Genshin 7.2 Recap: Mitya, Valeriy and the Snezhnaya Crisis

The Version 7.2 Special Program aired October 23, 2026, and it is a lot. Two new characters, a new Snezhnaya zone, the next stretch of the Archon Quest, and a trailer that drops lore bombs faster than you can pause it. Here is everything that matters for your pulls, your Primogems and your Energy Recharge plans.

What's new in 7.2

The version is called Hour of Ruin, and it is mostly the story. Chapter 7 Act 5, also named Hour of Ruin, continues directly from Act 4. Chapter 7 Act 6, A Yesterday Sent From Beyond, is available in the same version, and both pay out extra rewards if you finish them during the update window (quest names and reward window via Game8).

The premise: the Nails of Retribution across all seven nations have gone active, and the Hallowing, the land-sanctification process that already hit Watatsumi Island in older lore, is spreading across Teyvat. Everything inside the zones evaporates. The Tsaritsa responds by organizing a summit with representatives of all seven nations, which is why the trailer shows Archons in one room for the first time.

Neuvillette shows up as a Dragon Sovereign with judging rights over Archons. Furina does not, because she is an ordinary human now. Columbina is missing from the meeting as well, and CatWithBlueHat's 7.2 trailer breakdown flags that absence as one of the bigger open questions going into the patch (meeting details from the October 23 Special Program, reading credited to CatWithBlueHat).

New characters: Mitya and Valeriy

Mitya is a 5-star Electro Catalyst user from Snezhnaya and the banner headline. His kit orbits the Detection Core: a 20-second field that turns the team's Superconduct reactions into Stellar Superconduct and stacks Gradient Beacons. Hold his skill and the detection device overheats, which lets him spend several stacks at once for consecutive special Charged Attacks. His Burst hits a wide area with Electro damage and grants charges immediately.

Stat-wise he ascends with 38.4% CRIT DMG, so he gets nothing for free on the Energy Recharge front. His Burst costs 60 energy with a 15-second cooldown, and his skill sits at a 15-second cooldown with an estimated 4 Electro particles per cast. C1 is the only energy effect in his kit: plus 10 Energy per stack, with an 8-second internal cooldown. Kit details from the Special Program; numbers from our beta character data, still flagged as untested.

Valeriy is the 4-star Electro Sword support that runs alongside him. He deploys the Supercharged Shield with his skill, a 10-second cooldown shield that also grants Impact Momentum. Spend the momentum on his special Charged Attack and the active character gets the Offensive Directive buff, which boosts Electro damage. His Burst costs 60 energy, runs 15 seconds of cooldown and lasts 12 seconds on field.

Valeriy ascends with 24% ATK because both his shield and his buff scale on ATK. He also has the small economy touches HoYoverse likes to sprinkle on Snezhnaya units: extra expedition rewards when you send him out for 20-hour jobs in Snezhnaya, and he shows up as an open-world NPC you can talk to.

Both kits are beta data. Skill names already changed once between beta V1 and V2, so treat every number above as a working draft until launch day.

Genshin 7.2 banner schedule

Phase	Dates	Banners
Phase 1	November 4 to November 24	Mitya (debut) and Furina, with Valeriy rate-up
Phase 1 weapon	November 4 to November 24	5-star catalyst Starsealed Edict
Phase 2	November 24 to December 15	Zibai and Linnea reruns
Chronicled Wish	During 7.2	Varesa, Chasca, Xilonen, Mualani and Kinich

Banner dates via Game8. If you are skipping Mitya, Phase 2 is where your Primogems go, and the Chronicled Wish is the Natlan catch-up if you missed those units the first time.

Genshin 7.2 redeem codes

Redeem these before they die. The Special Program handed out three global codes, worth 300 Primogems in total:

Code	Rewards
HourOfRuin	100 Primogems and 10 Mystic Enhancement Ore
ExpertMitya	100 Primogems and 5 Hero's Wit
PhotoTime	100 Primogems and 50,000 Mora

Codes expire October 25, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC-4 (expiry via Game8, codes cross-checked against PC Gamer). Redeem them in-game under Settings, Account, Redeem Now, or through the official redemption site at genshin.hoyoverse.com/en/gift. You need Adventure Rank 10 or higher to redeem them.

The new zone: Novokitezhgrad

The 7.2 map update is Novokitezhgrad, an underground city built below the frozen Snezhnaya surface. It is the main producer of Kresnik Kristall, the energy source that runs the region, and the Special Program walks through the mine loops, the ice creations you use to break rocks, and the dark kristalls that are taking over the environment.

At the end of the abandoned railway sits the Old Kitezhgrad, the first city of Snezhnaya, founded by the Belyi Tsar. The zone also carries the Hallowing scar where the local Nail of Retribution fell, plus a new field boss called Wavebinder (zone and boss details via Game8, names from the official captions).

Exploration pays: 400 Primogems for clearing the new area inside the event window, and the Archon Quest itself pays 560, both straight from the October 23 Special Program.

Events and endgame

The headline event is The Grand Defense: Defy the Unjust Judgement, a crisis response split across three operations. You rescue wounded NPCs with aerial drones, guide Favonius hawks between zones, and run a purging operation against monster leaders. Clearing it inside the time limit pays Primogems and upgrade materials.

Around it: Stress Block Smashing Project, where a little robot called Diggytron smashes rock blocks, and Frames of Fierce Splendor, a photo shoot event with a Snezhnaya film enthusiast (event names and Diggytron via Game8). Ley Line Overflow reruns for the Mora and EXP, and Envisaged Echoes adds challenges for Yae Miko and Xilonen.

Two rewards worth tracking separately, both from the Special Program: Secret Tsarist Assignment: Part II pays out a Snezhnaya-themed wind glider when you clear it inside the window, and when the Hallowing threat drops far enough you get to invite a 4-star character of your choice.

What the 7.2 trailer revealed

The trailer rewards pause-spamming. CatWithBlueHat's breakdown of the 7.2 Snezhnaya trailer collects the details most viewers miss, and three of them matter for the story:

• Esoptron is the name of Celestia's automated system. It runs the Trial of Usurpation that every god gets summoned to, and it shares a voice actor with Paimon (CatWithBlueHat's reading of the trailer).
• Phanes is back in the conversation. CatWithBlueHat reads the line "Even you do not know what love is" as being addressed to the first Descender, and treats their awakening after the Cataclysm as an open question for 7.2 rather than a settled fact.
• Zhongli's contract with the Tsaritsa is finally on the table. The trailer quotes "the final contract, too, must now be fulfilled," which is the version 1.1 thread the community has been waiting on since 1.1.

The same trailer also shows the complete Teyvat map, with a full ocean between Snezhnaya and Mondstadt, and the red Blightkristalls tied to the dead Cryo Dragon's authority.

Energy Recharge targets for your 7.2 pulls

This is the part where the 60-cost Burst matters. Both new characters sit in the cheapest energy tier in the game, and neither of them ascends into Energy Recharge, so every point you run comes from your gear.

Our beta ER targets for both units:

Character	Team	ER target
Mitya	Standard team with an Electro battery	130-150%
Mitya	Solo Electro, no battery	150-170%
Mitya	Favonius weapon on a teammate	120-140%
Valeriy	Stellar-Conduct team with Mitya	140-160%
Valeriy	Solo Electro, no battery	160-180%
Valeriy	Favonius weapon on a teammate	130-150%

Those ranges are beta estimates from our character guide data, not release values. Particle counts are still unverified, so re-run them through the calculator once the patch drops and the data settles. For the general targets that do not move between patches, the Genshin ER guide by role has the full breakdown.

Two build notes while you wait. Valeriy wants an ER sands option more than Mitya does, because he catches particles off field and his shield uptime depends on cycling the Burst. And Mitya's C1 is the real energy breakpoint: plus 10 Energy per stack changes how often he can Burst in a Stellar-Conduct rotation.

If you want the full kit breakdowns before committing Primogems, both characters already have pages: Mitya and Valeriy. Run your draft team through the calculator and see which ER targets you can actually hit with the substats you own.

What's next

Version 7.2 releases November 4, 2026, with the launch date confirmed in the October 23 Special Program and banner windows via Game8. The livestream codes die October 25, so grab those today. The Miliastra Wonderland: Moments to Treasure web event opens November 27 (Special Program) if you want the event-exclusive rewards on top.

For context on where the Snezhnaya story left off, the 7.1 recap covers Vesna, Vodyanitsa and the free 5-star selector. And if you are weighing whether Mitya is worth your investment, the Mitya value check already makes that case with numbers.