There’s nothing more exciting than booting up Wuthering Waves and seeing a flashy new character drop in a trailer, with a playstyle that fits exactly what you want for your team. If you’re a new player, you might be confused about all the different banner types, currencies, and hidden free unlocks that let you add new units to your roster. If you’re wondering how to get new characters in Wuthering Waves, this guide covers every possible method, from free permanent unlocks to limited gacha pulls, with tested tips I’ve used to get 7 5-star units as a mostly free-to-play player since launch. You won’t find any fluff here, just actionable advice that saves you from wasting hard-earned resources on pulls that don’t get you the characters you actually want.
How to Get New Characters in Wuthering Waves: Gacha Banner Breakdown
The primary way most players get new limited-edition characters is through the game’s gacha banner system, and it’s easy to waste pulls if you don’t understand how the pity and rate-up systems work. Every banner uses Star Flares as pull currency, which you can buy for 160 Asterite each, or earn for free through events, daily commissions, and challenge content. There are three main character banner types, each with different rules you need to know before you spend any pulls.
The limited character event banner is the only banner you should spend your premium Star Flares on, for the most part. This banner features one limited 5-star character and three rate-up 4-star characters, with a pity system that guarantees you a 5-star unit every 75 pulls on average. Your pity counter carries over between all limited character event banners, so you never lose progress if you skip a banner. When you hit 5-star pity, you have a 50% chance to get the featured limited character, and a 50% chance to get a random standard 5-star unit. If you lose that 50/50, your next 5-star pull is 100% guaranteed to be the featured limited character on the banner you’re pulling on.
The standard permanent banner is always available, but it only includes non-limited 5-star and 4-star characters, with no rate-up system for specific units. Never spend your premium Asterite or Star Flares on the standard banner, no exceptions. You’ll get plenty of free standard banner pulls from login rewards and event milestones, and you can also get standard 5-star units from 50/50 losses on limited banners, so there’s no reason to waste premium currency here. The newcomer banner is the only exception for new players: it offers 20% off your first 10 pulls, and guarantees a 5-star unit within 50 pulls, so it’s worth pulling on once to get an early 5-star for your team.
Free Methods to Unlock Permanent Characters Without Pulling
You don’t have to spend a single pull or cent to get a full roster of viable characters for early, mid, and even endgame content. The game gives out multiple permanent 4-star and 5-star units for free as you progress through content, plus limited-time characters during special events. All of these free characters are fully viable for endgame Deep Dive Recurring clears if you build them correctly, so don’t sleep on them just because you didn’t pull them from a banner.
These are the permanent free characters all players can unlock with no gacha required:
- Rover: The main protagonist you get automatically as soon as you finish the opening tutorial sequence. You can swap between their three available elements (Spectro, Havoc, Glacio) as you progress through the main story, making them a flexible pick for almost any team comp.
- Yanyan: Unlocked for free after completing the "A Dragon's Ascent" main story quest in Chapter 1. She’s a powerful 4-star Spectro support that boosts team damage significantly, and she’s a great stand-in for players who don’t have limited 5-star supports like Verina.
- Baizhi: Earned by reaching level 30 in the free tier of the Battle Pass, no paid purchase required. She’s a reliable Glacio healer that works with every team comp, and she’s one of the best early-game healers you can get for new player accounts.
- Chixia: Unlocked after clearing all floors of the first difficulty of the Deep Dive Recurring challenge. She’s a strong 4-star Electro DPS that can carry you through most open world and story content, even at zero constellations.
On top of these permanent free unlocks, limited-time events almost always include a free 4-star character as a reward for completing event quests. Always prioritize limited-time event quests first, as these free characters can’t be unlocked anywhere else once the event ends. Login events also regularly give out free character copies to unlock constellations for your existing units, so make sure to log in at least once a day to claim your rewards.
Pro Tips to Maximize Your Pulls and Target Specific Characters
As a F2P or low-spending player, your pull currency is extremely valuable, so you need to plan ahead to make sure you have enough pulls to get the characters you want. I’ve made my share of mistakes here: I once wasted 80 pulls on a limited character just because they were new, and I ended up missing out on Jiyan, my favorite character, when his banner dropped a month later. Don’t make that same mistake.
You need around 180 pulls, or 28,800 Asterite, to guarantee a limited 5-star character if you lose the 50/50, so make sure you have at least that much saved before you start pulling on a banner you care about. You can earn roughly 60 to 80 pulls per patch as a F2P player, if you complete all daily commissions, weekly challenges, event quests, and Deep Dive Recurring floors every cycle. That means you can get one guaranteed limited 5-star every two to three patches, so pick your targets carefully.
Another tip most new players miss: you can test any featured limited character for free in the Trial Stage before you pull for them, so you can see if their playstyle fits your preferences before you spend any pulls. There’s no point in wasting pulls on a character you end up hating playing, so always do the trial first. You should also avoid pulling for constellations unless you’re absolutely in love with a character, because all characters are perfectly usable at zero constellations for all endgame content. The small power boost from constellations isn’t worth missing out on a new character you want more.
What to Do After You Unlock a New Character
Getting a new character is only half the battle, you need to build them correctly to get the most out of their kit. The first thing you should do after unlocking a new character is level them up to your current account level, and unlock their entire talent tree to get all their base passive bonuses. You don’t need to level their talents to max right away, but getting them to level 6 for core skills is a good starting point.
Next, farm the right Echo set for their role: DPS characters usually want damage-focused sets like Thunderous Decree or Molten Rift, while supports want utility sets like Flow of the Aeon or Frostvein. You can check the recommended Echo set for any character directly in their profile page, so you don’t have to guess what to farm. You should also farm their ascension materials from open world bosses and domains before you level them, so you don’t hit a level cap halfway through.
If you got a duplicate copy of the character, you can unlock constellations that give significant buffs to their kit, but as I mentioned earlier, this is completely optional. I’ve cleared all endgame Deep Dive Recurring floors with zero constellation characters, so you don’t need to spend extra pulls on duplicates unless you really want to. You can also get free character copies from event rewards and the Battle Pass, so keep an eye out for those to boost your favorite units without spending pulls.
At the end of the day, knowing how to get new characters in Wuthering Waves makes the grind way more rewarding, and keeps you from wasting resources on pulls that don’t align with your goals. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a strong roster: the free characters are more than enough to clear all content, and you can get one guaranteed limited 5-star every few months as a F2P player if you plan your pulls correctly. Take your time, test characters before you pull, and don’t chase every new release just because it’s shiny. If you stick to these tips, you’ll have a roster of characters you love playing in no time.