Genshin Impact players are struggling to attain 5-star characters and equipment, causing the to question whether it is really a free to play game. The truth of the matter is that getting these characters is extremely unlikely, and those wanting the chance to use them may end up needing to spend a bit of real world money.

Like any Gacha game, Genshin Impact provides players with the resources they need in game to make wishes and unlock characters. More often than not, these wishes will result in three-star weapons and occasionally a four-star character, but five-star drops are incredibly rare.

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Players wanting to know how to get five-star characters and equipment in Genshin Impact need look no further than the game's drop rates listed under each event. These tell players exactly how likely it is that they will get the character they're looking for, though the answer may not be what most players were hoping to see.

Genshin Impact Wishes Guide

For starters, it should be said that the only way to obtain five-star characters is through the Gacha based wish system. Players can spend Acquaint or Intertwined Fates to wish on specific banners in order to get equipment for their characters or new characters to play. The trouble is that obtaining a five-star character or item is very unlikely, as is laid out in the banner rates information section in the game. A good example of this can be seen by looking at one of the current events, Ballad in Goblets.

Each wish the player makes on Ballad in Goblets has a 0.6% chance to yield a five-star reward. In this particular banner, there are no five-star weapons to be earned so a five-star character is guaranteed, but only if the player manages to get lucky enough to score that 0.6% chance. Even four-star rewards are relegated to only a 5.1% chance, whereas getting a three-star reward will happen 94.3% of the time. To make matters worse, if players want to get a specific five star character, they have to qualify for that 0.6% chance and then get lucky enough to get the specific character they want from the list of available ones.

With all that in mind, players should do one of two things. Those wishing to avoid spending any money on Genshin Impact should probably accept that it's unlikely they will be getting a five-star character anytime soon. Instead, these players should devote their time to getting some of the better four-star characters like Fischl. On the other hand, players will to spend some money should be sure to understand the risk, as the chances of getting five-stars is still low.

Genshin Impact is available now on Mobile, PC, and PS4, and later on Switch.

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