HoYoverse finally reveals Genshin Impact’s Arlecchino as playable
The 5-star Pyro polearm wielder should arrive in version 4.6
Genshin Impact’s Arlecchino drip marketing has begun, as HoYoverse teased the new version 4.6 character with new art and a character profile. If you’ve played Honkai Star Rail, you can probably guess what the fan reaction’s been like. Arlecchino is to Genshin Impact what Kafka is to Star Rail, a domineering woman who commits crimes, but with a streak of kindness and an impeccable sense of style.
The Genshin community has eagerly waited for this moment for nearly two years. Despite Arleccino only appearing once before the Fontaine story began, the Arlecchino mains subreddit – a genre of Genshin Impact subreddit dedicated to teaching players how to play different characters – already has 26,000 members.
In typical Genshin Impact fashion, there’s a lot of Arlecchino lore scattered throughout the game already – if you know where to look. Some of it’s tied up in Freminet’s character stories, which you only unlock if you spend lots of time with him.
More background on Arlecchino’s rise to power is tucked away in a hidden Inazuma world quest that’s gated behind a hidden exploration puzzle, because of course it is. There’s even an Arleccino appearance in the Winter Night’s Lazzo video that HoYoverse released in mid-2022 and never promoted again.
Or you could just, y’know, read the fan wiki and get a nice summary right there.
The short version is that, if Genshin Impact were Oliver Twist, Arlecchino plays Fagin’s role. She manages a group of orphaned or abandoned children, sends them on intel-gathering missions, and generally gets up to no good, although unlike her predecessor, she doesn’t sell her kids.
In practical terms, she’s a Pyro polearm user, the first of that combination since Thoma showed up on the scene at the end of 2021. Before their official release, HoYoverse’s drip marketing never reveals more than a character’s element and weapon, and the leak scene varies wildly depending on who you’re listening to. A few months back, the consensus was that Arleccino only worked in Overload teams. But that line of thinking died off and now the idea is that her kit resembles Lyney’s, with skills that reduce HP to boost power, then reset her buffs and restore HP.
However, there’s still a long while left to wait before we see Arlecchino in action. Barring a delay, Genshin Impact 4.6 should begin around April 26, 2024. Meanwhile, version 4.5 begins on March 13, 2024, and introduces new 5-star Geo character Chiori and her fabulous fashion doll.