Genshin Impact has announced two new playable characters for version 3.4: Alhaitham and Yaoyao. These characters have been known to Genshin Impact players for some time, as both have previously been leaked or teased, and Alhaitham already exists in the game as an NPC.
Both Alhaitham and Yaoyao were confirmed as playable characters starting with update 3.4, which is expected to arrive on January 18, 2023, if the six-week calendar holds up through 3.3. The confirmation comes from multiple posts on Genshin Impact's official Twitter account. The character announcements happened immediately after TGA 2022, where Genshin Impact joined the ranks of The Game Awards 2022's winning titles by taking home the Players’ Voice award. The social media posts are accompanied by a short description of each character and pictures of their splash art.
Alhaitham and Yaoyao Come to Genshin Impact in 3.4
Alhaitham will be a 5-star Dendro sword user, as seen with his experience in the Sumeru storyline. Yaoyao, on the other hand, will be a 4-star Dendro vision user and her weapon of choice will be a polearm. Their specific skill sets have not yet been officially revealed, but if players consider that they control Dendro, the characters’ focus will likely be enabling or actively executing Dendro-based reactions, such as Burgeon, Bloom, and the powerful Hyperbloom. It remains to be seen if their roles will be DPS, Support, Healer, or something else entirely.
Alhaitham’s announcement for Genshin Impact 3.4 confirms leaks that claimed he would arrive earlier than 3.7, as originally assumed. The character was first introduced in Genshin Impact 3.0, when Sumeru was added to the game. He first appears during the quest Lost in Prosperity in Archon Quest Chapter III. The Akademiya scholar initially helps the Traveler and Paimon avoid being conned by followers of the Scarlet King, and goes on to help the protagonist and their group of heroes disrupt the institution’s malicious plans for the Region of Wisdom and Lesser Lord Kusanali.
Yaoyao was first shown by developer HoYoverse back in Fall of 2020, so if her release is, in fact, in early 2023, Genshin Impact will end a two-year wait. Yaoyao’s Genshin Impact release confirms leaks and rumors, which expected her to be released in the game’s next version. According to miHoYo, the character has been blessed by Liyue’s Cloud Retainer, who gave her the magical device called Yuegui. She seems to be beloved by many, such as Xiangling and Madame Ping.
Genshin Impact 3.3 is now live, engaging players with the recently introduced playable character the Wanderer, who brings a brand new style of gameplay for fans to get acquainted with. The current version has also brought back a banner rerun for Arataki Itto, and will also rerun Raiden Shogun and Kamisato Ayato. The patch also added the card game Genius Invokation TCG, and multiple events are confirmed for Genshin Impact 3.3 to tide fans over until the new heroes arrive.
Source: Genshin Impact/Twitter