Open Gaming Forensic LabCase file: What It Costs to Max Out a Limited 5★: C6, E6, M6 and S6 in Genshin, Star Rail, ZZZ and Wuthering Waves
Seven copies of one limited character. That is what C6, E6, M6 or S6 means in Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves. We simulated 500,000 players per game climbing the whole ladder from the officially published rules, and priced every rung.
Finding. Maxing out a limited 5-star costs a typical player about $1,400 in Wuthering Waves, about $1,550 in Genshin and Star Rail, and about $1,600 in Zenless Zone Zero, paying cash from zero. Each extra copy costs roughly the same, about 90 pulls, and the more copies you chase, the less luck changes the total: the unlucky player pays about twice the typical price for one copy, but only about 25% more for all seven.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to get a limited 5-star to C6, E6, M6 or S6?
For a typical player paying cash from zero, seven copies cost about $1,558 in Genshin Impact (C6), $1,546 in Honkai: Star Rail (E6), $1,615 in Zenless Zone Zero (M6) and $1,402 in Wuthering Waves (S6).
How many pulls does each extra copy cost?
About 90 pulls per extra copy in the HoYoverse games and about 80 in Wuthering Waves, roughly the same at every rung.
How much does bad luck change the cost of C6?
For one copy, the unlucky 1 in 10 pays about twice the typical price ($383 vs $195 in Genshin Impact). For seven copies they pay only about 25% more ($1,921 vs $1,558), because luck evens out over many copies.
What does a full C6 plus signature weapon cost?
For a typical player: about $1,773 in Genshin Impact, $1,706 in Honkai: Star Rail, $1,768 in Zenless Zone Zero and $1,536 in Wuthering Waves.
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
| Game | Featured share | Model 5★ | Official | Model featured | Official | Median pulls | 90% | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genshin Impact | 37.50% | 1.878% | 1.850% | 1.156% | not published | 79 | 133 | 148 |
| Honkai: Star Rail | 78.12% | 1.872% | 1.870% | 1.536% | 1.534% | 68 | 118 | 152 |
| Zenless Zone Zero | 75.00% | 2.004% | 2.000% | 1.603% | 1.600% | 67 | 114 | 151 |
| Wuthering Waves | 100.00% | 1.848% | 1.800% | 1.848% | not published | 68 | 73 | 80 |
Builds in USD (median / unlucky 1 in 10)
| Game | C0 | C0 + weapon | C2 | C2 + weapon | C6 | C6 + weapon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genshin Impact | $195 / $383 | $435 / $622 | $664 / $921 | $884 / $1,143 | $1,558 / $1,921 | $1,773 / $2,153 |
| Honkai: Star Rail | $195 / $383 | $368 / $556 | $657 / $913 | $820 / $1,091 | $1,546 / $1,908 | $1,706 / $2,081 |
| Zenless Zone Zero | $198 / $383 | $370 / $556 | $691 / $946 | $842 / $1,113 | $1,615 / $1,978 | $1,768 / $2,148 |
| Wuthering Waves | $180 / $346 | $343 / $509 | $597 / $827 | $733 / $965 | $1,402 / $1,736 | $1,536 / $1,874 |
Copy ladder in pulls (median / 90%)
| Game | C0 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genshin Impact | 79 / 155 | 174 / 253 | 269 / 373 | 361 / 470 | 452 / 576 | 541 / 678 | 631 / 778 |
| Honkai: Star Rail | 79 / 155 | 171 / 250 | 266 / 370 | 358 / 468 | 447 / 570 | 537 / 673 | 626 / 773 |
| Zenless Zone Zero | 80 / 155 | 183 / 265 | 280 / 383 | 375 / 483 | 467 / 593 | 560 / 698 | 654 / 801 |
| Wuthering Waves | 73 / 140 | 158 / 231 | 242 / 335 | 324 / 426 | 406 / 520 | 487 / 611 | 568 / 703 |
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
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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