It's an interesting discussion and I kind of see both perspectives. Having good 4-stars definitely increases the 'value' of a banner and like
Line said, having good 4-stars is quite important for newer players. The first and most obvious reason is that primogem income is slow even if you are getting all the one time bonuses from doing the story and exploration. It'll take several weeks to accumulate enough to get one 5-star and twice as long to guarantee a character. Keep in mind, new players usually do not have access to events or possibly can't complete them if they do. And then, even when you do scrounge together enough wishes, you won't know who to pull for. The guides you watch on Youtube will mention characters that might be weeks or months away from coming back. So for the most part, you are getting through the game with 4-stars along with whatever lucky 5-stars you happen to get along the way. The second reason is that we know that elemental reactions are mandatory, not optional to succeed in combat. I'm not even sure you can get past Mondstadt without figuring that out. I'm sure it is possible to get through everything with just Amber/Kaeya/Lisa/Traveler but I imagine it would be quite unpleasant unless you're also quite skilled. Having good 4-stars that work well with each other will make life better for sure. Sometimes even having good 4-stars isn't enough. In my case, I've had Bennett for a long time and I tried to make him work but I don't think he's that useful early on in the game. When you're still using blue relics with barely any sensible stats, you won't have the energy regen to get his burst up often enough. Being able to use his burst once every two fights maybe and then him being fairly useless for the rest of the time makes him feel like a wasted slot. Or who knows, maybe I didn't understand the character well enough and he actually is immediately fantastic from the first moment.
That's why I said I think it's a misunderstanding, because we talk about very different parts of the progression. I totally agree with Amzin once you reach the point of "good enough".
But I started the game with Razor and a physical build... he's fine at that, but not very good, even back then (and it's not like I could build a decent reaction team for him at lvl 20, and Dendro didn't exist).
And my 5* were Venti... useful but limited with most chars at the time that were lacking in AoE, and then Tartaglia. Fun char,
not exactly the easiest one to play in an early game where half baked taser teams (that I used) and vape teams where all that were... and with massive gear requirements.
But then I randomly got Keqing, and her standalone kit was enough to make the entire game very easy... and later I tried Yanfei with Xingqiu, Xiangling, Bennett/Babara and that was hilariously strong and easy to play.
Some chars (including standard ones like Diluc) make the game extremely approachable and easy, some are demanding and frustrating if you don't follow a guide, I'd say Bennett fits here, as his rotation and gear needs are linked, so good luck finding the optimal way to play him early all by yourself...
That all said, I still instinctively do not think I'd want to pull for 4-stars on a banner where I don't want the 5-star. The mathematical odds are just against you if you do unless there's a very specific situation in play. Like for example if you desperately want/need all of the 4-star rate up characters. Then you're guaranteed to get any one of them in 20 pulls max and that could be worth it depending on how much you want any of the characters. And of course, you're always counting down your primogems when you're pulling on a banner.
That's a lot closer to "building pity" that definitely should never be done, like with your example in HSR for Qingque. Really frivolous, and much too likely to get a 5* when you don't expect it.
But usually, that's because you already have the 5* on the banner at this point. Or you just really don't care, and yeah, don't get chars you don't like. But the 33% to get someone you want is tempting... and you can really spend hundreds of rolls doing so, statistically, the chances of getting the one you need are worse than 0.6%
I was talking to my friend again and he was again like, you're running out of time to top up your account before the bonus resets. He said there are going to be like 5 archons in a row and I absolutely should aim to get at least 2 if not 3. Raiden (again, obviously) and also Nahida and if Furina is amazing then her too. And I'm like how exactly do you expect me to get 3 5-stars in a row outside of being stupendously lucky? He said buy gems. I said no. So this morning he sent me an Apple wallet code for 3000 rupees and said use this to buy a pack. It's super generous of him but it came with a kind of "fuck you if you're not going to buy it yourself then use this" tone so lol. That's the price of the pack that gets you 3920 primogems. So I guess I'll be buying that today.
So anyway, Qingqiu from the shop. Yes or no? I'm inclined to save for Lisa constellations but maybe that's the wrong choice here. Plus he's on the next banner...
EDIT: Just reading the
Genshin subbreddit thread about the upcoming banners and virtually everyone is saying that they are amazing and actually incredible for new players. Welp, back to square one we go.
Your friend is weird
Be careful to not fall into that spending rabbit hole.
So to get the primogems, it's a bit hard to tell since you don't get every single one of them, but there's roughly 65 rolls given for free every patch, if you do all events (and the Spiral Abyss... but that's a fairly small gain, that one). Except this is Genshin's anniversary, so you'll get 1600 extra primos in the mail, 10 fates as connection bonus, in general you can expect 100 rolls or so during 4.1. Plus you still have lots to do all around, I assume.
So for Qingqiu, if you really want him and think you'll benefit? Buy him in the shop. But if you reeeeally like Lisa and intend to make her a dedicated team, I'd keep my glitter for her. Getting her otherwise is literally a 1 in 62 chances to get her on the standard banner since she will never be on a limited one. And that chance decreases every time another 4* is added to it.
And in a way, that also affects your future rolls: Lisa really wants Dendro characters, so Nahida is even higher on the priority list. Which is not a bad thing, because I'd say that Nahida is easily the best archon, and arguably the strongest support in the game anyway. But she's also MIA, we have no idea when she comes back, and it's probably not that soon.
So... wait for her return, but you have time to get primos in the meantime? The rumors have her at a "maybe in 4.5" at the earliest.
Raiden Shogun is almost guaranteed to come next patch. I would roll for her honestly, she is very, very good, and ultra flexible.
But as you say, in the meantime, 4.1 is here, and that first banner is maybe the best ever, both for characters and weapons (don't roll for that though)... so... I can only tell you to try the characters and see if you like them or not.
I personally do not like using Hu Tao at all, but she sure is strong (if Xingqiu dependent to a large margin, that could also influence how you spend your glitter). Neuvillette seems strong, but we'll see.
Venti I wouldn't go for at this point with your account, if you don't really want him. You're missing much more direct damage options than a mobber like him, I'd say.
So... Furina in 4.2? Her kit is unique, and covers a very wide variety of slots, but it's too early to tell where she fits in the meta. She's Hydro, and there's lots of competition. But like we've talked about before about role consolidation, if she indeed can do off field damage, and healing, and buff DMG+healing, and pneuma and ousia damage on demand, and her skill is longer than its CD (seems like the only constant for archons, heh)... I can't imagine her being bad, ever?