Genshin Impact the two free-select events in 7.1 are the easiest thing in the patch to waste. Plenty of accounts stall on "which one," then discover on the last day that they never met the unlock condition. This guide covers what separates the two events, which of the six limited units actually fills a hole, what it costs to build the character you take, and how many pulls the patch still hands you.
Applicable version: 7.1, launched 2026-09-23. Both free-select events run until 2026-11-03 14:59. Event names are translated from the Chinese-server notices; the in-game English wording may differ.
| Item | Verdict | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Limited pick | Tabletop Troupe, one of six, once per account | Official event notice |
| Standard pick | Snowbound Journey, any one standard five-star | Official event notice |
| Shared deadline | 2026-11-03 14:59 | Official event notice |
| Cost to max one unit | 419 Hero's Wit, 7.05M Mora | In-game character screen |
| Free Primogems | 1,600 + 600 + 180 = 2,380 | Official event notices |
Genshin Impact 7.1 free five-stars: the two events are not the same
The short version: Tabletop Troupe hands out a limited unit, Snowbound Journey hands out a standard one. The first requires story progress, the second only requires that wishes are unlocked.
Neither event name contains the word "select," so a lot of players open both panels, assume they are two pages of the same giveaway, and walk away with one pick instead of two.
Tabletop Troupe hands out a limited five-star
The roster is Tartaglia, Nilou, Baizhu, Chiori, Clorinde and Varesa. All six are limited units, which means the only other way to get them is waiting out a rerun banner.
The unlock condition matters more than the roster: Adventure Rank 18 or higher, plus completion of Archon Quest Chapter VII Act IV. That single line locks out every account still parked in Chapter VI.
There is a shortcut the notice also spells out. If you are AR 18 and have finished the prologue's third act, walking into the Snezhnaya region auto-starts Chapter VII Act I, and you can push straight through to Act IV. The gate is not "when did you start playing," it is "are you willing to spend a few evenings on story."
Snowbound Journey hands out a standard five-star
This is not "both events give a limited five-star." It is one limited, one standard. Snowbound Journey's text says you may invite one five-star from the Wanderlust Invocation standard pool, and the only requirement is that wishing is unlocked .
The value gap is real. A limited five-star costs up to 180 pulls in the worst case; a standard five-star shows up on lost 50/50s anyway, and standard constellations can also be bought through the long-run Battle Pass-adjacent track . The two picks are not equal, so the order is not arbitrary.
Genshin Impact 7.1 Tabletop Troupe: which of the six to take
Start from the hole in your roster, then ask whether that character can fill it alone. There is no "strongest" pick here, only the one that lands on the slot you cannot otherwise cover.
No main DPS: Nilou or Clorinde
Clorinde is an Electro sword on-fielder with a self-contained rotation and a low entry cost for any team . Nilou is Hydro sword, but her value is not "Hydro main DPS" — she is the engine of the Bloom archetype and wants a double Hydro, double Dendro shell around her .
The split is easy. Need someone who stands on field and deals Electro damage next patch? Clorinde. Already running a Dendro core and missing the Hydro piece that makes Bloom work? Nilou.
Varesa is an Electro catalyst from the Natlan cycle and runs a different rotation again. All three occupy the main-DPS slot, so with one pick available, sort by which element your account is missing rather than by a tier list.
No healer or shred: Baizhu, Chiori
Baizhu is a Dendro catalyst who covers healing and shielding at once, which makes him the cheapest slot in a Dendro team . Chiori is a Geo sword sub-DPS and damage amp, and she is the right answer when a Geo team needs off-field damage .
Both are position-efficiency picks: one unit doing two jobs frees the fourth slot for a buffer. Flip it around and the math collapses — if you already have a reliable healer, Baizhu's marginal value drops fast, and if you do not play Geo at all, Chiori cannot enter any of your teams. That is the trade-off, not a strength ranking.
Tartaglia and Varesa: narrower picks
Tartaglia is a Hydro bow on-fielder. He covers a Hydro DPS slot, but he is demanding about the team's Hydro application rhythm. Varesa fits accounts that already have an Electro buff structure and lack a catalyst damage dealer.
Honestly, these two sit at the bottom of the six for most accounts. Not because they are weak — because their slot is narrow enough that you need the surrounding team before the pick pays off.
Genshin Impact 7.1 Snowbound Journey: picking from the standard pool
The standard pool's seven five-stars are Diluc, Jean, Mona, Qiqi, Keqing, Tighnari and Dehya . All seven can spook you at any time, so the logic inverts: it is not "who is strongest," it is "who will take longest to arrive on a lost 50/50."
Seven standard five-stars, fill the hole
Missing a healer? Jean or Qiqi. Jean's team heal plus Anemo swirl is the more universal of the two; Qiqi fits Cryo teams better. Missing a shielder or a resistance shred? Dehya. Missing off-field Dendro? Tighnari. Missing single-target Electro? Keqing. Diluc and Mona struggle to make a modern Abyss pair unless you simply like them.
One test only: can this character slot into one of your two existing teams? If not, the pick becomes bench inventory.
If you already own all seven
Then park the pick. Both events run to 2026-11-03 14:59, so there is no reason to spend it today .
If you must spend it, take a constellation on a unit you already field and whose early constellations are real upgrades. Standard five-star constellations are worth less than limited ones on average, but free still beats nothing.
Genshin Impact 7.1: is it worth rushing the Archon Quest for this?
Yes. A limited five-star is worth up to 28,800 Primogems at hard pity, so two acts of story is the best time-for-value trade in the patch.
Three account states, three answers.
Already past Chapter VII Act 1
Two to four hours gets you to Act IV. Start tonight. Act I auto-triggers when you enter the Snezhnaya region, so there is no hidden prerequisite to hunt down.
Stuck in Chapter VI or earlier
That is three to five acts of catch-up, call it two or three evenings at one to two hours each. Still worth it: 28,800 Primogems is 480 days of daily commissions at 60 per day.
The reason it clears so easily is that the two costs are not comparable. Rushing the story costs evenings; pulling the same unit costs 480 days.
Story-skippers: take the standard pick first
Take the Snowbound Journey slot now. It has no story gate — unlock wishes and the panel opens . Leave the limited pick parked and come back if you ever feel like doing the quests, but do it before November 3.
Genshin Impact 7.1 free five-star: what it costs to build
Levelling one five-star from 1 to 90 with three talents at 10 is a fixed bill, and you can pre-farm all of it before the pick lands.
419 Hero's Wit and 7.05 million Mora
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hero's Wit | 419 | 8.36M EXP from 1 to 90 |
| Mora | 7.05M | 2.09M levelling and ascension, 4.96M talents |
| Local specialty | 168 | All ascension tiers |
| Boss material | 46 | Ascensions from 40 to 80 |
| Elemental gems | 1 sliver, 9 fragments, 9 chunks, 6 gemstones | Matching element |
| Talent books | 9 teaching, 63 guide, 114 philosophies | Three talents, 1 to 10 |
| Weekly boss material | 18 | Three talents combined |
| Crown of Insight | 3 | One per talent at level 10 |
Resin math: 7,560 per patch
Natural regen is 180 resin a day, which is 7,560 across a 42-day patch and 378 domain runs at 20 resin each . A double-crit artifact set takes 60 to 80 runs on average, so two new units eat half the patch.
Sequencing: burn this week on ascension materials for both picks, save artifacts for the back half. Ascension materials have a hard ceiling; artifacts do not.
Where do the ascension materials farm fastest?
Run three tracks in parallel instead of one after another — serial farming roughly doubles the calendar time.
Local specialties, 168: open-world gathering, 48-hour node respawn, 40 to 60 a day on a decent route, four days total. No resin cost, only travel time, so collect them while doing commissions.
Boss materials, 46: 40 resin per kill for 2 to 3 drops, so 16 to 23 kills, or 640 to 920 resin. At 180 a day that is three to five days.
Talent books, 186: domains at 20 resin per run, 2 to 3 books per run, so 60 to 90 runs, or 1,200 to 1,800 resin, six to ten days.
Weekly boss materials, 18: the first three claims each week cost 30 resin, then 60. Three talents at level 10 need three Crowns of Insight, and you can only earn about one crown a week, so this track takes at least three weeks no matter what you do.
Daily ceiling: 180 resin is nine 20-resin domain runs or four 40-resin boss kills. Going faster means spending Fragile Resin, and a patch's worth of events hands out roughly a dozen.
Genshin Impact 7.1 anniversary Primogems: 2,380 and what it buys
The patch hands out 2,380 Primogems plus 10 Intertwined Fates.
Three payouts and one login track
| Source | Amount | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Anniversary mail series | 1,600 Primogems | Four mails, 400 each, September 28 to October 1 |
| 7.1 maintenance compensation | 600 Primogems | 300 downtime plus 300 bug-fix |
| Anniversary web event | 180 Primogems | Until 2026-10-18 23:59 |
| Cumulative login track | 10 Intertwined Fates | Until 2026-10-19 03:59 |
Two deadlines deserve their own warning. The web event closes tonight at 23:59, and the login track closes at 03:59 tomorrow — the track needs seven cumulative login days, so a gap cannot be repaired, and those 10 Fates are worth 1,600 Primogems. This is the single most-dropped piece of the Genshin anniversary rewards.
What you can still bank by November 3
Sixteen days from today: daily commissions at 60 a day is 960 Primogems; one Abyss reset at 600 for a full 9-to-12 clear; plus the 2,380 above, for 3,940 Primogems, or 24 pulls at 160 each. Add the 10 Fates and you are at roughly 34 pulls.
Thirty-four pulls is 56 short of soft pity at 90. In other words, free currency alone will not reach a guarantee this patch — the two select picks are the actual giveaway.
Banking the next guarantee means waiting for 7.2. The 7.2 banner lineup and start date have not been announced; based on the 42-day patch cadence and the official 7.1 end time of 2026-11-04 06:00, the next patch should land around November 4 (community estimate, not official). Which is the argument for not dumping these 16 days of Primogems into the weapon banner.
Genshin Impact 7.1 new elite: how the Ice Coffin fight works
The new Frostpeak elite does not test your damage output. It tests one phase: the Ice Coffin.
The coffin is a timer, not a shield
Per the official patch notes, when its HP drops below a threshold the enemy seals itself inside an Ice Coffin and periodically deals AoE Cryo damage around it .
This is not a "just burst through it" check. The coffin has to be made brittle first. If it survives, the enemy heals a chunk and counters with ice swords; if it breaks, the enemy enters a long weakened window. Those are two different fights.
Break it with the new reaction
The Ice Coffin turns brittle under the patch's new star-reaction effect, and Electro or Anemo attacks break it far more easily . So the team needs at least one reliable Electro or Anemo applier. Mono-Cryo and mono-Pyro teams will struggle here.
One caveat the developers already patched: at 7.1 launch, Pyro and Geo were breaking the coffin at an abnormal rate once the star reaction was applied, and that was corrected in the update-fix notice . Do not plan around Pyro or Geo bursting it now.
Team shapes that work
Two shells. First, an Electro on-fielder with an Anemo swirler, keeping the star reaction up so the coffin stays brittle. Second, an Anemo main DPS leading the team and using swirl to grind the coffin down. Either way, skip double Cryo — the coffin is Cryo itself, so Cryo damage gains nothing.
Genshin Impact 7.1 FAQ
How many characters can I take from Tabletop Troupe?
A: One. The notice states the invite can be used only once during the event, and the choice cannot be changed afterwards.
Does Snowbound Journey need story progress?
A: No. Unlocking wishes is enough. Only Tabletop Troupe requires AR 18 plus Chapter VII Act IV.
Do the free picks come with a signature weapon?
A: No. The invite adds that character's ascension materials, nothing else. Weapons still come from farming or the weapon banner, where five-star pity sits at 80 pulls.
Is it too late to start now?
A: No. Both selects run to 2026-11-03 14:59, which is 16 days out. The login track is the tight one: it closes at 03:59 on October 19.
I already own the character. Can I still pick them?
A: The notice only says you may invite one five-star into your party, and does not state how an owned unit resolves. Read literally, you receive the character, not a constellation item. Check the event panel before confirming.
Action checklist
- Check your Chapter VII progress first — that is the only real gate.
- List the holes at main DPS, healer and shred, then map the six picks onto them.
- Park the standard pick until the limited one is settled.
- Pre-farm 168 local specialties the day the pick lands; four days clears it.
- Claim the 180-Primogem web event before 23:59 tonight and finish the login track before 03:59 tomorrow.
Banner and event scheduling for each patch is tracked in the gghubs.com guide hub.
Game Guides
- Palworld 1.0.5 Breeding Guide: Mutation Odds, Cake Costs, Awakening Order
Applicable version: v1.0.5 (official patch notes, 2026-09-15) · 1.0 release line (Steam release date 2026-07-09)
- Reverse: 1999 4.0 Build Guide: Lilya or Drake First, and What Insight III Costs
Pull order in 4.0 comes down to one question: does your account lack a Star DPS or a Beast DPS? Huntsworn Lilya (Star) and Drake (Beast) are the only two 6-stars this patch, and taking one character from zero to Insight III level 30 costs 258,000 Sharpodonty and 32 affinity materials — roughly 8 to 10 days of natural Activity at 240 a day.
- Love and Deepspace 6.0: 6,000 Diamonds vs the 70-Pull Pity
Love and Deepspace 6.0 hands out a little over 6,000 Diamonds across the four home activities, which is 40 pulls at 150 Diamonds each. A limited banner's 70-pull soft pity costs 10,500 Diamonds, so the 4,500 Diamond gap is about nine weeks of dailies and weeklies. Clear the home every day, buy your seven weekly tickets, and do not pay to close a 30-pull gap.
- Honkai: Star Rail 4.6 Planar Fissure: 7 Days Left, 42 Extractions, Where to Stop
Planar Fissure ends 10/25 03:59. From 10/18 you have 7 days, 1680 Power and 42 runs. Fix the elemental Sphere, then the Energy Rope, and stop at 2 crit lines.
- Wuthering Waves 3.7 Echo Guide: 12 COST Splits, Three Tower Teams
3.7 ships two Electro 5-stars, and both of them want the same echo set. Run 4C+3C+3C+1C+1C for exactly 12 COST, stop rolling at 70% crit rate and 140% crit damage, and hand the best set to the deepest tower zone instead of spreading it.
- Zenless Zone Zero 3.3 Phoenix Build Guide: Dual-Anomaly Teams, Drive Discs and Shiyu Rotations
Phoenix arrives in the first half of 3.3, and taking her from zero to Shiyu-ready costs up to 28,800 Polychrome, 3.105 million Dennies and 300 Senior Investigator Logs. Her job is anomaly application plus team-wide anomaly crits, not on-field main DPS. Pull if your account has no Fire anomaly slot. Skip if your Fire anomaly core already works, and wait for Severian on November 11 if what you actually need is front-loaded damage.
- Arknights Yesterday's Sea: 5 Days, 1,200 Sanity, One Deadline
Applicable version: CN server, live as of 2026-10-18 (Arknights has no version numbering; official announcement dates are the anchor). Naming note: this is CN-server content, so operator names follow the romanized CN form used across our Arknights coverage, and item names are translated where Global has no official wording yet. Yesterday's Sea stages and the Abyssal Cruise banner both shut at 03:59 on October 23, not October 30. From October 18 that leaves five days and roughly 1,200 sanity: clear the YW stages and the Salvage Plan missions for Lugu first, spend tokens on the shop second, and only then think about E2 or pulls.
- Palworld 1.0.5 Tech Unlock Order: Aquatic Construction Kit, Jetragon and the Material Route
Pal Tamer, version 1.0.5 shipped only two fixes, but read alongside the 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 balance passes, the late-game tech order looks nothing like it did at the 1.0 launch. The Aquatic Construction Kit dropped from tech level 66 to 23 and its Ancient Technology Point cost fell from 4 to 1, while the Jetragon-related tech dropped from level 79 to 70. This guide orders the line as unlock, then speed up, then save materials.