If you’ve ever found yourself scrolling through Genshin Impact fan art, tier lists, or co-op lobbies and wondering how many characters are there in Genshin Impact, you’re not alone. HoYoverse adds new units every few patches, and it’s easy to lose track of which characters are available, which are limited, and which you might have missed from past events. I’ve been playing since the 1.0 launch, and I still have to double-check my character archive every few months to count how many I’ve collected, and how many I’m still missing. This guide breaks down the current roster, the different types of characters you can get, and what you need to know if you’re working to complete your collection.
How Many Playable Characters Are There in Genshin Impact Right Now?
If you only count playable, obtainable units, the answer to how many characters are there in Genshin Impact sits at 82 as of the latest patch. This count only includes units you can add to your party and use in combat, quests, and open-world exploration, not one-off trial characters or story NPCs. The roster is split between 33 5-star units and 49 4-star units, with new characters added every 6 weeks alongside major game updates.
Important note: This count does not include characters that have been officially announced but not yet released, or collab units that are no longer available for any players to obtain. The Traveler, the game’s customizable main character, counts as a single unit even though you can switch its element to match any of the seven regions of Teyvat. Don’t make the common mistake of counting each Traveler element as a separate character; HoYoverse lists the Traveler as one entry in the official character archive, so it only counts once toward the total roster number.
Breaking Down the Genshin Impact Character Roster by Type
Not all characters on the roster are equally easy to get, so it helps to split them into categories if you’re trying to plan your pulls or build a full collection. Some units are available all the time, while others only appear for a few weeks every year, and a small handful are no longer obtainable at all for new players.
I learned this the hard way when I missed the first run of Aloy, the PlayStation collab character, back in 2021. She was only available for a limited window and has never been rerun, so she’s one of the rarest playable units in the global version of the game right now. If you’re a completionist, make sure you log in during every event run if you want to grab these free units before they’re gone, because there’s no guarantee they’ll come back soon.
Why the Total Character Count Changes Every Few Months
HoYoverse releases a new major patch for Genshin Impact every 6 weeks, and almost every patch adds at least one new playable character to the roster. Most patches add two new units: one limited 5-star, and one new 4-star that runs alongside them on their featured banner. Sometimes patches will add three new units if there’s a big story update, like the launch of a new region.
Each new region of Teyvat usually gets 15 to 20 new playable characters over its 2-year run of patches. For example, Sumeru added 18 new playable characters over its run, and Fontaine is on track to add a similar number by the time its story wraps up. A common myth you might see online is that HoYoverse slows down character releases when a region is ending, but that’s not true—they just shift focus to creating characters for the next upcoming region instead.
You can expect 12 to 16 new characters added to the game every year, so the total count will keep growing steadily for as long as the game remains popular. Very few characters are ever removed from the roster, so once you add a unit to your archive, it stays there permanently.
Tips for Collecting as Many Genshin Impact Characters as Possible
If you’re working to build a full collection of every Genshin Impact character, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on primogems to make it happen. I’ve collected 67 of the 82 playable characters without spending any money, just by planning my pulls carefully and taking advantage of free rewards.
Pity system mechanics work in your favor if you save up 180 wishes for a limited 5-star, because you’re guaranteed to get the featured unit before you hit that 180 pull mark, even if you lose the 50/50. Don’t waste your primogems on single pulls or random banners just because you have extra wishes saved—stick to saving for characters you actually want, and you’ll get far more units over time.
Take part in every event that gives free wishes or free characters, even if you don’t care about the event rewards themselves. You can usually get 4 to 10 free wishes per patch from events, plus occasional free intertwined fates from main story updates. Don’t sleep on the starglitter shop either, which lets you buy 4-star characters from the standard banner every month for 34 starglitter. That’s the easiest way to get standard banner 4-stars you’ve missed without wasting wishes on the standard banner.
It’s okay if you don’t collect every character, especially limited ones. Reruns happen every 6 to 18 months on average, so if you miss a character once, you’ll almost always get another chance to get them later. Don’t stress too much about missing a run, because you’ll have plenty of opportunities to grab them down the line.
At the end of the day, the exact answer to how many characters are there in Genshin Impact will keep changing as HoYoverse adds new regions, story chapters, and units to the game. What matters most is that you have fun with the characters you do collect, instead of stressing about completing the full roster. Whether you’re a casual player who only uses your three favorite units, or a completionist working to grab every new character as they release, knowing the full breakdown of the roster helps you plan your pulls and make the most of your primogems. If you want to stay up to date on new character announcements, you can follow official Genshin Impact social media channels for teaser posts a few weeks before each new patch drops.