Case file: Character + Signature Weapon: What a Complete Limited 5★ Really Costs (Genshin, Star Rail, ZZZ, Wuthering Waves)

Getting the limited character is only half the bill. The signature weapon has its own banner, its own pity and its own odds. We rebuilt both banners for Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves from the officially published rules, checked the models against the developers' consolidated rates, and simulated 500,000 players per game going for the full set.

Finding. Character plus signature weapon costs a typical player about $435 in Genshin, about $370 in Star Rail and Zenless, and about $345 in Wuthering Waves, starting from zero and paying cash. Genshin's weapon banner is the most expensive of the four because the 75% featured chance is split between two weapons; Wuthering Waves' weapon banner is the cheapest because every 5-star on it is the featured weapon.

Quick answers

How much does a limited 5-star character plus their signature weapon cost?

Starting from zero pity and paying cash at the best-value pack, a typical player spends about $435 in Genshin Impact, $368 in Honkai: Star Rail, $370 in Zenless Zone Zero and $343 in Wuthering Waves. The unlucky 1 in 10 spends about $622, $556, $556 and $509.

How many pulls does a signature weapon take?

A typical player needs about 79 pulls in Genshin Impact, 68 in Honkai: Star Rail, 67 in Zenless Zone Zero and 68 in Wuthering Waves. The unlucky 1 in 10 needs about 133, 118, 114 and 73.

Why is Genshin Impact's weapon banner the most expensive?

Genshin's weapon banner features two 5-star weapons that share the 75% featured chance, so your chosen weapon is only 37.5% per 5-star until Epitomized Path guarantees it after one miss. The official worst case is 160 pulls.

Is a signature weapon worth more than a second copy of the character?

In Genshin Impact the two cost almost the same for a typical player: about $435 for character plus weapon versus about $430 for character plus one extra copy (C1). Which helps more depends on the character.

Method

500,000 simulated players per game start from zero pity. Copies of the limited character are chased back to back on the character banner, with pity and the 50/50 guarantee carrying over. The signature weapon is chased on the weapon banner, which keeps its own pity, so the two pull counts add up. Random seed 20261021. C1–C6 means 2–7 copies (E, M and S in Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves).

Weapon banners: model check and pulls for the featured weapon

Builds in USD (median / unlucky 1 in 10)

Copy ladder in pulls (median / 90%)

Dollar figures use $99.99 for 6,480 premium currency (App Store base amount, no bonus) at 160 per pull. Real spending is usually lower because players earn free currency.

Charts

Download the code and data

• builds.json
• builds.py.txt
• charts.py.txt
• game_rules.json
• pull_sim.py.txt
• streaks.py.txt

Limitations

• Soft-pity curves are community-measured, not published by the developers.
• Genshin's Capturing Radiance is modelled as a flat 55% featured share; Epitomized Path is modelled as guaranteed after one miss (Version 5.0 rule).
• Whether a lost 75/25 guarantee on weapon banners carries over to the next weapon banner is not stated officially; we assume it does, like the pity count.
• Star Rail's light cone featured share of 78.125% is derived: it is the only value that reproduces the official consolidated rate.
• Wuthering Waves lets players buy some Resonance Chains and weapons with Afterglow Coral; that is not modelled.

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