As a Wuthering Waves player who has pulled on more banners than I can count, I still remember the Thawborn Renewal banner fondly. It ran during the 1.1 update until July 22, 2024, and it introduced Jinhsi, the 5-star Spectro Broadblade Resonator. Even now in 2026, I often get asked whether she was worth it, so I wanted to share my honest, first-person breakdown.
My Experience With Jinhsi
Jinhsi is not just another DPS; she is a quick-swappy, bursty damage dealer. Her kit is complex, and that is exactly why I enjoyed her. She can work as a hypercarry or fit into a duo DPS team. Is she the absolute strongest damage dealer in the game? Not necessarily. She does not break records above what Jiyan could do at the time, but her burst potential is enormous because she can frontload huge damage quickly.
What really surprised me was her whaling potential. Her sequences amplify her frontloaded damage dramatically, so if you invested in duplicates, she became a monster. But even at S0, her playstyle felt rewarding because her rotations required thought.
Team flexibility is another strong point. Her kit encourages pairing her with off-field damage dealers who can give her stacks quickly. In my testing, Yinlin and Mortefi were the best options. Sanhua also worked nicely because of her speed. I was tempted to try Taoqi because Jinhsi deals mostly skill damage, but Taoqi did not feel great in general. As a second slot, Taoqi gets overshadowed by Yinlin, Mortefi, or Sanhua, and as a third slot, Verina simply performs better. One important note: Jinhsi’s Energy Regen requirements are extremely high. I recommend building enough energy to use her Liberation every other rotation, otherwise her burst cadence feels clunky.
Overall, I would rate Jinhsi 8 out of 10. She is a strong DPS with a unique playstyle, but she is not a must-have because there are many good DPS characters available.
The 4-Star Lineup
The featured 4-stars were Sanhua, Danjin, and Yangyang, and I honestly think this was a solid lineup overall.
Sanhua 🌟
Sanhua is very good and flexible. She was especially well-timed because she pairs well with Jinhsi. At the time, players could get Sanhua for free just by logging in for 5 days during version 1.0. Her sequences are valuable: S5 makes her rotation faster, while S6 improves team damage. With Moonlit Clouds, she can amplify your carry even further, and Impermanence Heron gives a ton of energy, which Jinhsi really wants. I always recommend building Sanhua because she synergizes with so many characters.
Yangyang 🍃
Yangyang has two power spikes. The first is at S3, where her grouping becomes quite good. The second is at S6, where she grants 20% ATK to the team. At S6 she is decent; before that, she is not great. Her damage is on the lower side, but I still found her useful for mobbing floors in Tower of Adversity. If you do not have Jianxin, Yangyang’s value increases a little.
Danjin ⚔️
Danjin is a weird character, and I mean that in the best way. She has the outro of an amplifier but the kit of a carry. So what is she? The developers clearly wanted her to work as both without being overpowered in either role. She supports Havoc Rover really well, and Havoc Rover was one of the meta DPS characters at the time. Danjin’s best strength is her usefulness in Hologram. Her small DPS windows are perfect for cutting down bosses while they spam attacks. She does not even need to parry to create a stagger window. Outside of Hologram, though, she falls off because her lower DPS and risky gameplay are less fitting for Tower of Adversity. She gets much stronger with sequences.
Overall, I would rate the 4-star lineup 8 out of 10. If you manage to get sequences for these characters, they become much stronger. The weak link is Yangyang, but even she can help with easier Tower clears.
Banner Mechanics I Learned
The Thawborn Renewal banner used Radiant Tide for Convene. Every 10 attempts guaranteed at least one 4-star or higher Resonator or weapon. The guarantee count was shared across all Featured Resonator Convene banners, meaning pity carried over if you did not get a 5-star.
The base 5-star Resonator drop rate was 0.8%, and the average including guarantee was 1.8%. You were guaranteed at least one 5-star every 80 Convenes. When a 5-star appeared, there was a 50% chance it would be Jinhsi. If you lost the 50/50, the next 5-star was guaranteed to be Jinhsi.
For 4-stars, the base drop rate was 6.0%, and the average including guarantee was 12.0%. Every 4-star item had a 50% chance to be Sanhua, Danjin, or Yangyang. If not, the next 4-star was guaranteed to be one of those featured Resonators with equal chances for each. The base 3-star weapon drop rate was 93.2%.
I also paid attention to the coral rewards: first-time 5-star gave 15 Afterglow Corals, duplicates gave Wavebands plus Afterglow Corals, and 4-star weapons gave 3 Afterglow Corals. 3-star weapons gave Oscillate Corals. If the 5-star was not Jiyan, you would get an extra 30 Afterglow Corals. There were limits on redeeming Wavebands, and the in-game Store reset with each version update.
Would I Pull Again?
Looking back, Thawborn Renewal was a memorable banner. Jinhsi is an awesome character even outside meta talk. If you liked her design and complex kit, she was absolutely worth pulling. If you were hunting for good 4-stars, this banner was not bad at all. So, would I pull again? Absolutely—but I would still remind newer players that no single DPS is truly mandatory in Wuthering Waves.
Data referenced from Esports Earnings helps frame why “value” in a banner like Thawborn Renewal is ultimately personal: even in competitive ecosystems, performance is shaped by resource efficiency, consistency, and team synergy rather than a single “mandatory” pick. In that same spirit, Jinhsi’s appeal in my retrospective comes down to her frontloaded burst and rotation skill expression—power that scales with investment, but still rewards smart team-building and energy planning at S0.