Genshin Impact: Clash of Lone Blades guide

New activities are being added to Genshin Impact as part of the Hues of the Violet Garden or Magnificent Irodori Festival. One of these has you battling various elite samurai in duels. Here’s our Genshin Impact Clash of Lone Blades guide to help you defeat opponents such as Taroumaru, Mishima Michitoshi, and more.

Note: For more information about the game, check out our Genshin Impact guides and features hub. You can also take a look at our main guide for the Magnificent Irodori Festival.

Genshin Impact Clash of Lone Blades guide

To gain access to the Clash of Lone Blades in Genshin Impact, you’ll first need to complete True Tales Act 3: A New Painting in Pale Scarlet. The quest, similar to others before it, requires you to talk to characters (i.e., Kazuha and Ayaka).

When that’s done, you’ll receive another quest called Go Forth, Golden Whirlwind. You’ll then need to head to an island that’s northwest of Ritou. There, you’ll talk to an NPC named Yasuhiko Tarou to unlock the activity.

Honed Techniques, Parries, and Perfect Parries

The Clash of Lone Blades in Genshin Impact removes the use of elemental skills and elemental bursts. Instead, the Traveler can only use regular melee attacks and the Parry command (“E” key). Ideally, you’ll want to use this when your enemy does a special move called a Honed Technique (i.e., a blue flash on their weapon). Executing a Perfect Parry at this exact moment will deal massive damage (i.e., around 30,000 and another 14,000 on your next hit).

Note: The Traveler will be level 80 during these duels.

Here’s what you need to watch out for:

• Ookubo Sanzaemon – He’ll do a thrusting attack. This is the only ability that can be parried.
• Yasuhiko Tarou – He’ll hold his katana with both hands and raise it in the air, whereupon you can parry the downward swipe. You’ll want to keep attacking him to force him to enter this state.
• Mishima Michitoshi – His blade projectiles can be parried and reflected. If he goes into melee range, keep attacking him to force his counterattack. If you “counter this counter” with a parry, you’ll also deal tremendous damage.
• Taroumaru – Yes, the ninja dog is back! When Taroumaru isn’t attacking, he’ll block every hit. However, if you keep striking him, or if you parry his own moves (i.e., white flashes), you’ll fill up his Fury meter. Once the Fury meter is full, he’ll do a ramming attack, and it’s imperative that you parry this move when you see that blue flash. Doing so will cause him to get knocked down, taking increased damage for several seconds.

Difficulty modes and rewards

The duels in the Clash of Lone Blades in Genshin Impact have three difficulty modes: Serious, Dire, and Perilous. If you select a higher difficulty, your opponent will have more HP, as well as a new move. For instance, at Perilous difficulty, Ookubo Sanzaemon (your first opponent) will do a backward dodge while throwing explosive fireworks. As for Taroumaru, he’ll create a decoy that explodes after a few seconds.

As for rewards, you’ll receive mora, primogems, talent booklets, XP booklets, and enhancement ores. You’ll obtain rewards by completing the following tasks:

• Achieve victory on Serious difficulty or higher.
• Achieve victory on Dire difficulty or higher.
• Defeat your opponent within 75 seconds on Dire difficulty.
• Achieve victory on Perilous difficulty or higher. Keep in mind that Perilous difficulty will only get unlocked once you clear the bout on Dire difficulty.

Note 1: Generally speaking, you’ll simply want to select Dire difficulty, making sure that you can defeat each foe within 75 seconds. Then, you’ll want to complete the battle on Perilous difficulty. This is to obtain all possible rewards while fighting only the minimum number of duels.

Note 2: Don’t forget to do The Floral Courtyard activity as well.

Genshin Impact is available via its official website. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.