HSR Gacha System Explained: Pity, Soft Pity & the 50/50 Rule
30-second summary: you are guaranteed a 5★ within 90 pulls (rates spike from pull ~74 — "soft pity"). When a 5★ drops on a limited banner it's 50% the featured character, 50% a standard one ("losing the 50/50") — but after losing, your NEXT 5★ is 100% guaranteed to be the featured character. Pity carries over between banners. (🏭 90/74/50-50 are numbers stated by the publisher in-game.)
What is pity?
Pity is a guarantee counter: every pull without a 5★ raises it by 1. If you reach pull 90 without one, that pull is GUARANTEED to be a 5★ — a losing streak cannot last forever.
The base 5★ rate per pull is only 0.6%. From around pull 74 the rate climbs steeply each pull (soft pity), so most players get their 5★ between pulls 75–85; very few ever hit 90.
For 4★: every 10 pulls guarantee at least one 4★ character or Light Cone. (🏭 official in-game figures.)
Want to know exactly how far your pity is from the guarantee? Try it for your own case → — enter your pull count and the tool simulates it instantly.
The 50/50 and the guarantee
On a limited character banner, when a 5★ drops: 50% it's the featured character, 50% it's from the standard pool (Bronya, Gepard, Himeko, Welt, Bailu, Clara, Yanqing…). Getting a standard character is called "losing the 50/50".
Bronya
Gepard
Himeko
Bailu
YanqingThe upside: after losing, your NEXT 5★ is 100% guaranteed to be the featured character — on whichever banner you pull next. This guarantee never expires when a banner ends.
Example: you pull Gepard on Feixiao's banner (a loss). You save jades for a later banner — your first 5★ there is guaranteed to be that banner's character. (🏭 official in-game figures.)
FeixiaoJust lost the 50/50? Try it for your own case → to see exactly when you're guaranteed the featured character.
How is the Light Cone banner different?
The Light Cone (weapon) banner is more forgiving: a 5★ is guaranteed within 80 pulls, and when it drops it's 75% the featured Cone (only 25% to lose). After a loss, the next one is guaranteed, same as characters.
Common community advice: pull CHARACTERS first — they change how you play far more; a signature Cone is a luxury upgrade for spare resources. (🏭 official in-game figures.)
Thinking about pulling for the Light Cone? Try it for your own case → in Light Cone banner mode.
Using your pity wisely
Your pity is visible in-game: Warp → View Details → count pulls since your last 5★. Faster: enter your UID into GameVika's tools to read it automatically.
Three practical tips: (1) don't drip pulls into the standard banner — save for limited; (2) holding a guarantee with ~90 pulls saved means ANY featured character is a lock; (3) without a guarantee, budget ~180 pulls for the worst case (lose the 50/50, then build pity again). (🏭 official in-game figures.)
The soft-pity curve: probability PER PULL (recalculated, not copied)
From pull 1 to 73, the 5★ rate stays flat at 0.6% per pull (🏭 publisher-stated number) — since it never changes, the table below collapses this range into one row. From pull 74 onward the rate climbs by 6 percentage points per pull (👥 community-measured, NOT a publisher number) — the table below shows EVERY SINGLE PULL from 74 to 90 so you can see the actual climb, instead of a vague "around 70-80".
The "cumulative probability" column is the chance you've ALREADY gotten a 5★ by that exact pull — recalculated from the survival-probability formula, not copied from any other site. It lines up with the community rule of thumb: cumulative probability at pull 83 ≈ 99.3% — matching the commonly repeated "pull 83 is basically guaranteed", except here you get the exact number instead of a guess.
👥 Reminder: the pull-74 threshold and the 6%/pull climb are COMMUNITY-MEASURED figures from tens of thousands of real pulls, NOT an official number published by HoYoverse — the game only states the base 0.6% rate and the hard cap of 90.
| Pull # | 5★ rate this pull (👥) | Cumulative chance by now (👥) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| 73 | 0.6% | 35.6% |
| 74 | 6.6% | 39.8% |
| 75 | 12.6% | 47.4% |
| 76 | 18.6% | 57.2% |
| 77 | 24.6% | 67.7% |
| 78 | 30.6% | 77.6% |
| 79 | 36.6% | 85.8% |
| 80 | 42.6% | 91.8% |
| 81 | 48.6% | 95.8% |
| 82 | 54.6% | 98.1% |
| 83 | 60.6% | 99.3% |
| 84 | 66.6% | 99.7% |
| 85 | 72.6% | 99.9% |
| 86 | 78.6% | 100.0% |
| 87 | 84.6% | 100.0% |
| 88 | 90.6% | 100.0% |
| 89 | 96.6% | 100.0% |
| 90 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
FAQ
Does pity reset when a banner ends?
No. Pity and the guarantee carry over between limited character banners. Character, Light Cone and standard banners keep three SEPARATE counters.
Do 10-pulls have better odds than singles?
No — each pull has identical odds. A 10-pull is just convenient. Singles even let you stop the moment your character drops, wasting fewer pulls.
How much Stellar Jade per pull?
160 Stellar Jade = 1 pull. So 90 pulls ≈ 14,400 jade and 180 pulls ≈ 28,800. Use GameVika's Jade Planner to see how long saving takes. (🏭 official in-game figures.)
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