Genshin Impact Is Giving Players Free 5-Star Constellations for the First Time in 5 Years — Today’s Your Last Chance to Grab One

Genshin Impact finally did the thing fans have asked for since day one: it is handing out free 5-star Constellations without pulling. Yes, really. And yes, there is a catch big enough to park a Ruin Guard in. If you do not start today, October 8, you will miss one of the four freebies planned over the next year.

What this new thing actually is

The event is called 'To Temper Thyself and Journey Far' and it is tied to the current Lunar patch cycle (6.X, aka Nod-Krai). It pops up once every 12 weeks (that is two patches), and the whole loop is simple on paper: complete eight weeks of everyday training goals, cash in the rewards, and at the end of that eight-week track you pick a free Constellation for a qualifying 5-star character. No wishes, no pity, just time.

Two important limits so expectations stay realistic:

- Only a specific pool of (mostly older) 5-stars qualify. That list is below.

- You can earn up to four free Constellations across the coming year, but only one per character, so you cannot stack a favorite to C4 through this alone.

How the grind works (and why the timing is annoying)

Your daily checklist is the usual: clear four commissions (or use the equivalent Long-Term Encounter Points) and spend 120 Original Resin in domains or bosses. Hit that on five days in a week and you lock in that week’s reward and earn one of the eight progress points you need for the Constellation at the end.

Here is the catch: because of how the calendar lines up, if you do not start right now, October 8, you cannot finish the eight-week track for the Constellation that is available this cycle. There are five days left before the next weekly reset, then seven more weeks after that. Translation: you need to do the training today and for the next four days, then keep it up for at least five days out of each of the following seven weeks. Is that a little arbitrary? Absolutely. It is also very on-brand for a live-service game trying to keep you logging in.

If you are late to the party, you can still grab the other three Constellations in future cycles and collect the smaller stuff from this one (currencies, materials for crafting/rerolling artifacts). But let’s be honest: the free Constellation is the headliner. It is basically a free power bump on a 5-star, even if the picks lean a bit vintage.

Who you can pick

These are the characters eligible for a free Constellation through the event. Note the Standard banner pool is here minus Mizuki.

• Standard banner 5-stars (except Mizuki): Dehya, Tighnari, Keqing, Mona, Qiqi, Diluc, Jean
• Nilou
• Kamisato Ayato
• Yae Miko
• Shenhe
• Arataki Itto
• Sangonomiya Kokomi
• Kamisato Ayaka
• Eula
• Hu Tao (her C1 is arguably the prize pick)
• Xiao
• Ganyu
• Tartaglia
• Klee
• Baizhu
• Wanderer
• Cyno
• Yoimiya
• Albedo

Already have someone at C6?

If you pick a character you have fully constellated, the game will convert that selection into Masterless Stella Fortuna. One of those can boost any character to level 95. After you reach 95, two more will take that same character to 100. So even whales are not wasting their pick here.

The bigger picture

Five years in, this is the first truly pull-free path to 5-star Constellations. It is generous by gacha standards, while still designed to keep your login streak alive. That tension is the genre in a nutshell.

'We do not need a gacha system' ... 'getting rid of gacha' in an anime action RPG 'is beneficial for developers too.'

That quote floating around right now feels obvious to anyone who has ever missed a limited banner by two pulls, but it is still interesting to see developers say it out loud. In the meantime, if you want this first free Constellation, the clock is very much ticking today.