Genshin Impact Beginner’s Guide: Everything you need to know to get started

Monetization

And now we’ve reached the dreaded section where we talk about the cash shop. Given that the game is entirely free-to-play, there are plenty of ways miHoYo is hoping to earn your hard-earned dollar. I’m going to first list the different ways you can spend money in this game, and then conclude on why you don’t need to, at least if you’re patient.

First and foremost, your first Crystal purchase (the game’s premium currency) will count as double the first time, meaning if you spend $29.99 on 1,980 Genesis Crystals, you’ll instead get 3960.

You can also purchase the Blessing of the Welkin Moon for $4.99 which will grant you an immediate 300 Genesis Crystals, and then 90 Primogems a day across 30 days, netting you a total of 2700 Primogems.

Last but not least, there’s the battle pass that unlocks at Adventure Rank 20, and like in most other games, it has two tracks, a free one and a premium one.

However, since Primogems are obtainable through just playing the game, acting as rewards for basically anything and everything you do, it is possible to eventually unlock every character and weapon through the game’s summoning system, though accomplishing this will take far longer for someone who is playing the game completely free, versus someone who purchases currency.