2026 has been one of the most exciting years for Genshin Impact so far, with the full release of Snezhnaya, the Khaenri’ah prologue chapters, and over 80 playable characters now available to collect. If you’re a new player just starting out, or a returning player coming back after a break, you’re probably wondering how to get more characters in Genshin Impact to build stronger teams and experience all the new content. I’ve been playing as a mostly free-to-play (F2P) player since launch, and as of 2026 I have 78 unique characters, including 12 limited 5-stars, so all the tips I’m sharing here are ones I’ve tested myself, no clickbait or fake hacks that will get your account banned.
How to Get More Characters in Genshin Impact With Optimized Wish Spending
Wishes are the primary way to unlock most characters in Genshin Impact, especially limited-edition 5-stars that only appear on specific banners for 3 weeks at a time. To make wishes, you need either Intertwined Fates (for limited character and weapon banners) or Acquaint Fates (for the standard permanent banner), both of which you can buy with Primogems, the game’s premium currency. The pity system guarantees you a 5-star character every 90 pulls on limited banners, with a 50% chance it’s the featured limited character; if you lose that 50/50, your next 5-star pull is guaranteed to be the featured one. Never waste Primogems on standard banner pulls unless you have no limited banners you want, since standard banner characters are always available, and you get free Acquaint Fates from level-up rewards and the free battle pass track anyway.
The key to getting more characters through wishes is maximizing your free Primogem earnings, which is easier than you might think in 2026 with all the new content added. I saved 180 pulls over 3 months earlier this year to get the Cryo Archon Tsaritsa, and I didn’t even have to grind for hours every day to hit that goal. Some of the most reliable free Primogem sources include:
You also get 4 free Intertwined Fates per battle pass cycle on the free track, plus extra fates if you complete the region exploration progress bars for each nation. Most players hit soft pity around pull 75-80 instead of the hard 90 pull cap, so you usually only need around 12,000 Primogems to get a guaranteed 5-star, not the full 14,400 for 90 pulls.
Unlock Permanent Free Characters Through 2026 Story & Side Content
Not all characters require wishes to unlock. As of 2026, there are 9 permanent free characters you can get just by playing through the main story and basic side content, no pulls required. The first three (Amber, Kaeya, Lisa) are given to you within the first hour of play, and you can unlock Xiangling for free by clearing Spiral Abyss Floor 3 Chamber 3, a challenge that’s easy to beat even with level 40 characters if you have a basic team setup. Collei, a Dendro bow user perfect for building early Dendro reaction teams, is given for free when you complete the Sumeru tutorial quest, and two new free characters were added in 2026: a Dendro catalyst user from the Sumeru epilogue, and a Cryo polearm user from the Snezhnaya prologue quest.
The free 4-star character pick from the annual Lantern Rite event is another permanent free character opportunity you don’t want to miss. Every Lunar New Year, the Lantern Rite event lets you choose any standard 4-star character you don’t already own, plus free constellations for them if you complete all event challenges. I picked Yun Jin during the 2026 Lantern Rite to round out my Nilou bloom team, and she’s still a core part of my Abyss rotation months later. These free characters are all viable for endgame content too, don’t sleep on them just because you didn’t have to pull for them. Xiangling is still one of the top sub-DPS characters in the entire game in 2026, and I use her in every single one of my fire-based teams.
You can also get free constellations for most of these permanent free characters by completing side quests, upgrading your Adventurer Rank, and clearing hidden achievement challenges. Constellations make characters significantly stronger, so it’s worth taking the time to unlock them even if you already have the base character.
Leverage 2026 Limited-Time Events for Exclusive Character Drops
Every 6 weeks, HoYoverse runs 2-3 limited-time events alongside new banner updates, and almost every major event gives away a free 4-star character for players who complete all event challenges. Limited-time event-exclusive 4-star characters are only available during these events, and they don’t get added to the standard banner for at least 6 months, so if you see one you want, make sure to complete the event before it ends. The 2026 summer Fontaine event gave away a free Hydro Claymore user that’s perfect for freeze and bloom teams, and I was able to get her to C2 just by playing the event for 15 minutes a day over 10 days, no Primogems spent at all.
Events also give out tons of other rewards that help you get more characters faster, including Primogems, Intertwined Fates, mora, and talent books that cut down on the time you have to spend farming for character upgrades. Some events even give away free 5-star weapon skins and other rare rewards that you can’t get anywhere else. Check the official Genshin Impact event calendar every month so you don’t miss any events with character rewards, since most events only run for 10-14 days, and it’s easy to miss them if you take a short break from the game.
You don’t need to be a high level to unlock event character rewards either. Most events are accessible for players as low as Adventure Rank 20, and the challenge difficulty scales to your account level, so new players can still get the free character even if they haven’t unlocked all the regions yet. I helped my little brother get the 2026 spring event character when he was only AR 22, and he’s been using her as his main DPS ever since.
Smart Spending Tips for Players Who Want to Support the Game
If you’re not fully F2P and want to spend a little money to get more characters faster, there are way better value options than buying Primogems directly from the shop. The Welkin Moon subscription is the best value for paid players by a wide margin: for $5 a month, you get 300 Genesis Crystals upfront, plus 90 Primogems a day for 30 days, which adds up to 3000 Primogems total, enough for almost 20 pulls. That’s 5x more value than buying Primogems directly, and I buy Welkin Moon every other month to support the game and speed up my pull savings.
The paid Gnostic Hymn battle pass is another great value option, costing $10 per 6-week cycle. It gives you 4 Intertwined Fates, plus tons of talent books, weapon ascension materials, mora, and a free 4-star weapon of your choice that’s usually better than most 4-star gacha weapons. The materials alone save you hours of farming time, so you can spend more time earning Primogems from events and exploration. If you want to spend a larger amount of money once, wait for the bi-annual top-up bonus reset, which gives you double Genesis Crystals for every first purchase of each top-up tier, doubling your value.
Stay away from third-party Primogem sellers no matter how good their deals seem, because buying Primogems from unofficial sources violates HoYoverse’s terms of service, and you can get your account permanently banned with no way to recover it. I made the mistake of impulse buying $20 worth of Primogems for a random banner I didn’t even care about earlier in 2026, and I never use the character I pulled, so it’s always worth waiting for banners you actually want even if you have extra money to spend.
At the end of the day, building your dream Genshin Impact roster doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Learning how to get more characters in Genshin Impact in 2026 is all about planning ahead, taking advantage of free event and story rewards, and not wasting your Primogems on banners you don’t actually care about. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a strong roster of characters: most of my best teams are made up of free or low-investment characters that I got through events and smart saving. If you follow these tips, you’ll be able to build the roster you want to take on any endgame content or story quest that HoYoverse releases for the rest of 2026 and beyond.