Genshin Impact: New changes to the Character Banners; is it good or bad?

Last Updated on: 15th November 2021, 01:41 am

The Special Program for the 2.3 version of Genshin Impact went live last Friday, and it brought not only the confirmation for the leaked banners but also some new changes to the character banners: now, rerun banners can happen simultaneously, with 2 previous Event Characters coming back at the same time.

This change was adopted after having some feedback about old characters taking too much time to return. Albedo, for example, took almost a whole year to come back to the banners. Players who missed him or weren’t playing when he came out waited way too long for the alchemist boy’s return.

These new changes to character banners are great on paper, but how good are they in the actual game’s current situation? Let’s find out if they are ultimately good or bad!

READ MORE: Genshin Impact leaks: Next areas possibly revealed

Detailed explanation on the changes

From the official post on the Hoyolab forums, the changes to the Event Wishes are the following:

During the appropriate situation, two previous Event Character Banners will be available at the same time. This was decided following the feedback from players who didn’t enjoy waiting for so long for the return of a specific character.

The wishing count for both of the banners will be completely shared. Taking Albedo and Eula for example, if you made 50 wishes on Albedo and didn’t get him if you decide to make 40 wishes on Eula, you’re guaranteed to receive a 5-star character.

The same applies to 4-stars. If you wished 9 times on Albedo and didn’t receive any 4-star, your next wish on Eula is guaranteed to be a 4-star item.

The “50/50” rule also applies here for both rate-up 4-stars and the featured 5-star character. If you get Qiqi on Eula’s banner, your next 5-star in Albedo’s banner will be Albedo himself. If you just got a 4-star weapon on Albedo’s banner, you’ll receive a rate-up character on Eula’s.

The wishing count is carried over to the next banner, so if you got any of the standard 5-star characters on either Eula or Albedo, your first 5-star on the next banner will be that banner’s featured character.

Why are these characters in the banners?

The given situation for 2.3 is that both Albedo and Eula will be in the spotlight during the version’s main events, as both of them are present in the trailer.

Also, as previously mentioned, Albedo was away from the banners for almost a year. Hu Tao, who’s currently the featured event character, was released after him and still got a rerun first. He was bound to return sooner or later.

READ MORE: Genshin Impact: How good is Thoma? Character analysis

But of course, miHoYo decides the version’s content, and it’s very simple for them to say who will get the spotlight. 

No mention was made for the 4-star characters featured. We don’t know if Albedo and Eula will share the same 4-stars, or if both banners will have different featured characters. We might have 6 rate-up 4-stars at the same time.

What about the Weapons Banner?

From all that we heard, it seems that the weapon banner will still be the same as it is, having already received the Epitomized Path earlier in the year.

No mention was made of the weapons available during the double banner period. The new 5-star Claymore Redhorn Stonethresher was showcased, but it is Arataki Itto’s signature weapon and is very likely to be released along with the oni himself.

Anything can be in the first 2.3 weapon banner. The main guesses are for the Summit Sharper sword, which also hasn’t seen the light of day for almost a year (it was only available with Albedo), and the Song of Broken Pines, Eula’s signature weapon.

Both of these limited weapons are closely related to the characters in the banners, so there’s a good chance for them to return.

Are these changes to the Character Banners good or bad?

Now, players may see their desired characters coming back earlier than usual. If you missed Venti, you won’t have to wait for half a year for him to come back. With the increasing amount of 5-star characters, this is a good solution to the availability problem.

It’s also easier to get constellations for your mains. Raiden C2, for example, is a big game-changer. The more she comes back, the easier it will be for players to get it. 

But of course, there’s also a bad side.

Say that you want both Ganyu and Xiao since you weren’t playing when they were available. What would you do if both of them come back at the same time during 2.4 (which is very possible)?

For F2P players or low spenders, the decisions will be harder. You’ll have to let go of either a new character or an old one that you also desired. You’re lucky if you can get both of them, but at what cost? If you wanted to try your luck at the weapon banner, you’ll probably have to forget about that.

That also makes all of the characters less “unique”, as they’ll keep coming back. While that’s not a bad thing for itself, some players enjoy this sense of “uniqueness”.

From all of this information, I believe that the system is a good step for the game, even if it puts you on a hard decision. Since they’ll come back earlier, it’s less of a “punishment” if you couldn’t get him now. Save for the next time.

Also, don’t forget that we may not always see a double rerun. These changes to the character banners will not always be applied, so the old system is still valid.

F2P players will have to salvage even harder the number of primos the game gives them, but at least, now they have a wider amount of options to pick. With time, it may be possible to collect all of the desired characters.

And of course, there’s always that guy who gets both of the characters in less than 10 wishes. Can you be that guy one day?

READ MORE: Genshin Impact: Where to find Fluorescent Fungus

Genshin Impact is currently on its 2.2 version, “Into the Perilous Labyrinth of Fog”, which introduces a whole new area to explore, as well as new enemies, weapons, events, and the return of previously limited characters and gadgets.

You can play the game for free on mobile devices including Android, iOS, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and Pc on both miHoYo’s official launcher and Epic Games Store. A Nintendo Switch version is stated to be in development.