If you’ve ever spent hundreds of Astrite pulling on a Wuthering Waves banner only to walk away without the 5-star character you wanted, you know how frustrating the gacha system can feel. Most players skip learning the ins and outs of the pity system, which leads to wasted pulls and missed limited-edition drops. We’re breaking down exactly how to calculate pity in Wuthering Waves so you can plan your pulls strategically and stop leaving your favorite characters up to pure luck. I’ve spent over 8 months playing every banner launch, testing pull patterns, and tracking my own pity counts to put together this guide that works for both new and veteran players.
How to Calculate Pity in Wuthering Waves for Character Banners
When you’re learning how to calculate pity in Wuthering Waves, the first thing you need to memorize is the different pity thresholds for each banner type. For all limited and permanent character banners, hard pity for 5-star characters is set at 80 pulls. That means if you do 80 consecutive pulls without getting any 5-star drop, your 80th pull is guaranteed to be a 5-star unit. Soft pity kicks in at 60 pulls without a 5-star, and your drop rate for a 5-star climbs steadily from the base 0.6% up to 100% at pull 80. Most players get their 5-star characters between 65 and 75 pulls, well before hitting hard pity. To calculate your remaining pity for a character banner, simply count the number of pulls you’ve completed on that banner since your last 5-star drop, then subtract that number from 80. If you’re between 60 and 79 pulls, you’re in soft pity range, so you have a much higher chance of getting your 5-star before hitting the 80 pull mark. I once got Jiyan at 62 pulls during his first banner, right as soft pity started, which saved me almost 20 pulls I could use for the next limited banner.
Differences in Pity Calculation for Weapon and Permanent Banners
The pity system works slightly different for weapon banners, so you don’t want to use character banner rules when calculating your pulls here. For all weapon banners, hard pity for 5-star weapons is set at 70 pulls, and soft pity starts at 50 pulls, 10 pulls earlier than character banners. 4-star pity works the same across all banner types, with 4-star drops guaranteed every 10 pulls, even if you get a 5-star in between. One of the most important rules to remember is that pity does not carry over between different limited banner types. If you do 30 pulls on a limited character banner, that count won’t apply to the concurrent limited weapon banner, and it will only be saved for that specific character banner’s next rerun. The permanent standard banner uses the same 80 pull hard pity rule as limited character banners, and its pity count is separate from all limited banners too. Weapon banners also have a fate point system: every time you get a 5-star weapon that’s not the featured rate-up weapon, you earn one fate point, and two fate points guarantee your next 5-star weapon is the featured one.
Common Pity Calculation Mistakes to Avoid
Even if you understand the base pity rules, it’s easy to make small mistakes that throw off your count and leave you short of pulls when you need them most. From my own experience and talking to dozens of players in community groups, these are the most frequent errors people make:
- Forgetting that pity resets immediately after you get any 5-star drop, even if it’s not the rate-up character you wanted. If you lose a 50/50 at 72 pulls, your pity count goes back to 0 right away, not after you get the rate-up unit.
- Mixing up pull counts across different limited banners. If you pull 40 times on Jiyan’s banner, that count doesn’t apply to the next new character banner that drops two weeks later, only to Jiyan’s rerun whenever it happens.
- Ignoring free single pulls from daily login rewards and event shops. Every single pull counts towards your pity, even if you didn’t buy it with paid or free Astrite, so add those to your count when you’re calculating remaining pulls.
- Assuming soft pity works the same for all banner types. Weapon banner soft pity starts 10 pulls earlier than character banner soft pity, so adjust your calculations if you’re splitting pulls between both types during a patch.
I made this exact mistake last year when I pulled 20 times on a weapon banner, then assumed those pulls counted towards the concurrent character banner. I ended up 10 pulls short of hard pity for the character I wanted, and had to wait three months for her rerun. Don’t make the same costly error, especially if you only earn enough Astrite for one limited character per patch.
How to Use Pity Calculations to Plan Your Patch Pulls
Once you know how to calculate pity correctly, you can stop guessing how much Astrite you need to save and create a clear pull plan for every patch. First, decide which banner you want to pull on most, then calculate how many pulls you already have saved, plus how many more you can earn before the banner ends. For example, if you have 30 pulls saved and 0 pity on an upcoming character banner, you need 50 more pulls (8,000 Astrite) to hit hard pity for a 5-star. If you haven’t lost your last 50/50, you have a 50% chance that 5-star will be the rate-up character, so if you want a guaranteed copy, you’ll need to save for 160 pulls total, enough for two full pity cycles. Always prioritize limited character banners over permanent or weapon banners if you’re a casual player, since limited characters don’t go into the permanent pool for at least six months, if ever. If you’re in soft pity range on a banner and only have a few pulls left, it’s almost always worth finishing the pity before moving to a new banner, because your drop rate is so high you’ll likely get the 5-star in just a couple more pulls. I keep a simple note on my phone where I log my pull count after every 10 pull set, so I never have to guess where my pity stands when a new banner drops.
At the end of the day, the Wuthering Waves gacha system doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Once you get the hang of how to calculate pity in Wuthering Waves, you can eliminate most of the stress that comes with pulling for new characters and weapons, and make the most of every Astrite you earn through quests and events. I update my own pity tracker after every pull, and I haven’t missed a limited character I wanted in over six months. You don’t need a fancy spreadsheet to do this, either — just a quick note of your last 5-star drop and how many pulls you’ve done since then is enough to stay on top of your counts. If you’re still unsure, you can also check your pull history in the game’s banner page to count your pulls accurately, no manual tracking required.