According to NEP NEP, players can expect Ayaka to appear on their own Banner with the Genshin Impact version 1.4 update. Although MiHoYo has not indicated exact release dates for version 1.3 and later, based on the six-week period of each version update so far, version 1.4 may arrive in mid-March. NEP NEP claims that Ayaka’s Banner will arrive on March 17, 2021.
NEP NEP is the same leaker who also gave us information about another leak, Xiao the five-star character believed to arrive on February 24, 2021.
Leaks Update 1.4 banner:
(grain of salt)
Ayaka 5*: 17 March (Cryo)
??? 5*: 7 April (???)
Mimi 4*: (Hydro)
??? 4*: (???)#GenshinImpact #原神 pic.twitter.com/ndWhbTpWwv
— NEP NEP Genshin Impact Leaks ❄️ (@Nepnep_Impact) December 7, 2020
What this alleged leak also reveals is when the region is likely to launch Inazuma. Developer miHoYo previously mapped out which regions would correlate with which Genshin impact acts, for example the prologue is set in Mondstadt and act 1 is set in Liyue. Inazuma appears in Act 2, with Electro as his main element. This means that the map could possibly be expanded to Inazuma with version 1.4 in March, and miHoYo could have a lot more content planned beforehand, such as Xiao’s story and the Lantern Rite festival.
Also in the NEP NEP data mine is an upcoming four-star character named Mimi, who should be released alongside Ayaka’s Banner. Mimi was previously data-pulled by a Redditor, stating that she is a Hydro Catalyst user also from Inazuma. His style seems to keep up with the same overall cohesive design of Inazuma, which is based on Japan.
As always, it’s important to take leaked information with a grain of salt, both in terms of its legitimacy and because miHoYo has previously stated that this may change the direction of the game. While miHoYo appears to be taking Genshin Impact leakers seriously, having already hit two leakers with legal action, this does not appear to prevent NEP NEP from releasing alleged upcoming information about the game.
Genshin Impact is available now for mobile devices, PC and PS4, and is currently in development for PS5 and Switch.
