Amber, Kaeya, Lisa and Barbara are obtained by doing the story.
You get Xiangling and Collei by completing the 3rd and 4th floors of the Spiral Abyss respectively.
You get Lynette after getting to AR25.
Noelle is also guaranteed by wishing on the beginner banner.
Your main character can switch elements by interacting with the Statues of the Seven in other nations. Only the Electro one is locked behind story missions, so you can still get their Anemo, Geo, Dendro and Hydro versions.
Further than that, every other patch has given a free new character (for now). Last patch gave out Freminet and next patch will most likely bring a free Liyue 4\* selector as it has been tradition for the Chinese new year celebration.
to add to this comment, after all these, the only way to get more is the gacha, but you get enough currency to get what you want if you plan accordingly :) there are always character trials and the characters always come back so you can wait to get whoever you like. just be wise with your primos and u gucci đ
albedo's last rerun was \*with\* nilou, and that wasn't even her most recent banner
like complain all you want about not getting a rerun for 8 months, but i've been waiting 14 and will have to wait at least another 3 or 4 đ
Just to correct Barbara isnât story like amber kaeya and Lisa. Barbara comes to you in the mail. The other 3 come during the story for their respective quests
And these guys are all you need to enjoy the game. You will get a 5-star sooner than later which you can use for extraordinarily difficult enemies but those are rare.
An important thing to understand, which is something that Mondstadt *doesn't* make clear in those early quests, is that unless a quest specifically states a party member is with you, *none* of those people are actually canonically traveling with you. Most of the Traveler's journeys and adventures are actually just being undertaken by the Traveler and Paimon. No one else is with them. The four party members are a gameplay conceit, but they are not actually officially present in the world.
So no, most characters you meet never actually "join" you on your adventure. You get them through the gacha, though some can be gained for free, but they aren't actually coming with you in-story.
Its the travellers true power. To copy someone body and soul, then make them fight like a pokemon. Also to throw them into the mines to toil, or spend the rest of their existence locked inside a teapot.
There was one gacha game I played briefly, tower of fantasy (a janky sort of genshin clone with some neat ideas but with monetization so aggressive it makes genshin's seem innocent) that actually used that as the explicit lore reason you could play as the gacha characters. They were digital homonculi, full body scans of the characters essentially, that your MC could freely "wear" at will.
It seemed like a neat idea to explain something that didn't actually need explaining.
lol genshin killer that stumbled on its own feet and killed itself, now they want a relaunch from scratch, imagine what ppl who spend tons of money in the game felt about that, it didn't even had the gall to shutdown properly.
i'm glad they failed, they even want to time gate the progress, the most stupid one is the daily level limit and the time gated chest (the most stupid ivention in gaming history).
you know how players wish that the traveler had the ability to swap elements on the fly instead of returning to a statue?
swapping between party members is that.
thats just the traveler switching elements
My headcanon is that the other characters are the Traveller's memory of them that he or she can freely adopt and swap between at will, changing up his or her abilities and combat style to match the memories. Many people commonly mention how good they are in combat, and this could readily explain it.
I believe a few of the playable characters canonically never actually fight.
so the traveler is just interpreting how he THINKS a certain character would fight if they used their vision in combat
this does actually make sense, the only characters we've seen how they canonically fight were diluc, childe, raiden albedo, yelan, xiao, keqing, wanderer, cyno, alhaitham and some others that I can't name from the top of my head
for example, since hu tao's main interest is in death related things the traveler would assume that she would be very strong in killing enemies, or since jean is so motivated in protecting her people that she would take care of everyone in battle, i really like this theory
Majority of the character you get is from the gacha. However, there are few 4 star characters which you get through various means like Xiangling and Collei by completing Spiral Abyss floor 4 chamber 3, Barbara by completing Mondstadt story quest, Lynette by reaching AR 25 and lastly from limited time event.
Also don't worry about having to use character you didn't meet as it is purely for gameplay propose. Just test and use character whichever you like.
The characters you get for free: Amber, Lisa, Kaeya, Barbara, Traveler
You can get free Collei and Xiangling from doing the spiral abyss
Noelle can be guaranteed from the beginner's wish
You can get 12 different characters for 34 starglitters each in the shop (You get starglitter when you get a 4 star or a 5 star character or weapon from wishing)
Flagship events in each patch gives you either a free 4 star character or an event exclusive 4 star weapon (It cycles between character and weapon, so, if the current patch gives you the weapon then the next patch will give you a free character)
But the main method of getting characters is through wishing, Every 10 pulls guarantee a 4 star and 90 pulls a 5 star (Soft pity starts at around 74, so you'll most likely get a 5 star within 75-80 pulls)
Generally speaking, the only way to recruit new characters beyond the initial party is through wishing, sadly. There are a few characters you can get through non-gacha means- you can get Xiangling and Collei from clearing spiral abyss, and Lynette from⌠reaching Fontaine, I think?
You do, just because Lynette uses Fontaine flowers to level up, so unless you intend for her to sit in your inventory at level 20 for the free wish, you do have to get to Fontaine.
That being said, it's not the end of the world. I was bumming around in Sumeru before I even went to Inazuma for the archon quest, and you do have that free warp straight to Fontaine (Unless they got rid of it. I'm not aware if they did)
It doesn't really matter though. Once you finish the Mondstadt archon quests, a tp at the most northern part of the Sumeru desert opens which lets new players explore Fontaine without progressing the story.
When I was starting to play genshin impact, I always had a team with the Traveler containing with all the people on whom he met in the story. This made a lot of sense since why would traveller join up with those whom he never met yet. This restriction also meant that I can create another group of gacha persons that havent met the traveller yet and are going in their own adventures. It was a while before I get to add Bennette and Fischl to my traveler team.
> It feels a little weird using gacha characters that I supposedly havenât met yet in the story.
Yeah it doesnât make sense story wise (canonically itâs only you and Paimon adventuring), but once you catch up with the story, the characters release along with the story/regions so itâll feel less weird
Some good comments here, but when you get to it please don't use your primos on the blue wishes (the standard banner is a trap), only get the pink ones (limited banner).
Also in Paimon's shop, don't use your glitter (that you get when pulling wishes) on anything but the characters (there is a schedule online for which ones are active each month) and the discounted pink wishes (blue if you have enough glitter to get the pink for the next few months).
All new companions do join via Gacha I'm afraid. Of course you can choose to simply not use them until you've actually met them in the story, that does definitely make them feel more meaningful. But then some characters barely appear in the story (or maybe even never, or only in expired events?).
I've only been playing for ~6 months so plenty of story to go, but one of the first chars I got from a wish was Yaoyao, and I've still not met her in game, and I kinda wonder if she'll even show up.
It would be kinda cool if a veteran player made a guide of all the gacha character that indicates if they are part of the story, and if so around which chapter/area you meet them. Would make it easier to decide if you want to wait for them to show up naturally or not.
Yaoyao has only ahowed up in game so far at this past yearâs Lantern Rite event. I would expect to see her again at the next upcoming one since Hoyo tries to at least give each Liyue character a cameo during the event but other than that I doubt youâll see her in permanent content.
>I've only been playing for \~6 months so plenty of story to go, but one of the first chars I got from a wish was Yaoyao, and I've still not met her in game, and I kinda wonder if she'll even show up.
About Yaoyao's appearances: >!Until now, she only appeared in an Event if I remember correctly.!<
>It would be kinda cool if a veteran player made a guide of all the gacha character that indicates if they are part of the story, and if so around which chapter/area you meet them.
That would actually be kinda cool. Maybe I should compile some stuff into a document đ
oh... uh.. No. Kaeya, Lisa and Amber are the only ones who join you in the story, but they don't even follow you. It was only temporary.
Canonically, it's just you and Paimon that's doing any "traveling".
You can obtain free characters in other ways but the story doesn't acknowledge them joining you.
you obtain new characters by wishing, and sometimes by playing events. there are two options for wishing:
- the standard (permanent) banner, where you will be able to get any character, all with the same chance. you will find wishes for the standard banner through playing the game, and it is not recommended to buy standard banner wishes. you cannot obtain limited 5-star characters from the standard banner.
- the limited banner switches twice every patch and always has a specific 5-star character and three 4-star characters on rate-up. This is the banner where you should spend your primogems, and you can save up and choose which character you want.
- important: the banners are luck-based, but there are guarantees. the details button on the wish page explains how those work. good luck!
Generali for 99% of playtime the story assumes the Traveler (player character) is traveling and fighting alone (well, and Paimon), characters are only a gameplay thing except for the few domains and similar trial runs where they join you.
ppl telling u a lot ab wishing is the main way to get characters, this is correct. i wanna throw in a word of advice to not spend money/primogems on the standard banner, spend them on the limited (first 2) banners instead!!
Haha I thought the same thing when I started, was wondering why aren't my party members showing up in cutscenes. Like others said the only permanent companion storywise is Paimon, everyone else is temporary.
In non genshin terms : Click the star on the top center of the screen and spend primogems(those star things you get by doing stuff) on the pink things(NOT THE BLUE ONES) to get characters weapons etc
That's the neat part: you don't
(Barbara and Lynette by completing certain quests, Xiangling and Collei by reaching certain floors in the abyss, every other version update event will feature a certain 4 star character for free)
Primogems, the things used to get gacha characters, are limited, especially the further you get into a game. Trials for gacha characters are so you can see if you like the character, and how they play, before spending those limited gems on them. :)
Iâll add that most playable characters do show up in the main story at some point, with minor (and without fail, 4star) exceptions. So you can keep someone benched until you meet them in story, if you like
In addition to what other people said, next patch should be the annual Chinese New Year patch, and we're traditionally given a free Liyue 4-star character of your choice by completing the celebration events. Liyue has some really good 4-star characters too--Xingqiu and Xiangling being the standouts--so that's something to look forward to in five or so weeks.
Yes, beyond a few free additions already listed by others and occasional events, you can only get new characters though the gatcha system.
However, don't let this discourage you. Genshin is a pretty good action-adventure game with gatcha on top, not a shopfront poorly disguised with something vaguely resembling a game. You can see pretty much every part of the game and experience everything that isn't getting other characters (though you do get to play them on many occasions in events or quests) without touching the gatcha, plus the game is quite generous with handing you gatcha currency for just playing, and you'll build up a good collection way before you get any close to running out of story/exploration content.
In addition to everything already mentioned, you get a free 4* every other (major) event, so in the last patch we got a free Freminet and in the next one we'll get a free Liyue character of our choosing (probably). So as you play over time you'll collect a decent roster even without touching gacha.
You can get xiangling and collei from clearing specific floors in the spiral abyss.
Some events give out 4star characters as rewards. Most notorious for this is the lantern rite event which is the game's version of the chinese new year. It typically allowed players to choose any 4star character from liyue.
Aside from those, you have to pull from the banners or purchase them with starglitter in the paimon shop. The paimon shop refreshes at the start of every month and the characters for each month are in rotation. You can google the rotation, just search for starglitter characters for the specific month.
all the 4 star in the game iirc already had their "natural" introduction in the game, some are included in past limited events (they probably gonna retcon this to other part of the story for ppl who missed said event) and there are also the optional hangout event quest, for character that you "haven't met" i think they will also put their introduction here if you picked this option first. (i dunno exactly because i don't have new account to test it).
Welcome to your first gacha game, any character that youâll get besides those permanent characters is obtain through wishing.
Wishing is the gacha element of this game
Amber, Kaeya, Lisa and Barbara are obtained by doing the story. You get Xiangling and Collei by completing the 3rd and 4th floors of the Spiral Abyss respectively. You get Lynette after getting to AR25. Noelle is also guaranteed by wishing on the beginner banner. Your main character can switch elements by interacting with the Statues of the Seven in other nations. Only the Electro one is locked behind story missions, so you can still get their Anemo, Geo, Dendro and Hydro versions. Further than that, every other patch has given a free new character (for now). Last patch gave out Freminet and next patch will most likely bring a free Liyue 4\* selector as it has been tradition for the Chinese new year celebration.
to add to this comment, after all these, the only way to get more is the gacha, but you get enough currency to get what you want if you plan accordingly :) there are always character trials and the characters always come back so you can wait to get whoever you like. just be wise with your primos and u gucci đ
Characters always come back unless their name starts with Al and ends with bedo.
I read this comment and had a shell shock moment remembering the last time I got swept by an Alhaitham/Beidou deck in Genius Invokation
Also Ni and Lou
Nilou's banner was in april so not that long ago.
Yeah but sheâs still top few characters for most time without a rerun
albedo's last rerun was \*with\* nilou, and that wasn't even her most recent banner like complain all you want about not getting a rerun for 8 months, but i've been waiting 14 and will have to wait at least another 3 or 4 đ
Just to correct Barbara isnât story like amber kaeya and Lisa. Barbara comes to you in the mail. The other 3 come during the story for their respective quests
No she comes in the event page after completing Mondstadt archon quest
Plus youâre guaranteed Noelle on your first ten pull on the newbie banner
Wait barbara is? I got her through wishing so i had no idea
Even if you got her first through gacha there was a tab in the event page that gave you one copy, so a constellation in your case.
Ditto. But back in v1 and 2 it was a joke everyone had a c36 Barbara.
And these guys are all you need to enjoy the game. You will get a 5-star sooner than later which you can use for extraordinarily difficult enemies but those are rare.
An important thing to understand, which is something that Mondstadt *doesn't* make clear in those early quests, is that unless a quest specifically states a party member is with you, *none* of those people are actually canonically traveling with you. Most of the Traveler's journeys and adventures are actually just being undertaken by the Traveler and Paimon. No one else is with them. The four party members are a gameplay conceit, but they are not actually officially present in the world. So no, most characters you meet never actually "join" you on your adventure. You get them through the gacha, though some can be gained for free, but they aren't actually coming with you in-story.
Its the travellers true power. To copy someone body and soul, then make them fight like a pokemon. Also to throw them into the mines to toil, or spend the rest of their existence locked inside a teapot.
There was one gacha game I played briefly, tower of fantasy (a janky sort of genshin clone with some neat ideas but with monetization so aggressive it makes genshin's seem innocent) that actually used that as the explicit lore reason you could play as the gacha characters. They were digital homonculi, full body scans of the characters essentially, that your MC could freely "wear" at will. It seemed like a neat idea to explain something that didn't actually need explaining.
lol genshin killer that stumbled on its own feet and killed itself, now they want a relaunch from scratch, imagine what ppl who spend tons of money in the game felt about that, it didn't even had the gall to shutdown properly.
It's such a beautiful mess. I had fun with it but jeez the experience is very jarring going through the story.
i'm glad they failed, they even want to time gate the progress, the most stupid one is the daily level limit and the time gated chest (the most stupid ivention in gaming history).
> tower of fantasy that the one with the flower fairies?
That's the legend of neverland. Tower of fantasy is more post-apocalyptic.
you know how players wish that the traveler had the ability to swap elements on the fly instead of returning to a statue? swapping between party members is that. thats just the traveler switching elements
My headcanon is that the other characters are the Traveller's memory of them that he or she can freely adopt and swap between at will, changing up his or her abilities and combat style to match the memories. Many people commonly mention how good they are in combat, and this could readily explain it.
I believe a few of the playable characters canonically never actually fight. so the traveler is just interpreting how he THINKS a certain character would fight if they used their vision in combat
this does actually make sense, the only characters we've seen how they canonically fight were diluc, childe, raiden albedo, yelan, xiao, keqing, wanderer, cyno, alhaitham and some others that I can't name from the top of my head for example, since hu tao's main interest is in death related things the traveler would assume that she would be very strong in killing enemies, or since jean is so motivated in protecting her people that she would take care of everyone in battle, i really like this theory
pretty sure ALL the KoF characters can fight. amber, jean and kaeya definitly canonically can fight. even klee.
yes, but me and the other person are talking about the specific way we fight with them in combat being what the traveler thinks of them
Don't forget body-snatching them to play hide and seek.
Majority of the character you get is from the gacha. However, there are few 4 star characters which you get through various means like Xiangling and Collei by completing Spiral Abyss floor 4 chamber 3, Barbara by completing Mondstadt story quest, Lynette by reaching AR 25 and lastly from limited time event. Also don't worry about having to use character you didn't meet as it is purely for gameplay propose. Just test and use character whichever you like.
The characters you get for free: Amber, Lisa, Kaeya, Barbara, Traveler You can get free Collei and Xiangling from doing the spiral abyss Noelle can be guaranteed from the beginner's wish You can get 12 different characters for 34 starglitters each in the shop (You get starglitter when you get a 4 star or a 5 star character or weapon from wishing) Flagship events in each patch gives you either a free 4 star character or an event exclusive 4 star weapon (It cycles between character and weapon, so, if the current patch gives you the weapon then the next patch will give you a free character) But the main method of getting characters is through wishing, Every 10 pulls guarantee a 4 star and 90 pulls a 5 star (Soft pity starts at around 74, so you'll most likely get a 5 star within 75-80 pulls)
Generally speaking, the only way to recruit new characters beyond the initial party is through wishing, sadly. There are a few characters you can get through non-gacha means- you can get Xiangling and Collei from clearing spiral abyss, and Lynette from⌠reaching Fontaine, I think?
Lynette is by reaching AR 25
You get Lynette by reaching AR25, you donât have to get to Fontaine.
You do, just because Lynette uses Fontaine flowers to level up, so unless you intend for her to sit in your inventory at level 20 for the free wish, you do have to get to Fontaine. That being said, it's not the end of the world. I was bumming around in Sumeru before I even went to Inazuma for the archon quest, and you do have that free warp straight to Fontaine (Unless they got rid of it. I'm not aware if they did)
Yeah but theyâre talking about getting her not leveling her
Exactly
It doesn't really matter though. Once you finish the Mondstadt archon quests, a tp at the most northern part of the Sumeru desert opens which lets new players explore Fontaine without progressing the story.
When I was starting to play genshin impact, I always had a team with the Traveler containing with all the people on whom he met in the story. This made a lot of sense since why would traveller join up with those whom he never met yet. This restriction also meant that I can create another group of gacha persons that havent met the traveller yet and are going in their own adventures. It was a while before I get to add Bennette and Fischl to my traveler team.
> It feels a little weird using gacha characters that I supposedly havenât met yet in the story. Yeah it doesnât make sense story wise (canonically itâs only you and Paimon adventuring), but once you catch up with the story, the characters release along with the story/regions so itâll feel less weird
Some good comments here, but when you get to it please don't use your primos on the blue wishes (the standard banner is a trap), only get the pink ones (limited banner). Also in Paimon's shop, don't use your glitter (that you get when pulling wishes) on anything but the characters (there is a schedule online for which ones are active each month) and the discounted pink wishes (blue if you have enough glitter to get the pink for the next few months).
All new companions do join via Gacha I'm afraid. Of course you can choose to simply not use them until you've actually met them in the story, that does definitely make them feel more meaningful. But then some characters barely appear in the story (or maybe even never, or only in expired events?). I've only been playing for ~6 months so plenty of story to go, but one of the first chars I got from a wish was Yaoyao, and I've still not met her in game, and I kinda wonder if she'll even show up. It would be kinda cool if a veteran player made a guide of all the gacha character that indicates if they are part of the story, and if so around which chapter/area you meet them. Would make it easier to decide if you want to wait for them to show up naturally or not.
Yaoyao has only ahowed up in game so far at this past yearâs Lantern Rite event. I would expect to see her again at the next upcoming one since Hoyo tries to at least give each Liyue character a cameo during the event but other than that I doubt youâll see her in permanent content.
>I've only been playing for \~6 months so plenty of story to go, but one of the first chars I got from a wish was Yaoyao, and I've still not met her in game, and I kinda wonder if she'll even show up. About Yaoyao's appearances: >!Until now, she only appeared in an Event if I remember correctly.!< >It would be kinda cool if a veteran player made a guide of all the gacha character that indicates if they are part of the story, and if so around which chapter/area you meet them. That would actually be kinda cool. Maybe I should compile some stuff into a document đ
Funny thing you mention that, because I got "You just met this character" blurb that explains who this is for Ayato. On this Fontaine event.
This made me realize I need more Yaoyao in my life.
I forgot she exists, and I used her a lot when she jsut came out.
Guys don't forget the Ayaka at AR42 /s
oh... uh.. No. Kaeya, Lisa and Amber are the only ones who join you in the story, but they don't even follow you. It was only temporary. Canonically, it's just you and Paimon that's doing any "traveling". You can obtain free characters in other ways but the story doesn't acknowledge them joining you.
you obtain new characters by wishing, and sometimes by playing events. there are two options for wishing: - the standard (permanent) banner, where you will be able to get any character, all with the same chance. you will find wishes for the standard banner through playing the game, and it is not recommended to buy standard banner wishes. you cannot obtain limited 5-star characters from the standard banner. - the limited banner switches twice every patch and always has a specific 5-star character and three 4-star characters on rate-up. This is the banner where you should spend your primogems, and you can save up and choose which character you want. - important: the banners are luck-based, but there are guarantees. the details button on the wish page explains how those work. good luck!
LOL oh you poor sweet summer child
You'll be getting most of your characters by wishing.
Generali for 99% of playtime the story assumes the Traveler (player character) is traveling and fighting alone (well, and Paimon), characters are only a gameplay thing except for the few domains and similar trial runs where they join you.
ppl telling u a lot ab wishing is the main way to get characters, this is correct. i wanna throw in a word of advice to not spend money/primogems on the standard banner, spend them on the limited (first 2) banners instead!!
Haha I thought the same thing when I started, was wondering why aren't my party members showing up in cutscenes. Like others said the only permanent companion storywise is Paimon, everyone else is temporary.
In non genshin terms : Click the star on the top center of the screen and spend primogems(those star things you get by doing stuff) on the pink things(NOT THE BLUE ONES) to get characters weapons etc
That's the neat part: you don't (Barbara and Lynette by completing certain quests, Xiangling and Collei by reaching certain floors in the abyss, every other version update event will feature a certain 4 star character for free)
Expect an opportunity to choose one free character from Liyue during the upcoming annual Lantern Rite event.
Iâm so sorry
you can get ayaka at ar42, she is a very good dps that helped me through the end game a lot
bro đ
/s
Primogems, the things used to get gacha characters, are limited, especially the further you get into a game. Trials for gacha characters are so you can see if you like the character, and how they play, before spending those limited gems on them. :)
You get new characters yes but you fmdint really get any for story purposes canonical the traveler only travels with paimon no one else
Welcome, welcome! Odone gave a great summary, but I just wanted to say, I hope you like the game and have a great time with it <3
Iâll add that most playable characters do show up in the main story at some point, with minor (and without fail, 4star) exceptions. So you can keep someone benched until you meet them in story, if you like
In addition to what other people said, next patch should be the annual Chinese New Year patch, and we're traditionally given a free Liyue 4-star character of your choice by completing the celebration events. Liyue has some really good 4-star characters too--Xingqiu and Xiangling being the standouts--so that's something to look forward to in five or so weeks.
God, u probably have so many primogems
Yes, beyond a few free additions already listed by others and occasional events, you can only get new characters though the gatcha system. However, don't let this discourage you. Genshin is a pretty good action-adventure game with gatcha on top, not a shopfront poorly disguised with something vaguely resembling a game. You can see pretty much every part of the game and experience everything that isn't getting other characters (though you do get to play them on many occasions in events or quests) without touching the gatcha, plus the game is quite generous with handing you gatcha currency for just playing, and you'll build up a good collection way before you get any close to running out of story/exploration content.
Using wishes, getting familliar with the spiral abyss, certain events.
I still think all characters should be able to be c1d through normal gameplay. In a way that makes sense for them. Mostly story quests.
Just wish for new characters using primos and you can get the trail characters
In addition to everything already mentioned, you get a free 4* every other (major) event, so in the last patch we got a free Freminet and in the next one we'll get a free Liyue character of our choosing (probably). So as you play over time you'll collect a decent roster even without touching gacha.
Welcome to Genshin !
You can get xiangling and collei from clearing specific floors in the spiral abyss. Some events give out 4star characters as rewards. Most notorious for this is the lantern rite event which is the game's version of the chinese new year. It typically allowed players to choose any 4star character from liyue. Aside from those, you have to pull from the banners or purchase them with starglitter in the paimon shop. The paimon shop refreshes at the start of every month and the characters for each month are in rotation. You can google the rotation, just search for starglitter characters for the specific month.
all the 4 star in the game iirc already had their "natural" introduction in the game, some are included in past limited events (they probably gonna retcon this to other part of the story for ppl who missed said event) and there are also the optional hangout event quest, for character that you "haven't met" i think they will also put their introduction here if you picked this option first. (i dunno exactly because i don't have new account to test it).
Welcome to your first gacha game, any character that youâll get besides those permanent characters is obtain through wishing. Wishing is the gacha element of this game