Other than Genshin Impact's gacha system, there is a way to acquire the four-star character Xiangling in-game without spending any money, but players will need to ensure they are at a high enough level to get to this area.

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play action-adventure RPG, meaning that it relies on the gacha system known as "Wishing" to make its money back to the Shanghai-based developer MiHoYo. Via Wishes, players have an extremely low chance of winning four and five-star characters, and doing so will often cost a pretty penny. While the game does offer a handful of free characters upfront, they aren't as powerful as the five-stars that players are essentially paying for. But Xiangling is unique in that she can either be acquired via Wishes or by completing a difficult Domain.

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Xiangling will first appear in a cooking side quest but likely will be a while until the player can actually work towards winning her. The first step to acquiring the Pyro-wielding four-star is to reach Adventure Rank 20 in Genshin Impact. Unfortunately, this means players will have to put in some groundwork before they can even make an attempt to be rewarded with the polearm-brandishing character, and even then, it may take more leveling and Ascending before they're strong enough to defeat the Domain that holds her.

Once reaching Adventure Rank 20, this will unlock the Spiral Abyss Domain found on the southeastern edge of Mondstadt across the water, accessed through the wormhole at the edge of Cape Oath. Though it is an Abyssal Domain, it's different from others in that it is split into Chambers and Floors. Each Floor is split into 3 Chambers, and each has a unique challenge with increasing difficulty such as defending the objective or timed battles. Advancing to the next floor will require 6 Abyssal Stars from the previous floor, which are achievements earned based on conditions met in each challenge.

genshin impact xiangling

It might take further leveling if characters are below level 50, but after completing Chamber 3 of Floor 3, Xiangling will be rewarded to the player. Keep in mind that though each Chamber comes with its own character buffs such as increase attack rates that change with each area, consumables aren't accessible while in Spiral Abyss, and the same four characters must be used the entire journey. It's not easy, but the rewards are worth the challenge.

Hopefully, this means that MiHoYo has plans to offer more four-star free characters via in-game quests and Domains later on in the game's development. Characters, such as the soon-coming Klee, will become available for players to gamble on via Wishes as time goes on, so hopefully for players going the completely free route in Genshin Impact, some will be obtainable as in-game rewards as well.

Genshin Impact is free-to-play on mobile devices, PC, and PS4 and is coming to Switch at a later date.

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