SoraHoshina
Writer and Editor at - BrandAnime...
Last Updated on December 13, 2025 by SoraHoshina
Stygian Onslaught is the latest end-game mode that was added in Genshin Impact. The gist is to bring 3 teams against 3 different bosses, and defeat them within 2 minutes. There are also 6 different difficulties, but only the first 3 difficulties will give you Primogems (so you don’t have to fry your sanity trying to complete the highest difficulty and frankly, whales’ territory or those who have godly builds and skills.
In version Luna III, Stygian Onslaught is updated with new bosses – Iniquitous Baptist, Battle-Hardened Iktomisaurus, and Experimental Field Generator. This guide will only cover up to the Fearless Mode, AKA the 5th difficulty, as the Dire Mode is extremely hard for F2P (near impossible), and I don’t want to encourage people to sacrifice their sanity for a weapon skin that can expire after a month.
Iniquitous Baptist in Stygian Onslaught Luna III
The first enemy is Iniquitous Baptist, an enemy from Sumeru that will create Electro, Pyro, and Hydro Wards (shields) in that order to protect itself at the start of the battle. Once you destroy one type of shield, you have an extremely short time (3 seconds) before the boss creates the next shield.
Note that each time you destroy the shield, the boss will take damage by 50% of the damage you inflicted when the shield was up. So instead of saving your Energy, it’s best if you launch every attack you can, so the boss will take some damage, especially since you have such a short window to attack it once the shield is down.
Now, after you destroy all 3 Elemental Wards successfully, the boss will be stunned for 15 seconds. This is the best time for you to dish the most damage you can, as after the duration, the Iniquitous Baptist will start creating the 3 elemental shields again.
Recommended Characters for Iniquitous Baptist
Characters that can pack fast-paced attacks are highly recommended here because of the short window to deal the most damage. Of course, as mentioned before, you should still attack with all you got on the boss even if it has a shield, but remember that the damage is highly negated, so you still need a DPS that can provide tons of damage in a short time, like Nefer, Skirk, or Chasca.
The elements you really want to bring are Hydro, Dendro, or Cryo. Those elements are important to bring down each shield. One DPS outside of those elements is Chasca, as her Shadowhunt Shells can be converted to Hydro or Cryo elements (if there are Hydro/Cryo allies in the team).
1) Nefer + Lauma + Aino + Nahida (Flex)
2) Skirk + Furina + Escoffier + Shenhe (Cryo Character)
3) Nahida + Xingqiu + Kuki Shinobu + Lauma
4) Chasca + Furina + Bennett + Citlali
Battle-Hardened Iktomisaurus in Stygian Onslaught Luna III
One of the main mechanics you need to know about this Iktomisaurus is that it will fly twice in the whole battle. The first one is when the battle starts, and another one when the timer is around 1 minute. While it is floating, the Iktomisaurus will deploy a Cryo Ward (shield) and begin charging. If you did not destroy the shield and interrupt the charging, its next attack will defeat your active character (cannot be avoided even with an i-frame).
At the same time, there will also be Cryo tornadoes (called Disruption Vortex) on the field while it’s charging. Surprisingly, you can pull these tornadoes with certain skills, like Venti’s Burst. While it’s harmless to your character (as in it deals very little damage), it will inflict Cryo on your character, and it will slow them down. And in Stygian Onslaught, where every second matters, you really want to avoid being hit by those tornadoes.
If after 20 seconds you still have not destroyed the Cryo shield, 3 Frosthail Zones will appear on the ground: Triggering elemental reactions to destroy each Frosthail Zone can also weaken and eventually break the Cryo shield. Destroying one of them is akin to destroying half of the Cryo Ward.
But what were you doing in those 20 seconds if not to destroy the shield on your own? I believe waiting for 20 seconds just to destroy the Frosthail Zone is a waste of time, and it’s better to rely on your own characters, especially in Fearless.
Back to breaking the shield. Once the Iktomisaurus floats above to create the Cryo shield and start charging, all your characters will regain Elemental Energy (including Mavuika and Skirk’s special Energy). This allows you to use any Elemental Burst that can help in destroying the shield, aka Pyro or Electro attacks. The free Energy will occur once again, even when the boss floats for the second time at the 1-minute timer.
Keep in mind that once the shield is broken and the Iktomisaurus falls, it will take 10% of its HP and half of what you dealt during the shield phase as damage + the FALL DAMAGE. So don’t hold back and unleash all attacks that you can do, so it will take more damage.
Cheat this Stygian Onslaught battle with the trick above using Jean and Amber. Amber is a free character, and her Burst is extremely good against the Cryo shield. While Jean is here for her Hold Skill, which can lift the Iktomisaurus up and slam it to the ground, so it will take massive fall damage. As you can see in my video above, these two manage to duo the Dire challenge even without being properly built. I love this kind of challenge where we can take advantage of the old character’s kit!
Recommended Characters for Battle-Hardened Iktomisaurus
This enemy has 110% RES to Cryo and 70% RES to other elements, so a Cryo character is definitely a no for this battle, unless they’re here for supports. On the other hand, Pyro is extremely crucial to destroy the Cryo shield.
As the enemies will float above, you will have to use a ranged character or use Skills that can bring the enemy closer to you or vice versa. When the Iktomisaurus starts to float and create the shield, you can use Jean’s Hold Skill to bring it down. Then, many other characters can reach the boss. Or you can use Zhongli’s Skill to create a pillar so your DPS can climb and reach the floating Iktomisaurus.
1) Venti + Durin + Bennett + Faruzan
2) Arlecchino/Clorinde/Yoimiya + Durin + Chevreuse + Bennett/Fischl
3) Arlecchino + Durin + Albedo + Zhongli
Experimental Field Generator in Stygian Onslaught Luna III
This boss is made for a plunging character- just want to start with this fact. BUT that doesn’t mean other DPS couldn’t complete the challenge. It’s just that plunging DPS has more advantages than normal DPS.
During a special phase (which you can tell by the notifications in the middle), the boss will generate a Gravity Reduction Field, greatly increasing characters’ jump height. Once your character jumps and reaches a certain height, they will gain 600% ATK Bonus for a very short period of time (around 1.5 seconds). You can see it by the small sword icon above your character’s HP bar.
Aside from having a huge HP pool, this boss also deals great damage, especially from the gravitational shockwaves that can not be dodged when they erupt on the ground. Other attacks also deal decent damage, but what’s worse is that they can stagger your character mid-attack, ruining the rotation.
Recommended Characters for Experimental Field Generator
It has 70% Geo RES, so Geo DPS is out of the question. But other elements are good, so many teams that can take advantage of the humongous ATK buff are good here. Even Flins that can’t do a plunge attack (after using his Skill) are able to clear Fearless; jump when you can to get the ATK buff and use his Mini Burst to deal huge damage.
1) Varesa + Iansan + Chevreuse + Mavuika
2) Flins + Aino + Ineffa + Sucrose
3) Skirk + Furina + Escoffier + Yelan
4) Arlecchino + Fischl + Chevreuse + Durin
5) Gaming + Bennett + Xianyun + Citlali
Stygian Onslaught Luna III Showcase
Sora is a content creator focusing on gacha games in BrandAnime. Aside from playing all the gacha games to a worrying extent, she also streams on her YouTube and Twitch channels (SoraHoshina). If she got bored, then she will write a guide. Yes, write a guide, not anything else that normal people do.
