Let’s be honest for a second. We’ve all been there. Staring at the screen, 160 Resin gone in eight minutes, and all you have to show for it is a pile of DEF% goblets and a growing sense of existential dread. The artifact grind in Genshin Impact is a special kind of purgatory. A beautiful, cel-shaded, soul-crushing purgatory.
You run the same domains over and over until the background music is permanently etched into your brain. You know every enemy spawn, every awkward camera angle. It becomes… a chore. A job.
But what if I told you there’s a place you might have missed? A corner of Teyvat, tucked away behind a clever little puzzle, that holds two of the most niche—and powerful—artifact sets in the entire game. A place that, for a moment, reminds you that Genshin is about more than just min-maxing stats. It’s about discovery.
I’m talking about a domain that doesn’t just pop up on your map. You have to earn it. And the journey to do so is one of those perfect little "aha!" moments that makes this game so darn special.
The Secret Hiding in The Chasm: Finding The Lost Valley
Okay, so our destination is The Chasm. Specifically, the surface level, not the spooky underground part (though that place has its own mountain of secrets). You’ll want to teleport to the waypoint just south of the Fuao Vale. Look around. It’s all rocks, strange glowing plants, and that slightly unsettling Chasm ambiance. It doesn’t exactly scream "top-tier loot here!"
But there’s this one spot, a little cave entrance blocked by a breakable rock with a Geo symbol on it. You’ve probably seen a hundred of these. The thing is, this one is different. Smashing it reveals… well, another rock. And a pressure plate. And a weird, glowing rock formation nearby that hums with Geo energy.
This, my friends, is the front door. And the key is resonance.
I remember stumbling upon this area completely by accident while hunting for chests. I spent an embarrassingly long time just trying to brute-force it. Kaeya bridge? Nope. Klee bombs? Nothing. It wasn’t until I actually stopped and *looked* at the environment that the pieces started to click. The game was telling me a story, a puzzle written in the language of its own mechanics. It’s a bit like those brain-teasing physics games where you have to manipulate the environment to get the right outcome.
Genshin Impact: Unlock a HIDDEN Domain for Exclusive Artifacts! (The Puzzle Part)
Alright, let me try to explain this clearly, because it’s a little tricky but incredibly satisfying once you get it. The goal is to make that big, glowing Geo rock resonate with *another* Geo construct. Your own.
Here’s the thing: you can’t just plop a Geo structure down anywhere. It needs to be placed in a specific spot so its own resonant pulse overlaps with the pulse from the big rock. This chain reaction is what will shatter the final boulder blocking the way.
So, who do you need? A Geo character who can create a construct. The Traveler (Geo), Zhongli, Ningguang, or Albedo are your best bets. I used Zhongli, because, well, it’s Zhongli.
You need to stand near the locked entrance, turn around, and look at that Unique Rock Pillar. You’ll see a pressure plate on the ground nearby. Don’t stand on it. Instead, place your Geo construct (like Zhongli's pillar or the Traveler's Starfell Sword) somewhere *between* the pressure plate and the big Unique Rock Pillar. The idea is to create a chain of resonance. The Unique Rock Pillar will send out a pulse, which hits your construct, which in turn sends out its *own* pulse, and that final pulse needs to hit the rock blocking the cave.
It might take a few tries. I definitely placed my pillar in about five wrong spots, each time with a sigh of frustration. But then… it happens. A deep hum, a flash of gold light, and the giant boulder crumbles into dust, revealing a path forward. And there it is, pristine and untouched: The Lost Valley domain.
That moment of success? Chef’s kiss. It’s not just about getting loot; it’s about outsmarting the world itself. It feels less like a grind and more like a genuine adventure.
But Are the Artifacts Actually Worth the Trouble?
So you’ve unlocked the domain. Congratulations! Now for the big question: should you spend your precious Resin here?
The answer is… maybe. It’s complicated.
The Lost Valley drops two sets: Vermillion Hereafter and Echoes of an Offering.
Let's talk about Vermillion first. This is, without a doubt, Xiao’s best-in-slot artifact set. Full stop. The 4-piece bonus, which grants a massive ATK% buff after using an Elemental Burst and taking damage, was tailor-made for his health-draining pogo-stick playstyle. If you’re a dedicated Xiao main, farming this domain is practically a rite of passage.
Then there's Echoes of an Offering. This one is… trickier. Its 4-piece bonus gives a chance to massively increase Normal Attack DMG. It’s a fantastic set for characters who rely on fast, consecutive Normal Attacks, like Kamisato Ayato. Sometimes Yoimiya, too. The frustrating thing about this set is the "chance" part. It’s based on probability, which can lead to inconsistent damage output. Some people (myself included) find that frustrating. But when it works? Oh boy, the numbers fly.
So, are they worth it? If you main Xiao or Ayato, absolutely. For anyone else, probably not. These are specialized tools for a specific job, not a one-size-fits-all solution like Emblem of Severed Fate. The grind for good pieces here can be just as painful as any other domain, echoing the kind of persistence needed in other survival-sim games where you're always hunting for the best gear, like the upcoming project from the PUBG creator.
But unlocking it? That’s worth it for the experience alone. It’s a permanent upgrade to your world, a little trophy on your map that says, "I solved this." And in a game that can sometimes feel like a repetitive loop, those moments are pure gold.
FAQs: Your Questions About The Lost Valley, Answered
Do I *really* need a Geo character to unlock this domain?
Yep, you absolutely do. The entire puzzle is based on the concept of Geo construct resonance, so there’s no way to brute-force it with other elements or physical attacks. You need a character who can create a lasting Geo object on the field—like Zhongli, Geo Traveler, Ningguang, or Albedo. Itto's Ushi, sadly, doesn't stick around long enough to work consistently.
Why isn't Vermillion Hereafter good for other characters besides Xiao?
It comes down to the very specific activation requirements. The 4-piece set requires a character to use their Elemental Burst and then lose HP to gain the big ATK% buff. Xiao is one of the only characters in the game who does this automatically and repeatedly as a core part of his kit. While other characters can lose HP, it's not consistent enough to make this set better than more generalist options.
I'm stuck. What's the fastest way to solve the puzzle?
The easiest way is to use the Geo Traveler. Walk up to the locked cave entrance. Turn around 180 degrees and run straight until you hit the cliff wall. Turn around again to face the entrance. Now, use the Traveler's elemental skill (the big rock) and aim it directly at the huge Unique Rock Pillar you see in the distance. The placement of your rock will almost always be perfect to trigger the resonance chain. It's a bit less elegant, but it works!
Is it better to farm here for Xiao or just use the Strongbox?
Ah, the eternal question. Honestly, it depends. If you *also* have a character who can use Echoes of an Offering (like Ayato), then farming the domain is very Resin-efficient. But if you only care about Xiao, and your account needs zero pieces from the Echoes set, you might be better off farming a more universal domain (like Emblem) and throwing all your bad artifacts into the Vermillion Hereafter Strongbox. It’s slower, but you won't be accumulating a useless second set.
How do I even get to this part of The Chasm?
You'll need to have advanced the main Archon Quest far enough to unlock The Chasm region in Liyue. Once it's open, you can just walk right in! The domain is on the surface level, so you don't need to complete the extensive underground quests to access this specific puzzle, which is a nice bonus.
