Genshin Impact: two deadlines on 25 and 26 August — up to 51 Cryo Keys to spend, and the Adventurer's Booster Bundles are back

Two counters run down to zero this week in Genshin Impact, and neither of them belongs to an in-game event. The first is the web event "Snezhnaya Travel Guide", which hands out Primogems and Cryo Keys and closes on 25 August at 23:59. The second is the return of the Adventurer's Booster Bundles to the shop, available "after the Version 7.0 update" and until 26 August at 23:59, server time.

Both slip under the radar for the same reason: they do not show up in the events menu. The first lives in a browser, the second in a shop tab most players only open at the start of a version.

1. "Snezhnaya Travel Guide": up to 51 Cryo Keys, but not for everyone

The web event is open "to all Travelers with an Adventure Rank of 1 or above" — in other words, to absolutely everybody. It is made up of three separate mission tracks, one of which is reserved for returning Travelers, so the 51-key total is out of reach for anyone who never stopped playing.

• "Snowfield Pathfinder": up to 22 Cryo Keys. This is the only track open to all.
• "Snowfield Homecoming": up to 20 Cryo Keys, but the announcement specifies it is "Available only to returning Travelers". If your account is not eligible for returning status, this track will not appear. Worth noting: "after linking another player's invitation code for the first time, you can also obtain 20 Primogems and 2 extra Cryo Keys".
• "Companion Handbook": up to 9 Cryo Keys, earned "by sharing your exclusive link to invite friends to support you or to link their account". This is the social track, and therefore the slowest one if you play alone.

Cryo Keys are not a reward in themselves: they feed the event's prize draw. That is where rushing costs you — piling up keys without spending them before 25 August at 23:59 amounts to having done nothing, since "once the event has ended, it will no longer be possible to claim the rewards".

The second deadline, the one nobody reads

There is a second guillotine hidden in the announcement's notes: "Rewards will be sent via in-game mail. These mails will expire after 30 days, so do not forget to claim them in time."

Claiming your Primogems on the website is therefore not enough: you also have to open your in-game mail. A player who finishes the missions on 25 August and does not log back in before the end of September loses the lot, having done everything else right.

2. The Adventurer's Booster Bundles: two offers, two caps

The Adventurer's Booster Bundles are back in the shop until 26 August at 23:59, European server time — that server runs on UTC+1, so 27 August at 00:59 in Paris. Both require an Adventure Rank of 25 or above and come with "a 10% discount for a limited time":

• Adventurer's Instructional Bundle — 680 Genesis Crystals, purchasable 3 times. Contents: Virtuous Share Bundle ×25 and Mora ×150,000.
• Adventurer's Jumbo Ore Bundle — 680 Genesis Crystals, purchasable 5 times. Contents: Mystic Enhancement Ore ×100 and Mora ×100,000.

The decisive detail is in a footnote, and it changes the value of the first pack entirely: "Virtuous Share Bundle: after use, you can choose one type of 3-star Talent Level-Up Material from all the options available in the current Version". These are not random materials but tokens to exchange, limited to the talent materials of the current version — which makes them excellent for finishing off a Snezhnaya character's talents, and useless for an old project left half-done.

The second pack is pure Mystic Enhancement Ore: 100 units, the equivalent of several weeks of domain by-products if you are levelling weapons. It is the least spectacular offer and the most cost-effective for anyone with a five-star bow or sword to finish — the cap of five purchases exists for exactly that reason.

What is NOT urgent (and is being sold to you as though it were)

Two other counters are running right now, and there is nothing urgent about either. Best not to waste your week on them:

• "The Godforsaken Frostlands": 400 extra Primogems for completing the exploration missions of Snezhnaya's five new areas — Volkodlak Tundra, Everfrozen Earth, Fellfrost Peak, Flamefeather Valley and White Birch Snowgrave. The window runs until 3 November at 14:59. You have more than two months.
• "To Temper Thyself and Journey Far": the current cycle runs from 10 August to 2 November at 03:59. Eight weekly objectives are needed to exchange a Stella Fortuna, and the announcement warns that Stella Fortuna obtained but not exchanged do not carry over to the next cycle: it is picking the character that has a deadline, not the progress itself.

One last freebie with no deadline: the Game Survey pays out 50 Primogems and the announcement gives its period as "long-term". It is reachable from the Paimon menu, under "Survey" or via the mailbox. Two minutes of questionnaire, once per account.

The order to follow this week

1. Today or tomorrow: finish the "Snezhnaya Travel Guide" missions and spend the Cryo Keys on the draw. Both, not just the first.
2. Within 30 days: open your in-game mail to bank the rewards.
3. Before 26 August 23:59 server time: decide on the packs, starting by checking whether you really have 7.0 character talents to level.
4. Whenever you like: Snezhnaya exploration and "To Temper Thyself and Journey Far".