Genshin Impact Version 2.8: How to clear Floor 12 of the Spiral Abyss – tips and tricks

Every new version of Genshin Impact also sees a change in the Spiral Abyss, the game’s most difficult endgame content that requires tons of highly leveled characters and carefully crafted artifacts. Floor 12 of Genshin Impact is a difficult challenge, featuring one of the most controversial additions to the Spiral Abyss to date.

Spiral Abyss guide

Each Spiral Abyss update grants a unique buff to help you out in your battles. This update is the Blessing of the Abyssal Moon: Valiant Moon. This buff has the following effect:

“When a character takes the field, they will gain 1 Fortitude stack every 2 seconds. This will increase their ATK by 20%. Max 3 stacks. When characters with 3 Fortitude stacks hit opponents with Charged Attacks, a shockwave will be unleashed at the opponents’ position, dealing True DMG. A shockwave can be unleashed in this manner once every 2 seconds. When the character leaves the field, all their Fortitude stacks will be cleared.”

While most of the floors also have Leyline Disorder that adds a buff to your characters, this floor does not. You will be going without any additional buffs.

Characters to consider

Pyro characters are once again in high demand, despite the lack of a Pyro DMG buff. The Cryo Hypostasis makes an appearance on this floor, as well as Cryogunner Legionnaires. As a result, it’s highly recommended to bring a Pyro character in the first half.

• Hu Tao / Yoimiya: These two Pyro characters are very strong characters that deal high single-target DMG, which is useful for these floors with aren’t filled with too many enemies.
• Any bow character: To deal with the final boss, the Ruin Serpent, it’s highly recommended to bring a bow character to deal with a phase of the boss that requires you to target its vulnerable points. This provides you with a window to attack.

Related: The best Hu Tao build in Genshin Impact

Floor 12: Chamber One

This fight sends tons of enemies your way, with Ice Shieldwall Mitachurls and Frostarm Lawachurl’s possessing the greatest challenge. The sheer amount of Cryo enemies makes bringing Pyro characters into this floor a must.

Immediately starting the chamber, we recommend heading towards the left, which will allow the Hilichurls to group up naturally around you. As you defeat more enemies, the Mitachurls and Lawachurl will spawn, but you don’t need to chase after them. They will come to you naturally, allowing you to focus on the weaker Hilichurls first.

The next chamber features three Nobushi enemies, which are fairly easy to deal with. The bigger challenge comes once the two Kairagi spawn. If you need a reminder, Kairagi enemies always come in pairs of two. If you do not kill them at approximately the same time, the surviving Kairagi will refill most of their health, hurting your progress.

You can opt to bring teams with great AoE damage to equalize your damage output, such as a Xiangling + Bennett pairing. Alternatively, there are ways to make sure the enemies do not refill their health. Overload will stagger the surviving Kairagi, making it so he cannot refill his health. Freezing them is also an option, or unleashing a strong crowd-control ability like Zhongli’s Elemental Burst.

Floor 12: Chamber Two

The Cryo Hypostasis is a World Boss that made its way into the Spiral Abyss. It’s not too difficult, but you should generally bring a Pyro character to deal the most damage possible, as all Pyro DMG against this boss will trigger the Melt reaction.

The best way to save your time is to stay close to the Hypostasis, so it does not enter its lengthy roll attack. Once you wipe out approximately 90% of its HP, the Cryo Hypostasis will become invulnerable and teleport to the center of the arena. It will then cover itself in a huge Cryo shield. It will fire these Cryo balls at your location, which you must charge attack back at the Hypostasis to break the shield.

Be sure to use this boss to refill energy for the next chamber. You can gain energy by attacking it with abilities, even when it’s invulnerable.

The next chamber is relatively tame as well, featuring Ruin Cruisers, Destroyers, Scouts, and one large Ruin Grader. After defeating the Ruin Scout and Destroyers, the Ruin Cruisers will spawn in with the Ruin Grader.

We recommend heading to the left and attacking the Ruin Cruiser there. The Ruin Cruiser on the opposite side of the map should teleport to your location eventually, while the Ruin Grader will charge at your location as well.

Floor 12: Chamber Three

This chamber can be a little tedious if you do not dispatch the Cryogunners in time. Once they manage to get off their Cryo attacks, you can become permanently frozen in combination with the Mirror Maiden. We recommend dealing with the Cryogunners first, as the Mirror Maiden has a large amount of HP that may make it difficult to defeat her first.

The final chamber features the Ruin Serpent World Boss, which is highly tedious due to its tendency to burrow underground, rendering itself untargetable. Pay attention to when the Ruin Serpent slams its tail into the ground. This will be your window to attack.

After dealing approximately 75% damage, the Ruin Serpent will charge up a powerful attack by spinning in a circle. During this phase, it will have points of weakness that you can shoot with one of your bow characters. After hitting them all, the Ruin Serpent will become incapacitated, allowing you to deal damage.

After clearing this chamber, the Spiral Abyss will end, marking the end of the hardest challenge in Version 2.8. Be sure to defeat these enemies as fast as you can to earn the best rewards possible.