Genshin Impact has been running for more than five years and just opened a brand new territory, Nod-Krai, right after the Natlan arc wrapped up. It's fair to say the entry bar can look intimidating for anyone starting today. The good news: the game is still built to absorb a steady stream of new players, with a catch-up system that's remarkably forgiving toward end-game power creep. We tested the progression loop from the angle of "I'm starting today, I want to move fast and smart." Here's what actually matters.
Understand Adventure Rank before chasing characters
Everything in Genshin Impact hinges on Adventure Rank (AR). It unlocks dungeons, scales up enemy levels across the open world, opens the Spiral Abyss, and, crucially, raises your Resin cap (the resource that limits how many domains and treasure chests you can clear). Leveling AR isn't about grinding fights; it's mostly done by completing Archon Quests, world quests, and above all by finishing Daily Commissions and the weekly "Domain Mastery" challenges.
Three habits to build in your first few hours:
- Prioritize the Archon Quest. It unlocks regions, hands you strong playable characters for free, and drives most core systems (the four-star elemental progression, artifacts, the Spiral Abyss).
- Never let your Resin overflow. It caps at 200; anything beyond that is wasted. Spend it first on talent and weapon ascension domains.
- Do your Daily Commissions every day, even a five-minute session counts: they give Mora, character ascension currency, and AR experience.
Which characters to prioritize early on
The classic beginner trap is wanting to pull on every limited banner. But Genshin hands out several solid characters for free through the main story and events, which is more than enough to clear all standard content.
- The Traveler: a mandatory character whose element changes depending on the region (Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, and more as the story progresses). Always useful in a support role, especially as Anemo for grouping enemies.
- A healer or shielder: essential so you don't waste time on punishing fights. Barbara or Noelle, both available early, fill this role perfectly in the early game.
- A solid elemental DPS pulled from the beginner banner (the "Beginners' Wish" banner guarantees a 4-star character and offers boosted drop rates over your first 50 pulls): don't waste this pity on anything else.
- Xiangling or another Pyro applicator: the Vaporize/Melt reaction remains one of the most accessible damage pillars in the game.
On event banners, the rule is simple: save your Primogems for a character whose kit you've actually seen in action and who fills a genuine gap in your team, rather than chasing whatever's currently trending. Nod-Krai brought its share of new faces (Columbina in particular, framed as the region's central figure), but nothing requires you to have them day one to keep progressing.
Artifacts, talents, weapons: where to put your resources first
Once you've stabilized a four-character team, the real difficulty curve shifts toward artifact optimization. A few principles that save you weeks of wasted Resin:
- Level your main DPS's talents first. A Skill or Burst talent at level 6-8 changes the game far more than a poorly rolled 5-star artifact.
- Don't farm artifacts before AR 45. Artifact domains scale in quality with your Adventure Rank; farming too early wastes Resin on suboptimal gear.
- Focus on two critical pieces: the Sands (elemental damage % or Elemental Mastery) and the Goblet (elemental damage %), aiming for Crit Rate/Crit Damage on substats instead of re-farming everything from scratch.
- Crafted weapons and battle pass weapons (the Serenitea Pot and the Gnostic Hymn) often offer a better power-to-effort ratio than limited weapon banners for a player just starting out.
Spiral Abyss and repeatable content: aim for consistency, not perfection
The Spiral Abyss (refreshed every two weeks) is still the benchmark for measuring your combat power and grabbing end-of-month Primogems. Don't aim for a full clear right away: every floor you clear grants stars and rewards, and a regular partial clear pays off far more over time than one perfect run attempted once a month. Meanwhile, limited-time events (usually every two to three weeks) remain the game's most efficient source of free Primogems, far more so than open-world exploration once you've wrapped up the main regions.
The takeaway
Consistency beats spending in Genshin Impact: push Daily Commissions, the Archon Quest, and limited events, and one or two well-built characters will carry you through most of the game, Nod-Krai included. Hold onto your Primogems until a character genuinely fills a gap in your team, level talents ahead of artifacts, and let Adventure Rank set the pace instead of trying to unlock everything in your first week.
