A character you want is coming soon, and you already know which materials they need.
You could start farming now and have everything ready the moment you pull them.
But there is one obvious risk:
What if you spend days farming their materials and then don’t get the character?
Pre-farming can save a significant amount of time after obtaining a character, but it also commits Resin and other resources before you actually own them.
For most players, pre-farming is worth it when you are highly confident that you will pull the character and their required materials are officially confirmed. If you are still undecided about wishing—or cannot guarantee that you will get them—it is usually better to be selective about what you farm.
What Does Pre-Farming Mean in Genshin Impact?
Pre-farming simply means collecting a character’s materials before you obtain the character.
Depending on the character, this can include:
- Character Ascension boss materials
- Local Specialties
- Enemy drops
- Elemental Ascension Gems
- Talent Books
- Weekly Boss materials
- Mora
- Character EXP materials
- Weapon materials
The goal is straightforward.
Instead of pulling a new character and then spending several days or weeks preparing them, you already have most or all of the necessary resources waiting.
This can allow you to level and use the character much sooner.
Is Pre-Farming Worth It?
Yes, if you are confident that you are going to get and build the character.
Pre-farming is most useful when you already know:
- You definitely want the character.
- You have enough Primogems or pity progress to make obtaining them realistic.
- Their materials have been officially confirmed.
- You are not sacrificing resources needed for characters you currently use.
In that situation, you are mostly shifting farming from after the pull to before the pull.
The total material requirement does not disappear—you are simply completing part of the work early.
When Should You Pre-Farm?
Pre-farming makes the most sense when the character is already part of your account plan.
For example, you may have been saving Primogems specifically for one character and have no intention of skipping their banner.
If their materials are confirmed and available, preparing them early can make the eventual pull much more satisfying.
Instead of obtaining a new character at Level 1 and discovering that you cannot properly build them for several days, you may be able to begin leveling and ascending them immediately.
Some characters can even be almost completely prepared before their banner if all of their required materials already exist in the game. Character material guides show cases where the required Local Specialty, Field Boss, enemy materials, Talent Books and Weekly Boss materials are all available beforehand.
When Should You Avoid Pre-Farming?
Pre-farming becomes much riskier when you are uncertain about the character.
You may want to wait if:
- You are still deciding whether to pull.
- You are also considering another upcoming character.
- You do not have enough Primogems to comfortably obtain the character.
- Your current characters still need important upgrades.
- The character’s materials have not been officially confirmed.
- Some of the required materials will not exist until the character’s update arrives.
The biggest mistake is treating an uncertain future character as more important than the characters already on your account.
If your main team still needs weapons, Talents, Ascensions, or other important upgrades, spending Resin on a character you might never obtain can slow down your current progression.
What Materials Are Safest to Pre-Farm?
Not every material carries the same risk.
Some resources remain useful even if your pulling plans change.
Mora
Mora is used throughout character progression.
Even if you decide not to pull the character, the Mora will almost certainly be useful somewhere else.
Character EXP Materials
Hero’s Wit and other Character EXP materials can be used on any character.
They are therefore much safer to prepare than character-specific boss drops.
Common Enemy Drops
Enemy materials are often shared between multiple characters, weapons, or other upgrades.
Unused drops may still have value later.
Elemental Ascension Gems
Elemental gemstones are also relatively flexible.
Multiple characters of the same element can use them, and unwanted elemental gems can be converted into another element with Dust of Azoth.
These resources generally carry less risk than farming something that has very few other uses.
Which Materials Are Riskier to Pre-Farm?
Character-specific resources deserve more caution.
Field Boss Materials
Field Boss drops may only be useful for a limited selection of characters.
If you spend substantial Resin collecting them and then skip or fail to obtain the character, those materials could sit unused for a long time.
Talent Books
Talent Books are more flexible than unique boss drops because multiple characters use each series, but they still may not benefit anyone you currently plan to build.
Local Specialties
Local Specialties do not cost Resin, so the financial risk is much lower.
The main cost is your time.
If you enjoy gathering them—or can collect them quickly—there is relatively little downside to preparing them early.
Weekly Boss Materials
These require more planning because Weekly Boss rewards are time-gated.
If a future character uses an existing Weekly Boss, starting early can help build a reserve.
But if the character uses a brand-new Weekly Boss introduced alongside or shortly before their release, complete pre-farming may simply be impossible.
Can Every Character Be Fully Pre-Farmed?
No.
This is an important limitation.
A new character may require:
- A new Field Boss
- A new Local Specialty
- New enemy drops
- A new Weekly Boss material
- Another resource introduced in the same update
If that content does not exist yet, you obviously cannot collect it beforehand.
There have been characters whose new Field Boss or Local Specialty arrived with the same update, preventing complete pre-farming. For example, pre-release discussion around Chasca noted that her new flower and boss materials could not be prepared beforehand, while Escoffier later presented a mixed situation in which an existing Fontaine Local Specialty could be collected early but her new Field Boss material could not.
So don’t assume that every upcoming character can be taken straight to Level 90 on release day.
Sometimes the game deliberately makes part of the progression begin with the new update.
Should You Pre-Farm Using Leaked Material Information?
This is where I would be much more cautious.
Before official information is available, upcoming character materials may circulate through leaks, beta information, predictions, or community speculation.
Those sources are not equivalent to confirmed in-game information.
Plans can be wrong, incomplete, or based on assumptions.
A recent HoYoLAB discussion about pre-farming an upcoming character illustrates the problem well: before reliable material information was available, players could only speculate that the character might require a new boss or Local Specialty.
If you choose to farm based on unofficial information, understand that you are accepting the risk.
For most players, waiting for reliable confirmation is the safer choice, particularly before spending Original Resin.
Should You Pre-Farm If You Don’t Have a Guaranteed Pull?
This depends on how much risk you are comfortable taking.
If you have enough wishes to guarantee the featured character under the banner system, pre-farming is easy to justify.
If you only have enough for a chance at obtaining them, the decision becomes less clear.
Imagine spending weeks collecting:
- Boss materials
- Talent Books
- Local Specialties
- Mora
- EXP materials
and then not obtaining the character.
Some of those resources can be reused.
Others may sit in your inventory until another character needs them.
That doesn’t make pre-farming automatically wrong, but you should understand the tradeoff before committing significant Resin.
Should You Pre-Farm Local Specialties?
Usually, this is one of the easiest resources to pre-farm.
Collecting Local Specialties does not require Original Resin.
If you know you want the character and their Local Specialty already exists, collecting some whenever you are nearby can reduce the amount of farming required later.
A fully ascending character typically requires a substantial number of their Local Specialty, so preparing them ahead of time can remove one of the more noticeable release-day bottlenecks.
However, Local Specialties do not immediately respawn after collection.
If you are preparing for a character shortly before release, you may need multiple collection cycles to gather everything from your own world.
For the exact timing, see:
How Long Do Local Specialties Take to Respawn in Genshin Impact?
Should You Pre-Farm Weekly Boss Materials?
If the character’s required Weekly Boss material is confirmed and already available, collecting it early can be particularly useful.
Unlike ordinary enemy drops or Local Specialties, Weekly Boss rewards are limited by their reward schedule and Resin.
You cannot simply decide on release day that you want weeks’ worth of Weekly Boss materials immediately.
However, there is little reason to convert large quantities of Weekly Boss drops in advance unless you know which specific material you will need.
If you already fight the relevant boss regularly, simply keeping its drops can give you more flexibility when the character arrives.
What Should You Farm First?
If you decide to pre-farm, a sensible approach is to start with resources that are either time-gated or broadly useful.
You might prioritize:
- Weekly Boss materials that are already confirmed and available.
- Local Specialties that require multiple collection cycles.
- Talent Books on their available domain days.
- Required Field Boss materials.
- Enemy drops.
- Mora and Character EXP materials as needed.
The exact order depends on what you already have.
There is no reason to farm 168 Local Specialties if your inventory already contains most of them, and there is no reason to farm Mora if you already have millions available.
Check your inventory before starting a pre-farming plan.
What If You Change Your Mind After Pre-Farming?
Not everything is wasted.
Mora and Character EXP materials remain universally useful.
Enemy drops and Talent Books may eventually be used by other characters.
Elemental Ascension Gems can serve other characters of the same element or potentially be converted.
Local Specialties may eventually find another use.
Character-specific Field Boss materials are usually the more awkward leftovers because their usefulness depends on which characters require that particular boss.
This is another reason to prioritize flexible resources first if you are not completely certain about pulling.
Is Pre-Farming Necessary?
No.
Pre-farming is a convenience, not a requirement.
There is nothing wrong with pulling a character first and farming everything afterward.
In fact, for players who do not care about having a character fully built immediately, this is the lowest-risk approach.
You know you own the character before spending any character-specific Resin.
The downside is simply time.
Talent Books may only be available on certain days, Local Specialties require time to respawn, and Weekly Boss materials can take multiple weeks to accumulate.
Pre-farming trades some certainty for speed.
Final Recommendation
Pre-farm when you are confident about the character, not simply because a new banner is approaching.
If you know you are going to pull them and their materials are confirmed, preparing early can save a lot of waiting after you obtain them.
If you are uncertain, start with safer resources such as:
- Mora
- Character EXP materials
- Common enemy drops
- Local Specialties that do not cost Resin
Be more careful about committing Original Resin to highly character-specific materials.
And if the character requires resources from content that has not been released yet, don’t worry about completing the entire farm in advance.
You aren’t behind—you simply cannot pre-farm something that isn’t available yet.
The simplest rule is:
Certain you’ll build the character? Pre-farming can be worth it.
Still unsure whether you’ll even pull them? Keep your Resin flexible.
