Aside from its "waifu gacha" feature, Genshin Impact stuns fans with its compelling roster of factions, allies, and villains. Moreover, aside from their creature and costume design, most of these characters either accompany or fight players and their teams. For instance, the Four Winds carry the will of Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, to protect his beloved city of Mondstadt. Unfortunately, the Four Winds drifted apart after their Archon's disappearance. Moreover, Dvalin the Stormterror continues to strike fear amongst Mondstadt's residents after letting go of his role as east protector.
However, players who explore Dvalin's tale might learn of many things surrounding the dragon-like creature's circumstances. Moreover, Dvalin seems to have a more complicated relationship than players are let on. In turn, just what other secrets does Dvalin hold, especially for players interested in fighting him?
10 Dragon Through And Through
Lore fans might notice that Dvalin's role as one of the Four Winds meant he had three companions with him. Andrius became the Wolf of the North, Jean serves as Lion of the South, while Venessa has ascended to become the Falcon of the West. Interestingly, Dvalin serves as the only one of the Four Winds to never have "changed" in terms of form, at least based on the lore.
For instance, Vennessa once served as a Colosseum gladiator. Upon her death, her ascension to Celestia also marked her transformation into the Falcon of the West, in the form of the titular falcon. Meanwhile, Dvalin's lore depicted him as a dragon through and through.
9 No Promotions, Successors
Of all the Four Winds, only the Lion of the South had previous holders aside from its current holder. Before Jean were Vennessa and Arundolyn, both of which held the title at some point as the Liontooth Knight. Meanwhile, Andrius and Vennessa were the only ones to have become their respective Winds (the Northern Wolf for Andrius, and the Western Falcon for Vennessa).
In the case of Dvalin, the Dragon of the East had no successors or former holders to return the title to. As such, Dvalin's withdrawal from his title meant no one formally holds the position as Dragon of the East.
8 An Introduction To Story Bosses
Newcomers might feel intimidated having to face a huge dragon such as Dvalin. However, there's a reason for this occurrence. A player's first battle with Dvalin serves as the first major story boss (Archon Quests) they will face in the game. In turn, the multi-stage battle with Dvalin serves as a quick introduction to how boss fights work in Genshin Impact.
Thankfully, despite the overwhelming nature of Dvalin's boss battle, this easily becomes one of the most entertaining and captivating battles players can encounter in their journey in Teyvat.
7 A Fractured Relationship
As fans might remember, Dvalin actually has a strained relationship with Barbatos, the Anemo Archon. If it weren't for the Traveler and their efforts, Dvalin might still have a bad relationship with Venti. In Genshin Impact lore, Barbatos cared for Mondstadt and the city's freedom and he refused to rule it as a monarchy. Instead, he put it in the care of the Four Winds.
Unfortunately, Barbatos' eventual absence and Dvalin's struggle to understand human emotions have strained the dragon's relationship with his role to protect Mondstadt. As a result, Dvalin eventually withdrew his role as one of the Four Winds. Unfortunately, historical interventions have prevented Barbatos, in the form of Venti, from helping Dvalin cope with his difficulties.
6 No Railgun Chase In Trounce Domains
Players who fight Dvalin for the first time might enjoy the first segment of the battle, which takes the form of a railgun chase mode. Essentially, players as the Traveler need to use their gliding and platforming skills to fight Dvalin in an initial air battle. Afterward, players have to face the dragon in a huge arena with their assembled team.
Interestingly, players won't be able to experience the chase section of the boss battle in Trounce Domains. Rather, the Domain lets players head straight to the main boss fight and relive their battle with Dvalin up close and personal.
5 Attack Patterns Become Easy To Read
As with other bosses in Genshin Impact, the boss fight with Dvalin can actually be "segmented" into various stages. Moreover, it seems Dvalin has predictable approaches depending on what kind of attacks he's making. Players who understand these patterns can easily overcome Dvalin's rather strong attacks.
Essentially, when Dvalin makes his frequent bite attack, players can dodge this by moving to the edge of the platform. Players who use melee characters should take note when he stops the bite attack, as there's a small window to attack his head and neck. Likewise, players have a small room to move to the side whenever Dvalin swoops in for a claw attack or launches his wind projectiles.
4 Fast And Powerful Is Key
Players new to Genshin Impact might not have a fully-optimized party by the time they fight Dvalin. In turn, their first time might not be as pleasant when fighting the Dragon of the East. Likewise, their Trounce Domain matches might serve futile with the wrong party composition. However, players don't need to worry as much about who they're choosing - they just need to make sure their party members are capable of doing certain things.
Essentially, fighting a beast as huge as Dvalin requires a party that can hit hard very quickly - which means either choosing parties with higher DPS or damage-over-time options. In these instances, the +25-percent attack boost of having two Pyro in a team can be extremely beneficial in these situations.
3 Purple Means Corruption
Throughout the player's battle with Dvalin, they may notice some peculiar traits about the Four Winds' former east protector. For one, players can notice rather prominent sharp spikes on his back that radiate purple energy. Gameplay-wise, they seem like targets players need to hit.
Interestingly, eagle-eyed lore fans will realize that these actually serve as the blood clots corrupted by shadow energy, courtesy of Dvalin's previous battle against Durin the black dragon. Remember, Dvalin became corrupted when he got to consume Durin's poisoned blood when Dvalin dealt the defeating blow. When players finally defeat Dvalin, the purple spikes will vanish - reflecting his change of heart and overcoming of his corruption.
2 The Skyward Connection
Fans interested in rare weapon sets might be looking for the Skyward Weapons set. After all, these rare weapons of white and azure not only have intricate designs but also decent base stats. However, lore lovers will delight knowing that the Skyward Weapons actually have an intimate connection with Dvalin. In particular, these weapons represent a particular battle between Dvalin and Durin. Each weapon actually represents an aspect of Dvalin after his recovery from Durin's corruption.
For instance, the Skyward Blade represents Dvalin's restored honor. Meanwhile, the Skyward Harp and the Skyward Atlas represents Dvalin's affiliation and symbolism with Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, respectively. Lastly, the Skyward Pride and Skyward Spine represent Dvalin's pride and fiery resolve, respectively.
1 A Honkai Link
Older fans of miHoYo games will likely remember other hit RPGs aside from Genshin Impact - in particular, Honkai Impact 3rd. Similar to Genshin Impact, players also use a wide variety of characters in Honkai Impact 3rd, albeit with a sci-fi twist. In turn, fans might wonder whether the two Impact games are connected. Interestingly, fans might get the link they've always been looking for in a recent trailer.
Essentially, players can find this connection via the "Otto Apocalypse" trailer of Honkai Impact 3rd's Version 4.2. In the trailer, players can get a quick glimpse of Dvalin in the Imaginary Tree.