Genshin Impact's current banner phase — Flins and Ineffa, running through September 22 — is the last stretch of Version 7.0 before Version 7.1 takes over on September 23, bringing Vesna and Vodyanitsa banners with it. HoYoverse confirmed the timeline during a special program that aired September 12, giving players their first proper look at what comes next after the long-awaited debut of Snezhnaya.
That debut is the reason this patch cycle matters more than most. Snezhnaya, the Cryo Archon's homeland, has been teased since the game's original 2020 launch, and Version 7.0 finally opened it up on August 12 with locations like Snezhnograd and Morespok. The region carries a colder, more austere tone than recent updates, built around Cryo as its dominant element and a story that starts answering questions players have been asking for years.
What's new in the current arc
Version 7.0 introduced two Archon Quest chapters, "Everwinter Without Mercy" and "Wraith's Nocturne," which push the main story into territory that finally addresses the Fatui's motives and the Tsaritsa's role in the Gnosis-gathering plot that has driven the plot since the beginning. The quest line also marks the in-game debut of Ronova, the Ruler of Death, a character referenced in lore for years but never playable in a cutscene until now.
On the banner side, the patch's first half paired the new Snezhnayan five-star Odette — a Cryo sword DPS billed as the region's signature unit — with a rerun of the Fatui Harbinger Arlecchino. The second half swapped in Flins and Ineffa, giving players through September 22 to pull before the roster shifts again.
- Snezhnaya region opens with Snezhnograd, Morespok, and Glupov
- Two new Archon Quest chapters continue the Fatui/Tsaritsa storyline
- Odette debuts as Snezhnaya's first limited five-star, a Cryo sword DPS
- Flins and Ineffa banners run through September 22
What Version 7.1 brings
The September 12 broadcast confirmed Vesna and Vodyanitsa as the banner leads for Version 7.1, set to go live September 23 alongside the maintenance that closes out 7.0. Neither character's full kit has been detailed publicly yet, but their reveal alongside the broadcast puts them squarely in the Snezhnaya story continuity, suggesting the region's cast is far from finished expanding.
For players still working through Version 7.0's content, the practical takeaway is timing: primogem stockpiles earmarked for Flins or Ineffa need to be spent before the September 22 banner change, since HoYoverse's standard practice is to retire a phase's banners the moment the next version's maintenance begins.
The bigger story here is less about any single character and more about pacing. After years of players asking when Snezhnaya would open, HoYoverse is now treating it the way it treated Sumeru and Fontaine — as a multi-patch arc rather than a single-version event. Version 7.1's launch on September 23 is the next checkpoint in that arc, and how it handles the Tsaritsa's motivations will likely shape discussion well into the fall.
