Genshin Impact’s gacha system is referred to as the wish system, where players must make wishes to summon their desired characters and weapons. All available options have different odds depending on their rarities. The developer has put a Pity mechanism in place to ensure players get their selected item after a certain number of summons.
It can be quite difficult to understand the nuances associated with the wish system in Genshin Impact. We will cover how the pity and wish system works in Genshin Impact and explain all the different mechanisms influencing the drop rates.
Genshin Impact’s Wish System and Gacha Banners
Genshin Impact offers the following three different types of gacha banners, featuring different entities:
- Limited-time character banner: Offers featured 5-star characters
- Epitome Invocation weapons banner: Offers featured 5-star weapons
- Wanderlust Invocation Standard banner: Offers 5-star characters and weapons from the base pool
Players can choose to spend their Primogems, the main in-game currency, to make wishes on either of the abovementioned banners, depending on what they are seeking. Each wish requires 160 Primogems regardless of the banner.
Limited-time Character Banner
The limited-time character banner offers an exclusive 5-star character for a limited period, alongside three 4-star characters with boosted drop rates. Players can make wishes on this banner to stand a chance of obtaining any of the four offerings. While the chances of getting the featured 5-star character are abysmally low, the developer has put in place a Pity mechanism that guarantees it after a certain number of summons.
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HoYoverse has designed the gacha system of Genshin Impact in such a manner that players will receive a 4-star character every 10 wishes and a 5-star character every 90 wishes. In case the 4-star or 5-star unit they obtain isn’t among the featured ones, the next one they receive will be guaranteed to be a featured item.
This Pity system essentially ensures that gamers can obtain any of the rate-up 4-stars every 20 wishes, and get the featured 5-star character after making 180 wishes.
It is important to note that there are two other factors as well that can influence the odds of getting the 5-star. One of these is Soft Pity, which begins to take effect after the player has made 75 pulls. At this point, the odds of getting a 5-star gradually increase after each consecutive summon. This allows them to get a 5-star offering before reaching the Hard Pity of 90.
Another mechanism affecting the outcome is Capturing Radiance, which was recently added to the title in version 5.0. This feature triggers when a player loses 50/50 on the featured 5-star and is about to get a Standard banner character. It changes the outcome to make it so that the player gets the highlight character. However, this does not come into effect each time.
The odds of Capturing Radiance triggering the first time a player loses their 50/50 are quite low. It increases a bit the second time they lose one, and it is guaranteed to trigger the third time they lose their 50/50. This ensures that no gamers lose their 50/50 and end up not receiving the featured 5-star character three times in a row.
Epitome Invocation Weapons Banner
The Epitome Invocation weapons banner works similarly to the limited-time character banner, with some changes. Firstly, the Hard Pity for this banner is 80 wishes, and the Soft Pity begins to take effect from 65 wishes. As such, to get one of the guaranteed weapons, it requires 160 pulls.
Secondly, instead of having one featured 5-star item, it offers two of them. Therefore, even if the players win their 50/50 on the weapons banner, the odds of them receiving the weapon they desire are divided between the two offerings. To resolve this issue, HoYoverse introduced the Epitomized Path mechanism later on.
The Epitomized Path mechanism allows players to choose one of the two featured 5-star weapons prior to wishing and comes into play if they do not get their chosen item. The feature automatically provides them with a Fate Point, and having one of these points guarantees the next 5-star to be the selected one.
Wanderlust Invocation Standard Banner
The Wanderlust Invocation is the standard gacha banner of Genshin Impact that is available all year round. It offers a fixed group of 5-star characters and weapons, and any one of them can randomly drop when the players receive a 5-star item. It shares the same Hard Pity and Soft Pity as the limited-time character banner.
Here are all the characters that are obtainable from the standard banner:
- Diluc
- Jean
- Mona
- Qiqi
- Keqing
- Dehya
- Tighnari
- Mizuki.
Additionally, the following 5-star weapons are also part of the gacha pool:
- Amos’s Bow
- Primordial Jade Winged-Spear
- Lost Prayers to the Sacred Winds
- Wolf’s Gravestone
- Aquila Favonia
- Skyward Harp
- Skyward Spine
- Skyward Atlas
- Skyward Pride
- Skyward Blade
It is important to note that there is no way of guaranteeing any particular item from the standard banner gacha pool.
