Play as either Lumine or Aether as your main character for the game!

Gamers, have you been wanting to try and play Genshin Impact but are overwhelmed and unaware of what to do or not to do? Do you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of Genshin Impact’s game mechanics? From character-building, to pulling for your waifus and husbandos, I got you covered! Let me be your guide to the exciting and magical world of Teyvat!

1. Use the HoYoLAB App

The HoyoLAB app allows players of any HoYoverse games to connect with each other. You can see fan art, guides, memes, participate in game events and everything Genshin and HoYoverse related in here.

2. Interactive Map

Exploring the world of Teyvant can be daunting and overwhelming at first, luckily interactive maps exist. The HoYoLAB app has its own interactive map, but there are plenty of third-party map out there. These maps allow players to explore the world of Teyvat efficiently, they will guide players through quests, help players plot their  farming routes, and can help you solve tricky overworld puzzles!

3. I’m listening to Let the Living Beware by HOYO-MiX

Tune in and immerse yourself within Genshin’s discrography. The game's soundtrack combined with its combat system is a massive bop!

4. Do the Archon Quests

Genshin's vast open-world map may look too overwhelming for newbies to explore so make sure to utilize the Archon Quests as your guide” towards the game’s progression. Whenever you feel lost, the Archon Quests will definitely point you at the right direction.

5. Oculus Impact

Oculus are collectible materials scattered around Teyvat. Every region has its corresponding elemental oculus that is uniquely different in each elemental forms. If an oculus is nearby you’d hear a specific sound and an icon will appear on the minimap simultaneously. So keep an eye on the minimap and plug in your listening devices Collect every oculus that you and offer them to their corresponding Statue of Sevens for massive bounties and rewards!

6. Grind Adventure Levels

Adventure Rank (AR) is your account's level. Basically, having high AR grants you access to certain quests and events. It also allows players to gain more and better rewards from Domains and Leylines. At certain AR levels, you’ll encounter AR Ascension challenges. Clear these challenges to increase your World Level to increase your world’s difficulty and have better material drops. 

7. Do your Commissions

Daily Commissions are your daily quests for this game. Completing them gives you different rewards that scale depending on the account's AR level. Completing all four daily commissions grants you a fixed 10-Primogem reward for each commissionand completing all for of them would also grant players an additional 20 Primogems which totals to 60 Primogems a day!

8. Battle Pass tasks

Gnostic Hymn is Genshin's Battle Pass. It is a great source of in-game loot and materials both for free-to-play and spenders. Make sure to check and do and complete the Battle Pass tasks to gain experience and level their Gnostic Hymns to get those juicy rewards! 

9. Stamina

Certain actions in the game such as running, climbing, swimming, and gliding consumes stamina. Be careful and be cautious while exploring since once your stamina is depleted you could fall while on air mid-glide, or while climbing, or drown to your death while swimming. Consuming food and certain character's ability provides stamina buffs so utilize them for convenience and easier exploration. 

10. Ice Bridging

Swimming won’t always be the option. And while boats are available at later levels, ice bridging will be your best friend for the meantime. So what is Ice Bridging?Basically it is when your Cryo characters use their Cryo skills or attack and if it comes contact with water, the water will freeze. These chunks of ice could serve as a platform for you to stand on and can be very useful for exploration!

PS: For the love of god, don’t ice bridge your way to Inazuma.

11. There is no mountain too high to climb

Climbing consumes your stamina and you'll find yourself climbing every now and then. But what if you run out of stamina while climbing? Your character will fall and take fall-damage (they could die from this by the way). To avoid this, while in mid-air, use your normal attack to plunge. This will lessen the fall damage and will ensure that you’re active character will live another day.

12. Save your Primos!

Primogems are the premium currency of the game. They can be used to buy resins or “energy”, battle pass levels, and both kinds of Fates. But, I don’t recommend spending it on anything else but the Intertwined Fate though. Better save them for when your waifus and husbandos appear in the banners!

13. Banners

Banners are Genshin’s gacha system where players would pull or wish for characters and weapons. There are three kinds of Banners in Genshin, one is the Limited Character (top-left and top roght), second is the Limited Weapon (bottom-left), and the last is the Standard Banner (bottom-right).

14. Limited Banner

The Limited banners usually lasts about half the current version’s duration (21 days) and often feature a limited and rotating 5★ weapons and characters. Featured weapons and characters have a higher chance to be pulled from these banners. 

15. Permanent Banner

The Standard Banner remains permanent all throughout the game and contains all the 4★ characters, selected 4★ and 5★ weapons, and a permanent roster of selected 5★ characters.

16. Fates

Fates are used to pull and wish on banners. Currently, Genshin Impact has two kinds of Fates, Intertwined and Acquaint. While both can be bought with Primogems, they have different uses. Intertwined is used to wish on Limited banners, and Acquaint is for the Permanent Banner. 

17. Character Pity System

Not getting your desired pulls is a bummer, luckily Genshin has a pity system for that. For starters, at around the 75th pull onwards, players are more likely and will have a 50% chance to get a 5★ unit (it may or may not be the featured 5★). Not getting the featured unit will reset this "pity system". You’ll have to start and build your pulls, and by this time around your next 5★ pull will now be the guaranteed featured unit. If the banners end, the pity count will carry over to the next banner.

18. There is no Weapon Banner in Ba Sing Se

It’s a consensus among the Genshin community that the weapon banner is quite predatory. Spending on the weapon banner isn't recommended because of the available F2P weapon options in the game. Characters are more important so funnel your resources to get them instead. Prioritize character!

19. Save your Fragile Resins for later.

Think of Resin as the “energy” of the game, it can be consumed to enter dungeons or domains and gain materials for your progression in the game. During your playthrough, you would get plenty of these things called Fragile Resins. But don’t be tempted to use it at the earlier levels. I suggest saving them for later as the resources that you would get from them will scale with your Adventure Rank. So use them at later levels to get better rewards!

20. Ley Lines, Domains, and Dragons

Domains are sort of like the "dungeons" of Genshin. Some are limited and are only available during quests or events, while some are permanently available. Get familiar with them as you'll likely spend most of your time here farming for your talent books, artifacts, weapons, and other sorts of materials.

21. Don't farm Artifacts before Adventure Level 45

Artifacts are equipment that can be worn by characters that can give you stats such as health, attack, and defense. Before AR 45, grinding for 5★ artifacts isn’t recommended as they are only guaranteed to appear in domains AFTER AR 45. 

22. Gaze into the Abyss

Clearing the Spiral Abyss (the faster the better) gives you various one-time rewards for floors 1-8. So make sure to build 2 strong teams that can clear the Abyss as fast as possible. And if you’re up for more challenges make sure to clear Floors 9-12's every 16 days! Xiangling (above) is given after clearing Abyss Floor 3-3 while Collei (below) is also given after clearing Abyss Floor 4-3. 

23. Gaze into the Abyss, Every Now and Then

Every 16 days, Abyss floor 9 to 12 reset. Clearing them as would grant the players those sweet Primogems and other valuable rewards. So at the earlier stages of the game be streets ahead, plan, and build at least two teams that revolve around the characters you enjoy playing. Look for their competetively viable builds to be able to clear the Abyss every time it resets.

24. Level your Characters

Characters with higher levels have higher stats and can deal more damage. Also, some game mechanics such as elemental reactions scale with your level! That's why leveling your characters is equally as important as their stats, weapons, and artifacts. Ideally, your Main DPS should be maxed to level 90, while supports at level 70 would do just fine.

25. Learn them Reactions

From burning grasses, exploding seeds, and perma-freezing your opponents, Genshin's elements and main combat mechanic revolve around elemental reactions and their corresponding reactions with each other when used simultaneously or applied on top of each other. Learning Genshin’s reactions may be confusing at first, but trust me it is very rewarding to learn. 

25 items couldn’t cover everything that Genshin has to offer. From the memes, music, artwork, and gameplay—Genshin has so much more to offer as a game. To some, Genshin isn’t merely a game; it is an experience, a community. Three years in and yet Genshin has consistently proven itself as one of the best games out there–fresh content, crisp gameplay, and the story. 

Once you descend into the world of Teyvat, trust me you’re in for a ride and you’ll find yourself trapped within its mystical grasp. 

If you’re fond of ARPGs and Gacha games, check out these articles:

https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/all-genshin-impact-roles-explained

https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/path-of-exile-best-occultist-builds-1

https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/best-rpgs-of-all-time