Genshin Impact just dropped a rather massive preview stream for its 2.4 update, which should begin around January 5, 2022.

There’s a lot to go over, including new characters and some surprising free offerings for players who don’t want to pay. Namely, Genshin Impact is once again running an event where you can pick one free 4 star to add your collection, either one you’ve been missing, or one you want an extra constellation rank four. And surprisingly, as these are all Liyue heroes, that includes new 4 star Yun Jin as well.

Here are the free 4 stars you can pick from the Preposterous Partnerships event which will arrive later in the patch:

Yun Jin will also have her rate up increased for both of the banners dropping in the first set, as Genshin Impact is doing double banners again. Those are:

Banner 1: Shenhe (5 star Cryo) and Xiao (5 star Anemo)

Banner 2: Zhongli (5 star Geo) and Ganyu (5 star Cryo)

Past that, there are going to be two new skins, one you can grab for free for Ningguang by participating in the Lantern Rite event, the other is a skin for Keqing that will be a limited time paid offering. You can see both of those below, and those designs did leak out ahead of time, though this is the best look at Keqing’s we’ve seen so far.

The main point of the story of 2.4 appears to be the rebuilding of the Jade Chamber, which was destroyed in order to save the region a while ago in a previous plotline. This explains the refocus in Liyue after so much time in Inazuma, and why characters like Ningguang and Keqing are getting special treatment. This will also bring new types of elemental Vishaps as enemies and some sort of Pyro Fatui Mage as well, which you will fight in a new area, Enkanomiya (though it’s not a fully new nation, of course).

The fifth series of hangouts are also quite a set, as you will have the ability to spend time with Ningguang, Yun Jin, Gorou, Beidou, Sayu and Thoma and reach all their different endings.

In short, this is a massive patch, and it’s clear that miHoYo is not letting up on the gas heading into 2022 with non-stop updates of this size. This looks like a fun return to Liyue with a good amount of free stuff included, if you want to grind it out. Stay tuned for more information including exact banner dates and times.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.