NTE: Neverness to Everness Banner Guide & 50/50 System

Three months after the global launch on April 29, 2026, NTE: Neverness to Everness continues to carve out its own place in the gacha action-RPG landscape. The title from Hotta Studio, published by Perfect World, stands out for having a summon system unlike any other: the Scarborough Fair. And above all, unlike its competitors, it does away entirely with the infamous 50/50 on Limited banners. With version 1.2 "999 Nights" still ongoing and the arrival of Shinku followed by Iroi, it's time to take stock of the gacha mechanics, currencies, pity, and the characters that are actually worth your dice.

The Scarborough Fair: a gacha unlike any other

Forget everything you know about one-click ten-pull summons. NTE presents its system as a board game. Each pull has you roll a die that moves a token along a track; the spaces you pass through unlock various rewards: characters, Arcs (the weapons), secondary currencies, ascension materials. On Limited boards, the track is shorter and designed to concentrate rewards on the update's featured character.

This playful presentation hides a very classic statistical architecture: the rates are fixed, a hard pity exists, and pulls are fungible across banners. In other words, don't be fooled by the packaging: every space you cross costs a die, and every die costs premium currency. The board game veneer adds a satisfying sense of visible progress, but the economy is still that of a traditional gacha — a much more generous one, as we'll see.

Limited boards vs. standard board: don't get them mixed up

NTE distinguishes two main families of banners plus a weapon banner, each with its own summon currency:

• Limited character board: the event banner that rotates every three weeks and features an exclusive S-class character. It's played using Solid Dice.
• Standard board: the permanent banner that contains the entire "base" roster. It's played using Crafted Dice and there's no point pushing it beyond the free pulls you're given.
• Arc Shop: the signature weapon banner tied to each limited character. It's played using Tri-Keys and also benefits from a guarantee with no 50/50 on the featured Arc.

The dice are not interchangeable between the three systems. The classic new-player trap is burning through your Crafted Dice on the standard board when the only board that yields new content is the limited one. Golden rule: always save your Solid Dice for the character you're aiming for, and convert currency accordingly.

The currencies you need to know before spending a single euro

NTE stacks up eight currencies, but only a handful actually drive your summoning economy. Here are the ones you need to know by heart.

The exchange rate to remember: 160 Annulith = 1 die. Since hard pity is reached at 90 pulls, you theoretically need 14,400 Annulith to guarantee a character. The real question becomes: how long does it take a free-to-play player to gather that amount? We answer that below.

Pity explained: NTE kills the 50/50, and that's huge

On limited character banners, pity works as follows:

• Soft pity at 70 pulls: the Board Modification kicks in and boosts the S-class summon rate from 1.87% to around 19.59%.
• Hard pity at 90 pulls: an S-class is guaranteed if you still haven't obtained one.
• Zero 50/50: every S-class pulled on a limited banner is guaranteed to be the featured character. No random standard character stealing your pity.
• Full carryover: your pull counter, your pity progress, and your gift points carry over from one limited banner to the next. No reset from one version to the next.

This combination radically changes the risk calculation. Where a Genshin or Star Rail player statistically has to count on 160 pulls to guarantee their rate-up character (because of the 50/50), an NTE player guarantees it within 90 pulls at most, and often far fewer thanks to the soft pity at 70. The average budget for hunting down a limited character falls to around 75-80 pulls in practice, a third less than a "standard" gacha. This is the game's big F2P selling point, and it holds up perfectly three months after launch.

Version 1.2 "999 Nights": active banners in July 2026

The July 8 update redistributed priorities. Three banners are active simultaneously:

• "Before Dawn" — Shinku (July 8 → July 28). New S-rank Cosmos DPS, on-field focused, she builds up a "Defiant Spirit" gauge before shifting into Surging Crimson state to chain aerial combos and Dragon's Breath Verdict. She's the heaviest-hitting Cosmos carry in the meta to date, even against 1.1's DPS units.
• "Lifeline" — Iroi (July 29 → August 19). The game's first true healer, Anima-oriented. Her "Regression" gimmick prevents an ally from dying by temporarily granting them invincibility; her three sheep (Morpheus, Icelos, Phantasos) alternate between healing, buffs, and crowd control. An indispensable Swiss Army knife for endgame content.
• "Blushing Mirage" Bow (July 8 → July 29). Shinku's signature S-rank bow, pulled with Tri-Keys. The weapon banner follows the same no-50/50 rule: the guaranteed S is indeed the one displayed.

A "Determination Special Program" doubles down on Iroi through side events, with Determination Keys handed out via 999 Nights mode missions. Don't let them expire: they convert directly into pulls.

Should you pull Shinku, Iroi, or wait?

The debate has divided the community for three weeks now. Here's our take, for F2P and light spenders alike:

In short: if you can only pull one character this version, go for Iroi. A support who prevents death is priceless once the tough Anomalies start showing up. Shinku remains the best Cosmos DPS, but she'll be rerunnable later, like all NTE rate-ups — the studio has already confirmed the rerun cycle at a pace of once every 3 to 4 patches.

How many pulls can a free-to-play player save per patch?

The studio has fine-tuned the distribution pace of Solid Dice and Annulith. Over a standard 6-week version, a disciplined F2P player accumulates on average:

• Around 60 to 70 pulls from login rewards, mail, and daily missions,
• 10 to 15 additional pulls per major narrative event, with two big events per version,
• 10 pulls from fully exploring newly unlocked zones (anomaly seekers, hidden chests, side quests),
• 10 pulls per completed tier of the free Battle Pass.

Expected total: 90 to 105 pulls every 6 weeks. Enough to guarantee one limited character per patch with a slight safety buffer, provided you don't waste your dice on the standard banner. Reminder: since the pity counter carries over, an F2P player can alternate "pulling every other version" to target a rarer character and stack up pity at will.

Should you top up? The light spender math

For those considering pulling out the credit card, the purchase hierarchy is clear:

1. Premium Battle Pass: the best pull-per-euro ratio in the game, roughly 10 pulls added plus ascension materials.
2. Monthly "Annulith" subscription: pays for itself after 20 consecutive login days, must be renewed every month to stay optimal.
3. Rift Crystal tier top-up: only take the first x2 bonus on each tier, never the full-rate purchases.
4. Steam Starter Pack: worthwhile once, best reserved for new accounts.

Absolutely avoid: cosmetic packs advertised as "limited" — they all come back to the shop after a few months, as with most gacha games from the same publisher.

What's coming next: version 1.3 and the roadmap

Post-1.2 drip marketing has already revealed the next two S-rank characters: Zankou and Linko, expected on August 20 with the launch of version 1.3. Neither has received a finalized kit in the official datamine yet, but leaks point to a single-target Chaos DPS for Zankou and an Anima sub-DPS for Linko. It's impossible to be more precise at this stage — we'll update this guide once the new limited banners are confirmed.

On the systems side, Hotta Studio has promised quality-of-life improvements to the Scarborough Fair starting in 1.3: one-click selection of a batch of dice to consume, a clearer pull history, and above all a pity counter permanently visible on the pull screen. These three long-requested additions should make tracking your guarantees considerably less tedious.

Our tips for clean pulling

• Never convert your Rift Crystals into dice before choosing your target: the conversion is irreversible.
• Go through the full "Fair" tutorial before your first real pull: it grants a bonus Solid Die.
• Clear out event shops first: limited currencies expire, Annulith doesn't.
• Never pull a Bow before securing the character who will wield it: an S-rank Bow on an account with no main damage dealer is a waste.
• Watch leaks with caution: NTE is now on its 4th major version and the meta moves fast. Don't pull a character based solely on a pre-release rating.

Conclusion: NTE, the least stressful gacha on the market

Three months after launch, the promise NTE has kept remains rare in the industry: a transparent pull system, with no 50/50, pity carried over between banners, and a generous dice distribution. The Scarborough Fair hides a classic mechanic but cleans up its usual pain points. In practical terms, an attentive F2P player can guarantee one limited character per version without ever spending money. For this 1.2, the question isn't even whether to pull but who — and our answer is Iroi. Lock in your Solid Dice until July 29, clear out your event shops before then, and you'll head into 1.3 with peace of mind, with the best healer in the game on your roster.