Genshin Impact 7.1: A Free 5-Star Is On The Table Until November 3, 2026

Genshin Impact Version 7.1, “A Rekviem for the Underworld,” has been live since September 23, 2026 and runs until November 3, 2026. It carries the sixth anniversary, which means the most valuable thing in it is not a banner — it is a free 5-star character, and it has a deadline.

What this changes for you

• Finish the Archon Quest and pick a free 5-star. HoYoverse says that for the first time, players who complete the latest Archon Quest can choose one event-exclusive 5-star character at any point during Version 7.1. The window closes with the version on November 3, 2026. If you log in once this month, do that.
• The story is permanent, the reward is not. Both new Archon Quests — “White Night, Like a Dream Upon Waking” and “A Rekviem for the Underworld” — stay in the game after 7.1. The selector does not. That ordering decides your priority.
• Endgame reset twice. The Imaginarium Theater season opened October 1, 2026 and asks for Hydro, Cryo and Anemo. A new Spiral Abyss season came online October 16, 2026. Both are repeatable Primogem income for an account that has not touched them in months.

The patch, in short

Vesna, Commander of the Druzhna, is an Anemo sword user built around the Stellar Swirl reaction; Vodyanitsa, Prima Donna of the Korolevskiy Troupe, is a Hydro catalyst leaning on healing and off-field damage. Both exist to push Stellar Swirl, which is the mechanical throughline of the Snezhnaya arc rather than a one-version gimmick.

Beyond the roster: a new boss, Guardian Blade of Drifting Snow; two new Edge of Survival stages, Fiery Feather Pursuit and Ice-Imprisoned Citadel; new Genius Invokation TCG cards; and the usual sweep of fixes to quests, enemy mechanics and UI. The Moonchase Festival returns to Liyue with an autumn lobby refresh — the sentimental half of an anniversary patch.

The story positions a confrontation between Dainsleif and Ronova, the Ruler of Death. If you have been following the Snezhnaya arc, this is the version where it stops circling.

Events and dates

Confirmed absolute dates: Imaginarium Theater from October 1, 2026; Spiral Abyss from October 16, 2026; the 5-star selector available through November 3, 2026. The Moonchase Festival window and the exact selector lineup are flagged for verification — the character names circulating are from third-party coverage, and a wrong name on a free-character article is the kind of error readers remember.

Should you come back?

Yes, and specifically before November 3, 2026. An anniversary version that hands a lapsed account a free limited 5-star for finishing a quest is the cheapest re-entry Genshin has ever offered. You do not need to pull on Vesna or Vodyanitsa to walk away ahead.

For active players the calculus is duller: two Stellar Swirl units in an arc already built around Stellar Swirl, and two endgame resets you were going to clear anyway. Collect the anniversary, judge the banners on their own merits.