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The Genshin Impact Secret Source Automaton: Configuration Device is a boss added in version 5.1. This boss is hard to find and even harder to defeat due to his extremely high resistance, but he does have a hidden weakness. With the right strategy and team, the Secret Source Automaton boss won’t trouble you anymore.
This guide will show you how to find the Secret Source Automaton in Genshin Impact and how to defeat him.
Secret Source Automaton location in Genshin Impact
The Secret Source Automaton boss is found in Genshin Impact’s Natlan region, the ‘nation of fire’ in the southwestern corner of the world map. The exact location of the boss arena is in the Toyac Springs area, not far from the Statue of the Seven. Even if you haven’t found the boss yet, you can already see its icon on the map.
Before you start sprinting towards that icon, however, beware that the boss arena is situated in an underwater cave, which means you can only reach it through a secret entrance. To get there, teleport to the waypoint north of the Secret Source Automaton - not the one below ground, but the one above ground. From there, look to the south; see the narrow wooden bridge? Walk towards that bridge, then drop down to the side.
Carefully glide through the narrow chasm underneath this bridge. Don’t just jump without gliding, as the fall damage may be fatal. Once you’re at the bottom of the chasm, simply follow the tunnel to find both the teleport waypoint and the Secret Source Automaton: Configuration Device boss.
How to defeat the Secret Source Automaton in Genshin Impact
Now that you’ve found the Secret Source Automaton’s location, it’s time to defeat this giant robot boss. While this Automaton only deals Electro damage, beware that he’s highly resistant to all types of damage - not just Electro. On the upside, this means you aren’t bound to a specific elemental team composition, but on the downside, no element is particularly overpowered against this boss.
Luckily, the Secret Source Automaton: Configuration Device has a weakness: throughout the fight, it’ll enter a ‘charging phase’ to prepare the Boltsphere Cannon attack (a large area-of-effect explosion). During this charging phase, two orange pillars will appear on the battlefield. You must get to the top of these pillars and smash the small charging devices, which not only interrupts the charging progress but also paralyzes the Secret Source Automaton and inflicts a massive resistance reduction for a few seconds.
Smashing the two charging devices (one per pillar) is the shortcut to winning this boss fight, but there’s one problem: how to reach them? You can’t climb the orange pillars the ‘normal’ way and neither is it possible to jump up, so you’ll have to rely on character skills. Don’t worry, there are plenty of characters who can help you out:
- Kachina’s Turbo Twirly: use Kachina’s elemental Skill to ride up the pillars. You only need to hop on the charging devices to destroy them, so this is arguably the quickest and easiest way to paralyze the Secret Source Automaton.
- Xilonen’s Blade Roller: similar to Kachina’s ability, you can use Xilonen’s Elemental Skill to ride up the pillars and smash them.
- Geo constructs: alternatively, you can use Zhongli, Albedo, or Geo Traveler to place Geo rock formations or platforms. Make sure they’re close enough to one of the orange pillars, then climb the Geo construct and jump onto the pillar.
- Anemo wind current skills: if you don’t have Geo characters or don’t want to use them, Anemo characters like Kazuha, Wanderer, Venti, and Xiao can create wind currents to fly upwards.
In case you’re wondering, you do need to stand on top of the pillars to destroy the charging devices. Even if you trigger an attack that visually seems to hit the charging devices, such as Zhongli’s Ultimate, it won’t count. Save your ranged attacks and area-of-effect attacks for the Secret Source Automaton boss himself - after he’s been paralyzed.
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