Genshin Impact Pity, Soft Pity, 50/50 and Epitomized Path system explained
Gacha this guide for Wishing on Banners.
Pity, Soft Pity, 50/50 and Epitomized Path are systems put in place to ensure you get a featured 5-Star or 4-Star item after hitting certain Wish milestones on Banners in Genshin Impact.
Some of these systems are explained in-game through Banner descriptions, but Soft Pity was discovered by the Genshin Impact community, and the regular descriptions can be confusing, and even a little misleading.
To help guide you through Genshin Impact's gacha system, we've explained exactly how Hard Pity, Soft Pity and the 50/50 systems work for character event Banners, and standard character and weapon Banners, including how Epitomized Path works.
Genshin Impact Banners and Wishes explained
There are four types of Banners in Genshin Impact:
- Beginners' Wish (Aquaint Fate)
- Wanderlust Invocation (Aquaint Fate)
- Epitome Invocation (Intertwined Fate)
- Rotating event characters (Intertwined Fate)
Beginners' Wish Banner
You can spend your Acquaint Fate on the permanent Beginners' Wish Banner. However, if you've Wished 20 times on it, Beginners' Wish will no longer be available. After spending 10 Acquaint Fate on Beginners' wish you will get a guaranteed 4-Star Geo character, Noelle. After 20 Acquaint Fate is used, you'll then get another guaranteed 5-Star or 4-Star character from a select pool.
Wanderlust Invocation Banner
All 5-Star characters and Weapons not included in event character Banners are available in Wanderlust Invocation, a permanent Banner. New 4-Star characters are added to it in the update after their original Banner debut, but event-exclusive 4-Star weapons are not.
For every 10 Wishes you make with Acquaint Fate on Wanderlust Invocation, you are guaranteed at least one 4-Star character or weapon.
Epitome Invocation Banner
Epitome Invocation is a permanent weapon Banner with boosted 5-Star and 4-Star weapons that usually change every three weeks, at the same time new event character Banners are added. Just like these character Banners, you must use Intertwined Fate to Wish on Epitome Invocation.
Character event Banners
For temporary event character Banners, you have to use Intertwined Fate to Wish on them, and they usually change every three weeks. Sometimes there will only be one event character Banner, and sometimes there are two. When there are two, they share the same pity system, 50/50 system, and boosted 4-Star characters.
It's worth noting that the featured 5-Star isn't the only 5-Star character you can get from each event Banner - they just have boosted odds. You can even get 5-Star weapons if they're included in that Banner's Wish pool. However, the featured 5-Star character and three 4-Star characters will benefit from the 50/50 and Pity systems.
Make sure to check out our next and current Banner page for a full list of each Banner's 5-Star and 4-Star character and weapon pools.
Genshin Impact 50/50 system explained
The in-game description for this guaranteed pull says that there is a 50% chance of getting the featured 5-Star on a character event Banner. While this is technically true with the 50/50 system, it doesn't mean there is a 50% chance of Wishing for the featured 5-Star every time you spend your Intertwined Fate on a Wish.
Let's say Arataki Itto is the featured 5-Star character on his Oni's Royale banner. With the 50/50 system in place, if you don't pull Itto the first time you successfully Wish for a 5-Star character or weapon, you are guaranteed to get him the second time you pull a 5-Star item.
The '50% chance of getting Itto' in this context means there's a 50% chance of getting him every time you manage to pull a 5-Star item, not every time you Wish on his Banner. In reality, there's only a 0.6% chance of getting Itto with every Wish.
It's also worth noting that each current and future event character Banner shares this 50/50 system. For example, if you Wished for Yelan on the other Banner running alongside Itto's, for your 90th Wish you would be guaranteed to pull Yelan, even if your previous 89 Wishes were on Itto's Banner - but only if your last 5-Star weapon or character was obtained from an event character Banner. This would carry over to the character event Banners that replace Itto and Yelan, and the ones after that, and so on.
4-Star character 50/50 system
4-Star characters share their own 50/50 system. A boosted featured 4-Star character on an event Banner is guaranteed after 20 Wishes, as opposed to a 5-Star's guarantee at 190.
So for example if you didn't pull Chongyun, Bennett, or Kuki Shinobu the first time you get a 4-Star weapon or character from an event Banner, one of them will be guaranteed the next time you successfully Wish for a 4-Star item. This also carries over between all current and future character event Banners.
Epitome Invocation 50/50 system
The Epitome Invocation weapon Banner has its own 50/50 system in place, but is completely separate from the character event Banner 50/50 odds. Although referred to as 50/50, it's actually 75/25 odds on getting a featured 5-Star weapon on each 5-Star item successfully pulled on Epitome Invocation, so a 75% chance, not 50%.
The same 50/50 rules applies however, meaning that if you don't get a featured 5-Star weapon on your first 5-Star pull, you are guaranteed to get it the second time.
Genshin Impact Pity and Soft Pity system explained
With the Soft Pity system in Genshin Impact, you are more likely to get a 5-Star character after your 75th Wish on a character event Banner. Your odds for pulling a 5-Star item will increase with every Wish after 75, until you will be guaranteed a 5-Star item on your 90th Wish with the ordinary Hard Pity system, if you haven't already got one. So combined with the 50/50 system, in the very worst case scenario you would get the featured 5-Star character on your 180th Wish.
Event Banner 4-Star characters have their own Pity system. So, you are guaranteed a 4-Star character or weapon after ten Wishes. You have a 50% chance to pull one of the three featured 4-Stars on a Banner with the 50/50 system, and are guaranteed a featured 4-Star character after 20 Wishes.
Just like with the 50/50 system, Soft Pity and Pity for 5-Star and 4-Star characters carry over between all current and future character event Banners.
The Wanderlust Invocation Banner follows the same Soft Pity and Pity odds, but is entirely separate from the character event Banners. There are also a lot of 5-Star and 4-Star weapons included in Wanderlust Invocation, so it can take a lot longer to get a character from this standard Banner.
Version 4.3 with Navia is coming soon! For now, in version 4.2, Ayato and Cyno are reruning, and you need Scarabs to Ascend Cyno. Our Fontaine guide can also help with Fontaine's Reputation and the Fountain of Lucine amongst other details, and you can also redeem new codes for Primogems, and check out our regularly updated tier list. You need luck from the Pity and 50/50 systems to Wish with Fate for characters on Banners, and you always need the right Adventure Rank for events. Elsewhere, we have tips and tricks for beginners, Dendroculus locations, fishing locations, and TCG card locations.
Genshin Impact Epitome Invocation Pity, Soft Pity, and Epitomized Path
Although we can't confirm this ourselves yet, Soft Pity for the Epitome Invocation weapon Banner seems to start around 60 Wishes. The reason this is lower than the Soft Pity on a character event Banner is because the weapon Banner's ordinary Hard Pity is at 80 Wishes in instead of 90. So, you're guaranteed a 5-Star weapon after 80 Wishes.
Another way to cut down the Primogems you'll spend on Wishing for your desired featured 5-Star weapon on Epitome Invocation is by using Epitomized Path.
Once you pick one of the two featured 5-Star weapons to 'chart a course' to, you will start to earn Fate Points for every 5-Star weapon you pull that isn't the one you want. When you have built 2 Fate Points, your next 5-Star weapon will then be guaranteed to be the one you chose for your Epitomized Path. With a 75% chance you'll get one of the two featured 5-Star weapons on Epitomized Invocation, this is just another way to ensure you're not spending your hard-earned Primogems on the same weapon every time you pull a 5-Star.
However, you must pick the weapon you want to chart a course to before you can start earning Fate points, and once you get the weapon you want, whether through Epitomized Path or not, you will lose all your Fate points. These points don't carry over between the two featured 5-Star weapons either, so if you change your mind on which 5-Star you want after accumulating a Fate point, you will lose it when you chart a course to the other weapon.
The very best of luck Wishing on Banners in Genshin Impact!