Version 7.1 opens with two brand-new Snezhnaya five-stars and almost nothing in the way of a safety net for players who have not already bought into the Stellar Swirl archetype. Vesna and Vodyanitsa arrive together on September 23, 2026, and both are built around team cores rather than solo carries. That makes the first half of the patch one of the easier windows to sit out — but only for certain accounts.
Quick answer: Pull Vesna only if you already own Odette and the Stellar Swirl support pieces. Pull Vodyanitsa if you run Skirk Freeze. Otherwise skip Phase 1 and bank your wishes.
Version 7.1 Phase 1 banner schedule and featured characters
Both new characters share the same three-week window, so there is no sequencing trick to exploit. Vesna headlines When Warm Winds Cavort and Vodyanitsa headlines Surging Ballad, each running from September 23 to October 13, 2026. Skirk and Escoffier reruns follow in Phase 2 from October 13 to November 3, 2026.
| Banner | Dates | 5-star | 4-stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| When Warm Winds Cavort | Sept 23 – Oct 13, 2026 | Vesna (Anemo, Sword) | Diona, Faruzan, Chongyun |
| Surging Ballad | Sept 23 – Oct 13, 2026 | Vodyanitsa (Hydro, Catalyst) | Diona, Faruzan, Chongyun |
Faruzan showing up as a featured four-star is not a coincidence. She is part of the support shell Vesna wants, which means Phase 1 is effectively selling you a team, not a character.
Vesna: An Anemo main DPS locked to Stellar Swirl teams
Vesna is a five-star Anemo Sword user who stays on the field and deals the reaction damage herself, which is unusual for the element. She leads the Druzhna, the order that serves the Tsaritsa, and she made her first on-screen appearance in the Transcendence Trailer “Sudden Snow.”
Her rotation runs through her Elemental Skill, The Art of Victory, which infuses her attacks with Anemo and summons a Wind Pinion. From there she spams normal attacks, spends stacks, and triggers enhanced skill hits for large area-of-effect Stellar Swirl damage. Part of her identity is vertical movement, so a chunk of her appeal is aerial combat and flight-based exploration rather than raw numbers.
The catch is the reaction requirement. Vesna cannot apply Cryo herself, so her damage only exists when someone else keeps the enemy covered in it. In practice that means a narrow roster of teammates:
- Odette, for reliable Cryo application and team buffs
- Faruzan, for Anemo damage support
- Cryo Traveler, whose Constellation 6 supplies a large team damage bonus
- Vodyanitsa, as the healer and buffer for the same archetype
Assembled properly, she delivers. A low-cost Vesna team with a C6 Cryo Traveler out-damages Sandrone’s team, and with constellations plus her signature weapon she becomes a top-end account carry in endgame modes like Dire Stygian Onslaught. Without Odette, she is mostly an expensive glider.
Vodyanitsa: Hydro support, healer, and resistance shred
As the Korolevskiy Troupe’s Prima Soprano, Vodyanitsa is a five-star Hydro Catalyst user whose scaling comes entirely from maximum HP. Her singing accompanies every cast, allowing one kit to provide off-field Hydro application, healing for the party, and buffs. Rechitatív: Sonorous Dawn and The Last Djeguako Songstress both lower Cryo, Hydro, and Anemo resistance and grant damage bonuses.
That mix makes her the more flexible of the two. She slots into Stellar Swirl teams next to Vesna and Odette, and she also works in Freeze setups built around Skirk and Furina. In Skirk teams she stands up against Escoffier, and because she covers sustain and shred at once, she lets you drop Escoffier’s Burst from the rotation and finish rounds faster while keeping team damage competitive.
Her off-field Hydro application can occasionally interfere with Stellar Swirl reactions, so she is not a frictionless fit in every version of the team she was designed for.
Why the free anniversary five-stars make Vesna easy to skip
Version 7.1 hands out two free five-star selectors, and one of them undercuts Vesna directly. Mizuki is available from the standard-banner pick, and she competes for the exact same Anemo main DPS slot in Stellar Swirl teams. On a budget weapon like The Widsith or Sacrificial Fragments, she comfortably clears Floor 12 of the Spiral Abyss.
| Event | Pick from | Available until |
|---|---|---|
| Tabletop Troupe: A Gathering on Adventure’s Eve | Baizhu, Nilou, Tartaglia, Chiori, Clorinde, Varesa | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Across the Frozen Wilds, Honing One’s Edge | Jean, Diluc, Qiqi, Mona, Keqing, Tighnari, Dehya, Mizuki | Nov 3, 2026 |
The difference is the ceiling, not the floor. Mizuki handles ordinary content for free; Vesna pulls ahead sharply once you add constellations, her signature weapon, and the right supports. If you are a casual player who mainly wants the archetype to function, the free unit does the job and Phase 1 becomes a clean skip.
Phase 1 weapon banner: Epitome Invocation
The weapon banner shares the same September 23 to October 13 window and features both signatures. Beyond the Chrysalis is Vesna’s Sword; Hymn of the Maelstrom is Vodyanitsa’s Catalyst. Three of the four-stars are new to the version.
- Beyond the Chrysalis — 5-star Sword (Vesna)
- Hymn of the Maelstrom — 5-star Catalyst (Vodyanitsa)
- New Bough — 4-star Sword
- Winter’s Heavy Heart — 4-star Catalyst
- Breezeborne Refrain — 4-star Bow
- Favonius Greatsword and Dragon’s Bane — 4-star returning options
Character and weapon pity are tracked separately, so weapon pulls come out of the same Primogem pool but none of the same progress. For low-spending accounts the order stays simple: secure the character first, and treat the signature as optional.
Primogem and pity math for 7.1
A Character Event Wish reaches a five-star result by 90 wishes. With zero pity and no active guarantee, two such results may be required: the first can miss the featured character, but the following result must feature it, making 180 wishes the maximum for one featured five-star.
| Goal | Max wishes | Primogems |
|---|---|---|
| One five-star (any) | 90 | 14,400 |
| One guaranteed featured five-star | 180 | 28,800 |
| Two guaranteed featured five-stars | 360 | 57,600 |
Version 7.1’s anniversary payouts soften that bill. Rainbow’s End: Resplendent Starlight sends 1,600 Primogems plus a Sanctifying Elixir, two Fragile Resin, and two namecard-adjacent gifts by in-game mail from September 28 through the end of the version. The Resplendent Starlight daily login event runs October 1 to October 19 and pays out 10 Intertwined Fate, 80,000 Mora, a Dust of Enlightenment, and 8 Hero’s Wit across seven login days.
Check your current pity count and whether you are on a guarantee before you commit anything. A 50/50 loss at high pity is the difference between a comfortable Phase 1 and an empty account going into Phase 2.
Pull or skip: The decision by account type
| Your account | Call |
|---|---|
| You own Odette, Faruzan, and a C6 Cryo Traveler | Pull Vesna |
| You run Skirk Freeze or plan to in Phase 2 | Pull Vodyanitsa |
| You want a working Anemo Stellar Swirl DPS on a budget | Take Mizuki free, skip Vesna |
| You need a Hydro healer with team-wide shred | Vodyanitsa is the better single pull |
| No Stellar Swirl pieces, no Cryo–Hydro core | Skip both, save |
Between the two, Vodyanitsa is the safer investment. She heals, applies Hydro off-field, and shreds resistance for Cryo, Hydro, and Anemo damage, which means she keeps working in teams that have nothing to do with Stellar Swirl. Vesna is the higher ceiling and the narrower one — an account-defining carry if you already own her supports, and dead weight if you do not.
Phase 2 gives Skirk and Escoffier owners a reason to hold, and anything past November 3 has no confirmed lineup yet, so wishes saved now are not wasted. If neither new character slots into a team you actually play, the correct move in the first half of Version 7.1 is to collect two free five-stars, bank the anniversary Primogems, and let the banners pass.
