Has anyone else noticed that Ruin Guards kind of disappeared from the main lore?

Back in the early days of Genshin, Ruin Guards and other Ruin Machines felt like a huge part of the mystery of Teyvat, especially tied to Khaenri’ah.

Lately, though, it feels like they’ve faded into the background...

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Commentaires

refance2026-01-26 14:41

Ruin Guards are relevant until Sumeru, after that they become less relevant but not disappeared

walaxometrobixinodri2026-01-26 17:32

true, oh my god the last ruin machine enemies were added in Sumeru, it's been so long

they are all so good enemies, i want more of them

Please Khaneriah chapter, bring ruin machines back, give us a dozen new types, we NEED THEM BACK

TechnicallyHankHill2026-01-26 19:33

I mean, we technically had Bronzelock in Natlan. But yeah

walaxometrobixinodri2026-01-26 19:36

still, he's not a new type of enemy

iamonlyslightlysalty2026-01-27 03:08

do you know where we can read about bronzelock's lore? I have no idea how bro got up there

saladvtenno2026-01-27 05:01

Sad thing about pre-Nodkrai local legends is we don't have much lore for many of them including bronzelock. Dude is just up there for some unclear reason. There's also remains of some Aeonblight Drakes around those area. it's all theory so far for how they get there

refance2026-01-27 15:54

That region was filled with Abyss, it is probably from khaeriah energy investigation teams, same for the trio of ruin Guards in Ashveil peak, i think the ones in Chasm and Sal Vyndagnir was investigating the nails

Elliot_Mirage_Witt2026-01-26 19:58

I was of the understanding the largest variety and most advanced ones were in Sumeru because it was directly above Khaenri'ah, and that we reasonably wouldn't get new ones till we reach the location itself

plasma_soda2026-01-26 22:59

The Schwanenritters led by Anfortas (who self-declared himself as regent after Irmin became indisposed) piloted Ruin Golems & brought Khaenri'ahn survivors above ground to Sumeru, but they turned into hilichurls once reaching the surface, so those who have yet reached the surface decided to stay in Khaenri'ah. The Schwanenritters continued fighting Abyssal creatures in Sumeru. The Ruin Golems were actually the older model while the autonomous ones were newer.

caucassius2026-01-26 20:00

eh I'm personally glad they gave more spotlight to non ruin-type mechs

it was weird how fatui/snezh was supposed to be the leading mech nation in teyvat yet only introduced actual mech enemies in 6.x

HoshiAndy2026-01-26 20:38

It makes sense. Fontaine is a floating island filled with water, it makes sense there would barely be any ruin machines there due to its isolated nature.

And Natlan never had to outright deal with Khaneriah since they had to constantly deal with the Abyss and have been engaging in endless war for 2000 + years.

kingofallbandits2026-01-27 01:49

It's also likely that the researchers in Fontaine would have destroyed most available ruin mechs for research/parts ages ago.

HoshiAndy2026-01-27 01:51

That’s actually what happened. If you did some of the world quests. You’ll find past Fontaine researchers experience ting with Khaneriah and even Deshret technology.

kingofallbandits2026-01-27 02:10

If I remember the order of mech progression in Genshin, the first were the Dragon phlogiston mechs, then the Sumeru Deshret mechs and followed by the Remurian golems (kinda).

The Khaneriah mechs may have been built around the same time as Deshret, or slightly earlier/later. Both appeared during the Archon War. The Khaneriah mechs are the basis for all modern mechs, such as the Fontaine meka, the Inazuman puppets and Fatui mechs.

Other fun fact, each mech type appears to use a different energy source. Being either phlogiston, human souls, djinn, arkhe energy, abyssal or elemental energy.

Zanzi-2026-01-26 14:42

I think they're still relevant since we had a bit of new insight about them from Surcrose's Observation Anecdote where it's pointed out how animals seem to deem Ruin Guards as 'safe'.

It may be that Hoyo really wants to focus on moon lore for this version and they'll get back to Khaenri'ah tech stuff later; we did get stuff about the Dynasties and Sinners this time around so that's something.

Tbh though, getting all this spotlight on the moon and fake sky stuff recently has made them lose their sense of mystery for me, so they're just kinda there now. Not sure if I'm ready for that to happen to Khaenri'ah yet.

The_Cheeseman832026-01-26 14:44

Well, it’s hard to maintain much air of mystery when you know exactly what they are, where they came from, how they were used, and even quite a bit about how they were made.

the_new_standard2026-01-26 15:03

Heck, we even got to see the inside of a giant one once and read it's logs.

Aromatic-Tear72342026-01-26 15:20

and operate it.

the_new_standard2026-01-26 15:47

I sure hope we get to properly laser blast some stuff once New Khaenri'ah is a thing.

PokeTrainerSpyro2026-01-26 20:29

New Khaenri'ah? Whoa, calm down there Abyss twin

Koanos2026-01-26 21:16

New Khaenri'ah, same as Old Khaenri'ah. Right down to the names!

tudeckslore2026-01-27 12:01

Main Holiday: Cataclysm 2.0 : it will work this time, trust.

CapableTear17642026-01-28 04:23

The abyss sibling finally finishing remaking Khaenriah... then hears a charging up sound behind them

Citronsaft2026-01-28 00:44

without reading the instructions, maybe causing its arm to fall off. traveler is not beating the allegations here

pc_player_yt2026-01-26 16:56

you got to see the inside of those giant Ruin Guards at least three times through various quests actually. One in the Aranyaka questline, one from a standalone quest in the southern Sumeru desert and one during the Jeht questline.

app082026-01-26 21:28

I thought the rainforest one was a standalone quest, not Aranyaka?

Zrva_V32026-01-26 22:19

It's part of the Aranara quest. The one in the souther desert is the standalone quest.

MajinAkuma2026-01-26 17:16

Weren’t it two of them?

Environmental-Belt492026-01-26 21:42

there's actually 3: devantaka mountain, valley off dahri and dunes of steel > wounded shin valley.

cometlin2026-01-26 17:39

Twice

genshin_impact-2026-01-26 19:26

"Uhm akshuallie, those were Ruin Golems, not Ruin Guards!"🤓☝️

acart0052026-01-26 19:45

That was a cool ass quest series in Sumeru.

VPR2472026-01-26 19:58

Once?? Bro much more than that

multificionado2026-01-26 16:46

Indeed; it somewhat feels more like when one finds less Guardian mechs, if at all, when approaching the Gerudo Desert in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Zanzi-2026-01-26 18:03

There may be some more mysteries to them yet. Some that come to mind are:

If they were made to be weapons, why do they not see local wildlife as threats and vice versa? And what is their future, scattered as they are around Teyvat but still functioning despite everything?

I still think they're pretty cool despite all that we know now.

Zaazuka2026-01-26 19:56

I guess my question would be, why would they see normal wildlife as threats?

And their future is likely to keep wandering around until they malfunction

Richardknox19962026-01-26 20:04

They were not made as weapons.

Riersa2026-01-26 14:52

Well we kinda already know everything we need to know about Ruin guard. Their "mystery" is already solved. There is no need to force them to the spotlight again.

kokko6932026-01-26 17:02

I'm sure there are more models tho

00110001_001100102026-01-26 19:02

Ruin Hunters, Ruin Graders, Ruin Cruisers, Ruin Destroyers, Ruin Defenders, Ruin Scouts, Ruin Drakes (Earthguard, Skywatch, Aeonblight), and of course, the Ruin Serpent, Perpetual Mechanical Array and Ruin Golem.

We already have a metric ton of models, and we already know or can infer what most of them did.

SouLfullMoon_On2026-01-26 21:45

There's also the undocumented triangular one in Dragonspine

looking_at_memes_2026-01-26 23:30

When playable Ruin character?

JMViolins2026-01-27 00:27

Yes please. Beep boop

caucassius2026-01-26 19:57

yeh, their thang was pretty much done after field tiller

it was one of the most important turning point too

rW0HgFyxoJhYka2026-01-27 08:04

OP: "Notice how Ruin Guards are kind of gone?"

Me: "No. I have to farm a fuck ton of their cores for random ass shit even 5 years later wtf."

Mande1baum2026-01-26 21:41

Right? That's why we don't see Hilichurls anymore and Treasure Hoarders wont be in future patches. No mystery about them. /s

starmadeshadows2026-01-27 00:26

Honestly I don't wanna fight hilichurls anymore knowing their whole deal.

I *have* noticed there's been fewer and fewer of them in the open world since about Sumeru.

kingofallbandits2026-01-27 01:47

I felt bad for the ones we had to kill during the Dragonspine cross country event. Varesa says they were posing a threat to the track but the hilichurls had literally built a house there.

I also try to avoid killing the ones we find in ruins or domains, they pose literally no threat

starmadeshadows2026-01-27 07:41

Oh the track? The track that we all decided had to run through these folks's house?

If Teyvat got demolished to build a an intergalactic highway bypass nobody would have room to complain except the dragons

selkiepelt2026-01-26 15:08

well part of it is probably that they added 1 million new ruin machines, plus basically 0 characters use physical at all at this point, plus their hp isn't that much anymore, which changed the vibe. also a lot of the mysteries surrounding them have been addressed in dainsleif quests and world quests

i do wonder if anything about them will come up in snezhnaya, though. like the obvious answer is no since there was that whole sq dedicated to establishing that ruin guards aren't in snezhnaya at all, but that in itself is kind of a mystery, right? or i may have missed something. i don't read every wq log and it's been a while since i did all those quests

ItsukiKurosawa2026-01-26 15:46

>i do wonder if anything about them will come up in snezhnaya, though. like the obvious answer is no since there was that whole sq dedicated to establishing that ruin guards aren't in snezhnaya at all, but that in itself is kind of a mystery, right? or i may have missed something. i don't read every wq log and it's been a while since i did all those quests

Childe didn't mention that they were doing research on Ruin Guards? It's true that Sandrone seems to use more advanced technology than what's seen in Fontaine, but perhaps they can do something about it.

Unless OP is expecting Ruin Guards to be scattered around, surely the nation doing research on this would have collected all those that were in their own nation.

Dziadzios2026-01-26 16:39

Khaenri'ah was below Sumeru, so Shnezhnaya is the hardest to reach for them.

northernoverture2026-01-26 20:14

wouldn't Inazuma be the hardest to reach?

Dziadzios2026-01-26 20:24

They are underground nation. They could reach Enkanomiya, so they had a tunnel there.

PvZGaming12026-01-26 16:27

Wait snezhnaya has no ruin guards?

donpastera2026-01-26 15:17

I feel like is that Ruin Guards and other machines just didn't reach Nod Krai, we are getting further and further away from the "Khaenriah Gates/Door" at least from what I think.

Best_Hunter_14392026-01-26 15:34

There are ruin guards in at least one worldquest, but to OP’s point I’m not sure there’s a reason for them to be there

JunkoGremory2026-01-26 17:27

There's a treasure chest in nod Krai i cleared the other day that is locked by 3 ruin guards.

walaxometrobixinodri2026-01-26 17:33

they reached Inazuma, tho. traversed the whole ocean but cannot reach a country on the same landmass ? like, Natlan really isn't this far from the Khaenriahn gate, and fontaine is quite close too.

Guess only Bronzelock managed to do it

Ralddy2026-01-26 19:43

There are an Aeonblight Drake in Natlan too but is only a no-working version.

walaxometrobixinodri2026-01-26 19:44

OMG WHERE ???

Ralddy2026-01-26 19:49

I don't remember the exactly location, this is the only reference i could find

https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Impact/comments/1hujh8f/why_is_there_an_aeonblight_drake_in_ochkanatlan/

If i find the exaclty place i will edit this comment later.

walaxometrobixinodri2026-01-26 20:47

oh my god yes i remember. there is this one island in Ochkanatlan with a few more of them

Dark_Magicion2026-01-26 23:44

There's also Bronzelock the Local Legend.

MinervaLlorn2026-01-26 22:09

Probably smuggled like Maguu Kenki plus Fatui have factory to build Ruin Guards.

walaxometrobixinodri2026-01-26 22:16

i don't think any factory was made in Inazuma. the fatui factories are old Khaenriahn factories they put into motion again, and Khaenriah never built any in Inazuma. + where do you even put them ? every time the factories are underground of some huge areas, and the inazuma islands are too small and without enough underground space to have this kind of factories

MinervaLlorn2026-01-26 22:18

>Smuggled

Secret_Conclusion_932026-01-27 14:50

They reached Inazuma because they want to steal the Enkanomiya secret.

Unlike Natlan, they do have a motif the transport their weapon to Inazuma.

Also Inazuma history itself is not really well explored compared to any nation.

ItsMeTheMemeLord2026-01-26 17:34

Okay but there plenty of Ruin Machines in Inazuma so that doesn’t really make sense

TuzkiPlus2026-01-26 18:35

Inb4 the Shogun collected them for reverse engineering

GenshinfinityYoutube2026-01-26 17:40

Maybe Nod-Krai people dismantled Ruin Guards for parts? 😅 Even Aino thought of the possibility that Traveler's spaceship might have been dismantled for parts 😅

bernxwitch2026-01-26 23:38

I did run into a few ruin guards at only one location in Nod Krai. Following your theory, I guess nobody was able to take their parts due to the corruption in the area?

Muumitfan2026-01-26 23:46

The new area with the abyss corruption eye has a couple ruin guards

Crystion2026-01-27 00:11

Inazuma aside, I feel like the forces of Khaenri'ah didn't need to have the presence in Natlan/Nod Krai compared with other nations. Natlan itself exists in a weird state that probably turned the Khaenri'ahans away, most of the Ruin Guards are found near Ochkanatlan which tracks with the Abyss' presence there, either brought there by the Order or was the focus of Khaenri'ahan forces during the war.

Nod Krai was likely too minor of a threat to focus on during the war and the active Ruin Guard presence again ties directly to the Abyss' influence in the region.

Fontaine is probably too difficult to attack given its unique properties, in addition to likely having an advantage on naval warfare that Khaenri'ah logically would lack, it probably just was too much effort again.

Vanilla1472026-01-26 15:37

Yet somehow many people still have the “most enemies have high physical RES” mindset.

ItsMeTheMemeLord2026-01-26 17:34

Isn’t it the opposite actually? It’s just ruin machines that have high physical res when most human like enemies actually have decreased physical res

Recent_Fan_60302026-01-27 01:39

The fact that there hasn't been any expansion on physical dmg aside from maybe mika ages ago helps that mindset ngl

Evening_Parking26102026-01-27 02:58

Didnt freminet come after mika? Hes a physical dps

OnlyBrave2026-01-26 15:38

Kinda wish we still more of them around in the newer areas... There's barely any around.

the_new_standard2026-01-26 15:49

I feel like we have enough different flavors of robot in Nod Krai though. No need to bring back even more robots we've been fighting since 1.0 patch. I like the variety.

RandomGuy9282026-01-26 18:39

Yeah but I still need the mats. There's some very commonly used materials (or, at least, materials used in evergreen 1.0 weapons) that are tied to enemies that just... stopped existing new new areas. Whopperflowers and Ruin Guards are the most egregious by far. I'm a 1.0 player and every single time a new character needs a Fav weapon I need to go farm Ruin Guards in Liyue. Other stuff like slimes have dramatically dropped off as well.

Ironically, a lot of the newer unit mats are barely used. The new weapon mats in particular are like... what, 1 or 2 weapons each? Especially if you aren't a whale and can't pull everyone's signature.

kaeporo2026-01-26 23:35

Ruin guards aren't too bad. Enka has a ton of them.

RandomGuy9282026-01-26 23:57

I tend to prioritize based on actual time spent (e.g., how many hours did I spent farming total) rather than days (e.g., it took me three days of resets to get all the mats). Ruin Guards are a pain because they're extremely scattered which means a lot of time is wasted running around and loading. Other than the group of four in the Liyue islands, it's usually like... one, *maybe* two guards per waypoint loading screen.

That said, I actually totally forgot that place existed and had Ruin Guards.

Zonnebloempje2026-01-27 09:30

There is that one place in Liyue that has like 3 or 4 Ruin Guards/Hunters that you fight one after another. With a Treasure Hoarder or a Fatui Agent in-between, for a refreshed palate. You fly in from a high point, and there are also some ores (Crystal, normal and Cor Lapis) to farm. First RG walks around.

Schen5s2026-01-27 06:54

I wish hoyo could make a dungeon for mat farming. Or at least have the enemies in book/ weapon ascension domains drop their respective materials as well like leylines do. I'd rather spend some resin and run the dungeon a few times to farm for the materials than go all around the over world.

PvZGaming12026-01-26 16:28

I feel the same with slimes tbh, they're what makes genshin genshin to me

I noticed their lack starting in fontaine, and somewhat in sumeru bc prior to sumeru, we thought it would have dendro slimes (but then they got replaced by fungi)

saladvtenno2026-01-27 05:06

There's not much slime enemies in nodkrai but somehow there's a lot of Flying Anemo Slime puzzles in the new area

TableTravel982026-01-27 08:48

Oh lord Ive been having to farm slimes for Columbina and I am so sick of them lol

Ravemst2026-01-26 16:08

Trust me they'll be back especially when we get to the Khaenri'ah chapter after Snezhnaya.

lalakingmalibog2026-01-26 16:36

The Ruin Guards will return in Genshin Impact: Doomsday

elrelampago19882026-01-26 16:38

I mean as a vehicle for lore they are pretty much done until we get into the small stories of their final orders before their commanders died or turned into Hilis.

happyppeeppo2026-01-26 17:03

Wait until chapter khaenriah, if our sibling uses the treads of fate to change fate/ or go back in the timeline and revive khaenriah ( we have no idea how in his mind an revived khaenriah is, if is just people or the whole place ) there will be a plenty of them in full glory together

Junior_Box_28002026-01-26 17:09

khaenriah has been tech power crept lmao, they dont seem as impressive now (except for the giant ruin guards in sumeru those are sick)

Candidus_Eques2026-01-26 18:18

We have 3 generations of machine.

The origin dragonic machines in Natlan, presumably created by the dragon lords AI after Xiul’s passing on or after the funerary war

The machinery created during the heyday of Deshret.

And finally the ruin guards created during Khareniah, or presumably slightly before that time period since they were deployed during the Cataclysm.

I guess we can have one more generation if we go further back in time and explore Hyperborean tech.

Student-Brief2026-01-26 20:32

There's also the modern day machines: The Fontaine Gardemeks and the Fatui Mechs

Practical_Spring_4162026-01-26 21:24

And sandrone n ainos stuff

IloveFriezz2026-01-27 02:05

5. Those triangular machines in Dragonspine aren't Khaenri'ahn if I recall correctly

esmelusina2026-01-26 18:25

There were ruin guard lore streams up to the end of Sumeru.

It’s pretty much done. We know everything about them except how they work _exactly_. Or rather, we haven’t seen anyone mess with their “words” directly.

regulus3142026-01-26 18:29

I dont think theyve reached Nod Krai. If you noticed most of them are in the main land especially Sumeru's desert since thats where the gateway to Khaenriah is. Its not that they were forgotten but they arent in Nodkrai much.

ohoni2026-01-26 18:31

They told that story. I would really hope that when we get to Khaenri’ah there will be "Ruin Guard labs" around where we can learn about their development and see prototypes and such.

Germz902026-01-26 18:38

It would've been cool to see an ancient stone looking Natlan version, a Fontaine clockwork eloquent Ruin Guard and a patched together with steel sheet Nod Krai version if they modified the lore for each area

toucanlost2026-01-26 18:51

Speaking of disappear, where are the Gourmet Supremos? Where is Roald?

Zonnebloempje2026-01-27 09:26

Gourmet Supremos never made it to Fontaine. I guess either HoYo got bored with them (they did a lot in Inazuma, but had only a very small interaction in Sumeru), they fell prey to the Desert, or they drowned when swimming to Fontaine. I guess wielding a cast-iron wok could lead to less buoyancy...

senchaid2026-01-26 18:53

I think it's the opposite, we had that arc about Capitano's heart which fits beautifully into the lore we already had (ruin guards being drawn to ruins of lost civilisations and, perhaps, souls lingering there). Also if Dottore's story is not finished he might elaborate on that too.

I'd say they are one of the few lore threads that have held up pretty well.

One thing that might have been conveniently forgotten is the switch from alchemy to ruin guard technology around the transition from Crimson Moon to Eclipse dynasty and why exactly the core of the first ruin guard was needed to power up the Loom of Fate.

LarryKingthe42th2026-01-26 19:09

Me want big mech.

mix_n_mash_potato2026-01-26 19:26

They only made new Ruin Machines until Sumeru, at which point they pivoted to making different construct-type enemies. The Sumeru desert started this trend with the Primal Constructs, then Fontaine had the Clockwork Meka, then Natlan had Secret Source, and Nodkrai has the Fatui machines. I liked seeing new Ruin Machines and I wish there were a couple here and there in every region but tbf they were getting kind of repetitive as enemies.

Costyn172026-01-26 19:43

It would be a bit strange for mechs from Khaenri'ah to be in high numbers all over Teyvat.

The gate to Khaenri'ah is in Sumeru, that's connected on land to Liyue and Mondstandt, the places with the most ruin machines and the Khaenri'ah ruins we found are under Sumeru and Liyue. I don't remember if we found out how they got to Inazuma.

In other nations, it makes sense to have fewer or none because they shouldn't really be there.

And Natlan has their own kind of old mechs, even older than Khaenri'ah.

Additional_Leek28872026-01-26 19:46

We kinda moving from khanderiah thing and more towards abyss stuff after sumeru Arc. They are absent during Fontaine arc and Natlan arc is all about Natlantea (dragon civilization that predates khanderiah) and night kingdom. There are tons of lore about khanderiah people during Nord crai Arc (flashbacks of rerir and tholindis) but no ruin guard stuff mentioned.

All_For_You_Kream2026-01-26 19:46

I remember that at least 90% of the ruin guards are currently looking at Celestia. Is it still like this? I'm sure it was up until Sumeru

Ibeginpunthreads2026-01-26 19:48

Part of my resinless behavior is a gauntlet I created for myself where I go to the areas that have multiple ruin guards. Fun way of testing comps and passing time. Sumeru, Natlan, and now Nod Krai don't have any which sucks. I wish every region had one.

oldmonk_972026-01-26 20:06

Someone didn't play sumeru desert.

ankitjad2026-01-26 20:07

Uu will seee them in khaenriah

Ash_Keyan2026-01-26 20:18

Wait one more year till we reach khaenri'ah and we're gonna be fighting demon robots.

SleepySera2026-01-26 20:45

Honestly, yeah. Especially considering we are now getting an actual look at Khaenri'ahn society and are closely dealing with the Sinners, you'd think we'd see more Khaenri'ahn technology, but no :/

candymannequin2026-01-26 21:53

i feel like we just saw one hanging out with the sibling in a flashback this version

Hopeful-Sky71992026-01-26 23:19

Lately I also thought that it's weird that no Samachurls are around anymore and that we never got a pyro one

Narissis2026-01-26 23:21

I'm sure they'll come roaring back the day we get to go through the big Khaenri'ah door.

SilentVictory94512026-01-26 23:27

me in nod krai trying to figure out the puzzle with the 4 ruin guards 🥲

Muumitfan2026-01-26 23:43

The Abyss is a bigger threat as the story has progressed considering how much Abyssal monsters we've been seeing thorough the journey.

Dark_Magicion2026-01-26 23:43

Ruin Machines all but disappeared after Sumeru. Since then we've had Fontaine, Natlan and Nod Krai.

What they have in common is Water between them and Sumeru. Which seems to imply to me that for the most part, Ruin Machines didn't swim.

There is Bronzelock up in a floating island of Ochkanatlan - is there lore about that?

The big question then is how did some Ruin Machines show up in Inazuma?

Martian_on_the_Moon2026-01-27 01:02

Probably cause both Ruin Machines and Hilichurls were overused, especially in first two regions. They decided to phase them out.

Hence why in Sumeru we got last batch of them and also got Deshret machines, then Meka in Fontaine, Dragon machines in Natlan and Sandrone's robots in Nod-Krai.

Oh I wish we got Lawachurls of every element.

Former-Secretary27182026-01-27 01:16

With Nod Krai, I think we're deeper than Khaenri'ah lore because were talking about Nibelung and the Moon Goddesses already. But Khaenri'ah will always resurface, that's for sure, because of its ties with the traveler's sibling and Dainsleif who we meet at least once a year.

Sekaii12026-01-27 01:22

Breaking: some aspects of older stories have less relevance in current stories