Genshin Impact 7.0: the Spiral Abyss switched over on August 16 — “Piercing Moon” and the new Depths Reliquary table

Since Sunday, August 16, 2026, phase 1 of the Spiral Abyss for version 7.0 has been in place. This is not a simple enemy rotation: HoYoverse has rewritten the four energy anomalies for floors 9 to 12, put into service an abyssal moon blessing named "Piercing Moon", and changed the reward table.

It's this last point that carries the most weight. In the "Reliquary of the Depths - Category I" and the "Reliquary of the Depths - Category II", which are obtained by completing the challenges on floors 9 to 12, the sets "Disquiet of the Dark Enchantment" and "Heaven's Gift" are being replaced by "Scarlet Vestige" and "Fervent Heart": the two sets introduced with Snezhnaya. The Spiral Abyss does not consume Original Resin. These four floors therefore yield pieces from the 7.0 sets without eating into your daily reserve.

This setup holds until Wednesday, September 16, 2026, when phase 2 will take over with different anomalies and a different blessing. So you have about four weeks with the current table. The labels and figures that follow are taken from the update details published in French by HoYoverse.

What the August 16 switch changed

The studio splits the Spiral Abyss period for 7.0 into two phases. The one you're looking at today, Friday, August 21, brings four changes:

• the energy anomalies on floors 9, 10, 11, and 12 have been reworked, each geared toward a specific damage type;
• the enemies on floors 9, 10, 11, and 12 have been updated;
• a new abyssal moon blessing, "Piercing Moon", applies across the whole phase;
• the Reliquary of the Depths table switches to the 7.0 artifact sets.

A note on terminology: the energy anomaly is the modifier specific to a given floor. The abyssal moon blessing, meanwhile, runs across the entire phase and stacks with the anomaly of whichever floor you're on.

The energy anomalies for floors 9 to 12

The official French text for each anomaly, floor by floor. Floor 12 has two, one per half.

Two things to note. Floors 9 and 10 don't reward raw power but a specific reaction type: without a character capable of triggering Astral Bloom or Astral Vortex, the 50% bonus never applies. And the second half of floor 12 targets Normal Attacks: a Pyro damage dealer whose damage comes from their skill or burst will see none of that 75%.

"Piercing Moon," this phase's blessing

The official text is short and worth reading word for word: "When a character on the field deals DMG to an opponent within a Polaris Zone, a shockwave that deals True DMG will be unleashed at the opponent's location. This effect can be triggered once every 4s."

Three conditions, then. A Polaris Zone must be on the ground, meaning the terrain generated by the astral reaction system from 6.7 and 7.0. The character on the field must be inside it, not a benched ally. And the 4-second threshold between two triggers must be respected.

The consequence is simple: this blessing doesn't reward the opening burst, it rewards duration. A rotation that sets up its zone and then chains fifteen seconds of melee attacks triggers the shockwave three times; a rotation that empties everything in four seconds triggers it once. HoYoverse doesn't publish the amount of this True DMG, so we won't put a number on it.

The Reliquary of the Depths swaps its table — and that's the real stakes

The official passage is explicit:

Starting this Spiral Abyss period, the artifact sets "Obscure Disillusion" and "Gilded Dreams" in "Reliquary of the Depths - Category I" and "Reliquary of the Depths - Category II," obtained as rewards after completing the challenges of floors 9 through 12, will be replaced by the sets "Scarlet Hourglass" and "Flame of the Furnace."

Why this matters. HoYoverse only documents one other way to obtain these two sets, and it comes down to a single line: taking on the challenges of the "Inverted Glacier" Blessing Dungeon, located in the Permafrost of Snezhnaya. This dungeon costs Original Resin. Floors 9 through 12 of the Spiral Abyss, on the other hand, only cost play time: they hand out pieces of Scarlet Hourglass and Flame of the Furnace outside the Resin budget.

We already devoted an article to the choice between these two sets and their 2- and 4-piece effects, on August 9th; we won't go over that again. The studio doesn't specify either the number of pieces or the table's rates: don't count on it as a primary source, but as a free bonus.

What the floors require, and the banner window

Floors 9 and 10 require teams built around Bloom and Hyperbloom; Floor 11 requires Cryo and Pyro; the first half of Floor 12 requires Superconduct, so once again Cryo paired with Electro.

Now, the Phase 1 wishes close on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026 at 5:59 PM, Europe server time, i.e. 6:59 PM in Paris. The two character banners feature Odette · Whirling Snow (Cryo) and the rerun of Arlecchino · Sinister Moon (Pyro), with Alyosha · Swift-Paced Hound (Electro) among the 4-star stars of both. That is, in order, a Cryo support who lets her team trigger Bloom, a Pyro carry, and an Electro character that the Archon Quest also gives out for free.

If you're stuck on a particular floor:

1. Floor 9: you're missing a Bloom team. Odette and the Cryo Traveler fill this role, and the Traveler costs nothing.
2. Floor 10: you're missing Hyperbloom, so a Cryo and Electro pairing. Alyosha, free via the Archon Quest, does the job on the Electro side.
3. Floor 11: level up a Cryo carry or a Pyro carry, both 60% bonuses coexist on this floor.
4. Floor 12: treat the two halves separately, they don't call for the same team.

What will change on September 16th

Phase 2 has already been documented by HoYoverse, which allows us to plan ahead. Starting Wednesday, September 16th, 2026:

• Floor 11: 60% Anemo DMG bonus and 60% Electro DMG bonus for the whole team, replacing Cryo and Pyro.
• Floor 12, first half: Bloom +200% and Hyperbloom +75%.
• Floor 12, second half: Electro-Charged +200% and Quicken +75%.
• Floor 11 and 12 enemies updated. Floors 9 and 10 aren't mentioned this time.
• New Abyssal Moon Spell, "Cascading Moon": "When a character deals Bloom or Hyperbloom reaction DMG to an enemy, a shockwave is released at that enemy's location, dealing True DMG."

In other words, Phase 2 shifts the focus from Cryo and Pyro toward Anemo and Electro: something to help you decide on your ascension materials. That said, HoYoverse has not yet published a banner calendar for the period following September 1st: we're not announcing any character names for that window.

Priorities before the end of the month

This weekend, clear Floors 9 through 12, even without aiming for a perfect score: each cleared challenge on these four floors opens the Vault of the Depths, and right now it's rewarding Scarlet Sealstone and Sunset Coral...

By Tuesday, September 1st, 6:59 PM Paris time, adjust your pulls based on the floor that's blocking you. A Cryo carry works for floors 9, 10, 11, and the first half of 12: it's the most cost-effective profile for this phase, and it will lose relevance on September 16th.

Before September 16th, finish what the current board owes you: the phase 2 anomalies no longer reward the same teams. The official text only mentions a set change for the August 16th switch, not for the September 16th one.