This is a walkthrough for the Archon Quest, “A Forest of Change” which is the first quest of Chapter 3: Act 1 - Through Mists of Smoke and Forests Dark which was added with version 3.0.

Description¶

You and Paimon arrive in Sumeru, and you prepare to find a way to get an audience with Lesser Lord Kusanali…

Steps¶

1. Go to the land of the Dendro Archon
2. Continue through the forest
3. Follow the unresponsive person discreetly
4. Follow the voice / Continue following the voice

Go to the land of the Dendro Archon¶

With version 3.0, the Sumeru region was added, and because of that a new teleport waypoint was added to the west side of The Chasm. As this quest takes place there, you’ll need to either teleport to the waypoint or make your way west through The Chasm where you’ll find a cave that leads into Sumeru.

Continue through the forest¶

As you progress through the cave the objective will update. Continue following the cave west where you’ll eventually reach the Dendro region of Sumeru, and get a cutscene. Paimon suggests that you make your way to Sumeru City so that you can find a way to speak to the Lesser Lord Kusanali, but to do that, you’ll need to know where it is. Paimon proposes you climb up to the Statue of the Seven, so you can get a better view of your surroundings. Just as she says that, a person wanders past you ignoring any attempt Paimon makes to get their attention, so she suggests you catch up to them to ask them for directions.

Follow the unresponsive person discreetly¶

After the scene ends, make your way up to the Statue of the Seven as unlocking this will unlock your map of the area. When you leave the Statue, you’ll get a short scene. At the corner of your eye, you’ll notice a small round plantlike thing before it quickly disappears. Drop from the Statue and follow the stream southeast towards the waterfall for another scene. Paimon will tell you how the unresponsive person just walked past the waterfall then just vanished, and recommends you take a closer look.

As you head into the cave you’ll notice the unresponsive person sitting down on a tree stump next to a censer which appears to be emitting some kind of gas. While you and Paimon are discussing if you should speak to the unresponsive person, you start to feel faint, and before you can leave, you’ll pass out.

Follow the voice / Continue following the voice¶

When you come to, you’ll be in a completely different area, and the first thing you’ll notice is a gigantic white tree in front of you. Head up the large tree branch directly in front of you, and you’ll get a cutscene. While you look up in awe at the beauty of the tree, a large boulder will drop on to the branch you’re standing on causing you to fall. After some acrobatic jumps and evasive maneuvers you’ll reach the other side of the branch.

When you regain control, continue along the grass-covered branch for another scene. As you approach the giant tree you’ll hear a voice saying “World…forget me” before a searing pain in your head renders you unconscious. When you come to again, you’ll hear Paimon talking to someone you’ve never met before.

The unknown voice is reassuring Paimon that you’ll be OK as her Master is extremely knowledgeable, and he said that you would be fine. You’ll ask them where you are, and the unknown girl will tell you that you’re in Gandharva Ville, a place which was built by scholars, but now is the Forest Ranger’s base of operations. She’ll introduce herself as Collei who is a trainee Forest Ranger, and tell you how she and her master found you while they were on patrol.

She’ll ask how you feel, and you’ll tell her you have a bitter taste in your mouth to which she’ll mention that it’s probably from her master’s herbal medicine that you were treated with. This reminds her that you need to take some more…unlucky. As she begins to bring it over to you, she drops it on the ground which alerts Tighnari, her master. He exclaims that she needs to be more careful with the medicines, and he’ll get some more once he’s finished up here.

Tighnari will finish up his conversation with Nasrin, another Forest Ranger before he heads over to you, and asks how you’re doing. Collei will introduce you to her master, and tell you that he’s the Chief Officer of the Forest Rangers in Gandharva Ville. He’ll explain to you what made you pass out. Apparently, it’s common practice for scholars to meditate in isolated areas of the forest, while they meditate they use an incense known as Spirit Borneol which helps calm their minds, so they can enter a deep state of rumination.

The aroma that the Spirit Borneol gave off was what made you pass out. Most of the time the incense doesn’t affect anyone, but it can have profound effects on a select few which you experienced first hand. He’ll ask you if you had any out-of-body experiences, and you’ll explain to him what happened to you. This causes Tighnari to tell Collei to cancel all the patrol logs for now as you two will be staying here for a while. Paimon asks him what’s going on, and he’ll explain that due to your mental state, it wouldn’t be wise of him to let you go roaming throughout the forest, at least until you’ve had further observation.

Although you feel fine now, there’s a good chance you may pass out again which he proves by telling you to take a whiff of the Spirit Borneol. If you pass out in the middle of the forest and no-one is around to help you out, things could get bad as the forest can be dangerous. You’ll talk to Paimon a bit about your vision, and you’ll mention to her that it could’ve been Khaenri’ah. When she asks you why you didn’t tell Tighnari, you’ll tell her that he knew something was up, and wasn’t telling you the whole truth. Paimon then suggests talking to Collei tomorrow, as she seems pretty friendly, and may be able to help you. As you take a night of rest, the quest will come to a close.