A Short Guide To Important Story Bits About Newer Characters That New Genshin Impact Players Have Missed

As much as I love HoYoverse’s games, there’s one thing I kind of hate about them – particularly if we’re talking about their open-world action RPG, Genshin Impact, a game that kind of punishes players for being late to the party when it comes to story content. If you’re unaware, Genshin Impact has a history of putting pretty important lore information into non-repeatable events. Once these events are over, they’re gone. New players aren’t going to be able to play through that content again, which can be a problem when that information is brought up again later.

With the release of the most recent update and the focus on the characters Alice and Durin, this problem has become a bit more apparent. Specifically with Durin, as there’s technically more than one Durin in the game, and if you’ve missed out on some of the game’s events, it's easy to become confused. So, it’s not surprising that after the content dropped, I saw players on Reddit asking who this new Durin is.

On the other hand, if you’ve been playing and kept up with the events, you know exactly who the new character is when he shows up. Like the original Durin, he’s related to a group of witches known as the Hexenzirkel. Specifically, he’s an artificial human created using the heart of the original “evil” dragon Durin, buried on Dragonspine, and Mini Durin – a storybook version of Durin found in the storybook world of Simulanka. The first durin was created by the alchemist Rhinedottir, and Mini Durin was created by Andersdotter. Both are witches of the Hexenzirkel. Another creation of Rinedottir’s, a synthetic human who serves as Chief Alchemist and a member of Mondstadt’s Knights of Favonius, merged Mini-Durin with the heart of the original Durin to create the Durin players are seeing now.

That’s the general summary. Of course, there’s more to it than that, and while some of it will be found in readables players pick up while exploring, the bulk of the information is from several of the game’s limited-time events. Luckily, there are enough streamers out there recording, if nothing else, the cinematics for these events, and that’s enough to give players an idea of who and what some people are. Of course, it does mean hours of watching.

For all the setup around Durin and the Hexenzirkel, there are several events we’d suggest watching if you want to know more. They actually begin with the game’s very first event. But we’ll skip some, such as the Lantern Right, which, while including characters from other nations, is a Liyue thing. Most Durin-related content is focused on Mondstadt.

To make things easier, we’re including videos here, starting with:

Unreconciled Stars

Introduces the person who would become known as Hat Guy and Durin’s best friend.

The Chalk Prince And The Dragon

Provides background information on the first Durin, Albedo, and their creator.

Midsummer Island Adventure

More Hexenzirkel lore focuses on Alice and Klee, but includes Albedo as well.

Shadows Amidst Snowstorm

More details on Albedo and another of Rhinedottr’s creations.

Windblume’s Breath

Offers more information on the Hexenzirkel.

Summertide Scales and Tales

Where we first meet Mini Durin in Simulanka

Paralogism

How Albedo creates the Durin we have now. This is actually an Archon Story quest rather than an event, but I’m including it here for completion. Also, note that this was around when the SAG stuff was happening, so not everyone is voiced.

Hopefully, this list helps new players. Although, ideally, it would be nice if HoYo would just put the events back into the game so that new players can experience the story for themselves. Sure, reduce the rewards. Just as long as important story bits aren’t gone forever, I’m sure newer players would be happy.