Does Your Pity Reset After Losing the 50/50? A Comprehensive Guide
The short answer is no, losing the 50/50 in gacha games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail does not reset your pity. The pity system, designed to guarantee a high-rarity character or weapon after a certain number of pulls, operates independently of the 50/50 mechanic. Losing the 50/50 means you didn’t get the featured character on that particular pull, but your pity count towards a guaranteed 5-star pull remains intact and continues to accumulate. Let’s delve deeper into how this works.
Understanding the Pity System
The pity system is a core mechanic in many gacha games, including the massively popular Genshin Impact and the rising star Honkai: Star Rail. It’s designed to prevent players from endlessly spending resources without receiving any high-rarity rewards. Here’s a breakdown:
- Hard Pity: This is the guaranteed number of wishes after which you’re certain to receive a 5-star item. In Genshin Impact, hard pity on character banners is typically at 90 wishes. In Honkai: Star Rail, it’s also around 90 wishes for character event banners.
- Soft Pity: Before reaching hard pity, there’s often a “soft pity” range where your chances of pulling a 5-star gradually increase with each wish. This typically starts around 75 wishes in Genshin Impact and a similar range in Honkai: Star Rail.
- Pity Counter: This is the invisible counter that tracks the number of wishes you’ve made since your last 5-star pull on a specific banner. This counter carries over between banners of the same type.
The 50/50 Mechanic Explained
The 50/50 refers to the odds of pulling the featured, event-limited character (or weapon) when you do finally pull a 5-star.
- Winning the 50/50: If you pull a 5-star character and it’s the featured character on the banner, congratulations! You’ve won the 50/50.
- Losing the 50/50: If you pull a 5-star, but it’s a standard character (Diluc, Jean, Qiqi, Mona, Keqing in Genshin Impact, or characters like Gepard, Bronya, Welt, Clara, Himeko, Yangqing in Honkai: Star Rail), you’ve lost the 50/50. This doesn’t reset your pity, but it does guarantee that the next 5-star character you pull on that banner will be the featured one.
How Pity and the 50/50 Interact
It’s crucial to understand that the pity system and the 50/50 are separate but related. Your pity counter increases with each wish, regardless of whether you win or lose the 50/50. Once you hit your pity (soft or hard) and pull a 5-star, that’s when the 50/50 comes into play.
- Example: You’re wishing on a character banner. You reach 80 pulls without a 5-star. You’re now in soft pity. At 85 pulls, you finally get a 5-star. However, it’s Mona (a standard character). You’ve lost the 50/50, but your pity has reset. The next 5-star you pull on that same character banner is guaranteed to be the featured character. Your pity counter starts again from zero.
Pity Carryover Between Banners
A critical element of the pity system is pity carryover. This means that your pity count persists from one banner to the next of the same type.
- Character Event Warp Banners (Honkai: Star Rail) and Character Event Wish Banners (Genshin Impact): Pity accumulated on one character banner carries over to the next character banner.
- Weapon Event Warp Banners (Honkai: Star Rail) and Epitome Invocation (Genshin Impact): Pity accumulated on a weapon banner carries over to the next weapon banner.
- Standard Banners: Pity on the standard banner operates independently and also carries over.
- Important: Pity does not carry over between different banner types. Your pity on a character banner won’t affect your pity on a weapon banner, or the standard banner, and vice versa.
Knowing this, you can strategically plan your pulls. If you’re close to pity on a banner but don’t want the current featured character, you can wait for a banner with a character you do want, and your pity will still be there. You can find more resources to help you plan strategically at GamesLearningSociety.org.
Why This Matters
Understanding the pity system and the 50/50 mechanic is crucial for efficient resource management in gacha games. It allows you to:
- Plan your spending: Knowing the pity system helps you estimate how many wishes you need to guarantee a character.
- Avoid unnecessary spending: By tracking your pity, you can avoid pulling on banners you don’t want, especially if you’re close to pity on another banner.
- Maximize your chances: Understanding pity carryover allows you to strategically time your pulls for banners with characters you really want.
FAQs: Pity and the 50/50
Here are some frequently asked questions about the pity system and the 50/50 mechanic:
1. Does Getting a 5-Star Weapon on the Standard Banner Reset Pity?
Yes, pulling a 5-star weapon on the standard banner resets your pity on the standard banner. This pity is tracked separately from the character or weapon event banners.
2. Does Soft Pity Reset Pity?
Yes, whether you hit soft pity or hard pity, any 5-star pull resets the pity counter to zero.
3. What Happens If I Get a 5-Star Before Pity? Does It Reset?
Yes! If you’re incredibly lucky and pull a 5-star before reaching the typical soft or hard pity, your pity counter resets immediately to zero.
4. How Long Does It Take for Pity to Reset?
Your pity counter resets immediately after you pull a 5-star character or weapon on a specific banner type.
5. Does Pity Carry Over After 6 Months?
Pity never expires. It remains until you pull a 5-star on that specific banner type, regardless of how much time passes.
6. Why Didn’t I Get a 5-Star at 90 Wishes?
Ensure all 90 wishes were on the same banner. Pity counters are separate for character event banners, weapon event banners, and standard banners. If you spread your 90 wishes across different banner types, you won’t reach pity on any of them.
7. Does Losing the 50/50 Reset Pity in Honkai: Star Rail?
As in Genshin Impact, losing the 50/50 in Honkai: Star Rail does not reset your pity. It only guarantees that your next 5-star pull on that banner will be the featured character.
8. What Happens If I Lose the 50/50 on the Weapon Banner?
Losing the 50/50 on the weapon banner means you’ll get a 5-star weapon from the standard weapon pool. It does not reset your pity; it only guarantees the next 5-star weapon you pull on that specific weapon banner will be one of the featured weapons.
9. Can You Get a 5-Star If You Lost the 50/50?
Yes, absolutely. Losing the 50/50 just means your next 5-star character on that banner is guaranteed to be the featured character. You can still get 5-star characters even after losing the 50/50.
10. How Does the 50/50 Pity Work?
The “50/50 pity” is a bit of a misnomer. Pity and the 50/50 are two separate systems. Pity guarantees a 5-star after a certain number of pulls, while the 50/50 determines whether that 5-star is the featured character.
11. How Many Primogems/Stellar Jade Do I Need for Pity?
In Genshin Impact, approximately 14,400 Primogems are needed to guarantee a 5-star through hard pity (90 wishes, with each wish costing 160 Primogems). Honkai Star Rail is similar, each pull costing 160 Stellar Jade.
12. If I Get a 5-Star Early, Does That Ruin My Pity?
No, it doesn’t “ruin” your pity. It simply means you got lucky! Your pity counter resets to zero, and you start building pity again towards the next 5-star.
13. Is It Better to Wish in Batches or One at a Time?
The pity system is based purely on the number of wishes, not how you make them. Wishing in batches or one at a time has no impact on your chances. Choose whichever method you prefer.
14. What Happens If a Banner Ends Before I Reach Pity?
Your pity count carries over to the next banner of the same type. You won’t lose your progress.
15. How Can I Track My Pity?
Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail doesn’t offer a visual pity counter. However, you can manually track your wish history or use online tools and websites to calculate your pity based on your wish history. Many third-party websites provide this functionality, allowing you to import your wish history and track your progress towards pity on each banner.
By understanding the intricate dance of the pity system and the 50/50 mechanic, you can make informed decisions, manage your resources wisely, and increase your chances of obtaining your desired characters and weapons in these popular gacha games. Now get out there and wish with confidence!