You’re standing on the edge of Starsnatch Cliff, looking out over a vast, empty ocean. There’s nothing there. Just blue. But if you’ve got enough stamina—or a very dedicated Kaeya—there’s a smudge on the horizon that shouldn’t be there. That smudge is the start of the Time and Wind Genshin Impact quest, and honestly, it’s one of the coolest, most frustrating pieces of environmental storytelling HoYoverse ever buried in Mondstadt. It's weird because the game doesn't mark it. No blue exclamation point. No map icon. You just have to be curious enough to glide into the middle of nowhere.
Most players stumble upon it during the early game when their stamina bar is tiny. You try to glide, you drown, you give up. But the lore hidden on that sundial is actually fundamental to understanding the cosmology of Teyvat. It’s not just a side quest for Primogems; it’s a massive hint about the relationship between Barbatos and the God of Time.
How to actually get to the island without drowning
Getting there is the first hurdle. If you're a veteran player, you just swap to Wanderer or Xianyun and laugh. But for everyone else, the struggle is real. The island is way past the normal gliding limit from the cliff.
One way is to eat a stamina-reducing dish like Barbatos Ratatouille. It helps. A lot. You’ll also want Amber in your party for her passive gliding buff. If you’re still falling short, the "Ice Bridge" method is the old-school way. You take Kaeya, you freeze the water, you wait for the cooldown, and you repeat it for about seven minutes. It’s tedious. It’s boring. But it works perfectly. Once you hit the sand, the quest Time and Wind triggers the moment you interact with the ravaged sundial in the center of the ruins.
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The 2 AM Mystery: Cracking the Sundial Puzzle
Once you're on the island, the game gets cryptic. You find a "Ragged Notebook" hidden under some breakable rocks near the campsite. It tells you that "seeds of wind" come with the "breath of time." What that actually means is you have to mess with your in-game clock.
Specifically, you need to set the time to 2:00 AM.
If you try to do anything at noon, nothing happens. The island stays dead. But at 2:00 AM, using your Elemental Sight reveals clusters of Anemo energy. You have to blow these away using an Anemo character like the Traveler, Sucrose, or Venti. There are four of them scattered around the ruins—one on a high pillar, one behind the sundial, and one out on a rock in the ocean. It’s a bit of a scavenger hunt, and you have to be fast because if the clock hits 5:00 AM, the orbs vanish and you have to reset the time again. It’s a mechanic that feels very "Legend of Zelda," and it's a shame Genshin hasn't used this specific type of time-based environmental puzzling more often in later regions like Sumeru or Fontaine.
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Why the Lore Matters (It’s Not Just About Venti)
The inscription on the sundial is famous among lore hunters: "Seeds of stories, brought by the wind and cultivated by time."
This is where Time and Wind Genshin lore gets deep. We know Venti is the Anemo Archon. We know he represents the wind. But who is the time part? The game heavily implies the existence of Istaroth, the Kairos of Time, one of the four shades of the Primordial One.
Thousands of years ago, the people of Mondstadt worshipped both the God of Wind and the God of Time. But as the centuries passed, the God of Time was forgotten. The temple on this island fell into ruin. Even the library in Mondstadt has missing records about this era. When you complete this quest, you aren't just getting a chest; you're uncovering a literal "deleted" history of the world. The boss you fight at the end—an Eye of the Storm—is basically a manifestation of the lingering elemental energy from a forgotten god. It’s kind of tragic when you think about it. The island is a tomb for a deity that used to be just as important as the Archons we know today.
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Beating the Eye of the Storm
The fight isn't actually that hard if you have a bow character. The Eye of the Storm spends half its time flying, so bringing someone like Fischl or Yoimiya makes this a joke. If you only have melee characters, you’re going to be standing there waiting for it to ground itself, which is a great way to get annoyed.
After you beat it the first time, it flees. It doesn't die. It flies all the way back to the Thousand Winds Temple on the mainland. You have to chase it down, reset the time to 2:00 AM again at the second sundial, and finish the job. Henry Morton, an NPC standing nearby, will be completely baffled by what you’ve done. He’s been studying these ruins for years and hasn't figured it out, while you just waltzed in and solved a millennial-old mystery in one night.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Forgetting Elemental Sight: You won't see the wind orbs without it. If you're standing at the sundial at 2:15 AM and nothing is happening, middle-click or hold the eye icon.
- Running out of time: The window from 2 AM to 5 AM is short. If you're struggling to find the last orb, don't panic. Just open the menu, fast-forward the clock back to 2 AM, and continue. The orbs you already popped won't come back.
- Underestimating the Boss: If you're low level, the Eye of the Storm can actually hurt. It has a move where it creates a vacuum and slams the ground. Bring a shielder like Noelle or Zhongli if you have him.
Actionable Next Steps
If you haven't finished this quest yet, grab a few Northlander Smoked Chickens for stamina and head to Starsnatch Cliff. Check your inventory for any Anemo characters; even a Level 1 Sucrose works since you just need her to trigger the Anemo reaction on the orbs. Once you finish the quest and talk to Henry Morton, make sure to read the description of the "Seeds of Stories, Brought by the Wind" achievement. It’s a tidy bit of world-building that rewards you with 5 Primogems and a lot of questions about where the God of Time actually went.
After that, take the notes you found to the library in Mondstadt and look for the book "The History of Kings and Clans." It fills in the gaps about why these ruins were abandoned in the first place. You'll realize that the "Time" part of Mondstadt's history wasn't just lost—it was purposefully erased by the aristocracy during their reign. Knowing that makes standing on that lonely island feel a lot more significant.