Iroi Banner Pull Guide — Should You Pull on The Lifeline? Pity, Budget & Value

Iroi’s banner The Lifeline runs July 29 – August 19, 2026 (ends 05:59 UTC+8) on global servers — the second half of version 1.2, directly after Shinku’s banner. She is the game’s first limited S-Rank healer, and the question this guide answers is not “is she good” (she is — see her build guide for the gear side) but “given your account and your reserves, do you pull, and how far do you commit?”

How this banner works — and why it’s fairer than you expect

If you’re coming from Genshin or Honkai: Star Rail, forget the 50/50. NTE’s limited character banner has no coin flip. Every S-Rank you pull on The Lifeline is Iroi herself, and the 90th pull guarantees her outright. There is no losing, no “standard banner character” consolation on the limited pool.

The numbers:

• Cost per pull: 160 Annulith (or one Solid Dice, which is equivalent)
• Base S-Rank rate: 0.99%
• Soft pity: starts around pull 70, rates climb steeply
• Hard pity: 90 pulls = guaranteed featured character
• Worst case: 90 × 160 = 14,400 Annulith

Two more rules that shape your plan. Pity carries over between limited banners — if you ended Shinku’s banner at, say, 62 pulls, you start Iroi’s banner 28 pulls from guarantee. And the standard banner runs separate pity that neither shares nor inherits this progress, which is one more reason limited currency never goes there (covered in the general pulling guide).

The F2P budget, honestly

Chinese-community tracking of the full v1.1 cycle (six weeks) puts free-to-play income at roughly 171 pulls total, or about 191 with the monthly pass. The rough breakdown: daily missions around 60 Annulith a day (~2,100 over the cycle), version events ~2,400, the three Anomaly/abyss rotations ~2,100, story and exploration ~1,000, plus preview-stream codes and update compensation (~600 combined), and a couple dozen limited-pull tickets from login events and the monthly shop.

What that means for The Lifeline specifically: the banner is three weeks long, so an account starting from zero earns on the order of half a version’s income during it — call it 70–90 pulls if you play daily and clear everything. Combined with whatever you’re hoarding post-Shinku, most active F2P accounts can reach the 90-pull guarantee.

The one discipline every Chinese guide agrees on: don’t start pulling unless you can see 90 from where you stand. A half-spent reserve that stalls at pull 74 is the single most common way free accounts bleed value — you get neither the character nor the pity head-start for next banner, because you’ll top out the rest anyway. Count first, then commit.

Should you pull? By account type

No dedicated healer (Edgar/Adler only): pull. Iroi’s dream-lambs intercept damage for the whole team, her ultimate heals and revives, and she converts her own HP into team ATK. She changes which endgame content is clearable, not just how comfortably. E0 is the target — her kit is complete at zero duplicates.

You own Shinku: pull, high priority. Shinku + Iroi is the backbone of the v1.2 “version answer” team; Iroi removes the survival tax that used to cost Shinku a damage slot. This pairing is why Chinese players call her the patch’s must-pull.

Nanally or strong survival already covered: this is the real decision. Iroi is better than Nanally in the support slot, but “better” on an account that already functions is a luxury, not a ceiling raise. If v1.3’s damage dealers matter to you (below), skipping is defensible.

Collectors / comfort seekers: she’s limited with no guaranteed rerun. If you want her, this is the only window you can actually plan around.

The rerun reality

Limited characters never enter the standard pool — this is consistent across every Chinese source we checked. Reruns do exist: Nanally’s first rerun lands in v1.3, which is the useful precedent. But note the timeline — she launched with the game and waited until v1.3, several months and multiple versions, with no advance schedule. One Chinese advice column claims Shinku will eventually join the standard pool, but that contradicts four other sources and reads as speculation; plan as if a rerun is possible but unscheduled. If missing Iroi for months would hurt your account, pull now.

The v1.3 opportunity cost

Version 1.3 is expected to start right after this banner ends (~August 19), bringing Canhong — an Incantation tachi damage dealer, Phase 1 — and Lingke, an Anima unit reported as a sub-DPS rather than a pure support (full preview). The practical math: if you spend to Iroi’s 90-pull worst case from a modest reserve, you may enter v1.3 near zero. Canhong is a main DPS, the role that raises your ceiling; Iroi is insurance and amplification. Accounts with a working DPS but weak sustain should take Iroi; accounts with solid sustain but an aging DPS roster have a legitimate case to skip and guarantee Canhong instead. There’s no wrong answer — only a counted one.

Duplicates: where to stop

The community line is blunt: E0 and stop. Zero-duplicate Iroi already covers healing, shielding, and the damage buff — daily and endgame content included. E1 is a fine lucky accident on the way, not a target. E2 slightly smooths her ultimate rotation and is small- spender territory at best; beyond that, returns collapse. Full breakdown in the build guide.

The parallel Arc banner: skip it (F2P)

Iroi’s signature Arc runs on a separate weapon banner, and unlike the character banner, this one does have a 50/50 structure: soft pity at 60 (any S-Rank Arc, possibly off-rate), guarantee of the featured Arc at 80. It’s listed on the banner as Wrong Door — the same weapon character guides call Dream Pivot Blindfold. Her best-in-slot status is real, but free players should skip the weapon pool entirely: NTE hands out a dozen-plus S-Rank Arcs through normal play, and a character you don’t have is worth infinitely more than a weapon for one. See the equipment guide for how Arcs fit her build.

Verdict

Iroi is the safest pull in the game right now: no 50/50 means your worst case is known (90 pulls), pity you’ve already built counts, and a zero-duplicate copy upgrades every team you own. Count your Annulith, confirm you can reach 90, and commit in one go. If you can’t reach the guarantee, the disciplined play is to sit this one out and carry the full pity into v1.3.

For day-to-day Annulith sources, see the farming guide; for the banner announcement and kit overview, the banner preview; and for four-slot lineups after you pull her, the Iroi team comps guide.