‘Genshin Impact’ 2.0 update drops this Wednesday

Traveler, are you ready to explore, meet new colleagues, and go head-to-head with powerful adversaries in Genshin Impact’s upcoming update?

If you are, prepare your PC, mobile, or PlayStation console’s disk capacity and don’t let your phone heat up because this is one of Genshin Impact’s biggest updates yet.

New region

First and foremost is the much awaited new location, Inazuma. It’s been 10 months since Genshin Impact was released by miHoyo and so far, only two regions out of seven have been playable: Mondstadt and Liyue.

Inazuma is finally opening its doors to the game’s beloved Traveler, however, only three of the islands out of six will be available, namely Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island. Players must reach Adventure Rank 30 and complete the Archon Quest “Chapter II: Act I - The Immovable God and the Eternal Euthymia.”

Much like Mondstadt and Liyue’s mechanics, Electro Sigils will be scattered across the nation and can be offered to the Sacred Sakura to raise a player’s Sacred Sakura's Favor Level and gain valuable items in return. Reputation system is also available and will have the same rules as Mondstadt and Liyue’s such as interacting with NPCs and doing errands. 

New characters

Besides the new region, the fans are anticipating one of the most important characters in the game, Kamisato Ayaka. She is an Inazuma character that has been teased multiple times since miHoyo began promoting the game and is finally making her debut as a 5-star cryo character. 

Ayaka is described as the “daughter of the Yashiro Commission's Kamisato Clan. Dignified and elegant, as well as wise and strong,” in the game’s official website.

Included in Ayaka’s banner, “The Heron’s Court” are some of the beloved 4-star characters from Liyue, the geo vision-wielder the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing Ningguang; the legal advisor Yanfei who is a pyro vision holder; and the young exorcist Chongyun who is also a cryo vision holder. Like every new limited banner, players are given a chance to test out the characters in a trial stage.

Aside from Ayaka, the next update that will follow after 2.0 will introduce two more Inazuma characters—Yoimiya and Sayu. Yoimiya is a 5-star pyro bow user, is the owner of Naganohara Fireworks, and is known as the “Queen of the Summer Festival.” On the other hand, Sayu is a claymore wielding anemo vision user and is a ninja who seems to be lacking sleep. 

Extra gameplay experience

The 2.0 update will have a new gameplay system, including the Balethunder. In some regions of Inazuma there are high levels of Electro concentration, within this area characters may gradually lose their HP. Electroganas can protect players and their party from such a phenomenon, they usually spawn from Thunder Sakura Boughs.

There will also be 6 new domains and as to what they contain still remains a mystery, however the names and descriptions of each domain can be accessed in miHoyo’s Hoyolab announcement. 

New weapons and artifacts

The weapon banner, “Epitome Invocation” will increase the drop rate for the new event-exclusive 5-star weapons, a sword called Mistsplitter Reforged and the polearm, Skyward Spine.

Previous 4-star weapons will also have increased rates, this includes the Favonius Sword (sword), Sacrificial Greatsword (claymore), Favonius Lance (polearm), Favonius Codex (catalyst), and The Stringless (bow).

Included in the update are also these new weapons inspired by the Japanese setting of Inazuma: 5-star weapons, Mistsplitter Reforged (sword) and Thundering Pulse (bow). As for the 4-star weapons, there's Amenoma Kegeuchi (sword), Katsuragikiri Nagamasa (claymore), Kitain Cross Spear (polearm), Hakushin Rising (catalyst), and Hamayumi (bow).

There are also two new kinds of artifacts called Shimenawa's Reminiscence and Emblem of Severed Fate.

And of course, it wouldn’t be Genshin Impact without its numerous events. This time there will be four events for the 2.0 update and it will start on July 22 and end on August 16, 2021. Players are eligible to receive prizes such as primogems, exp mats, and mora throughout the events.

The Thunder Sojourn event is specifically interesting since players can obtain a free 4-star character, the electro-wielder and pirate captain, Beidou if they are able to complete the event. The treasure-seeking Seelie also returns with another Lost Riches event. Players are rewarded with a Seelie companion if they complete the event and can pick one out of the four available. Compared to the first Lost Riches event, this one has a new purple Seelie amongst the choices.

The update is currently available for pre-installment for PC and mobile users, while the full update will launch on Wednesday, July 21.