It has been more than 15 months since the initial release of Genshin Impact. The game has evolved and grown in so many ways during its lifespan so far, and we’ve witnessed new, harder content joining the game. The principles of building a new, strong account to face all content has also evolved with the game. While most of our build guides cater towards endgame builds, to challenge the hardest content, it’s my intention to offer guidance for new players similarly, to help them make the informed decision regarding their account. If you’ve been searching for a comprehensiveGenshin Impactstrategy Guide in 2022, you have come to the right place. In case you want to start with the basics of the game, check out ourGenshin Impact Getting Started Guidefor that.
Genshin Impact: How toBuild A New Account in 2022 | Strategy Guide
There’s a reason version 2.4 is a good place to start your new account. Whether you are a new or returning player, you will find an amazing selection of characters to wish for. Not only that, but the game is seeing one of the biggest events throughout the year, The Lantern Rite event. This event offers some of the most generous rewards, including free wishes, which will help boost any new account.
I recommend new players to start putting a plan together for their account, and this guide will help with offering some useful tips. This guide is also written in light of version 2.4, but the strategy tips can still be applied to other versions of Genshin Impact so fret not, as only character banners change between versions, but the basic strategy stays the same.
Don’t Start With a Character from Inazuma or New Regions
You will see the shiny new characters being added, being fresh and appealing, with all the hype surrounding them from developers and the community. New characters are all tied to the recent story development, and everything about them is mind-blowing. Their lore, appearances, and personality, all beckoning you to wish for them, to acquire them, and build them all. However, building them at the start of the game is not really recommended in my opinion, which not many guides will tell you.
The game starts in the nation ofMondstadt, and you will remain at least a few weeks at a low-level Adventure Rank, wandering betweenMondstadtandLiyue. You need to raise your Adventure Rank 30 to get to the main island in Inazuma, and an even higher rank to unlock the other islands.
This is important to identify because the game restricts characters' ascension material and talent books to their region of origin. This means new characters you unlock will stay at around level 20, and remaind at talent level 1 for the entirety of the leveling up phase, as you can’t reach the region where the required materials for them drop. So it’s better to stick to the established roster ofMondstadtandLiyuecharacters for starters, and supplement them with Inazuma characters later at endgame.
Wish for a Jack of All Trades, Not a Highly Specific Character
Early in Genshin Impact lifespan, most characters released early on were generalists, aiming to fulfill many roles, not just one. That’s especially true for support characters, whether they are four-stars such asXingqiu,Bennett, andFischl, or five-stars such asZhongli,Kazuha, andVenti. They were suitable for many teams, and could fit several builds, even ones outside their element and main role. Aiming to get these characters, and others similar to them are what make a good foundation for a new account. They can fit in the open world, as well as instanced dungeons, and challenging high endgame content.
On the other hand, newer characters such asThoma, Gorou, Yunjin, andKujou Sarain the four-star category, and Shenhe in the five-star category; all are very specific support characters, that only help one type of element, or one type of attack. So while they excel at what they do, they have very limited use, and useless outside of their specific niche. So don’t spend your hard-earned Primogems on them, as a new player.
Build a Team with Varied Elements and Attack Styles for World Exploration
There’s a huge difference between team building in early game world exploration, and high endgame abyss and domains farming teams. On high floors of Spiral Abyss, you are encouraged to build for a certain element, or elemental reactions, to counter enemies. So you could perform optimally with a team that has only two elements, such as aKaeya and Rosaria Reverse Melt Buildor even a team with a mono element, such as an Itto mono Geo team.
In the open world it’s usually the opposite, especially in earlyMondstadtandLiyue. You need several elements in a team to tackle various puzzles, and open world mechanics. You also need several weapon types, for the same reason. You need tall characters for sprinting, climbing, swimming, and gliding. You will be spending stamina frequently in the open world, that leaves no stamina for Charged Attacks. Ideally you need a team that doesn’t rely on Charged Attacks to deal damage.
Overall, I recommend world exploration team to include the following:
Weapon types
Note that some characters should fulfil many roles, to free other team slots. For example,Zhongliis a Geo polearm character, but he can still break rocks, and mine with his Elemental Skill’s hold version. On the other hand,Sayuis an Anemo character, a Claymore user, and can also infuse Cryo into her Elemental Skill, so she can freeze water.
How to Build a New Account in Version 2.4
As mentioned earlier, there’re many perks for starting in version 2.4, and you have a good chance for a strong start. The banners well varied, the events are easy and rewarding, and the game has expanded in size since launch, to almost double. Most of these stay true, and gets better for future versions, with only the banners changing, so in this section, I’ll focus on current banners, and how to use them to maximum efficiency.
Characters Banners in 2.4
MiHoYo has recently adopted a new double banner policy, where they feature two five star limited characters at once. This system aims to introduce new characters, as well as re-runs existing characters. So the total number of featured five-star characters raises to four per patch, and offer players a varied selection to pick from.
In 2.4 the featured characters areXiaoand Shenhe as five stars, andChongyun,Ningguang, and Yunjin as four-star, running from July 31, 2025 to June 14, 2025. Then we have two new banners from August 13, 2025 to August 23, 2025, featuringGanyu, andZhonglias five stars, andYanfei,Beidou, andXingqiuas four stars.
Analysis of Banner Characters in 2.4
Xiao has been in the game since February, 2021, and this is his first re-run. A hyper carry DPS, Anemo polearm user, who specialize in AOE damage. He needs a very specific team to work, and require massive investment to shine. His main damage dealing method is plunging attacks, and he relies on activating Elemental Burst to start dealing damage. Not free to play friendly.
A new character. Shenhe is a Cryo polearm user, who works only as a support in Cryo teams. She increases team Cryo damage, shreds enemy physical and Cryo resistance, and buffs either Normal/Charged/Plunge attacks, or Elemental Skill/Burst of her team. Requires high energy recharge, and scales her main buff with Attack stat. She relies on her Elemental Burst and Elemental Skill to buff team members. Not beginner-friendly, and only useful in the very endgame, to make your Cryo team deal a little more damage. She also has free to play alternatives.
In the game since version 1.1, back on July 31, 2025, and seen a re-run before in August 17, 2025. He’s a Geo polearm user, who plays as general support. Has the highest shield in-game, best resistance to interruption, and strongest crown control ability. He also shreds all enemy elemental resistances, in addition to Geo, Anemo, and physical resistance. He can use good support artifact sets such asArchaic Petra, orTenacity of the Millelith. Can be built as either ashield bot, burst damage dealer, or even as amain physical carry. He relies only on an Elemental Skill to buff and shield, so he’s a very flexible character, and the most, free to play friendly character.
One of the highest Cryo main damage dealers in Genshin Impact. She has been in the game since July 04, 2025, and this is her first re-run.Ganyuhave a unique playstyle of having two phases of bow charged attacks, to unleash powerful double attacks that can AOE many targets. Charged Attacks require proper aiming, so it’s easier on mouse and keyboard, and harder on a controller, or on mobile. She also needs shield support to not get interrupted while charging her shot for long. But she also has another playstyle that relies on Elemental Burst shotgun enemies. Overall, a strong DPS on her own, but requires a team full of five-star supports to shine. Pick her only if you are sure you like her playstyle, and are willing to spend the rest of your wishes in the upcoming months to get five-star supports for her.
The first four-star character in the current banners is Chongyun, he was in-game since release, and he hasn’t seen much use in top teams. He’s a Cryo support who converts normal, charged, and plunge attacks of melee characters into Cryo damage. Having seen another downgrade in rank after the release ofAyakawho converts her own damage to Cryo. His main DPS role has also been replaced byRosaria.
One of the original characters as well. Ningguang is a Burst Geo DPS who specializes in single-target and uses a Catalyst. Geo has seen several buffs over patches, so she’s a solid choice if you plan to play the main Geo team. Outside of double Geo teams, she still has some uses, and her main DPS role is not bad, but not perfect either. She could fill in place of some other units in quick swap teams in the early game. The cost of her Burst is very low, she can burst on cooldown without Energy Recharge or help from teammates. She prefers high constellations but functions well at C0.
After Yunjin’s release,Ningguanghas a new and unique build that relies on normal attacks more, to play sustained DPS.
A fresh new character, who is also a Geo polearm, but specializes in supporting none-Geo characters, specifically normal attack characters. Yunjin is very strong support, but have a very specific role, and need you to build a team around her. If you are willing to get your head into advanced team building in Genshin Impact from the start, you will find her very rewarding. But if you prefer simple comps, she’s not the best pick for in early game.
Yanfei was released on June 29, 2025, alongsideZhongli, and she’s seeing a return with him once again. She is a pyro catalyst user who can work as a main carry, shield support, or sub healer with a specific weapon. Yanfei synergizes well with Electro units such asBeidouandFischl, and Hydro units such asXingqiu. Two of the three are featured in the same banner, which makes it a very good banner to wish on.Yanfeiis the best-ranged unit in the game, with auto-aim, very high range, AOE charged attacks, and rapid attack speed. So she can play the role known as “driver” for other off-field DPS characters. She can also be very cheap to build, and free to play friendly. Or she could go full DPS herself.
One of the best off-field main DPS’s in the game, especially in places where it has more than one enemy, but not a very high number of enemies. She’s an electro Claymore user, who has access to some of the better free to play weapons. She functions at zero constellations, but her true potential unlocked at C2.Beidouprefers a fast attacking “driver” to proc her elemental burst with normal attacks. She has many uses in several, beginner-friendly, and advanced teams.
The best Hydro support in-game, for any team that does any form of normal attacks.Xingqiuwas one of the original cast, and has been in so many top teams, in all different versions of the game. One of the most future-proof supports, and with investment, he can be a sub DPS as well. He’s the single consistent enabler for all vaporize teams (Pyro+Hydro), as well as Over-Vaporize teams (Hydro+electro+Pyro). There are so many variants of these teams, withXingqiubeing a constant in them all. You rarely can run any account withoutXingqiu,
Which Banner Should You Wish On?
I highly recommend wishing onGanyu/Zhonglibanners for new players and skippingXiaoand Shenhe banners altogether. If you apply all guidelines posted earlier in this guide, you will findGanyu/Zhonglibanners usually checks them all. It has characters that work well together, in the form ofBeidou,Xingqiu,andYanfei. They all are existing characters that have their level up and ascension materials available earlier. Most of them are generalists units, that can fit in many teams. It also has a full roster of good four-star characters, who have good constellations, so not a single wish goes to waste. On top of that, both five-stars are highly valuable to a new account and offer a lot to any team.
So that boils down to the choice betweenGanyuandZhonglithemselves. you may’t save enough wishes for both of them in one version, unless you get very lucky. So which one should you prioritize?
The short answer is: Support five stars characters are slightly more valuable than five-star DPS. SoZhongliusually has higher priority thanGanyu, even if u plan on pullingGanyuand playing her as a main. The first reason is thatGanyu’s Reverse Melt teams highly preferZhonglias a shielder. While you can useZhongliin several other teams, the only team whereGanyuworks without other five-star supports isThe Bowless Archer, which you still can’t build immediately as a new player. The other reason isGanyucan’t utilizeXingqiuin freeze teams, becauseXingqiuwants normal attacks to work, while Ganyu wants to use Charged attacks.
Finally, you can build several other cheap teams from the characters in the banner, and free guaranteed characters. So you don’t have to spend your wishes on a character you will not find a good use for quickly. But again, that’s only a recommendation for those going for the best way to optimise their gameplay.
What about the Character Reward from the Lantern Rite Event?
There’s an event reward upon completing the event in version 2.4, which grants aLiyuefour-star character of your choice. The available characters areBeidou,Chongyun,Ningguang,Xiangling,Xingqiu,Xinyan,Yanfei, and Yunjin. This choice is major, especially for new accounts that will rely so much on the characters they get early on.
For this choice, I’ll not be specific and only give general advice because every account will differ.
Wait for the Last Few Days Before Picking
You should always keep this in mind, as long as the banners are available, and you are clearing content and getting Primogems, you always have the chance to get any four-star character from wishing. This applies also to characters who don’t have an up-rate in the banner since four-stars are not “limited” characters.
So just be patient, and contemplate your choice while you make your wishes on each banner. If an event nears its end, and you still didn’t get the character you desire, then pick it up from the event reward. If you get the character you wants the most from wishes, now you have a chance to get another important character from the event rewards.
New Characters are Usually Better Than Constellations for Existing Ones
That’s true for new accounts since new characters give the player a choice when faced with obstacles the main character can’t get past. Stacking constellations on one character very early on means you’re stuck with the same character, even if the main content hard counters it.
For example, some domains punish certain elements, such as pyro or Electro, while other domains reward these elements. You might find yourself stuck with one domain you can’t complete with your main team, because it’s designed to be countered with certain combinations.
Also, if you skip theXiaoand Shenhe banner, you will probably not have any copies of Yunjin at all, and likely gotBeidou,Xingqiu, andYanfeifromZhonglibanner. So now you can pick up Yunjin, and keep her whenever you need her because she’s valuable at endgame.
Not all Constellations are Equal
I’ve gone through some of themost important Constellations to get in a dedicated guide, so I’ll be brief here. Constellations such as C2 forBeidouis a major improvement for her performance; so if you only get her to C1 from wishes on a banner, you should just go grab her C2 from the event reward. On the other hand, if you are somehow at C1 forXiangling, you should not pick up C2. The reason is, C2 is useless onXiangling, regardless of her build. Even though her C4 is very good, and C2 gets you close to C4, you shouldn’t waste a guaranteed character/constellation pick on a useless one.
Overall, if you may’t get a new character that you really want from the event reward, seek one of these Constellations:YanfeiC1,BeidouC2,XianglingC4,NingguangC2,XingqiuC1, C2, or C6. Otherwise, pick any of Yunjin’s C2, C3, C4, or C6. She’s the single character with the most useful constellations among the current selection.
Now I’ve wished, and picked up my event reward, what team I can build?
You can follow any of ourfree to play build guidesfor specific teams and characters, or get a general idea aboutwhich build is right for youto make your own build. I’ll also go quickly through the most possible combinations between banner characters, guaranteed characters, and original five-star characters who you might get if you fail a 50:50 chance on banners.
This should wrap up the strategy guide for getting a new account started in Genshin Impact. If you enjoyed thisGenshin Impact Guidebe sure to check out even more info on ourGenshin Impact Wiki.you may also keep an eye out for more guides, and be sure to not miss ourRaiden Shogun Endless Overload Build Guideas well as our recommended10 Best Characters to Level to 90 Guidefor more ideas on how to optimize your resources in endgame.
