Kristallfold locations and farming route
Kristallfold is the Snezhnaya local specialty that Mitya needs to ascend. One full route gives 59 Kristallfold: 14 in Waterway to the Falls and 45 in Downtown Novokitezhgrad. Here is the order to collect them.
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Quick answer
- Where: underground in Novokitezhgrad — Waterway to the Falls (14 Kristallfold) and Downtown Novokitezhgrad (45 Kristallfold).
- Per run: 59 Kristallfold, respawning 48 hours after you pick them.
- Needed: 168 Kristallfold to take Mitya from level 1 to level 90.
- Other sources: 3 from Mitya's trial run, a merchant named Vlasta in Novokitezhgrad, other players' worlds and your Serenitea Pot.
- Fastest plan: farm the full route every two days and you have all 168 by day five; shop stock and co-op make it faster.
What is Kristallfold?
Kristallfold is a local specialty from Snezhnaya. The in-game description calls it a peculiar mushroom that grows along the veins of the Kresnik Kristall, named for its ridged cap that looks like a pleated parasol carved from crystal. In practice it looks like a small glowing crystal cluster, which makes it easy to miss against the crystal walls of the underground city.
Right now Kristallfold is used for one thing: ascending Mitya, the Electro character who joins Genshin Impact in Version 7.2 alongside Valeriy. No cooking recipes or crafting items use Kristallfold, so every one you collect goes straight into Mitya. If you plan to pull for him, start farming Kristallfold before his banner ends — you can collect it whether or not you own him yet.
How many Kristallfold you need
Like every local specialty, Kristallfold is spent at each of Mitya's six ascension phases. The amounts follow the standard pattern for all characters:
| Ascension | Level cap after | Kristallfold | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 40 | 3 | 3 |
| Phase 2 | 50 | 10 | 13 |
| Phase 3 | 60 | 20 | 33 |
| Phase 4 | 70 | 30 | 63 |
| Phase 5 | 80 | 45 | 108 |
| Phase 6 | 90 | 60 | 168 |
With 59 Kristallfold per run and a 48-hour respawn, a solo player needs three full runs to collect all 168: day one, day three and day five. The three Kristallfold from Mitya's trial run cover Phase 1 on their own, and Kristallfold from the shop or a friend's world can save you the third run.
Five-day Kristallfold farming plan
If you only farm your own world, this schedule gets Mitya to level 90 without wasting a single respawn:
| Day | What to do | Kristallfold total |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Mitya trial run (3) + full route (59) | 62 |
| Day 3 | Full route again (59) | 121 |
| Day 5 | Full route again (59) | 180 — enough for all 168 |
Spend the extra days on his talent books and boss drops, which take longer to gather than Kristallfold.
How to unlock the Kristallfold areas
Both Kristallfold areas are underground, below Novokitezhgrad in western Snezhnaya, and you have to progress the local story to reach them:
- Start the main quest The Crystal City in the Gorge's Depths in Novokitezhgrad.
- Continue to its third sub-quest, Awake and Sing, Ye Sleepers in the Dust. The cave you enter here leads to Waterway to the Falls and the Crystal-Tree Grotto.
- Keep going until you reach Downtown Novokitezhgrad. After the fight against the Shadow Realm enemies you can roam the area freely.
- For the Waterway to the Falls route, take the world quest Let Not All Rivers Run Dry, which sends you out of the Crystal-Tree Grotto along the path where the Kristallfold grow.
Waterway to the Falls: 14 Kristallfold
Waterway to the Falls is the tunnel system that connects the Crystal-Tree Grotto to the falls. There are 14 Kristallfold along the exit path from the Crystal-Tree Grotto, the route the world quest Let Not All Rivers Run Dry takes you down.
- Teleport to the waypoint closest to the Crystal-Tree Grotto.
- Walk the exit path out of the grotto towards the falls. The Kristallfold grow on both sides of the path, often tucked against the crystal walls.
- Check every side passage and ledge before you leave. Most players who come up short have walked past two or three Kristallfold in the corners.
Waterway to the Falls is a short, linear stretch, so this half of the route only takes a few minutes. It is worth doing first, then teleporting to Downtown Novokitezhgrad for the larger half.
Downtown Novokitezhgrad: 45 Kristallfold
Most Kristallfold grow in Downtown Novokitezhgrad, the underground city. Start at the Kristall Refinery waypoint and follow this loop:
| Stop | Where | Kristallfold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southwest of the Kristall Refinery waypoint | 8 |
| 2 | Further southwest | 4 |
| 3 | Northwest, around the enemies guarding an Exquisite Chest | 5 |
| 4 | Across the water, on the far bank | 12 |
| 5 | North, around the large crystal | 7 |
| 6 | Next to the tree trunk near the large crystal | 3 |
| 7 | South, back down by the water | 6 |
| Total | 45 |
Clear the enemies at stop 3 before you pick anything up — you also get the Exquisite Chest the first time. Stop 4 is the biggest cluster, with 12 Kristallfold on a single bank, so make sure you cross the water there instead of skipping it.
Other ways to get Kristallfold
- Mitya's trial run: finish the character trial from the event wish screen to get 3 Kristallfold for free. That is exactly enough for Phase 1.
- Vlasta's shop: a merchant named Vlasta in Novokitezhgrad sells Kristallfold for Mora. It is worth buying her stock whenever it refreshes.
- Co-op: every player's world has its own Kristallfold. Join a friend or a random world and collect their 59 Kristallfold too, with the host's permission.
- Serenitea Pot: once you have a seed, you can grow Kristallfold in your teapot garden for a slow but steady supply.
Farming tips
- Bring a character who marks specialties. Characters with a passive that reveals nearby local specialties on the minimap make Kristallfold much easier to spot underground.
- Farm every 48 hours. Kristallfold respawns two days after each pickup, so pick a fixed time and run the full route then.
- Do Waterway to the Falls first. It is shorter and linear, and the teleport to Downtown Novokitezhgrad afterwards is quick.
- Combine with other farming. The Kristall Refinery area has enemies on the way, so collect their drops for Mitya's other ascension materials while you run the Kristallfold route.