Why Do the Automata Stand Tall in the Ruins? is the 1st stage of the On the Trail of Behemoths combat event in Genshin Impact 5.3. See the best teams, best strategies and special topics to obtain a Gold 2-star rating, and details about this stage here!

On the Trail of Behemoths Guides
Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4

Best Teams in Stage 1

Hard Difficulty

Stage 1 Hard Mode Teams
Navia	Xilonen	Mavuika	Xiangling
Chasca	Furina	Bennett	Ororon
Neuvillette	Furina	Kazuha	Xilonen
Xingqiu	Kachina	Traveler (Pyro)	Bennett

For this challenge, Natlan characters are preferred as they can trigger the Automaton's accretion mechanic, letting you immobilize and lower its defenses after taking down the two nodes.

However, there are also workarounds to this mechanic to make any character and team work, such as bruteforcing through the boss, using anemo characters with flight mechanics, or setting up a one-shot rotation.

Fearless Difficulty

Stage 1 Fearless Mode Teams
Mavuika	Xilonen	Bennett	Citlali
Navia	Xilonen	Mavuika	Xiangling
Mualani	Xilonen	Traveler (Pyro)	Xiangling
Kachina	Xingqiu	Collei	Shinobu

On Fearless difficulty, the priority changes as the boss now carries more HP, incentivizing stronger units with proper buffs, and making characters such as Xilonen and Kachina a requirement if selecting the 1st Special Topic.

It is highly recommended that your teams are Natlan-based as the accretion mechanic becomes a necessary checkpoint if you want to beat the Automaton in 90 seconds.

How to Beat Hard Difficulty

Stay Behind the Automaton

As much as possible, try to position yourself behind the Automaton as their attacks are often telegraphed and strike the player in front of them.

Watch for the Boltsphere Cannon

After filling up the boss's gauge, it will enter a special state and summon two Phlogiston pillars from the ground, requiring the player to climb or fly to the top of the pillars to disable the devices on top.

It is recommended to scale these pillars as the boss fires a powerful AoE blast that will likely kill your active character if the attack goes off with its fully-charged Boltsphere cannon.

How to Beat Fearless Difficulty

Stay Behind the Automaton

Similar to the previous difficulty, many of the Automaton's attacks are telegraphed and directed to its front, and are almost all longform attacks that occur over a period of time.

Move out of its current attack string at your earliest convenience to keep your characters from dying too early in the fight.

Trigger the Special Phase and Disable the Nodes

While you attack the automaton, fill up the bar and cause it to enter its Special Phase.

Scale the Phologiston pillars with Xilonen or Kachina and break the nodes with an attack. Once both are down, the Automaton will fall to the ground, becoming immobilized and vulnerable.

Run your Damage Rotations

With properly built characters, you should be able to drain half of its HP during its vulnerable period. If not, then it should be low enough that you can whittle it down during its subsequent recovery and standard phases.

Watch for Certain Attacks

There are a few attacks to look out for while facing this version of the Secret Source Automaton: Configuration Device, as these attacks are high-damaging and have the capability of one-shotting your active character.

Sweeper Cannon

The Automaton will fire multiple lasers that cover a good portion of its front, dealing steady damage to you while it spins. Dodge into and behind the Automaton to avoid the lasers as they spin.

This is only available if the 4th Special Topic was selected.

Hand Slam Into 5 Lasers

The Automaton will configure its body into a hand and slam down to the ground before calling down 5 lasers that converge on the slam origin and exploding, with every part of the attack dealing heavy damage.

Move away from the hand slam's origin to avoid the rest of the attacks.

Boltsphere Cannon

The Automaton's Boltsphere Cannon comes with its special phase, and serves as an arena-wide turret that shoots the active character, followed up by a large arena-wide explosion that deals massive damage.

This can only be countered by scaling the pillars and breaking the accretion mechanisms.

Pick the Right Special Topics

If you are choosing Special Topics in order to gain the 2-star rating, then opt to pick the 1st and 2nd ones that enlarge the accretion pillars and turns Boltsphere Cannon into a one-shot.

The reason for this is that you will often have enough time to climb the pillars and break the mechanisms before Boltsphere Cannon goes off, thereby making these obstacles a non-issue.

Food Items are Usable

It should be worth noting that you can use food buffs in this fight in order to revive units or increase your damage.

Use this as a trump card for when your pivotal units get hit by a stray attack and go down, or to up your damage so you can defeat the opponent quicker.

Co-Op is an Option

One of the main features of this event that this is available to do in Co-Op, allowing you to team up with friends in order to tackle the challenges.

Genshin Co-Op Boards
Friend Request Board	Co-Op Board	Supporting Cast Board

Stage 1 Event Information

Part of the On the Trail of Behemoths Combat Event

Why Do the Automata Stand Tall in the Ruins is the 1st stage for the On the Trail of Behemoths event, a combat event that sees players challenging powerful boss enemies at varying levels and degrees in order to obtain rewards.

On the Trail of Behemoths Event Guide

Enemy Information

Secret Source Automaton: Firepower Enhanced

Special Topics

Stage 1 Rewards

Total Why Do the Automata Stand Tall in the Ruins? Stage Rewards

Objective	Rewards
Obtain a Bronze 1-star rating in the challenge	Primogem x60 Blazing Sacrificial Heart's Hesitance x2 Mystic Enhancement Ore x3
Obtain a Silver 1-star rating in the challenge	Primogem x40 Blazing Sacrificial Heart's Hesitance x2 Mystic Enhancement Ore x3
Obtain a Gold 1-star rating in the challenge	Mora x20000 Adventurer's Experience x4 Mystic Enhancement Ore x3
Obtain a Gold 2-star rating in the challenge	Mora x20000 Adventurer's Experience x4 Sanctifying Unction x2

Genshin Impact Related Guides

On the Trail of Behemoths Event Guide

On the Trail of Behemoths Stage Guides

On the Trail of Behemoths Stage Guides
1 - Why Do the Automata Stand Tall in the Ruins?	2 - Why Did the Ancients Craft Stone Statues?
3 - Why Does the Water Have a Will of Its Own?	4 - Why Is There a Giant Hot Spring Underground?

Other Events and Schedule

List of Events