Leaks around Genshin Impact Version 7.4 point to a larger-than-usual update built around Liyue’s Lantern Rite, with an early arrival of the ancient region Hyperborea and two new playable characters. None of this is confirmed by HoYoverse, and leaked kits, weapon types, and schedules routinely change before release.
Quick answer: Version 7.4 is reported to run from January 27 to March 9, 2027 and to add a 5-star Pyro bow woman, a 4-star Dendro character from Liyue, the Hyperborea map, and buffs for nine Liyue characters. Treat every detail as unconfirmed.
The two new characters reported for 7.4
Leaks name two newcomers for the patch. The rarities and elements have stayed consistent across reports, while finer details have shifted.
| Character | Rarity | Element | Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed woman | 5-star | Pyro | Bow (earlier: polearm) |
| Unnamed Liyue unit | 4-star | Dendro | Unspecified |
The 5-star is described as an off-field support who lands follow-up attacks and provides team buffs tied to Crit DMG and ATK, scaling with how many Liyue characters are on the team. That framing draws comparisons to Yelan’s playstyle. An earlier post listed her as a polearm user before a newer report switched her weapon to a bow.
The 4-star is first described as a Dendro man from Liyue with a medium male body type. A separate follow-up muddies that, suggesting both 7.4 newcomers could instead be women. The accounts agree on the Dendro element and 4-star rarity but disagree on gender. Community theories tie this unit to Manjushri, a Liyue Chess Sage, and float the idea of an Elemental Mastery support role, though the identity is unconfirmed.
Hyperborea arriving earlier than earlier leaks suggested
Hyperborea is an ancient kingdom in Teyvat’s distant past, often called the Golden City. Its lore ties it to the territory that is Snezhnaya today, a civilization destroyed by Celestial Nails and remembered as the origin of the Fae, a group that includes names such as Linnea, Flins, and Vodyanitsa.
The timing has moved around between leaks. Earlier reports placed Hyperborea in roughly Version 7.6 as part of the Snezhnaya map expansion, while still older rumors floated it much earlier in the 6.x cycle as a standalone Enkanomiya-style zone. The latest claim brings it forward to 7.4, landing it in the same patch as the two new characters and the Liyue buff wave.
That placement is notable because 7.4 would also host Lantern Rite, Liyue’s annual festival. Pairing a major Geo-nation celebration with a brand-new region in one update is what has leakers describing 7.4 as a bigger patch than usual.
Lantern Rite and the Liyue buff wave
The reported 7.4 upgrade list includes nine Liyue characters: Zhongli, Xiao, Hu Tao, followed by Ganyu, Keqing, Yelan, then Yanfei, Chongyun, and Ningguang. Rumors also point to fresh outfits for Xiao and Yanfei, along with standard Lantern Rite rewards such as a free Liyue 4-star, chests, quests, and Primogems.
Earlier leaks around the same window described a Liyue regional bond that counts all Liyue characters on a team and needs at least three to activate its enhancements, with additional conditions for the full talent benefits. The new Pyro support fits that pattern on paper, though no explicit link between her kit and that bond has been stated.
How 7.4 connects to Noy in 7.5
Reports put Version 7.5’s start on March 10, 2027, with Noy as its featured character: a male 5-star Dendro unit said to be around 5,000 years old and connected to the Hyperborea era. Leaks describe his role as strengthening Dendro and Electro teammates according to their Elemental Mastery.
That lines up two Dendro men in back-to-back patches: a 4-star in 7.4 and Noy as a 5-star in 7.5, which has fueled speculation that the 4-star is an Elemental Mastery enabler built to support Noy. Placing Hyperborea in 7.4 also puts the region in players’ hands before Noy, a character from its ancient age, debuts the following patch.
There is an open question about whether the two Hyperborea-linked characters are the leaked Pyro and Dendro units, or separate story figures who have not yet been revealed. Leakers have not settled this.
Blackcliff Forge reportedly delayed
Blackcliff Forge, a Liyue-area expansion once rumored for 7.4, is now reported to be pushed back to the very end of Snezhnaya’s arc or to Version 8. Earlier leaks had tied it to the Lantern Rite patch and described it as a stretch of map connecting Liyue to Sumeru’s Port Ormos region, so its removal from 7.4 is part of why Hyperborea now fills that slot instead.
These claims come from pre-release test builds and datamined files. Character identities, weapon types, release windows, and even which region ships when can all change before anything is officially announced. Nothing here has been confirmed by HoYoverse.
