This Genshin Impact 5.0 Release Date is just around the corner, and Natlan is just one part of HoYoverse’s massive plans for the RPG. Story quests are getting a regional overhaul to more closely tie essential characters to the world around them, there’s a recent world level, a confusing recent change to how 50/50 odds work on featured banners, and best of all, a recent way to customize artifacts to get the stats you want. It literally changes the rules of the game.
Below, we’ve outlined everything recent coming to Genshin Impact 5.0, including the free 5-star character you can claim to celebrate the game’s anniversary. If you’re wondering what limited-time characters will be coming to the game, head over to our list of Genshin Impact 5.0 banners .
What’s New in Genshin Impact 5.0
Genshin Impact 5.0 Release Date
Genshin Impact 5.0 will launch on August 28, 2024—or slow in the evening on August 27, 2024, if you’re in the Eastern or Pacific Time zone. As always, the release will be available for six weeks, with events spread throughout and banner refreshes halfway through.
Genshin Impact 5.0 Anniversary Rewards and Free 5 Stars
HoYoverse is celebrating Genshin’s fourth anniversary a little differently than usual. In addition to the usual free 10 pulls, you can choose one standard 5-star character and claim it for free. The standard characters are the constant ones – the ones that live on the constant banner and appear when you lose your 50/50. You can choose:
Selecting a character you already have will unlock their next Constellation node. HoYoverse also said you can expect this free drop to appear every year from now on.
Other anniversary awards include:
- 1600 Primogems (mention of free 10-draw)
- 1 Sanctifying Elixir
- 2 Brittle resin
- 1 Boombox
- 1 Firstborn Firesprite
The latter two are gadgets, but Sanctifying Elixir is tied to another recent system coming in 5.0.
Genshin Impact 5.0 Artifact Customization and Sanctifying Elixir
Sanctifying Elixir is Genshin’s equivalent of Honkai Star Rail’s Self-Modeling Resin, an item that lets you choose the stats of your chosen Artifact. Unlike HSR, Genshin’s Sanctifying Elixir lets you set your primary stats AND secondary statistic, so it appears to eliminate the element of randomness entirely.
The downside is that you need quite a few things, depending on which artifact you’re modding. The livestream showed that Sands parts cost two Elixir, while Goblet parts cost four.
You’ll earn Sanctifying Elixir for progressing through the Battle Pass, and you can get a circumscribed amount by mining Artifacts of high tier or higher, though it does take a fair amount of effort. Mining 100 Artifacts grants you one Sanctifying Elixir.
Genshin Impact 5.0 Events
Since version 5.0 is our first time stepping into Natlan, several update events are set to introduce you to Natlan. The first is Traces of Artistry, the release’s flagship event, which sends you across Natlan on a series of quests, with Primogems, regional upgrade materials, and event-exclusive Catalyst weapons.
Next up is Of Thorns and Crowns, a battle event that’s meant to nod to Natlan’s love of competition and combat, and also features the usual scattering of Primogems and upgrade materials. Mementos of Teyvat lets you retrace your journey and take pictures of essential places you’ve visited along the way, with Primogems, XP books, and Mora up for grabs.
Dodoco’s Boom-Bastic Escapades brings back the venerable board game minigame from a while back, and the regular Leyline Overflow events appear towards the end of the update, giving you a chance to earn double XP and Mora books without having to utilize Condensed Resin.
Genshin Impact 5.0 New Artifacts
Genshin 5.0 will feature two recent artifact sets, both focused on the recent Natlan playstyle.
Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City restores energy when the character who equips it triggers Nightsoul Burst—a Natlan-specific mechanic—and increases the elemental damage of the user and party under certain conditions. The second set, Obsidian Codex, increases damage overall, and when the user expends Nightsoul Burst points, increases their critical hit rate by 40 percent.
The Nightsoul Burst ability and its related Nightsoul Blessing mechanic only function as long as there is at least one Natlan character in the party.
Genshin Impact 5.0 Quests
Version 5.0 introduces the first two quests for the Natlan Archons and three of the six Natlan tribes. The story quests – previously tied to specific characters – are called Tribal Chronicles in Natlan. Each tribe has a three-act quest chain, which HoYoverse says should support better explain the region, its people, and the problems they face.
If you’re collecting Primogems and materials for future Genshin Impact banners, check out our updated Genshin Impact codes list to get free Primogems.
