Genshin Impact's massive new Dragonspine region has a lot of secrets and hidden puzzles, but two of these are particularly baffling: How do you unlock the new Peak of Vindagnyr domain and complete the Into the Mountains quest? The answer is complicated. It requires traveling all over Dragonspine to thaw out magical ice crystals, dispelling the magical wind in a treacherously gusty passage, and making a chilly climb that could rival Everest.
It's a big puzzle with a lot of steps, but this guide has everything you need to unlock the Peak of Vindagnyr and complete Into the Mountains. So let's get started.
Into the Mountains
Before you do anything, make sure you actually pick up this quest. In the Adventurer's Camp at the base of Dragonspine, you'll find an NPC named Iris who tasks you with solving the riddle at Dragonspine's summit. This quest is called Into the Mountains and you'll want to make sure you've accepted it, or else this will all kinda be for nothing.
If you've already done some exploring of Dragonspine, you'll know that there's a passage just beyond the Statue of the Seven that you cannot enter because of the howling winds that blow through it. The first step to reaching Dragonspine summit and unlocking Peak of Vindagnyr (and completing Into the Mountains) requires us to dispel these magical winds. To do that, we'll venture to three locations in Dragonspine to find giant, floating ice crystals. Breaking all three will open up the passage so we can reach the summit.
The first magical crystal
There's a good chance you've already completed this step. The first magical crystal we need is actually the one that contains the Frostbearing Tree, which is a major feature of Dragonspine. You can read our guide at the link for a more detailed overview of what the Frostbearing Tree does and how to unlock it, but here's a quick rundown.
- Go to the Snow-Covered Path Teleport Waypoint.
- Follow the path south until you see the floating magical crystal (this would've been pointed out to you during the intro questline to Dragonspine, so you should be familiar with this area).
- The crystal can be attacked but you won't do any damage to it. In order to actually break it, you need to be charged up with a Scarlet Quartz.
- These are the glowing red crystals found nearby. Break one, pick up the Scarlet Quartz, and run back to the crystal and attack it. You'll damage it for about 25 percent of its total health.
- Look for another Scarlet Quartz nearby and repeat.
- Once the crystal is broken, interact with the orb hidden inside it to unlock the Frostbearing Tree.
The second magical crystal
This one is slightly more involved. First, look at your map of Dragonspine. Just below the text that reads Wyrmrest Valley, you'll see a diamond-shaped clearing. That's where to find the second magical crystal. You'll know you're in the right spot when you see several Ruin Guards, several Cryo pillars, a Seelie floating above a cube-shaped device, and a large patch of frozen ice in the middle.
Here's what you need to do:
- Activate the cube-shaped device. Doing so will cause the Seelie to go to each Cryo pillar in a specific order. Once the Seelie returns to the cube-shaped device, head to each Cryo pillar and attack it with a Cryo ability in the same order that the Seelie showed you.
- This will cause two Ruin Guards to spawn and attack. Defeating both will cause the large corpse of a Ruin Grader to activate. This is a relatively tough boss enemy that fires a powerful laser, so try to stay behind it. Once the Ruin Grader dies, the ice in the center of the arena will break, revealing a cavern below with the second floating magical crystal.
- In this cavern, you'll find another Seelie and three Scarlet Quartz. There's a problem, though: You need one more to break the crystal. The fourth is hidden behind a gate that's opened by returning two Seelies to their pedestals. The first is clearly visible, but the second is found under one of the many lumps of ice in the cave, so use Pyro abilities to melt the ice and find it.
- Once you open the gate, you'll see the fourth Scarlet Quartz and two chests. Break the quartz and attack the ice wall immediately behind it to reveal a third Seelie. This one we'll leave for now.
- The fourth Scarlet Quartz will respawn after a few seconds, but take this time to find the other three and attack the magical crystal. When the fourth respawns, use it to break the crystal and, again, interact with the sphere hidden inside.
- Now the exit is unsealed and you can leave. Return to the third Seelie you found behind the gate and follow it out of the cavern to its pedestal for some loot.
The third magical crystal
This magical crystal is found in Starglow Cavern. You can find the entrance by following the path from Albedo's Camp (which you would've been shown during the Dragonspine intro quest) around the base of Dragonspine. Once inside Starglow Cavern, there's a path that goes up and one that goes down, take the downward path to the bottom of the cave (or just jump off and glide down). Here is where you'll find the third magical crystal. If you're having trouble spotting it, look for a Challenge pillar (the glowing red symbol thingy) surrounded by three Seelie pedestals.
There's a problem: This Ice Crystal is surrounded by a forcefield that we can't break.
Here's what to do:
- First we will return the Seelies to their pedestals.
- The first one is found nearby in the open and can't be missed.
- The remaining two are found behind the giant ice spikes erupting from where the magical crystal is. If you're facing the crystal, you'll see a path on your left that leads around back. You'll also see a Scarlet Quartz.
- The second Seelie is found behind a breakable wall near a Ruin Guard corpse.
- Keep following that path around the back of the crystal and up a slope to find the third Seelie by some more Ruin Guard corpses. You'll also see another Scarlet Quartz.
- Once all Seelies are returned to their pedestals, activate the Challenge pillar. It'll spawn several hilichurls and frost mages that you'll have two minutes to kill. Once they're dead, the shield surrounding the crystal will break.
- Now it's time to find the Scarlet Quartz. The first two are out in the open in the opposite direction of the magical crystal. The other two are where you found each hidden Seelie.
- Once the crystal is broken and you've interacted with the orb hidden inside, the way out will be unsealed and you can leave this area.
The fourth, fifth—oh god there's more?
Yeah, earlier when I said there were only three I was lying. There are actually an additional three magical crystals we need to break. The good news is that these each only require one Scarlet Quartz. We're almost done, so hang in there!
Even better news, the impassable wind tunnel near the Dragonspine Statue of the Seven is now accessible. Teleport to the statue and follow the tunnel. Eventually you'll step out into an arena with a giant, shattered floating pillar. If you look closely, you'll see the three magical crystals you need to break. Each time you break one, the shattered bits of the pillar will reunite. After breaking all three, the Peak of Vindagnyr domain will be revealed.
Here's what needs doing:
- Follow the slope that circles around the shattered pillar and you'll find the first Scarlet Quartz by some floating mechanical enemies. Defeat them, break the quartz, and use the floating bits of pillar as a bridge to reach the lowest magical crystal and break it.
- Continue up the sloping path until you reach a broken archway with a large boss monster just beyond it. Defeat the boss and you'll find the second Scarlet Quartz. Break it and double-back to the pillar, jump onto the floating bits to reach the second magical crystal, and break it.
- Head back to where you fought the boss and you'll find a Seelie. Follow it up some ruined towers until you reach an Anemo pillar. Use an Anemo ability to activate it, triggering a big gust of upward wind. Ride it up and then use the wind tunnels that appear to quickly fly across the chasm where some hilichurls are waiting next to the third Scarlet Quartz.
- Break the Scarlet Quartz and go to the edge of the chasm. Below you'll see the third magical crystal. Either snipe it with an archer character or glide down to it and break it up close. Activate the sphere hidden inside to unite the last broken bits of the pillar.
- You'll see a cutscene of the pillar melting the ice around it and floating high up into the air. When the cutscene ends, you'll be back near its base where you found the first Scarlet Quartz. Go to where the pillar used to be and you'll find a few chests and the entrance to the Peak of Vindagnyr. Woo.
Activate the domain so you can teleport here and complete it later. It's basically like every other domain in Genshin Impact, but this one rewards powerful artifacts that boost your Cryo damage.
At this point, you can head back to Iris to complete Into the Mountains, but there's one last optional step worth doing.
Head back up the mountain until you're at the third Scarlet Quartz. You'll see a path you can follow marked with unlit braziers. Follow this path and eventually you'll reach the summit of Dragonspine and find another Anemo pillar. Activate it to create another gust of wind, which you can ride up to the floating pillar. Climb it and reach the top to find a Crimson Agate (used for the Frostbearing Tree) and to trigger a hidden cutscene.
And that's it! You can now teleport to the Peak of Vindagnyr any time and start farming it for materials and artifacts, and you'll get a nice sum of primogems for turning in the Into the Mountains quest.
For more on Genshin Impact, check out our Genshin Impact tier list, the best builds for Albedo and Ganyu, and where to find all the Ancient Carvings (another Dragonspine puzzle quest) or our guide to the Frostbearing Tree.
