Genshin Impact Beginner's Guide: Starter Region, Early Priorities, and Primogem Spending

Genshin Impact doesn't gatekeep new players the way its combat complexity suggests. Every region opens eventually, every character can be built for free, and the game hands you a surprising number of strong units before you ever touch the gacha. The problem isn't lack of resources — it's spending them on the wrong things in week one and feeling like you're behind by week four. Here's what actually matters.

Partner link — GamerBorn may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Mondstadt Isn't Optional, and That's Fine

Every save starts in Mondstadt, the wind-themed region loosely modeled on medieval Germany. You don't get a choice here, and you shouldn't want one — Mondstadt's Archon Quest is the game's tutorial for elemental combat, climbing, gliding, and the Adventure Rank systems that gate everything later. Rushing past it to "get to the good region" just means replaying mechanics you skipped.

What you do control is your Traveler's element. You start as Anemo (wind) and unlock Geo partway through the Liyue arc, with other elements coming later through story progression. Anemo is the better pick to run with early: its crowd-control and swirl reactions (spreading elemental damage across grouped enemies) make the Traveler genuinely useful in a starter team rather than a placeholder slot.

Don't rush to Liyue or Inazuma for "better loot." Enemy levels scale with your Adventure Rank, not your location, so an under-leveled character in a flashy later region just dies faster. Clear Mondstadt's main quests, side quests, and the easy early domains first — they're your most efficient source of early Mora, XP books, and ascension materials.

Your Free Roster Is Stronger Than It Looks

New players consistently underrate the characters the game simply gives them. Amber (Pyro archer), Kaeya (Cryo swordsman), and Lisa (Electro mage) are handed to you early, and all three remain functional well past the point you'd expect to replace them. Add Barbara, who you'll pick up from a quest, and you already have a free, four-element-capable squad.

A reliable starter team: Kaeya as your main damage dealer (Cryo applies consistently and sets up freeze reactions), Xiangling as sub-DPS if you roll her from the beginner banner (her burst does enormous off-field Pyro damage and stays relevant for years), Barbara as your healer, and the Traveler as a flexible fourth slot covering whatever element the fight needs. This combination clears all beginner and early-mid content without spending a single wish on a limited banner.

Noelle, available from the beginner wish banner, deserves a special mention — she's a free shielder and off-field healer who solos large chunks of early exploration content on her own. If you only pull one unit from that early banner pool, make it her.

Where Primogems Actually Belong

This is where most new players go wrong: they wish on whatever banner is live the day they hit AR20, then regret it two weeks later when a character they actually wanted shows up. Primogems (the premium currency used to wish) come slowly enough early on that each pull matters.

The rule that saves you grief: don't wish reactively, wish on a plan. Decide, before you have enough Primogems to pull, whether you're saving for a specific 5-star character or for weapon banners (which are usually a worse value for new players, since character banners give you more flexible power). Early game, a single well-built 4-star character often outperforms a poorly-built 5-star, so there's no shame in skipping a banner entirely to stack currency for one you actually want.

Spend Primogems on:

• Character banners for units you'll actually use, not just whoever is newest
• The Battle Pass (if you commit to playing regularly) — it's the best Primogem-to-cost ratio in the game by a wide margin
• Keeping a buffer for "Beginner's Wish" banners, which guarantee a 4-star or 5-star at a steep discount compared to standard banners

Avoid impulse-wishing on weapon banners as a new player, and don't burn gems chasing cosmetic rerolls of characters you already have at a usable level.

Early Progression Priorities

In rough order, prioritize: finishing Mondstadt and Liyue's Archon Quests to raise your World Level naturally, unlocking and clearing easy domains for ascension materials, joining a co-op-friendly server for boss materials you can't solo efficiently, and resisting the urge to level every character you pull. Pick two or three you'll actually use and pour resin and materials into them — spreading resources thin across ten half-built characters is the single biggest reason new accounts feel weak at AR30+.

Genshin rewards patience more than spending. The players who feel strongest a month in aren't the ones who wished the most — they're the ones who built a small, complete team and knew which region to actually be farming.

Partner link — GamerBorn may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.