Genshin Impact 5.0 prep: what to do in the 19 days before Natlan

Genshin Impact 5.0 drops August 28. Natlan is the biggest region since Sumeru, World Level 9 raises the difficulty ceiling, and the Sanctifying Elixir changes how F2P players farm artifacts forever. The 19 days between now and launch are the most important prep window of 2026.

This is what to do with them.

Step 1: Bank Primogems for the anniversary

The 4th anniversary gives you 110 free Intertwined Fates (≈ 17,600 Primogems) plus a free standard 5-star selector. But you need to be Adventure Rank 5+ by August 28 to claim any of it.

What to do this week:

• Catch up on daily commissions — 60

Primogems/day × 19 days = 1,140

• **Complete any unfinished Archon

Quest** — Natlan requires Sumeru Chapter 3 Act 5 to be done, and you need to be AR 35+ to start the Sumeru Archon chain

• Spend resin on domains — every

20 resin = 1 Fateful Wish = ~1.6 Primogems via the craftable Wish system (you can craft 5 Fateful Wishes per month from the crafting bench)

• **Open every chest in the open

world** — if you've been ignoring Mondstadt and Liyue, now's the time to full-clear

Realistic Primogem bank by Aug 28:

• Daily commissions: 1,140
• Events (ongoing): 1,500-2,000
• Archon Quest progress: 500-1,000
• Spiral Abyss reset (Aug 16): 800
• Existing bank (avg F2P): 2,000-5,000

That's 5,940-9,940 Primogems, or 37-62 pulls. Combined with the anniversary 110, you're at 147-172 pulls by 5.0 launch.

Step 2: Pick your Natlan pull target

5.0 has 3 new characters. Pick one and save for that banner only — the worst F2P trap is pulling on every banner "just in case."

Character	Element	Weapon	Role	Phase
Mualani	Hydro	Catalyst	Main DPS	Phase 1
Kachina	Geo	Polearm	Sub DPS	Free
Kinich	Dendro	Claymore	Main DPS	Phase 2

Best F2P target: Kachina — free from completing the Natlan Archon Quest. Don't pull on any banner to get her; she's guaranteed.

Best gacha target for F2P: Mualani in Phase 1, OR Kinich in Phase 2 (mid-September). Most theorycrafters rate Mualani as the strongest of the three for F2P because Hydro DPS is a rare role and she scales well with F2P weapons.

Skip if you already have Neuvillette or Ayato — Mualani overlaps heavily with Hydro DPS roles.

Step 3: Prep the new artifact system

Sanctifying Elixir is the most F2P-friendly artifact system Genshin has ever shipped. You trade in a 5-star artifact for an Elixir, then redeem for a new artifact with 1 designated main stat and 2 designated substats.

The Elixir is 1:1 for 5-star artifacts, and you get 1 Elixir per character, per artifact set, per patch. The math:

• 80 resin per Condensed Resin run of

a 5-star artifact domain

• Each run = 1-2 5-star artifacts (≈ 0.7

on average, with 1 guaranteed every 2 runs)

• Trade 10 Elixirs to fund 1 new artifact

with the right substats (1 per char per set)

What to do before 5.0:

• Don't farm new domains — every

artifact you farm in 4.x is fodder for the Elixir in 5.0. The new system is strictly better than the old one.

• **Save your Gladiator's Finale and

Wanderer's Troupe** sets — these are the "generic" 5-star sets that work on most characters. You'll be trading these in for targeted Elixirs.

• Don't recycle any artifact you've

been holding "just in case" — they have value as Elixir fodder now.

Step 4: Prep for World Level 9

World Level 9 unlocks at Adventure Rank 58. The new tier is +20% enemy HP, +15% drop rate vs WL 8, with new WL9-only domains scaling around it.

Most F2P players will hit AR 58 naturally within a few weeks of 5.0 if they're playing daily. But if you're not at AR 58 yet, here's the fastest path:

• Main Archon Quest — each completed

quest gives 200-500 AR XP

• Daily commissions — 175 AR XP/day
• World bosses — 100 AR XP each (one

per day for the weekly boss discount)

• Trounce Domains — 150-300 AR XP per

weekly clear

• Event quests — usually 200-1,000 AR

XP each (run them as they come)

If you're at AR 50-55: you'll be at AR 58 within 2-3 weeks of 5.0 launch. No need to grind AR specifically.

If you're below AR 50: focus on Archon Quests first. They give the most AR XP per minute of any content.

Step 5: Don't waste the anniversary rewards

The 110 free Intertwined Fates are distributed across 5.0 + 5.1 (≈ 18,000 Primogems total), not all at once. You'll get:

• 20 Fates on Aug 28 (5.0 launch)
• 20 Fates on Sep 4 (Phase 1 half)
• 20 Fates on Sep 17 (Phase 2 banner

begins)

• 20 Fates on Sep 28 (anniversary event)
• 20 Fates on Oct 8 (5.1 launch)
• 10 Fates on Oct 22 (5.1 half)

The trap: spending the first 20 Fates on a non-target banner. The most common F2P mistake is pulling on whatever banner is "good enough" instead of saving for the one you've planned for.

The fix: lock your wishes. Don't open the Wish menu until you've decided which banner to pull on. Once you've pulled on one banner, you might lose the 50/50 and wish on a different character — that's where the saving plan falls apart.

Step 6: Choose your World Level 9 ascension

When you hit AR 58, the game offers an Ascension Quest to go to WL 9. The choice is binary: take it or stay on WL 8.

Take it unless you're actively struggling with WL 8 content (most F2P players at AR 58 are bored of WL 8). The drop rate increase is significant and the new content scales to the new WL.

Step 7: Skip the weapon banner

Don't pull on the weapon banner unless you have 200+ wishes banked specifically for it. Even with the QoL change (Fate Points reduced from 2 to 1), the weapon banner is still 2x the cost of a character banner per "guaranteed" pull.

The F2P advice is the same as it has always been: never pull on the weapon banner with Primogems. Use the 4-star weapons from gacha, or craft the strong craftable options (Prototype Archaic, Mailed Flower, etc.).

FAQ

How many Primogems should I have by

August 28?

At minimum 5,000 to feel comfortable pulling on one of the Phase 1 banners (Mualani or Kachina's banner is Kachina herself + 3 other 4-stars). At ideal 10,000+ to guarantee a 5-star in Phase 1 (within 1.5x pity).

Should I pull for Mualani or Kinich?

Wait for the theorycrafting. The community will know within 1 week of 5.0 launch which of the two is stronger in actual F2P team comps. Most leaks suggest Mualani is the safer pick because Hydro DPS is rare, but Kinich's Dendro comp with the new Natlan supports could be meta-defining.

Is the free 5-star selector worth saving?

Yes, save it for a character you don't have — the selector covers the standard 5-star pool (Diluc, Jean, Keqing, Mona, Qiqi, Tighnari, Dehya, Mizuna, etc.). The pick most F2P players should make is Mona (the only one who hasn't had a dedicated banner in 18+ months) or Tighnari (strong Dendro DPS, the only standard 5-star in his role).

Can I save 90 wishes by Aug 28?

Yes, if you stop spending and bank everything. Most F2P players have 2,000- 5,000 banked already; adding the anniversary and dailies gets most players to 5,000-9,000 (30-60 wishes). One full 5-star pity is 80 wishes including the 50/50 — that's 12,800 Primogems. You'd need to bank a lot more than F2P players typically have to guarantee a 5-star from launch.

What if I lose the 50/50 in Phase 1?

Capturing Radiance kicks in. You get a guaranteed event 5-star on your next limited 5-star pull. So losing a 50/50 in Phase 1 means the next 5-star is Mualani (or whoever's in the banner you're on). Most F2P players end up spending 80-100 wishes per event 5-star with the new mechanic vs 160 wishes under the old 50/50 system.