Genshin Impact recently received a huge free update that gave it a new region for players to explore. Dragonspine is a spiraling frozen mountain that brought with it new weapons, characters, puzzles, and new status effects that pushed even the most dedicated players.

Many aspects of the core formula were tweaked for the region in order to bring a fresh experience to players who have been enjoying the game since its launch in September. Below we will be taking a look at all the unique changes made for the region and how they have improved the core gameplay experience overall.

10 Frost Bearing Tree

Dragonspine didn’t expand the statue of the seven in Mondstadt, which many players believed it would do before the launch. Instead, it introduced an all-new mechanic called the Frost Bearing Tree, which accepts offerings in much the same way the statues do, but with greater rewards offered.

With players already finding themselves with a high stamina bar from Liyue and Mondstadt, this adds extra incentive to level up the tree.

9 Fire Seelie

Up until Dragonspine, all Seelie were pretty much the same and didn’t do anything special other than unlocking the occasional room. Fire Seelie, on the other hand, have the added benefit of keeping the player warm as they follow along behind them, and some act as more complicated parts of puzzles.

Elemental Seelie opens up a whole range of puzzles in the future, especially now that they can interact with some switches.

8 Chilled Meat

Dragonspine gives a throwback to Xiangling’s quest by introducing boar’s that are supposed to be extinct. When killed, they give a special type of meat that can either be left as is or processed into normal meat using a cooking station. While this may seem small, it is a step in the direction of more food variety.

The hunting system in Genshin is pretty simple at this point and adding in more wild game is the right way to go.

7 Fire Puzzles

The mountain is covered in unmelting snow, and some of the chests on it are encased in blocks of ice that can’t be melted with fire. In order to melt away the ice, players have to find Scarlet Quartz. The quartz is only good for one hit but is able to quickly melt away the ice.

This adds in a bit more difficulty and variety when trying to collect chest while also adding in more puzzles.

6 Cryo Enemies

The cryo enemies added into the region are harder than your standard lot of enemies. Both Hilichurls and Fatui mages got a cryo overhaul. These enemies can easily free hydro characters, hurl ice from the sky, or even have a giant ice shield that is even harder to break down than normal.

This points to the game eventually having Hilichurls and Fatui agents for every element, including dendro.

5 Sheer Cold

Sheer Cold is the status effect that makes Dragonspine both fun and challenging to explore. From the moment players enter the snowy region, a meter will appear that will quickly increase as they explore. Once it is full, it will begin dealing damage unless a fire source is found.

Sheer Cold forces players to better prepare and plan out their routes when trying to hunt down treasure.

4 New Cooking Effect

To help combat sheer cold, a new recipe was added in to help keep players warm. Goulash is able to slow the cold meter, allowing players to explore for even longer. Before all, dishes related to combat or increasing stamina. Goulash may point to more dishes in the future being used for pure exploration.

Many players would love to see a speed increasing dish or one that allows them to swim better.

3 Free Events

The event in Genshin Impact or free; this means that players don’t have to use resin in order to do them. Players can take on event challenges as much as they want without having to wait for the resin to recharge. This is a huge step since the community was having problems with resin running out way too quickly.

This is the first step to taking care of the widespread resin issues, and many players are able to enjoy the game for more time each day.

2 Albedo Introduced

Albedo is an alchemist that has a lot of mysteries around him, like, for example, how he got a seed from another world. His introduction opens up more questions about the main story plot, as well as adds in a character who isn’t totally good or evil, much like Tartaglia.

Albedo is also a huge help for those needing a support character in their team and helps add to the geo roster.

1 Rosaria Introduced

Rosaria was a bit of a surprise to players as she pops up at the start of Albedo’s story event. Rosaria is a mysterious and straightforward woman who tends to act as an even more serious version of Diluc. Rosaria was also revealed to be a five-star despite her unique design.

Rosaria helps add some much-needed diversity to the happy-go-lucky Mondstadt roster while adding in another popular four-star character.