Genshin Impact unlocks

The waypoint unlocks on its own — you do not need the intervening Archon Quests. HoYoverse states outright that Travelers can reach Snezhnaya and start Chapter VII even without having finished earlier chapters such as "Song of the Welkin Moon: Act X".

• Unlock the Snezhnaya Teleport Waypoint

  Unlocks automatically after completing Archon Quest Prologue: Act III "Song of the Dragon and Freedom" — or on updating, if that is already done. It sits southwest of Volkodlak Tundra.

  Reward Snezhnaya access, plus the Primogems for the waypoint
• do this firstComplete Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act I — "Everwinter Without Mercy"

  Requires Adventure Rank 18 and Prologue: Act III. Permanently available. Focused Experience Mode is supported.

  Reward Opens most of the region's other content
• Complete Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act II — "Wraith's Nocturne"

  Requires Adventure Rank 18 and Chapter VII: Act I. Permanently available.

  Reward Story continuation

These are the reason to do Chapter VII: Act I before anything else — each one is gated on a named step within it rather than on finishing the act.

• affects dailiesUnlock Snezhnaya Daily Commissions

  Progress through "Great Deeds on the Tundra" inside Chapter VII: Act I.

  Reward Snezhnaya joins your daily commission rotation
• Unlock the world quests

  Progress through "Gunfire in the Silent Lands" inside Chapter VII: Act I. Opens the "Hesperides of Love and Hate", "In the Dwelling of Life", "On One Side a Palace, On the Other a Tomb", "Her Palace Collapses Into the Blizzard", "Mean Streets of the Despicable", "The Soft Song She Sang" and "In the Tranquility of Cycles" chains, plus several standalone quests.

  Reward Quest rewards and exploration progress
• Claim the Exaiphanes Blade

  Awarded for progressing through "Great Deeds on the Tundra". A 5-star sword for the Traveler.

  Reward Exaiphanes Blade (5-star Sword)
• Enhance the Exaiphanes Blade

  Use Cryo to awaken and connect to the Statues of The Seven in Snezhnaya.

  Reward Weapon enhancement

Built with Cryo Sigils collected while exploring, once the listed quest step is done. They level up for supplies, so they are worth putting in early rather than at the end of the patch.

• Build "Huntsman's Cabin"

  Progress through "Gunfire in the Silent Lands" in Chapter VII: Act I, then spend Cryo Sigils.

  Reward Supplies, scaling with Meeting Point Level
• Build "Tidesong Cavern"

  Progress through "Silence Alone is Disfavored" in Chapter VII: Act I, then spend Cryo Sigils.

  Reward Supplies, scaling with Meeting Point Level
• Build "The Korolevskiy Theater"

  Progress through "Silence Alone is Disfavored" in Chapter VII: Act I, then spend Cryo Sigils.

  Reward Supplies, scaling with Meeting Point Level
• Raise your Meeting Point Levels

  Keep spending Cryo Sigils after each is built. Higher levels pay out better supplies.

  Reward Ongoing supply rewards

Snezhnaya ships as five areas. Listed as one task per area rather than a single "explore Snezhnaya", because they open at different points and are worth tracking separately.

• Volkodlak Tundra

  The first area, by the auto-unlocked waypoint.

  Reward Exploration rewards
• White Birch Snowgrave

  Snezhnaya region.

  Reward Exploration rewards
• Everfrozen Earth

  Snezhnaya region. Also holds the new artifact Domain.

  Reward Exploration rewards
• Flamefeather Valley

  Snezhnaya region.

  Reward Exploration rewards
• Fellfrost Peak

  Snezhnaya region.

  Reward Exploration rewards

The pieces that keep paying out after the story is done.

• Unlock the Domain of Blessing "Inverted Glacier"

  In Everfrozen Earth. Drops the new artifact sets Scarlet Proof and Heart of the Furnace.

  Reward Scarlet Proof and Heart of the Furnace artifacts
• Unlock the Domain of Forgery "Scars of Cursed Obsession"

  Unlocks at Adventure Rank 10, or by completing "Knights of Favonius" in Prologue: Act I.

  Reward Weapon Ascension Materials
• Join the Snezhnaya Fishing Association

  New fishing points across Snezhnaya, with its own exchange stock.

  Reward Fishing exchanges exclusive to Snezhnaya
• Buy the new Weapon Forging Blueprints

  From Kuzmichev in Snezhnograd, in exchange for materials. Covers Emberwell, Blade of Atonement, Song of the Vigil, Echoes of the Heart and Covenant of Frost and Snow.

  Reward Five new 4-star forgeable weapons
• Collect the new Radiant Spincrystals

  Scattered through Snezhnaya.

  Reward Serenitea Pot music

⚠️ NOT YET CONFIRMED IN-GAME. Drafted Sept 23 2026 from HoYoverse’s own Version 7.1 update notice. Treat the wording as provisional until the in-game pass. Both acts are PERMANENTLY available, so nothing here is on a clock. Each gates the next, and Act III also gates the new weekly and one of the two world quests.

• do this firstComplete Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act III — "White Night, Like a Dream Upon Waking"

  Adventure Rank 18+, and Act II "Wraith’s Nocturne" complete. Gates Act IV, the "Swords and Secrets" world quest and the Secret Tsarist Assignments weekly. Focused Experience Mode is available.
• Complete Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act IV — "A Rekviem for the Underworld"

  Adventure Rank 18+, and Act III complete. The version’s title act. Focused Experience Mode is available.

⚠️ NOT YET CONFIRMED IN-GAME. Drafted Sept 23 2026 from HoYoverse’s own Version 7.1 update notice. Treat the wording as provisional until the in-game pass. Both permanently available. They unlock from different prerequisites, which is why they are listed separately rather than as one "do the world quests" line.

• Complete "Swords and Secrets"

  Adventure Rank 18+, after Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act III.
• Complete "Upstream Variations"

  Adventure Rank 18+, after Chapter VII: Act II, and Lv. 2 at the Meeting Point "Tidesong Cavern".

⚠️ NOT YET CONFIRMED IN-GAME. Drafted Sept 23 2026 from HoYoverse’s own Version 7.1 update notice. Treat the wording as provisional until the in-game pass. The pieces that keep paying out once the story is done.

• unlocks a weeklyUnlock the "Special Recruitment Project" → Secret Tsarist Assignments

  Requires Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act III. This is what turns on the new weekly above, so it is worth doing before the week rolls.
• Unlock the new Fellfrost Peak Teleport Waypoint

  Added alongside the new boss. HoYoverse adjusted the waypoint count for the achievement "Icebound Snowscape (I)" to match, and Travelers who already completed it keep their completion.
• Defeat the new boss "Guardian Blade of Drifting Snow"

  Fellfrost Peak. Below a certain HP it seals itself in an ice coffin — Stellar Glimmer reactions make the coffin fragile and leave it vulnerable to Electro and Anemo. Leave the coffin undamaged and it heals and counterattacks instead.
• Clear the two new "Edge of Survival" stages

  "Fiery Feather Pursuit" and "Ice-Imprisoned Citadel". The "Frontrunners’ Edge → All Records" screen is in a data-compilation period after the update and reopens when that finishes.
• Pick up the new Genius Invokation TCG cards

  Columbina and Illuga character cards plus Talent cards, and six new Action Cards from Prince at The Cat’s Tail. The Forge Realm’s Temper returns as "Clever Stratagems", with selectable difficulty, enemy health and round limit.
• Collect the 7.1 odds and ends

  New recipes "Celestial Tea Crisp" (event) and "Mors" (from Snezhnaya NPC Zyryanov); character specialty dishes for Vesna and Vodyanitsa; new "Wonders of the World" achievements; the Travelers’ Tales Snowstride Chapter; and the namecards for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Vesna and Vodyanitsa.