Genshin next banner: how the schedule actually works
The genshin next banner question lands on every patch boundary because HoYoverse runs Genshin Impact on a roughly six-week cadence with two character phases per version, a parallel weapon banner, and a Chronicled Wish that reappears on its own clock. Players who want to spend primogems with intent have to map that rotation, separate confirmed announcements from community leaks, and decide whether a teased character is worth skipping a current phase. The point of this article is to walk through the structure behind the schedule, where the information actually comes from, how to read a phase page without getting misled, and the trade-offs that show up when you start planning pulls around a banner you cannot yet see in the in-game screen.
The rest of the piece is aimed at players who already understand the basics of the Wish system and want a workflow for interpreting the next banner rather than another opinion column. The focus is the mechanics of the schedule, the difference between official channels and datamined leaks, and a method for matching your resource plan to a phase you have not yet pulled on.
What counts as the “next banner” in Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact does not run a single queue for banners. Within any active version, three overlapping rotations cycle on their own timers.
- Character Event Wish, the standard 5-star and 4-star character banner, split into Phase 1 and Phase 2.
- Weapon Event Wish with the Epitomized Path, which runs for the same duration as a character phase but is offset by a few days from the character banner’s start.
- Chronicled Wish, a regional rerun banner that reuses the standard 5-star pool with a curated featured subset.
When a player asks about the genshin next banner, they usually mean the next character phase, but the practical answer is the same: each version opens with a Phase 1, a new Phase 2 drops roughly three weeks later, and the next version starts the cycle again. The official schedule is published in the Version Preview livestream and on the in-game notice board, then mirrored on community wikis. Any banner listed in those official channels is confirmed; anything else is either datamined or speculation, even if the source looks polished.
How HoYoverse structures a single version
Each Genshin Impact version is about six weeks long, divided into two phases of roughly three weeks each. The version opens with a Special Program livestream, then Phase 1 banners launch on day one. Phase 2 banners drop in the middle of the version, and the next version restarts the cycle. Inside a version, the headline is the new 5-star character and their signature weapon on Phase 1, with a returning 5-star as the lead of Phase 2. Featured 4-stars change in both phases.
Weapon banners run in parallel, with their own 4-star weapon pool and an Epitomized Path that lets you guarantee a specific 5-star weapon after two failed attempts at a chosen weapon. Pity on the character and weapon banners is tracked independently, and the Chronicled Wish has its own fate system that does not interact with either.
Why the schedule is hard to read in advance
Players run into the same three problems every version. First, the Phase 2 lineup of any version is rarely finalized at the start of the version; it tends to be revealed about a week before Phase 2 opens, sometimes later. Second, new characters that appear in a future version are sometimes teased through in-game events, NPC names, or archive entries, but a tease is not a confirmed banner slot and the tease can sit in the lore for a full version before the character actually ships. Third, the Chronicled Wish schedule is independent of the main rotation, so it can appear mid-version without warning and is easy to miss if you only check the Special Program graphics.
The combined effect is that a single search for the genshin next banner can return a mix of confirmed rosters, datamined speculation, and wishlists. The cleanest approach is to anchor on the official Version Preview and the in-game Notices screen, then treat everything else as supplementary input rather than fact.
Reading the official sources for the next banner
HoYoverse announces the next banner through three primary channels. Knowing which channel you are reading prevents most of the confusion around release timing and feature lists.
Special Program and Version Preview
Each version’s Special Program airs roughly two weeks before the version goes live. The Version Preview section ends with a graphic showing the Phase 1 5-star and 4-star lineup and the second-half 5-star, often as silhouettes. The graphics are official but the names are usually only confirmed in the patch notes that drop the day before the version goes live. Until that moment, treat any previews you see as directional rather than final, because a named character has been moved between phases late in pre-production more than once.
In-game Notices and the Wish screen
When the version actually launches, the in-game Notices tab and the Wish screen show the current phase with character portraits, dates, drop rates, and the Epitomized Path state on the weapon side. This is the source of truth for whether a banner is currently active, and it is the screen the game points you to whenever a new phase starts. Any discrepancy between a community wiki and this screen should be resolved in favor of the in-game display, including on questions like which 4-stars are featured and whether a banner has been extended.
Community wikis and datamining communities
Community wikis and datamining communities are useful for filling the gap between a Version Preview and the actual patch, and for tracking past banners so you can see how long it has been since a particular character last reran. They are not official. Information that is not yet on the in-game screen or in the Version Preview should be read as a leak. Leaks are usually right about character identity and most kit details, less reliable about timing, and occasionally wrong about whether a character will be a Phase 1 or Phase 2 slot.
How character phases rotate
The character phase rotation has patterns that show up often enough to be useful in planning, even though HoYoverse does not publish a multi-version calendar.
New 5-stars and reruns
Every version introduces at least one new 5-star character. That character headlines Phase 1 alongside a handful of featured 4-stars. Phase 2 is usually a rerun of one or two 5-stars from a previous version, paired with a new set of featured 4-stars. Versions that celebrate a major milestone, like a region launch, can break the pattern and add a second new 5-star in Phase 2, so it is worth reading the Version Preview carefully for the version in question rather than assuming the standard split.
Featured 4-stars
Each phase has three featured 4-stars that share the rate-up with the 5-star. The 4-star lineup is the easiest part of the banner to predict from leaks because 4-stars are added to the standard pool regularly and tend to rerun on a slower, more visible cycle than 5-stars. The 4-star lineup is also what most F2P players actually pull on, because pity on 4-stars is much shorter than pity on 5-stars and the 4-stars on a phase are often the reason a phase is worth pulling on at all.
Chronicled Wish rotation
The Chronicled Wish reuses the standard 5-star pool with a curated regional subset and its own fate system. It does not follow the main version cadence, so it can show up at any time and stay open for several weeks. When a Chronicled Wish is active, the genshin next banner you were tracking may sit next to it rather than replace it. The IGN schedule reference for the current version lists a Chronicled Wish as part of the 5.6 cycle, which illustrates that this banner is a separate track rather than a substitute for the next character phase.
Tracking the next banner across official and community channels
The information lifecycle for any future banner has four stages. Each stage carries a different level of certainty, and your planning should match that certainty.
Stage 1: Tease and speculation
A new character might be mentioned in a lore document, shown in a developer art dump, or named in a quest string pulled from a test build. At this stage, nothing is committed, and the character may not appear in the next version. Treat teasers as a hint to start saving primogems only if the character is one you already wanted regardless of release window.
Stage 2: Datamined kit and assets
Once a version enters public testing, dataminers can pull character kits, constellations, and signature weapons from the client. The character identity and most of the kit are usually accurate by the end of the test cycle, although numbers and names sometimes shift before release. This is the stage where most leak-driven tier lists are built.
Stage 3: Version Preview
The Special Program confirms the next banner in the form of a silhouette or named lineup. This is the first moment at which HoYoverse has officially committed to the slot, even if the exact release order can still change in the last week before launch.
Stage 4: Patch notes and in-game screen
Patch notes finalize the lineup the day before the version goes live, and the in-game Wish screen takes over from there. Anything earlier than this should be considered provisional.
Planning a pull budget around the next banner
Most pull-planning mistakes happen because players do not separate their must-pull from their nice-to-pull. A short workflow reduces the cost of being wrong about a future banner.
Step 1: Set a hard pity floor
Decide how many wishes you will commit to a phase before you start pulling. The 5-star pity ceiling is 90 wishes on the character banner with a soft pity that usually kicks in around wish 75. A common practice is to stop at 75 wishes if the 5-star has not appeared, then reassess based on primogem reserves. The same logic applies to the weapon banner, except pity is split across two 5-star weapons, which raises the expected cost of guaranteeing a specific weapon even with the Epitomized Path.
Step 2: Reserve a buffer for Phase 2
Even if the Phase 1 character is your main target, leave a small buffer for the Phase 2 rerun. Phase 2 banners are often the home of a strong support who has not been on rate-up for many versions, and skipping Phase 1 to save for Phase 2 is a valid strategy when the Phase 1 character has a known, cheaper alternative already on your account.
Step 3: Track the Chronicled Wish separately
The Chronicled Wish can present a tempting 5-star, but the same fate points system on the weapon banner applies: pulling for a specific 5-star is more expensive than on the character banner. If you plan to spend on the Chronicled Wish, treat it as a separate budget line rather than an extension of your character banner plan.
Step 4: Reconcile leaks and official confirmations
At the moment a version goes live, rebuild your list from official sources only. Datamined information is useful up to that point, but the in-game screen is the only source that matches your actual pity and the only source that counts for first-week planning. A leak-based plan that survives official confirmation is strong; a plan that depended on a character being on Phase 2 when they are actually on Phase 1 needs a quick adjustment before you start spending.
Working example: reading a typical Version 7 banner page
The Version 7 banner documentation on community wikis follows a common layout. Using the publicly confirmed entries is the cleanest way to show what a reliable phase page looks like in practice.
| Version / phase | 5-star characters | Featured 4-stars | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version 7.0, Phase 1 | New 5-star character and one rerun, names confirmed at launch | Three featured 4-stars rotated from the broader roster | Confirmed in patch notes and the in-game Wish screen |
| Version 7.0, Phase 2 | Ineffa and Flins reruns | Lan Yan, Iansan, and Aino | Confirmed for Version 7.0 Phase 2 in the banner schedule reference |
| Version 7.1, Phase 1 | Unknown at the time of the source, with Vodyanitsa and Vesna teased for the upcoming update | Unknown | Teased only, not yet officially announced |
| Version 5.6 Chronicled Wish | Curated Inazuma 5-star pool | Followed the standard Chronicled rules | Confirmed in the Chronicled Wish section of the schedule |
The table is a useful model because it shows the three states a future banner can be in: confirmed, teased, or historical. The confirmed rows are the ones to plan around. The teased row is a hint, not a commitment, and the historical row is useful for spotting how long it has been since a character last reran so you can estimate the odds of a return.
How primogem income actually maps to a phase
A pull plan only works if the numbers behind it are honest. The primogem economy in Genshin Impact is generous in patches with new regions or limited exploration events, and noticeably thinner in patches that mainly extend existing content.
On a steady patch, a free-to-play player who clears all daily commissions, events, and the Spiral Abyss can usually bank somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 primogems per patch, which works out to about 25 to 38 single wishes. Welkin Moon buyers add roughly 3,000 primogems on top of that, and the Battle Pass adds a small extra stipend if the relevant Gnostic Hymn or Sojourner’s Bundle level is reached. None of those numbers are guaranteed; events can be shorter than expected, the Abyss can be skipped on a busy month, and a new region launch can shift the balance sharply upward for one patch and then taper off.
The practical reading is that a single pity on a character banner is roughly two to three patches of saving for a free-to-play player and one to two patches for a player who buys Welkin. That math is the reason a Phase 1 versus Phase 2 choice matters, and the reason skipping a phase to save for a stronger one is often the right call when the alternatives are close.
Pity, 50/50, and the guarantee state
Three numbers drive the character banner more than any other. Pulling without tracking them is the most common reason players run out of primogems mid-phase.
The first is the hard pity ceiling, which sits at 90 wishes on the character banner. The second is soft pity, which usually starts around wish 75 and sharply increases the rate of 5-star appearances. The third is the 50/50 state, which determines whether your first 5-star is one of the featured characters or a random standard 5-star. If you lose the 50/50, your next 5-star on a featured banner is guaranteed to be the rate-up character, and that guarantee carries across future character banners of the same type until it is spent.
The carryover behavior is the part most players get wrong. Guarantee state carries between character banners indefinitely until it is consumed, which means a Phase 1 loss sets up a free Phase 2 win only if the Phase 1 character is not the one you wanted in the first place. The weapon banner has its own pity and a separate two-fate guarantee through the Epitomized Path, and neither state touches the character banner numbers.
Common pitfalls when chasing the next banner
Pulling on a banner you are not ready for is the most common mistake. A few patterns come up often enough to be worth naming explicitly.
Confusing the version number with the phase number
A version is the full six-week block, and a phase is roughly half of that. A player who says they are saving for 7.1 usually means the first banner of 7.1, but a player who says they are saving for 7.1 Phase 2 is committing to a specific three-week window. The two plans need very different primogem reserves and the gap between them is usually larger than players expect.
Treating a leak as a guarantee
Leaks are usually right about character identity but wrong about timing, and sometimes wrong about which phase hosts a character. Plan as if the character exists, and do not plan as if the character will land on the date a leak suggests. The Version Preview is the first commitment, and even that has been adjusted in the last week before launch more than once.
Ignoring the weapon banner cost
The weapon banner is the most expensive way to get a specific 5-star in the game, because the Epitomized Path is shared between two weapons and requires a full two-fate guarantee to lock a choice. Players who pull on the character banner and the weapon banner in the same phase will drain their primogems faster than expected and often end up with a 5-star weapon they did not actually want.
Skipping the 4-star value
Even when the 5-star lineup is uninteresting, a phase with strong featured 4-stars can be worth 30 to 40 wishes on its own. A 4-star pull adds constellations for characters you already own, and several of the strongest supports in the game are 4-stars, which means a “skip” phase can quietly become a high-value phase once the 4-star lineup is read properly.
Comparing banner types side by side
Players often ask whether the Character Event Wish, Weapon Event Wish, and Chronicled Wish are interchangeable budgets. They are not, and a quick comparison makes the trade-offs easier to read.
| Banner type | Pity ceiling | Guarantee mechanic | Best use case | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character Event Wish (Phase 1 or 2) | 90 wishes to a 5-star, with soft pity around 75 | 50/50 on first 5-star, then guaranteed featured; guarantee carries across character banners | Targeting a specific 5-star character with a known role | Losing the 50/50 to an off-banner 5-star and spending the rest of pity on a character you did not want |
| Weapon Event Wish (Epitomized Path) | 80 wishes to a 5-star weapon, with two featured weapons on rate-up | Two fate points to lock a specific 5-star weapon; points reset on banner change | Players who already own the featured 5-star character and need the signature weapon | Highest expected primogem cost in the game; easy to bleed a phase dry |
| Chronicled Wish | Independent fate system, higher expected cost than the character banner | Curated regional 5-star pool with a featured subset | Players chasing a specific older 5-star or a constellation that has not rerun in a long time | Pool is limited; the character you want may not be featured on the active Chronicled |
The table is not a recommendation to spend on all three, but it does make the cost structure clear. The character banner is the cheapest path to a specific 5-star, the weapon banner is the most expensive path to a specific 5-star weapon, and the Chronicled Wish sits between them with its own quirks. Treating them as one combined budget is how players end up short on the banner that actually matters to them.
Decision framework for the next banner
The decision to pull on a banner can be reduced to a small number of checks. Run them in order and the answer usually shows up on its own.
- Do I have enough primogems to reach hard pity on the banner I care about, with a buffer for the next phase?
- Is the featured 5-star the best option for the role I need, or is there an alternative I could pull on a different banner?
- Does the rest of the phase, including 4-stars and weapon banner value, justify extra wishes beyond the 5-star?
If the answer to the first question is no, do not pull. The 50/50 mechanic on the character banner means a partial pity can be lost to an off-banner 5-star, which is the most expensive outcome in the game. If the answer to the second question is no, hold the primogems for the next banner that does fit the role. If the answer to the third question is no, stop pulling as soon as you secure the 5-star rather than chasing the 4-star lineup to constellation 6.
Putting it together: a pull plan around the next banner
A short, concrete plan shows how the pieces above fit a single cycle. Adjust the numbers for your own account, but keep the structure.
- Two weeks before the version, confirm the lineup in the Version Preview and mark which character is your main target.
- One week before launch, open the in-game Wish screen, check current pity, and lock your primogem floor for the phase.
- Day one of the version, pull to soft pity on the main target, then reassess based on early drops and the live 4-star lineup.
- Mid-phase, re-evaluate Phase 2 based on the official Phase 2 announcement, and decide whether to convert leftover primogems into Phase 2 pulls or save for the next version.
- End of phase, review your constellation gains, update your standard roster, and reset your pity counter for the next phase.
The same skeleton works for the weapon banner, with the change that you treat every two failed epitomized pulls as the cost of one guaranteed choice and budget accordingly. The Chronicled Wish needs a separate skeleton because its pity and fate system are independent, and the curated pool is the actual decision point rather than a single character.
Frequently asked questions
How often does the genshin next banner change?
Character Event Wishes change every three weeks within a version, and a new version introduces a fresh pair of phases every six weeks. Weapon banners change in step with character phases, and the Chronicled Wish follows its own schedule. In practice, expect a new banner every few weeks, with the most predictable cadence being the Phase 1 and Phase 2 split inside each version.
Where can I confirm the genshin next banner before it goes live?
The most reliable pre-release source is the Special Program Version Preview for the upcoming version, which airs roughly two weeks before launch. After the version goes live, the in-game Notices tab and the Wish screen are the only sources that should override earlier information. Community wikis are useful for filling gaps but should not be treated as official until they match the in-game screen.
Are leaks about the genshin next banner reliable?
Leak accuracy varies by the type of information. Character identity and kit details from a public test build are usually accurate by the end of testing, although numbers can shift before release. Phase placement and exact dates are less reliable, and a character that is leaked for a version can quietly move to the version after. The safest approach is to use leaks for shortlists, not for hard plans.
What is the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of a version?
Phase 1 is the first three weeks of a version and usually introduces a new 5-star character. Phase 2 is the second three weeks and usually features one or two rerun 5-stars. Featured 4-stars are different in each phase, and the weapon banner changes in step with the character banner. A version that celebrates a major milestone, like a region launch, can break the pattern by adding a second new 5-star in Phase 2.
How does pity carry over between banners?
Pity on the Character Event Wish carries between phases within the same banner type and resets only when the banner type changes, which in practice means it carries from Phase 1 into Phase 2 of the same version and from one version to the next. The 50/50 state also carries. Pity on the weapon banner is independent, and the Chronicled Wish has its own fate system. Standard banner pulls, including pulls from promotional codes, do not affect character or weapon banner pity.
Is the weapon banner worth pulling on the same phase as the next character banner?
For most players, no. The weapon banner is the most expensive way to get a specific 5-star in the game, because the Epitomized Path is shared between two weapons and requires a full guarantee to lock a choice. Pulling on both the character and weapon banner in the same phase usually drains primogems faster than expected and leaves no buffer for Phase 2 or the next version.
How do I tell whether a Chronicled Wish is worth pulling?
Compare the curated 5-star pool against the characters you do not yet own and the constellations you still need on 5-stars you have. A Chronicled Wish is a good value when the pool overlaps with two or three of your top targets and you have a primogem buffer that can survive a bad run. It is usually a poor value when only one character on the curated list is interesting to you, because the cost of guaranteeing a single 5-star is high and the featured subset can change between Chronicled windows.
What happens if I miss the genshin next banner?
Any 5-star character on a character banner can return on a later banner, but rerun frequency is irregular and there is no public multi-version calendar. If you miss a 5-star, the practical options are to wait for a future rerun, to look for them on a Chronicled Wish if their region is featured, or to accept that they may not return for many months. Planning around a single phase is safer than assuming a missed banner will be back in the next version.
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