Genshin Impact has a lot of symbology for players to grapple with — and not just in its story, either. Everything from the UI to game mechanics is delineated via icons, and sometimes they aren’t particularly well explained. It can be a lot to grapple with if you’re just starting out, so we’ve compiled a master sheet of all Genshin Impact icons and meanings for you to take a look at if you’re confused.
The UI
Starting with the UI, here’s a quick breakdown:
- 1: This is your minimap. You will occasionally see icons pop up on the minimap as you explore:
- The white diamonds with a blue center are Waypoints, which allow you to teleport to them. If they are grayed out, you haven’t activated them yet.
- The white stars are Oculi — Anemo, Geo, and Electroculi are collectibles that you can use to increase your Statue of the Seven level.
- Blue exclamation points are side-quest NPCs.
- In Enkanomiya, an Inazuma area, there are tilted white squares with a similarly tilted white centerpiece. These are Key Sigils, used for solving puzzles and gaining treasure exclusive to Enkanomiya.
- White hand icons are local materials that you can gather. However, you will only see these if you have the appropriate character on the field — Klee for Mondstadt local materials, Yanfei or Qiqi for Liyue local materials, and Garou for Inazuma local materials. If you have Ningguang, she will indicate Ore Veins to gather from on your minimap with a white crystal.
- 2: This is your event icon. You can click this to access any currently running events.
- 3: This is the Battle Pass icon. Clicking this takes you to the Battle Pass window.
- 4: This is the Wish icon. This is how you access the gacha in Genshin Impact.
- 5: This is your Journal, which is different from your Quest Tracker. In the Journal you can complete Investigation tasks, find out what your daily Commissions are, locate Domains and track down rare Enemies to defeat.
- 6: This is your Backpack. You click this to access your inventory.
- 7: This is the Character Icon. You can click this to access the Characters’ screen to level them up and equip weapons and artifacts.
The Elements
When you play the game, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that enemies sometimes have an icon over their heads. Genshin Impact focuses on interactions between the various elements of Teyvat: Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, and Cryo. Characters and enemies will get affixed with these elements during exploration and combat, and knowing what an icon means is important for making on-the-fly decisions.
From left to right in the screenshot above, we have Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Electro, Dendro, Cryo, and Geo. When an element’s sigil is displayed, it will react to other elemental forces that tag it — Pyro and Hydro combined Vaporize the effects, dealing bonus damage, as an example. If you see these icons on monuments, you need to use the same element to trigger the statue and earn a reward.
