TL;DR

• Game is amazing.
• No need to whale for power.
• Instead, whale for waifu or husbando.
• Game is easy. The more you spend, the easier it gets.
• Rerolling? Get Diluc and/or Benett
• Start farming artifacts at AR45
• Start farming bosses for Ascension 6 at AR55
• Interactive Map
• No bs math only YT channel
• F2P only units vs abyss YT channel

Table of Contents

• A.) Introduction
• B.) Basic Game Information
• C.) General Progression
• D.) Team Composition
• E.) Basic Weapon Information
• F.) General Artifact Information
• G.) Character Progression
• H.) Team and Character Build Sample
• I.) Spiral Abyss
• J.) Spending

A.) Introduction

• Currently AR52 with minimal spending, just Welkins and Battlepass.
• This will be a general "things to know and remember" guide.
• We won't tackle specific stuff like how to get an early 5 star artifacts, tier lists, and game secrets or how to get to xyz and how to get things done.
• Always remember to take your time and play at your own pace.
• This guide will just help you plan out your progress roadmap along with the daily and weekly stuff so you can focus on enjoying the game.

B.) Basic Game Information

• Most of the things that you need to know will be explained by practical and pop-up tutorials.
• Bows - Has an aiming mechanic that can hit weak spots.
• Catalysts - Deals elemental damage autoattacks based on the character.
• Claymores - Breaks Geo shields and constructs.
• Pyro - Breaks Cryo shields and constructs, Dendro shields and constructs, and Electro constructs via Overload.
• Cryo - Breaks Electro shields.
• Hydro - Breaks Pyro shields.
• Electro - Breaks Geo shields and constructs via Overload with Pyro.
• Geo - Breaks Geo shields and constructs.
• Nothing currently breaks Hydro shields easily.

C.) General Progression

• Your Mora reserves will be exhausted once reach AR25-30. It is recommended to focus on only three characters at the beginning for journal rewards.
• Always use up your Original Resin. They fully recharge in 20 hours.
• Always do your Daily Commissions and Battle Pass Missions.
• Always do your weekly Reputation Hunts and Requests.
• Try to clear the weekly bosses (Stormterror and the Big Wolf) at the end of the week, when you are at a higher adventurer rank, for better rewards.
• Plan your weekly farming routine for Weapon and Talent Ascension materials.
• Boss Material are available at all times so they are less of a priority.
• Mark everything as found using this Interactive Map. Especially the Anemonculi and Geoculi so you don't have to backtrack.
• You can collect Character Ascension Materials and Weapon Crafting Materials from the wild using the same map.
• Resources are and will always be tight, especially if you don't spend real money. However, resources will be easier or harder to manage depending on how many characters you want to raise up.

D.) Team Composition

• Play whichever character you like.
• Don't sleep on 4 star characters or the main character. They can be better at max constellation compared to most 5 star characters and they will be much easier to build, especially if you are F2P.
• Focus only on one main DPS that you will max out first (including their weapon). This character will be the one who will be out on the field the longest. They usually have good Normal Attacks (can be ugpraded by their constellation, weapons, or artifacts) and spammable low cooldown Elemental Skills. They might also have an easy to charge Elemental Burst that buffs their Normal Attacks. Good examples would be Diluc, Razor, Keqing.
• Alternatively, you can focus on a jack of all trades character than can help you clear most content. These would be healers than can DPS like Jean, Qiqi, and Bennett.
• Next you need will need two support characters that will complement your main dps. Support characters are usually the ones with drop and go Elemental Skills and Bursts like Fischl, Xiangling, Xingqiu. Or the long cooldown damage dealers like Sucrose.
• For your fourth character, it can be a filler character that can help fulfill elemental resonance or perform niche roles. Lets use Amber as an example. She is an archer that can hit weak points, she has Pyro charged attacks that can melt Ice Shields, or she can fulfill the second Pyro unit requirement for that bonus 25% atk.
• The second option for a fourth character is a healer. You'll need one if you plant to tackle the Spiral Abyss, and two once you reach floor six. Now thankfully, the game gives us easy access to two - Barbara and Noelle and they're pretty easy to gear up and use.
• For an in-depth look at team-building I highly recommend this youtube channel. They also have guides and tutorials regarding in-depth game mechanics like elemental reactions.

E.) Basic Weapon Information

• Same with your team, work only on three weapons when starting out. One for your main DPS and two for your supports.
• There are a lot of good weapons so let's focus on avoiding bad weapons first, mainly on your damage dealers. Avoid the ones with defensive stats like HP% and DEF%.
• While we avoid HP% and DEF% for damage dealers, they are the stats needed for some characters like Barbara and Noelle.
• As a general rule of thumb, most 3 star weapons at max refine will always be better than 4 star weapons at no refines until level 70. At level 80 and above, 4 star weapons will win due to raw stats. A 5 star weapon, on the other hand, should always be the clear winner, with a few exceptions.
• You can also opt for crafted 4 star weapons like the Prototype Aminus since you will eventually get it to max refine.
• Here are my recommended 3 star weapons
• Sword - Fillet Blade (DPS), Harbinger of Dawn (DPS), Cool Steel (Support)
• Claymore - Skyrider Greatsword (DPS), Debate Club (DPS)
• Catalyst - Emerald Orb (DPS), Magic Guide (Support), Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers (Barbara)
• Polearm - White Tassel (DPS), Halberd (Support)
• Bow - Slingshot (DPS), Raven Bow (Support)

F.) General Artifact Information

• Upgrade 3 star (blue) artifacts and above only.
• Feathers will always spawn flat ATK and Flowers will always spawn flat HP.
• Headgears, Cups, and Timepieces can spawn either ATK%, HP%, DEF%, and Elemental Mastery.
• Headgears can also spawn Crit Chance, Crit Damage, and Healing Bonus.
• Cups can also spawn Elemental Dmg% bonus from all elements, including physical.
• Timepieces can also spawn Energy Recharge.
• At low AR, the simplest advice I can give you is just to keep all the 4 stars from any set and 3 stars from a good set with a good main stat.
• Don't bother min/maxing the random substats this early in the game. Focus only on the main stat of the artifact.
• Once you reach AR30 you will be able to farm at the Domain of Blessings: Frost I. This Domain drops the Martial Artist set (2) Normal/Charged Attack Damage 15% (4) Normal/Charged Attack Damage 25% for 8s after using an Elemental Skill. A very good set to have in the early game for your main DPS. It is relatively easy to farm as it starts out as 3 star rarity. This Domain also drops Defender's Will set (2) Base DEF 30% which is a good starting set for Noelle.
• The best time to start farming Artifact Domains is at AR45, when you can get at least 1 Five Star Artifact every run. Don't spend too much resin on farming artifacts before this point.
• Now how do you go about building your artifact sets? As I mentioned earlier, Feathers and Flowers will always spawn with ATK and HP so they will be the easiest to fit in.
• For example, you want to build a 2 set for an artifact set that starts at 4 star rarity. Once you get a Flower and Feather, you're pretty much set. For the remaining three, you will need to farm the exact stat that you need.
• Remember that Cups can spawn with Elemental Damage%, which includes Physical. In most cases, this will be better than just having raw attack can be a strong boost for your main DPS.
• Cups are the hardest to get a specific roll on since it can spawn with every possible element in the game along with the standard ATK%, HP%, DEF%, and EM, so always keep your 5 star cups even if they are from a random set because they usually are the off-set for your artifacts.
• Leveling artifacts are cost efficient only until level 16. Level your artifacts to 20 only if you already have a level 16 set for your two spiral abyss teams.

G.) Character Progression

• Ascension 4 Level 60 is a good stopping point for most support characters. It gives you enough stats not to get 1-shot by harder content. It unlocks the final ascension talent.
• There is a damage increase/decrease dealt/received bonus depending on your level gap with the target.
• Spending resin and mora on artifacts is more cost-efficient than spending resin and mora on base levels. Leveling up artifacts strictly gives better stats for cheaper the cost.
• Once you reach level 6 talent at Ascension 4, you will be rng and time-gated by weekly boss drops if you want to upgrade to talent level 7 and above. This is the only time I recommend ascending a character to ascension 5 or 6. Talent level 10 also adds another material, which is currently limited-time event-gated.
• Don't try to farm too many Ascension Material bosses (Oceanid, Regisvines, Hypostases) before AR55 because you will have a surplus of the base elemental materials, but a shortage of Chunks (t3) for Ascension 5 and Gemstones (t4) for Ascension 6.
• Once you reach AR55, you will have a decent (10%) chance of getting gemstone drops. I would recommend only working on your 2nd A6 character of the same element and onward once you reach this point.
• Don't plan too much ahead, especially for future characters as the devs might change the ascension materials needed. Don't rely on leaks too much.

H.) Team and Character Build Sample

• The following is just a sample of you what you can efficiently start with in the beginning.
• Diluc (Main DPS) - This build has good Physical but low Pyro Normal Attack Damage when you Elemental Burst)
  • Weapon - Skyrider Greatsword 3 star Refine 5
  • Feather - Martial Artist 4 star
  • Flower - Martial Artist 4 star
  • Clock - Martial Artist 3 star ATK%
  • Cap - Martial Artist 3 star ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set 5 star Physical Damage%
• Fischl (Support)
  • Weapon - Raven Bow 3 star Refine 5
  • Feather - Thundering Fury 4 star
  • Flower - Thundering Fury 4 star
  • Clock - Resolution of Soujourner 3 star ATK%
  • Cap - Resolution of Soujourner 3 star ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set 5 star Electro Damage%
• Xiangling (Support)
  • Weapon - Halberd 3 star Refine 5
  • Feather - Crimson Witch of Flames 4 star
  • Flower - Crimson Witch of Flaems 4 star
  • Clock - Resolution of Soujourner 3 star ATK%
  • Cap - Resolution of Soujourner 3 star ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set 5 star Pyro Damage%
• Barbara (Healer)
  • Weapon - Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers 3 star Refine 5
  • Feather - Scholar 4 star
  • Flower - Scholar 4 star
  • Clock - The Exile 3 star HP%
  • Cap - The Exile 3 star HP%
  • Cup - Any Set 3 star HP%
• Once you reach AR45, you can start consistently farming 5* artifacts. By this time, you can heavily scrutinize your artifacts down to the substat. You can opt to feed Level 20 artifacts with bad substats for the hopes of better ones. This is also the time here are some of the ideal 5* artifacts that I am trying to build.
• Diluc (Main DPS)
  • Weapon - Serpent Spine 4 Star Battlepass Weapon
  • Feather - Crimson Witch of Flames - ATK
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Flower - Crimson Witch of Flames - HP
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Clock - Crimson Witch of Flames - Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cap - Crimson Witch of Flames - Crit Damage%
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set - Pyro Damage%
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
• Venti (Support)
  • Weapon - Sacrificial Bow 4 Star
  • Feather - Viridescent Venerer - ATK
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Flower - Viridescent Venerer - HP
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Clock - Viridescent Venerer - Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cap - Viridescent Venerer - Crit Chance%
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set - Anemo Damage%
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
• Fischl (Support)
  • Weapon - The Stringless 4 Star
  • Feather - Thundering Fury - ATK
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Flower - Thundering Fury - HP
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Clock - Thundering Fury - Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cap - Thundering Fury - Crit Chance%
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set - Electro Damage%
    • Elemental Mastery
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
• Bennett (Support)
  • Weapon - Festering Desire 4 Star
  • Feather - Noblesse Oblige - ATK
    • Energy Recharge
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Flower - Noblesse Oblige - HP
    • Energy Recharge
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%
  • Clock - Noblesse Oblige - Energy Recharge
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cap - Noblesse Oblige - Crit Chance%
    • Energy Recharge
    • Crit Damage%
    • Flat ATK
    • ATK%
  • Cup - Any Set - Pyro Damage%
    • Energy Recharge
    • Crit Chance%
    • Crit Damage%
    • ATK%

I.) Spiral Abyss

• Now this is where things get tricky. Once you reach Spiral Abyss 5-1, you will be needing two teams, and in most cases, two healers.
• The first problem with needing two teams is having to gear up and level up two healers. The good thing is, having L60A4 Barbara and Noelle with a basic artifact sets will be good enough as long as you practice you have decent dodging skills.
• The next problem is the need to have another main DPS for your other team that can do decent Normal Attack Damage.
• How should you go about building your two teams? For starters, it should be 1 Main Dps, 1 Support, 1 Healer, and 1 Filler for your team.
• You will be able to view what enemies you will be facing so you can adequately prepare. Do you need to melt Ice shields? Bring Pyro. Against pyro shields? Barbara should be the healer for that team. Geo shields? Noelle is a Claymore user and should be the healer. For the fillers, just add in Amber as a second Pyro unit for the attack bonus or Lisa as a second Electro for the faster energy recharge.
• Once you clear floor 8, you'll have access to floor 9-12, which resets on every 1st and 16th of the month.
• I highly recommend this channel to help you get a better understanding of every current Spiral Abyss floor 9-12. He clears it with only guaranteed f2p units.

J.) Spending

• The Battle Pass and the Monthly Gems are worth it.
• If you want to progress faster, recharging your Original Resin once per day for 50 gems is worth it.
• If you absolutely want a banner five star character, save up for 180 summons. The first pity of 90 summons will only have a 50% chance of getting the banner character. You might get it earlier, of course, but this is just a precaution to avoid getting shafted.
• For weapons, it is worth it to do single rolls until you get to the first 4 star for a good chance (75%) of getting a banner weapon. This won't take more than 10 rolls.
• The same goes with characters. If you just want a 4 star banner character, you can do single rolls until you get one. This won't be more than 20 rolls.
• If you want to whale, do it for a character that you like. Some characters are better than others at certain roles but each one is definitely viable.

Thanks for reading!