Five tips for starting Genshin Impact in 2021

Just getting started with Genshin Impact? Hit the ground running with these five tips.

It’s easy to feel lost when starting Genshin Impact. There’s so much to do and see that it can feel overwhelming at first. Whether your goal is to explore every inch of land, defeat the strongest enemies, or experience the expansive story, here are five tips for starting Genshin Impact. 

Free characters for new Genshin Impact players

New Genshin Impact accounts get a few bonuses to help them get started. The biggest one is a handful of free characters.

The game starts out with a free base roster of most elements, including the Traveler, Amber, Kaeya, Lisa. New players also get a free hydro character when they reach adventure level 18 and complete the quest  A Long Shot. Barbara is a dedicated healer and a solid unit even in the late game. 

If you’re looking for something a little more offensive, you’re in luck. Players can also earn pyro spear-user Xiangling entirely for free. She’s an excellent pyro support and can even be a main DPS character with the right build. It does cost some Primogems, but the Beginners’ Wish banner also guarantees a Noelle for your first pull at 20% off.

Adventure rank is everything for new Genshin players

Adventure rank is the main way of tracking your experiences in Teyvat. As you earn adventure experience, your rank will slowly increase.

Each rank increase gives a small bundle of rewards from the adventurer’s guild with bigger rewards at every multiple of five. Many of the game’s features, including events and some quests, are locked behind adventure rank. You earn adventure rank by completing quests and expending resin.

At certain ranks, the game will ask if you would like to go up a world level. World level in Genshin Impact increases the level of enemy monsters, but also boosts the value and quantity of their drops. It might be a good idea to stay on your current world level for a while until you feel strong enough for a bigger challenge. The adventure experience you earn in the meantime will be applied when you decide to go up to the next level.

New Genshin Impact players should focus on quests

There’s a ton of stuff to do in Genshin Impact, but the main quests are some of the most important parts. Completing these quests will open up new areas like Inazuma, so even dedicated explorers should take the time to complete them.

The Genshin Impact main story is told in a series of Story and Archon quests. These grant a ton of resources and Primogems and usually end in an exciting dungeon or boss fight.

Story, character, and side quests also grant a very large amount of Primogems, which are used to roll for new characters and weapons.

Other early sources of Primogems in Genshin Impact include daily commissions, Spiral Abyss, and events. Keep in mind that many limited events are locked off to new players, especially those who haven’t unlocked every region.

How Genshin Impact’s Resin system works

This system is actually much better now than when it first started. As you play Genshin Impact, you will accumulate a resource known as original resin. You can see how much resin you have in the top-right corner of the map. You regenerate one resin every eight minutes until the maximum of 160. That equals 180 resin a day and 1,260 a week.

Resin is used to claim rewards from domains, leylines, and open-world boss fights. It’s the primary way of making your characters stronger, which will be important as you level up your Adventure Rank. It’ll take a while before you can even spend resin, but it’s important to use it as often as you can. Talent books, artifacts, upgrade materials, and character ascension materials will all come in handy at one point or another.

How to make characters stronger in Genshin Impact

As you complete quests and gain adventure rank, monsters in the overworld will hit harder and tank more damage. Domains and quest enemies will also become more challenging. If you’re new to Genshin Impact player and feel like you’re not doing enough damage, there are several ways to make your characters stronger.

The most direct way is to improve your artifacts. Each character can equip five artifacts each with its own primary stat. The flower and feather will always be HP and attack, but the other three slots have everything from defense to elemental mastery to crit damage.

For new players, don’t worry so much about the smaller sub-stats. When in doubt, look for attack percentage artifacts and make sure to upgrade them as much as you can.