Key Takeaways
- Exploration in Genshin Impact unlocks Primogems and resources, making it worth it for players.
- Completing regions like Monstadt can be quick, while others like Liyue may be tedious.
- Regions like Fontaine and The Chasm offer unique underwater and underground exploration challenges.
Exploration is one of the most exciting aspects of Genshin Impact. It rewards players by fueling their curiosity as well as providing them with resources, among which are Primogems, the valuable currency needed to pull on the Gacha banners. With 6 nations already released, there’s a lot that the game has to offer.
Certain regions are more difficult to achieve 100% exploration in, but it’s well worth getting it done, especially for F2P players. For those with plenty of time to spare, here are the hardest regions to get 100% exploration in Genshin Impact.
10 Monstadt
Nation Of Freedom
- Stricter on reaching 100% exploration
- May need to look up where hidden chests are located
Being the game’s first region, it makes sense for the size of this region to not be anywhere near as big as the other ones. Consisting of only 4 sub-regions, players can 100% this region in no time. This region serves as the introduction to the game, so puzzles and chests are (for the most part) easy to find.
While the game does show a percentage of how much of each sub-region is explored, it’s not actually required for it to be wiped clean for it to reach 100%. However, the earlier regions are stricter with this (with Monstadt being the worst it gets). Still, it’s nothing that a quick Google search on hidden chests can’t help with.
9 Natlan
Nation Of War
- Certain chests are locked behind specific items obtained through exploration
- Although fun, many puzzles and challenges require the use of the Saurians
As of version 5.0, Natlan is currently the most recent region to be released. With this in mind, it could likely move up the list in the coming patches. However, as of right now, Natlan isn’t the biggest region in Genshin Impact, and its puzzles are very fun to complete, as many of them require the use of the Saurians.
There are certain areas that are locked behind world quests, but exploring these locations makes for a fun time, especially when considering the movement abilities given to players through the use of the Saurians. Certain chests require specific items, but if players are planning to 100% this region anyway, these items would more than likely already be in the inventory the closer one gets to completing it.
8 Sea Of Bygone Eras
Remuria
- Understanding underwater controls and mechanics is crucial
- Verticality of the area might pose a challenge
Sea of Bygone Eras is a sub-region of Fontaine that is locked behind a world quest. It’s almost completely underwater, so getting familiar with the underwater mechanics is crucial to achieving 100% in this region. Puzzles and chests are easy to spot, with the solutions to them being quite intuitive.
This region does have a few layers to it. Being completely underwater means that there’s a lot of verticality that players will have to navigate through. This region is currently only used for that one world quest, so exploring while completing said quest will help a lot, as it takes players all around the map.
7 Fontaine
Nation Of Justice
- Certain areas are locked behind world quests
- Has both exploration on land and underwater
Speaking of underwater exploration, Fontaine’s release back in version 4.0 was when it was first introduced. While Fontaine may look smaller than the other main regions, it offers a lot in terms of its exploration. While on land, players can find chests and puzzles that will lead them onboard an airship as part of an extended puzzle/challenge. While underwater, puzzles may appear in the form of timed challenges where players have to make use of the abilities of different animals. Even leading players into underwater caves.
Fontaine’s biggest strength when it comes to exploration is the variety it offers. It’s also not difficult to keep track of the underexplored areas. Can’t find anything on land? Check the same area on the map but go underwater this time.
6 Liyue
Nation Of Contracts
- The verticality of the area might pose a challenge
- Many puzzles require the use of Geo constructs
Despite this region being released with the game as part of version 1.0, it’s one of the more difficult ones to achieve 100% exploration in. Well, it’s less difficult and more tedious. Many parts of Liyue have a focus on verticality. Without certain characters, this makes it difficult to navigate the terrain. Players will likely find themselves jumping down from a high place only to discover nothing is there. Then, they’ll be forced to climb back up.
Many puzzles in this region also require the use of Geo constructs. This can be annoying since players are given the option to permanently have a Geo character on the team in place of a character with movement abilities for ease of exploration, or they will have to keep switching between teams when they encounter a puzzle that needs a Geo construct.
5 The Chasm: Underground Mines
Seven-Star Seal
- Easy to get lost in
- Lumenstone Adjuvant needs to be leveled up to gain access to certain chests and puzzles
The Chasm is a sub-region that is part of Liyue. As the name suggests, this area is completely underground and has many layers to consider when looking at the map. It’s quite easy to get lost here, and navigating back to a certain part of the map might be confusing. Players will need to pay close attention to where they’ve explored and how they got there.
The Lumenstone Adjuvant is a gadget that was introduced specifically to be used in this area. It not only makes characters glow (thus providing light) but also serves as a key to solving many of the puzzles located within the area. However, in order for it to reach its full capabilities, players must level up the gadget by collecting Lumenspar (scattered all over the area) and handing them to an NPC named Jiwu.
4 Inazuma
Nation Of Eternity
- Dangerous terrain
- Electrogana needs to be leveled up to gain access to certain chests and puzzles
Inazuma is inaccessible to players who haven’t completed the Liyue Archon quest, and that is for good reason. The terrain here is dangerous, with lightning being able to strike players at any given second (this can be disabled through a world quest), and enemies can be tough to deal with for newer players. The region is also divided into 5 separate islands. Although they’re small individually, this just means that players will have to be more thorough in looking for chests and puzzles. Underground areas are also present beneath certain islands.
Two of the islands are completely locked behind world quests, with one of them taking multiple days to complete (players won’t have full access to the island until after it is done). Similar to The Chasm, Inazuma also features a unique mechanic. When collecting Electroganum, characters will have electro applied to them. This puts them in a special state that allows them to zip through certain parts of the map as well as bypass Electro barriers. Certain barriers can only be bypassed after leveling up the Electrogana by offering Electro sigils to the Sacred Sakura tree located at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
3 Dragonspine
Vindagnyr
- Dangerous terrain
- The treasure compass does not work in this area
Speaking of dangerous terrain, Dragonspine is no stranger to it. Dragonspine was the earliest sub-region (of Monstadt) added to Genshin Impact in version 1.2. The unique mechanic in Dragonspine is known as Sheer Cold. If players are not close to a source of heat, possess a Scarlet Quartz, or are standing near a waypoint or Statue of the Seven, the character will continuously take damage and can die from it.
Dragonspine is basically a giant, snowy mountain. Navigating the area can be tricky as there are also indoor areas, and the verticality of the area doesn’t make things any easier. For some reason, the treasure compass doesn’t work in Dragonspine. This means that players will have to either use the interactive map or simply run around until they find something. Taking both of these into consideration, getting lost at least once is bound to happen.
2 Enkanomiya
Evernight & Whitenight
- Evernight and Whitenight states complicate exploration and puzzle solving
- Easy to get lost
As a sub-region of the already difficult to navigate Inazuma, Enkanomiya takes it a step further. While the terrain itself isn’t dangerous (the enemies are, though), this area’s mechanic makes it a pain to explore. The area can be in one of two states: Evernight and Whitenight. These can be switched to one or the other by interacting with certain objects on the map.
Certain puzzles and areas are inaccessible if the state of the area is the wrong one. Some of them require players to interact with something in Evernight, switch to Whitenight, then come back to the same area and continue. Due to this, players will have to keep track of how they got somewhere to prevent getting lost, as there are many layers to the map. There are also three secret islands that will not show up on the map until certain criteria are met.
1 Sumeru
Nation Of Wisdom
- The region is massive
- Certain areas are locked behind long world quests
The biggest challenge when it comes to achieving 100% exploration in Sumeru is that it is absolutely massive. It is by far the largest region in Genshin Impact and is separated into two different parts: the forest and the desert. Most players will find the forest area easier to explore, as it is more in line with what exploration is like in other regions. However, the desert is completely different in that there are numerous underground areas that might be confusing to get to if not led there by a world quest.
A few of the areas and many puzzles are also locked behind world quests (including the infamous Aranara quest), and tons of collectibles can be found in every corner of the map. At the very least, it is not required to collect everything to achieve that 100% exploration. If players can get through exploring this region, it’s only going to get easier from here.
