Genshin Impact is an action role-playing game made by Hoyoverse. Genshin Impact’s 3.0 update dropped on August 25th, bringing new areas to explore, new characters to pour money on, a new element (and reactions) and new events.

Genshin Impact is an open world RPG with gacha aspects that allow players to acquire new characters. These characters are in “banners” that come in phases. Each limited time banner (which excludes the Standard Banner and the Beginner’s Wish Banner) has one limited-time five star character along with three other four star characters. These four characters have their summon rates boosted, which makes them easier to get during these banners. The five star limited time character only comes around once a while, and cannot be summoned unless their banner reruns again. 

Sumeru is the new region in the game, joining Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma. According to Gfinity ESports, Sumeru is “said to be covered in both rainforest and desert, and is thought to be based upon Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and countries.” Sumeru is located next to the Chasm in Liyue, which was released a couple of updates ago.

Following Sumeru, the last of the seven elements was released for players to utilize in their teams: Dendro. Dendro was already in the game, although no characters had powers relating to dendro – until the 3.0 update. With the new update, Dendro got new reactions with Electro, Pyro, and Hydro (Quicken, Bloom, and Burn), with more sub-reactions. 

There are three new characters that originate from Sumeru: Tighnari (five star Dendro Bow User), Collei (four star Dendro Bow User), and Dori (four star Electro Claymore User). The new five-star Tighnari will be in the first half, along with Zhongli, the Geo Archon, and Collei, the new four-star Dendro Bow user. Ganyu, one of the top DPSs in the game, along with Kokomi, a hydro healer from Inazuma, will be running with the new four-star character Dori in the second half.

On September 16th, 2022, the official Genshin Impact YouTube channel released the live stream for the 3.1 Update, which will be released on the 28th of September, the date of Genshin Impact’s second anniversary; the 3.0 and 3.1 patches are only five weeks long, compared to the usual six week schedule that Hoyoverse follows.

Along with every new region comes new craftable weapons for each type of weapon: sword, claymore, bow, polearm, and catalyst. Players will be able to craft these new weapons after completing the quests to unlock them. 

The 3.1 Update brings three new characters, just like the current update: Cyno (five-star Electro Polearm user), Nilou (five-star Hydro Sword user), and Candice (four-star Hydro Polearm user). The first phase of the banner will feature two different banners: one for Cyno and a rerun for the Anemo Archon Venti (a great support for those just starting the game); Candce will be featured alongside them in both banners. In the second phase, the new five-star Nilou, along with Albedo will be available for wishing. 

Currently, only the “forest” area of Sumeru is released; in the 3.1 update, the “desert” region of Sumeru will be released, bringing more areas for players to explore. This area has aspects of Egypt, with the upcoming character Cyno having a design similar to Anubis, one of the gods in Egyptian Mythology. 

As always with each new Genshin Impact update, there are many limited time events that give primo gems to players, who can then use these to pull/wish on the new characters. 

These updates bring a new chapter of exploration, characters, elemental reactions, and more. As the main storyline progresses with the Archon Quests, players will find themselves surrounded by new theories, characters, and regions.