When Should You Start Grinding for Artifacts in Genshin Impact?
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The question of when to start seriously farming Artifacts in Genshin Impact is a common one, and for good reason. Artifacts are crucial for boosting your characters’ stats and overall damage output, but the game’s system also makes it inefficient to dive into artifact farming too early. The short, comprehensive answer is this: you should begin serious artifact grinding once you reach Adventure Rank (AR) 45. This is when you unlock the highest-level artifact domains that guarantee at least one 5-star artifact per run. However, the journey to get there involves a lot of nuances, so let’s dive deeper into the whys and hows of artifact farming.
The Importance of Adventure Rank
Understanding the Progression System
Genshin Impact’s progression is closely tied to your Adventure Rank. As you increase your AR, you unlock new areas, quests, domains, and, crucially, higher levels of rewards. This means that the type and quality of items you obtain, including artifacts, improve significantly as you advance. Before AR45, the drop rate for 5-star artifacts is extremely low, making dedicated artifact farming an inefficient use of your resources, particularly the precious Resin.
Why AR 45 is the Turning Point
At AR 45, you gain access to the highest level of artifact domains which guarantee at least one 5-star artifact, with a small chance of getting a second one, from a single domain run. Before this point, you can get 5-star artifacts, but the odds are significantly lower. Investing your Resin in domains before this point is simply not as rewarding. This efficiency is key, since Resin is limited and needed for various game activities such as defeating bosses, Ley Line Outcrops, and artifact domains.
What To Do Before AR 45
Prioritize Character Development
Instead of focusing on artifact farming before AR 45, your time and resources should be directed towards other forms of character progression. This includes:
- Leveling your main damage dealer (Carry) to levels 70-80. This helps you comfortably complete quests and challenges.
- Leveling a good support character to levels 70-80. A strong support character is vital for team composition and character synergy.
- Leveling your chosen characters’ weapons as much as possible. Weapon stats can greatly increase your damage output.
- Leveling up relevant talents to level 6. Talents play a crucial role in character performance. Prioritize skills that enhance damage.
- Building a few basic 4-star artifact sets. While it’s not optimal to grind for these, having decent 4-star sets can significantly improve your characters’ performance before you unlock the 5-star artifact farm. They can be obtained in chests and quests.
- Focus on stats, such as Crit Rate, Crit DMG, ATK %, and elemental DMG bonus. It’s also essential to understand what stats work best for your main characters.
Conserve Your Resources
Before AR 45, it’s also important to be mindful of resources:
- Conserve your Fragile Resin. These are valuable and should be used only when you can access AR 45 domain rewards.
- Avoid spending Primogems on the Standard Banner. Focus on Event Wish banners for characters or weapons.
- Gather every resource you find. This will be beneficial once you reach the artifact grinding stage.
Building a Foundation for Later Game
By focusing on these areas before AR 45, you are building a solid foundation. This ensures that when you do start farming artifacts, you’ll be able to make the most out of them, and your characters can take advantage of them efficiently.
When to Farm 4-Star Artifacts?
While it’s generally advised to wait for 5-star artifacts, you may want to consider farming 4-star sets a little bit. As the game slows down around AR 30, acquiring a basic set can be beneficial. If you are struggling with domains or need to fill some gaps in your team, farming a small amount of 4-star artifacts may be useful. Just don’t overdo it or spend precious resin on it. Prioritize the other aforementioned progression methods.
What Happens After AR 45?
After reaching AR 45, the focus shifts significantly to artifact grinding. You have access to the highest-level domains, where every run guarantees a 5-star artifact, and Condensed Resin will give you two artifacts at the cost of 40 resin. At this point, you’ll want to prioritize:
- Farming for the appropriate artifact sets based on your characters’ needs, focusing on sets and mainstats first, and then sub-stats.
- Leveling up your desired 5-star artifacts.
- Continuously farming for better artifacts and optimizing your builds.
How to Effectively Farm Artifacts
Artifact farming is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important to be consistent and tactical. When farming for artifacts, it’s important to:
- Understand which artifact domains are needed for the sets you want.
- Prioritize farming artifacts with ideal main stats for your characters.
- Be patient, as getting perfect artifacts with the ideal sub-stats can take time.
- Use Condensed Resin whenever possible to get double rewards from domains.
- Transfer leveled 4-star artifacts into 5-star ones, losing just 20% of the XP. This allows you to use your previously built artifacts.
The Bottom Line
In summary, wait until you reach Adventure Rank 45 before seriously grinding for artifacts. Before that, focus on leveling your characters, weapons, and talents. This ensures you will be well-prepared to efficiently use your resources and maximize your rewards when you reach the point where artifact farming is most worthwhile.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can I get 5-star artifacts before AR 40?
Yes, you can obtain 5-star artifacts before AR 40, but the chances are extremely slim. They can rarely drop from Weekly World Bosses such as Stormterror and Boreas starting around AR 30. However, relying on this is highly inefficient compared to grinding at AR 45.
2. Is it worth it to farm artifacts at AR 40?
While you can obtain 5-star artifacts at AR 40, the drop rate is low and not guaranteed. It’s more efficient to save your resin and wait until AR 45 where you are guaranteed a 5-star artifact per run. You can do this if you don’t have much to spend resin on.
3. Is AR 45 guaranteed 5-star?
Yes, at AR 45 you unlock Level III of artifact domains, which guarantees at least one 5-star artifact per run. This is why it’s considered the optimal time to start farming.
4. What should I do before AR 45?
Before AR 45, focus on: leveling up your characters, weapons, and talents, gathering resources, and building a few basic 4-star artifact sets.
5. How long does it take to reach AR 30?
With strategic gameplay and focusing on main story quests, you can reach AR 30 in less than 3 days. Keep in mind to take breaks so as not to burn out.
6. Why is my AR rank stuck at 25?
You need to complete a specific Ascension Quest to increase your adventure rank cap. This happens every 5 adventure levels.
7. Should I stay at AR 45 in Genshin?
Some players choose to stay at AR 45 to farm more efficiently with 100% 5-star artifact drops before making the jump to higher World Levels. However, if you are looking for a greater challenge, you can level up your Adventure Rank without being held back by the need for more artifacts.
8. Do 5-star weapons ruin my pity?
Yes, obtaining a 5-star weapon on a banner will reset your pity count, just like obtaining a 5-star character, but this does not mean you’ve reached the guaranteed promotional character.
9. Why is artifact farming so hard?
Artifact farming is hard because it’s heavily RNG-based. You need to get the correct set, main stat, and sub-stats, making it a time-consuming process.
10. Why do I never get 5-star artifacts?
You might be farming lower-level domains that don’t guarantee 5-star drops. Make sure you are farming the highest-level domain, at the maximum difficulty possible, if available.
11. Are 4-star artifacts good?
Yes, 4-star artifacts are good early on and can be leveled up. You can then use them as fodder for leveling up your 5-star artifacts once you start farming, losing only 20% of the invested resources.
12. What is the hardest artifact set to farm?
The Wanderer’s Troupe set is generally considered one of the more difficult to obtain since it drops mainly from weekly bosses.
13. What level should my characters be at AR 45?
Ideally, your main DPS should be around level 80, and support characters around level 60/70.
14. Should I farm artifacts or talents first?
It’s generally recommended to prioritize talents and character weapons over artifacts initially. Artifacts have more RNG, while talents give a noticeable progression as they are upgraded.
15. Are 5-star artifacts guaranteed at AR 50?
No, 5-star artifacts aren’t guaranteed at AR 50 from artifact domains. However, you have a greater chance of obtaining 5-star artifacts from World Bosses. Domains at the highest level are the best way to ensure the acquisition of good artifacts.