Genshin Impact 4.3 release time and Navia banner explained

The Genshin Impact 4.3 release time is upon us. The next chapter of Fontaine, "Roses and Muskets," will introduce the new five-star character Navia, who's been a key figure in the region's central quest, with new four-star Chevreuse to come in the second half of the update. 

Version 4.3 and Navia's debut banner will technically start Tuesday, December 19 for many Western players, likely at around 7pm PT / 10pm ET depending on maintenance downtime. Players across the pond will get access around 3am BT / 4am CET on Wednesday, December 20. 

Navia will debut alongside a rerun banner for Kamisato Ayaka, a well-regarded Cryo damage dealer. The banner's shared four-star character lineup is solid. Sucrose is one of the best four-stars due to her grouping, elemental mastery transfer, and Anemo normal attacks. Rosaria is a solid freeze and melt sub-DPS too, though the third four-star, Candace, is quite underwhelming with niche-at-best uses. 

The pair's matching weapon banner features the new axe-like claymore Verdict and Ayaka's signature sword Mistsplitter Reforged, along with an underwhelming collection of four-star weapons. 

From the version 4.3 reveal livestream, we know that Navia is a Geo user who primarily uses her elemental skill to deal damage in a shotgun-like conical AoE. Her elemental burst summons a long-lasting barrage of auto-targeted cannon fire that helps stack up her unique skill-boosting buff, and her normal attacks get a brief Geo infusion whenever you use her elemental skill. 

The odds are stacked against her with Geo being the weakest of Genshin Impact's seven elements, but Navia could be the muscle that the element needs, especially since she's designed to be played with non-Geo teammates unlike units such as Itto and Gorou, as she needs Crystalize crystals to boost her skill. You can find her ascension materials in this pre-release guide. 

Genshin Impact 4.4 character Xianyun and Gaming were just revealed, too.