If you’ve ever spent primogems on a limited banner praying for a specific support or DPS unit, you’ve probably wondered how many 4 star characters are in Genshin Impact at some point. These mid-rarity units are the backbone of most free-to-play rosters, often outperforming 5-star options when built correctly, and they’re far easier to get constellations for than their rarer counterparts. I’ve been playing Genshin since launch, and I’ve collected every 4-star unit released so far, so I’m breaking down the full count, plus all the details you need to know about these accessible fan-favorite characters.
How Many 4 Star Characters Are in Genshin Impact, Exactly?
As of the latest Fontaine patch updates, there are 73 playable 4-star characters in Genshin Impact. This count only includes units you can add to your playable roster, not NPCs, event-only side characters, or collab units that were never made available for general players. This count grows roughly every 2-3 patch cycles, as HoYoverse usually adds at least one new 4-star alongside every new 5-star limited banner unit, plus occasional free 4-stars for major events.
4-star characters make up nearly 70% of the entire playable Genshin Impact roster, which is why they’re so critical for all player types, from new casual players to endgame whale accounts. Unlike 5-star units, which have a 0.6% pull rate on limited banners, 4-stars have a 13% pull rate per 10-pull, so you’ll collect far more of them as you play even if you never spend real money on the game. This count also includes the free starter units you get within your first hour of playing, plus units you can earn via in-game content like the Spiral Abyss and event quests.
Breakdown of Genshin Impact 4 Star Characters by Element and Region
The 73 4-star characters are distributed across all 7 elements and 5 playable regions of Teyvat, with some small variations in count based on element popularity and region release timeline. Pyro has the highest number of 4-star characters, with 13 total, followed by Cryo at 12, Electro at 11, Hydro at 10, Anemo at 9, Geo at 9, and Dendro at 9 as of the latest updates. By region, Liyue has the most 4-stars at 19, followed by Mondstadt at 18, Inazuma at 17, Sumeru at 12, Fontaine at 7, and 2 cross-regional collab 4-stars that are no longer obtainable for new players.
If you’re a new player building your first roster, you don’t need to collect every 4-star to clear all game content. Some 4-stars are far more flexible and powerful than others, and investing in these core units first will make your early and mid-game experience much smoother. The highest-value 4-star characters for all player types are:
- Xiangling (Pyro, Liyue): The best free-to-play DPS and sub-DPS in the game, obtainable for free via Spiral Abyss Floor 3, Chamber 3. She works in nearly every team comp that needs Pyro application, from vaporize to melt to burgeon, and her constellations make her even more powerful for endgame content.
- Bennett (Pyro, Mondstadt): Universally considered the best support in Genshin Impact, his burst heals your entire team, boosts ATK by a huge percentage, and applies Pyro for debuff cleansing. You can get him from standard banners and limited banner rate-ups regularly, and he works in every team type regardless of playstyle.
- Xingqiu (Hydro, Liyue): A top-tier sub-DPS and support that provides consistent off-field Hydro application, damage reduction, and small passive healing. He’s a core part of vaporize, freeze, and bloom team comps for all player skill levels, and only needs a small amount of energy recharge to be fully effective.
- Fischl (Electro, Mondstadt): One of the most flexible off-field Electro DPS units, her Oz summon stays on field for 10 seconds and deals consistent Electro damage for aggravate, hyperbloom, and electro-charged teams. She’s also a great pick for overworld exploration thanks to her fast charged attack and passive that reduces stamina consumption for bow users.
- Sucrose (Anemo, Mondstadt): A great crowd control and elemental mastery buffer for reaction-focused teams, she’s far easier to build and obtain than 5-star Anemo supports like Venti or Kazuha for new players. Her burst groups small enemies together and boosts reaction damage for your entire team, making her a great pick for Spiral Abyss and event challenges.
How to Unlock Every 4 Star Character in Genshin Impact
You don’t have to spend primogems to get a huge chunk of the 4-star roster. 10 4-star characters are permanently available for free via gameplay, including starter units Amber, Kaeya, and Lisa, plus Xiangling from the Spiral Abyss, Collei from the Archon Quest, and occasional free 4-stars given away during major patch events. For other 4-star units, you can get them from three main banner types: the standard permanent banner, limited character event banners, and the weapon banner.
When you pull on a limited character banner, you have a 13% chance of getting a 4-star item every 10 pulls, and half of those 4-star drops will be one of the three featured rate-up 4-star characters on the banner. If you’re chasing a specific 4-star, it’s far more efficient to wait for them to be on a rate-up banner instead of pulling on the standard banner, where the 4-star pool is huge and you could get duplicate weapons or units you don’t want instead. You are guaranteed a 4-star item every 10 pulls on all banner types, so you never have to go more than 10 pulls without getting at least a 4-star character or weapon.
You can also purchase 4-star characters from Paimon’s Bargains shop every month, using Stardust you earn from every wish you make. The shop rotates between two 4-star characters and five 4-star weapons each month, so if you have extra Stardust saved up you can pick up missing 4-stars or their constellations without spending primogems. Just don’t waste Stardust on primogems or other random items, as the 4-star characters and weapons are by far the best value in the shop.
Why 4 Star Characters Are Worth Investing In Even If You Have 5 Stars
A lot of new players assume 5-star characters are always better, but that’s not true for most use cases. For one, constellations make a massive difference in unit performance, and a C6 4-star character will almost always outperform a C0 5-star character of the same role. Most free-to-play players will never get a C6 5-star, as that requires pulling the same unit 7 times at 0.6% pull rate, but getting C6 4-stars is common even for casual players who play regularly for a year or two.
4-star characters also usually have far lower build requirements than 5-star units. For example, Bennett only needs HP and energy recharge to be effective, so you don’t have to farm perfect artifact sets for him to carry your team. Many 4-star units are core to meta team comps even for endgame players, like Xiangling in the national team, Bennett in almost every team, and Xingqiu in vape and bloom comps. I’ve cleared every Spiral Abyss floor with a full 4-star team, and I still use more 4-stars than 5-stars in my main endgame teams, because they’re more consistent and easier to build for most content.
Investing in 4-stars also gives you a better long-term return on your resources. If you dump all your mora, artifacts, and level-up materials into a single C0 5-star you might never get duplicates of, you’re locked into that unit even if the meta shifts and it becomes less useful. 4-stars are cheaper to level, cheaper to ascend, and their constellations are far easier to get, so you’ll get more value out of every resource you spend on them for the vast majority of your time playing the game.
At the end of the day, knowing how many 4 star characters are in Genshin Impact helps you plan your pulls and build a roster that fits your playstyle without wasting primogems on units you don’t need. These mid-rarity units are the heart of the game’s team building system, and you don’t need to spend a single cent to collect and max out most of them if you play consistently. Next time you’re debating pulling on a limited banner, take a minute to check if the featured 4-stars are ones you’re missing or need constellations for – more often than not, they’ll be more useful to your account than the 5-star on the banner itself.