Everything you need to know about the Genshin Impact Hu Tao Banner

Genshin Impact refuses to stop. The game's roster continues to steadily grow as new characters like Xiao and Ganyu are added to the game. Continuing that breakneck pace, a ghastly new five-star character named Hu Tao is arriving soon. Should you spend your hard-earned Primogems on the chance to add Hu Tao to your team? Or is it not worth the game's most important currency?

Here's everything we know about the upcoming Hu Tao Banner.

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When is the Genshin Impact Hu Tao Banner release date and end time?

The Hu Tao Banner begins on March 2 at 6 p.m. Eastern then will conclude on March 16 at 3 p.m. Eastern.

What characters are featured on the Genshin Impact Hu Tao Banner?

The Banner stars the five-star Pyro Polearm user, Hu Tao. She's joined by three four-star characters:

• Hydro Sword-wielder Xingqiu
• Cyro Claymore-wielder Chongyun
• Pyro Polearm-user Xiangling

Are you guaranteed to get Hu Tao in Genshin Impact?

Not quite. You're not guaranteed to get Hu Tao, even if you pull from her Banner. Luckily, Genshin Impact does feature a Mercy system. If you conduct 89 attempts without getting a five-star reward, you're guaranteed a five-star item on your ninetieth pull. The guaranteed five-star item has a 50 percent chance to be Hu Tao. If that first pity five-star wasn't Hu Tao, your next five-star will be. This means, at most, you'll need 180 Wishes to get Hu Tao.

If you participated in a previous Event Banner without earning a five-star character, your progress will carry over to the Hu Tao Banner. Which only means you'll have that much greater chance at drawing her.

Is Hu Tao a good character in Genshin Impact?

Hu Tao is a solid character. She can act as a DPS for your team and provide ample damage. Nothing she provides will be revelatory, however.

Hu Tao relies on continually using her specials. As far as base attack goes, she has one of the lowest in Genshin Impact. This flaw can be patched up by using her abilities. Hu Tao's Elemental Skill, Guide to Afterlife, consumes a significant portion of Hu Tao's HP in exchange for bolstering Hu Tao's attack and providing Pyro damage with every strike. This boost makes Hu Tao formidable for a brief amount of time.

Hu Tao's Elemental Burst, Spirit Soother, deals massive Area of Effect damage and will restore some HP for every single enemy that the attack makes contact with.

Should you pay for the Hu Tao Banner in Genshin Impact?

Hu Tao's Banner is fine. It's like a Genshin Impact starter kit.

Hu Tao is a decent character who will bring your team up to snuff if you lack any high-tiered characters to use. This also applies to the four-star characters offered by the Banner. They're all fairly passable characters, but most free-to-play gamers will have already acquired them through other events already. No four-star in this batch is "game-changing."

Xingqiu is the best of the bunch. If you can max out his constellations, he's an incredible character. Using his abilities you can add a water effect to your characters while granting some healing and damage reduction. His abilities make him one of the greatest support characters available in Genshin Impact. Xingqiu can be a massive boon while crafting as well.

When he crafts Character Talent Materials, he has a 25 percent chance to refund one count of one material out of all the crafting materials used.

That's all fantastic, but there's such a slim chance that you'll get enough Xingqiu's to make investing in this Banner worth your time.

Unless there's a gaping hole in your team dragging your whole experience down, don't pull on this Banner. There's nothing remarkable on this Banner. It's better to save your Primogems for an exemplary banner than spend your wealth on something so-so

What Banner comes after Hu Tao in Genshin Impact?

As Hu Tao's Banner comes to a close, version 1.4 will be available. Developer miHoYo has yet to elaborate what Banners will be available in the update, but rumor has it the game will add the long-rumored character, Rosaria. Other than Rosaria, the Banner is said to possibly be rife with rerun characters like Venti, Childe, and Ganyu. Nothing has been confirmed yet, so we'll have to see what happens. There will likely be more clarity next week, as we get closer to the actual update.