Genshin Impact 2.6 Patch Notes: Ayato Banner, The Chasm, and More Details

Genshin Impact version 2.6 “Zephyr of the Violet Garden” is finally here, bringing new characters, locations, weapons, and more to the ever-popular gacha game. This update adds the highly anticipated Kamisato Ayato to the game, brother to the already playable Cryo character Kamisato Ayaka. A new area called The Chasm is also being introduced in this new version, and the Spiral Abyss is receiving a few changes that players will want to make note of as well. It’s a big patch, so here’s what you can expect to see in the latest update.

Genshin Impact Version 2.6 Patch Notes

Downtime for this update will begin at 3 pm PST / 6 pm EST / 11 pm BST on March 29, and the update is expected to go live at 8 pm PST / 11 pm EST on March 29 (4 am BST on March 30) after five hours of downtime. Here are the patch notes for Genshin Impact version 2.6.

I. New Area – “The Chasm”

• • After the Version 2.6 update, a new area, The Chasm, will be available in Liyue.
    Reach Adventure Rank 28 and complete the Archon Quest “A New Star Approaches” and the World Quest “Surreptitious Seven-Star Seal Sundering” to unlock the underground mines.

II. New Character

• • 5-Star Character “Pillar of Fortitude” Kamisato Ayato
    • ◇ Vision: Hydro
    • ◇ Weapon: Sword
    • ◇ The young but highly accomplished head of the Yashiro Commission’s Kamisato Clan. Cultured and polite, he is a man of many ways and means.

III. New Domain

• • The Lost Valley
  • The ancient ritual grounds were buried beneath the earth amidst a cataclysm that tore heaven and earth asunder before being uplifted by the descent of an alien object, and finally unveiled by a destructive battle that resulted from a betrayal. Nonetheless, those who once frequented this place are no more.

IV. New Equipment

• • 1. New Weapon
    • Haran Geppaku Futsu (5-Star Sword)
    • ◇ A famed work by the Futsu line of smiths. The name “Haran” comes from the manner in which it resembles the violent, roiling waves.
  • 2. New Artifact Sets
    • Vermillion Hereafter (4-Star and 5-Star)
    • Echoes of an Offering (4-Star and 5-Star)

V. New Events

• • “Hues of the Violet Garden” event: Take part in the event to invite “Juvenile Galant” Xingqiu (Hydro)
    • During the event, you will receive quests to help organize the Irodori Festival. As the festival progresses, four gameplay modes will be unlocked in sequence: “The Moon and Stars Inscribe,” “Theater Mechanicus,” “Clash of Lone Blades,” and “The Floral Courtyard.”
    • Participate and complete the corresponding criteria to obtain event-exclusive Furnishings, exclusive recipes, Primogems, Crown of Insight, Talent Level-Up Materials, and more. Complete all the criteria in “Friendship in Writing” to invite “Juvenile Galant” Xingqiu (Hydro).

▌Event Duration

• ▌Eligibility
  • Reach Adventure Rank 30 or above
  • Complete the “Ritou Escape Plan” part of the Archon Quest: “Chapter II: Act I – The Immovable God and the Eternal Euthymia”
    • *Complete Kamisato Ayato’s Story Quest “Cypressus Custos Chapter: Act I – The Firmiana Leaf Falls,” Raiden Shogun’s Story Quest “Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II – Transient Dreams,” and Sangonomiya Kokomi’s Story Quest “Dracaena Somnolenta Chapter: Act I – Warriors’ Dreams Like Spring Grass Renewing” first to best enjoy the event.
  • If you have not completed Kamisato Ayato, Raiden Shogun, and Sangonomiya Kokomi’s Story Quests, you can enter the event through “Quick Start.”

VI. New Main Story

• • 1. New Archon Quest
    • Archon Quest Chapter II: Act IV “Requiem of the Echoing Depths”
  • 2. New Story Quest
    • Kamisato Ayato’s Story Quest “Cypressus Custos Chapter: Act I – The Firmiana Leaf Falls”
  • 3. New World Quests
    • ◆ New World Quests:
      • “The Chasm Delvers” Quest Chain
      • “Stolen, by the Rightful Owner”
      • “Undetected Infiltration”
      • “A Cliff-Side Hero’s Past”
      • “The Millennial Mountains”
      • “Says He Who Seeks Stone”
      • “Dimming Mushroom’s Call for Help
      • “A Company Vanishing Into the Deep”
      • “Valor’s Afterglow” Quest Chain
      • “Lost in a Foreign Land” Quest Chain
      • “Mycological Investigation in The Chasm”
      • “Hydrological Investigation in The Chasm”
      • “Paleontological Investigation in The Chasm”
      • “The Chasm’s Bounty”
      • “The Missing Miner”
      • and more.

VII. New Enemies

• • Ruin Serpent
    • ◇ An ancient, bizarrely-shaped autonomous machine.
  • Black Serpent Knight: Windcutter
    • ◇ A guard of some standing in the court.
  • Floating Hydro Fungus
    • ◇ A spore organism of some intelligence. It possesses extreme adaptability.

VIII. Other Additions

1. New Recipes: “Quiet Elegance,” “Katsu Sandwich,” and “Rainbow Aster.”
2. New Achievement categories such as “Challenger: Series V,” and “Chasmlighter” and new Achievements added to the “Wonders of the World” category.
3. New Namecards: “Kamisato Ayato: Ripple,” “Lumens: Stone of Light,” “Achievement: Thunderclap,” “Achievement: Chasm,” and “Travel Notes: Irodori.”
4. New Furnishing: Leisure Device: Maximum Motivation
5. The “Adjust Brightness” function has been added to Settings > Graphics.
6. “Radiant Spincrystals” have been added to Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma. After obtaining them, you can unlock the corresponding Realm Music using “Euphonium Unbound.”
7. The Teapot Traveling Salesman has added some “Radiant Spincrystals” which can be purchased after obtaining and completing the corresponding World Quests in Inazuma.
8. After completing Raiden Shogun’s Story Quest “Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II,” Ritou will add a shop where you can purchase “Sango Pearls,” “Unagi Meat,” and 2-Star “Lucky Dog” Artifacts.
9. New Living Beings: Lucklight Fly (Capturable), and Bluethunder Weasel (Capturable)
10. New Harvestable Resource: Starshroom
11. The redirect link to the “Adventurer Handbook: Bosses” screen has been added under the “Sources” for certain Development Items. The Development Items dropped by “Floating Hydro Fungus” will also include a redirect link to the “Adventurer Handbook” in future versions.
12. Adds a shortcut for opening the Party Setup Screen on mobile platforms: on the main interface, tap and hold the avatar of any character to quickly access the Party Setup Screen.
13. Adds some prompts for loading screens.
14. New Loot Drops from “Abyss Heralds,” and “Abyss Lectors”: “Gloomy Statuette,” “Dark Statuette,” and “Deathly Statuette.”
15.  Spiral Abyss
    • Floor 11 Ley Line Disorders changed to:
      • All characters in the party gain a 75% Anemo DMG Bonus.
      • Updated the monster lineup on Floors 11 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.
    • Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 2.6, the three Lunar Phases will be as follows:
      • Phase I: Sheet-Ice Moon
        • After a character’s Normal Attack hits an opponent, this opponent will be afflicted with a Mark of Ending. After 10s, this Mark of Ending will be removed, dealing True DMG to this opponent. When a character’s Normal Attack hits an opponent with a Mark of Ending, the DMG dealt by the Mark of Ending’s removal will be increased. This DMG can be increased 9 times.
      • Phase II: Snap-Rain Moon
        • After a character’s Normal Attacks hit opponents, the DMG dealt by this character’s Normal Attacks will increase by 12% for 5s. This effect can stack up to 5 times. Each stack is calculated independently. This effect can be triggered once every 0.1s.
      • Phase III: Iris Moon
        • After a character’s Normal Attack deals DMG to an opponent, the Physical/Elemental RES of this opponent will decrease by 6% for 5s, matching the type of DMG dealt. This can stack up to 7 times. RES decreases of different types can co-exist, and their stacks and timers will be independent of each other.

〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓

• Enemies
  1. Lowers the DMG done by “Geovishap Hatchlings” when their tail sweep skill hits a character continuously.
  2. Optimizes the appearance of the “Primo Geovishap” in the “Living Beings” section of the Archive.
• System
  1. Optimizes the Ornamental Fish icon.
  2. Optimizes UI presentation and text of content that has yet to be unlocked in Hangout Events.
  3. When below Adventure Rank 30, the “Tutorials” icon will be permanently displayed on the main interface.
  4. Added “Recently Unlocked” to “Tutorials.” Five newly unlocked tutorials will be stored for easy access.
  5. “Tutorials” will record the position where you last have read. If there is no unread tutorial, the last read tutorial will be selected.
  6. Adjusts the position of the Tutorials button in “Living Beings.”
  7. Optimizes the sorting logic for Weapon Enhancement Materials and Artifact Enhancement Materials: these two materials are still placed at the bottom of their respective categories, but their internal sorting will be affected when sorting by quality.
• Audio
  1. Optimizes the volume of music in the Serenitea Pot.
  2. Optimizes the Japanese, Korean, and English voice-over for certain characters and quests.
  3. Adds Alternate Outfits voice lines for the characters Jean, Amber, Rosaria, and Mona; Travelers can change the outfits in “Character > Outfit” to play the relevant voice lines.
• Other
  1. The text of the “Exit Download” button in the login screen has been changed to “Stop Download,” and the text description of the related function was optimized.
  2. For animation cutscenes from Version 2.6 and earlier, Jean, Amber, Rosaria, and Mona’s appearances have been adjusted to the Alternate Outfits.
  3. Optimizes the effects of the cutscene animation in the Archon Quest “A Long Shot.”
  4. Optimizes some display animation details of the character Kaeya in the Character > Weapon interface.
  5. Batch optimizes the logic related to the enemy homing function for 15 characters and 4 large-sized enemies: Golden Wolflord, Stormterror, Ruin Serpent, (new enemy in Version 2.6), and Bathysmal Vishap Herd.
  6. After the Spiral Abyss resets on April 1, the “Gladiator’s Finale” and “Wanderer’s Troupe” Artifact set rewards in “Domain Reliquary: Tier I,” and “Domain Reliquary: Tier II” for floors 9-12 will be replaced with “Vermillion Hereafter” and “Echoes of an Offering.”
  7. Optimizes the sensitivity of the controller in the Hangout Events interface.
  8. Optimizes the display of certain messages on the interface when using a controller: hides messages that are not part of the current operation interface.
  9. When using a controller, you can quickly activate certain functions of the shortcut wheel by pressing key combinations.
  10. Adjusts the height of the central stage disc in some Domains.
  11. Adjusts the text description of Achievement category “Liyue: The Harbor of Stone and Contracts.” Progress in exploring Liyue’s The Chasm area will be counted separately in the “Chasmlighter” Achievement category.

Genshin Impact is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, and mobile devices. A Nintendo Switch version of the game is in development.