Genshin Impact 7.0: Chthonic Carnage opens August 19 — the three enemies, Illumination Dust, and the Sublimated Radiant Illusion

Two days before the gates open, the fact sheet for the Chthonian Carnage fits into a few official lines: the challenge will run from Wednesday, August 19 to Saturday, August 29, 2026, and it will pit the Travelers against three named opponents — the Chimeric Winged Lion, the Veteran Wind Operative, and the Slap-Happy Duck. These ten days form the instability period: for as long as it lasts, every victory at Hard difficulty or above lets you convert Resin into artifacts and raises Carnage honor points, which unlock additional rewards.

What drops at the end is also known: Primogems, Enlightenment Dust — the consumable that reshapes the sub-stats of a 5-star artifact — and a new weapon appearance, the “Radiant Illusion (Refined)”, unique to this iteration.

A word on the format, because this is where guides tend to contradict each other: the Chthonian Carnage isn't a one-off event but a mode that resets with every version, and its framework doesn't change. Three teams are sent against the three bosses, across five normal challenges — Normal, Advanced, Hard, Menacing, Extreme — followed by a perilous challenge, Sinister. The first three give you ten minutes to defeat each boss; from Menacing onward, the timer drops to two minutes. Rewards follow the same scale from one iteration to the next: 150 Primogems for each of the first three challenges, one Enlightenment Dust for the fourth and one for the fifth, the “Radiant Illusion” for the Sinister challenge, and its refined version if victory is achieved in under 180 seconds combined. What remains unknown until Wednesday are the adjustments specific to this edition — levels, resistances, any circumstantial bonuses: we won't be guessing at those.

The event slots in between the closing of “Growing Aid” on August 24 and the end of Phase 1 on September 1

Version 7.0, “The Merciless Everwinter”, released on August 12, has stacked up the deadlines: the one on the 29th falls right between two other walls.

“Growing Aid” closes first, on the 24th: it takes priority. The Chthonian Carnage gives you until the 29th, and its Primogems arrive in time for one last round of wishes before Phase 1 ends.

Chimeric Winged Lion: an Electro shield first, then an Anemo phase

This is the one of the three that 7.0 players know best: the world boss of the Volkodlak Tundra, the first major zone of Snezhnaya. Its fact sheet describes a creature that alternates between two states: an Electro shield at the start, switching to Anemo once that shield falls, with projectiles and breath attacks changing nature along the way.

Direct consequence: a mono-element team will come up short on one of the two phases. You need to break the Electro shield fast — Cryo and Pyro are the usual answers, and Phase 1 has filled your hands with Cryo characters between Odette, Alyosha, and the free Cryo Traveler.

The radial attack he charges up in his electric state is lethal and can't be dodged: it can only be cancelled, either by dropping the shield in time or by triggering an Electro-Charged or a Overloaded reaction on him. And during the Anemo phase, the AoE he's preparing is interrupted by destroying the Anemo orbs he draws in to charge up — make sure you have a way to pop them from range.

Veteran Wind Operative: the vital contract cuts off your healing mid-fight

Second profile: a Fatui elite affiliated with Anemo, whose signature isn't a damage spike but the constraint she imposes. The archetype sheet describes a skill that attaches to the struck target a vital contract — that's the wording used by the French client: the red bar that overlays HP, blocks any recovery, and only lifts once it's been "repaid" through healing.

Preparation here depends less on the element than on team structure: a comp relying on a single healer collapses as soon as healing is neutralized, whereas a shield absorbs hits before HP is even affected. Note that an Anemo target reduces the value of a core built around Overloaded: keep a second option ready.

Duck Whacker: only Electro really wears down its summons

The third name draws a smile, the fight a bit less so: this mechanical boss from Nod-Krai hits very hard.

Its known trait: it summons five little ducks, and as long as they're standing the boss keeps an almost unbreakable armor bar. These summons resist nearly everything — only Electro truly gets through — and it takes about ten Electro-Charged triggers on each one to bring it down. The right preparation, then, isn't a team that hits hard in AoE, but a duo pairing a Hydro applicator with an Electro carry able to chain reactions. A single-target team, or an AoE team without Electro, will waste most of the allotted time.

Enlightenment Dust doesn't change your sub-stats: it redistributes the rolls

This is the reward that alone justifies doing the event, and the one most players misuse: the reforging is reserved for fully leveled, 5-star, level 20 pieces.

Above all, it does not replace the existing sub-stats: it only reshuffles the roll distribution among the four lines already present. Before running the process, you designate two sub-stats to prioritize, and the reforging guarantees a floor of rolls on those. So it can save a piece with the right lines but a disastrous distribution — four correct lines with three of the rolls dumped on the least useful one — but it saves nothing on a piece whose sub-stats are simply off-target to begin with.

Hence the work to do starting today: filter your inventory for level 20, 5-star pieces and list the ones that check the right lines but that you're not equipping for lack of rolls. The usual scale hands one out on the fourth challenge and one on the fifth — check the rewards table when it opens, but size your list around two pieces. This resource can't be farmed with Resin: come in on Wednesday with your priorities already written down.

Radiant Illusion (Sublimated): a weapon skin, so zero stats, but an exclusive

Last line of the table, this iteration introduces a new weapon skin, the "Radiant Illusion (Sublimated)": purely cosmetic, it affects neither stats, nor passive, nor refinement. Two separate items, then — the "Radiant Illusion" rewards the Sinister challenge, while its sublimated variant requires the same victory in under 180 combined seconds.

One point not to miss: these outfits are temporary and disappear when the Chthonic Carnage resets instead of staying in your inventory. If you like the look, you'd better earn it during the window.

Your to-do list before Wednesday

• Finish "Growing Aid: On the Frozen Lands," which closes on August 24.
• Prepare two teams: one Cryo or Pyro for the Chimeric Winged Lion's Electro shield, the other built around a Hydro applicator and an Electro carrier for the ducks.
• Plan for a shielder rather than a single healer against the Veteran Wind Operative.
• Sort your level 20 5-star artifacts and write down the list of pieces to reforge.
• Aim for at least the fourth challenge: that's where the Motes of Illumination drop.

Dates to remember

Opens Wednesday, August 19, closes Saturday, August 29; "Growing Aid" until Monday, August 24, "Grand Expeditioner's Trial" starting Friday, August 28, end of phase 1 on Tuesday, September 1. We'll update this guide as soon as HoYoverse has detailed this edition's adjustments.