After encountering Azhdaha in Genshin Impact version 1.5’s latest Archon quest, the mighty Vishap becomes the next weekly boss in-game. Similar to Stormterror, The Great Wolf, and Childe, Azhdaha’s rewards can only be redeemed once per week. Importantly, Azhdaha provides the new Talent level-up materials. If you got Yanfei during Zhongli's banner or if you're pulling for Eula during her banner, then you need to learn how to beat this boss.

Azhdaha may be the most difficult weekly boss to beat. Players need to exercise great care and mindful use of certain abilities are necessary in order to defeat it. You have a lot of mechanics to consider in order to make this fight easier. Understanding them is a matter of life or death to your party members.

Preparing for the fight

Azhdaha is a very difficult fight for beginners and first-timers. Therefore, being adequately prepared will help lessen your frustration once you finally fight it.

The most important characters to bring are those who can provide shields and healing on demand. Shield characters like Zhongli, Diona, and Noelle do well in this boss fight. Beidou and Xinyan can also provide shields, but the uptime is too low,  putting your team in danger during downtime. Diona and Noelle are the best F2P options if you don't have Zhongli. Having Sacrificial weapons on them will prove extremely valuable for the increased uptime and better safety when the shields wear off.

Healers may be optional, but they greatly increase your survival and make the fight a whole lot comfier. Azhdaha is an aggressive boss that deals a lot of AoE damage quickly and very frequently. If you don’t want to waste time avoiding these mechanics, healing off the damage is the best way to ‘tank’ its attacks. Qiqi, Bennett, Jean, and Barbara come in handy as healers, especially Jean who dispels the status effect that Azhdaha inflicts.

Understanding the Three Phases of the Boss Fight

Azhdaha has three major phases, which progress in order as you bring its HP down two thresholds.

In the first phase, Azhdaha does Geo attacks. During this phase, be wary of falling rocks within the arena, marked by yellow runes on the ground. You can dodge them easily, but be mindful not to spend too much stamina. For the whole duration of this fight, stamina serves as one of your most important resources. Azhdaha will often stomp its feet or sweep its tail, depending on your relative position to its body. It will also shoot homing rocks towards your character if you stray a bit far, though these are easy to avoid.

There is a certain voice line from Azhdaha that you need to take note of. It marks the start of his transition to the next phase. While talking, the beast will charge for a powerful attack that could easily wipe your characters. Once it jumps high off the ground, move away from the center, where it will create massive pulses of AoE damage. After this attack, Azhdaha usually transitions to its second phase, the Hydro phase.

In the second phase, Azhdaha will be able to deal Hydro damage and inflict a Hydro status. It will also continuously deal Hydro damage over time if not mitigated. You can mitigate this by applying a shield to your character, regardless of what element it is. Azhdaha does the same basic attacks from its first phase, but now deals Hydro damage instead of Geo. It will also start creating mobile Hydro spheres which deal damage and inflict status.

Once you deal enough damage, Azhdaha will transition to the third phase and do the same earthquake attack from the first phase, which you have to definitely avoid or mitigate.

How to Beat Azhdaha in Genshin Impact

After finishing the transition, Azhdaha starts its third phase, this time dealing Electro damage. This phase is the hardest because of the number of hard-hitting attacks you have to constantly avoid. One attack sees Azhdaha digging down, leaving its tail sticking out of the ground, and start raining down lightning from the skies. The areas where the lightning strikes will be marked on the ground, so you want to avoid these areas at all cost. You can dodge more easily by staying near the center. This allows you a lot of room to move from one safe spot to another.

When Azhdaha finishes this attack, he goes back to the surface and returns to its basic attacks. The status effect applied by its Electro Spheres is similar to the Hydro phase can be mitigated by any shield, too. However, Azhdaha is a lot more aggressive and can repeat its previous attacks multiple times, including the giant earthquake that now deals massive Electro damage. 

There are a lot of mechanics that you have to memorize to make this weekly boss easier. Upgrading your characters who excel in this fight will definitely help in the long run. Also, since you only would want to fight Azhdaha once a week, consuming food that increases your stats, especially ATK, DEF, and reduced stamina consumption, is a great idea and doesn’t use a lot of resources to make.

Azhdaha is a tough fight, but once you know what to avoid and what to bring in combat, beating him won’t cost you an arm and a leg anymore.