Genshin Impact: Where To Find Shards For 'In The Mountains' Quest

One of the central landmarks in the world of Genshin Impact is Dragonspine mountain. Located in southern Mondstat, this freezing region overlooks the current game world and can be viewed from many locations on the map. The mountain rests off in the distance, filled with new treasures to unearth and monsters to battle. There are even several quests that take place there, which players looking for mora and primogems will want to pursue.

Related: Genshin Impact: Chi of Guyun Quest Puzzle Solutions

In the Mountains is a questline included in the 1.2 update that has players investigate Dragonspine mountain. It begins after speaking with Iris at the adventurer’s base camp, who will activate the mission in the quest menu. One of the objectives involves locating and thawing out three shards encased in ice, and this guide will walk players through the snowcapped region to find all of them.

The Shard of the Snow-Covered Path

The first mountain of ice players must thaw is quite easy to find. After heading towards Dragonspine from the base camp, cross the broken bridge and follow the route through the Snow-Covered Path. Eventually, adventurers will notice a giant spike of ice on the left. The spire in the middle cannot be broken normally, as only characters enhanced by Scarlet Quarts shards can put a dent in them. Each hit while under the influence of the shard will remove the buff, so players will need to break the shards repeatedly and strike the spire several times. There are several Scarlet Quartz ores to mine in the vicinity, so break them one after another or wait for them to respawn. Just watch out for the Frostram Lawachurl on the left!

The Shard of the Entombed City Outskirts

Next, players will need to head east to Wyrmrest Valley by either following the river they crossed earlier or continuing onwards through the mountain. On the left side of the enemy encampment in that region, on the way to the Entombed City Outskirts, there’s a pass in the mountain that leads to a circular structure; it’s impossible to miss on the map. Wary players will realize that a tri of giant robots are resting in the area, but don’t be alarmed (yet). In the center of the area is a warming seelie, a flame spirit, which will pass over 5 Cryo totems in a specific order after the player approaches them. Remember this order, because now those totems must be activated by the Cryo element in the same order they were flown over: it should be southwest, northeast, southeast, northwest, then north. Doing so correctly will cause a treasure chest to appear, but astute adventurers will realize the ominous glow emanating from it. Opening the chest will cause the first two automatons to activate, while the third more powerful one will activate after the others are beaten. This is a difficult fight, so be sure to prepare lots of dishes beforehand and configure the party prior to activating the chest.

After the robots are defeated, the hole in the center of the arena will open up, revealing a cave below. Hop in to find the second ice cluster that must be defrosted. There are Scarlet Quarts waiting for them, but beware: they won’t respawn until after the central cluster is removed. That means that should the player use their shards on other rime, they won’t be able to remove the central ice. In case this happens, there is a Scarlet Quartz just outside the battle arena in the cliffs on the right side of the arena.

The Shard of Starglow Cavern

The final shard is located deep within Starglow Cavern. Heading all the way to the bottom will bring adventurers to the third shard next to a frozen lake. Easy right? The magical barrier protecting it would disagree. To take it down, players must defeat a wave of hilichurls in a challenge mission nearby. The enemies themselves aren’t too difficult, but the freezing climate can make the endeavor a struggle. Fortunately, there are three warming seelie statues that players can light up if they manage to find the seelies hidden in the cave. One of them is near the bottom exit, just beyond the frozen lake. The other two are behind the giant ice shard, with one at the end of a narrow path and the other hiding behind a breakable wall. No bombs or elemental skills are needed to break it, just whack it with a claymore. Once the heat source is secure, the mob battle can commence!

As with the first two ice shards, picking up Scarlet Quartz is necessary to break the ice. Two of them are found by the seelie statues, while the others are found in the caves behind the sealed shard. After freeing it from its icy prison, the player can continue the In the Mountains quest by scaling to the top of Dragonspine.

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Next: Genshin Impact: How to Get the Kamera Gadget (& Unlock Photo Mode)

Genshin Impact is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and mobile devices.