Developer miHoYo has garnered immense praise for its free-to-play alternative to Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact. And despite the two hits' myriad similarities, miHoYo's title stands apart from its Zelda counterpart by existing as a mostly free experience, funded by optional in-game microtransactions (or Wishes, in this case).
Fans of the anime-style open world RPG are well aware of its system of microtransactions, namely because it's the primary way to obtain new characters and valuable weapons. Although Genshin Impact offers its players, or Travelers, a handful of free Primogems (premium currency) every now and then, the only consistent path to earning said gems is by spending actual money on the game.
These Primogems, in turn, can be used in one of two ways: to restore Original Resin, the game's form of dungeon "energy", and to make Wishes, the game's form of "summons." Wishes are not only how Genshin Impact players add powerful new characters to their parties, but also how players can access coveted five-star weapons, which are otherwise generally unobtainable.
To perform wishes in Genshin Impact, players need either an Intertwined Fate or an Acquaint Fate, either of which can be purchased for 160 Primogems. While Intertwined Fates are used to Wish on either the current "special character" banner (generally speaking, features a boosted encounter rate for the newest four/five-star characters) or the "weapons-only" banner (featuring the newest five-star weapons), Acquaint Fates can be used to Wish on only the standard character summon banner (features five-star weapons and characters, but lacks the latest releases and features no boosted rates).
Players hoping to Wish for characters or weapons alike can actually verify the odds of receiving any particular character by selecting "Details" at the bottom-left of the game's Wish menu, and although the Details are transparent and offer clear-cut encounter rates, they don't directly explain what is known to many as the game's "Pity System."
Basically, despite the fact that every character/star rarity bears a particular rate of appearance from Wishes, some players will receive an added bonus depending on the number of total Wishes they've made during a particular banner. This is a common premise in "gachapon" style games, that is, games that rely on "loot box"-esque summons, and it's known as a "pity system" because it effectively allows the game to take pity on players who have spent a bit more cash than usual.
Genshin Impact, unsurprisingly, features a pity system with three branches that are tied to the game's three different Wish "banners." For the purposes of this article, the three banners in question will be referred to as the Special Character Banner, the Weapons Banner, and the Standard Banner.
Special Character Banner
Travelers know all too well that the Special Character Banner has consistently been the game's only route to uber-popular characters like the explosively cute Klee, the quicksilver Childe, and most recently, Rex Lapis (re)incarnate, Zhongli. At a price of one Intertwined Fate, or 160 Primogems, per Wish, any player would want to know their odds inside and out before committing to one of these summons.
First and foremost, players should take note of one of the Special Character Banner's main benefits: the only five-stars available from the Special Character Banner are characters. That is to say, five-star weapons can only be obtained from the Weapons Banner or the Standard Banner. Of course, this means that players can rest assured that all five-stars from Special Character Banners are characters. Aside from this, players should also remember that each banner's Pity is separate from the others', and that while most banners' Pity resets between banner, this is not the case with the Special Banners.
Insofar as odds, players will want to look out for two big numbers: 75 and 90. At approximately 75 Wishes on a particular banner, the game is said to enter "Soft Pity" for said banner. Soft Pity slightly increases the odds of encountering a five-star. Now, if players manage to Wish another 15 times without encountering a five-star, the game will bless them with a guaranteed five-star encounter. If a player is unable to meet a five-star within their 1st through 89th Wishes, their 90th Wish will be a a guaranteed five-star.
In the case of the Special Character Banner, players have a unique situation in addition to this: the first five-star encountered has a static 50 percent chance of being the featured "Special" five-star character(s). If a player does not receive the Special Character on their first five-star encounter though, they their next five-star encounter will feature a 100 percent chance of being the Special Character(s). This means that theoretically speaking, a player can guarantee a featured five-star character by performing 180 Wishes on the Special Character Banner.
In light of the above, players should recall that the Special Character Pity Counter does not reset in between banners. This means that players who have already encountered a non-featured five-star character can simply wait until the next banner for a 100 percent chance at receiving the newest character.
Weapons Banner
Generally speaking, the Weapons Banner shares a similar pattern to the Special Character Banner. Players can only receive weapons as five-stars from the Weapons Banner, however, four-star encounters bear the possibility of being characters. These banners are the only path to the newest five-star weapons, and the main distinction between their Pity System and the Special Character Banner's own is the specific rate. They also, of course, allow players to collect three-star Weapons.
Whereas players have a 50 percent chance of receiving the featured character from a Special Character Banner Wish, the Weapons Banner boasts a 75 percent chance of unearthing the featured five-star weapons. Aside from that, the general gist is the same, albeit with slightly adjusted numbers. If players fail to find a featured weapon on their first five-star, then the second one will be a surefire feature. Just as with the Special Character Banner, once a five-star is encountered, the Pity counter resets, whether or not the player has made 90 Wishes yet. So again, once a player finds a five-star, they should begin counting until roughly 65 and then 80, if anything. The weapon banner guaranteed five-star comes on its 80th Wish, and Soft Pity is believed to come into effect around the 60-65 mark.
Standard Banner
By now, most Travelers will have gleaned the general Pity pattern put in place by miHoYo. The Standard Banner stands out from its two counterparts by featuring a holistic spread of rewards that includes five-star and four-star characters and weapons alike. With one caveat though: nothing new. Players hoping for the latest character releases must spend Primogems on the Special Banners, however, those interested in anything else can most probably find it in the Standard Banner. Of course, the Standard Banner doesn't feature any boosted rates though, so it's an all out odds-war.
Players are still looking out for 75 and 90 with the Standard Banner's Pity Counter, that said, the only thing special to happen is a guaranteed five-star encounter at 90 (and boosted odds from Wishes 76 - 89). Five-stars encountered can be either a weapon or a character, and no particular weapon or character will feature a particularly boosted rate. Players who may not favor the newest update's characters may find themselves relying on these Wishes instead, as they offer a shot at decent icons like Razor and Ningguang, while also being the most non-committal form of Wishing.
Genshin Impact is available now on the App Store, Google Play, PC, and PS4, and is currently in development for Switch and PS5.