Genshin Impact Update 4.1: New Story, Characters, Gear, the Third Anniversary, and More

The Genshin Impact 4.1 update launches on September 26, and with it comes a massive amount of new content, including new story, in-game events, locations, limited character banners, the Third Anniversary event, and more. Officially detailed during the Version 4.1 Special Program, we got a peek inside what HoYoverse has been cooking up for the next part of Genshin’s fourth chapter in Fontaine.

New Archon Quest Chapter

Genshin Impact Version 4.1 continues the Fontaine Archon quest, and players will be sent on a clandestine mission into Fontaine’s largest prison, the Fortress of Meropide. There on a false conviction to hide their true purpose, their mission is to check up on Harbinger Tartaglia (Childe), recently imprisoned there. Arlecchino, the Fatui Harbinger native to Fontaine, makes her official appearance to navigate a tense diplomatic situation. Knowing the Fatui, however, there’s much more to it.

Near the end of the trailer for 4.1, it becomes clear that that Focalors, the Hydro Archon and holder of the Hydro Gnosis, is, of course, in the Fatui’s sights, and she begs for her life against some unknown antagonizer (likely Arlecchino). New characters Wriothesley and Neuvillette also play an important role in the story, as chief warden and Chief Justice of Meropide and Fontaine, respectively. Both characters will also receive limited character banners and Story Quests, as well.

New Locations, Bosses, and Events

With the 4.1 update, the Fontaine will get much bigger, with the new region boasting massive, floating cubes of water called the “Allogravity-Condensed Water Bodies,” which will be fully explorable. The area around the cubes is also expansive, containing new mysteries and sights, plus a new boss called Experimental Field Generator. Two new enemy types also make their appearance, Fatui Frost and Wind Operatives, who operate under Arlecchino, and are “particularly formidable,” according to developers.

Additionally, the Fortress of Meropide is fully explorable, as are the underwater environments in and around the factory at its base, themselves twisted by a strange substance called Arkhium. There, a second new world boss awaits, the Millennial Pearl Seahorse, an Electro-element enemy with powerful AoE attacks.

There will also be five events during 4.1:

• Waterborne Poetry: The event has three activities.
  • Hundred-Pace Hurling Rites is a darts game where you try to hit moving pots for points.
  • In Inspiration Eruption, you collect Inspiring Crystals from defeated enemies that rupture after a time, helping you take down the boss-level Mythic Nexus enemy.
  • Lastly, Mending Painting Prospects sees you taking pictures of locations around the game to create collages using particular parts of the images in the frame.
• Dodoco’s Bomb-Tastic Adventure: A board game like Bomberman where you need to use Jumpy Dumpties (the bombs) to destroy the Spikey Fish (the destructible blocks)
• Radiant Harvest: Here, you’re collecting Violetglow Jellyfish from the waters of Fontaine (and that’s about it).
• The Peaks and Troughs of Life: A combat challenge event where you build up water pressure to more easily defeat enemies. Another mechanic, called Load, has you assigning teams that build the meter so you can add Buff Modules to make the combat challenges easier.
• Overflowing Mastery: A double weapon-ascension material drop event for specific Domains.

Throughout 4.1, there is also the “Bathing in Flowing Moonlight” check-in event, which sees you logging into Genshin daily for up to 10 Intertwined Fates (limited banner currency), as well as 1,600 Primogems, some other character upgrade currencies, and more through in-game mail.

Finally, there is a new set of weaponry:

• The Tome of the Eternal Flow and Cashflow Supervision Catalysts
• The Dockhand’s Assistant Sword
• The Portable Power Saw Claymore
• The Propspector’s Drill
• The Range Gauge Blow