Ruin Guardians in Genshin Impact: where to find and how to destroy

In Genshin Impact Ruin Guardians are automatons and elite enemies that can be found in various parts of Teyvat. They drop valuable materials for weapon elevation. In this guide, we'll list the stats of these Ruin Gears, as well as where to find them and how to defeat them.

The main characteristics of the guardians of the ruins

These gears are ancient weapons called "cultivators" by the Kaenri'ah people. They have 70% resistance to physical damage, and their resistance to any elements is only 10%. Under the spoiler, the parameters (attack, defense and health) of this elite enemy at various levels are shown.

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However, you should be aware that these values may change when playing in co-op, as well as in a number of tasks and certain dungeons (for example, in the Twisted Abyss). These changes are usually associated with the multiplication of some characteristics by a certain scaling factor.

What drops from the guards of the ruins

The table below shows the items that drop from these Ruin Gears based on their level. We note in advance that for their victory they also give the plague and Character EXP.

Note that devices, chains and nuclei of chaos necessary for the elevation of a variety of weapons. It is for this reason that you have to farm them regularly, finding and destroying the guardians of the ruins.

Where to find the guardians of the ruins (map)

In total, more than 50 of these automatons can now be found in Teyvat. They look like huge robots with one eye, making them hard to miss. We also recommend that you use the Traveler's Handbook (press F1 to open it) to track the right enemies. We'll list the exact locations of these enemies below. We also advise you to keep before your eyes interactive map of the world.

We add that not all guardians of the ruins roam the district - some of them lie on the ground in an inactive state or appear only as part of tasks. In the first case, it is often enough to simply walk next to the robot or hit it. If it doesn't rise even after being attacked, it means it's broken or connected to some kind of quest. You can also check its danger with the help of a sense of the elements - if it does not glow white, then it is completely harmless. Like other elite enemies, they respawn in about 2-3 real days.

Mondstadt

Not the most convenient location for farming these opponents, since there are not very many of them here, and they are located at a great distance from each other. Three of them can be found around the Stormterror Lair, with one of them located on the lower level of the tower, which is surrounded by air barriers (see the second screenshot below).

Two more Ruin Guardians can be found at Stormcrystal Peak and the Temple of a Thousand Winds. The remaining two Mondstadt automatons are on secret island, where the quest "Time and Wind" is completed. However, considering how long it takes to get to this island, we do not advise you to waste time on this.

Liyue

This region is better suited for finding and destroying Ruin Machines, as 17 pieces can be found here at once. For example, in the ruins to the north and south of the Cloudy Limit "walk" 5 guards. Two more can be found in the area of Minyun Village and Yaoguang Shoal, and not far from the teleports.

If you are confident in your abilities, then we advise you to immediately go to the Guyun stone forest, where you can simultaneously fight with 4 guardians of the ruins at once. The same number can be found near the Dunyu tomb, however, they are far from each other, so it will not work with everyone at once.

A couple more can be found near Lake Luhua and in the southern part of the Guili Valley. We add that you will have to fight with a large number of robots as part of the quest "The Chi of Yore". They will appear at the end of the quest, when you go to inspect the cache in the cave.

Inazuma

One automaton can be found in the north of Narukami Island, on the edge of the Araumi Valley. He is behind a thunder barrier. You can try to force him to come out of cover by attacking a couple of times, or just climb onto the stone arch and jump down (the right place is shown in the screenshot). Inside, you will be able to summon an Electrograna and go through the Hurdle.

Immediately 5 guardians of the ruins are located on Tsurumi Island Island. However, they seem to activate sequentially, so if, for example, you encounter a working ruin mechanism on Oina Beach, then the rest will be inoperative. You will have to wait 3 real days to check who woke up next. Note that three automatons wake up at once on the Wakukau shallows (try to hit the lying ones if they don’t get up).

Encanomia

Added With You with update 2.4, the location turned out to be extremely rich in the guards of the ruins and other automatons. Here you can meet them in almost any area. However, many of them are in an inactive state, turning on only if you hit them, or during certain quests.

Some of them protect chests, for example, in the west of Dainichi Mikoshi you have to fight with three ruin mechanisms at once. Note that in this region you will often have to fight with groups of these opponents. The pictures below show all levels of Encanomia and places where you can meet the guardians of the ruins.

How to defeat the Guardians of the Ruins

Ruin Guardian Attacks and Moves

Stomp: the opponent lifts one leg and then stomps on the ground, dealing physical damage in a small area.

Palm strike: if the player is still within range of the robot after the stomp, it is not uncommon for the player to immediately lean down and clap their hands, dealing physical damage in an area in front of them.

Punch and jump combo: first, the enemy punches twice, and then jumps into the air and lands where the character is standing, dealing physical damage in an area. You should make a dash to the side so as not to fall under the last attack.

Spin attack: the top of the enemy starts to rotate and the arms stretch out, which increases the damage radius. In this case, the robot will move towards the player. This movement lasts approximately 7 seconds and deals significant physical damage. At this point, you should run away from the enemy as quickly as possible.

Missiles: if the character runs too far, the enemy will quickly turn 180° and then freeze, exposing his back. Shortly after that, a crosshair mark will appear on the character, and the ruin mechanism will fire 6 homing missiles at once at your hero. Individually, they deal average physical damage, but if they hit all at once, they can easily take away half of the health.

These projectiles can also change direction almost instantly while the scope is on the character. But when the mark disappears, they will simply begin to fly in a straight line. Therefore, we advise you to make a dash at the very last moment, when the crosshair has already disappeared (an example is shown in the gif above).

Ruin Guardian Combat Strategy

This mini-boss has two weak points: a glowing eye in front and a small rosette on his back. If you hit any of these points, the enemy will be briefly stunned. If you quickly shoot at the same place a second time, the automaton will immediately collapse and become inactive for a few seconds, allowing you to attack it with impunity in melee. In the event of a hit on the back vulnerability, he will turn to face forward in the direction of the character.

If the first hit on the weak point was successful, but you did not perform the second attack, then the robot will return to normal. Regardless of whether you stunned the enemy completely or only partially, after hitting vulnerable points, protective runes will appear in their places, which will not allow you to turn off the guard of the ruins again for a certain period of time.

In theory, any character can hit the weak spot of the robot, but the easiest way to do this is with the help of archers. You should also perform charged attacks, as the enemy has low resistance to elemental damage. A good option might be Amber, who is able to distract the guardian of the ruins with her elemental skill "Amber: Bunny".

Since this enemy has high resistance to physical damage and a very large supply of health, it is recommended to use purely elemental attacks in a battle with him. Try to create killer reactions to things like Vapor or Melt.

If you see that the enemy is preparing to launch missiles, then try to take him out of formation as quickly as possible by firing a bow at the vulnerability on his back. If you don't have a ranged fighter, you'll have to dodge, hide behind cover, or use a solid Noelle: Protector.

The most dangerous attack of this automaton is a spinning strike, as it not only deals huge damage, but also lasts a very long time, so it may well kill the character if he does not have time to escape. You can try to stop him by shooting at the weak spot (if not protected by runes), or run away and attack from afar. Don't try to tank as even the strongest shields won't be able to absorb all the damage.

Recommended Commands

Best for battling the guardians of the ruins fit archers, and any element. For this reason, you should definitely take Eimiya, Amber, Dione, Ganyu, Fischl, Kudze Sarah, Venti, Aloy, Gorou or Tartaglia into the team. Also get good at using an aimed shot to quickly hit the enemy's weak spots.

It would be nice to keep a shield character with you, for example, Tom, Dion, Zhongli, Noelle or Xinyan. They will be able to protect you from missiles and other mini-boss attacks. Given the resistance of the enemy, we do not advise you to take damage dealers that are focused on dealing physical damage - it is better to take characters that can deal massive elemental damage with their ult. The table below shows some good units to fight against these opponents.

If you need to fight 3-4 ruin guards at the same time, for example, in the quest "The Chi of Yore", then we recommend that you take a team that can create a reaction Elemental Reaction: Frozen (2nd, 7th and 8th detachments). The fact is that these opponents are quite easily frozen, making them completely harmless. As a result, you will be able to permanently stun 1-2 enemies, which will greatly simplify the fight.

We hope our Ruin Guardian guide will help you find all the Ruin Gears in Genshin Impact and then deal with them with ease.