Genshin Anniversary Selector — Which Free 5-Star to Pick

Two Picks, Two Different Decisions

Five of the fourteen names on Genshin's two Version 7.1 anniversary selectors can be fielded in both Imaginarium Theater seasons that open before the selectors close. Two of the fourteen carry kit text that plugs into Stellar Swirl. One is a Hexerei character. And one is missing from the current roster of the recurring training event that hands out free constellations.

The two events do not compete with each other. "Across the Frozen Wilds, Honing One's Edge" lets you invite one of eight standard 5-stars, "Tabletop Troupe: A Gathering on Adventure's Eve" lets you invite one of six event-exclusive 5-stars, and every eligible account gets one of each. Both close at 14:59 server time on November 3, 2026: the notices give no time zone, and the wiki's event pages list that end as server time. The release-day logistics are in our 7.1 release guide, which lists the names without ranking them. This post is the part it left out: which name to click.

The two lists are not equally scarce, and that shapes everything below. Every name on the standard list is a character a lost 50/50 on a Character Event Wish can hand you anyway, as our wish and pity guide explains. None of the six limited names comes out of the standard pool.

What an Invitation Actually Hands You

HoYoverse's two event notices say each invitation comes with "Ascension Level-Up Materials" for the same character. The wiki's reward tables spell out the counts, and they are the same shape for all fourteen: 1 gem Sliver, 9 gem Fragments, 6 boss drops, 33 of the local specialty, and 18 first-tier plus 12 second-tier common drops. For Jean that is 1 Vayuda Turquoise Sliver, 9 Fragments, 6 Hurricane Seeds, 33 Dandelion Seeds, 18 Damaged Masks and 12 Stained Masks.

Line that up against Jean's ascension table on the wiki and it is exactly her first three ascensions, which raise the level cap to 60. Nothing past that is included:

That fourth ascension is the one to plan for, because level 70 is a gate in three places this post keeps coming back to. Imaginarium Theater's Hard, Visionary and Lunar modes need every character at level 70, while Easy and Normal accept 60. And both kit upgrades covered below, Witch's Revelation and Witch's Homework, only open their quests once the character is level 70.

Inviting Someone You Already Own

Neither event notice says what happens if you invite a character you already have. The wiki's Constellation page states the general rule: a character's Stella Fortuna is obtained on getting a duplicate, whether that duplicate comes from Wishes, Paimon's Bargains or Events, and the same page says a new constellation for a 5-star already at C6 converts into a Masterless Stella Fortuna. So an owned pick is a constellation plus the materials, and the materials are the smaller half of it.

There is a second constellation route worth knowing before you choose. The recurring "To Temper Thyself and Journey Far" event pays one Stella Fortuna for a character you pick from its roster after 8 weekly training goals, but HoYoverse's notice for the current cycle says it cannot be claimed for characters you have not obtained, or for a character who has already had one from a past cycle. The wiki's roster for that cycle, which runs to November 2, 2026, lists 13 of the 14 selector names. Varesa is the one missing. Invite anyone else and a free constellation from that event is on the table for them, as long as they are still on its roster when you claim.

The Standard Selector Is the Whole Standard Pool

The wiki lists exactly eight 5-star characters in Wanderlust Invocation's pool, and they are the same eight on this selector. It is a free pick of the entire standard 5-star roster. It is also the third one: a Version 5.0 selector offered seven of these names, and the Luna I selector offered the same eight you see now. If you took both of those, check which two you already hold before reading on. And if you are about to recommend Genshin to a friend, HoYoverse's notice adds that accounts registered after Version 7.1 ends can still invite a standard 5-star in a follow-up event during Version 7.x.

"None found" means the wiki's talent and constellation text for that character has no Lunar, Stellar, Hexerei or Witch's Revelation clause. It is not a verdict on the character. Jean and Dehya still carry the survivability tag, and Diluc, Keqing and Tighnari are still on-field damage dealers.

Qiqi and Mizuki Are Wired Into Stellar Swirl

The wiki's Witch's Revelation page lists seven characters with a Witch's Revelation Passive: Wriothesley, Yae Miko, Cyno, Yumemizuki Mizuki, Qiqi, Diona and Beidou. Two of them are on this list. To unlock one you must own the character at level 70 or higher and have finished Revelations by Chance, the World Quest outside the Court of Fontaine that hands you the Witch's Revelation Case.

Qiqi's passive, Seven Sacred Treasures, cuts her Elemental Skill cooldown to 15 seconds. While her Herald of Frost is on the field, the party's Superconduct and Stellar-Conduct DMG rises 50% in Radiance: Stellar-Conduct, and its Cryo Swirl and Stellar Swirl DMG rises 50% in Radiance: Stellar Swirl. She enters the first state inside a Polestar Field, and the second for 8 seconds after a nearby party member triggers Stellar Swirl.

That panel is from the Luna VIII announcement, before Stellar Swirl existed; the Stellar Swirl half of her passive is in the wiki's current text, not the panel.

Mizuki's passive, Vast Be the Dream, works off her Dreamdrifter state. When she triggers Swirl or Stellar Swirl, her next periodic AoE Anemo hit gains 1,000% of her Elemental Mastery as bonus damage, once every 2.5 seconds. In Radiance: Stellar Swirl, which she enters for 8 seconds after a nearby party member triggers one, that enhanced hit adds a second Anemo instance at 1,000% of her Elemental Mastery that counts as Stellar Swirl DMG. The party also gets 10% of her Elemental Mastery while she drifts. Separately, her Elemental Skill raises the Swirl and Stellar Swirl DMG nearby party members deal based on her Elemental Mastery. The wiki flags that 7.0 changed the numbers behind that clause and has not filled them in yet, so we are not quoting one.

The practical difference: Qiqi covers both Stellar reactions and brings Cryo, and our Vesna build guide names a Cryo applier as the one slot a Vesna team cannot skip. Mizuki's value scales with her own Elemental Mastery and assumes someone else is supplying the Cryo. If your Stellar enabler is Sandrone, Odette or the Cryo Traveler, who convert Superconduct as well as Cryo Swirl per our Lunar reactions guide, Qiqi's passive reads on both reactions that enabler produces.

Mona Is the Only Hexerei Name on Either List

The wiki's Hexerei roster is twelve characters: Albedo, Durin, Fischl, Klee, Lohen, Mona, Nicole, Prune, Razor, Sucrose, Varka and Venti. Mona is the only one of the fourteen selector names on it. A character becomes Hexerei by clearing their own Witch's Homework quest at level 70, and the Hexerei: Secret Rite team bonus needs at least two Hexerei characters in the party before their Witch's Eve Rite Passives switch on.

Mona's, Genesis of Starsigns, is a Vaporize tool. Her Normal and Charged Attack hits build up to 3 stacks of Astral Glow of Mercury; when another party member triggers Vaporize, the stacks are consumed for 5% more damage on that Vaporize per stack, and her hits also extend an enemy's Omen by 2 seconds, up to 8 seconds in total.

The second Hexerei does not have to cost a wish. Witch's Homework: Solution lets you invite one of Fischl, Sucrose or Razor, all three on that roster, and our best F2P teams guide walks through that pick. If you already own Mona, note what a duplicate lands on: her Constellation 1, Prophecy of Submersion, raises Electro-Charged, Lunar-Charged, Vaporize, Hydro Swirl and Lunar-Crystallize DMG by 15% for 8 seconds when your party hits an enemy affected by her Omen.

The Limited Selector: Six Names and a Quest Gate

This one has a real gate: Adventure Rank 18 and a finished Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act IV, "A Rekviem for the Underworld," which is the Version 7.1 story. HoYoverse's notice also gives a shortcut to it: from Adventure Rank 18 and a finished Prologue: Act III, "Song of the Dragon and Freedom," exploring Snezhnaya automatically starts Chapter VII: Act I. The cost is four acts of story, against the same November 3 deadline.

Varesa has one thing no other name on either list has: she is from Natlan, and the wiki's Team Bonus page counts Natlan characters toward Nightsoul Burst. If your account runs Natlan teams, that is a point in her column that the table does not show.

Nilou and Baizhu Picked Up Lunar-Bloom Clauses

Both had their kit text adjusted in Luna I, the update that added Lunar-Bloom.

Nilou's Court of Dancing Petals only works when every party member is Dendro or Hydro, with at least one of each. Under that condition, finishing the third step of her dance grants Golden Chalice's Bounty for 30 seconds, and triggering Bloom or Lunar-Bloom creates Bountiful Cores instead of Dendro Cores. Her 4th Ascension Passive raises Bountiful Core DMG by 9% per 1,000 Max HP above 30,000, up to 400%, and her Constellation 2 cuts Dendro RES by 35% after Bloom or Lunar-Bloom DMG. The Hydro-and-Dendro-only rule is the catch: every character in a Nilou team, Lunar-Bloom enabler included, has to fit inside it.

Baizhu's All Things Are of the Earth gives characters healed by his Seamless Shields a 6-second buff scaling on his Max HP up to 50,000: 2% Burning, Bloom, Hyperbloom and Burgeon DMG per 1,000 HP, 0.7% Lunar-Bloom DMG per 1,000 HP, and 0.8% on Aggravate and Spread per 1,000 HP. That caps at 100% for the first group, 35% for Lunar-Bloom and 40% for Aggravate and Spread.

Both of those HP-scaling effects, Nilou's Bountiful Core bonus and Baizhu's whole buff, are 4th Ascension Passives, which the wiki's Character page says unlock at the fourth ascension. That is the one the selector bundle does not pay for.

Tartaglia, Chiori, Clorinde and Varesa have no Lunar or Stellar clause, which makes them picks for the role and element they fill rather than for a reaction system.

Which Picks the October and November Theater Accept

HoYoverse's Version 7.1 update notes publish both Imaginarium Theater seasons that open before the selectors close:

• October 1: required elements Hydro, Cryo and Anemo. Special Guest Stars: Ineffa, Yae Miko, Thoma and Chiori.
• November 1: required elements Hydro, Electro and Geo. Special Guest Stars: Qiqi, Odette, Vesna and Jahoda.

Special Guest Stars skip the element requirement, but the wiki is clear that you must own one, or borrow it as a friend's Supporting Cast, to use it. A selector invitation is a way to own one. None of the fourteen is an Opening Character in either season. The mode's full rules are in our Imaginarium Theater guide.

Five usable in both, two in October only, three in November only, four in neither. Remember the level gate from earlier: Hard and above want level 70, one ascension past what the bundle covers.

The next Spiral Abyss, due October 16 per the same notes, leans the same way as the October Theater. Floor 11's Ley Line Disorders give a 60% Anemo DMG Bonus and a 60% Cryo DMG Bonus, Floor 12's first half raises Stellar Glimmer DMG by 75% and its second half gives a 75% Cryo DMG Bonus, and the Stardread Moon blessing fires a True DMG shockwave when a character triggers Superconduct, Stellar-Conduct, Cryo Swirl, Stellar Swirl, Frozen or Shatter. That is the Qiqi, Mizuki and Jean end of the standard list. Our Spiral Abyss guide covers how the Moon Spire pays.

How We Would Spend Both Picks

The standard pick: Qiqi, for an account that is playing the 7.x content. She is the only standard name with kit text on both Stellar reactions, she is Cryo, she is usable in both Theater seasons inside the selector window, and the October Abyss disorders favour her element. The condition is real: none of the Stellar clauses exist until she is level 70 and her Revelation quest is done, so budget the fourth ascension.

Switch away from her if:

• You already own Qiqi, or your Stellar Swirl team already has its Cryo. Take Mizuki, whose Stellar Swirl value is built on her own Elemental Mastery.
• You are building Vaporize or a Hexerei pair. Take Mona, the only Hexerei name on either list and the only standard name besides Qiqi usable in both Theater seasons.
• Your roster is short of survivability more than a reaction piece. Jean, Qiqi, Dehya and Mizuki are the four standard names the wiki tags for survivability.
• You own every name you would use. Take the constellation on whoever you field most. You do not get to choose which standard 5-star a lost 50/50 hands you; here you do.

The limited pick has no single default, because it depends on what your roster lacks. Pick by gap:

Of the two invitations, this is the one to get right. A standard name can still turn up on a lost 50/50; none of these six can.

More Genshin coverage lives on the Genshin Impact coverage hub, and the rest of our game guides are on the Mythras blog.

Quick Action Checklist

• You get two separate picks: one of eight standard 5-stars from "Across the Frozen Wilds, Honing One's Edge" and one of six event-exclusives from "Tabletop Troupe: A Gathering on Adventure's Eve." Both close at 14:59 server time on November 3, 2026.
• The limited pick needs Adventure Rank 18 and Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act IV. Chapter VII can be started straight after Prologue: Act III by exploring Snezhnaya.
• Each invitation includes the materials for the first three ascensions, to a level-60 cap, but not the 120,000 Mora those ascensions cost or any character EXP.
• Level 70 unlocks Imaginarium Theater's Hard mode and above, Witch's Revelation quests and Witch's Homework quests. That is one more ascension you pay for yourself.
• Picking a character you already own gives their Stella Fortuna (a Masterless Stella Fortuna if they are already C6), per the wiki's Constellation page, plus the materials.
• 13 of the 14 names are on the current To Temper Thyself and Journey Far roster for a free Stella Fortuna once owned. Varesa is not.
• Qiqi and Yumemizuki Mizuki are the only selector names with a Witch's Revelation Passive tied to Stellar Swirl; Mona is the only Hexerei name.
• Qiqi, Mona, Tartaglia, Nilou and Chiori are usable in both the October 1 and November 1 Imaginarium Theater seasons; Diluc, Dehya, Tighnari and Baizhu are usable in neither.
• Our default standard pick for a 7.x account is Qiqi; the limited pick should fill whatever role or element your roster lacks.