Top 5 Genshin Impact 1.6 update features you may have missed

Many players are aware of some of the features found in Genshin Impact's 1.6 update, but some other features are quite easy to miss.

Most players don't read patch notes, instead focusing on playing the game casually and discovering whatever they find in-game. Doing so makes some features easy to miss, especially if a player doesn't religiously play Genshin Impact. Even hardcore Genshin Impact fans might not notice the following features quickly.

These five features aren't the most important in Genshin Impact. For some, they're strictly quality-of-life updates that are easy to overlook. For others, it's a noticeable change, but it wasn't highlighted by miHoYo like several other key features were.

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Five Genshin Impact 1.6 update features players might have missed

5) More slots to upgrade one's weapons

Upgrading new weapons has never been easier (Image via lumie_lumie)

Back then, Genshin Impact players only had six slots to place various materials in whenever they wanted to upgrade their weapons. Now, players are able to slot in 20 different materials to upgrade their weapons much faster. That's more than three times as many slots, which is quite a substantial quality-of-life update.

This Genshin Impact 1.6 feature should allow players to spend about 1/3 of their time mindlessly upgrading their weapons, and it applies to all weapons in the game. It seems like a minor update at first glance, but it will be a feature that Genshin Impact players will love, even if it's only subconsciously.

4) Elemental Mastery Buff

Elemental Mastery is going to be one of Kazuha's main stats in Genshin Impact, so it's only appropriate that miHoYo buffed the stat to be far more useful. Of course, this doesn't only affect Kazuha positively. Any character that can make good use of this Elemental Mastery buff is going to appreciate (with Sucrose being a prime example).

Some keen Genshin Impact players will have noticed this whilst playing the game, while other players would feel like some of their characters got a little stronger.

Genshin Impact 1.6 essentially increased the damage of various Elemental Reactions, with something like Overloaded, Superconduct, Electro-Charged, Shattered, and Swirl gaining over 100% extra damage in some instances.

3) New hotkeys

The "L" key in action (Image via Sportskeeda) 

Genshin Impact players love hotkeys, and can make great use of the two new hotkeys "O" and "L" keys in. These two keys do two completely different things and aren't currently used for anything else in-game.

The "O" key opens up the "My Friends" screen, whereas the "L" key opens up the "Party Setup" screen. The "O" key is instant, whereas the "L" key will take some time to open up. Both are easy to use, and neither hotkey was present prior to version 1.6.

Note: This only applies to the PC version of Genshin Impact, as the "O" and "L" keys are not found on other platforms.

2) Teammate marker is shown on the map in co-op

An example of this feature in-action (Image via ON Game)

Not every Genshin Impact player will always be near their friends in-game. Sometimes, they might have to go somewhere far away for one reason or another. Bbefore 1.6 was released, players would have no idea where their friends are in-game.

Fortunately, the 1.6 update introduced player markers so players can easily identify where their other party members are within Teyvat. Players who don't care about co-op wouldn't have noticed this update, but this is a terrific quality-of-life update.

The little "?P" icon (where ? is a number between one to four) will always show up on the map, so it's incredibly easy to see where one's team is now in Genshin Impact.

1) The Traveler is no longer available for Expeditions

Expeditions will be a little less tedious (Image via Sportskeeda)

Back then, the Traveler was a character players could see on the Expedition screen, but they weren't ever able to send them. Every other character could be sent on an Expedition, except for the main protagonist. Predictably, this was annoying for some Genshin Impact players.

Fortunately, Genshin Impact's 1.6 update has gotten rid of seeing Travelers as an option in Expeditions. Now, Genshin Impact players will only see every other character that is available to put on expeditions. It's a great quality-of-life update that many Genshin Impact players will enjoy, even if it's something they'll overlook early on.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.