Last updated: 12 July 2026

Genshin Impact Co-Op Guide — Play With Friends the Right Way

Genshin Impact co-op lets up to four players explore Teyvat together — farming domains, slaying world bosses, and showing off builds — with full cross-platform play across PC, mobile, and PlayStation. Knowing the unlock requirements and co-op rules before diving in saves a lot of confusion, so here is everything needed to get a party running fast.

01How to Unlock Co-Op Mode

Co-Op Mode is locked behind two gates every new player must clear. First, reach Adventure Rank 16 — the numerical threshold in place since launch. Second, complete the Archon Quest Prologue: Act I — The Outlander Who Caught the Wind. Both conditions must be met; finishing the quest at a lower rank still leaves co-op unavailable.

Adventure Rank 16 typically takes five to ten hours of active play if daily commissions and exploration rewards are collected consistently. Rushing story quests and spending Resin on Ley Lines speeds this up. Once the rank milestone pops, the co-op icon appears in the main menu.

02Three Ways to Join Another Player's World

There is no single way to jump into co-op — the game offers three entry points depending on whether the other player is a friend, a known UID, or a stranger. Each leads to the same shared-world experience.

1. Friend invite: Open the pause menu, select Friends, switch to the second tab, and enter the nine-digit UID to send a friend request. Once accepted, tap their name and choose Request to Join.
2. Direct UID join: Open the Co-Op menu, select Enter Someone's World, and type the host's UID directly — useful for joining a streamer or guild member without a formal friendship.
3. Matchmaking: Select a domain from the map or adventure book, then choose Multiplayer instead of solo. The game pairs available players automatically, no UID required — the fastest way to find teammates for a specific domain.

03Cross-Platform Play Explained

Genshin Impact supports full cross-platform co-op between PC, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. A mobile player can join a PS5 host, a PC player can join a mobile game — platform does not matter. The only hard requirement is that both players are on the same regional server: North America, Europe, Asia, or TW/HK/MO. Accounts are region-locked at creation, so friends on different servers cannot play together without new accounts on the same server.

Cross-progression is also active: progress, Primogems, and characters are tied to the account, not the platform. Switching from mobile to PC mid-session is seamless.

04What Is and Is Not Allowed in Co-Op

Co-op unlocks a lot of content but deliberately limits others. Understanding the split prevents frustration when a menu option is greyed out.

• Allowed — Domains: Almost every regular domain (artifact, talent, weapon material) can be run with up to four players. Each player spends their own Original Resin to claim their own individual loot, so nobody steals anyone else's drops.
• Allowed — World Bosses: Open-world bosses like the Hypostases and Regisvines can be defeated together. Each player independently spends 40 Resin to claim rewards from the host's world.
• Allowed — Open-World Exploration: Players can explore the host's map together, fight elites, and break ore (each gets their own ore drops).
• Restricted — Archon and Story Quests: Main Archon and most Story Quests are paused and cannot be progressed in co-op. These must be completed solo.
• Restricted — Quest Domains: Story-locked domains that open only during a specific quest are unavailable in co-op.
• Restricted — Chests and Oculi: Guests cannot open the host's world chests, pick up Sigils, or collect Oculi. These are host-exclusive; guests open chests in their own world only.
• Restricted — World Level gate: You can only join a world whose host has an Adventure Rank and World Level equal to or lower than your own.

05Building a Good Co-Op Party

Each player controls one character at a time in co-op (instead of swapping a four-character team freely), so coordination around elemental reactions becomes more important — each person contributes only one element on the field at a given moment.

In practice, the strongest co-op compositions lean on complementary roles:

• Healer or shielder per squad: With fewer swap options per player, sustain is critical. At least one player running a healer like Jean or Kokomi, or a shielder like Zhongli, keeps the party alive.
• Element coverage: Aim for at least three different elements across the group to enable consistent reactions like Vaporize, Freeze, or Superconduct.
• Communication on burst timing: Elemental Bursts can overlap and waste buffs. A quick ping to sequence bursts (buffer first, then carry) makes domain clears faster.
• Respect the host's World Level: Enemies scale to the host's World Level, so bring well-built characters regardless of who hosts.

06Tips for Efficient Co-Op Farming

Co-op shines brightest as a farming tool — a four-player domain run clears faster than solo, and bosses go down quickly with multiple players.

• Domain rotations: Coordinate with friends to clear each other's needed domains on alternating days so everyone gets their preferred artifacts without wasting Resin on runs they do not need.
• Resin independence: Domain and boss rewards draw from each player's own Resin pool — claiming or skipping loot only affects the individual.
• Use the Adventure Book shortcut: The Paimon menu lists available domains with a built-in Challenge in Multiplayer button — faster than travelling to the domain physically.
• Set world access for friends: In Co-Op settings, allowing direct join lets trusted friends enter immediately without manual approval each time.
• Farm weekly bosses together: Challenging a weekly boss in co-op does not reduce individual loot but makes the fight shorter and safer — especially for players not yet comfortable with the mechanics.