After spending your first few hours exploring Mondstadt and slaying hilichurls, you’ve probably seen other players running around with flashy, powerful 5-star characters like Zhongli or Nahida. It’s normal to wonder: can i buy characters in genshin impact directly, without relying on random gacha pulls? Most new players assume you can pay a set fee to grab the unit you want, but Genshin’s monetization system works a little differently than many other mobile and live-service games. We’re breaking down exactly how character unlocking works, what you can pay for, and how to get the characters you want as efficiently as possible.
Can I Buy Characters in Genshin Impact Directly?
The short answer is no, there is no official way to purchase a specific Genshin Impact character for a fixed price at any time. HoYoverse has never offered direct character purchases as part of its core monetization strategy, as the gacha wish system is their primary revenue stream for the game. Every character in the game, even permanent 5-star units like Diluc or Jean, can only be unlocked through the wish system, or given out for free during limited-time events.
You might see ads or social media posts claiming to sell specific characters directly, but these are almost always scams. The only exception people usually reference is purchasing pre-owned third-party accounts that already have the character you want unlocked. Purchasing third-party accounts with pre-unlocked characters puts your entire game progress at risk of a permanent ban, as this practice violates Genshin Impact’s Terms of Service. HoYoverse regularly scans for unusual account activity, and you can lose all your progress, purchased items, and linked email access if you get caught.
Some events do give out free 4-star characters for completing simple tasks, but these are always limited to specific event windows, and you can’t pay to unlock them after the event ends. 5-star characters are never given out for free to all players, outside of very rare anniversary or launch promotions.
What You Can Purchase to Unlock Characters Faster
While you can’t buy characters directly, you can purchase in-game resources that let you pull for characters on wish banners more quickly. All of these purchases are made through the official in-game shop, and don’t put your account at risk. The most popular and high-value purchases for players looking to unlock more characters include:
- Genesis Crystals: The premium currency you can buy with real money, which can be converted 1:1 to Primogems, or used to purchase limited character skins and special event bundles
- Welkin Moon: A $4.99 monthly subscription that gives you 300 Genesis Crystals upfront, plus 90 Primogems every day for 30 days, making it the best value for players planning to spend small amounts regularly
- Battle Pass (Gnostic Hymn): A $9.99 per update cycle pass that unlocks extra rewards as you complete daily and weekly tasks, including up to 4 Intertwined Fates per cycle, plus upgrade materials and Mora
- Limited-Time Bundles: Occasional bundles sold during major events that include Fates, Primogems, and character upgrade materials, usually priced between $9.99 and $29.99 for casual spenders
All of these purchases give you more resources to pull on character banners, but they don’t guarantee you’ll get the specific character you’re chasing. You’ll still have to go through the gacha system’s random roll system, though there is a pity system in place to reduce bad luck. The 90-pull pity system for 5-star characters guarantees you’ll get a 5-star unit within 90 pulls on a limited character banner, but there’s a 50% chance it will be the featured rate-up character. If you get a non-featured 5-star (called a “loss of the 50/50”), your next 5-star on that banner type is guaranteed to be the featured rate-up unit, at up to 180 pulls total.
Most players actually get 5-star units between 75 and 80 pulls, because the drop rate increases drastically once you pass the 70-pull mark, so you rarely have to hit the full 90-pull hard pity cap.
Legitimate Ways to Get the Exact Character You Want
Even without direct character purchases, you can reliably get the specific characters you want with a little planning and patience, even if you’re completely free-to-play. The first and most important rule is to only pull on limited character banners for units you actually want to use. Limited banners are the only place you can get limited-time 5-star characters, and these units only come back for reruns every 6 to 18 months, so you need to plan ahead for their return.
If you’re a free-to-play player, you can earn roughly 60 to 80 pulls per 6-week update cycle just by completing daily tasks, events, and exploring new areas. That means you can save up enough for a guaranteed 5-star (the 180-pull big pity) roughly every 3 to 4 updates, if you skip all banners for characters you don’t care about. If you buy Welkin Moon, that number jumps to 90 to 110 pulls per update, so you can get a guaranteed limited 5-star roughly every 2 updates.
Your pity count carries over between runs of the same banner type, so you don’t have to get all your pulls in during one banner run. For example, if you pull 70 times on a Nahida banner and don’t get her, you can save your remaining pulls for her next rerun 6 to 12 months later, and your pity count will still be at 70 when she comes back. That means you’ll only need 20 more pulls to hit hard pity when she returns, so you can guarantee you get her without having to save all your pulls at once.
You can also get free Intertwined Fates from raising your Adventure Rank, completing story quests, and reaching certain levels in the Spiral Abyss, so make sure you claim all these free rewards as you play.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Trying to Unlock Characters
Most new players waste dozens of pulls on things that don’t help them get the characters they want, just because they don’t understand how the gacha system works. The biggest mistake I see new players make is wasting pulls on the standard permanent banner. The standard banner only has 5 permanent 5-star characters, and you can get all of these units as off-pity drops on limited banners, so there’s no reason to spend Primogems on Acquaint Fates for this banner if you’re chasing specific characters.
Another big mistake is pulling on a limited banner just for the featured 4-star characters. If you hit pity while pulling for a 4-star, you’ll get the featured 5-star character, even if you don’t want them, and you’ll lose your pity progress for the banner you actually care about. Never pull on a limited character banner unless you are happy to get the featured 5-star unit if you hit pity.
Many players also forget to track their pity count, which can lead to accidental wasted pulls. You can view your full pull history for the last 6 months in the wish menu, so keep a rough count of how many pulls you’ve done on your target banner, so you know when you’re getting close to pity. If you only have 20 pulls left until pity and your target character’s banner ends in 2 days, you’ll know you need to grind a few extra events to get enough Primogems before it ends.
Finally, don’t fall for scam offers for direct character purchases or cheap Primogems from third-party sites. All of these offers either steal your account information, give you fake currency that gets reversed later, or lead to a permanent ban on your account. It’s never worth the risk, even if the offer seems too good to pass up.
At the end of the day, the answer to can i buy characters in genshin impact directly is no, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hundreds of dollars to build a team you love. The game gives out tons of free Primogems every update for exploring, completing events, and even testing new characters on trial runs. If you plan your pulls ahead, track your pity, and avoid scammy third-party services, you’ll be able to unlock every character you want over time without breaking the bank. You don’t need every 5-star character to enjoy the game anyway, so don’t stress if you have to wait a few months for your favorite unit to come back for a rerun.