Ruin Machine

Ruin Machines are mechanical war machines created by the lost civilization of Khaenri'ah.

Types

Elite Enemies

• Humanoid Ruin Machines – A sub-group of humanoid Ruin Machines. Their form is limited to what was preengineered.
  • Ruin Guard – Large machines that guard ruins. They attack with homing missiles and their powerful arms.
  • Ruin Hunter – War machines armed with sharp appendages that have propellers instead of legs. They can also fire barrages of missiles, or unleash a beam dealing Pyro DMG.
  • Ruin Grader – A giant war machine that looks like a larger, stronger Ruin Guard. They are completely silent compared to the other two variants.
• Ruin Sentinels – A series of unusual machines that take on many forms to attack enemies with a variety of attacks.
  • Ruin Cruiser – A hovering machine composed of multiple interdependent parts, themed after honeybee colonies.
  • Ruin Destroyer – A machine that anchors itself in the ground to attack, themed after a plant, possibly Regisvines.
  • Ruin Defender – A machine equipped with a shield, possibly themed after a beetle-like insect or crab.
  • Ruin Scout – A hovering machine that sets dangerous energy orbs on the field, themed after jellyfish.
• Ruin Drakes - A series of machines that can absorb elemental attacks, using them as their own and increasing their resistance to said attacks.
  • Ruin Drake: Earthguard - An armless bipedal machine resembling a dragon.
  • Ruin Drake: Skywatch - The airborne variant of the Earthguard. They have large mechanical wings with propulsion systems built in, enabling flight and hovering capabilities.

Normal Bosses

• Perpetual Mechanical Array – A massive ruin unit consisting of four Ruin Sentinels that takes on the form of the Hypostases and bears a similar attack style to them by transforming into various objects.
• Ruin Serpent – A snake-like machine that appears to be a digging machine of sorts, utilizing its mass to crush enemies and generate Dark Mud and Oozing Concretions to weaken enemies.
• Aeonblight Drake - A massive ruin unit that has functions found in both Earthguard and Skywatch drakes.

Description

Ruin Machines are ancient machines from the lost nation of Khaenri'ah^[1] and can be found across Teyvat, particularly in the ruins of ancient civilizations. However, these Ruin Machines often do not come from the same source as the ruins they inhabit, with a time difference of up to several thousand years.^[2]

The Khaenri'ahns were "obsessed with the idea of mimesis," particularly biomimesis. They created their machines in pursuit of the belief that all natural forms could be replicated in a way that surpassed the original, thus creating superior beings that could "replace the continuously decaying and shattering order."^[3]

Humanoid Ruin Machines all have a Cyclops-like design, though they differ in terms of size and build. Except for Ruin Graders, they speak in an unknown language when attacking. By targeting their weak points — their glowing eyes or, on Ruin Graders, the weak points on their back and feet — they can be stunned, causing them to be temporarily disabled and lie defenseless on the ground. These weak points are immune to attack when circular runes appear around them. Ruin Graders are significantly sturdier than their counterparts.

Ruin Sentinels take on forms of various animals from both real life and in-game. By targeting their weak points — their oculi - they can be stunned, causing them to be temporarily disabled. While not as strong as a Ruin Grader, Ruin Sentinels are more durable than most humanoid Ruin Machines, in that they may need their weak point struck twice, as the first successful hit may simply stagger the machine, whereas a second hit disables them. Unlike their humanoid counterparts, the Ruin Sentinels willingly expose their weak spot while performing specific attacks.

Ruin Drakes can be find winged or wingless, being modeled on Vishaps. While performing their signature attack, if it is not interrupted, the Ruin Drake will "infuse" the element they were harmed with the most, causing them to gain increased resistance to that element and apply it to their signature attack when they use it again. If no elemental damage had been inflicted, no infusion is made. Like the previous ruin machines, they can willingly expose their weak spot(s); like humanoid ruin machines, a single hit to the weak spot(s) will disable them instantly. This will also remove the infusion should they had done so previously.

Lore

Origin

The people of Khaenri'ah called them Field Tillers, a codename based on the saying "The land is not to be tilled with farming tools, but rather to be fought for with steel and blood."^[1] The first Field Tiller was a prototype Ruin Guard, which Dainsleif states to be stronger than the many created after it, despite sharing the same appearance as them. It is unknown if the Ruin Hunters or Graders were variants improved from the mass-produced series.

Ruin Machines (Ruin Guards and Ruin Hunters at least) were already being made during or before the Archon War, as the realm created by the adepti in Liyue to store "several ancient and evil artifacts" acquired by Guizhong contained Ruin Guards and a single Ruin Hunter.^[4]

Ruin Machines are powered by an extremely long-lasting energy source, as evidenced by the fact that they can still function centuries after their creation. Such technology has been referred to as "perpetual motion,"^[5] but this is contradicted by researchers like Jazari and Rene, who assert that the Khaenri'ahns never achieved their goal of a "true perpetual energy source." According to the Sumeru Akademiya, early Ruin Machines had Azosite-based backup power systems, possibly because their main power cores were a relatively new innovation at the time. It is heavily implied that this new, nearly-perpetual energy source was Abyssal energy.^[6][7]

Diaspora

Following the fall of Khaenri'ah, the Field Tillers wandered aimlessly across Teyvat for hundreds of years. They became drawn to the ruins of other former civilizations, causing the people of the present era to mistake them as guardians of those ruins and dub them "Ruin Machines."^[8] Some have completely broken down, while others remain active and roaming, or inactive until they sense people nearby.

Interacting with the inactive Ruin Guards in the Cryptic Message in Dragonspine puzzle gives the decoded message: "For the nation, we can't forgo this skyborne power, but we failed." It is unclear whether these Ruin Machines belonged to Khaenri'ah or the main civilization of Dragonspine, Sal Vindagnyr, as Ruin Machines were created by the former, these particular machines were found in the domain of the latter, and both were destroyed by Celestia.

As part of the Fatui's research into The Abyss, the Harbinger Il Dottore built a Ruin Guard research facility in Liyue, which he later deserted out of boredom. According to Childe, these machines were not built by the Fatui, but have some connection to the Abyss Order. It is unclear if the Abyss Order created them or simply took advantage of them.^[9]

Ruin Sentinels are found almost exclusively in Inazuma, along with other humanoid Ruin Machines. They were also brought into Enkanomiya by the people of Khaenri'ah.

Ruin Machines also appear in The Chasm, with both humanoid and Sentinel-type machines being dug up in the area.^[10][11]

Massive, defunct Ruin Machines known as Ruin Golems can be found in Sumeru. These dwarf all other known models; unlike their counterparts, they had to be manually operated by a human crew and were tedious to maintain in part due to their huge size. The Schwanenritter brought these machines for protection when evacuating Khaenri'ahn citizens into Sumeru around the time of the Cataclysm. Three Ruin Golems can be seen in-game; one at Devantaka Mountain, another in the Valley of Dahri, and a final one at the Desert of Hadramaveth. Ruin Drakes are also found almost exclusively in Sumeru.

Fontaine only has a few Ruin Machines, which can be found on Elynas.

Natlan also hosts several Ruin Machines, though they are hidden away from the majority of the populace — only one could be found in the underground ruins near the Flamegranate tree, while a larger amount of both inactive and disabled ruin machines can be found in Ochkanatlan. Notably, this includes several disabled Aeonblight Drakes.

A few Ruin Machines were deployed to Kipumaki Cliff, where they were corrupted by the Abyss but remained in an inactive state.

One Ruin Grader is found in the Volkodlak Tundra, nearby there is also a Ruin Guard head in the snow.

Trivia

• Ruin Golems are not an in-game enemy, but are considered Ruin Machines of Khaenri'ahn.
• According to a description from the Event Peculiar Wonderland, humanoid Ruin Machines stand at 15 meters tall, though it is unclear whether it was referring to Ruin Guards or the larger Ruin Graders.
• Ruin Machines are often given distinct "serial codes," consisting of a prefix followed by 5 numbers.
  • Ruin Guards' names begin with Hu-, HU-, or GN/Hu.
  • Ruin Hunters' names begin with Fo-.
  • Ruin Graders' names begin with Ra-.
  • Ruin Sentinels' names begin with Ald-.
  • Ruin Drakes' names begin with Faf-.
• Ruin Machines have a strong connection to the Elements, the exact nature of which is yet unclear.
  • There are numerous cases of Ruin Machines with damaged cores being constantly "revived" by Ley Lines, leading Afratu to suspect a deeper link.^[12]
  • Many Ruin Machines bear similarities to elemental beings:
    • Ruin Drakes resemble Vishaps and mimic their elemental infusion (in fact, theirs is stronger).^[13]
    • The Ruin Serpent resembles a Setekh Wenut, and can burrow through "the hardest bedrock" like a Wenut can burrow through sand.^[14]
    • The Perpetual Mechanical Array resembles a Hypostasis, and is similarly adaptable and versatile.^[15]
• Sandrone, a Fatui Harbinger, is frequently accompanied by a modified Ruin Machine called Pulonia.
• Abattouy, a Sumerian researcher, modified a Ruin Defender called Karkata to have human-like intelligence and emotions.^[16]

Gallery

Ancient Kingdom Guardians- Behind the Scenes of the Creation of Ruin Monsters - Genshin Impact

In-Game Image

Ruin Guard

Ruin Hunter

Ruin Grader

Ruin Cruiser

Ruin Destroyer

Ruin Defender

Ruin Scout

Perpetual Mechanical Array

Ruin Serpent

Ruin Drake: Earthguard

Ruin Drake: Skywatch

Aeonblight Drake

Icons

Ruin Guard

Ruin Hunter

Ruin Grader

Ruin Cruiser

Ruin Destroyer

Ruin Defender

Ruin Scout

Perpetual Mechanical Array

Ruin Serpent

Ruin Drakes

Aeonblight Drake

Change History

References

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