Players looking to face Genshin Impact’s latest enemy type will first need to find their way to Tsurumi Island. They can be found all over the island, but there are large numbers of them found around the Autake Plains. They come in two varieties: Rockfond Rifthounds and Thundercraven Rifthounds. Rockfond Rifthounds are associated with the Geo Element, while Thundercraven Rifthounds are associated with the Electro Element. Rifthounds also come in two sizes: Regular Rifthounds and smaller Rifthound Whelps which have less health.

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Updated on January 12, 2022, by Scott Vengel: Genshin Impact has once again entered the festive period of the Lantern Rite festival in version 2.4. With the return of many fan-favorite activities from last Lantern Rite, fans all around the community will see the opportunity to obtain a free four-star character including the newest addition, Yun Jin. Nonetheless, rumors about update 2.5 have also been taking the community by storm, with leaks surfacing about both Yae Miko and Kamisato Ayato. As the next update will bring players back to the islands of Inazuma, this article will be updated to add more information on fighting Rifthounds and the subsequent rewards received after doing so.

Rifthounds attack quickly with their claws, inflicting damage of their element along with the corrosion status effect. This status effect can be dangerous since it applies to the whole party when inflicted and deals damage over time. The best way to mitigate the corrosion status effect is to field a character with good healing skills like Barbara, Qiqi, Bennett, Noelle, or Kokomi.

It can also be avoided entirely by taking advantage of the freeze elemental reaction or the petrification status effect to ensure that the Rifthound can’t inflict corrosion in the first place. Unfortunately, shields do not prevent corrosion from being inflicted so players should avoid being overly reliant on shield users like Zhongli to mitigate damage.

Additionally, Rifthounds have a variety of different basic attacks that players will want to avoid. These include:

A Bite attack during which the Rifthound will back away then jolt forward, dealing their element’s damage A Swipe attack that features two consecutive slashes in the Rifthound’s element A Tail Swipe which has the Rifthound teleport behind the player A Charge attack that features three pounces dealing elemental damage (only during Devourer state)

In addition to these attacks, the Rifthound will have a differing projectile attack depending on their element. For Rockfond Rifthounds, they will use a Rock Spit attack that launches a rock directly at the player dealing Geo damage. On the other hand, the Thundercraven Rifthound will use a Tail Shot attack that launches a spinning Electro projectile.

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Rifthounds are initially resistant to their own element, but hitting them with their own element will build up a meter (displayed as a ring above the creature’s head). When the meter fills entirely the Rifthound enters the Devourer state, reducing their resistance to their element but making them attack much more fiercely. This can be accomplished by dealing high damage to them with Geo and Electro attacks respectively.

Players willing to take the risk can use the Rifthounds own element to deal a ton of damage quickly and efficiently at the cost of potentially taking more damage if the Rifthound lands a combo. For a less dangerous approach, bringing Cryo and Hydro characters and locking them down with freeze reactions can make Rifthounds much less of a threat. Players with access to Zhongli could also make use of his elemental burst to petrify the Rifthounds for the same effect while dealing Geo damage that can trigger devourer on Rockfond Rifthounds.

Should the players successfully defeat a Rifthound opponent, they will have the chance to acquire a variety of different rewards. Most prominently, the Rifthound will drop a Concealed Claw, which is currently needed to ascend weapons and tools including Akuoumaru, Polar Star, Redhorn Stonethresh, and Wavebreaker’s Fin. In addition, there is a small chance for a Rifthound to drop an artifact from the Traveling Doctor, Berserker, Instructor, and The Exile sets.

Genshin Impact is available now for PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.

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