Genshin Impact is, first and foremost, a gacha game. To get access to different strategies and more team combinations you will need to obtain new characters, which involves premium currency, a bit of luck, and a pity system that will act as some sort of aid for the unluckier players. Today, we will talk about wishes and that pity system, and how they work.
While you're here, be sure to check out our guide to all Genshin Impact Electroculus locations and Genshin Impact Sakura Bloom locations. We also have a regularly updated Genshin Impact codes guide if you're looking for some handy freebies.
What are Genshin Impact Wishes and banners?
Wishes are the gacha system in Genshin Impact and are organized in separate Banners with their own pools of items. There are two main types of Banners: the permanent Standard Banner, called Wanderlust Invocation, and limited-time Event Banners, one showcasing prominent characters and another focusing on weapons.
The Wanderlust Invocation Banner is always available and requires the item Acquaint Fate to pull from it. There’s an alternate version of it called Beginners' Wish, which is available indefinitely until all 20 pulls are made, has a 20% discount on the Acquaint Fate required to pull, and guarantees the player receives Noelle and one other 4 or 5-star character within the 20 pulls.
Limited-time Event Wishes are split into two Banners, one for characters and one for weapons, and to pull from them you will need Intertwined Fates instead of Acquaint Fates. Character Event Wishes have one promotional character and three featured 4-Star characters, and Weapon Event Wishes will have two promotional 5-Star weapons and five featured weapons.
Players can buy either of the Fates for 160 Primogems in the Wishes Menu, or 75 Masterless Stardust/5 Masterless Staglitter in the Paimon's Bargains Shop. There are also in-game methods of obtaining Fates, such as ascending characters or through the Battle Pass.
Genshin Impact Wishes - drop rates
Standard Wish Characters
For the Standard Banner “Wanderlust Invocation”, the drop rates are the following:
Rarity | Rate |
|---|---|
Five-Star Character | 0.2% |
Five-Star Weapon | 0.4% |
Four-Star Character | 2.2% |
Four-Star Weapon | 2.9% |
Three-Star Weapon | 94.3％ |
Event Wish Characters
For Event Banners that have 1 promotional 5-Star character and 3 featured 4-Star characters, the drop rates are the following:
Rarity | Base Rate | Average Rate |
|---|---|---|
Five-Star Character | 0.6% | 1.6% |
Four-Star Character or Weapon | 5.1% | 13% |
Three-Star Weapon | 94.3% | 85.4% |
Event Wish Weapons
For Event Banners that have multiple promotional 5-Star weapons and multiple featured 4-Star weapons, the drop rates are the following:
Rarity | Base Rate | Average Rate |
|---|---|---|
Five-Star Character | 0.7% | 1.85% |
Four-Star Character or Weapon | 6% | 14.5% |
Three-Star Weapon | 93.3% | 83.65% |
Rules and the pity system
Every Banner has an inherent Pity system, that will guarantee rare characters or weapons when several factors come into play, as listed below:
Pity system for characters
- 4-Star Character Drop Guarantee: If a player does not win any 4-Star or above character after 9 pulls, then the 10th pull is guaranteed to be a 4-Star or higher item. The count will reset if you pull any 4-Star or above item.
- Featured 4-Star Character Drop Guarantee: Every time a player wins a 4-Star item, there is a 50% chance it will be one of the featured 4-Star characters. If the one that dropped is not one of the featured characters, the next 4-Star one is guaranteed to be one of the featured ones, thus requiring a maximum of 20 pulls to win a featured banner character.
- 5-Star Character Drop Guarantee: If a player does not win any 5-Star item after 89 pulls, the 90th pull is guaranteed to be a 5-Star item. If you pull any 5-Star item, the count will reset, and promotional character banners do not contain 5-Star weapons in their item pool.
- Promotional 5-Star Character Drop Guarantee: Every time a player wins a 5-Star item, there is a 50% chance it will be the promotional 5-Star character. If the one that dropped is not the promotional character, the next 5-Star one is guaranteed to be the promotional character, thus requiring a maximum of 180 pulls to win the promotional banner character.
Pity system for weapons
- 4-Star Weapon Drop Guarantee: If a player does not win a 4-star or above item 9 pulls in a row the 10th pull is guaranteed to be a 4-Star or higher item. This counter will reset if the player pulls any 4-Star or above item.
- Featured 4-Star Weapon Drop Guarantee: Every time a player wins a 4-Star item from a wish, it is a 75% chance to be one of the featured 4-star weapons. If the one that dropped is not one of the featured weapons, the next 4-star one is guaranteed to be featured weapons.
- 5-Star Weapon Drop Guarantee: If a player does not win a 5-Star item 79 pulls in a row, the 80th pull is guaranteed to be a 5-Star item. This counter will reset if the player pulls any 5-Star item.
- Promotional 5-Star Weapon Drop Guarantee: Every time a player wins a 5-Star item from a wish, there is a 75% chance it will be a promotional 5-Star weapon. If the one that dropped is not one of the promotional weapons, the next 5-Star one is guaranteed to be a promotional weapon. Promotional weapon banners do not contain 5-Star characters in their item pool.
Count and guarantee carry-over
Each banner of the same type shares the count and guarantees. This means that your count for the current promotional character banner will be carried over to the next promotional character banner, but not the promotional weapon banner or the standard wish since each type of banner has its own counter.
For example, if one pulls 89 3/4-Star items on promotional character banner A, then the first pull on the following promotional character banner B will be a guaranteed 5-star character. Likewise, if one pulled a non-promotional 5-star character on banner A, then the next 5-star character on promotional banner B will be guaranteed to be the promotional one.
How to farm Genshin Impact Wishes
In Genshin Impact, there are several ways you can farm wishes across the game. Some are rewarded as Battle Pass and Ascension drops, or the necessary currency can also be bought. These are the following ways to farm Wishes:
Primogems
Intertwined Fates and Acquaint Fates are mainly bought with Primogems. Each one costs 160 Primogems, and you can use them to pull on different Character and Weapon Banners, or Wanderlust Invocation Standard Banner.
Masterless Stardust
Masterless Stardust can only be received from Wishes, you will get 15 Masterless Stardust for every 3-star weapon you receive. The only current use for Masterless Stardust is to trade it in for other items in the Paimon's Bargains shop. Every month, a maximum amount of 5 Intertwined Fates and 5 Acquaint Fates can be bought by 75 Masterless Stardust each.
Masterless Starglitter
Masterless Starglitter is a special currency that is used to purchase rare items, Intertwined or Acquaint Fates, or a monthly rotation of characters and weapons from the Paimon's Bargains shop. If a player obtains a 4/5-Star weapon or a character that they already own, they will receive Masterless Starglitter. The amount rewarded depends on the rarity of the item or character and how many times a player has pulled duplicates of it before, giving you 5 Masterless Starglitter if you already maxed out that character’s constellations.
Character Ascension & Adventure Rank Rewards
Ascending Characters will award you one Acquaint Fate on the First, Third, and Fifth Ascension phases. Adventure Rank Ascension will also award you one Acquaint Fate on the First, Second, and Fourth Ascension phases.
Battle Pass
Every Battle pass gives you 5 Acquainted Fates if you play the free version, and adds 4 Intertwined Fates and 680 Primogems if you pay the Gnostic Hymn.
Genesis Crystals
Well, if everything above fails or bores you, you can always pay for Genesis Crystals in the Shop. These, in turn, can be exchanged for the same amount of Primogems, or buy character alternate outfits (only Jean has one so far). Keep in mind, the first time you buy every price category of Genesis Crystals, you will receive double the crystals, but only the first time.
And that's it! Now you know everything you need to get new characters and weapons! You can also check our useful Tier List to know more about the many characters in Genshin Impact, and also our Weapons guide, so you know what to equip your team with!