Guide to Wishing in Genshin Impact

Image: Hoyoverse via HGG / Devin Dornbrock

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Penned by Devin Dornbrock

Devin has always been a fan of good writing and compelling visuals. She learned from an early age that video games are the best and most satisfying... Read more

Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu

One of the best parts of Genshin Impact is undoubtedly getting to try out all the new characters. There are already over 50 different characters to choose from and Hoyoverse has a pretty consistent schedule of new ones coming out too. Actually obtaining those new characters can be a hassle though, which is why we’ve got the ultimate Genshin Impact guide to Wishing!

We’ll make sure all of your questions about Wishing are fully answered – from how to unlock Wishing to info on the pity system!

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What is Wishing in Genshin Impact?

Wishes act as the gacha system in Genshin Impact. By using Intertwined/Acquaint Fates, which can be obtained by exchanging Primogems, you’re able to wish for (acquire) new weapons and characters.

But since it’s a gacha system, you’re not guaranteed to get exactly what you want. As a consolation, even if you don’t get exactly what you want, each wish will also grant specialized currencies for “Paimon’s Bargains” (the system’s shop).

The Wishing system is unlocked after completing Archon Quest Knights of Favonius in Prologue: Act I: The Outlander Who Caught the Wind. Most players will complete this quest around Adventure Rank 5, so it’s available fairly early on in the game. 

While there are other ways to obtain some characters and weapons, Wishing will be your main (and easiest) method of doing so. Especially since the best characters and weapons can only be obtained via Wishing.

Types of Wishes

The rewards available from Wishing will change slightly depending on the “banner” you are Wishing on. There are three main types of banners you can Wish on.

Standard Banner

There is the Standard Banner (called Wanderlust Invocation) that uses Acquaint Fates and is always available. However, the roster of characters and weapons that you can get from it is limited to those that have been “permanently” added to the gacha pool.

Said roster is only rarely updated with new options and is typically the least rolled on banner. None of the characters or weapons have an increased rate-up, so you can end up with anything available in the pool. That being said, if you manage to get a 5-star Wish, it’s a 50% chance to be either a character or weapon.

We strongly advise against exchanging your Primogems for Acquaint Fates. At most, just use the free Acquaint Fates that you get from playing the game.

Limited-Time Banners

The two banners you’ll be mainly spending your gacha currency on are limited-time character and weapon banners. These banners require Intertwined Fates and are usually available for about 3 weeks at a time. If you miss them, they will likely come around again, but there is no guarantee of when that will happen.

As to date, Wishing is the only way to acquire new 5-star weapons and 5-star characters.

(The only exception to this has been the character Aloy who was sent to players via in-game mail. This was part of a cross-promotion with the game Horizon Zero Dawn.)

Character Banners

Now a days, there’s typically two separate character banners running at a time (the banner’s name changes with the character featured).

Each one features one different 5-star character and the same set of three 4-star characters, so you have a bit of flexibility in choosing which 5-star character you want to prioritize.

Weapon Banners

Limited-time weapon banners (called Epitome Invocation) run concurrently with character banners. They typically have two featured 5-star weapons that correspond to the current featured 5-star characters, as well as five featured 4-star weapons.

Somewhat annoyingly, the weapon banner is not limited to just weapons. You can still get 4-star characters at random when Wishing on it.

How to Wish

The actual mechanic to Wishing is pretty simple. All you need to do is open up the game menu and select the “Wish” option. Once there you’ll be able to select whichever banner you’d like to Wish on at the top of the screen.

The Wishing screen will also indicate how many “Fates” you have as well as your accumulated Primogems. One Fate is needed per Wish, and both types of Fates can be purchased for 160 Primogems through the system shop (or just by clicking on the Wish button to automatically exchange them). Fates are also given as in-game rewards through various means.

Reminder: Intertwined Fates are exclusively for limited time banners and can be used on either character or weapon banners. Acquaint Fates are exclusively for the Standard Banner.

Once you’re on your desired banner, you’ll be able to either make single Wishes (1 Fate or 160 Primogems) or 10 at once (10 Fates or 1,600 Primogems). Unfortunately, there is not a discount for bundling your Wishes. At most, it just speeds things up if you’re in a hurry.

The Odds of Getting a 4-Star & 5-Star

Like any other gacha system, Wishing in Genshin Impact isn’t a guarantee. When you make a Wish, you are only given a chance of getting high grade characters or weapons. The vast majority of Wishes will result in 3-star weapons. While some 3-star weapons are pretty good, most of them are really only useful for upgrade fodder.

Also just so you know, you cannot get a 5-Star weapon from character banners and vice versa. 5-Star Wishes from character banners will always be a 5-Star character. 5-Star Wishes from weapons banners will always be a 5-Star weapon. 

4-Star Wishes

The odds of any given Wish being a 4-star Wish are honestly not great. They’re about 5% on featured character banners and 6% on featured weapon banners. The odds drop to 2.5% on the Standard banner.

5-Star Wishes

The odds of any given Wish being a 5-star Wish are even lower than the odds of being a 4-star. Hitting just 0.6% on featured character banners and 0.7% on featured weapon banners. The Standard banner meanwhile has a meager 0.3% chance.

Pity System in Genshin Impact

Luckily, the odds aren’t left completely up to chance. Hoyoverse has a guarantee (dubbed “pity” by players) system set up so that even the unluckiest account can still get new characters and weapons… eventually.

Players are guaranteed a 4-star weapon or character every 10 Wishes at minimum. However, it’s only a 50% chance to get one of the featured characters/weapons. Luckily, if you don’t get one of the featured characters, the next 4-star Wish is guaranteed to be one of the featured characters.

As for 5-star characters and weapons, they follow similar pity rules but with a bit more complexity.

5-Star Character Banner Pity

For 5-star characters, you’re guaranteed one every 90 Wishes. However, there is also only a 50% chance to get the 5-star character that you want. If you “lose” this pity, you’ll end up with one of the permanently available 5-star characters from the Standard Banner instead (hence all the Qiqi memes).

If this happens to you, the next time you roll a 5-star character, it’s guaranteed to be the banner’s featured character. In the absolute worst case scenario, it’ll take you 180 Wishes to get the 5-star character featured on the banner.

Luckily, there’s a “soft” pity as well that increases your chances of getting a 5-star character (to about 1.6%) once you reach 75 pulls. It’s not much, but we’ll take any advantage we can get.

Your pity counter also carries over between banners. So if you’re at 80 pulls but don’t have enough Primogems/Fates to keep Wishing, you’ll only need to make 10 more Wishes on the next character banner to trigger pity and get a 5-star character.

When you eventually receive a 4-star / 5-star character, the pity counter for that specific rarity will reset. So if you’re lucky enough to get a 5-star within 15 pulls, your pity counter will still reset even without reaching the 90 Wish mark.

Unfortunately, there’s not an easy way to keep track of your pity progress. You’ll have to click on the “History” button in the bottom left of the Wish menu and manually count how many Wishes it’s been since your last 5-star pull.

Recap:

• Pity does carry over between banners
• Soft pity begins at 75 pulls
• Guaranteed pity at 90 pulls
• Worst case – 180 Wishes for a specific 5-star character

5-Star Weapon Banner Pity

As for 5-star weapons, it’s a bit more messy since there’s only one banner at a time for weapons. Every time you would get a 5-star weapon, you have a 75% chance to get one of the featured weapons and a 25% chance to get one from the Standard Banner.

Thankfully, the pity system is a bit more generous for weapons, requiring only 80 Wishes for a guaranteed 5-star pull. The “soft” pity also begins a bit earlier at 65 Wishes. And yes, pity does carry over between banners.

However, if you want specifically only one of the featured weapons, the odds are still stacked against you. You’ll have to hope your 5-star pull hits the 75% chance of being a featured weapon, then another 50% chance of being the specific one you want.

Epitomized Path & Fate Points

To somewhat compensate for this, Hoyoverse implemented the Epitomized Path feature where you select one of the featured weapons. Whenever you don’t get your selected weapon on a 5-star pull, you’ll get a Fate Point towards the path.

Make sure you choose the weapon that you want, as switching your Epitomized Path will reset your Fate Points, wasting any that you have.

Upon reaching 2 Fate Points, the next time you would get a 5-star weapon, it’s guaranteed to be the one you selected. If your luck is poor, you’ll need to make 180 Wishes to get a featured weapon. In the absolute worst case scenario, you would need 240 Wishes to guarantee a specific weapon.

Notably, the Fate Points do not reset upon getting your desired weapon, which is somewhat nice for those trying to get multiple copies. However, the Fate Points do reset between banners, so make sure you have enough Primogems/Intertwined Fates on standby before rolling for weapons.

Recap:

• Pity does carry over between banners
• Epitomized Path points do not carry over between banners
• Soft pity begins at 65 pulls
• Guaranteed pity at 80 pulls
• Worst case – 240 Wishes for a specific 5-star weapon

Join the High Ground!

That’s it for our Genshin Impact guide to Wishing! Are there any questions we didn’t answer or tips we missed? Let us know in the comments below! For some tips on getting a specific character, check out our guide on how to get Diluc in Genshin Impact. We also have a guide on how to get Barbara too!

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Until next time, ad astra absyssosque and happy gaming!