When I first downloaded Genshin Impact three years ago, I assumed I’d have to spend hundreds of dollars to get any of the cool, flashy characters I saw in promotional trailers. I spent my first month fumbling with the starter team, convinced I’d never get to use characters like Xiao or Nahida without dropping real cash. If you’re in that same boat, you’ll be relieved to know how to unlock characters in Genshin Impact without emptying your wallet. There are free, low-effort methods for casual players, and flexible paid options for people who want to speed up the process, no scams required.
How to Unlock Characters in Genshin Impact: Free Permanent Methods
The best part of Genshin’s character system is that you can unlock a full, viable team for free without ever touching the gacha system. These characters are permanently available, so you don’t have to rush to unlock them before a deadline. First, story progression unlocks give you four free characters within your first hour of play: the Traveler (your custom protagonist), Amber, Kaeya, and Lisa. All three of the starter Mondstadt characters are surprisingly usable even in late-game content if you build them right, so don’t sleep on them just because they’re free.
Next, you can unlock Xiangling, one of the best 4-star sub-DPS units in the game, by clearing Spiral Abyss Floor 3, Chamber 3. You don’t need high-level characters to clear this floor either—most players can pull it off with level 40 starter units if they arrange their team correctly. Xiangling fits into almost every team composition, from vaporize teams to national teams, so she’s worth grinding for as early as possible. Other permanent free unlocks include Collei, who you get after completing the first Archon Quest segment in Sumeru and the introductory Fabulous Fungus Frenzy quest, and Lynette, the Fontaine concierge who is added to your inventory automatically after you first enter the region of Fontaine.
If you play consistently for a few months, you can also unlock Barbara, the 4-star hydro healer, via the permanent new player login reward track. She’s one of the most accessible healers in the game for new players, and she’s a great pick if you don’t have any other healing units yet. None of these unlocks require you to spend a single penny, and they’re all guaranteed if you put in a small amount of playtime.
Limited-Time Free Character Unlock Opportunities
HoYoverse runs regular events every six-week version update that give players the chance to unlock free 4-star characters, and sometimes even rare cosmetics for those characters. These events are only available for the duration of the version, so you’ll want to log in and complete the event quests before the update ends if you want the free character. The most common way to get a free limited-time character is through version flagship event rewards. Almost every update has a main event that requires you to complete short quests, mini-games, or challenges to earn event currency, which you can exchange for a featured 4-star character once you reach a certain threshold.
These event characters are usually tied to the region or story of the current update, and they’re often units that are not available in the Starglitter Exchange for several months after their first run. For example, during the 3.8 Sumeru summer event, players could unlock the 4-star cryo unit Layla for free just by completing half of the event quests. There are also occasional login events that give away free characters for just logging in for 7 days straight, usually during anniversary celebrations or major holiday events. These login events require zero effort beyond opening the game, so set a reminder on your phone if you hear one is coming up.
It’s worth noting that these limited-time free characters are added to the standard wish pool after their event ends, so if you miss the free unlock, you can still get them later through wishes or the Starglitter Exchange. But getting them for free saves you from wasting wishes or currency on them later, so it’s always worth putting in 30 minutes of playtime to grab the free event character if you don’t already own it. Once you know how to unlock characters in Genshin Impact through these limited events, you can fill out your roster without spending a dime.
Paid Gacha and Unlock Methods Worth Your Money
If you have your eye on a specific limited 5-star character that isn’t available for free, you can use the gacha wish system to unlock them. It’s important to note that you don’t have to spend real money to get wishes—you can earn Primogems, the currency used to buy wishes, by completing quests, opening chests, clearing Spiral Abyss floors, and participating in events. But if you want to speed up the process, there are a few paid options that are worth the cost if you plan to play long-term. Many new players are intimidated by the gacha system when they first learn how to unlock characters in Genshin Impact, but it’s far more forgiving than most other gacha games on the market.
The most reliable paid method is the Battle Pass (Gnostic Hymn), which costs around $10 per version and gives you 4 Intertwined Fates (the wishes used for limited banners) plus a ton of other resources like Mora, talent books, and weapon upgrade materials. If you complete all the Battle Pass challenges each version, you’ll get enough rewards to cover almost 10 wishes per update, which goes a long way toward hitting pity. The other paid option worth considering is the Welkin Moon, a $5 monthly subscription that gives you 90 Primogems every day you log in, plus 300 Genesis Crystals up front. Over the course of a month, that adds up to 3000 Primogems, enough for almost 20 wishes, which is way better value than buying Genesis Crystals directly.
When you’re spending wishes, always focus on limited-time event wish banners instead of the standard banner. Limited banners have a pity system that guarantees you a 5-star character every 90 wishes, and if that 5-star isn’t the featured unit, your next 5-star will be the featured one. That means you’re guaranteed to get the character you want within 180 wishes at most, which is not the case for the standard banner, where 5-star drops are random and can be either characters or weapons. You can also use Starglitter, a currency you get every time you pull a duplicate character, to buy 4-star characters and Intertwined Fates from the shop every month.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Unlocking Genshin Characters
After playing for three years and helping dozens of new players get started, I’ve seen the same mistakes come up over and over again that waste people’s time, currency, and even put their accounts at risk. Most of these mistakes are easy to avoid if you know what to look for, and they can save you a lot of frustration down the line. The most common mistakes include:
Another common mistake is pulling on random limited banners just because you have extra wishes, instead of saving for a character you actually want. It’s easy to get tempted by a shiny new character trailer, but if you don’t actually need that character for your team, you’ll regret wasting wishes when your favorite unit gets a rerun three months later. I always recommend making a list of characters you want, and saving all your Primogems until their banner comes around, so you don’t end up with a bunch of characters you never use.
At the end of the day, there’s no right or wrong way to build your Genshin Impact team. Whether you’re a free-to-play casual player who only logs in a few times a week, or a spender who wants to collect every character, the process of how to unlock characters in Genshin Impact is flexible enough to fit every play style. Take advantage of free unlocks first, avoid scams, and only spend money on purchases that fit your budget, and you’ll be able to build a team you love in no time. Don’t forget to have fun along the way—some of my favorite characters are the free ones I unlocked in my first month of play, and I still use them in my main team years later.