Even though Genshin Impact Version 2.3 has not even arrived yet, multiple leaks have already revealed much information about update 2.4 which should arrive around January 6, 2022. However, miHoYo's official social media accounts have officially revealed the two new characters that will join the playable roster as Shenhe and Yun Jin.
Genshin Impact update 2.3 will bring two brand new Geo characters, Itto and Gorou, who are set to arrive on the second banner cycle. The first banner contains a new double banner mechanic featuring Eula and Albedo. While new weapons are typically introduced with new banners, fans have come across details on a polearm many assume will be for a character like Shenhe.
A recent post on Reddit has revealed the stats for one of the upcoming Genshin Impact weapons which was leaked in the 2.4 beta files. The name of the weapon is still unknown but it's rumored that it belongs to Shenhe considering that it was featured on her official announcement. The weapon has the following stats:
- Weapon type: Polearm
- Rarity: Five-star item
- Maximum Base Attack: 741
- Secondary stat: Attack percentage
- Passive (R1): Increases elemental damage by 12% and for every second after using elemental skill Attack is increased by 3.9%. This effect is doubled if the character leaves the field.
Adding this weapon to Shenhe's Elemental Skill and Burst means that she will probably be a strong sub-DPS character meaning that her potential lies in dishing out damage and providing buffs for the main DPS in the party. The fact that the weapon's effect is doubled if the character leaves the field hints that she could be a strong off-screen character who thrives on enabling other characters to deal damage.
Each Genshin Impact update has its beta phase which usually starts once the preceding patch arrives with beta 2.4 has started the day Genshin Impact update 2.3 officially arrived. miHoYo has introduced an interesting pattern over the last couple of months by revealing new characters before the beta even arrives, probably because it would take just a couple of hours before they would've been leaked anyway.
Shenhe will arrive alongside another new Geo character named Yun Jin, with both being polearm users. However, there is no official information on whether Yun Jin and Shenhe will be featured on the same banner cycle. Luckily previous rumors have been hinting that Xiao and Ganyu might get a new banner re-run which is pretty much confirmed since they are featured on the leaked Lantern Rite event art. This means that update 2.4 could have a similar pattern as its predecessor containing a double banner re-run for one cycle and two new characters for the other.
Genshin Impact is now available on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.