Genshin Impact: Wish and Pity Explained

This article will explain the wishes in Genshin Impact through the pity system for the event, weapon and standard banner. However, since the wishes are largely based on luck and not so much about grinding the game, I hope to give some strategies when it comes to wishing on each banner.  

Event and Standard Banner

Here are some rules of the banners:

1. Wishes that you make on the Event Banner will be carried forward to future event banners until your pity resets. For example, I did not obtain a 5 star character on Venti's recent banner, I made 40 pulls. These 40 pulls will be carried forward to Tartaglia's banner. 
2. Wishes that you make on the Standard Banner will always continue until the pity resets.  
3. On the Event Banner, you can obtain either a 5 star character limited to the current event banner (e.g. Tartaglia on the Farewell of Snezhnaya banner) or a standard 5 star character. This is a 50/50 chance. These standard 5 star characters can always be obtained on the Standard Banner, and their names are listed below:
   1. Keqing
   2. Diluc
   3. Jean 
   4. Qiqi
   5. Mona
4. On the Standard Banner, you can obtain either a standard 5 star character (names listed above), or you can obtain a 5 star weapon. The weapons that you can obtain can be seen in the "Details" section of your Wish page. 
5. You will be unable to obtain the 5 star character limited to the event banner on the standard banner and on future limited event banners that do not feature this 5 star character.
6. You will be unable to obtain the 4 star character limited to the event banner on the standard banner until they are added to the roster. This can be viewed under the "Details" section of your standard Wish page. 
7. On both of these banners, you are confirmed to obtain a 4 star item every 10 pulls that you make, this item can either be a 4 star weapon or a character. Every time that you obtain a 4 star item, this counter resets.

On the Event Banner, you are confirmed a 5 star character every 90 pulls. There is a soft pity at 75 pulls, where you are statistically more likely to receive a 5 star character after you hit 75 pulls. However, this character could either be a standard character or the limited character on the banner. For example, I am pulling on the Tartaglia banner. I hit 76 pulls and obtain Diluc, a standard character instead. This resets my pity to 0. However, I will definitely obtain the limited character when I next get a 5 star wish on the specific event banner. I can choose to continue wishing on Tartaglia's banner until I obtain him (since it is confirmed) or I can choose to wish on the next banner and I will definitely obtain the limited 5 star character this time. 

Certain 4 star characters will also be rated up on the Event Banner. You have an increased possibility of obtaining one of the three rated up characters and you will be confirmed a certain character after you get a 4 star weapon or a Non-rated up 4 star character. For example, I hope to obtain Rosaria on Tartaglia's banner. I obtain a 4 star Sacrificial Bow instead, so this guarantees a Barbara, Fischl or Rosaria as my next 4 star wish. 

Weapon Banner

You might choose to wish on the weapon banner if you are looking for a specific weapon on the banner, or you already have 2 teams for Spiral Abyss and would like to just focus on building them now. If you would like to just collect characters, this banner might not be for you. Since characters can have good builds with 4 star weapons or even some good 3 star or craftable weapons, this banner exists purely for upgrading your characters to the next level.  

Here are the rules for the weapon banner: 

1. You are statistically equally likely to obtain a 4 star weapon or a 4 star character. 
2.  The 4 star weapon you obtain is likely (75% chance) to be one of the rated-up weapons on the banner, but it is possible to get another 4 star weapon instead. If you obtain another weapon that is not one of the rated-up 4 star weapons, you are guaranteed to obtain a featured 4 star weapon in your next 4 star wish.
3. You are confirmed to obtain one 4 star item every 10 pulls. Once you obtain a 4 star item, your pity is reset.
4. You have a 75% chance of obtaining one of the two rated-up 5 star weapons, every time you obtain a 5 star wish on this banner. 
5. If the 5 star weapon you obtain is not rated up on this banner, the next 5 star wish you obtain will definitely be one of the two rated-up weapons. For example, I obtain Amos Bow on the current weapon banner, a non-rated-up weapon. I can continue to wish on this banner and I will definitely get a Skyward Harp or Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds. Alternatively, I could wait for the next banner and obtain one of the two rated-up 5 star weapons. However, do note that you can obtain either of the two rated-up weapons. 

Duplicates of Wishes

Obtaining a duplicate of a character will give you a constellation for that character, which unlocks more potential for them. You can obtain up to 6 constellations of the character, meaning that if you obtain a character 7 times through wishes, you will obtain the full constellation set for them. If you have obtained more than 6 constellations (7 wishes), this will be converted to Masterless Starglitter. These Masterless Starglitter can be used in the shop, which I will elaborate on later in the section "Shop". 

If you get a duplicate of a weapon, this will allow you to refine the weapon. Weapons can have a maximum of Refinement Rank 5, meaning that you can obtain the same weapon 5 times. Refining your weapon gives an attack boost unique to its passive. You can choose to refine the weapon or leave it in your inventory, to have two copies of it. Note that the level of the weapon does not matter when refining, so if you intend to refine your weapon, don't level it up! 

Shop

The Masterless Starglitter shop allows you to purchase the monthly weapons and characters, or wishes. You can read more about the Blackcliff Weapon set and the Royal Weapon set here.  Additionally, there is a Masterless Stardust Shop that you can use to obtain enemy materials such as Energy Nectar or Slime Condensate. Every month, you will be able to obtain 5 standard wishes and 5 limited wishes through this shop. Masterless Stardust is rather easy to obtain since you can get it from 3 star weapons.

Strategies

I will recommend saving primogems for Event Banners only, be that the Character or Weapon banner. You should only make wishes on the standard banner using standard wishes obtained from the monthly shop, Battle Pass rewards or character ascension. It is eventually up to you to decide between pulling for characters or weapons and what your team and account require. 

If you would like to obtain the 4 star character on the banner ONLY and not the 5 star character, using single pulls instead of 10 pulls is a better idea. For example, if you already have Tartaglia and do not want a C1, you can pull single wishes for the 4 star characters (such as Rosaria). Additionally, if you are approaching pity (e.g. 72 pulls), you should refrain from using 10 pulls as you can save primogems for the next banner, once you have obtained your desired characters. 

As Genshin Impact gains a greater following, MiHoYo has been including more repeated banners (Venti, Tartaglia etc.) and it is important to know when to pull especially when banners come with new 4 star characters. We hope that you found this article helpful in understanding the wish system better and do let us know if they are other articles you would like to read!