From the developer's livestream, both halves are known. The banners will feature the Hydro Archon, Furina, who is the highlight of this patch, and it will also allow you to spend on Baizhu in the first half and Cyno and Ayato in the second half. How can you determine the actual need for a specific character in your lineup among all this diversity?

In our article, we weighed the pros and cons of each mentioned character, comparing them against the competition. This may help you make the right choice for your account's economy.

Who to Pull for in the 4.2 Update Banners in Genshin Impact

Let's make a decision by summarizing the abilities and applications of each character.

Furina

She has gained more viewer sympathy for a reason: she's a promising sub-DPS with truly promising buffs. She belongs to the element with the strongest elemental reactions and is also a neutral unit (unlike the popular candidate for comparison, Bennett, whose Pyro can accidentally mess up the jewelry work of some parties). She is not area-dependent, and her abilities are mobile. There's almost no need to memorize the timing for the entire Spiral Abyss floor. She's undemanding in terms of artifacts and weapons, so the main concern is health and energy recharge over 200%. 

Naturally, there are downsides as well. For example, Furina does not gain stacks from overheal, practically forcing her to take a certain uncontrollable amount of damage to reduce the overall health of the party members (not everyone does this artificially, like Wriothesley). Or there's the absolute impossibility of giving up a healer in the party.

Baizhu

A Dendro healer with unclear prospects for shielding (it's worth noting that shields will rarely be on you due to their absence of adequate density) - one of the best supports of its element, no matter how many negative qualities you could find. There's inconsistency in applying Dendro (loses to the Traveler), and not the best damage. But the presence of just a healing ability more than compensates for patience and all the investments in a well-chosen team, in which he thrives due to his versatility.

Cyno

A selfish Electro damage dealer: sometimes fast enough that at the end of his "stance" - the main period of damage dealing - he leaves behind the skills of other team members characterized by longer durations. Sometimes this feature of the swordsman is useful, and sometimes it's not. The great advantage of being able to damage the opponent at any time without being tied to a conservative rotation (for example, on bosses in their intermediate state: they are not weakened yet but have come so close that you don't want to miss precious seconds of the timer) pales in comparison to the fact that you can simply not have time to deal the required amount of damage for the full rotation. But the character can be useful almost anywhere and almost anytime: the choice of enemies and supports is very diverse. 

Building a character is not too difficult either because some free weapons feel great not only as a substitute for something better in the distant future.

If you're unsure but want to make a calculated decision, refer to the descriptions mentioned above. They accurately and unpretentiously indicate the strengths and weaknesses of each character, aligning with the impressions of the players.