Genshin Impact(2020)

Prologue% Route (with Dragonspine) for Patch1.6

Updated 2 years ago by Anemion

Patch1.2: This guide has been updated for the introduction of Dragonspine. This route goes through the new area and does some quests there. Patch1.3 to Patch1.6: No significant changes. The route stays the same

Beware! This route require specific Ley Lines spawns, which are RNG based. It may be possible to influence where the first ley line spawns, however if that is the case, the setups required are still unknown and/or change with time.

Xp values displayed are indicative and are subject to change

Est. time: 2h55 RTA

#Character and weapon ascensions requirements

Kaeya:

1 Shivada Jade (Bought from souvenir shop)
3 Treasure Hoarder Insignas (Drop from thieves in Ley Lines)
3 Calla Lilies (Found near Springvale pond or near Ley Line n°2)

Amber:

1 Agnidus Agate (Bought from souvenir shop)
3 Arrow Heads (Drop from hilichurls in Ley Lines)
3 Small Grass Lamps (Found in Brightcrown Mountains or before going to Liyue)

Traveler:

1 Brilliant Diamond (AR15 reward from Katheryne)
3 Damaged Masks (Drop from hilichurls in Ley Lines)
3 WindWheel Aster (Found near Dawn Winery's Statue of the Seven) Can be ascended after speaking to Katherine at AR15. Currently done at AR17 in the last segment of the run before AR18.

Lisa:

1 Vajrada Amethyst (Bought from souvenir shops)
3 Valberries (not in route. Bought from Chloris)
3 Slime Condensate (Drop from Slimes in Ley Lines) Never ascended

Prototype Rancour:

3 Mist Veilled Lead Elixir (Bought from Liyue souvenir shop)
3 Mist Flower Pollen (Drop from Cryo Cicin Mage)
2 Recruit's Insignas (Drop from fatui soldier near TotE)

#Prologue Act 1 Before entering Mondstadt:

Get 3 Lizard Tails (3 lizards before Starfell Lake, 1 before Windrise Tree)
Collect 2 Iron Chunks
World Quest: “The Art of Cooking” (Meet Linn). Cook 5 food, Process 3 times 1 wheat.
Right after entering Mondstadt, craft something at the forge

Recommended order for Character domains: Amber > Kaeya > Lisa

After Kaeya's domain:

Equip and upgrade THS
Complete "Equip 4 artifacts on a character" mission from handbook. Equip 4 then remove all except Plume. If you can't, keep a mental note of which artifacts type was missing and do it as soon as you can.
Offer Anemoculus at Windrise (LVL3)

Warp to Mondstadt from inside Lisa's domain

Side objectives:

Collect 4 grey artifacts (from commom chests), 2 blue artifacts (from Luxury chests at KHQ)
Collect 8 anemoculus (8/28 needed for the run)
Collect 650 xp from chests / waypoints / offerings. Recommended is 240(chests), 200(waypoints), 200(offerings).

Note : The activation of the 2 Statues of the Seven (Starfell Lake and Windrise, +50xp each), the first waypoint (Starfell beach, +10xp) and the 3 luxurious chests (+150xp) in domains are already included in Quests XP! Quests XP: 3760xp Bonus XP: 640xp Total XP: 4400xp (= AR7, 375/1075)

#Anemoculus Hunt n°1 Buy 3 Wheat from General Store World Quest: “Scent on the Wind” (Buy Fishermen Toast for Paimon) World Quest: "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild" (Talk to Katheryne):

Collect AR Rank rewards,
Obtain Adventurer’s handbook

Warp to TotE:

Kill Fatui Soldier for 2 Recruit's Insignas. (Both always gives 2. Kill both to unlock the chest but it's not necessary. This chest is included in the bonus xp calculation, you will have to open another one later if you decide to skip it).
Kill Cryomage
Activate Dragonspine Adventurer Camp teleporter
Activate Springvale South teleporter
Activate Statue of Seven at Dawn's Winery by killing the Eye of Storm here. (Stack Kaeya's ultimate before this boss. Use ultimate to ignore its stomp attack. Start by inflicting Electro status with Lisa's basic attack then switch to Kaeya to proc Superconduct.)
Offer Anemoculus at Dawn Winery.
Activate teleporter near Cecilia Garden

Warp to Dragonspine adventurer camp Important Note: When opening the map to warp, take the time to check where your Ley Line spawned. If it's somewhere in TWT you're good to go. If it's in Dawn's Winery then you can either reset or try to adapt this route for whatever you're gonna get!

Side objectives:

Collect Calla Lilies (there will be 2 more opportunities later)
Collect more artifacts for upgrades (up to your own judgement)
Collect 9 anemoculus (17/28 needed)
Collect 680 xp from chests / waypoints / offerings. Recommended is 70(chests), 250(waypoints), 360(offerings).

Quests XP: 225xp Bonus XP: 680xp Total: 905xp (=AR8, 205/1200)

#Dragonspine World Quest: "Low-Temperature Warning" (Talk to Iris. To end the conversation as soon as possible choose "See you, then", or pick "So what can you tell me about Dragonspine..." for 4 Hero's Wits. This quest is not listed in the Wiki but it exists.)

Kill Cryo Cicin Mage near the river:

Use plunge attack to knock her on the ground
Push her into the river by chaining charged attacks, Aether is ideal for this.
You need to put her in water deeper than her, be careful because she is taller than Aether so there can be a situation where she standing in water but Aether can't. To prevent that, use Aether's skill to do the last push if you think this will occur.
If you fail to drown her, there is another Cicin you can drown in a similar way later. Or reset.

Damage the ice crystal near the Crimson Tree:

After Cryo Cicin, get one of the Scarlet Quartz.
Run toward the tree, stop when you are about as far to it as the teleporter.
Use Amber to shoot the ice crystal, you don't need to charge your arrow. If you are not fast enough your quartz will expire and you'll have to do a backup.
Activate the nearby teleporter
Use the nearby quartz to damage the crystal. (Break with sword user plunge attack, use Amber arrow for damaging the crystal)
Use the quartz near the 2 cryo samachurls to damage the crystal. (Break with sword user plunge attack, use Amber arrow for damaging the crystal)
Backup: If you missed the first step. Use the quartz behind the tree, shoot through the tree trunk to hit the crystal.
Leave the crystal at 25% hp, you'll come back later to finish it.

Solve the mecanism near Dragonspine Statue:

Pickup a quartz.
Unfreeze the switch, activate it.
Follow the seelie (Taking this chests is still time efficient but not by much (@130xp/min))
There are 3 switches on the pillar to activate (West, North, East), one chest and one quartz to get to unfreeze the statue. There are multiple paths to do this efficiently
Pickup the nearby quartz then drop down this activate the closest switch (West switch).
Jump into the wind to reach the switch on the pillar to the North.
Jump into the wind again, get the crimson agate and open the chest.
Unfreeze the statue. (take this opportunity to set the HP healing to 100%)
If you can't do it in time, you can activate the west switch first then pick up the quartz.
Dash boost to the 2 crimson agate and the chest farther down. Warp back to the statue.
Jump down to the East switch.
Open the chests, get chest in the cave (chest containing one of the book needed for the World Quest "A Land Entombed")
Get another quartz and melt (literally) the Defense Mechanism. Activate the mechanism.
Open the chest at the bottom of the drained area.

Activate the teleporter near the cave entrance:

On your way to the teleporter, don't forget to grab the cryo/pyro damage potions in the cave near the frozen lake. (Examine the destroyed alchemy station)
Optional: If you failed at killing the first Cryo Cicin and didn't reset your run you can kill this one using the same method.
Get into the cave up to the bookshelves room and get the book here (for the World Quest "A Land Entombed")

Head to Mingyun Village in Liyue:

World Quest: "The Tree Who Stands Alone" (Talk to Yuan Hong):
Read the clue in the house
Look for the message near the pond -> in the mine opposite of the houses
Activate Mingyun Village North Teleporter.
Look for the message in the cave near the Shrine of Depth.

Side objectives:

Collect more artifacts for upgrades (up to your own judgement)
Get 8 Crimson Agate (8/10 needed for the run)
Get 1 Geoculus (1/6 needed for the run)
Collect 1050 xp from chests / waypoints. Recommended is 770(chests), 300(waypoint).

Quests XP: 150xp Bonus XP: 1070xp Total: 1220xp (=AR9, 225/1300)

#Main DPS Upgrade [Requirements]: grey&blue artifacts

IMPORTANT NOTE: This segment can also be done in increments during all the previous segments up to this point.

You must meet the requirements to do a step, if not, delay until you do. You have to complete these by the beginning of Prologue Act 2.

Step 1: (Can be done as soon as you get the Adventurer's Handbook) [Requirements]: 1 grey Artifact, 1 blue Plume, 4 different Artifacts types

Open Character Screen (Kaeya).
Level up at least level 18 (You may need extra Hero's Wits for this, either from chests in Dragonspine, handbook rewards or Iris.)
Equip your best Plume on Kaeya (do the equip 4 Artifacts missions now if you haven't done it already)
Upgrade 1 grey Artifact to level 4 using 2 blue + 1 green.

Steps 2a and 2b can be done in any order.

Step 2a: [Requirements]: 3 grey Artifacts, 1 maxed grey Artifact, random artifacts to sacrifice

Upgrade 3 more grey Artifacts to level 4 by using your previous maxed out grey + 1 random artifact.

Step 2b: [Requirements]: blue Plume equiped on Kaeya, random artifacts to sacrifice

Upgrade your blue Plume with everything you have left. (Keep greys if you haven't done 2a yet.)
Your blue Plume has to be level 4 before you can use it as Artifact food for your next Plume. If you can't level it up fully yet, keep in mind that you'll need to do this

Step 3: [Requirements]: 16 Handbook Missions completed inc. "Visit Dawn's Winery Statue" and "Open 45 chests"

Equip all artifacts from the Resolution of Sojourner set (at least Feather of Homecoming (Plume) and Crown of Parting (Head piece))
Use all your remaining artifact to boost the Feather of Homecoming.
This should be your 6th artifact to LvL.4.

Depending on how you did it's possible that the Handbook missions reward "Level up a character to Lv. 20" and "Enhance an artifact to Lv. 4" are yet to be collected after doing Step 3. Don't worry about it, you'll get them later in Liyue.

Handbook Missions completed : 16 to 18. Total : 1600xp (=AR10, 525/1425)

Prologue Act 2 (Story Time)

Warp to Mondstadt KHQ:

Collect Handbook missions, if not done already
Complete Main DPS Upgrade, if not done already
Talk to Jean in front of the Fatui Ambassy
Enter KHQ, talk to Jean then to Kaeya
Talk to Kaeya in the garden, then to Cyrus in front of the Adventurer's Guild
Talk to Paimon near KHQ, then to Kaeya in front of the doorsteps
Join Paimon in the stairs
Hug the wall to evade a cutscene, follow the marks to the upper plaza
Talk to Amber, watch cutscene
Join the crowd and listen to another cutscene

Warp to Windrise Tree, kill the Eye of the Storm after talking to Venti:

Use a Cryo Potion
If it's raining, delay your spells to perma-freeze the Eye (skill > ultimate > skill). Don't use fire at all.
If the eye is doing a ground stomp, use the same strat as for the first one (use Kaeya's ultimate to evade damage and proc Melts using Amber's arrows, bunny and ultimate).

Follow Prologue Act 2 story:

Advance the time to 22h00 (22pm) when prompted to
After escaping the cathedral, buy 2 Wolfhook Juice from Charles the bartender

Fatui Dungeon boss:

Use 1 Wolfhook Juice and 1 Pyro Potion before entering the room
Start by inflicting Electro status
Swap to Kaeya, proc Superconduct and use ultimate
Swap to Diluc, use skill to proc Melts (delay skill activations) then use ultimate
Swap back to Kaeya to finish what's left

Warp back to Mondstadt:

Talk to Katheryne to unlock Daillies
Collect AR rewards
Equip and upgrade Prototype Rancour
Go to the tavern for one last dialogue
Complete Timmie commission. Obey/Anger Timmie. No WR should exists without reminding Timmie who's the one who deserve respect around here!

Side objectives:

Collect Calla Lilies (there will be one more opportunity later)
Collect 50(chests) xp

Quests XP: 2925xp Bonus XP: 50xp Total: 2975xp (=AR12, 550/1650)

Note : Daily quests should be Timmy, Hilichurls near Thousand Wind Temple, Slimes near Liyue and Pyro Abyss Mage near Cecilia Garden.

#Liyue Part 1: The Tree Who Stands Alone End of World Quest: "The Tree Who Stands Alone":

Search the last location
Go to the tree, fight thieves (Your buffs from the Fatui bossfight should still be active). Engage with Amber's ultimate, melt the rest to oblivion with Kaeya's ultimate.
Activate Mingyun Village West Teleporter

Warp back to Mingyun Village North Teleporter:

Open Shrine of Depths
Collect 2 Mist Flower Corrolas
Go to Sal Terae Teleporter, get the 2 chests on the way.
Warp back to Mingyun West Teleporter

Side objectives:

Get 2 Geoculus (3/6)
Collect 2 Mist Flower Corrola
Collect 220 additional xp from chests / waypoints. Recommended: 120(chests), 100(waypoints)

Quests XP: 400xp Bonus XP: 220xp Total: 620xp (=AR 12, 1170/1650)

Note: The Precious chest at the end of "The tree who stands alone" gives no xp. The luxurious chest from Shrine of Depths gives 60xp.

#Liyue Part 2: Sea of Clouds World Quest : "Share not your treasures"

Kill thieves nearby while the Ruin Guard wakes up
Use Superconducts and Melts to kill ruin guard
Read the message in the basement

Activate Statue of the Seven at Sea of Clouds:

Get Geo Traveller!
Offer geoculus (Lv.3)

Side objectives:

Get 3 Geoculus (6/6 needed)
Collect Mist Flower Corrola
Collect 570 additional xp from chests / waypoints / offerings. Recommended: 320(chests), 50(waypoints), 200(offering)

Bonus XP: 570xp Total: 570xp (=AR13, 90/1775)

#Liyue Part 3: Liyue Harbor [Requirements]: Mist Flower Corrola, Lizard Tails

World Quest: “A little game”:

On the path out of Liyue to Mt. Tianheng there will be a guard sitting under a tree. Yikuo is a former speedrunner, now looking over new runners. He shares 4 Fried Radish Balls with them because he knows they don't have time to cook. Take good note Timmie, that's how you should greet travelers! (Runners who rush blindly don't see Yikuo because they take a seemingly shorter path. Runners who take time to read all 446 npc entries on the wiki don't miss Yikuo. Also, thank you to all the people who contributed to the wiki, have a fried radish ball too!)
Complete World Quest "A Little Game" (don't forget the teleporter)
Note: Your inputs can drop 2 or 3 times near the end of the hide&seek. I don't know why exactly but it always happen.
Continue to the Teleporter overlooking Liyue, then make your descent through the city up to the other teleporter inside the main district

Buy ascension mat from Liyue souvenir shop:

1 Shivada Jade
3 Mist Veilled Lead Elixir

Activate Liyue Harbor Teleporter:

Synthesize 3 Frosting Essential Oils on the nearby alchemy table
Collect all Handbook Missions (5 or 7 missions depending on what you got previously. In any case you should be at 23 missions completed total)
Equip Kaeya with: Heart of Comradeship, Martial Artist's Feather, Goblet of Sojourner, Martial Artist's Bandana
Upgrade Martial Artist Feather using your Feather of Homecoming plus any artefact left.
Activate Liyue Harbor teleporter. Warp to Cecilia Garden

Side objectives:

Collect 620 additional xp from chests / waypoints. Recommended: 370(chests), 250(waypoints)

Quests XP: 250xp Handbook: 700xp Bonus XP: 620xp Total: 1570xp (=AR13, 1660/1775)

#Anemoculus Hunt n°2 Brightcrown Mountains:

Complete Pyro Mage Commission
Go to Brightcrown Mountains teleporter
Get 6 anemoculus (23/28 needed)

Side objective:

Collect 170 additional xp from chests / waypoints. Recommended: 120(chests), 50(waypoints)

Quests XP: 175xp Bonus XP: 170xp Total: 345xp (=AR14, 230/1875)

#Ley Lines in TWT Warp to TotF. Do the AR12 Exploration there:

Use 1 Fried Radish Balls, 1 Cryo Potion before the final fight.
Exit dungeon

Ley Lines pathing:

Start with the Ley Line directly to the East
Follow the path up to get to the second Ley Line near the pond
Activate the nearby teleporter
Go to the next Ley Lines to the N-O
Go to the Ley Line north
Drop down the cliff to Starfell Lake for the fifth Ley Line.
Warp to TotE

Side objective:

Get 3 Calla Lilies if you haven't already
Collect 3 Treasure Hoarder Coins from thieves.
Collect 170 additional xp from chests / waypoints. Recommended: 90(chests), 50(waypoints)

Quests XP: 200xp Ley Lines: 500xp Bonus XP: 140xp Total: 840xp (=AR14, 1070/1875)

#Dadaupa Gorge World Quest : "Break The Sword Cemetary Seal"

Activate Dadaupa Gorge teleporter
Open Shrine of Depths
Activate N (cryo) lock
Explore Eagle's gate (1 crystal tear). Use 1 Fried Radish Balls, 1 Pyro Potion for final fight
Activate SE lock (Fire)
Collect crystal Tear in SE hilichurl camp
Activate SO lock (Electro)
Open Seal chest. Don't forget the anemoculi on top of the structure

AR15 level up:

Ascend Kaeya and level him up as much as you can (don't use greens unless you have access to a slider option or something)
Ascend Prototype Rancour and level it up to Lv.40.

Side objectives:

Collect 3 anemoculus (26/28 needed)
Collect 290(chests) xp

Quests XP: 900xp Bonus XP: 290xp Total: 1190xp (=AR15, 385/2000)

Note : The Precious chest (+400xp) at the end of "Break the Sword Cemetary Seal" is counted toward Quest XP. Chests containing crystal tears are counted toward quest xp.

#Thousand Winds Temple Warp to TotW:

Do the AR15 exploration
Use 1 Fried Radish Balls, 1 Cryo Potion in the first room.
Choose Pyro then Electro
Exit dungeon

Complete Hilichurls Commission on your way to the last crystal tear.

Side objectives:

Collect 1 anemoculus (27/28 needed)
Collect 150(chests) xp.

Quests XP: 725xp Bonus XP: 150xp Total: 875xp (=AR15, 1260/2375)

Chests containing crystal tears are counted toward quest xp.

#Ley Lines Part 2 Warp to Windrise:

Do the Ley Line in the plain
Do the next Ley Line to the S-WR
Get the last anemoculi on your way up after the second LL
Do your last Ley Line on top of the hill
Open the nearby Shrine of Depths

Side objectives:

Collect 1 anemoculus (28/28 needed)
Collect 80(chests) xp.

Ley Lines: 300xp Bonus XP: 80xp Total: 380xp (=AR15, 1640/2000)

#End of Prologue Act 2 Warp to Dawn's Winery Statue:

Offer anmenoculus (Lv.7)
Collect Handbook missions (3 missions for 26 missions collected total)
If you missed an anemoculus there is a backup anemoculus on top of the Winery.
You can chance Traveler to wind if you want but it's not necessary

After the conversation with everyone:

Complete Slimes Commission
Warp to TWT teleporter
Meet Dvalin
Open the shrine of Depths down the cliff

Side objective:

Collect 610 additional xp from chests / offerings. Recommended is 90(chests), 520(offerings).

Quests XP: 750xp Handbook: 300xp Bonus XP: 610xp Total: 1660xp (=AR17, 1300/2375)

#Katheryne: New Horizons Warp to Mondstadt, talk to Katheryne:

Collect Daily commission rewards
Obtain World Quest: “New Horizons”
Warp to Liyue, talk to Katheryne

Side objective:

Collect 190(chests) xp.

Quests XP: 950xp Bonus XP: 190xp Total: 1140xp (AR17, 65/2500)

#Liyue Part 4: Luhua Landscape World Quest: “Old Taste Die Hard” World Quest: “Luhua Landscape”:

Activate N-E Luhua Pool Teleporter
Search all 4 orb location in Luhua Pool
Talk to Vermeer
Light bonfire. Use 1 Fried Radish Ball, 1 Cryo Potion.
Fight thieves. Don't forget to read the letter.
Investigate N-E painting location
Climb to chest location (End of "Share not your treasure")
Investigate N-O painting location
Report to Vermeer, repair statues.
Fight Abyss Mages (Cryo -> Fire/Water)

Side objectives:

Collect 380 additional xp from chests / waypoints. Recommended: 280(chests), 100(waypoints)

Quests XP: 850xp Bonus XP: 380xp Total: 1230xp (=AR14, 1295/2500)

Note: The Precious chest at the end of "Share not your treasures" gives no xp. The luxurious chest at the end of "Luhua Landscapes" gives no xp.

#Dragonspine: Ruin Grader Fight Warp to Dragonspine teleporter near the cave:

Go to the last book location.
Use 1 Wolfhook Juice and 1 Pyro Potion
Activate the seelie on the left of the ice surface
Rush to the quartz, break and pick it up. Wait for as long as you can before picking up the fragment!
You need to activate the other seelie right when the first one goes by. (you need to get there as late as possible with the quartz fragment.)
Once the floor break start walking (counter-clockwise) to activate all the seelies (you need to make micro pauses or take a slight detour between seelies to have the correct timing)
Go next to the Ruin Grader. Once he wakes up melt him (only use Kaeya's skill)
Go back to the quartz spot (it should instantly respawn), break it and melt the boss.
There should be another quartz behind the tree. Go and do the same.
Alternate between the two quartz spots and melt the boss. 5 Melts should be enough.
Open all the chests