Snezhnaya Companion Handbook: Everything to Explore in 7.0

Snezhnaya opened on August 12, 2026 as part of Genshin Impact Version 7.0, and it comes with the most involved set of new exploration systems the game has introduced in years. Rather than a single gadget solving one type of puzzle, the region is built around the Eye of Graeae, a multi-purpose tool that manages survival, construction, and travel all at once. Here's everything you need to know before setting out into the frozen homeland of the Cryo Archon.

Getting into Snezhnaya

Access opens up after completing Archon Quest Prologue: Act III, which automatically unlocks a Teleport Waypoint in Volkodlak Tundra, the region's southern zone. Sretomorozsk serves as Snezhnaya's introductory hub city, functioning the way Mondstadt or Liyue Harbor did when you first arrived in those nations. It's worth unlocking Sretomorozsk's local waypoints before pushing further north or east, since the terrain gets noticeably harder the deeper you go.

Roughly twenty minutes into the region's opening storyline, you'll receive the Eye of Graeae, the gadget that unlocks the rest of what's described below. Until then, don't waste time searching the map for it — it's tied to quest progression, not something found through open exploration.

The Eye of Graeae: your second companion

The Eye of Graeae takes over as Snezhnaya's core exploration tool in much the same way Paimon guides you narratively. It's a floating, monocle-shaped gadget that handles cold survival, environmental construction, train access, and the region's new firearms mode, all through one interface.

Its functions include:

• Cold immunity, drawing on a stored resource called Kresnik Energy
• Prime Ice Constructs, letting you build temporary structures from a harvestable material called Prime Ice
• Train access, used to summon and pilot Snezhnaya's railway trains
• A third-person shooter mode, unlocked after a specific subquest and confined to dedicated instanced zones rather than the open world

Equip it in your gadget slot and use the standard gadget interaction button to open its menu.

Bitter Cold: the survival gauge

Snezhnaya runs on a temperature system called Bitter Cold, functionally similar to Dragonspine's Sheer Cold gauge but with a different counter-tool. Standing in the open drains a meter shown above your character's health bar, and once it empties, you start taking increasing tick damage across three escalating severity levels — made worse during blizzards.

The Eye of Graeae's Kresnik Energy is what keeps that gauge from draining. Refill it by approaching Mini Kresnik Torches or breaking Kresnik Kristall Ores scattered across the map. A Basic Heat Source, one of the Prime Ice Constructs described below, can also hold off the cold without spending the gadget's own energy, which is useful on longer detours away from torches or ore.

Prime Ice Constructs

Prime Ice is a harvestable material found throughout Snezhnaya. With the Eye of Graeae equipped, you can record blueprints from Prime Ice mechanisms in the environment, then spend stored Prime Ice and gadget energy to build constructs on the spot. Confirmed constructs include a Snowball Launcher (which can propel you as a snowball for traversal), a Grappling Gun, a Basic Heat Source, and Message Markers left for other players.

Building requires both Prime Ice and Eye of Graeae energy in your inventory simultaneously — missing either keeps the construction option locked. Treat Prime Ice as a resource to manage deliberately rather than something to spend the moment you find it, since some constructs are more useful saved for a specific puzzle than used reactively.

The railway network

Snezhnaya's settlements connect through an extensive railway system running toward the capital, Snezhnograd. The Eye of Graeae starts with outdated route data, so you restore individual stations as you physically visit each township, gradually opening up more of the line.

To ride, head to a train station and use the Eye of Graeae from the front car to drive the train yourself, choosing a destination from the list it can currently reach. You can also summon your own train car while standing near any railway line. The train car itself doubles as a mobile hub, carrying a communication device with the same functions as Katheryne at the Adventurer's Guild, along with a workbench and crafting bench. Trains and standard Teleport Waypoints aren't competing systems — use Waypoints for direct point-to-point travel and trains for covering Snezhnaya's larger frozen stretches along established routes.

Map zones

Snezhnaya's map splits into several distinct areas, each with its own character:

• Volkodlak Tundra — the southern entry zone, home to Sretomorozsk and the secondary city Rankova Zorya, along with the Hunter's Cabin landmark. More navigable than the eastern zones, making it a good place to get oriented early.
• Fellfrost Peak — the eastern portion of the map, mostly barren with difficult terrain, platforming challenges, and environmental hazards.
• Flamefeather Valley — an underground zone with a surprising autumn-themed biome, a sharp visual contrast to the frozen surface above. Access requires the third-person shooter mode, and the zone is tightly tied to a specific world quest, so most of what's inside unfolds through story progression rather than free exploration. Confirmed points of interest include Okurov and Teeming Mire.
• A zone containing Tidesong Cavern, House of Hesperides, and the city of Svetloledovka — the House of Hesperides name points to a lore-heavy location rather than a simple dungeon.
• Zapolyarny Palace — home of the Cryo Archon, Tsaritsa, and the region's clear narrative endpoint.

New creatures

Several enemy types are unique to Snezhnaya, including the Lantern Fae, Water Imps, Jack Frost, Volkodlak, and Snegovik. None of these appear in other regions, so don't expect prior farming routes elsewhere to help with materials tied to them.

Puzzles and Stellar Reactions

Many of Snezhnaya's environmental puzzles are built around Stellar Reactions rather than the elemental reactions used elsewhere in Teyvat, and the new Cryo Traveler is specifically able to trigger them. If you haven't looked into how Stellar-Conduct and Stellar-Swirl actually function, it's worth doing before you hit a puzzle wall in the region, since these mechanics aren't optional side content here — they gate real progression.

The firearms mode: what's confirmed

Once you clear the relevant subquest, the Eye of Graeae unlocks Genshin's first true third-person shooter mode. Firearms don't replace standard combat — they're confined to specific instanced zones rather than available in the open world. Some coverage refers to these instanced areas by a specific name, but that naming isn't consistent across sources, so it's safest to treat it as an unconfirmed detail rather than official terminology for now.

What to prioritize first

If you're stepping into Snezhnaya for the first time, the practical order is: push through the opening quest chain until you receive the Eye of Graeae, since almost nothing else in this guide is usable before that point; keep its energy topped up near torches or ore rather than letting Bitter Cold catch you mid-exploration; and record Prime Ice blueprints as you find them, even ones you don't need immediately, since a wider blueprint library gives you more options once you hit a puzzle that needs a specific construct.

For character-side prep, our 7.0 Snezhnaya Preview covers what to bank before diving in, our Stellar Reactions breakdown is the companion piece for the region's puzzle mechanics, and the Alyosha build guide is worth a look since he's free and well suited to learning the new region without spending Primogems.

Exploring a region this dense is easier with the right account behind you. Browse trusted Genshin Impact accounts with a roster ready for Snezhnaya's Cryo-heavy puzzles, accelerate ascension and Prime Ice farming with expert Genshin Impact hourly services, or clear the region's toughest content through reliable Genshin Impact boosting.

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