I’ve gotten every five star character I’ve ever wanted. And by that I mean all the cute ones. Of the roster of about 60 characters currently out I’m missing 12, 9 of which on purpose. I’ve missed three because I had to give the game a rest, and also know my limits on what I could pull. While I did spend some silly money on Genshin Impact at launch those days are long behind me. To get all of these heroes I just played the game and got the monthly Blessing of the Welkin Moon pack, which costs US$5 a month.

I haven’t bothered doing all the hard maths and calculations for how many primogems I get per month But I can generally get every second event banner, and the occasional subsequent banner at a push. Here’s my strategy, but first a few basics for newbies:

Pity System

For those new to Gacha games Pity is a mechanic that makes sure bad luck doesn’t dick you forever. for 1 wish you have a 0.6% chance of pulling a five star. After 90 pulls the game takes pity and pops a 5 star for you. On average I bank on getting a five star every 70 pulls, taking into account pity and just the sheer luck of pulling one. If you pull a five star early the pity counter is reset to zero. There’s a separate pity counter for standard wishes and event wishes. Pity does not reset at the end of an event banner, so don’t panic thinking you’ve wasted your investment when the event banner ticks over to the next one. You’ll be using this to your advantage later.

On a smaller scale there is a smaller pity counter for four star characters and items. After a maximum of ten pulls you get a four star. It could come sooner and reset it’s mini counter. You don’t need to buy ten wishes at a time to trigger this, you’re just as likely by doing one wish at a time.

Anyway let’s get into it.

Get the Welkin Moon Pack If You Want

As I said just before, this costs $5 a month, and is easily the best option for people looking at spending money on this game without destituting themselves. Buying primos straight up gets ridiculously prohibitive and I honestly wouldn’t recommend it.

Welkin Moon gives 90 primos a day and 300 Genesis Crystals (really just 300 primos, talk about it in a bit). 90 seems like a weird number but add this to the 60 you get from coasting on dailies means you get an easy wish every single day from doing the bare minimum.

The only catch with Welkin Moon is that you need to log in every day to claim it. Failure to do so means you miss out entirely on 90 gems each day you miss.

For an immediate hit of primos it does give you 300 Genesis Crystals immediately. Genesis crystals are Hoyo’s idea of a premium currency that can’t be earned via ingame play. The only real thing worth spending this stuff on is costumes for your fav characters. Otherwise Genesis Crystals have a 1:1 conversion ratio to Primos. I don’t convert this unless I have to. It’s worked out for me having them stack up over time, meaning I’ve been able to buy the costumes I want as they come out (although I’ve actually been able to just earn them ingame most of the time.)

Welkin Moon purchases backlog if you buy them. Meaning you can buy multiple packs, but all it’ll do is add days to the clock. You will however get your 300 genesis crystals with every purchase. So it’s still not a bad strategy if you want a quick hit and expect to be logging into the game for the next six months straight. lol.

I should stress that Genshin is just as good without any money at all spent on the game. You don’t even need Five Star characters to get by, They’re a “nice to have” not a “must to have”.

Don’t waste any god damn primos on the Wanderlust Invocation banner

This is your basic bitch banner that uses acquaint fate wishes. It’s not on a timer, and the heroes they put on the front of it are just bait. You don’t have a higher chance of getting them in this banner, and you also run the risk of pulling a five star weapon instead. In fact you have a better chance of pulling a hero in the main event banners. Your .6% chance of a 5 Star on this standard banner is diluted among six characters and eight weapons. So it’s more likely you’ll be pulling some claymore you don’t have any use for. You can also get the pictured heroes and other basic bitch five stars via the event banner, and over the course of time, you will, many times. I’ve pulled my girl Mona multiple times on the event banner.

As you play the game you’ll be getting wishes for this banner for free, go ahead and spend those here willy nilly as there’s nothing else to do with them, just don’t go blasting primogems onto this one. All new four star characters end up going into this banner though. So if you’ve been banking up wishes, perhaps consider holding out for an update if you want to really try your luck at a new 4 star character. Although honestly they’ll probably be in the event banner and way easier to get there.

But yeah, don’t waste your primos here, you’re going to need them where it counts.

Also don’t spend money on the Weapon Event Wish

This banner is for whales that have nothing left to spend their money on. You’ll be getting plenty of sweet weapons by playing the game and taking part in timed in-game events.

Character Event Wishes Is Where It’s At

The character event wish does pity in an odd way. You still need to pull a max of 90 wishes before it’ll pop the five star. When it does you have a 50/50 chance of getting a random five star hero. If it isn’t the featured hero on the banner then next time you pull a five star it’s guaranteed to be the event hero. If you DO pull the main event 5 star hero on your first go then the 50/50 chance resets.

Occasionally I have tempted fate by spending on a hero I don’t want, when I end up pulling a random hero instead I immediately stop putting primos into the banner, and wait for one I really want to roll around, knowing my next set of pulls is guaranteed to be the event hero. In this way I’ve been able to immediately get new heroes for hardly anything because I already had the pity locked and loaded in my favour. Use the history tab on the bottom left to count out how long it’s been since your last five star, keep this number in mind if you decide to do random wishing into this banner, the last thing you want to do is pop a five star you don’t even want. Better to let the wishes and primos bank up. Just a not the history tab showing you all of your pulls doesn’t update immediately. Keep that in mind when counting up how long it’s been since your last five star.

The event banner is a great way of quickly scooping nice new four stars or maxing out existing ones you already own. You’ll be getting a lot of the featured pictured four star heroes on your journey to the five star, so make sure it’s worth your while investing in them also.

The true trick is to look ahead and check sites for leaks on who’s in the next banner and deciding ahead of time if you really want them or not. I find that I have enough resources to brute force my way to a five star every two banners. I tend to hoard my event wishes (Intertwined Fates) these days and then have a bonanza when great new hero comes out.

I saw a stupid youtuber spend $9k on this banner when the game first came out and he kept getting Venty every second pull. He couldn’t figure out why because he was a stupid youtuber. He was attempting to pull for Diluq, who is Ok at best but appealed to edgelords. The chances of pulling a non featured five star character are insanely against you, especially if you’re pulling for them on the event banner where you’re guaranteed to not get them every second pull. Do not attempt to pull for them at all, It’s extremely poor gambling odds. Bankruptcy lies ahead, and you’ll probably get them in the fullness of time anyway.

If you really want to see the reward pool, take a good look at the details button on the bottom left. It’ll give you everything you need to know, as the law requires.

It’s All Patience and Control

I hate to say it but there’s really no sexy trick to guarantee cheap five stars. Get Welkin Moon if you can, play the game, focus on the timed events, Work on the basis of the pity system, and not the overwhelming odds stacked against you. Getting a five star hero isn’t gambling as far as I’m concerned. I look at the resources I have at my disposal and how much I’d need to put into getting it via pity alone, then I know whether or not I can get it. Sometimes I get extremely lucky, and it just means that next time round my resource pool is in much better shape. The game is more generous than people let on, and the constant events the game is doing is always providing an extra infusion of gems on top of the Welkin Moon, dailies, treasure chests, and story quests.

Don’t Let Fomo Set In

Event heroes come back round eventually. Don’t rush it if you can’t manage it. Frankly you can get through the game without the aid of 5 stars. Despite being up to the eyeballs in Five star heroes one member of my party is still a four star. Fischl is just too good dude. Also don’t forget pity doesn’t reset for event banners, so don’t feel pressed for time in that regard either.

If you check out the details tab on the standard banner that shows you what the list of basic five star heroes are. These guys will never get a rate up banner. But you’ll be getting them plenty anyway as you journey through your career, just as they accidentally pop up as you make your shot at the event hero.