Why Araraki Itto debuts as one of the worst-selling characters in Genshin Impact

Arataki Itto became a playable character with Genshin Impact version 2.3. Even though the hype for the five-star Claymore user seemed sky-scraping, the banner sales tell a different story.

Surprisingly, Itto's banner performed terribly on its debut. So much so that even Kokomi's banner posted better sales.

This article lists some obvious reasons that led to Itto's disastrous debut in Genshin Impact.

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Why Itto's banner underperformed on its debut in Genshin Impact

Based on preliminary insights, it seems only whales, content creators, and ardent followers of Itto wished for him on Day 1 (14-15 December).

Here are some factors that might have played a role in the banner sales:

1) Albedo and Eula re-run banners

Genshin Impact version 2.3 has introduced new dual re-run banner mechanics. As a result, players were able to simultaneously wish for Albedo and Eula. Coupled with that, both banners shared pity reserves.

While Albedo gained a lot of popularity with the Dragonspine event, Eula is one of the strongest physical DPS units in the game. It appears many players ran out of Primogems while wishing for both characters.

Most fans of the Genshin Impact community are either free-to-play enthusiasts or low spenders. Naturally, they would have faced a scarcity of resources when Arataki Itto arrived in the character event wish banner.

Genshin Impact banner sales (Image via Genshinlab.com)

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2) Geo element

Despite his amazing personality and playstyle, Itto's Geo element is a problem for many players. To this day, Cryo, Pyro, and Hydro are the most used elements in Genshin Impact, thanks to over-powered reactions such as Vaporize and Melt.

Itto unleashes his true potential when paired with characters such as Gorou, Albedo, and Zhongli. Players who don't own these Geo characters might have avoided wishing for a Geo main DPS.

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3) Yun Jin and Shenhe

miHoYo has already revealed Yun Jin and Shenhe on its social media handles. Both Polearm characters will be released in patch 2.4, and many players will be saving their Primogems for their banners.

While Yun Jin is a Geo support character (4-star), Shenhe is a Cryo Polearm unit (5-star). Leakers have revealed the playstyle and abilities of these characters. From the looks of it, they seem to be great assets in support.

Furthermore, leaks have suggested that Xiao and Ganyu re-run banners will arrive in version 2.4. Both Xiao and Ganyu are two of the most sought-after DPS characters in Genshin Impact. In fact, it won't be an overstatement that the upcoming re-run banners have affected the performance of Itto's banner.

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Arataki Itto banner is finally recovering in Genshin Impact and here's why

The community is gradually starting to pull for Itto. Apparently, players were waiting to get more information regarding the Arataki Gang leader's damage-dealing abilities, attack scaling, playstyle, and more.

Arataki Itto is arguably one of the best damage dealers in Genshin Impact with a very fun playstyle that revolves around the Ushi bull and his Charged Attacks. Apart from the Redhorn Stonethresher, the craftable four-star Claymore named Whitebind is one of the best weapons for him.

It is evident that Itto is a F2P friendly unit, and the community has finally realized this. There's a high possibility that while wishing for Itto, players will be able to get their hands on Gorou as well. Gorou is the ideal support unit for Itto, and it is undoubtedly a delight to use these characters together.

All in all, it is safe to assume that Itto's banner will gain more attention towards the end of the 2.3 update. Having said that, it is very unlikely that the total sales will ever exceed Raiden Shogun's banner or Hu Tao's recent re-run banner.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinion of the writer.