Genshin Impactis eventful, and you’ve made fun and fond memories in the game. There are many shocking events and disturbing discoveries in the archon quests, but the story quests also carry lore-heavy surprises. That’s why some weekly bosses can only be unlocked by playing certain story quests.
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But not all story quests have doom and gloom waiting for you. These story quests aren’t just here to expand your knowledge about Teyvat’s lore, but also for you to get to know the character you’re hanging out with. Some moments here were pleasant surprises that changed your perspective on a character.
Spoiler Alert: There are several story quest spoilers from Genshin Impact. Proceed at your own risk.
10Stanley’s Story - Should You Be Trapped in a Windless Land
Venti is funto be around, but his first story quest is proof that he hasn’t turned his back on Mondstadt or its people. If you remember Stanley from Mondstadt, he used to tell tall tales of his adventures.
Venti found this suspicious, and you realized that Stanley was indeed lying about his story.
Because the story he was recollecting wasn’t his own, and his name isn’t even Stanley. His real name is Hans, and the real Stanley perished in the windless Mare Jivare.
Through his powers, Venti helps Stanley’s soul cross over by revealing his true identity to Hans. The real Stanley is finally put to rest after many years.
9A Treasure Hunt for Nothing - Secret Pirate Treasure
Admit it: you bought Kaeya’s act of having a pirate for a grandparent. You were excited to find treasure, only to realize that you were used in his scheme to arrest a notorious Treasure Hoarder.
Kaeya isn’t the most transparent character, but his charms probably had you convinced.
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If you weren’t convinced, you still had to take a look and see if there was any merit to this treasure he was talking about. The value of a treasure is relative, so if you kept the Harbinger of Dawn you received from this story quest, then maybe it wasn’t all for naught.
8The Sword Can Talk - A Strange and Friendless Road
Kazuha is a character with a haunted past. He became a fugitive anddefied the shogun herself. Just when you thought that Kazuha was about to experience some peace, a conscious, cursed blade became the center of his story quest.
It’s one thing for a sword to be cursed, but it’s more surprising to find a sword that has a mind of its own.
The Kagotsurube Isshin was made by Kazuha’s ancestor and only wished to return to Kaedehara’s hands. It possessed Kazuha so that it could teach him Isshin Art, but it came at the price of its consciousness.
7Yoimiya Can See Aranara - Star-Pickers' Passage
Rather, the aranara didn’t run off even if Yoimiya was present. Arapurva said that they wouldn’t have appeared to the Traveler if they knew that they had company other than Paimon, but they didn’t hide either.
Only children and those pure of heart can meet aranara, and it’s later confirmed by Arapurva that she has a pure heart.
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Yoimiya only wanted to see the aranara for the sake of Avin, a sad, sickly girl. To see the aranara show itself to Yoimiya was a pleasant and heartwarming surprise, and it’s a canon interaction we’re not going to forget about anytime soon.
6Teucer Making it Into Liyue - Mighty Cyclops' Adventure!
Tartaglia’s story quest has a lot of surprises. You had a lot of laughs when Childe tried to cover up his profession to Teucer, and probably held your breath when he fought multiple Ruin Graders in his Foul Legacy form. But themost shocking detailin this story quest is how Teucer made his way into Liyue.
How Teucer got on a boat with bags of money completely unscathed is beyond you. You’ve traversed the vast nations of Teyvat fighting all sorts of abyss creatures and hilichurls, but this kid made it safely into Liyue? Maybe Celestia and the Heavenly Principles truly do hate you.
5The Existence of a Dendro Dragon - Homecoming
The existence of a dendro dragon was relatively unknown. That was until you and Nahida found a bunch of talking mushrooms and realized that they’re not ordinary, angry mushrooms, but creatures that used to live within the Dendro Dragon.
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You were amazed at how huge the Dendro Dragon was, and Apep can be difficult to fight without healers—but you were just purifying and fighting his heart. This creature lived long before the arrival of the gods, which adds another layer to Genshin Impact’s lore.
4Albedo Hinting At Something Sinister - Traveler Observation Report
Albedo isn’t a regular person, and the circumstances of his birth will make you wonder if he is a person at all. But all else considered, he was just a peaceful guy who liked painting people and sceneries and tinkering with alchemy in Dragonspine.
So you were probably taken aback when he said, “If one day, I lose control and destroy Mondstadt, destroy everything, can I rely on you to stop me?” There is still a lot about Albedo we’re yet to know, and we can only hope that he never loses control one day.
3Makoto’s Last Message for Ei - Transient Dreams
You traveled back in time with Ei to plant the Sacred Sakura. It’s a flooring and reality-altering experience to travel back in time to plant a tree that’s always been there since you got to Inazuma.
You witness a touching moment between Ei and Makoto before the latter completely fades for good.
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There is a lot to talk about in this scene, one of which is that if Ei planted the tree, why was her memory along with everybody else’s altered? How could something planted by somebody from the future exist in the past? Maybe it’s because time is in stasis in Ei’s realm, which doesn’t explain how a tree can grow if time is frozen.
2The Death of Havria, The Goddess of Salt - Sal Flore
Facing the wrath of the rock is not something you would wish to experience, especially not ifthe God of Contractsis the one to personally deliver your punishment. But some people can’t help but break the contract for whatever it is they value.
You probably didn’t expect Zhongli to do anything violent, but his retelling of Havria’s fate left you stunned.
At least you know that it wasn’t Zhongli that killed the helpless goddess. But it’s sickening to think that the people Havria tried to protect killed her in the end.
1Azhdaha is The Overlord of the Geovishaps - No Mere Stone
Zhongli’s second story quest was earth-shattering, andthree millenniums worth of existencecan accrue grudges. Azhdaha being the Overlord of the Geovishaps was a jaw-dropping revelation, and to think that this dragon was once a friend of Zhongli’s until he succumbed to corrosion is just as heartbreaking.
This quest started out with you and Zhongli searching for missing miners, only for you to find and fight a friend that was long sealed away. Who would’ve thought your search party would find a slumbering dragon? Neither you nor Paimon would’ve guessed.
