With a total of 4 5-star characters to be released, many F2P Genshin players will have to face many difficult choices. If up to this point, you’re still wondering who or what weapon to spend your Origin Stones on, here are some suggestions to prepare for the 2.4 update in advance.
Shenhe & Xiao
Shenhe is a 5-star Ice-type character who wields a long-handled weapon. According to previously leaked information, Shenhe has the right skill set to make a strong support character, especially for Ice-type DPS characters like Ayaka or Ganyu. If you don’t have an ice DPS, you might consider skipping Shenhe.
Xiao is also one of the DPS that once dominated the meta and was loved by many players. At the moment, the appearance of new DPS makes Xiao overwhelmed. But after a year, Xiao still proves his place in the game and is ready to rerun. A note for new players, Xiao is a rather “picky” character, only able to maximize his strength if equipped with a 5-star weapon like Hoa Phac Dien.
Accompanying the Shenhe & Xiao banner are Yun Jin, Ningguang and Chongyun. Yun Jin is a newly released Jam character, so Yun Jin’s role and abilities in the team have not been evaluated yet. Ningguang can be the character to go with Zhongli in the squad if you don’t have Albedo. Chongyun is also an effective figure in the National Team lineup. But in general, the 4-star characters of this banner are not too attractive and do not support Shenhe or Xiao.
Zhongli & Ganyu
Zhongli is currently a character that every player should have. At the present time, Zhongli’s Jade Shield is still unmatched. Although it caused a lot of controversy in the early days, many players are still extremely fond of Zhongli and are ready to pour Yuanstone for this character’s 3rd banner.
Ganyu is also a character worth owning, friendly to new players, and can take on an excellent DPS role even without a swarm of weapons. Ganyu is extremely worth dropping primeval stones if you’re a newbie, don’t have Ayaka, or already have Shenhe and need an Ice-type DPS.
The most remarkable thing is the 4-star characters accompanying this banner: Xingqiu, Beidou and Yanfei. Many players often joke that the best trio Liyue is not Hutao, Xiao and Ganyu, but Xiangling, Xingqiu and Beidou. It can be seen that Xingqiu and Beidou are extremely worthy characters to gacha, and even possess the 6th ray to create a squad that is both strong and friendly to F2P.
Weapon Banner: Destruction & Peace of Mind
Destruction is Shenhe’s sectarian weapon. At R1 and level 90, Destruction increases ATK by 16.5% with a base ATK of 741. The passive effect of this weapon is also mainly for ATK boost, which might be suitable for Shenhe but for For other DPSs, Destruction is not a good choice.
Hoa Phac Dien is considered Xiao’s sectarian weapon, with the main indicator being the crit rate. Hoa Phac Dien can also be used for other DPS characters to use spears. Overall, this weapon banner is still relatively attractive, especially for those who want to own Shenhe and already have Xiao. On the other hand, both are quite effective if equipped to Xiangling.
Weapon Banner: Bow of Asmos & Spear of God
The Asmo Bow and the Ninth God Spear were both sectarian weapons of Ganyu and Zhongli. But for F2P players or newbies, this is a banner worth… skipping.
The Amos bow is quite versatile, not only working well against Ganyu but other bow-wielding characters like Childe. But in general, it does not make too much of a difference compared to Canh Thien Khong and just stops at a temporary level. The Ning God Spear is considered Zhongli’s weapon, but it is quite bad because its main stat is ATK. Apparently this weapon has no “door” to the Homa Staff and is not worth the player’s abandonment of the Primordial Stone.