Following its 3 most content-intensive patches since release and a multitude of controversies related to its anniversary events and rewards, Genshin Impact developers miHoYo seem intent on keeping a low profile for its 2.2 patch, “Into the Perilous Labyrinth of Fog”, set to go live on the 13th of October.
Tsurumi Island is the major piece of upcoming content, finally completing the island nation of Inazuma that was released piecemeal starting in July with the 2.0 version of the game. With it are supposed to come the new Rifthound enemies, meant to be the first enemy type able to bypass shields and address some balancing concerns players have had with the end game content.
For PC and mobile-only players, this update will also allow them to receive the free 5-star crossover character Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn, which PlayStation players had received at the beginning of the previous update.
Barring a small new dungeon by the name of Moshiri Kara, minor bugfixes, and quality of life improvement, the only other permanent additions to the game are two new hangout events with the new Inazuma characters of Thoma and Sayu. These are usually charming and short, hour-long day-in-the life segments with the featured character, in which you have the ability to go through several story paths and endings for very modest rewards.
On the gacha side of things, this period is set to consist entirely of rerun 5-stars in the form of Tartaglia and Hu Tao. The former of which is on his 3rd run in less than a year, and finally being released alongside a bespoke 5-star weapon. While fans have theorised that this third occurrence is meant to align with his death or his addition to the game’s permanent banner in light of his low sales, no comments have been made on the matter. Tartaglia does not have a new story quest in 2.2, but he seems set to play a prominent role on the eponymous limited time event.
Hu Tao is also not set to release alongside a new chapter in her story quest, and whether or not she will be accompanied by the infamously overpowered Staff of Homa on the corresponding weapon banner remains to be seen. She will, however, come with the first playable appearance of Inazuma’s own Thoma, as a rate-up 4* on her limited banner.
Many fans seem to be regarding 2.2 as an opportunity to take a break from the game given the lower amount of new activities, or simply to save resources for upcoming limited banners. Personally, I have been under the weather lately, so the slower content is a great opportunity for me to catch up with all that I’ve missed. Plus, as a big fan of the featured characters in this patch’s banner, I will be spending some resources trying to level them further, since I didn’t feel compelled to roll for most of the new Inazuma characters.
And finally, I’m really looking forward to my favourite character in the game, Xinyan, finally getting some attention as one of the poster characters for the new patch. She has gained a reputation as the most neglected character in the game, relegated to being a gacha-only character. She had not been featured in any story cutscenes up until a brief conversation in the recent anniversary event, so I’m most certainly excited to see more of her.
