Genshin Impact 3.0 new region: Sumeru
The version number only ticks over in Genshin Impact once per calendar year, but it signals a whole host of new content, including a new chapter in the Archon Quest series that makes up the game’s central storyline, and a new nation for you to explore as you make your way across the world of Teyvat. In Version 3.0 the new nation is Sumeru, the Dendro nation governed by Lesser Lord Kusanali (a.ka. the Flower God) and guided by the ideal of Wisdom. Appropriately enough given this theme, Sumeru is home to the Sumeru Akademiya, the most respected seat of learning in all Teyvat. The academy also acts as Sumeru’s governing body. Culturally, Sumeru draws inspiration from a mishmash of medieval Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures, with India as the primarily identifiable naming influence for characters and locations. Geographically, in addition to the main city and the academy, Sumeru will feature a woodland area called Avidya Forest, and a waterside settlement called Port Ormos. It’s also worth noting that HoYoverse have drawn no small amount of criticism for portraying most of the inhabitants of Sumeru as light-skinned given its real-world inspirations, especially since out of all the 50+ previously released playable characters, only Xinyan and (at a push) Kaeya can be described as representing darker-skinned people. I mention this in the spirit of holding the developers to account and hoping that we see a greater diversity of character designs added to the roster over the course of Version 3.
Genshin Impact 3.0 new characters
Whenever the plot of Genshin Impact moves to a new nation, you can quite naturally expect a whole host of new characters to populate the region. Sumeru is no different, of course, and below is a quick run-down of every confirmed and rumoured major character you can expect to encounter on the next leg of your journey through Teyvat, and when you might hope to meet them, but beware some potential Chapter III story spoilers in this section:
The Dendro Traveler: As you’re no doubt aware, your nominal player character The Traveler has the unique ability to adapt to different elemental powers (thereby completely changing almost every aspect of their kit) when they interact with Statues of the Seven. Since Sumeru is the Dendro nation, your Traveler will get to try out their new element and its associated talents and constellations once Version 3.0 arrives on August 24th. Tighnari: One of three confirmed playable characters hailing from Sumeru, it’s confirmed that Tighnari will be the first 5-star character from the region, debuting on Version 3.0 during Phase I. He’s a Dendro bow wielder and — excitingly — will be the first new 5-star character since launch added to the standard Wanderlust Invocation pool once his character event wish banner ends in mid-September! Collei: Second of the three confirmed playable characters from Sumeru. Collei is a 4-star Dendro bow user, in a rare instance of two characters with the same element/weapon combo debuting on the same banner. She’ll be available on Tighnari and Zhongli’s concurrent character event wish banners during Version 3.0 Phase I, before joining the Wanderlust Invocation pool soon afterwards. You’ll also be able to nab her for free for a limited time, by taking part in the Graven Innocence event due to take place during Version 3.0. Dori: Third and final of the three confirmed playable characters from Sumeru to date. Dori is a 4-star Electro claymore character who’ll also be debuting on Version 3.0, but not until Phase II in mid-September. She’ll make her initial appearance on Ganyu and Sangonomiya Kokomi’s concurrent rerun banners, before making her way onto the Wanderlust Invocation banner in Version 3.1. Kusanali: The Dendro Archon and god of the nation of Sumeru. Despite holding the masculine-coded title Lesser Lord Kusanali she is in fact female, and is notable for being the youngest of the Seven Archons currently ruling over Teyvat. While it hasn’t technically been confirmed that she’ll be playable, the three previous Archons encountered in earlier chapters have all joined the roster as 5-star event-exclusive characters, so I’d be very surprised if she didn’t turn up on a Character Event Wish banner in the near future. Archons usually don’t make their playable debut immediately upon their nation’s release, however, so expect to wait somewhere in the region of six to nine weeks after Version 3.0 lands for Kusanali to make her full appearance. Cyno: Cyno appeared in the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail video that was released way back in September 2020 to tease the game’s full planned story, and he’s also made a significant cameo in the tie-in manga. For his appearance in Travail, he was the representative character for Chapter III and the nation of Sumeru. Since the characters who appeared in the video to represent the prologue and Chapters I and II (that’s Diluc, Ningguang, and Kamisato Ayaka, respectively) have since become playable when their nation was introduced, it’s likely that Cyno will join the ranks somewhere down the line. Based on his supplementary appearances it’s likely that he’ll be an Electro Polearm user, and rumours suggest that he’ll appear fairly early on in Sumeru but not during Version 3’s initial debut. His rarity is also completely unknown for now, but rumour has it he’ll be available at 5-star rarity. Scaramouche: The Sixth of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers is rumoured to be reappearing in Sumeru sometime around Version 3.2. This is a bit of a surprise since Scaramouche is more heavily associated with Snezhnaya (the seventh and final nation of Teyvat, not due for an in-game appearance until 2025). However, he is quite mobile and has already been spotted hanging out and causing problems in both Mondstadt and Inazuma, and leaks have suggested that he’ll once again be a boss rather than a playable character during the Sumeru chapter. (I still predict he’ll eventually be playable, but perhaps not until that far-off final chapter.) Alhaitham & Kavi: The most lightly rumoured Sumeru characters we know anything substantial about. Alhaitham has appeared briefly in some 3.0 teaser videos, and further leaks suggest that he’ll be a Dendro Sword user and almost certainly playable at some future point. Kavi has a bit of significance in lore and seems to have some relationship to Alhaitham, but it’s unknown whether he’ll be playable too or more of a supporting NPC. Dehya, Nilou, and Nahida: Three female characters whose names and appearances have been revealed, but with little other official information. Very early leaks, however, suggest that all three will be 5-star playable units introduced in the early stages of Version 3: Dehya as a Pyro polearm, Nilou as a Hydro sword, and Nahida as a Dendro catalyst. Speculation backed up by some heavy hints in official trailers from HoYoverse strongly suggest that Nahida will be revealed to be the alias of Kusanali (see above).
Version 3.0 character event wish banners
If you’re looking for in-depth information on which new playable characters will be released when, see our Genshin Impact character event wish banners page for all the details. However, if you’re just looking for the highlights, here you go: leaks suggest that 3.0 Phase I will see the introduction of Tighnari and Collei alongside a rerun for Zhongli, while Phase II (sometime in September) will see concurrent reruns for Ganyu and Sangonomiya Kokomi while introducing Dori.
Genshin Impact 3.0 new weapons and artifacts
Sumeru seems to be a bow-heavy region, and the two headlining new weapons in Version 3.0 are the 5-star Hunter’s Path bow and the 4-star End Of The Line bow. A new forgeable 4-star, five-piece, Sumeru signature weapon set completes the new weapon line-up with the King’s Squire bow, Sapwood Blade sword, Moonpiercer polearm, Forest Regalia claymore, and Fruit Of Fulfillment catalyst. In terms of artifact sets, the introduction of the Dendro element naturally means that there’ll be a new Dendro DMG Buff set to match the six other playable elements, now confirmed to be called the Deepwood Memories set. A second new artifact set on Version 3.0, called Gilded Dreams, will boost elemental mastery. See below for set bonuses on both new artifact sets: Deepwood Memories
2-piece set bonus: Dendro DMG Bonus +15% 4-piece set bonus: After Elemental Skills or Bursts hit opponents, the targets’ Dendro RES will be decreased by 30% for 8 seconds. This effect can be triggered even if the equipping character is not on the field.
Gilded Dreams
2-piece set bonus: Elemental Mastery +80% 4-piece set bonus: Within 8 seconds of triggering an Elemental Reaction, the character equipping this will obtain buffs based on the Elemental type of the other party members. ATK is increased by 14% for each party member whose Elemental type is the same as the equipping character, and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every party member with a different Element. Each of the aforementioned buffs will count up to three characters. This effect can be triggered once every eight seconds. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field.
Genshin Impact 3.0 new playable element: Dendro
With Version 3.0, Dendro is finally taking its proper place among Genshin Impact’s other elements. Seven has always been the arc number in the world of Teyvat: there are seven Archons, seven nations, and seven types of elemental visions. However, the Dendro element has been notably sidelined compared to the other six since the game’s launch: other than a few low-level Dendro enemies and the ability to trigger the Burning (Dendro + Pyro) reaction whenever one of your fire-wielders went out and touched grass, Dendro hasn’t really had much of a part to play. Even rumoured first Dendro character Sayu turned out to be an Anemo vision holder instead, which some fans still think was a relatively last-minute change-up, given that her theming really makes her seem like a tree creature. Version 3.0 will not only bring in the first playable Dendro vision holders in the form of the Dendro Traveler, Tighnari, and Collei, but it will expand the number of elemental reactions available for Dendro as well, with Bloom (Dendro + Hydro) and Catalyze (Dendro + Electro) deepening the element’s usefulness in combat. Catalyze is believed to provide buffs to both Electro and Dendro damage while active, as well as dropping an Electro particle and debuffing nearby enemies when activated. Bloom, meanwhile, will drop explosive seeds that will either explode for Dendro DMG after six seconds or, if you’re quick, react again with another applied element for a compound reaction (see below). But, it turns out, that’s not all. While Dendro itself will only react directly with Pyro, Hydro, or Electro, four more reaction names have cropped up over and over again in pre-release materials. Turns out that these will in all likelihood be a new kind of compound reaction, formed when the effects of Bloom or Catalyze react again with another raw element. Here are the rumoured set-ups for compound reactions and their effects:
Aggravate: Catalyze + Electro for bonus DMG Burgeon: Bloom + Pyro for increased AoE to Pyro DMG Hyperbloom: Bloom + Hydro generates homing Dendro arrows Spread: Catalyze + Dendro for bonus DMG
Finally, though details of the elemental resonance when two Dendro characters are placed on a team haven’t been confirmed by HoYoverse yet, some credible leaks have given us a sneak preview at what those might look like. Its primary effect will reportedly be a passive increase to the party’s Elemental Mastery, with further temporary increases granted when an elemental reaction with Dendro (or compound elemental reaction with one of Dendro’s base reactions) is triggered by a member of the party.
Genshin Impact 3.0 new enemies
Some elemental level-up materials in Genshin Impact can only be gained by farming them from area bosses. So, naturally, with the addition of a playable Dendro element, there needs to be a new Dendro area boss. The 3.0 livestream has now confirmed that this new enemy is the amazingly-named Jadeploom Terrorshroom, and that they’ll be primarily weak to Pyro attacks. Other new enemies of note include the Electro Regisvine, a second type of area boss for granting Electro characters their level up materials. Good news for people who hate fighting the Hypostases all the time, I suppose, but bad news for those who find the existing Regisvines a pain. But don’t worry: the Electro Regisvine will be in addition to the Electro Hypostasis, not replacing it. Smaller mook enemies introduced in Version 3.0 will include Ruin Drakes, a new dragon-inspired variant on Ruin Guards which sound pretty terrifying. The livestream gave us a sneak peak at some for-now unnamed new enemies inhabiting Sumeru as well, including what might be a new variant on Treasure Hoarders, and an unknown mushroom creature that could be a mook-level relative of the Terrorshroom.
Genshin Impact 3.0 new Archon Quests
Archon Quests make up Genshin Impact’s main story questline. The central plot is fuelled by the Traveler’s ongoing search for the cause of their twin’s disappearance, and the rift that persists between them even after their all-too-brief reunion. This family drama seemingly has deep but as-yet-unknown ties to the history and mysteries of Teyvat, and the saga will continue in Version 3.0 with the addition of “Archon Quest Chapter III: Truth Amongst the Pages of Purana”. As yet, we don’t know much about the new Archon Quest Chapter other than its title and the fact that it will take place predominantly in Sumeru. The Prologue and Chapters I & II were all composed of three to four main “acts” split into roughly half a dozen quests each, plus various prologues and epilogues, so it’s likely that Chapter III will have a similar structure.
Genshin Impact 3.0 events
There are numerous new events and side-quests planned for Version 3.0, one of which — Tighnari’s Story Quest (“Vulpes Zerda Chapter, Act I”) will be permanently available from August 24th onwards. New time-limited events announced for the update include Graven Innocence, which will allow players to claim their free copy of Collei; Tablet Analytics, which requires you to complete a series of elemental feats in-game for cosmetic rewards; and Fayz Trials, which gives you the unusual opportunity to play with bullet time on special combat stages. Returning and updated events are Lost Riches, which is back to give you the opportunity to explore Sumeru in the company of a Seelie; and another Leyline Overflow in Sumeru. All of the above have been announced to take place on Version 3.0, but not exact start and end dates/times have been given just yet.
How long will Genshin Impact 3.0 last?
You may recall that Genshin Impact suffered a rare production delay earlier this year, with Version 2.7 releasing three weeks later than initially planned. Most likely as a result of this, the remaining updates throughout 2022 are going to be slightly shorter than usual. This means that Version 3.0 will be ending after just five weeks, on or around September 27th, in order for Version 3.1 to kick in on its confirmed release date of September 28th. Battle Pass requirements and other time-sensitive gameplay content (i.e. events and their rewards) are due to be adjusted accordingly, per HoYoverse. Normality will resume, we’re told, with Version 3.3 in early December, when a planned winter-themed event ought to get things back on track. Even prior to Version 3.0’s release there were already over 50 characters in Genshin Impact, and you can get to know all of them on our Genshin Impact tier list. And, because we like Genshin Impact but don’t recommend you start spending loads of cash on the gacha, be sure to check out our Genshin Impact codes list for a regularly updated run-down of all the freebies you can currently claim.
