Genshin Impact Girdle of the Sands Guide

For most of us, Genshin Impact isn’t the first game we’ve played. Some of us have been gaming since we could barely walk, and continue to rack up new titles in our collection. A game’s long-term success depends on how well they perform in the community and how developers integrate the feedback received.

I used to play Paladins, which was great in the beginning, but over the years, developers removed unique features that set the game apart and followed a heavy microtransaction model with no reward whatsoever. Paladins isn’t a copy of Overwatch; it was launched before Overwatch, so don’t come at me with a pitchfork.

Eventually, the game degraded over time, and only a few thousand players are online these days. Being a long-time player, I was repulsed to see unnecessary changes and stopped playing. When it comes to Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse’s developers do follow a Gacha model but never slack off when it comes to implementing the feedback they receive.

The Girdle of the Sands is a prime example of how you can introduce a sub-region with intricate lore fused with the introduction of new game elements. A unique region amidst the scorching desert that harbors the sacred land of the Pari.

In this Genshin Impact Girdle of the Sands guide, I will take you along with me to the land of the Pari and introduce you to the ancient secrets within. Adorable little creatures whose sole purpose is to defend their land from malicious entities by harnessing the power of Khvarena.

A Quick Look into Our Journey Ahead

The whole quest chain will take quite some time to complete. Thankfully, we don’t have a time constraint on sub-quests and can complete them in a row. To successfully cleanse the area of defilements and help the Pari, you need to go through the following sub-quests:

• The Splendrous Sky That Day
• Awakening’s Real Sound
• Asipattravana Itihasa
• As the Khvarena’s Light Shows
  1. As the Khvarena’s Light Shows: Samudaya
  2. As the Khvarena’s Light Shows: Dukkha
  3. As the Khvarena’s Light Shows: Nirodha
• The Hymm of Tir Yazad

Before we go through an in-detail guide of sub-quests, it’s important to glance over a few important tips that you should keep in mind.

• Unless you have played the quest, don’t skip the dialogues as they contain hints to puzzles. Especially when you are in underground ruins, quickly read the notes you receive. You can also find them in the “Quest items” section of the inventory.
• Pay attention to in-game details like animation and audio cues.
• Teleport waypoints have to be unlocked first before you can visit the nook and crannies of the desert
• There are multiple dialogue branches that can affect the outcome of a sub-quest, like teleporting to an objective, so choose carefully. However, the final result won’t be affected by these minor dialogue variations. You may see additional dialogue options if you have completed certain archon quests.

Initiating the Khvarena of Good and Evil World Quest Series

After the area is available, you will be presented with the quest once you reach the teleport waypoint below on your way to the region. Walk on the path to the area, and the quest will be initiated automatically.

Usually, the entire region would be hidden on your map, and you would have to interact with a Statue of the Seven to unlock it, but thankfully that isn’t the case here. As you’ll step forward towards the first teleport waypoint in the area, Paimon will ask the Traveler to check a strange “bonk-a-donk” audio cue she heard.

Just check the area around the teleport waypoint, and you will see a drop-down arrow near some bushes and find a drum with the Cryo element marking. Poor Paimon, there’s no treasure. Upon checking a note lying nearby, the Traveler decides to take the Drum to Katheryne to get some clarity on the situation.

We can infer from the note that the goal of the quest is to investigate the Sign of Apaosha, an unusual encroaching abyssal rupture in the sky and Nagarjunites. Katheryne briefs the Traveler about the commissions and Nagarjunites.

Basically, Nagarjunites are an organization of researchers who went to fend off abyssal monsters in the past and worship Khvarena, a form of energy that communicates with them in the form of spirits.

Katheryne sends off the Traveler to Temir mountains and informs them to give the drum to the organization’s leader to show good faith. Upon successful completion, researchers will be able to explore the ruins of Khaneri’ah, which are near the desert.

The Splendrous Sky That Day

It doesn’t surprise me that we have to fight the very first person we meet in the desert. Pyrrho, a member of the Order of Skeptics who was guarding the area from trespassers, gets into a heated argument with the Traveler.

During the tedious fight, a mysterious being, a Pari named Sorush, appears in front of the Traveler and asks them about the purpose of their visit.

Eventually, Sorush agrees to take the Traveler to her leader and warns them of the perils that lay hidden in the desert. Fun fact: Pari means fairy in my country.

While following Sorush, beware of monsters that appear in your path and travel via Four-leaf sigils. It was adorable when Sorush chose the Traveler to be her Yasnapati and instructed them to record their adventure. You can see how annoyed Paimon is. She’s not able to put up with Sorush’s haughty attitude.

You have to switch to Sorush to fulfill quests’ objectives

After spending a decent time beating the enemies and crawling our way out, we meet Nasejuna, who turns out to be the “sage” of the Order of Skeptics.

I had a gut feeling that this person was suspicious, and he did turn out to be an imposter. Nasejuna informs the Traveler about Dahri, another name for Khaneri’ah, and historical events that took place in the desert. He does possess a lot of ancient knowledge; it almost felt like I was talking to Dainsleif.

As we reach the area near the Tunigi Hollow, Nasejana informs the Traveler about the preparations they have to go through, and even though he’s not well informed of ancient rituals, a slip of the tongue made me paranoid about his true intentions.

To achieve Sorush’s goal, she needs to have a Twin-Horned chaplet that will transform her into a Bloomguard who can touch the Great songs. Once she is acknowledged by the first Pari, Lady Zurvan, she obtains the right to become a Bloomguard. Again, Nasejuna avoids the meeting with Lady Zurvan and excuses himself.

As you reach the marked location, Vourukasha Oasis, you will find another Statue of the Seven. At this point, the quest goal becomes clear.

We witness a conflict of perspective between Elder Zurvan and Sorush, where both of them wants to extinguish the “Fire in the Sky,” but Zurvan doesn’t have much faith in Sorush. Zurvan, for some reason, trusts you and Paimon, and wouldn’t allow any folks from the Order of Skeptics to be near the sacred abode of the Pari.

The discussion comes to an end, and Zurvan instructs the party to search for two other Pari, Rashnu and Mihir.

Finding them would prove Sorush’s trustworthiness to Zurvan, that’ll convince her to entrust the Chaplet to Sorush. Though the Chaplet can be given to her any time, she would need the strength of the other two Pari.

Once you complete this sub-quest, two other quests will be available to you. It depends on you which quest you want to take first.

I chose “Awakening’s Real Sound” first and then proceeded with the Asipattravana Itihasa quest. Itihasa vaguely means history for those who don’t know. I’m trying to put my little Sanskrit knowledge to use.

Awakening’s Real Sound

Let’s go and find Rashnu first because climbing hills take time; it’s better to wrap up tough tasks first. It’s the Liyue experience all over again. Endless climbing, chain-eating stamina food, and no destination in sight. Don’t press the spacebar or jump during climbing, as it’ll drain your stamina, and you might not be able to reach the top.

After you reach the big tree, you will meet Nasejuna, who suddenly happens to be there. Was he eavesdropping on our conversation with Zurvan? I don’t think so, but these sudden encounters made me paranoid.

A history lesson awaits whenever we meet him, and it was no surprise this time. We got to know about the significance of Kory drums and how important they are to waking up Rashnu.

You have to go to this place to find Rashnu

As we explore the location Nasejuna mentioned, we find a note that Anemo and Geo drums don’t exist, and the three drums’ locations are marked.

Luckily, we are able to get the Dendro drum as its trial has already been broken. We didn’t need to do anything here. Here are the locations for the five drum notes that you need to collect.

Korybantes: Samjna, The Hydro Kory Drum

Go inside the cave beneath the waterfall and commence the trial

Commence the trial for the Hydro drum to collect four Dendro particles under a time limit. You can make use of the special Four-leaf sigil in the area to travel from one point to another. With each successful attempt, the water level will go down.

Use character abilities to grab the Dendro particles quickly

Characters like Keqing, Kaedehara Kazuha, Alhaitham, Venti, or Zhongli can help you reach the required altitude to grab the particles.

Be creative in your attempts, and you will get those particles. Don’t be shy to retry, even if you fail. Use the nearby environment to your advantage. Once the water level goes down, you will find the Hydro Kory drum in a cave with Hydro slimes around the entrance.

Korybantes: Sankhra, The Electro Kory Drum

Commence the trial to fight the enemies. There will be ten enemies that will spawn around you. After defeating the enemies under a certain time limit, you can grab the Electro Kory Drum.

Time to show off your damage numbers

Beware of the Electro enemies, as they can trigger stun-lock on your characters if they are affected by the Hydro application and stagger you in the middle of the fight.

I highly recommend having Dendro characters in your party to trigger Dendro-related reactions like Hyperbloom or Spread on the enemies. Watch out for the Electro Lawachurl, as it will charge towards you. Dodge the Lawachurl and punish it for charging at Sorush’s Yasnapati.

Korybantes: Vijnana, The Pyro Kory Drum

If you lose the first time, Sorush will help you during the next attempt

Don’t be tempted to equip Amber or Yoimiya and try to shoot Pyro-infused arrows at altars. Simply follow Sorush if you miss any of them, and light up all the Bright Flame altars in your path. They are easier; you can see their locations in the video.

Now after collecting all the Kory Drums, it’s time to revisit the Giant Tree and play a melody to wake up Rashnu. We find Nasejuna waiting for us near the tree, where he argues with the Traveler over playing the melody.

Finally, Sorush breaks the ice and asks the Traveler to take up the task. It’s funny how Paimon assures her that we are reliable in almost everything, let it be cooking or espionage. C’mon, Paimon, you don’t have to reveal our secrets to people like that.

With everything caught up, the time has come to play the Kory Drums. Place the drums in the tree trunks around you and go through the hints.

 Place the Kory Drums in the tree trunks nearby

Now, most players make the mistake of playing the chords fast while striking the Kory drums. Don’t do that.

Notice the wave-like animation around the drum. That’s your cue to play another note. If you need to attack or take a pause, you need to make sure the action is registered. Pay attention to the animation, and you will complete the challenge. I have listed the way you have to play the drums below.

Dendro Kory Drum Sequence: Do Normal attack thrice and then plunge attack

 Cryo Kory Drum Sequence: Normal attack, hold, normal attack, and then a plunge attack

Electro Kory Drum Sequence: Normal attack, hold, normal attack, and then a plunge attack

Hydro Kory Drum Sequence: Normal attack, plunge attack, hold and plunge attack

Pyro Kory Drum Sequence: Normal attack thrice and a plunge attack

After waking up Rashnu, the sub-quest is completed. We are one step closer to extinguishing the mark in the sky. Rashnu seems tired, and after a short discussion, Rashnu leaves for the Vourukasha Oasis.

Asipattravana Itihasa

Now the search for Mihir begins in the Asipattravana Swamp. The swamp, as the name suggests, is nasty and full of gooey matter. There is no way I can go through that to find a Pari. The only viable solution is first to cleanse the obnoxious amalgamation and then search for Mihir.

Now you have to take control of Sorush and drop Nirodha fruits on coagulated blobs of purple mist in the area. Once you finish doing so, the Khvarena energy will protrude from thorny branches and purify the defilement.

  Switch back and forth between Sorush to cleanse the area and find Mihir

After all is said and done, you will be able to find Mihir in a cave. Fight the enemies after activating a thorny branch and talk to Mihir. You have to switch back and forth between Traveler and Sorush for this sub-quest.

After fending off multiple enemies while escorting Mihir to safety, it was time for me to visit the Vourukasha Oasis once again. I was stunned by a short cutscene that played when we reached the Oasis.

I’m glad that Mihir was safe from danger and her injuries had recovered. She was in a tight spot, and we were able to rescue her. Again, Sorush and Mihir get into an argument, and Sorush goes away. These two should make up with each other. It’s not good to have clashes with each other over every little thing.

As the Khvarena’s Light Shows

I’m glad that you’ve made it this far because we are just about to reach the end. Though it’s still going to take some time, we are progressing at a good pace. The quest does take a lot of time to complete. To complete the “As the Khvarena’s Light Shows” sub-quest, you can follow this guide.

My fellow writer, Vaishnavi, has intricately described the steps you need to take to complete the objectives. Only if Sorush and Mihir cooperated as we do, the quest wouldn’t have been a long journey.

Before you go through the walkthrough, here’s a gist of the story that will take place in this sub-quest. I like the subtle humor that we have in the dialogues between Paimon, the Traveler, and Sorush.

I was intentionally choosing dialogues to roleplay as a Knight with Sorush and deliberately triggering Paimon. Isn’t that the best thing to do in the game? Annoy Paimon and giggle in front of her.

At this point, my hunch of Nasejuna being an imposter became clear when Zurvan confirmed that no records are in existence that mention the Rite of Chinvat. How come Nasejuna knows about ancient rituals and is informed about events from the past? The only plausible explanation was that he was not acting on his own.

To know about the past in such detail, you need to have a reliable network and resources. Anyway, Zurvan sends off the Traveler and Sorush to claim the Great songs required for the Rite of Chinvat.

Used 100% brain power to complete the puzzles in the first attempt

We are only told about one of the five songs’ locations from Zurvan and but thankfully, Nasejuna has more info, even though he isn’t supposed to know.

This quest will definitely take some time to complete because of the complicated puzzles. Stay on your toes as enemies might attack you around tight corners or while you are traveling with the Khvarena’s energy.

Ultimately, in the end, Nasejuna blows his cover, and he turns out to be cooperating with the Abyss order. All he wanted was to reverse the seal on the Abyss using the Rite of Chinvat and start a new war.

If I find him next time, I’m going to send him to the Chasm in the bottomless pit of darkness. How come he hurt our poor little Sorush? Himanshu takes no prisoners, Nasejuna; you better watch your back in Teyvat.

The Hymm of Tir Yazad

Finally, we are near the end of the quest. Yes, it did take a lot of time; that’s why I suggest doing this quest over the course of a few days. The Traveler and Paimon comfort Sorush after Nasejuna’s betrayal and helps her to regain confidence. The party meets with Zurvan and recounts their experiences to her.

Zurvan assures the Traveler and Sorush that Nasejuna won’t be able to interfere with their goal and provides them with the Rite of Ab-Zohr to cleanse the Harvisptokhm of defilement. She instructs them to help make the Flower of Sanctity bloom again and meet Rashnu and Mihir.

After meeting Mihir and Rashnu, place the Great songs at their respective locations. As you’ll place the Great songs, a short cutscene will trigger to indicate the successful plantation. There will be enemies around you, so have good characters in your team.

The locations will be available on your map

Be sure to climb massive structures and make your way through because the game requires you to do so. Submitting those songs is a tedious task, and it may take you half an hour if you aren’t paying attention to the environment around you.

I have shared the approach I used; however, if you can do it by any other means, that’s also fantastic. If there are corrupted spherical buds near the trees, you can destroy them with arrows. I didn’t want to put in effort, so my lazy brain found a workaround.

Take advantage of Four-Leaf Sigils and the environment around you

After placing the Great Songs, you have to fight enemies to purify the trees, and eventually, after purifying all the trees, the seal will be broken.

Ready your weapons to protect the trees during the purification process

The seal will be broken, and you will be able to enter the new unlocked area

I recommend doing a plunge attack to land on the lotus below quickly

Sorush faints above the seal, and following her, Paimon and I fall on the giant lotus Zurvan mentioned, Gaokerena. Sorush recalls the ancient events from the war to the Traveler and recites the experience to them. It was best to put it off for later as we needed to search for Spenta hearts in Defiled chambers.

 Close your eyes and take a leap of faith, and you will land inside the Flower of Sanctity

There are three chambers, all of which are easily accessible. However, it takes some time to complete the objectives inside them. Use Khvarena’s energy to purify the defilement and forge the way.

 Use the Khvarena energy to forge paths and remove obstacles

I have attached videos to showcase the approach I used to clear the chambers and recommend you do something similar. Make use of Sorush’s ability to block incoming attacks and travel with the help of Special Four-Leaf sigils. Some environmental objects will be invisible unless you use Khvarena’s energy to reveal them.

 Take your time to clear the chambers and look around you for special Four-leaf sigils

You will have to go through a maze-like area before you can face the enemies in the final battle. Sorush is your friend in this maze. Switch to her and scout the area around you. Follow the Khvarena energy, and you will be able to find Spenta hearts.

 Scout the area to find your way in the maze

After defeating all the enemies and protecting the Flower of Sanctity, a vibrant tree will emerge from the withered trump piercing the sky and closing off the abyssal rupture. Finally, the Sign of Apaosha has been extinguished, and you have purified the earth of defilement.

Finally purged the Sign of Apaosha

In the last interaction of this quest with Zurvan, she explains the events that happened in the past and refers to a golden-haired swordsman from Khaneri’ah.

I presumed she was talking about Dainsleif because half of his body is cursed, and he, indeed, is a swordsman from Khaneri’ah.

Now there was a fascinating reference that piqued my interest. Zurvan mentions the Traveler’s other sibling leaving with the golden-haired masked swordsman and sage who went into underground ruins and never returned.

This was intriguing because wherever we go and meet otherworldly entities, we get to know about the Traveler’s sibling.

In the Aranara chapter, the Chasm, Archon quests, the Traveler’s sibling has already traveled through the world, and foreign species associate with us because of the resemblance. Zurvan mentions Dainsleif again and asks the Traveler to greet him from her side the next time they will meet.

As usual, we visit Katheryne in Sumeru, where she congratulates the Traveler for their success and informs them that a light novelist posted the commission. What a turn of events. I’ve left this secret out for you to rejoice in the quest.

Indeed, a quest full of twists, funny moments, and unfortunate betrayals. With this, the massive ” Khvarena of Good and Evil” quest comes to an end, and we manage to cleanse the Girdle of sands from the majority of malicious entities.

FAQs

The FinalGenshin Impact Girdle of the Sands Guide: Final Thoughts

An unimaginable disaster happened in the past, whose remains haunt Teyvat to this day. What happened in the past is a mystery that is slowly unraveling with time. Khaneri’ah has been a region of significance to the story. What could possibly destroy such an advanced nation in the blink of an eye?

We saw the ruins of gigantic machines that could obliterate nations in an instant, but still, something rendered them useless. In the quest, we got to know from the first Pari, Zurvan, that a mysterious swordsman, sage, and blonde-haired Traveler visited them in the past and helped in the war.

I’m gonna patiently wait for Hoyoverse to unveil the story and hope for a happy ending. Until then, I’m going to level up my characters and shred the enemies in the Abyss to atoms.

Check our Abyss guides to tune your characters to match the ever-changing Abyss and beat the enemies before the time runs out. Feel free to check our character guides, as they feature tips that’ll help you to optimize your gameplay. With that said, I will meet you in another guide, fellow adventurers.

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Himanshu Verkiya

Himanshu is a passionate writer who loves to write about open-world games featuring anime style characters. He admits that his love for interesting anime stories and characters were a major reason he started playing Open world role playing games.Having played different Open world games in the past, now he prefers to play casual role playing games which feature beautiful sceneries and vast worlds to roam in.
Besides writing about his favourite games, Himanshu prefers to keep himself up-to-date with the latest happenings in the financial world, watching anime, cooking and listening to music from all around the world.

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