Essential F2P weapon guide: Maximize your Genshin Impact performance without spending Primogems
Introduction to F2P Weapon Systems
Genshin Impact offers multiple pathways to acquire powerful 4-star weapons without spending Primogems. Beyond the gacha system’s character and weapon banners, dedicated players can obtain exceptional equipment through fishing, crafting, and world quest completion systems. These F2P options frequently rival or even surpass their gacha counterparts when fully refined, making them essential for resource-conscious adventurers.
Many new players underestimate the power potential of free weapons, but strategic selection and refinement can dramatically improve team performance. Understanding each weapon’s acquisition requirements and optimal usage scenarios is crucial for maximizing your account progression without premium currency investment.
The Catch – Ultimate F2P Polearm
The Catch stands as the premier free-to-play polearm, delivering exceptional performance for characters reliant on their Elemental Burst for damage output. This weapon shines on meta-relevant units like Xiangling, Raiden Shogun, Yun Jin, Shenhe, Thoma, and Rosaria, providing both offensive power and energy sustainability.
Acquiring The Catch requires dedicated fishing across Teyvat’s waterways. For Refinement Level 1, gather six Raimei Angelfish (exclusive to Tatarasuna in Inazuma), plus 20 Golden Koi and 20 Rusty Koi from various fishing spots. Exchange these piscine prizes with Kujirai Momiji near Inazuma City to secure this game-changing weapon.
The weapon’s passive ability, “Shanty,” significantly boosts Elemental Burst damage by 16-32% while increasing Burst critical rate by 6-12%. Combined with its Energy Recharge substat (45.9% at level 90), The Catch solves energy requirements for high-cost burst characters. Advanced players should prioritize max refinements, as the fully upgraded version competes with 5-star alternatives for specific characters.
Pro Tip: Use the Serenitea Pot’s fishing pond to stockpile fish over time, and equip the Windtangler fishing rod for improved catch rates. Avoid using precious Bait-o-Matic charges on common fish—save them for the elusive Raimei Angelfish.
Prototype Amber – Support Catalyst Mastery
Prototype Amber represents the cornerstone of free-to-play catalyst support builds, offering both sustain and energy generation. This craftable weapon excels on HP-scaling healers and supports including Baizhu, Kokomi, Barbara, and Neuvillette, with its HP substat synergizing perfectly with their kits.
Players can forge this catalyst directly through Wagner, the Mondstadt blacksmith, using one Northlander Catalyst Billet, 50 Crystal Chunks, and 50 White Iron Chunks. Billets occasionally drop from weekly bosses, so consistently completing these challenges is essential for refinement materials.
The weapon’s passive, “Gilding,” triggers after using an Elemental Burst, regenerating 4-6 Energy every 2 seconds for 6 seconds while healing all party members by 4-6% of their maximum HP. This dual functionality makes it invaluable in Furina teams, where teamwide healing activates her fanfare stacks while sustaining energy needs.
Common Mistake: Many players overlook Prototype Amber on non-healer characters, but its energy generation can enable smoother rotations for catalyst users with high burst costs. The healing, while modest, often provides just enough sustain to survive difficult content.
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Kitain Cross Spear – Elemental Reaction Specialist
Kitain Cross Spear serves as an excellent Elemental Mastery polearm option for reaction-focused team compositions. Its blueprint becomes available after completing Orobashi’s Legacy: Part V world quest in Inazuma, requiring dedicated exploration and puzzle-solving to obtain.
This weapon finds optimal use on characters like Cyno, Xiangling, Thoma, Yaoyao, and Raiden Shogun in hyperbloom or overload compositions. The EM substat (110 at level 90) significantly amplifies transformative reaction damage, while the passive boosts Elemental Skill damage by 6-12%.
The unique energy regeneration mechanic—where using an Elemental Skill consumes some energy but generates particles over time—enables more flexible rotation sequencing. Advanced players can leverage this to front-load skill damage while maintaining burst uptime through strategic particle generation.
Optimization Tip: Pair Kitain Cross Spear with characters who have short skill cooldowns to maximize particle generation. The energy drain becomes negligible when properly managed, effectively providing net positive energy over full rotation cycles.
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Fleuve Cendre Ferryman – Fontaine Sword Excellence
The Fleuve Cendre Ferryman emerges as Fontaine’s premier free-to-play sword option, offering exceptional energy management and skill-focused damage amplification. Obtain this weapon through the Fontaine Fishing Association by exchanging specific fish with NPC Delaroche.
Refinement Level 1 requires collecting these Fontaine species:
All fish species inhabit various Fontaine fishing locations, with Maintenance Meks found exclusively in mechanical fishing spots. This sword proves viable for Furina, Albedo, Kamisato Ayato, Kaeya, Jean, Bennett, and Xingqiu, particularly benefiting characters with high energy demands.
The weapon’s Energy Recharge substat (45.9% at level 90) combines with a passive that increases Elemental Skill critical rate by 8-16% and provides an additional 16-32% Energy Recharge for 5 seconds after using a skill. This creates powerful synergy for skill-dependent characters who need frequent burst activation.
Strategic Advice: Prioritize this weapon for characters whose damage distribution favors Elemental Skills over Normal Attacks. The critical rate bonus applies only to skill damage, making it less optimal for main DPS characters who rely on multiple damage sources.
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Hamayumi – DPS Bow Alternative
Hamayumi serves as a reliable attack-scaling bow for free-to-play marksmen, belonging to the Amethyst weapon series from Inazuma. Acquiring its blueprint requires persistent dedication—players must open Takashi’s Mysterious Conch chests on seven separate days at the Nazuchi Beach location.
This weapon’s Attack percent substat (55.1% at level 90) benefits any DPS character scaling from ATK, while its passive enhances Normal Attack damage by 16-32% and Charged Attack damage by 12-24%. These bonuses increase by 100% when the wielder maintains full energy, rewarding careful energy management.
Hamayumi performs excellently on main DPS bow users including Tartaglia, Yoimiya, Ganyu, Lyney, Amber, and Tighnari. The energy condition encourages strategic burst usage—sometimes delaying ultimate activation to maintain the enhanced passive effect.
Advanced Technique: For characters with unimportant bursts, consider ignoring burst usage entirely to maintain the empowered passive state. This approach works particularly well with melt Ganyu and vaporize Yoimiya compositions where normal and charged attacks deliver primary damage.
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Advanced F2P Weapon Strategy
Mastering free-to-play weapon usage requires strategic refinement prioritization and resource allocation. Begin by identifying which weapons align with your most used characters, then focus on maximizing their refinement levels before diversifying your arsenal.
Refinement Priority Order: The Catch > Fleuve Cendre Ferryman > Prototype Amber > Kitain Cross Spear > Hamayumi. This order reflects both weapon power and acquisition difficulty, with fishing weapons typically offering the highest performance returns.
Resource Management: Plan your fishing expeditions during optimal time periods—certain fish only appear during specific weather conditions or times of day. Use interactive maps to track fishing spot rotations and minimize time investment.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid: Don’t spread your billet resources too thinly—focus on completing one weapon to refinement 5 before moving to the next. Avoid using masterless starglitter on weapon billets unless absolutely necessary, as this currency is better spent on characters or fate.
Team Composition Planning: Build teams around your refined F2P weapons rather than forcing premium weapons into suboptimal compositions. A fully refined Catch on Xiangling often outperforms a low-refinement premium option while freeing resources for other team members.
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