 5-Star Weapons include all Skyward variants in addition to the following:
Finally, among 4-Star characters, only major support units are notable acquisitions. These include:
Weapon Event Wish
While players can acquire random weapons throughout any of the banners,Genshin Impactalso 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 featurestwo 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:
Epitomized Path, Pity Carry Over
Unique to the Weapon Banner is the concept of theEpitomized Path. Whenever a new Weapon Banner isreleased inGenshin 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 allGenshin Impactgacha gameplay, theCharacter Event Wish, also known as theCharacter 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-new5-Star charactersare allocated to the Character Event Wish, which highlights their arrival in the game. There arethree 4-Star Charactershighlighted in Character Event Wishes that have boosted probabilities. Here are other things to take note about this banner:
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 Impactplayers 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 ofgetting a featured 4-Star Characteronce 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.
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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, theCharacter Event Wish-2is 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.
Rerun Opportunities, Pity Sharing, & Carry Over
The most exciting part about Character Event Wish-2 is how thisfeatures 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 Impactis available on PC, iOS, Android, PS4, and PS5.
