Everyone loves horde mode in games, a mode where you just focus on killing as many enemies as possible before time runs out (or you get overwhelmed.) Vibro-Crystal Research is Genshin Impact’s spin on horde mode, with a few twists. This event seems confusing on paper, due to the terminology used in the event description, but once you jump in it’s actually quite simple. Here’s our guide for the Vibro-Crystal Research event in Genshin Impact.
Unlocking The Event
To unlock this event, you need to be Adventure Rank 28, and have completed the main quest “Rite of Parting” — once done, you can pick this quest up at the Liyue Adventurer’s Guild. Head over to the Chasm and talk to the NPC Patrice to unlock the shimmering event door located next to him. When you interact with the door, a menu shows up like in the screenshot above. This event allows you to choose the stage type and difficulty, each with their own unique flair:
- Normal Mode: Score multiplier x1, enemies are level 40
- Hard Mode: Score multiplier x2, enemies are level 70
- Extreme Mode: Score multiplier x4, enemies are level 90
Once you select your stage type and difficulty, you then move to the next screen, shown above. You have to form two teams of four, and set their Harmonics (more on this in a bit.) For now, focus on forming two good teams that allow you to chain Elemental Bursts and deal out heavy damage, as the goal is to mow down as many enemies as possible within your time limit. You have a set of four Trial Characters you can use in Xiangling, Xingqiu, Raiden Shogun and Venti for the first stage — following this team setup, you want to put Raiden on point, and swap to Xiangling, Xingqiu, and Venti as necessary to chain their bursts together. Subsequent stages offer different trial characters.
Understanding Harmonics
Harmonics are a set of passive buffs you can activate by connecting Transmitter Crystals to Receiver Crystals. Each of these Transmitters will activate their buff after meeting a certain requirement — here are the Transmitters for the first stage:
- Burst Transmitter: Gain 1 stack of Receiver effect when a character deals DMG to opponents with an Elemental Burst. Can only trigger once every three seconds.
- Skill Transmitter: Gain 1 stack of Receiver effect when the active character uses an Elemental Skill. Can only trigger once every three seconds.
- Combat Transmitter: Gain 1 stack of Receiver effect when a character takes the field. Can only trigger once every three seconds.
Here are the buffs you can choose from for the first stage:
- Burst Receiver: When you gain 1/2/3 stacks of this effect, your character’s Elemental Burst DMG is increased by 40/60/70% respectively for 20 seconds.
- Mastery Receiver: When you gain 1/2/3 stacks of this effect, your characters’ Elemental Mastery is increased by 80/120/140 respectively for 20 seconds.
- Recharging Receiver: When you gain 1/2/3 stacks of this effect, your characters’ Energy Recharge is increased by 50/75/87.5% respectively for 20 seconds.
You can connect each of the left Transmitters to one of the right Receivers. You can connect three Transmitters to one Receiver, or you can spread your buffs out amongst the three. The choice is yours, depending on your team choice. A solid starting build is 2 Recharging Receivers and 1 Burst Receiver for 75% Energy Recharge and 40% bonus Elemental Burst DMG, as an example. Subsequent stages have different Transmission requirements and Receiver buffs.
Once your teams and Harmonics are set, load into the level. Activate your Receiver buffs by meeting the Transmitter requirements to fill the bar at the top, which is your Harmonic Strength meter. Each level of that meter will grant bonus CRIT DMG to all characters. However, failure to activate a Transmitter after a few seconds will cause the meter to deplete. Continue to build the meter as necessary while clearing the field of enemies.
After a few minutes, the second half begins with your back-up team taking the field. Your final score is tallied based on number and type of enemies killed, multiplied by your difficulty setting. Continue to try different character combinations and Harmonic settings to maximize your high score — there are three tiers of rewards based on your final score. Best of luck, Travelers.
