All eyes are on the open-world RPG, Wuthering Waves, making waves in the crowded gacha game genre. Boasting a diverse cast of Resonators that players can't wait to pull for, a key question looms: how does Wuthering Waves’ gacha system work?
Mirroring popular titles like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Wuthering Waves uses a summoning system with limited-time character and weapon banners alongside standard banners. Each banner features its own guarantees, so to demystify the process, here's a comprehensive breakdown of Wuthering Waves' gacha system!
Wuthering Waves Premium Currency Explained
Wuthering Waves refers to its banners as “Convenes”. To pull for characters or weapons in these Convenes, you'll need to use the game’s premium currency, called Astrite. Once you collect 160 Astrite, you can convert it into a single pull.
The game offers three types of gacha tickets craftable with Astrite:
- Radiant Tide: Used for pulls on the limited character banner
- Forging Tide: Used for pulls on the limited weapon banner
- Lustrous Tide: Used for pulls on the standard banner, which features both characters and weapons.
Aside from purchasing Astrite outright, you can obtain Astrite through completing a host of in-game activities: daily commissions, weekly tasks, open-world exploration, puzzles, chests, and achievements. This approach makes Wuthering Waves friendly to free-to-play players, especially those who enjoy exploring the world.
Wuthering Waves Banners (Convenes) and Pity System Rundown
In total, the game offers five different Convenes, featuring characters or weapons. We’ll explain each banner in detail in a bit:
- Beginner’s Convene (One-time banner)
- Character Permanent Convene (Standard Character banner)
- Weapon Permanent Convene (Standard Weapon banner)
- Character Event Convene (Limited-time Character Banner)
- Weapon Event Convene (Limited-time Weapon Banner)
Except for the Beginner's Convene, all banners share a pity system that guarantees a high-rarity unit after a certain number of pulls:
- 4-star pity: 10 pulls
- 5-star hard pity: 80 pulls
- 5-star soft pity: 60-70 pulls
However, there are variations between each specific banner. For example, the Limited-time Weapon Banner stands out because it offers a 100% chance of obtaining the featured weapon if you pull a 5-star. In contrast, the Limited Character Banner uses a 50/50 system. If you lose the 50% chance, you'll get a random 5-star character from the standard character pool instead.
With that said, let's delve deeper into each type of Convene!
Beginner’s Convene (Starting Banner)
Wuthering Waves' beginner's banner guarantees at least one 5-star character within 50 pulls. Each ten-pull comes at a discounted rate of 20%! That means you'll only need eight Lustrous Tides for every ten pulls.
Once you've completed your 50 pulls, the banner then transforms into a one-time selector that lets you choose a guaranteed standard 5-star character. You will get your chosen 5-star character within 80 pulls. Choose wisely, as the banner closes after you obtain your chosen character.
For a list of the 5-star characters available in the standard pool, refer to the "Character Permanent Convene (Standard Banner)" section below.
Character Permanent Convene (Standard Character Banner)
The Character Permanent Convene, also known as the standard character banner, features a pool of 5-star characters that will remain obtainable and unchanged even after patch updates. These are the characters that you may get upon losing your 50/50 on the limited-time character banner. Every 10 pulls guarantees a 4-star character or weapon, and on 80 pulls, you're guaranteed a 5-star character.
Here’s a list of every standard 5-star character in Wuthering Waves:
- Jianxin: Aero (Air) / Gauntlets
- Lingyang: Glacio (Ice) / Gauntlets
- Encore: Fusion (Fire) / Rectifiers
- Calcharo: Electro (Lightning) / Broadblade
- Verina: Spectro (Light) / Rectifier
Weapon Permanent Convene (Standard Weapons Banner)
The Weapon Permanent Convene is the standard weapon banner, featuring five standard 5-star weapons. Here, you can forget the worry of the pesky 50/50. This banner features a selector that allows you to choose your desired 5-star weapon right from the get-go.
Once you’ve chosen the 5-star weapon you want to aim for, within 80 pulls, you are guaranteed to receive the weapon you selected. You'll also receive 4-star weapons (and rarely, 4-star characters) with every 10 pulls.
Here are the standard 5-star weapons:
- Emerald of Genesis (Sword)
- Lustrous Razor (Broadblade)
- Abyss Surges (Gauntlets)
- Static Mist (Pistols)
- Cosmic Ripples (Rectifier)
Character Event Convene (Limited-Time Character Banner)
The Character Event Convene, also known as the Limited-time Character Banner, is your chance to snag the hottest new characters in Wuthering Waves! Each of these banners features a specific limited-time character with an increased drop rate.
When pulling a 5-star character on the Character Event Convene, there's a 50% chance it will be the featured rate-up character. Essentially, if you don't get the rate-up character on your first 5-star pull, the next 5-star you pull on this banner will be guaranteed to be the featured character. (If your first 5-star pull is not the rate-up character, you'll get a random standard character instead.)
Every 10 pulls guarantee a 4-star character. This could be any 4-star character in the game, but the banner will feature a higher chance to pull the three specific 4-star characters highlighted alongside the rate-up character.
While this remains unconfirmed, here are the most likely candidates for Wuthering Waves’ first Character Event Convene:
- Jiyan: Aero / Broadblade
- Yinlin: Eletcro / Rectifier
Weapon Event Convene (Limited-Time Weapon Banner)
Complementary to the Character Event Convene, the Weapon Event Convene offers a chance to acquire a powerful weapon designed specifically for the featured limited-time character. However, unlike the limited-time character banner, the limited-time weapon banner removes the element of chance. Here, you're guaranteed to obtain the featured 5-star weapon after 80 pulls!
The Weapon Event Convene features three specific 4-star weapons with a higher chance of being pulled in every 10-pull.
The following two weapons will most likely be featured:
- Verdant Summit: Jiyan’s signature Broadblade
- Stringmaster: Yinlin’s signature Rectifier
That was everything you need to know about Wuthering Waves’ gacha and banner system!
If you're looking to pull for either Jiyan or Yinlin, redeem the latest Wuthering Waves codes to snag some precious Astrite or Lunite for free!
Interested in learning more about Wuthering Waves? Dive into our Wuthering Waves 1.0 hub here, which details its release date, events, story quests, and more. If you're curious to know who's occupying the first couple of limited-time banners, take a look at our Wuthering Waves' current and next banners here.
Craving a glimpse beyond the current and next banners? This 1.X cycle banner order leaks piece has got you covered, where we detail the hottest rumors about the upcoming Resonators in Versions 1.1 and beyond!