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I recently started playing Genshin Impact and after making it to Mondstadt I noticed that there is now a particle trail on the ground:

Screenshot of particle trail.

My educated guess here is that it's leading me to my current objective. However, I didn't notice it before reaching Mondstadt which, subsequently, leaves me with a few basic questions:

  • What is this particle trail for?
  • Is it present for all objectives?
    • If so, was it present before Mondstadt and I just didn't notice?
    • If not, what criteria need to be met for this trail to appear?
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    Press "v" to show the particle trail. IIRC it works in any city for any objective that you're currently navigating to.
    – Navin
    Jul 28, 2021 at 7:33
  • @Navin thanks for this! I mostly play on mobile but that’ll come in handy when I’m on my PC. 😁
    – Hazel へいぜる
    Jul 28, 2021 at 11:04

2 Answers 2

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The trail is indeed a "current objective" tracker that is displayed for most quests that have a clear objective (so, nothing like "Search this generic area" for example).

What may have tricked you is that the trail only appears when you enable navigation for the current active quest. Sometime it activates by default when you get a new quest, sometime it doesn't (probably it is based on quest priority, Archeon quests seems to get automatic navigation most of the time). It is also worth noticing that it seems there are three possible "navigation experience":

  • sparkling path.
  • map pin but no path, usually seen for targets outside the city
  • generic area (usually an orange circle on the map)

Also notice that distance apparently seems something that is taken in account when the game decides if it should display the sparkling path (I don't think you can get a path for an objective in Liyue if you are standing on Mondstadt bridge for example).

Anyway, I would not worry about this feature. Just remember that if it becomes an annoyance, you can disable it by going to the quest menu and selecting the "cancel navigation" option. This could be useful for taking screenshot since the trail does not disappear in photo mode otherwise....

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  • Some additional details: It seems that the trails only appear within towns, not in wilderness areas. Also, there is a pillar of light that appears over the pin location (both in towns and the wilderness). Both the trail and the pillar last for a short time, but can be shown again by hitting V.
    – Robert J. Walker
    Aug 31, 2021 at 21:55
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I only remember seeing it in Mondstadt. I don't remember it leading me to Paimon, but outside is bright, so maybe?

But the video series about not progressing the main quest, which needs you to go to Paimon, clearly shows that the game does not give a path back to Paimon in case you get lost, so...

Yes, from Mondstadt only, this trail appears. Not sure of the trigger conditions, though.

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  • After playing some more it doesn’t seem to be present for every objective in Mondstadt either. 🤔
    – Hazel へいぜる
    Jul 28, 2021 at 2:31
  • @Tacoタコス - Maybe it's an Amber only thing, because she's all Scout-y and stuff?
    – Malady
    Jul 28, 2021 at 3:08

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