How to unlock and level up the Frostbearing Tree in Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact's Frostbearing Tree has a ton of excellent rewards, but you'll need to find Crimson Agates and complete Crimson Wishes to get them.
One of the most important features of Genshin Impact's Dragonspine zone is the Frostbearing Tree. It works similarly to the Statues of the Seven littered around Teyvat, in that you have to find collectibles hidden in the world and offer them to the tree to level it up, but unlike Statues of the Seven, the Frostbearing Tree has some incredible rewards, including weapon blueprints, a warming bottle to keep away Dragonspine's fatal chill, and a new glider skin. In order to get all of these, though, you're going to have to collect a ton of Crimson Agates either by exploring or completing a new type of quest called a Crimson Wish.
Like a lot of stuff in Genshin Impact, it can be a little confusing at first. Fortunately, this guide explains everything you need to know about unlocking the Frostbearing Tree, how Crimson Wish works, and where to start tracking down Crimson Agates.
The Frostbearing Tree: Investigate the strange ice
In order to unlock the Frostbearing Tree and its rewards, it's best to first begin the main quests that will guide you through Dragonspine. The quest is a Story Quest called Princeps Cretaceus Chapter, and the first step is called The Rumored Alchemist. If you're having trouble finding it, just look at Mondstadt on your map and you'll see the marker clearly indicated. The quest starts at the Alchemists Shop in Mondstadt.
If you follow this quest, you'll eventually begin exploring Dragonspine in search of Albedo, Mondstadt's Chief Alchemist. Just up the road from the Snow-Covered Path, where you'll find the first teleport waypoint, you'll notice a large, strange object frozen in ice. Before it sits a floating ice crystal that you can attack but, mysteriously, won't do any damage to. This is the Frostbearing Tree.
Unlocking it requires understanding one of Dragonspine's less obvious new systems: Scarlet Quartz. You should already be familiar with these glowing red crystals, as Genshin Impact tells you early in this quest that it's one of the ways to survive the freezing cold of Dragonspine.
But when you pick up a Scarlet Quartz and temporarily have the power of fire, you can also attack certain objects encased in ice to release them. This is how you thaw the Frostbearing Tree.
- In the nearby area, you'll find several Scarlet Quartz deposits.
- One at a time, attack one and run to the floating ice crystal in front of the tree and attack it. You'll finally do some damage to it.
- Repeat this step until the ice crystal is destroyed and you'll see a cutscene where the tree is thawed.
Where to find Crimson Agates
Just like Statues of the Seven, the Frostbearing Tree can be leveled up by offering it Crimson Agates—which are basically like the Geoculi and Amenoculi you'd give to a Statue of the Seven. There are hundreds of these scattered around Dragonspine, and we'll update this guide if someone goes to the trouble of mapping them all.
Not having a map makes things more fun, though. Just like Amenoculi and Geoculi, Crimson Agates will appear on your minimap (listen for the gentle tone when you get near one!) when they're close. So while you're out exploring or completing quests in Dragonspine, keep your eyes peeled and collect as many as you can.
Turning them into the Frostbearing Tree will level it up, unlocking excellent new rewards with each level. Here's a quick preview of what you can look forward to (the rest of the rewards are displayed on the second image):
Some notable rewards:
- Level 4: Diagram: Warming Bottle - can be crafted to slow the chill that builds up while exploring Dragonspine.
- Level 8: Northlander Polearm Prototype - can be crafted into a pretty good four-star polearm.
- Level 10: Memory of the Frostbearing Tree - can be crafted into Frostbearer, a four-star Catalyst.
- Level 12: Wings of Concealing Snow - a skin for your glider.
How Crimson Wish works
Once you've collected enough Crimson Agates to get the Frostbearing Tree up to level eight, you'll unlock a secondary source of Crimson Agates called Crimson Wish. Each Monday, you'll get five weekly quests that each reward a Crimson Agate. It's an extremely useful way to level up the Frostbearing Tree if you're having trouble finding the few remaining Crimson Agates hidden in Dragonspine.
These quests are almost exactly the same as the Daily Quests you've probably completed a hundred times by now. Most will involve going to a specific location and killing some monsters or doing some other simple tasks.
And that's it! Now you can begin exploring Dragonspine, collecting Crimson Agates, and reaping the excellent rewards from leveling up the Frostbearing Tree. For more on Genshin Impact, check out our Genshin Impact tier list, the best builds for Albedo and Ganyu, and everything we know about its 1.2 update.