Two hours after Stygian Onslaught challenges unlock, data on "Exalted Ones" will be updated based on all Travelers' challenge results. After this, that information will **update every day** at 04:00 AM (GMT+8/GMT+1/GMT-5).
It doesn't take much to double check the wiki before embarrassing yourself...
Just_Roll_Already2026-01-29 16:01
Ya'll just don't appreciate one of the greats. He is an excellent character.
CristevePeachFan2026-01-29 03:38
Only in China?
TheEdelBernal2026-01-29 03:44
What is Tignari doing here…?
Oeshikito2026-01-29 03:47
The strat involves using either Tighnari or Ororon skill to distance yourself from Shocktrooper. They both dash backwards the perfect distance for this.
TheEdelBernal2026-01-29 04:10
Learned something new today, thanks.
RemoteDifficult65762026-01-29 04:14
I wonder what do people even do to come up with these
TiltingSoda31262026-01-29 04:25
Probably a mix of educated guesses/working out, and “random bullshit go”
Like fall damage “exploit”ing is pretty well understood at this point I think, but the characters who move back the exact right amount is surely just trial and error?
RemoteDifficult65762026-01-29 04:31
nah but the entire cock & balls strategy tho 😭
Oeshikito2026-01-29 03:44
Wow, for the first time ever Skirk got removed from the exalted list but Escoffier still remains.
MapoTofuMan2026-01-29 04:27
Us 12 remaining Ayaka mains making all the difference
TheChosenerPoke2026-01-29 06:22
are ayakas clearing dire ?
RubApprehensive25122026-01-29 06:34
Likely a combination of her and wrio.
IS_Mythix2026-01-29 06:35
I saw a couple dolphin/whale dire ayaka clear last SO against Baptist, probably they can beat crab with good enough hydro+cryo application (or just pairing c4 ayaka with whale skirk/neuv/mua)
MapoTofuMan2026-01-29 08:39
C0 definitely no, C4 Ayaka > C0 Skirk though (at least as far as spreadsheet numbers go, Ayaka is burst-dependent which is a big problem in SO).
I never cleared Dire fully due to lack of other meta teams but did clear some separate Dire chambers with C6 Ayaka, and my supports are C0 Furina C0 Shenhe and C1 Esco. With C2+ Furina she can probably clear any chamber that doesn't have a shill mechanic that shuts freeze out completely.
nghigaxx2026-01-29 20:16
Not this season. None of the boss works for her. Last 2 season she was good tho
nghigaxx2026-01-29 04:35
yea escoffier is still good in mualani/neuvi clear.
TetraNeuron2026-01-29 07:36
If enough people are using the Zhongli pillar n balls strat that he’s become an exalted one: have we witnessed a meme become meta?
LumineFan1872026-01-29 16:37
its not really a meme if you dont have enough lunar chars/mavuika premium to clear the dog and trooper
nghigaxx2026-01-29 20:16
Also if done probably its a 20s clear. A lot of people can get 5* weapon skin thanks to it
Latase2026-01-29 08:38
and in my level 4 ayaka clear.
AleksBh2026-01-29 04:38
I use Esc in Neuv team. My Skirk got benched this time.
Chucknasty_172026-01-29 05:09
Same here. Neuv, Furina, Citlali, and Escoffier made short work of the crab
Jaystrike72026-01-29 05:39
Escoffier is too goated for Mono Hydro.
Dramatic_endjingu2026-01-29 06:04
It’s always supports> dps because they have team flexibility
Honest_Milk_82742026-01-29 06:10
Neuvellette+Escoffier+Citlali+Furina is a pretty good freeze team, and better than Skirk for the Emperor Crab.
J0k3z192026-01-29 07:50
Man, my skirk team cleared in 120s on fearless. Meanwhile my other two teams were sub 60s. Really wishing I didn't skip neuv today.
Honest_Milk_82742026-01-29 16:01
That's normal. A full C0R0 Nefer team can't clear the first Boss in less than 90 seconds. The important part is that you managed clear it.
I don't like those gimmick Bosses that cater for a very specific character. Last Abyss, that needed a plunge character to finish it, I don't have Varesa, I don't have Xianyun, and my Gaming is really pathetic (C5 with Kaeya as support). I had to use Venti to allow plunges so I could 36-star that thing.
TWOSimurgh2026-01-29 06:57
Skirk needs a very good build or very good execution to 3-4 cost bottom 2 bosses in fearless. With both she can 2 cost but that doesn't get you usage ratea
HorribleDat2026-01-29 10:57
Because of the small crab's gimmick favoring hydro damage:
>When this aura is depleted, the crab will lose control and slam into the Emperor, dealing damage equal to 60% of Hydro DMG and 10% of other elements onto the Emperor, not exceeding 15% Boss Max HP, and depleting its aura by 12 units. After a crab is defeated, another one will quickly spawn.
With their permanent pyro aura Mualani have a field day getting both Esco's max res shred and the vape.
kaibigangoso2026-01-29 03:46
StyJean onslaught!
lgn5i20602026-01-29 03:51
Truly JeanShin Impact.
Rare_Marionberry7822026-01-29 10:49
Can’t ImaJean this as a 1.0 player
Just_Roll_Already2026-01-29 16:03
I am perfectly OK with this. Jean is supreme.
Got a team that needs that support/healer slot filled?
Jean.
smolpeter2026-01-29 04:04
[deleted]
JAntaresN2026-01-29 04:41
I use her for the dog with Bineffa. Fastest kill in fearless 💀.
throwway852352026-01-29 04:53
How do people do it with the third boss? It takes a long time breaking the shield for like 10 seconds of vulnerability, and still has 60% Pyro Resist during that.
Thundergod2502026-01-29 04:17
It's really a great strategy because you don't need an entire ass team for the 2nd Round and you can go full Lunar Team on the Dog Boss.
Seraph1992026-01-29 04:37
Yup, pretty much my only hope of clearing so I can put my full Flins team against the dog boss
Decent-Ratio2026-01-29 08:28
this shit really saved me, my nefer teams can deal with the identity crisis dog but it takes like a perfect run to do it. Takes me more than 20 retries to finish it.
Expensive_Poop2026-01-29 04:36
Wait so exalted ones is based on popularity?
yaysyu2026-01-29 04:42
Based on the number a character has been used for clearing Stygian.
common_juice272026-01-29 07:56
Dire stygian to be precise
teeno7312026-01-29 09:59
More people are using Tighnari than Nahida?
yaysyu2026-01-29 10:05
Tighnari is used for that shocktrooper boss along with Jean, Zhongli and Geo Traveler.
Single_Departure1762026-01-29 13:20
I heard that Tighnari is used to help Jean move back a step without ruining her horizontal position when setting herself up.
RNGmaster2026-01-30 01:51
Type of shit you see people do in Ocarina of Time speedruns lol
TheMrPotMask2026-01-29 04:45
Context?
nova10002026-01-29 06:09
Stigia, is a tier of characters with most used in Stygia , there is a strategy to infinitely cause fall damage to humanoid enemies, they use the traveler Jean and zhongly to cause it,
Confident_River_35832026-01-29 05:09
It’s honestly impressive how creative players get with Geo mechanics.This strat really took on a life of its own.
Honest_Milk_82742026-01-29 06:14
It's more impressive considering how clueless everyone was when this game was released, even with concepts that SHOULD be very obvious for anyone that played other RPGs or HI3rd.
The community evolved from being completely oblivious,to engineering the most well crafted cheeses I've ever seen.
KazakiriKaoru2026-01-29 07:36
Jean/Amber really helped me cheese the last Stygian with the Iktomisaur
Just_Roll_Already2026-01-29 16:05
They started reading. I think Hoyo was thinking *"Fine, wan't to ignore our skill descriptions? We will make them so long that you HAVE to read and decipher them."* Xilonen was the beginning of Genshin's reading arc.
Honest_Milk_82742026-01-29 16:14
It's not just that. People who started back in 2020 might remember Physical damage Xiangling. People didn't know how to calculate damage, didn't understand the value of Elemental Mastery, didn't know how %damage interacted with %Atk. People were VERY bad at this game at first. I remember how baffled I was that people didn't know very simple concepts. Then, somehow, we went from that, to "elemental gauge formula", and people learned you could make some crazy reactions like "overvape" and "soup conduct" if you abused elemental auras the right way.
IMO, I think chinese players had something to do with it, because they were already using Geo Traveler as meta while we were thinking Anemo Traveler was better.
Just_Roll_Already2026-01-29 16:27
I'm looking forward to the builds and meta that will come out of the Miliastra DPS games. It may not be perfect, but it is going to do a lot for showing the application of build theories and testing them out.
Arc-D2026-01-29 15:12
We didnt even get this in 6.0 version of this boss, its only after the exploits of 6.1 and 6.2 that a group of dudes in cn(i believe) decided 'yeah, lets waste hours of our life to see if this is a thing'. And boy did it manage to compound the hours of life wasted. Totally worth it though lmaoo
AEsylumProductions2026-01-29 05:34
I admire OP's restraint for calling the strat "pillar and ball" instead of its (apparently) more common name.
ComposedOfStardust2026-01-29 06:30
CBT
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Due-Memory-69572026-01-29 07:59
Cylinder and Ball Tactics
vhaio2026-01-29 08:57
It's imperative that the cylinder remains unharmed
coldicehot2026-01-29 15:23
The M&M's tube tactics
ILikeBirdsQuiteALot2026-01-29 05:34
YESSSSS!!! GEO TRAVELER MY GOAT
ToTMalone2026-01-29 06:10
Lunar geo dmg go brrrrrrr
Sonoreal2026-01-29 06:13
How exactly they becoming the exalted ones??
ohhhhhhmate2026-01-29 06:36
If many players used those characters to clear dire SO, they became exalted ones.
Sonoreal2026-01-29 06:37
Huh. I thought Hoyo chooses some characters by themselves
KazakiriKaoru2026-01-29 07:37
Stygian has always been about community usage popularity basically
sdric2026-01-29 07:54
I wonder if they fix the pillar and ball cheese, I can't imagine that it was intend to deal insane amount of damage through getting enemies stuck.
I still wonder why it damages likes that, what type of damage that is. Is it supposed to be fall damage?
marufzanik2026-01-29 08:26
This is collision damage same as when enemy or character falls and ‘collides’ with the ground. Each time Zhongli resonates it pushes him to ‘hit’ the geo mc construct.
The probably won’t. They didn’t fix the fall damage tech last patch for the bat clear which was much easier than this one.
proxy19c2026-01-29 10:53
Can someone explain what is the strat? Never heard of it before
chemical70682026-01-29 11:13
And they say Rex Lapis was killed
Just_Roll_Already2026-01-29 16:07
Do you think it was fall damage? Is that why his body ended up there? Was he trapped within the pillar and ball?
No one truly knows.
Diskfix2026-01-29 13:02
Jean spotted
Gakamis2026-01-29 14:06
What is the strat even for? Or is it some glitch/bug abuse?
What the heck is tighnari doing there too?
al_jose3712026-01-29 16:11
What is the "Exalted list"?
Neospanner2026-01-29 16:27
Exalted ones are a selection of characters who gain 20% ATK, DEF, and HP when you use them in Stygian Onslaught. A few characters are pre-selected for this buff, but in addition to those starters, characters with high usage rate are added, as well.
In this case, so many players were using Traveler, Jean, and Zhongli for the fall damage cheese strategy that they qualified to be added to the selection of Exalted Ones.
al_jose3712026-01-29 17:09
Oh. That list depends on usage rate? That's crazy
CanaKitty2026-01-29 16:18
Why is Nari there?!
BarelyEnticed2026-01-29 16:50
evidence of gamedevs making bugs into a feature
ChannelDesperate2026-01-29 18:07
😍
AmethystMoon4202026-01-29 20:58
As someone who used Zhongli and Geo Trav everywhere before dendro Traveler, this makes me so happy they are back on the meta. And even with Lunar Crystallize, they can work as a team outside SO 😌🙌
Commentaires
Two hours after Stygian Onslaught challenges unlock, data on "Exalted Ones" will be updated based on all Travelers' challenge results. After this, that information will **update every day** at 04:00 AM (GMT+8/GMT+1/GMT-5).
It doesn't take much to double check the wiki before embarrassing yourself...
Like fall damage “exploit”ing is pretty well understood at this point I think, but the characters who move back the exact right amount is surely just trial and error?
I never cleared Dire fully due to lack of other meta teams but did clear some separate Dire chambers with C6 Ayaka, and my supports are C0 Furina C0 Shenhe and C1 Esco. With C2+ Furina she can probably clear any chamber that doesn't have a shill mechanic that shuts freeze out completely.
I don't like those gimmick Bosses that cater for a very specific character. Last Abyss, that needed a plunge character to finish it, I don't have Varesa, I don't have Xianyun, and my Gaming is really pathetic (C5 with Kaeya as support). I had to use Venti to allow plunges so I could 36-star that thing.
>When this aura is depleted, the crab will lose control and slam into the Emperor, dealing damage equal to 60% of Hydro DMG and 10% of other elements onto the Emperor, not exceeding 15% Boss Max HP, and depleting its aura by 12 units. After a crab is defeated, another one will quickly spawn.
With their permanent pyro aura Mualani have a field day getting both Esco's max res shred and the vape.
Got a team that needs that support/healer slot filled?
Jean.
The community evolved from being completely oblivious,to engineering the most well crafted cheeses I've ever seen.
IMO, I think chinese players had something to do with it, because they were already using Geo Traveler as meta while we were thinking Anemo Traveler was better.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
I still wonder why it damages likes that, what type of damage that is. Is it supposed to be fall damage?
The probably won’t. They didn’t fix the fall damage tech last patch for the bat clear which was much easier than this one.
No one truly knows.
What the heck is tighnari doing there too?
In this case, so many players were using Traveler, Jean, and Zhongli for the fall damage cheese strategy that they qualified to be added to the selection of Exalted Ones.