Version 7.1 puts two brand-new Snezhnaya five-stars up against two reruns, and the four of them pull in very different directions. Vesna and Vodyanitsa are the Stellar Swirl package. Skirk and Escoffier are the Cryo package you may already own half of. Working out which banner deserves your pity comes down to one question: which of these characters actually finishes a team you can field today?
Quick answer: Pull Vesna if you want a Stellar Swirl main DPS, pull Vodyanitsa at C0 if you own Skirk or any Cryo carry, and skip Escoffier unless Skirk is already on your account. Skirk herself is only worth it if you can afford the supports she needs.
Version 7.1 banner lineup and phases
The patch splits into the usual two phases, with both newcomers front-loaded into the first half and the Cryo reruns arriving in the second.
| Phase | Character | Role | Wish banner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Vesna (new, 5★ Anemo Sword) | On-field Stellar Swirl main DPS | When Warm Winds Cavort |
| Phase 1 | Vodyanitsa (new, 5★ Hydro Catalyst) | Support, healer, RES shred | Surging Ballad |
| Phase 2 | Skirk (rerun, 5★ Cryo Sword) | Cryo main DPS | Void Star’s Advent |
| Phase 2 | Escoffier (rerun, 5★ Cryo Polearm) | Cryo support | La Chanson Cerise |
One new five-star Sword, Beyond the Chrysalis, arrives alongside the character banners. Version 7.1 is expected to open around September 23, 2026 based on the game’s six-week cadence, with the second phase roughly three weeks later — but there is no officially confirmed launch date or Special Program date yet, and rerun leaks have also pointed at Zibai and Linnea rather than the Cryo pair. Treat the phase order as the likeliest arrangement rather than a locked schedule.
Vesna: The highest-ceiling new DPS, with a teammate tax
Vesna is the reason Stellar Swirl stops being a curiosity. She is an Anemo on-field carry rather than the usual off-field Anemo enabler, building a resource while she stays active and unlocking an enhanced Elemental Skill once she hits the threshold. Her Skill also lifts her into the air at roughly Chasca’s height, and she can attack, glide forward and back, and control her altitude while up there. That makes her both a top-tier exploration unit and one of the strongest AoE options in the patch.
The catch is that her damage leans on Snezhnayan support. Her damage output lands in Sandrone’s territory, and she scales further with the Cryo Traveler’s Stellar Jubilee: Illusory Frostmirror passive and with Odette or Vodyanitsa in the team. Her ascension passive rewards stacking Cryo and Anemo teammates with ATK, so a mixed-element party gives up part of her ceiling.
Skip her if: you already run a comparable on-field carry. Mizuki covers a lot of the same ground in practice, and if your account is built around her, Vesna is closer to a sidegrade than an upgrade. C2 is her real comfort breakpoint, instantly maxing her stacks and handing out a large ATK bonus, so it is an expensive character to chase vertically.
Vodyanitsa: The best value pull in Version 7.1
Vodyanitsa is the pull that keeps paying off outside its own archetype. Her Elemental Skill puts her into a mermaid form that shreds Hydro and Cryo RES by 26%, heals on a short interval, grants interruption resistance to the active character, and summons coordinated attacks — all from a 16-second duration on a 16-second cooldown, so uptime is effectively permanent. Her first passive converts Stellar Swirl into Stellar Vortex and strips another 30% Anemo RES when it triggers or detonates, and her second hands out Shenhe-style quill stacks split between the on-field and off-field characters.
Everything that matters is available at C0. Her signature weapon extends the enhanced shred window but is not required, and a four-star or event weapon covers her fine. Her Burst is pure healing with no attached buff, which is worth knowing if you were hoping to slot her in as a buffer you never need to charge. C2 is the strong breakpoint — Hydro and Cryo CRIT DMG for the active character plus Stellar Swirl CRIT DMG — and C6 spreads that to the whole party.
Note: the exact RES shred percentages have moved between beta builds, with earlier figures quoted as 25% Cryo/Hydro and 40% Anemo. The shape of the kit has stayed consistent; the numbers should be treated as provisional until the patch is live.
Skirk: Enormous damage, enormous bill
Skirk still puts up some of the highest frontloaded damage in the game, and her playstyle has not been powercrept out of relevance. The problem is that her best teams are a shopping list of other limited five-stars — Escoffier, Vodyanitsa, and Furina all sit in her optimal lineups. A Skirk who lands on an account with none of those supports will underperform badly relative to her reputation.
For most casual accounts, one support is enough to make her work. Pairing her with either Vodyanitsa or Escoffier gets her into comfortable clear territory without committing to the full premium build.
Escoffier: A conditional pull for Skirk owners only
Escoffier is the clearest skip of the four. Her Cryo support kit is narrow enough that it barely improves teams outside the Skirk archetype, and she brings little to anything else you might be running. If Skirk is your main carry and you do not have Vodyanitsa, Escoffier is a legitimate target. In every other case, save the wishes.
Pull priority by account type
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| You invested in Stellar Swirl pieces in 7.0 | Vesna first. She is the payoff the reaction was missing. |
| You already own Mizuki or another strong on-field carry | Skip Vesna, put the pity into Vodyanitsa. |
| You own Skirk with weak supports | Vodyanitsa is the better of the two support options and helps more teams. |
| You own neither Skirk nor her supports | Pull Skirk plus one support, or skip the phase entirely. |
| You own Skirk and Vodyanitsa | Escoffier adds little. Skip. |
| You are saving for a later banner | Nothing here is mandatory. Protect your pity. |
Wish budget: What a guarantee actually costs
A Character Event Wish guarantees a five-star within 90 wishes, and losing the 50/50 makes the next five-star the featured character. Budget from zero pity accordingly.
| Goal | Wishes | Primogems |
|---|---|---|
| One five-star (hard pity) | 90 | 14,400 |
| One guaranteed limited five-star | 180 | 28,800 |
| Two guaranteed limited five-stars | 360 | 57,600 |
Character and weapon wish counters are separate, so spending on Beyond the Chrysalis before you have secured your character target is how 7.1 plans fall apart. The patch also covers the game’s sixth anniversary on September 28, which should add a meaningful chunk of free pulls to whatever you have banked.
The short version: is that Version 7.1 asks you to pick a lane instead of chasing everything. Vesna is a strong carry with an expensive teammate requirement, Vodyanitsa is the flexible support that improves Stellar Swirl, Cryo, and Freeze teams alike, and the Phase 2 reruns only make sense if they complete something you already have. Kit numbers and the banner order can still shift before launch, so hold the final call until the Special Program locks in the lineup.
