The Blizzard Strayer and Heart of Depth artifact set were recently released with the 1.2 Dragonspine update in Genshin Impact. The artifact set is obtained by defeating the Peak of Vindagnyr Domain located at the top of the mountain. Here are some general tips on clearing the domain and the best characters to use these artifacts on!
Peak of Vindagnyr
This domain is located on Dragonspine’s Peak and can be unlocked by completing the quest Into the Mountain. The domain was once surrounded by beautiful flowers and scenery, but not lays as a forgotten tomb abandoned by time. Clearing the domain is no easy task as your characters will continuously accumulate Sheer Cold. There will also be platforms that trigger subzero temperatures and warm statues that will appear on the ground. Stepping on those platforms will decrease Sheer Cold or accelerate it faster. Once you reach the limit of Sheer Cold, your character will start to lost HP.
The enemies you will face will vary depending on the level you pick. For the majority of the enemies you will face, most of them will have a Cryo shield that you will have to break before you can deal damage to them. I recommend bringing a Pyro character like Bennet, Xiangling, or Xinyan, Diluc to the dungeon to make breaking the shields easier. At the last level, Peak of Vindagnyr IV, you will be faced with only two enemies, a Cryo Abyss Mage and a Frostarm Lawachurl. Both of these enemies can be annoying to fight against, especially if are unprepared. I recommend using Xiangling’s elemental skill to bring the shield of the Cryo Abyss Mage while you lure the Frostarm Lawachurl away. The Cryo Abyss Mage should be the first enemy you target because it has less health and can be defeated easier. Once you defeat the mage you can move on to the Frostarm Lawachurl and slowly chip away at its health. The Peak of Vindagnyr IV level is unlocked at AR 45 and is your best chance at receiving a 5-star version of the Blizzard Strayer and Heart of Depth.
Heart of Depth
Heart of Depth
2-Piece Bonus: Hydro DMG Bonus +15%
4-Piece Bonus: After using Elemental Skill, increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 30% for 15s.
The Heart of Depth artifact set grants the user a boost to their Hydro DMG and increases their normal attack after using their elemental skill. This artifact is best equipped to a Hydro character that specializes in Hydro DMG%. It should also be equipped to a character that will rely on their normal attack talent to deal damage. All current Hydro characters will benefit from the 2-piece bonus of the Heart of Depth. However, a 4-piece bonus will only benefit certain types of DPS builds.
From a glance, this artifact set was made specially for Tartaglia’s elemental skill melee stance. A DPS Tartaglia can benefit from both of the set bonus. However, the damage output is roughly about the same as a 2-piece Gladiator’s Finale and Noblesse Oblige. Tartaglia can benefit from the 15% Hydro DMG Bonus to increase both his skill and burst. A 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth will also make his burst extremely powerful.
Burst DPS: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth
Overall DPS: 2-piece Gladiator’s Finale and Heart of Depth / 4-piece Heart of Depth
Mona is a powerful support character that can powerup your DPS units with her elemental burst. She can make use of the 2-piece bonus that will give her a Hydro DMG Bonus. She won’t benefit from the full set bonus if she serves as just your support. As a support unit, Mona should use a 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth to increase the power of her boost. As a DPS, Mona can utilize the full effects of the Heart of Depth. She can also boost up her attack and deal damage by herself at the same time.
Support: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth / 4-piece Noblesse Oblige / 4-piece Wanderer’s Troupe
DPS: 4-piece Heart of Depth
Barbara can keep your team alive and healthy with her elemental skill & burst. However, she lacks the power to support teammates through buffs. Her HP regeneration also scales with her health, making her difficult to build as an attacker. As a result, she won’t fully benefit from this set unless you decide to go the DPS route for Barbara. Barbara can serve as a combat healer with a 2-piece Maiden Beloved & Heart of Depth set. You can also decide to go for full damage with a 4-piece Heart of Depth.
Healer: 4-piece Maiden Beloved
Combat Fighter: 2-piece Maiden Beloved & Heart of Depth
Full DPS: 4-piece Heart of Depth
Xingqiu is another support character that can benefit from the 2-piece bonus of the Heart of Depth. His kit isn’t designed to deal damage with his normal attack so it is not recommended to use the full set of the Heart of Depth on him. As a support unit, you can go with the 4-piece Noblesse Oblige or a 2 piece Heart of Depth and Noblesse Oblige to boost up his Hydro DMG% and elemental burst. Xingqiu can make use of the Hydro DMG Bonus with both his elemental skill and burst.
Support: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Heart of Depth / 4 piece Noblesse Oblige
Blizzard Strayer
Blizzard Strayer
2-Piece Bonus: Cryo DMG Bonus +15%
4-Piece Bonus: When a character attacks an enemy affected by Cryo, their CRIT Rate is increased by 20%. If the enemy is Frozen, CRIT Rate is increased by an additional 20%.
The Blizzard Strayer artifact set grants the wearer an increased 15% Cryo DMG and up to 40% Crit Rate on a Frozen enemy. Having a hydro character on the team is crucial to the success of this artifact set. An additional 15% Crit Rate can also be added by having two cryo characters in the party because of the Cryo element buff. This totals an increase of 65% for a character’s Crit rate. With all the increases in Crit Rate, characters can have more free room to build up their Critical DMG% or other stats. While all Cryo characters will benefit from the 2-piece, not all characters will benefit from the 4-piece bonus. Cryo characters that are built to be Critical DMG DPS will properly be able to utilize the full effects of the Blizzard Strayer.
This artifact set turns Kaeya into a powerful DPS unit capable of reliably landing critical hits on the enemies. With the 4-piece bonus, Kaeya will get a boost to his Cryo DMG and a 40% increase to his Crit Rate if the enemy is frozen. You will have to utilize a hydro character like Barbara for this set to be effective on him. At his C1 level, Kaeya will also have his Crit Rate increased by 15% when he uses normal attack on enemies that are affected by cryo. This combination of his C1 and artifact set allows Kaeya to focus fully on Crit DMG, without the need to worry about Crit Rate on his artifacts. Kaeya can also use the 2-piece bonus by itself in a more supportive role for the team. Rosaria can be built a similar way as a Cryo support.
DPS: 4-piece Blizzard Strayer
Support: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer / 4-piece Noblesse Oblige
Qiqi can also make use of the 4-piece bonus set, but not as effectively as Kaeya. Qiqi best serves as a combat healer as her healing scales off of her ATK stats. A 4-piece Blizzard Strayer won’t be effective on her if she serves only as your healer. She can also utilize a 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Noblesse Oblige to power-up her elemental burst.
Combat Healer: 4-piece Blizzard Strayer / 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Maiden Beloved / 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Gladiator’s Finale
Support: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer / 4-piece Noblesse Oblige
From a glance, this artifact set is perfect for Chongyun. However, as a claymore user, Chongyun will scatter the ice, breaking free the frozen enemy. This negates the usability of the artifact set, not allowing Chongyun to utilize the full benefits of the set. However, it is still useable if a hydro character can immediately freeze the enemy again, but that requires a lot of back and forward between the two units.
Chongyun can utilize the 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Noblesse Oblige to power-up up his burst. It is also important to mention that Chongyun can become a powerful support character for other Cryo characters carrying the artifact set. This elemental skill summons a field effect that will turn melee attacks into Cryo attacks while inside the field. This allows characters like Kaeya to enjoy the benefits of the 15% increase to Cryo attacks to their normal attacks. Plus, having two Cryo characters will also give the added bonus of an 15% increase in Crit Rate.
Burst DPS: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer
DPS: 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Gladiator’s Finale
Diona’s skill set is meant to provide support and heal her team. She can benefit from the 2-piece bonus, but will often lack the damage output to deal massive critical damage without sacrificing her support potential. Both her skills scale off of her Max HP as well, so most of her builds will not focus on CRIT DMG or ATK in the first place. Although, there is no stopping you from going for a DPS Diona. Then, a 4-piece set will be perfect for her.
Support: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer
Healer: 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Maiden Beloved
DPS: 4-piece Blizzard Strayer/ 2-piece Blizzard Strayer and Gladiator’s Finale
Ganyu can make full use of the Blizzard Strayer with her AoE attacks. Her burst has the potential to deal massive damage with each icicle spear. Her AoE field can also cover a wide area, allowing Ganyu to hit multiple enemies at once. A 4-piece Blizzard Strayer will mostly cover up her lack of Crit Rate in her artifacts. However, if you have over +50% Crit rate on her set already, it is recommended to use a 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer to maximize the damage dealt from your ultimate.
Burst DPS: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer
Critical DPS: 4-piece Blizzard Strayer
Ayaka has a built in Crit DMG Bonus based on her ascension rank. With the 4-piece Blizzard Strayer, she can fully focus on building up her Crit DMG. She can also easily apply Cryo to enemies with her alternative sprint. It is recommended that she is paired with a Hydro support like Xingqiu or Barbara to freeze the enemy. Ayaka can also be built as a burst support, but that will require more energy recharge in her artifact set as her burst has a high energy requirement.
Critical DMG DPS: 4-piece Blizzard Strayer
Burst DPS: 2-piece Noblesse Oblige and Blizzard Strayer
What do you think of the Blizzard Strayer & Heart of Depth artifact set? Is there anything I missed? Let us know in the comments below! You can also reach out through our Twitter or my Discord handle Seyfrid#2589.
The Informal Gamer 