Genshin Impact Things to Know Before Starting

by genshinreddit

I’m making this “guide” because these are the things I wish I’d known before starting my genshin impact playthrough. This is definitely not complete, and I am certainly not an expert. Take it all for a grain of salt. See the bottom for links to guides and resources.

*Note: In this guide I will refer to non main quest, story, and open world content as “endgame content”

1. Vocabulary
2. What is rerolling?
3. Should I reroll?
4. How much does it cost to get characters I want?
5. Which characters should I get?
6. What resources should I save/spend?
7. Is playing co-op worth it?
8. My thoughts on the game

Vocabulary

What is rerolling?

Genshin Impact is a Triple-A free to play (F2P) gacha game. If you don’t know what gacha is, think loot boxes on steroids. Characters, weapons, equipment and other materials can be purchased in a pay-to-win fashion using a (let’s face it) rather expensive in game currency.

During a playthrough of Genshin Impact you will be given enough in-game currency to purchase banners that will reward you with characters, weapons, and equipment. Because of the RNG (random) nature of the banners you may or may not get the characters you want.

Re-rolling is the strategy of creating new account(s) and playing up to the point where you “roll” for characters in order to get the characters you want. If you don’t get the character(s) you want, then you just start up a new account, and try again. Note, rerolling does not mean you play using multiple accounts, but rather get the characters you want and stick with that account.

Should I reroll?

Disclaimer: There is always going to be a small chance that rerolling might lead to a ban. The general consensus appears to be that it is fine and the devs have made statements implying it is ok. Ultimately only reroll if you’re comfortable with a small amount of risk.

TLDR; Should you reroll? If you want to play competitively (see endgame content) without spending money, yes. If you don’t care about wasting time… maybe? Reroll guides can easily be found by searching youtube for “Genshin Impact Reroll (20 or 30 min)”

Whether or not you should reroll depends on a combination of factors. Though these are not all, here are the factors I would consider when deciding whether or not to reroll.

1. How patient are you? (rerolling takes between 20-30 minutes minimum)
2. How important is endgame content to you?
3. How important is getting the character(s) you want?
4. How important is not spending money to you?

You should reroll if…

1. You are patient enough to reroll
2. Endgame content is important to you 
3. You are against spending money, or you are not willing to spend a lot of money
4. You really want a specific character to start with

You should not reroll if…

1. You are not patient enough to reroll
2. Endgame content is unimportant to you
3. You don’t care about spending money
4. You don’t care about which characters you have, or are willing to spend or wait to get them

How much does it cost to get characters I want?

In general, to guarantee that you get “one” of the 5 star characters or equipment from the banner you roll it costs about $200. This is due to the “pity system” which guarantees a 5 star pull after 90 rolls.

To completely max out (see “constellations”) a character you need 7 duplicates of that character. All totaled, a maxed out character (and to a similar extent weapons) can cost a minimum of $1,400. More if the banner contains multiple 5 stars and you don’t get the ones you want. Yikes!

Genshin Impact does offer special event banners such as the Beginner and Venti banners offered at launch. These banners offer improved drop rates and sometimes drop rate guarantees, both of which can drastically decrease the cost of acquiring the desired character or equipment. I highly recommend waiting for special event/character banners if you are intending on maxing them out.

Which characters should I get?

Similar to whether or not you should reroll, the characters you should shoot for depends on if you care about endgame content or not.

If you don’t care about endgame content, then I suggest you go ahead and get whichever characters you enjoy the most. I’d suggest keeping at least a few 4 star characters handy for the more difficult bits, but I imagine you could get by in the game with most teams. Personally I was shooting for Jean, but after experiencing some of the endgame (non main game) content I’ve decided she won’t work for my build.

If you care about endgame content then it’s more important to have 

1. Characters with AOE elemental skills (not burst) 
2. Characters with AOE burst skills
3. Characters that gather enemies on the screen. 

Because The Abyss and certain endgame content have time limits, higher tier content becomes near impossible without the right characters. With that in mind, here are the characters I suggest for any Abyss focused team.

If you want to see detailed explanations of each character follow this link

1. **Venti – Gathers mobs, AOE anemo
2. QiQi – Inflicts persistent cryo, acts as carry and healer
3. Fischl – Inflicts persistent shock status
4. Ayaka – AOE-esque cryo (if she comes back)
5. Chongyun – AOE cryo
6. Klee – AOE pyro
7. Mona – AOE hydro

**Note: Venti is very nearly a must have for endgame content. His ability to drag mobs in from miles away is more or less necessary to be able to easily handle higher level Abyss content.

You may be thinking to yourself, where are all the DPS/carry characters? What about Diluc, Jean, Keqing etc… I haven’t included them because ultimately, they are replaceable. I know, I know… don’t hate. In the end I think it’s more important to inflict status and procs than to have 1 big DPS tank. My opinion is that you could use the Traveler as your DPS frontman, and as long as you have Venti and some combo of the above list, I believe you’ll be able to clear almost any endgame content.

What resources should I save/spend?

Nothing is worse than getting a few weeks into a game and realizing you spent the in game currency you shouldn’t have, or wasted the resources you need to progress on something unimportant. Here’s an explanation of which resources you should spend, which you should save, and some reasons why. (this may change over time)

Note: If you are unsure which currency is which, remember that you can click on a picture/icon of the currency and it will popup a window naming and explaining the currency.

Which resources you should spend?

1. Resin
   Resin is only used to open chests from lay lines, specific bosses, and domain rewards. It also regenerates very slowly over time. So there is no reason not to use it, and you should use it as quickly as possible to allow it time to regenerate. Your resin count can be found in the top right of your map, as well as the “Bosses” or “Domains” tab of your Adventurer’s Handbook (F1) once available.
   
2. Equipment under 3 stars
   You definitely don’t want to be enhancing any equipment under level 3. Don’t hesitate to use this equipment to enhance your level 3 and 4 weapons and artifacts.

Which resources you should save?

1. Masterless Starglitter
   Acquired from rolls, this is perhaps what I would consider one of the most useful resources. From Paimon’s Bargains you can purchase high tier weapons, characters and resources. I would suggest only ever using this currency on equipment and characters. Using Masterclass Starglitter for “Fates” or resources is in my opinion a waste.
   
2. Exp Scrolls
   Experience scrolls become scarcer as the game progresses. With that in mind, plan carefully which characters you want to level up. Characters do not all need to be maxed, especially those intended as support or just adding elemental statuses to your party combos.
   
3. Intertwined Fate/Aquaint Fate
   Each Fate is used for different banners. Be sure to use these strategically. Count your rolls to 90 so you know when the “pity system” will reset. Save them up for when the right character banner comes around.
   
4. Primogems
   Unlike Fates, Primogems can be used across any type of banner (by purchasing the appropriate Fates with them). Be sure to factor that in when planning how to spend your gems. You don’t want to spend your gems on one banner only to realize you have the wrong type of Fate and now can’t afford the other type of banner.
   
5. Shrine Keys
   This is not confirmed, but it’s possible that the chest contents from the shrines improve with world rank increases. For the time being I will be holding onto mine.

Is playing co-op worth it?

If you are playing for fun with friends? Totally! Otherwise, only if you need non-chest resources, help with dungeons and missions, or are participating in co-op specific events or activities.

Things you CAN do in co-op:  

• Daily commissions, 
• Domains (dungeons),
• Pick up general loot from mobs 
• Hunting World Bosses (loot costs resin), 
• Unlocking hidden chests that require 2 people to trigger, gathering resources from a different world, special co-op events.

Things you CANNOT do in co-op as a visitor of another world:

• Main story quests, abyss, 
• Opening chests, 
• Collecting anemoculi, geoculi, etc.

My thoughts on the game

I gotta say, I am thoroughly impressed. I’m playing on PC so I’m sure my experience has been the best out of the many platform experiences, but still. What an awesome game! When I think of the quality of a game I typically compare it to other Triple-A titles in both quality and cost. I think Genshin Impact is a strong competitor. Here’s my list of some of the positives and negatives:

Positives

1. Music – Wow the music. Just wow.
2. Artstyle – Awesome
3. Combat – Immersive, wide variety of enemies, character playstyles, etc…
4. Enemy variety – Way more than I expected
5. Exploration – I can’t believe I’m gonna say this but I think it might beat out BOTW.
6. Story – So far great! The tone matches the content and I haven’t cringed once, but I have laughed a lot at the references. (keeping in mind this is not the great american classic)
7. Voice Acting – Great

Negatives

1. Lip syncing – non-existent, but I get it, not a dealbreaker.
2. Level capping – I can feel the level cap wall coming… Man I hope it doesn’t become prohibitively expensive to reach higher levels of content. (it probably will)
3. Gacha pricing – I can’t compare to other gachas, but the cost/benefit makes it seem a little pricey.