Quick Answer: What Materials Do I Need?
Every character needs 6 categories of materials to reach max level (90) with max talents (10/10/10 or 9/9/9):
- Elemental Gems (ascension)
- World Boss Drop (ascension, 46 total for level 90)
- Local Specialty (ascension, 168 total for level 90)
- Common Enemy Drop (ascension + talents)
- Talent Books (talent levels)
- Weekly Boss Drop (talent levels 7+)
Check your character's Ascension screen in-game — it shows exact materials and quantities for the next ascension tier.
Building a character in Genshin Impact is a resource-intensive process. Understanding the six material categories, where to farm each, and how to plan your farming schedule is essential for efficient progression. This guide covers the universal system — for character-specific material lists, check the in-game character screen or community databases.
Table of Contents
- Elemental Gems (Ascension)
- World Boss Drops (Ascension)
- Local Specialties (Ascension)
- Common Enemy Drops (Ascension + Talents)
- Talent Books
- Weekly Boss Materials (Crowns & Talent 7+)
- Farming Schedule & Planning
- FAQ
Elemental Gems (Ascension Stones)
Every character uses elemental gems matching their vision element. A character reaching Level 90 needs:
- 1x Sliver
- 9x Fragment
- 9x Chunk
- 6x Gemstone
Sources: World bosses (most efficient), weekly bosses, crafting from lower-tier gems (Alchemy table), Stardust Exchange (Paimon's Bargains), events. Dust of Azoth (from Stardust Exchange) converts gems between elements — useful when you have excess of one element.
World Boss Drops (Ascension Material)
Each character requires drops from a specific world boss. You need 46 boss drops total to reach Level 90. At World Level 8 (AR 55+), each boss kill drops 2-3 pieces, meaning roughly 15-23 boss kills. Resin cost: 40 per claim (no discount).
Common boss-character pairs (NEEDS VERIFICATION for 5.x additions): Pyro Regisvine, Cryo Regisvine, Anemo Hypostasis, Electro Hypostasis, Geo Hypostasis, Hydro Hypostasis, Dendro Hypostasis, Primo Geovishap, Maguu Kenki, Perpetual Mechanical Array, Ruin Serpent, Aeonblight Drake, Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix, etc. Check your character's ascension screen for the exact boss.
Local Specialties
168 local specialties are needed for Level 90. These are region-specific plants/items found only in the open world (not obtainable from domains or bosses). Each character uses exactly one type of local specialty.
Key farming rule: Local specialties respawn every 48 real-world hours after collection. You cannot farm all 168 in one day — expect 3-4 respawn cycles (6-8 real days) of full map collection. Join friends' worlds to halve this time. Most regions have 60-80 nodes per world, so you need 2-3 full collection runs.
Common Enemy Drops
Hillichurl masks, slime condensate, treasure hoarder insignias, etc. Used for both ascension and talent leveling. Higher world levels drop higher-tier versions, but you'll need to craft up from lower tiers as well. Always pick up drops from every enemy you kill — the quantity required scales up dramatically at higher levels.
Talent Books
Each character uses one of three talent book series per region (e.g., Mondstadt has Freedom/Resistance/Ballad). Domains rotate daily — check which day your character's books are available:
| Region | Book Series 1 | Book Series 2 | Book Series 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mondstadt | Freedom | Resistance | Ballad |
| Liyue | Prosperity | Diligence | Gold |
| Inazuma | Transience | Elegance | Light |
| Sumeru | Admonition | Ingenuity | Praxis |
| Fontaine | Equity | Justice | Order |
| Natlan | NEEDS VERIFICATION | NEEDS VERIFICATION | NEEDS VERIFICATION |
All talent books are available on Sundays. Each domain day rotation: Series 1 + Series 2 on Mon/Thu, Series 2 + Series 3 on Tue/Fri, Series 3 + Series 1 on Wed/Sat. Resin cost: 20 per domain run.
Weekly Boss Materials & Crowns
Talent levels 7 through 10 require weekly boss materials exclusive to specific bosses. Each boss drops 2-3 materials per week (one claim at reduced Resin cost: 30/60/60 for 1st/2nd/3rd boss claimed). Materials are random — you may not get the one your character needs each week. Dream Solvent (drop from weekly bosses) lets you convert between materials from the same boss.
Crowns of Insight are required for talent level 10 (max). Extremely limited — mostly from limited events and certain permanent content milestones (Sacred Sakura, Tree of Dreams, Fountain of Lucine). Never waste crowns on characters you don't intend to max out.
Farming Schedule & Planning
Optimal weekly farming rotation for a character you're building:
| Day | Farm | Resin Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Character's talent book day | Talent domain (Condensed Resin recommended) | ~100-160 |
| Any day | World boss (for ascension drops + gems) | ~80-120 |
| Sunday | Catch up on talent books or bosses | Flexible |
| Weekly reset | 3 weekly bosses (reduced Resin cost) | 90 (30+30+30) |
| Farming route daily | Local specialties + common enemy route | 0 Resin |
Total Resin needed to max one character (Level 90, Talents 9/9/9): roughly NEEDS VERIFICATION — depends on luck with boss drops, talent book drop rates, and whether you need to farm gems separately.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Should I level a character to 90 or stop at 80?
A: For most characters, stopping at 80/90 (ascended but not leveled) is optimal. The 80→90 level costs enormous XP books for relatively small stat gains. Exceptions: characters who scale on HP (Hu Tao, Yelan, Nilou, Neuvillette), DEF (Itto, Albedo, Noelle), or trigger transformative reactions (Swirl, Hyperbloom, Burgeon — these scale with character level). For these, level 90 is worth it. For ATK-scaling DPS characters, the gains are marginal.
Q: What's the fastest way to farm local specialties?
A: Co-op. Join a friend's world and collect their specialties. Most specialties have farming routes published on community interactive maps. Additionally, some characters have passive talents that mark local specialties on the minimap (e.g., Klee shows Mondstadt specialties, Qiqi shows Liyue specialties). Bring them in your party while farming.
Q: Do I need to triple-crown every character?
A: Absolutely not. Crowns are extremely limited. Most characters have 1-2 priority talents worth crowning (e.g., Raiden's Burst, Nahida's Skill, Bennett's Burst). Normal attacks on support characters almost never need crowns. Be conservative with crowns — you can't get them back.
Q: Is it better to farm talent books or boss materials first?
A: Boss materials first, because they're required for ascension (which gates level). You can only level talents to the maximum allowed by your ascension tier. A Level 40 character can only reach Talent level 2 — farming talent books first would be wasted until you ascend them. Ascend → level → talents, in that order.
Q: How do I get more Dream Solvent?
A: Dream Solvent is a random drop from weekly bosses. There's a roughly 33% chance per boss, so farming all 3 weekly bosses each week yields approximately 1 Dream Solvent per week on average. It's RNG-dependent, so stockpile them when you can. Dream Solvent converts weekly boss materials from the same boss — not between different bosses.