Understanding how to count pity in Genshin Impact is essential for any dedicated player aiming to optimize their wishes and secure their desired five-star characters. The game’s gacha system operates on a complex set of probabilities, and pity is the foundational mechanic that guarantees a five-star drop after a specific number of consecutive failures. For newcomers, the concept might seem straightforward, but for experienced players optimizing their pulls for specific banners, the nuances of hard and soft pity are critical to mastering resource management.
Breaking Down Genshin Impact's Pity System
At its core, the pity system ensures fairness and predictability within the random number generation of the game. Genshin Impact utilizes a hard pity set at 90 pulls, meaning that if you have not received a five-star item by the 90th consecutive pull, the game guarantees that the next weapon or character you pull will be five-star. This prevents an infinite streak of bad luck and provides a safety net for players who invest significant in-game currency or real-world money into the wish system.
Soft Pity: The Game's Hidden Influence
Beyond the hard guarantee lies the concept of soft pity, a mechanic that increases the probability of rolling a five-star with every pull after the 73rd pull. While the exact algorithm is not officially disclosed by the developers, the community consensus suggests that the chance of obtaining a five-star scales linearly from 0% at pull 74 to 100% at pull 90. This creates a "ramp-up" effect where players who continue pulling past the 73rd wish are statistically more likely to hit the desired character, effectively shortening the effective wait for the guarantee.
Calculating Your Resource Allocation
To effectively count pity and manage your Primogems, you must approach the system with a financial and strategic mindset. Every 160 Primogems grants you one wish, and a standard banner requires 160 pulls to reach the hard pity if you are starting from zero. This translates to 25,600 Primogems. However, most players do not pull from a zero baseline; they often save pulls across multiple banners, which requires careful tracking to avoid wasting resources on a banner when a better one is about to launch.
Track your current pull count on the specific banner you are targeting.
Assume the soft pity window opens at pull 73.
Calculate the remaining Primogems needed to reach 90 pulls.
Monitor version update banners for new five-star characters.
Determine if "resetting" your pity by pulling on a different banner is cost-effective.
Always account for the 5% chance of receiving a four-star item at any pull.
Strategic Pity Management Across Banners
Advanced players often engage in "pity saves," where they intentionally stop pulling on a current banner to preserve their pull count for a future banner featuring a character they desire more. To execute this, you must know exactly how many pulls you have remaining. If you are 20 pulls away from the hard pity on Banner A, but Banner B launches in a week, you can calculate whether spending the equivalent resources on a few pulls of Banner B is viable to potentially hit the soft pity window there instead.
The Interplay of Wishes and Events
Special in-game events, such as the Character Event Wish or Weapon Event Wish, can complicate the standard pity count. These banners often feature a "pity boost" where four-star items are guaranteed if a five-star drop is not obtained. Furthermore, if you obtain the featured five-star during the standard pity count, the pull counter usually resets, allowing you to chase the new featured character with a fresh count but potentially carrying over the "guarantee" status. This requires players to constantly recalculate their odds based on active event rules rather than static assumptions.
