Useful Genshin Impact tips


Genshin Impact has taken the world by storm since its release in September 2020. Malaysia is no exception, with the game getting a cameo in the Lunar New Year celebrations when news station Berita RTM used its soundtrack. If you’ve just joined the game, here are 20 Genshin Impact tips to begin your journey in Teyvat proper.


1. Know your elemental reactions well


There are 7 elements in Genshin Impact: Pyro, Hydro, Electro, Dendro, Cryo, Anemo, and Geo. Combining 2 elements in a particular order will trigger elemental reactions, which either deal higher damage numbers or trigger effects that weaken monsters. 

genshin impact tips - elemental reactions
Image adapted from: miHoYo

While every new player would have been prompted to read about the elemental reactions during the first hours into the game, you won’t truly understand its implications until you’ve had your first boss fight. If you find yourself dealing mediocre damage numbers, try going to “Tutorial” under “Archives” to refresh your memory.


2. Know what elemental resonance is


genshin impact tips - elemental resonance
Image adapted from: miHoYo

When you have 2 characters of the same element in your 4-man team, you’d achieve an elemental resonance. It helps to strengthen your team by granting special boosts. For example, having 2 Pyro characters in the party boosts the team’s Attack (ATK) stats.

genshin impact tips - double pyro
A team with Pyro resonance for ATK boost
Image adapted from: miHoYo

You can choose to build your team in a way that complements your main DPS (Damage Per Second), who’s your primary in-charge of unleashing impressive damage numbers and obliterating every monster.

For the full list of combinations, click on “Elemental Resonance” on the top right corner of your “Party Setup” page.


3. Know the type of domain and its leyline disorder


genshin impact tips - domains
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Domains feature a short monster fight you need to clear in order to obtain either materials to level up your weapons and skills, or “artifacts” – accessories your characters can wear to improve their stats.

genshin impact tips - klee immune slimes
Pyro slime being immune to Klee’s Pyro damage
Image adapted from: miHoYo

For some domains, the monsters are chiefly of a certain element. This means you shouldn’t be using characters that can only cast damage of the same element – otherwise, you’ll be dealing 0 damage.

For example, if a character can only cast Pyro damage, then using the character to fight Pyro slimes is inane because you’d never win the fight and your only option is to forfeit the domain.

genshin impact tips - leyline disorder
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Meanwhile, leyline disorders are essentially special conditions for each domain, in which certain elemental reactions will end up dealing damage to your own character. To avoid accidentally killing off your own characters, do a quick search online about the leyline disorder before assembling your team for the domain.


4. Avoid using your fragile resins before AR45


genshin impact tips - resin wait meme
Image credit: u/MetaMemester

You need 20-60 resins to collect rewards from every boss and domain fight you do. However, every arduous 8 minutes in real time only regenerates 1 unit of resin. This is where fragile resins, which recharges 60 units of resins each, come in handy.

genshin impact tips - fragile resin
Image adapted from: miHoYo

However, fragile resins are only obtainable through events, the monthly Battle Pass, and by levelling up your AR. This makes them considerably precious and hence must be used wisely.

genshin impact tips - ar45 domains
Image adapted from: miHoYo

While there are no fixed rules on when you should spend your fragile resin, the general recommendation is to save them until you’re at Adventure Rank (AR) 45, which takes around 2 months of daily play.

At AR45, you’re able to unlock the final level of every artifact domain. At the final level, every domain run is guaranteed to give you a 5* artifact – this is not guaranteed if you’re at a lower AR. This makes every fragile resin you spend a lot more worthwhile.


5. Craft condensed resins whenever you can


genshin impact tips - condensed resin
Image adapted from: miHoYo

When you reach Reputation Level 3 in Liyue, you can start crafting condensed resins. They require 40 resins and a Crystal Core – obtainable by catching Crystalflies in the open world. You can hold onto at most 5 condensed resins at once.

genshin impact tips - domain rewards
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Condensed resins allow you to collect double the domain rewards in a single domain fight. As such, you don’t need to fight 8 rounds of domain fight to finish using 160 resin units – you simply need to do 4 rounds. This lets you collect more materials in a shorter time.


6. Know which artifacts to upgrade


genshin impact tips - albedo artifacts
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Each character can be equipped with 5 types of artifacts: the Flower of Life, Plume of Death, Sands of Eon, Goblet of Eonothem, and Circlet of Logos. 

genshin impact tips - crimson witch feather
Main and sub-stats of a Plume of Death
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Every artifact you obtain has different main and sub-stats. The main stat is reflected on the uppermost row. Depending on the type of stats on the artifact, some artifacts would be better than the others.

genshin impact tips - substat meme
Image credit: @genshinimpact.nor

You’ll spend most of your resins doing artifact domains because it is very difficult to obtain an artifact with a desirable main stat and good sub-stats. Good sub-stats are generally Critical Damage (CRIT DMG), Critical Rate (CRIT Rate) and ATK%, but it depends on how your characters’ skills work too.

genshin impact tips - 3* and 4* artifacts
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Early in the game, you’ll mostly be acquiring 3* and 4* artifacts from open-world exploration. One common mistake made by newbies is upgrading every artifact they see, regardless of its stats and rarity, because they want to make their characters stronger quickly.

However, upgrading these artifacts to their maximum potential is not advisable unless you’re struggling, because even at their maximum level, they have much lower stats compared to a normal 5* artifact.

genshin impact tips - feather wanderers troupe
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Instead, you should be saving your Mora (main in-game currency) and non-5* artifacts to level up a good 5* artifact when you finally start obtaining them starting from AR40 onwards. With 5* artifacts at maximum levels, you can make your characters a lot stronger than maxed-out 4* artifacts.


7. Don’t waste your Crown Of Insight and Mora on the wrong talents


genshin impact tips - no mora meme
Image credit: @genshin.nation

Mora may seem plentiful early on in the game. But if you didn’t manage your Mora well in the beginning, you’d find yourself penniless for the various costly upgrades you’d be making from AR45 onwards.

genshin impact tips - crown of insight
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Meanwhile, an event-exclusive item named the Crown of Insight is rare to come by, and only 6 have been released as of the Energy Amplifier Initiation event.

Talents (character skills) are the most expensive things to upgrade. Moreover, raising a talent from Level 9 to 10 requires a Crown of Insight. Therefore, knowing which talents take priority is essential.

genshin impact tips - razor
Upgrading talents of Razor, a widely popular 4* main DPS
Image adapted from: miHoYo

The DPS should be your main priority for talents upgrading. This means you should be spending the most resources on them. A general rule for talent-upgrading is to maximise the Normal Attack before upgrading their elemental skills – known as the E and Q skills for PC players.

genshin impact tips - talent upgrading
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Meanwhile, support-type characters should have their E/Q skills upgraded, depending on their utility. For example, upgrading Bennett’s Q skill is a popular choice as it gives an ATK boost while healing the team.


8. Level up your characters selectively


genshin impact tips - character exp scrolls
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Wanderer’s Advice, Adventurer’s Experience, and Hero’s Wit – these items are used for levelling up character levels. While they can be obtained from chests in the open world, Blossoms of Revelation, and events, you wouldn’t have enough of them to level up all your characters. Thus, you need to be selective.

genshin impact tips - klee
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Focus on maxing your main DPS to Level 90 first, so that all their base stats are at their highest.

genshin impact tips - sucrose
Sucrose’s passive talent at Level 60
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Meanwhile, support-type characters should be up to at least Level 60 in order to unlock their passive talents, if they’re useful. For example, Sucrose’s Mollis Favonius boosts your team’s elemental mastery (EM), making her passive talent essential for teams heavily reliant on elemental reactions.


9. Press your dash button continuously rather than sprint


You can move around the map more quickly by dashing continuously, rather than to sprint. For PC users, press your mouse’s right click rapidly to do so. For mobile users, click the run button on the bottom right corner continuously. Open-world exploration, time challenges, and collecting materials will become much easier. 

If you’re having doubts, someone actually did an experiment – watch it here:

A straight comparison of Sprint and Dash【Genshin Impact】
play button
A straight comparison of Sprint and Dash【Genshin Impact】

Video credit: Yuu


10. Maximise your expeditions


genshin impact tips - expedition
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Expeditions can be unlocked at AR14, and you’d eventually unlock a maximum of 5 expedition slots when your AR increases. Doing expeditions allow you to obtain materials to craft weapons and cook food buffs without needing you to tiresomely run around the map to collect them individually.

There are 4 durations you can set for each expedition, ranging from 4 to 20 hours. The longer the expedition, the greater the yield. It is good to set an alarm marking when your expeditions end so that you can begin the next one immediately. This allows you to maximise the amount of resources obtainable from this expedition system.

There are expeditions for ores, food materials, and money. Early in the game, it is recommended to focus on acquiring ores, especially White Iron Chunks and Crystal Chunks, as you’ll likely need to craft weapons. 

genshin impact tips - weapon crafting
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Once you obtain sufficient ores, do expeditions for fowls, sweet flowers, and lotus roots so that you can cook food for healing and buffing.

genshin impact tips - sweet flowers and eggs
Image adapted from: miHoYo


11. Use the official interactive map


131 Geoculi, 66 Anemoculi, and 80 Crimson Agates – these are all the collectibles you need to find during your open-world exploration in order to upgrade your Statue of Seven for higher stamina levels, and your Frostbearing Tree for attractive rewards.

genshin impact tips - luxurious chest
Image credit: @B4_K19

Besides these collectibles, important chests which offer Primogems and Hero’s Wit are also scattered throughout the map. Finding these chests can be a chore as they’re often cleverly concealed in the uneven terrains.

genshin impact tips - official interactive map
Image adapted from: HoYoLab

To save players from getting an excruciating headache trying to figure out where everything is, Genshin Impact released an interactive map which marks out all these items. Access it here.


12. Main quests aren’t the only way to obtain Adventure EXP


genshin impact tips - ar level up
Image adapted from: miHoYo

You need Adventure EXP to increase your AR. The main source of EXP comes from the Archon Quest, but there are also other sources you can tap on.

genshin impact tips - teleport waypoint
Image credit: @stillbbh

One easy source comes from unlocking Teleport Waypoints when you explore the map. Each Waypoint gives 50 EXP each. Meanwhile, each domain completion gives 100 EXP. Defeating open-world bosses, such as the Hypotheses, yield 200 EXP each.

Non-player characters (NPCs) also offer world quests that give additional EXP upon completion.


13. Make use of the co-op function once you unlock it at AR16


genshin impact tips - coop
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Playing solo is fun until you encounter a powerful boss like Childe, or find yourself tediously completing domains for the 6th time today. To rescue your underleveled characters from death, or to halve the time needed to complete 1 round of domain, leverage on the co-op function once it unlocks at AR16.

You can invite your higher-level friends to enter a battle and have them defeat the monsters for you, or have strangers of similar levels over to help support each other.


14. In co-op, don’t leave the domain after collecting the rewards if you intend to go for another round


genshin impact tips - coop loading
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Don’t leave the domain upon reward collection if you intend to go another round, or else the entire co-op team has to leave too. The host then has to re-enter the domain again, creating additional loading time for everyone.

genshin impact tips - instant start domain
Image adapted from: miHoYo

If no one from the co-op team leaves, the host is able to start the next round immediately, allowing the team to seamlessly continue onto the next domain fight.

Only leave the domain if you see someone else leaving, or if you need to change the character you’re using – as this cannot be done while you are inside the domain.


15. Learn to dodge monster and boss attacks


Most monsters and bosses have predictable attack styles. If you can dodge them, you’d be able to save your healing food.

genshin impact tips - ruin guard target
Image credit: @oceanomio

For example, clicking the dash button twice when the ruin guards’ missiles are close allows you to completely evade the painful strike.

Genshin Impact - Childe Boss lvl 80. Razor Solo. No Damage
play button
Genshin Impact - Childe Boss lvl 80. Razor Solo. No Damage

Video credit: derVadok

Meanwhile for Childe, you simply have to dodge his arrows by running around him during his 1st stage attacks. His 2nd stage attack is a close-ranged melee slash, so you’ll need to sprint to his rear when he unleashes it, and tap the dash button in time with his multi-dashes to evade the slashes. 

His final stage attack is a slow closed-range slash that can easily be avoided with a short dash away from where he is standing. Just note that at some point, he will unleash a giant narwhal attack as a special attack. Simply moving out of the damage radius will be enough to save you from getting 1-hit KOed.

genshin impact tips - diluc burst
Diluc’s i-frame
Image adapted from: Genshin Impact

Another common dodging technique applicable across all fights is timing your “i-frame”. When a 5* character unleashes their burst attack, a momentary i-frame is triggered as the camera pans close to your character. During the i-frame, the character is immune to any incoming damage.

For bosses with unavoidable attacks, such as the Primo Geovishap, using the i-frame to your advantage is the hallmark of a good player.


16. Unlock frivolous achievements for Primogems


genshin impact tips - childe struck by lightning
Image credit: @MuffinInedible

Primogems are important in-game currency which you can use to obtain new characters through the gacha system – this is further explained in Point 19. You can use real money to buy them, but there are plenty of ways to obtain them for free within the game. One of them is through obtaining achievements.

Genshin Impact has many interesting achievements to unlock, from getting struck by lightning to apologising to pigeon-protector Timmie after angering him. Each achievement yields either 5, 10, or 20 Primogems. 

genshin impact tips - achievements
Image adapted from: miHoYo

It may not sound like much, but completing some sets of achievements can actually yield over 200 gems in total. Some of the easiest sets of achievements to complete are the Challenger Series and the Elemental Specialist. Simply go to lower level domains or certain levels in Spiral Abyss to trigger the respective elemental reactions as stated in the achievements’ description.


17. Do your Spiral Abyss and unlock Floors 9-12 ASAP to earn Primogems bi-weekly


genshin impact tips - spiral abyss entrance
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Prohibiting the usage of food buffs and healing food, Spiral Abyss is where you can test the real strength of your characters.

 Beginning from Floor 1, you need to accumulate at least 6 stars across the 3 chambers of each floor in order to unlock the subsequent floor. To obtain the stars, you need to defeat the monsters within a certain time limit. There are 12 floors in total.

genshin impact tips - floor 1 to 8
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Spiral Abyss is a huge source of free Primogems. For Floors 1-8, you get 100 Primogems for every 3 stars accumulated. In total, you can get 2,400 gems by maxing out every floor. The rewards can only be collected once.

genshin impact tips - rewards spiral abyss
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Floors 9-12 yield a lower number of Primogems – 50 for every 3 stars accumulated. However, these floors refresh every 2 weeks, unlike Floors 1-8. Hence, you can continuously collect Primogems from Floors 9-12 throughout the game.


18. Do every in-game event, web event, and redeem gift codes


genshin impact tips - quests
Image credit: @kreideprinzesin

In-game events are important sources of materials and Primogems. You should complete every event in order to get as many of these items as possible.

genshin impact tips - web event
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Many web events on the Genshin Impact’s official website also give free Primogems. Read up on upcoming events on miHoYo’s official website to know what’s in store.

genshin impact tips - free gifts
Image credit: @ai_baggs

Gift codes are also released during live streams and on miHoYo’s official platforms. These codes spread around the Genshin community quickly, and some are usable for a limited time only. Thus, be sure to redeem a code ASAP when you hear of one. These gift codes often give Primogems.


19. Spend your Primogems only on the limited event banner


zhongli
Obtaining Zhongli from the limited banner
Image adapted from: miHoYo

One of the greatest sources of enjoyment in Genshin Impact is obtaining new characters for your team. In the game, characters are either 4* or 5*, and the only way to obtain them is through the gacha system.

wish tab
Image adapted from: miHoYo

You can access the gacha system by clicking on the “Wish” tab in your menu. A few banners will appear on your screen: the beginners’ banner, a weapon banner, a permanent banner, and finally a limited event banner.

intertwined and acquaint face
Image adapted from: miHoYo

To make a roll on the beginners’ and permanent banner, you require Acquaint Fates. For the limited event banner and weapon banner, you use Intertwined Fates. The 2 types of Fates cost 160 Primogems each.

xiao limited banner
Xiao’s limited banner
Image adapted from: miHoYo

As you accumulate Primogems, it is recommended to spend them only on the limited event banner, which changes every 2-3 weeks. There are 2 reasons for this.

lucky 10 pulls
Keqing (4th from left), a permanent banner character, appearing on the limited event banner
Image credit: @a_nya_pso2

Firstly, you can still obtain 5* characters from the permanent banner in the limited event banner. This means you’re spending your hard-earned Primogems on a banner that offers a greater selection, making it more worthwhile.

pull history
A record of past characters and items obtained so you can keep track of your pity count
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Secondly, the game has a “pity system” – once you’ve accumulated beyond 75 tries on a single banner, every try thereafter has a greatly increased chance of dropping a 5* character or weapon. Within every 90 pulls, you’re guaranteed a 5*. As such, it is more ideal to focus your Primogems on one banner to accumulate enough tries to hit the pity count.


20. Don’t waste your Starglitter


starglitter
Image adapted from: miHoYo

When you get duplicates of characters or weapons in the gacha system, you’ll obtain an important currency called “Starglitter”. Refrain from using it to buy Fates or in-game monster drops – you should only use the Starglitter to purchase the featured 4* characters and the 4* weapons under Paimon’s Bargains, which refreshes monthly. 

fischl constellation
Fischl, a popular 4* character, at Constellation 4
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Using Starglitter to directly purchase the featured 4* characters means obtaining a duplicate for a character you frequently use. This saves you the agony of trying your luck at the gacha system. When you obtain a duplicate, you gain a “constellation” for that character. The higher the constellation, the stronger the character.

blackcliff warbow
Image adapted from: miHoYo

Meanwhile, the 4* weapons in the shop give additional CRIT DMG or ATK% and admirable passive boosts to your characters. These weapons are thus great alternatives to spending money on the weapon banner for a 5* weapon.


Become a pro player with these Genshin Impact tips


With these Genshin Impact tips, we hope that you’d be able to escape from the embarrassment of 3-digit damage numbers and have your characters dying less frequently. 

Nevertheless, while building a strong team is a crucial aspect to ensuring a smooth gameplay experience, do keep in mind that Genshin Impact is a lot more than just flexing your character stats. The game’s graphics, music, and its thrilling plot to come are also what makes the game a must-play.

For more articles, check out:


Cover image adapted from: miHoYo and miHoYo

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