Genshin Impact is, at its core, a free to play RPG built around gacha pulls. That means adding new characters to your collection largely means dumping special currencies into a void and hoping the character you want comes out. But the teams that make and publish these games also know they can’t get spending customers in without making the baseline free version fun and inviting. That usually means freebies, from occasional premium currency gifts, to some characters being offered for free. They may not be the best, but most of the time they’re strong enough to get through story content and maybe more.
Genshin Impact Free Characters Guide
As of right now, just after launch in global territories, Genshin Impact has six characters you can get for free. Well, more like five and a half, but the distinction is important. These six characters are Amber, Lisa, Kaeya, Noelle, Barbara, and Xiangling. Each of these characters fills a specific spot, and while they aren’t going to stack up against the premium 5-star units long term, many of them are solid and even active participants in Genshin Impact’s actual story. Here’s how to get each one:
Amber
You get Amber pretty much right off the bat, at the tail end of the game’s initial tutorial. She shows up to teach the player how to swap characters, start building a team, and what alternate attack mechanics can be like (in her case, a bow). She’s a fire unit, and her main special ability is to drop a sort of decoy that can lure enemies, and even explode to do some damage. She has more utility than power, but is probably going to be the first candidate for your bench after a while.
Lisa and Kaeya
Once you get past the introductory content and the story starts to actually move forward and open up some, you can get Lisa and Kaeya roughly around the same time. You get them through some very early, Adventure Rank 5 side quests that show you what it’s like to navigate through dungeons. Once you beat either quest (Sparks Amongst the Pages for Lisa and Crash Course for Kaeya), you’ll see them added to your team right away. Kaeya is a pretty straightforward sword unit with some cool ice powers, while Lisa is a mage who uses electricity for indirect damage over time-style attacks.
Related: Genshin Impact Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts
Xiangling
Xiangling is an actually strong and useful character who is part of the “Wish” or gacha pull pools. But if you advance far enough in the game, you can get her for free. Even if you pull her before then, that’s good for opening up constellations. To get your free Xiangling, you have to reach Adventure Rank 2, and clear Floor 3, Chamber 3 of the Enter the Abyss event. Good luck!
Barbara
Barbara is free, although there’s a big caveat at this point. If you haven’t been playing Genshin Impact already you’re out of luck at this point. But if you played the game before the 1.1 update was released, you’ll be able to get Barbara via the in-game mail menu once you hit that 20 Adventure Rank. She’s a support unit that can set groups of enemies up for elemental combos, as well as provide crucial healing.
Noelle
This is another character that’s free, but only sort of free. When you’re a new player, you’ll notice a special Wish banner marked for beginners. You can do a couple of ten pulls on this banner for a solid discount, which you’ll be able to get pretty much by starting the game. Your first ten pull on this banner guarantees Noelle, a tank who uses self-healing shields and a massive greatsword. She isn’t great for element combos, but as far as getting right in the fight and slapping monsters with a weapon, she’s a lot of fun.
That’s all for now! Despite the size of Genshin Impact in terms of scale, as it is now the character pool overall is pretty small. But when a gacha game is brand new, it has to let the opening cast shine for a while before the newbies start rolling in. Some of the free characters may even change, or the list might be added to. Hopefully Genshin Impact stays as popular as it is now, so more and more content can come through and be shared for free.
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- How to Raise Adventure Rank in Genshin Impact
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Are you playing Genshin Impact and using any of the free characters? Or have you been paying? Or, perhaps, you’ve gotten super lucky with free Wish pulls? Let us know what you think of the game over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter pages!
