Genshin Impact Unveils Ineffa: The Artificial Construct with Lunar-Charged Reaction

Genshin Impact has officially unveiled Ineffa, a 5-Star Electro Polearm character from Nod-Krai, set to make her playable debut in Version 5.8. As the game prepares to close out the Natlan chapter of its Archon Quest, Version 5.8 will introduce the prologue of the Song of the Welkin Moon. This final update to Natlan will include a Summer Event, a map expansion, and Nod-Krai's first playable character.

Ineffa is designed to fill a niche that has been slowly developed over the course of Natlan. Electro-Charged was first bolstered by Ororon in Version 5.2, before Ifa came along in Version 5.6 and took the Elemental Reaction one step further. However, it was still missing something, an ingredient that prevented Electro-Charged teams from rivaling the current meta of Freeze and Melt. This ingredient turned out to be Ineffa, who evolved Electro-Charged into Lunar-Charged, a new Elemental Reaction that can not only land critical hits but also scales with all characters contributing to Lunar-Charged rather than just the one who triggers it.

Genshin Impact revealed Ineffa on the game's official subreddit, thus kicking off her drip marketing. As the sole character of Version 5.8, she will no doubt receive plenty of interest, at least until the trailer for Nod-Krai launches. Unlike most Genshin Impact characters, Ineffa is an artificial construct, making her closer to Wanderer or Albedo in nature. However, unlike Albedo or Wanderer, Ineffa was built for a far humbler role, to be the companion of the lonely child who once founded the Clink-Clank Krumkake Craftshop.

From a gameplay standpoint, beta testing has revealed that Ineffa boasts a playstyle similar to Fischl or Emile. Her Elemental Skill summons a totem that continuously deals Electro DMG, while her Elemental Burst reapplies the totem if it's not present on the field. A very simple ability kit whose potential lies in the Lunar-Charged reaction that Ineffa enables. So long as she is in the party, any Electro-Charged reaction gets turned into Lunar-Charged instead. While this functions similarly to Nilou in Genshin Impact, Ineffa is less restrictive in her choice of teammates, effectively opening up the potential for Ineffa to elevate Hyperbloom teams as well.

Another thing that makes Ineffa stand out is that she's also a Shield Support character in Genshin Impact, bringing further utility in her ability kit. While theorycrafters are already certain that she'll elevate characters like Ifa and Cyno, rumors point towards a male 5-Star Electro Lightkeeper coming out in Version 6.0. Given the recent pattern of launching a support and hypercarry back-to-back, Ineffa may end up being the best teammate of this rumored 5-Star. Players should keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks as Version 5.8 is set to come out on July 30, 2025.