Genshin Impact 7.1 lands on September 23, 2026, and it's the busiest patch the game has seen in years. Two brand-new 5-stars, the first Moonchase Festival since 2021, and a sixth-anniversary reward pool that hands out free 5-star characters. If you want to squeeze every Primogem out of it, you need a plan before the servers go live.
This guide walks you through what's in the update, how to claim each reward tier, and where the easy Primogems are hiding. Coming back after a long break? You're covered. Daily player who wants the fastest route to Vesna and Vodyanitsa? Same plan works.
What's New in the Genshin 7.1 Update
Version 7.1 is called "A Rekviem for the Underworld," and the name points straight at the story. Snezhnaya's crisis escalates, and the Traveler finally meets the Tsaritsa face to face to learn why she's spent years collecting the Gnoses. Ronova, the Ruler of Death, has used her authority to stall Snezhnaya's plans, and the arrival of Rhinedottir, the Ruler of Life, makes the whole situation messier.
The Genshin 7.1 release date is September 23, 2026, with the patch rolling out across Android, iOS, PC, and PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Phase 1 runs September 23 to October 13, and Phase 2 picks up October 13 to November 3. That's a three-week split you should keep in mind when budgeting your pulls.
Three Archon Quests ship with the update: White Night, Like a Dream Upon Waking, and A Rekviem for the Underworld. Finish them and you get 620 Primogems on top of the story content. There's also a new Weekly Boss in Ronova, a new world boss called the Guardian Blade of Drifting Snow, and a batch of Tsaritsa assignments that turn the Traveler into a consultant in her court.
How to Pull Vesna and Vodyanitsa in Genshin 7.1
Both new characters debut together in Phase 1, which is unusual and worth knowing before you spend anything.
Vesna is a 5-star Anemo Sword user and the youngest Commander in Druzhna history. Her kit centers on Stellar Swirl, a reaction she creates by converting Cryo Swirls. She summons Spirit Blades with her Elemental Skill and banks "Sword Essence," then spends that resource to send the blades at enemies. Attacks near a Stellar Vortex count as Stellar Swirl reaction damage. Her Burst calls another wave of blades for AoE Anemo damage and refunds Sword Essence. As a Vila, she can also fly during open-world exploration, which is the fastest way to cross Snezhnaya's terrain without a glider climb.
Vodyanitsa is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst support and the Prima Donna of Snezhnograd's Korolevskiy Troupe. Her Skill drops her into Water Imp form, where her song heals the active character, shreds enemies' Hydro and Cryo resistance, and boosts the active character's attack. She moves quickly through water in that form, and outside combat she can stay in Water Imp form on land, so overworld traversal doesn't force her back into a human model. Her Burst rolls out AoE Hydro damage.
Both characters boost Stellar Swirl, so they're designed to slot into teams that already lean on Anemo and Hydro. Their signature weapons, the 5-star sword Beyond the Chrysalis and the 5-star catalyst Hymn of the Maelstrom, run on the same featured weapon banners.
How to actually claim them:
1. Open the Wish menu once Phase 1 begins.
2. Pick the Vesna banner or the Vodyanitsa banner, since they share the same three-week window.
3. Spend Intertwined Fates, either the ones you've saved or the 10 the anniversary gifts you.
4. If you miss a character, wait for a rerun, because the Phase 2 window belongs to Skirk and Escoffier.
Here's the part people miss. Each new character has a story anecdote attached. Play Vesna's to unlock a unique appearance for her sword spirit companion, and play Vodyanitsa's to get a unique look for her microphone. Neither costs pulls, and both are permanent.
How to Play the Genshin Impact Moonchase Festival
The Moonchase Festival returns to Liyue after five years, and it's the emotional center of the patch. Yilong Wharf gets rebuilt for the occasion, but underneath the lanterns and food stalls sits a mystery from Liyue's past that even Zhongli and Zibai haven't figured out.
The flagship event is called Silverwing in Pursuit of the Moon. It runs from September 24 to October 12 and skips the usual domain grinding in favor of three mini-games inspired by Liyue thaumaturges. Each one tests a different skill, so you won't be running the same loop three times.
Steps to get started:
1. Open the Event Overview menu after September 23.
2. Follow the intro festival questline to unlock the festival hub.
3. Clear the prologue to open all three mini-game tracks.
4. Work through each stage, banking score toward milestone tiers.
5. Claim rewards as you cross each milestone instead of saving them for the end.
The headline prize is Silver Light, an event-exclusive 4-star Sword you can't get from any banner. You earn it by accumulating event score, and you refine it with Tea-Scented Tassels that sit directly on the reward track. Grab all four tassels and the sword hits Refinement Rank 5 without a single crafting material. Miss the festival window and the weapon is gone, so this is the one thing you shouldn't procrastinate on.
The full flagship reward pool is 950 Primogems, Silver Light, four Tea-Scented Tassels, a Crown of Insight, plus Hero's Wit, Mystic Enhancement Ore, Mora, and weapon ascension materials.
Genshin Impact 7.1 Events and Their Primogem Payouts
Silverwing is the flagship, but it isn't the only thing paying out. Here's how the rest of the Genshin Impact 7.1 events line up.
- Predictive Victory Dynamics (October 12 to October 20): a combat event built around reading and reacting to battle conditions. Payout is 420 Primogems.
- Carefree Snowball Fight (October 21 to November 2): a Snezhnaya activity where you team up with local kids for snowball score objectives. Payout is 420 Primogems.
- Overflowing Favor (October 26 to November 2): a short farming event that doubles talent and material drop rates. The value here is the doubled drops, not a big Primogem pile.
- Stygian Onslaught (September 30 to November 3): combat challenges with rewards scaling to how far your account can clear. The calendar lists up to 450 Primogems.
Outside the combat loop, Miliastra Wonderland gets an autumn refresh with an osmanthus-and-moon theme, a free cosmetic set for finishing the related event, and a festival headpiece. The in-game editor also picks up client-side scripting and collaborative editing tools, which matters if you build levels rather than just play them.
One scheduling note: event dates can shift by server, and your in-game Events menu is the final word on start times. Don't plan your last day around a blog post.
How to Claim Genshin 7.1 Anniversary Rewards
September 28 marks Genshin Impact's sixth anniversary, and the reward pool is the biggest single gift drop of the patch. It stacks on top of normal event earnings, which is why this version is worth logging in for even if Snezhnaya's story isn't your thing.
How to claim the anniversary rewards:
1. Complete the new Archon Quest, which is the gate for the character selector.
2. Log in during the seven-day login event to collect 10 Intertwined Fates, one per day.
3. Check your in-game mail for the 1,600 Primogems, which arrives automatically.
4. Open the event-exclusive selector and pick one free 5-star from the offered lineup.
5. Open the standard selector and pick one free standard 5-star as well.
The event-exclusive selector is the new thing this year. It lists Tartaglia, Baizhu, Nilou, Varesa, Chiori, and Clorinde. It sits open for the whole run of Version 7.1, so you can hold off until you know which character fills a gap on your roster.
There are also three broadcast redemption codes worth 300 Primogems total:
- Rekviem: 100 Primogems and 10 Mystic Enhancement Ore
- Vesna0923: 100 Primogems and 5 Hero's Wit
- PrimaDonna: 100 Primogems and 50,000 Mora
Redeem them through the in-game mailbox or HoYoverse's official redemption site, and do it early. Codes like these expire, and while they're not huge, 300 Primogems is a free ten-pull's worth of progress.
Genshin 7.1 Primogems: How Much Can You Bank?
Add it up and the patch pays out generously. Here's the approximate Genshin 7.1 Primogems haul if you clear everything:
- Archon Quest completion: 620
- Silverwing in Pursuit of the Moon: 950
- Predictive Victory Dynamics: 420
- Carefree Snowball Fight: 420
- Stygian Onslaught: up to 450
- Anniversary mail: 1,600
- Redemption codes: 300
That's roughly 4,700 Primogems before you touch daily commissions, exploration, or the login Fates. Stack the 10 Intertwined Fates on top and you're looking at close to 35 wishes for the version, which is a realistic shot at one new 5-star if you've been holding a guarantee.
So what should you actually chase first? Set your priorities by scarcity, not by raw numbers. The Silver Light sword and its refinement materials are the only truly missable items, since Primogems come back around eventually and a missed event weapon doesn't. Clear the Moonchase flagship first, then sweep the smaller events for their Primogems.
Common Genshin 7.1 Problems and Fixes
A few things trip people up every version. Here's how to handle them.
The update won't download, or it stalls partway. Free up storage and switch to a stable connection, since 7.1 is a large patch. If the client keeps failing, check the official channels for a maintenance extension before assuming your device is the problem.
The character selector won't appear. It gates behind the new Archon Quest. Finish the story first, then check the event menu again. Started the quest but never finished it? The selector stays locked.
You missed the festival window. Silver Light and its Tea-Scented Tassels are event-exclusive, so there's no banner or shop fallback. Finish the flagship event first.
Your Primogems feel short of the estimates above. Dates shift by server, and some events overlap windows. Compare your progress against the in-game event calendar, not a static list.
You can't decide which free 5-star to pick. Hold the selector open as long as you can. It stays available across the version, so wait until your roster gaps are clear.
Download Genshin Impact 7.1 on Android
If you're coming back for the anniversary, grab the current build before September 23 so the update queue doesn't eat your first evening. The patch is large, and logging in early means you're playing the Moonchase Festival instead of watching a download bar.
Genshin Impact only needs the permissions an online action game normally asks for, namely storage for patch files and network access for play, so there's no reason to grant anything unusual during install. If you ever feel unsure, check what an app requests before you let it through.
Wrapping Up
Genshin Impact 7.1 gives you three weeks of Phase 1 to chase Vesna and Vodyanitsa, a returning festival that hands out a free sword, and an anniversary package worth about 4,700 Primogems plus two free 5-star characters. The Genshin Impact guide above is built so you can start on day one and not miss the items that disappear.
The one rule that matters most: clear Silverwing in Pursuit of the Moon before anything else, because everything else in this patch comes back. Then sit on your character selectors, spend your saved Fates in Phase 1, and enjoy the first Liyue festival in five years.