For most of Genshin's life, the standard advice on the weapon banner was one word: don't. The old system could make you eat up to three 5-star weapons and 240 wishes before it handed you the one you wanted, and that math scared off all but the most committed players. That advice is now out of date. The Version 5.0 rework cut the guarantee in half, and the weapon banner went from "trap" to "reasonable, if you know the rules."
So let us actually learn the rules, because the difference between using this banner well and using it badly is a very expensive misclick.
The banner in plain terms
The weapon banner, officially the Epitome Invocation, runs alongside the character banner on its own separate pity counter. Each version phase, lasting roughly three weeks, it features two rate-up 5-star weapons and five rate-up 4-star weapons. Your character-banner luck and history have nothing to do with it; this counter tracks by itself.
The base numbers:
- 5-star rate: 0.7 percent per pull, slightly better than the character banner's 0.6 percent.
- Soft pity: your odds start climbing sharply around wish 63 to 65.
- Hard pity: a 5-star is guaranteed by wish 80 (the character banner is 90).
- When you do hit a 5-star, there is a 75 percent chance it is one of the two featured weapons and a 25 percent chance it is an off-banner standard weapon.
That last line is the problem the Epitomized Path solves.
Epitomized Path and Fate Points, the part that matters
Left to pure chance, even a featured 5-star might be the other weapon, not the one you came for. The Epitomized Path is the pity-within-a-pity that fixes this.
Before you pull, you chart a course: you pick which of the two featured 5-star weapons you actually want. From then on:
- Every 5-star you pull that is not your chosen weapon awards you 1 Fate Point.
- At 1 Fate Point, your next 5-star is guaranteed to be your chosen weapon.
That is the whole system now. Worst case, you pull one "wrong" 5-star, bank a Fate Point, and your next 5-star must be the right one. Two 5-stars, maximum, to guarantee the weapon you selected.
Before Version 5.0 this required 2 Fate Points, meaning up to three 5-stars. Halving it to one is the change that makes the banner sane.
The actual cost
Run the math on that ceiling and you get the number worth memorizing: 160 pulls, or about 25,600 Primogems, is the absolute worst case to guarantee your chosen weapon. That is the floor of your luck, not the expectation. In practice most players land their weapon well under that, often on the first or second 5-star with a bit of soft-pity fortune.
For context on where those Primogems come from and how fast you rebuild them, the Primogem and wish economy guide breaks down your realistic monthly income. Knowing your pull budget is half of deciding whether to touch this banner at all.
The one mistake that resets everything
Here is the gotcha that has burned countless players, so read it twice:
Switching or canceling your charted course immediately resets your Fate Points to zero.
If you chart weapon A, pull an off-banner 5-star (now sitting at 1 Fate Point, one pull from guaranteeing A), then change your mind and re-chart to weapon B, that Fate Point is gone. You have thrown away your safety net. Decide which weapon you want before you spend a single wish, and do not touch the selection again until you have it.
One piece of good news alongside it: your pity carries over between weapon banners, so accumulated wishes are never wasted if you stop. Only the Fate Points fail to carry, and only if you either don't pull a 5-star at all or switch your selection.
Should you actually pull?
The mechanics are only half the decision. The other half is honesty about what a signature weapon does for you. Some quick heuristics:
Lean yes if:
- The weapon is a genuine best-in-slot with a large gap over free alternatives, and you plan to main that character for a long time.
- You are a low-spend or free-to-play player who has the character built and simply wants to finish them, and your Primogem stockpile can absorb the worst case without starving your next character pull.
Lean no if:
- A craftable, battle-pass, or event 4-star covers 80 to 90 percent of the character's performance. For a large share of the roster, it does. Check the best characters guide and team-building guide before assuming you need the signature.
- Pulling the weapon would cost you the next character you actually want. Characters almost always matter more than their weapons for account growth.
The blunt version: characters first, weapons only when you have the budget and the weapon is a real upgrade over what you can get for free. The weapon banner is no longer a trap, but it is still the second priority, not the first.
The short version
Chart your course before you pull. One Fate Point guarantees your chosen weapon. Budget for the 160-pull worst case, expect to spend far less, and never, ever switch your selection mid-banner. Do that, and the weapon banner is just another tool. For everything else about stretching your account, the artifact guide and resin efficiency guide will do more for your damage than most weapon pulls ever will, and the full Genshin review puts the whole 2026 package in perspective.
