Genshin Impact: Is Sumeru Desert Exploration Worth Doing Now?

Exploring the Sumeru desert in Genshin Impact is well worth doing now, provided you complete the primary regional World Quests before scouring the sands for chests. Subterranean map layers, underground teleport icons, and modern high-mobility characters resolve the severe navigation headaches that defined the region during its initial release, allowing you to secure dozens of banner pulls from regional progression pools efficiently.

Unlock Quest Clearances Before Free Exploration

Exploring the desert before unlocking key gadgets and clearances results in constant dead ends. Many temple doors, Plinth of Secret Whispers mechanisms, and Primal Embers in the southern ruins require administrative permission levels tied to the Scarlet Sand Slate. Attempting open-world puzzles without these clearances leaves you blocked by red barrier fields that cannot be bypassed by combat or mobility skills.

To explore without backtracking, tackle the desert regions in their three narrative stages:

1. Hypostyle Desert and Land of Lower Setekh: Start the Golden Slumber questline in Aaru Village to obtain the Scarlet Sand Slate. Once that chain concludes, trigger the follow-up quest, Dual Evidence, to grant full administrative clearance to your slate. This turns red barrier mechanisms blue and opens all underground chambers across the southern desert.
2. Desert of Hadramaveth: Complete The Dirge of Bilqis to acquire the Jinni in the Magic Bottle (Liloupar). This gadget allows you to dispel localized atmospheric sandstorms and interact with atmospheric ruin puzzles.
3. Girdle of the Sands: Complete Khvarena of Good and Evil to obtain the companion gadget Sorush. Sorush is mandatory for manipulating Khvarena energy roots, solving regional trials, and collecting Plumes of Purifying Light.

Use Subterranean Map Tools to Navigate Ruin Layers

Navigating subterranean complexes like the Mausoleum of King Deshret or the Khemenu Temple no longer requires external guide maps. The multi-layered map automatically updates when you enter an interior ruin or cavern.

• Layer Elevation Toggles: Entering a cave or tomb switches your map view directly to that specific subterranean floor, outlining traversable corridors and cavern walls.
• Vertical Objective Indicators: Check your mini-map icons for directional arrows. An arrow pointing up or down indicates whether a chest, Dendroculus, or Seelie is above or below your current floor elevation.
• Subterranean Teleport Icons: The map marks underground waypoints with a dedicated subterranean icon, preventing accidental warps to surface cliffs when your target is deep beneath the dunes.

Build a High-Mobility Exploration Team

While Sumeru features Four-Leaf Sigils to zip across major chasms, wide stretches of open sand require substantial foot travel. Using characters with alternate movement skills cuts real-world traversal time across dune valleys.

If you do not have 5-star movement units, combine two Anemo characters for the Movement SPD boost and Stamina Consumption reduction from Anemo Resonance, and consume stamina-reduction dishes such as Barbatos Ratatouille.

Cash In Regional Currencies for Wishes and Primogems

Clearing the desert provides a high density of Primogems through two major regional redemption systems:

• Tree of Dreams (Vanarana): Chests across the three desert sectors award large quantities of Dendro Sigils. Depositing these into the Tree of Dreams advances it toward its level 50 cap, granting Acquaint Fates, Intertwined Fates, and weapon billets.
• The Amrita Pool (Vourukasha Oasis): In the Girdle of the Sands, using Sorush to collect Plumes of Purifying Light unlocks six reward tiers at the Amrita Pool. Completing these tiers yields 600 Primogems alongside talent books and weapon materials.

Combined with 5 Primogems per subterranean waypoint unlock, multi-tier achievement sets, and dozens of luxurious ruin vaults, finishing your desert exploration backlog offers an abundant reserve of wishes.