Genshin Impact: How to get characters with and without wishes

Genshin Impact is an immersive RPG from HoYoverse that allows players to explore its vast open world with up to four characters. These characters can belong to either the 4-star or 5-star rarity and are primarily obtained via the wish mechanic. Making a wish on the gacha banners requires in-game currency called Primogems. However, you can get some characters without wishing on the gacha banners.

As of now, there are several 4-star units you can recruit without spending Primogems by completing quests, events, and more. However, note that you can't avail any 5-star characters without using wishes, and oftentimes they're the strongest ones.

This article will cover how you can get characters in Genshin Impact with and without using wishes.

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How to get characters without wishes in Genshin Impact

There are several 4-star characters who can be obtained without using wishes in the early game. They cover each of the base elements and roles in a team. Moreover, HoYoverse provides a 4-star character and 4-star weapon for free in every alternate version update via events.

As of writing, you can obtain the following characters without wishing, and here's how:

• Amber: Complete the "Wind-Riding Knight" quest
• Kaeya: Complete the "Crash Course" quest
• Lisa: Complete the "Sparks Amongst the Pages" quest
• Barbara: Complete the "A Long Shot" quest and reach Adventure Rank 18
• Xiangling: Complete the Floor 3 Chamber 3 of Spiral Abyss and reach Adventure Rank 20
• Collei: Complete the Floor 4 Chamber 3 of Spiral Abyss and reach Adventure Rank 20

Masterless Starglitter shop (Image via HoYoverse)

Aside from the aforementioned units, there is one more way to get characters. Every time you get a 4-star item when you wish on the gacha banner, you get an item called Masterless Starglitter. You can spend 34 of these in the in-game shop to purchase 4-star characters, weapons, and more.

The units offered follow a fixed rotation and change monthly; therefore, F2P players can plan for them in advance. Currently, you can get Ningguang and Xingqiu from the shop.

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How to get a character with wishes in Genshin Impact

You can obtain 5-star and 4-star characters in Genshin Impact by making wishes from the wish menu. You'll need Fates to make a wish on any of the four active Event Wish banners. While three of them require Intertwined Fates, you will need Acquaint Fates for the standard banner, which is permanent. Each Fate costs 160 Primogems.

Let's take a look at all types of banners:

Character Event Wish I and II

Xiao's Character Event Wish banner (Image via HoYoverse)

The Genshin Impact Character Event wish banners offer a unique limited-time 5-star character and a selection of 4-star characters. You are guaranteed to get a 4-star item in every 10 wishes. If the previous 4-star was not among the rate-up units, the next one will be guaranteed to be a featured 4-star.

Similarly, there is a pity mechanism for 5-star characters in Genshin Impact. You are assured of getting a 5-star character on these banners every 90 wishes. It will either be the featured 5-star or one of the standard ones. If you lose pity on a standard character, your next 5-star will be guaranteed to be the limited one.

The Character Event Wish banners also have a soft pity system in place, which drastically increases the chances of getting a 5-star character after 75 wishes.

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Epitome Invocation weapons banner

Epitome Invocation weapons banner (Image via HoYoverse)

The Epitome Invocation weapons banner features two different 5-star weapons, often the signature weapons of the 5-star characters from the Character Event Wish banners. You can chart a course for whichever weapon you want and can use Fate Points (accumulated by summoning 5-stars) to guarantee your selection.

The weapons banner also has a pity system, which requires you to make 80 pulls to guarantee a 5-star. Moreover, the soft pity for it starts at 65.

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Standard banner

Standard banner (Image via HoYoverse)

The permanent banner in Genshin Impact requires Acquaint Fates to wish. It offers an assortment of 5-star characters and weapons alongside all the other 4-star and 3-star items in the game. The pity system on this banner is the same as the limited-time character banners.

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Beginners' Wish

This is one of the limited-time banners that is tailor-made for new players. You can only make 20 wishes on this banner using Acquaint Fates and have a high chance of receiving Noelle, who is an amazing shielder and healer in the early game.

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For more information and updates, follow Sportskeeda's Genshin Impact hub.