Wuthering Waves 2.3 and 2.4 Banners: A Retrospective Look at Zani, Ciaccona, Cartethyia & More

I still remember the rush of anticipation when Kuro Games officially confirmed Zani and Ciaccona for version 2.3 all the way back in late April 2025. As a player who had been grinding Rinascita since its launch, the drip marketing felt like a personal invitation to re-evaluate my entire saving strategy. Fast forward to 2026, and those updates have become a key chapter in Wuthering Waves history — a moment when the roster expanded in ways we only half expected, and when rerun logic started to feel like a puzzle you could almost solve.

The 2.3 Lineup: Zani, Ciaccona, and Returning Favorites

From the very first leaked splash arts, it was obvious Zani would attract a loyal following. She is a 5-star Spectro Resonator who wields Gauntlets, a weapon type that thrives in aggressive, up-close combat sequences. Her official visual went through several rounds of speculation because the artwork showed a distinct sleeveless silhouette alongside her normal design — a detail that pointed toward a transformable or enhanced mode during her Ultimate or Forte circuit. Playing through 2.3 confirmed those theories. Zani’s kit allows her to strip away those long sleeves and enter a high-speed punching frenzy that melts enemy shields, making her a staple for ToA speedruns even a year later.

Joining her in the back half of the patch was Ciaccona, a 5-star Aero Pistols user whose breezy, mid-range play style contrasted sharply with Zani’s intensity. Her banner arrived with a wave of theorycrafting threads debating whether she dethroned Jiyan as the top Aero carry. Spoiler: she didn’t. But Ciaccona carved out her own niche by providing off-field damage and grouping utility that synergized beautifully with quickswap teams. I pulled her primarily for the overworld exploration comfort — her aerial shooting combos made traversing Rinascita’s floating islands a joy.

Alongside the fresh faces, version 2.3 marked the first rerun for Roccia and Phoebe, two 5-stars who had debuted only a few patches earlier. Reliable leakers like Stepleaker had hinted at this double rerun, and the community split over whether it was too soon. Roccia, a Glacio damage monster, had barely faded from the memory of anyone who skipped her first banner, while Phoebe’s Spectro support capabilities were suddenly in high demand because of Zani synergy. The banner order followed the drip marketing pattern: Zani in phase one, Ciaccona in phase two, with each rerun sandwiched accordingly. I remember emptying my astrites on phase two, only to realize later that pulling Phoebe would have future-proofed my Zani teams better.

The 2.4 Wave: Cartethyia, Lupa, and Surprise Reunions

When leaks for version 2.4 surfaced, the name Cartethyia was already lodged in every lore enthusiast’s mind. She had been a central, enigmatic figure in the Rinascita main quest chain, so her transition into a playable 5-star Aero Sword character felt inevitable. Her gameplay delivered on that narrative weight — Cartethyia’s sword slashes call upon ethereal butterflies and she enters a resonance state that amplifies her critical rate dramatically, reminiscent of a dance of petals. I vividly recall the first day of her banner; co-op domains were flooded with Cartethyias, all testing her parry timings against hologram bosses.

The second new arrival in 2.4 was Lupa, a 5-star Fusion Broadblade user who appeared out of nowhere. Unlike Cartethyia, she had zero prior story presence, which made her sudden appearance in the banner leak a genuine surprise. She wielded that massive blade with a slow, deliberate cadence that rewarded perfect dodges with explosive Fusion aftershocks. While her personality remains somewhat enigmatic even now, her brute-force capabilities placed her among the top boss-killers of the era. Theorycrafters spent weeks debating the optimal Fusion set for her, and Lupa mains became a rare but respected breed in the endgame.

The rerun side of 2.4 brought back Carlotta and Changli. Carlotta had long been considered one of the premier Glacio DPS units — her pistol ricochets and freeze mechanics were nearly mandatory for certain weather conditions in the Tower of Adversity. Seeing her first rerun felt like a gift for those who had missed her initial banner due to Zani savings. Changli’s situation was more peculiar. She had just received a rerun in 2.1, so this second rerun raised eyebrows until rumors about a premium skin for her started circulating. As it turned out, those whispers were true: 2.4 delivered a formal kimono-inspired outfit for Changli that shifted her entire aesthetic, and the rerun banner was the perfect vehicle to push it. I still see that skin in co-op from time to time, and it instantly transports me back to those days of debating whether pulling for fashion was worth the astrites.

Looking back from 2026, the 2.3 and 2.4 cycle stands out as a brilliantly paced stretch of Wuthering Waves. It introduced four distinct play styles, rewarded patient savers and impulsive pullers alike, and solidified the pattern that drip marketing order usually predicts banner sequence. Even with all the new characters since then, Zani’s rapid punches and Cartethyia’s hauntingly beautiful animations remain etched in my muscle memory. If you are a returning player trying to decide which old unit to chase, those two patches still house some of the most satisfying investments in the entire roster.