New Genshin Impact characters, bosses, events, and gear seemingly leaked

A huge Genshin Impact datamine has seemingly leaked info on upcoming content for the hugely successful free-to-play RPG. 

While much of it remains unofficial or subject to change, patterns and commonalities are starting to shed light on future updates, from new characters and bosses to events and gear. 

Reddit user Polonoid75 collated a mountain of rumors, leaks, and official statements related to update 1.1, which is coming on November 11. This will be Genshin Impact's first big update, and much of the leaked information surrounding it lines up with the features developer MiHoYo previously described. That said, details extrapolated from previous Chinese beta tests have now contributed many other alleged additions, including a new lineup of characters.

Update 1.1 will reportedly introduce the five-star geo spear user Zhongli, five-star hydro bow user Childe, four-star pyro claymore user Xinyan, and four-star cryo bow user Diona. Zhongli and Childe are already a part of the game's main story, but Xinyan and Diona have yet to be seen in-game. Note that Childe is also poised to become a new weekly boss in the same vein as the wolf and dragon that are already available. 

Other leaks and beta reports suggest update 1.1 will feature several events, the biggest being a referral event that rewards veteran players for introducing other players to the game, with Primogems given out when referred players hit adventure rank 15. Other alleged events include a food delivery challenge that will test your ingredient gathering prowess, gliding races with tiered rewards, and an "Unreturned Star" event with a limited currency that can be spent on upgrade and ascension materials. 

The biggest feature said to be coming in update 1.1 is the regional reputation system, which could add many more reward sources and goals to the game. In a nutshell, by completing quests and challenges in specific regions (for now, Mondstadt and Liyue), you can improve your local reputation and earn rewards. This includes quality of life bonuses, cosmetics, and crafting recipes. Reputation progress will reportedly be retroactive, so if this feature does come in November, existing players should be able to boost their reputation instantly. 

Those are the high notes for the conversations surrounding update 1.1, but there's also word of minor but handy additions like the option to use characters while they're on expeditions, the ability to lock artifacts so you don't accidentally burn your best ones when upgrading gear, and the option to bank resin so you can spend it another day. 

A broader selection of leaks was recently reported by YouTuber Demone Kim, who's participated in previous beta tests and cites datamined information in his latest video. Portions of this mined data seem to be connected to update 1.1, but other elements may not arrive until update 1.2 in December or even update 1.3 in February 2021. And as is always the case with datamined details, all of this remains unconfirmed and subject to change. Several events and features originally spotted in betas were officially released in a different state, and that will undoubtedly be the case for some or all of what's described here. 

Childe and Zhongli appear again in this datamine, along with the five-star anemo spear user Xiao (who appears in the main story), cryo sword user Kamisato Ayaka, and electro sword user Kate. Beta footage of Ayaka is available online, but details on her and Kate are scarce, and they likely won't be seen until December at the earliest. 

With Zhongli seemingly coming to the game relatively soon, geo users will be more available, which leads us to the geo-themed weapons seen in this datamine. This suite of weapons is said to increase your attack on each hit, and you'll receive a bigger boost when you're protected by any of the shields that geo can generate. Other datamined weapons feature hydro and electro motifs, but the real eyebrow raisers are the green weapons. These are said to be tied to the dendro element, which isn't currently available. It's not just weapons, either: a dendro boss and mini-boss (abyss mage) also appear in the datamine alongside ascension materials for dendro characters. Dendro is currently listed in the in-game elemental resonance chart, so we know items and characters related to it will come eventually, but it's still unclear when. 

If nothing else, all of this information tells us that update 1.1 will be a whopper, but MiHoYo is also holding some surprises for future updates. More to the point, all of the features and characters currently making the rounds in the rumor mill will not be added in November, and in many cases we don't know if or when they will be added at all. Beta reports, leaks, and datamines are just that scattered. With the first Genshin Impact roadmap still in our rear-view mirror, it's best to wait for official word from MiHoYo before planning around future content. 

Genshin Impact will be down for maintenance later this week, but you'll get some free primogems to compensate.