Genshin Impact, the free-to-play action-RPG from miHoYo, was one of the biggest surprises of 2020. Despite initial skepticism regarding its monetization and Gacha mechanics, the game has received a warm reception from fans and critics alike. Heavily-inspired by the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact features an expansive world to explore.
The world of Genshin Impact is littered with ancient ruins for players to plunder, but they're rarely unguarded. One of the most dangerous enemies players can expect to encounter while ruin-raiding is the Ruin Guard, an ancient and powerful humanoid war machine.
Updated June 18th, 2021 by John Higgs: Players are eagerly awaiting the Inazuma update for Genshin Impact, which will add a whole new region to the world. As miHoYo teases new lore before the big update, players can expect to learn more about the Abyss Order, and the purpose of their ancient machines like Genshin Impact's Ruin Guards.
Where to Find Ruin Guards
Ruin Guards can be found all across Genshin Impact's map, but there are a few that are easiest to track down. In the first few hours of the main story, players will encounter one at the Thousand Winds Temple in Mondstadt.
The best Ruin Guard locations are Stormterror's Lair, Jueyun Karst, and just north of Lingju Pass. There is also a group on the south-east island of the Guyun Stone Forest. However, players will have to fight all of them at once, making it a real challenge for newcomers. Ruin Guards are most often guarding chests in Genshin Impact, and there are a few world quests that involve them.
How To Defeat Ruin Guards
The Ruin Guard has five attacks, which it will rotate through based on the player's position.
- Clap: The Ruin Guard will bend forward and clap its hands together for a powerful explosion. This move is telegraphed by the Ruin Guard bending down and flames running across its arms.
- Stomp: The Ruin Guard will attempt to stomp on anyone too close, telegraphed by raising its foot. The Ruin Guard will take a second to recover after the stomp. This gives players with a powerful weapon like the Skyward Blade the chance to deal some big damage.
- Spinning Attack: The Ruin Guard will spin the upper half of its body and move forward to strike the player with its flailing arms. Players can avoid these strikes by jumping onto the Ruin Guard itself, which is its only blind spot.
- Punch and Jump Combo: The Ruin Guard will make two swift punches, and follow up by attempting to jump on the player. The jump is the harder part to avoid, so players should be aware of what's coming after the first punch.
- Bombardment: The Ruin Guard's special attack begins by it targeting a farther off player with a crosshair. After this, it will crouch and rotate its torso to fire a swarm of homing missiles. Each of these only deals moderate damage, but together they can be deadly. Fortunately, they move quite slowly, so most can be dodged with good timing. This attack can be cancelled with a Charged Shot to the weak point on its back.
The best strategy for defeating the Ruin Guard is to use an archer to target either the weak point on its head or in the center of its back. Two successive hits to these points will cause the machine to temporarily shut down. This can allow one of the melee characters to get in for some real damage against its core. Hitting the weak point on its back will also cancel the Bombardment attack, one of the Ruin Guard's most deadly moves.
What Can Drop From Ruin Guards
As befits an Elite-tier enemy, any player that defeats a Ruin Guard in Genshin Impact will receive some valuable loot. Ruin Guards primarily drop Chaos Devices, Chaos Circuits, or Chaos Cores, depending on the players World Level. These items are used to Ascend weapons to higher tiers, massively boosting their stats.
In addition to the Chaos parts, Ruin Guards can also drop Artifacts. Specifically, the Ruin Guard has a chance to drop any Artifact from the Berserker, The Exile, Travelling Doctor, and Instructor sets. The Instructor and Berserker Artifact sets are only dropped from bosses and high-level chests otherwise, making Ruin Guards one of the easiest options for getting them.
Genshin Impact is available for Mobile, PC, and PS4, with PS5 and Switch versions in development.