KEY POINTS

  • The first rerun banner for Hu Tao was an overwhelming success based on sales numbers
  • Hu Tao's popularity spiked dramatically compared to the first time she was introduced to the game
  • Her banner currently coincides with the Staff of Homa weapon banner

The latest patch for “Genshin Impact” almost saw a new character banner sales record following the release of the first Hu Tao rerun alongside the release of the new 4-star character, Thoma.

Hu Tao was a popular character when she was first released earlier this year, and her fame only soared higher in the following months, as suggested by Chinese sales metrics obtained by Sportskeeda. Apparently, Hu Tao’s banner nearly breached the record set by the Raiden Shogun in September.

The number of people who pulled for Hu Tao’s banner was so massive that the Chinese “Genshin Impact” servers reached max capacity, briefly preventing any additional players from entering the game. Even players in the North American server experienced some hefty server-side lag during the character banner’s release, as noted by some Reddit users.

Hu Tao sacrifices her health to gain high amounts of Pyro damage on her attacks
Hu Tao sacrifices her health to gain high amounts of Pyro damage on her attacks Genshin Impact

There are several possible reasons why Hu Tao’s first rerun saw massive success. The possibility of players pulling for Thoma is the most likely contributor to this, although it’s also possible that many players now appreciate Hu Tao’s value as a 5-star Pyro DPS character.

“Genshin Impact’s” meta has changed drastically since Hu Tao was first released, and as of writing, she currently occupies a healthy spot in the game’s list of most used characters. In early October, Hu Tao saw a Spiral Abyss pick rate of 75.3%, according to Dexerto, beating the usage rates of other DPS carries like Eula and Xiao by a significant margin.

Fans have attributed the success of Hu Tao’s rerun with the character’s overall effectiveness, fun and mischievous personality as well as the fame of her Japanese and Chinese voice actresses.

The latest update also saw the return of the Staff of Homa’s dedicated weapon banner. This 5-star polearm was tailor-made for Hu Tao and characters who scale off of HP. The Staff of Homa grants a massive ATK boost based on the user’s maximum health while providing a large chunk of CRIT DMG, which is perfect for auto-attack-based characters.

Fans are excited for possible reruns of Ganyu and Xiao, two of the game’s best DPS characters, as Hu Tao’s success might pressure miHoYo to release their rerun banners sooner rather than later.

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