How to find and beat the Iron Viscount in Genshin Impact

The Hydro region of Fontaine in Genshin Impact is home to many secrets, but one of the most intriguing is the formidable local legends you need to find and defeat. One of these local legends is the Iron Viscount, a foe that is tough to find and even more difficult to vanquish.

If you’re struggling with the Iron Viscount, here’s a full guide on how to fight and defeat the enemy.

Where to find the Iron Viscount in Genshin

The Iron Viscount is hidden in a secret underwater cave in the Elton Trench area. This cave is only accessible after first finishing a puzzle related to a boiling lake.

To find the Iron Viscount, start by heading to the Statue of Seven located in Elynas in the Beryl region. From here, head south until you come across a boiling pool. Once you’ve reached this pool, you can then begin the puzzle associated with it to gain access to the formidable foe’s secret cave.

How to clear the boiling lake in Fontaine in Genshin

Around the hot spring, there are three different Water Volume Detection Crystals. You need to free each one and interact with them to send them to the middle of the bubbling pool.

• The first Water Volume Detection Crystal is trapped by some vines, so set these on fire and interact with the freed crystal with it to send it to the center.
• The second Water Volume Detection Crystal is trapped in a vault, so interact with the Ousia Block and then hit the Pneuma Block to free it. Interact with the crystal to send it to the middle of the lake.
• The final Water Volume Detection Crystal is surrounded by some crabs. Vanquish these foes and it will be freed for you to then send it to the center.

After all three Water Volume Detection Crystals are in the center, grab the Miraculous Hydrograna, which is an orb of water floating right above the chest, and step into the water to charge it. Move your character to stand perfectly in the middle between the three crystals to charge them and the chest will unlock alongside a special portal appearing above it.

Enter this portal and you’ll be taken to the Iron Viscount’s secret cave located underwater in the Elton Trench area. Before you can find this foe though, there are a few more parts to this puzzle you need to complete.

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The cave will be quite warm once you enter it, and your goal is to cool it down to then cool the lake you just left. This can be done by eliminating the Pyro Slimes and Pyro Abyss Mage so you can then get to work on the puzzle.

Throughout this cavern, you’ll find three small pedestals that need Hydro Cores. You’ll need to gather three Miraculous Hydrograna, activate them by interacting with Hydro, and place the cores on the pedestals. Once this is done, a Hydro Pillar will be unlocked, and interacting with it will flood the entire cave.

The lake above will now be cool and safe to swim in, but more importantly, you’ll now find the Iron Viscount in this cave. You can swim ahead to find it, but if you aren’t sure where it is, return to the Hydro Pillar you unlocked and use the current right on top of it.

This current will deliver you to the Iron Viscount’s exact location.

How to defeat the Iron Viscount in Genshin

The most important aspect of successfully defeating the Iron Viscount is immediately absorbing a nearby Xenochromatic Armored Crab’s shielding ability. You will not be able to defeat the iron Viscount without it.

Simply swim up to any of the Xenochromatic Armored Crabs hovering around the area and hit them with your underwater attack to absorb their ability. Now you’ll have a solid shield around you that will both protect you from combat and help you eliminate this Fontaine local legend.

Do your best to dodge and weave as the Iron Viscount attacks and wait for it to perform either its special throwing move or its spinning attack. When it does one of these, use your shield ability to send the attack right back at the Iron Viscount.

Timing is critical with this, so you might take a few hits before you get it exactly right. I found that it was best to dodge all attacks other than the throwing one since this is the easiest one to reflect back at the Iron Viscount, but the spinning attack can be reflected too.

With both attacks, you need to wait until the very last second before either the object that the Iron Viscount threw at you or the Iron Viscount itself is about to strike you. If you strike back too early, the attack won’t work, and if you go too late, it also won’t take effect.

If you’re struggling, keep an eye out for the groups of special glowing fish, which are Recovery Orbs, located around the cave that you can use to regain health points. It’s not easy to fight underwater in Fontaine since you don’t have access to your powerful elemental abilities and the Iron Viscount is quite a formidable foe, so this fight may take a while for you to complete.

Once you’ve successfully vanquished the Iron Viscount, you’ll earn one of the Version 4.0 achievements. The “Iron Viscount” achievement is unlocked after eliminating the local legend.