What We’re Actually Dealing With in Genshin’s Endgame
Let’s be honest - Genshin’s endgame isn’t exactly overflowing with content. You’ve got three permanent modes that matter: Spiral Abyss (the OG DPS check nightmare), Imaginarium Theater (the roster-hungry newcomer), and Stygian Onslaught (hardcore boss rush that’ll make you question your life choices). Each demands something completely different from your account.
Spiral Abyss: The Unforgiving Classic
Been around since day one - September 28, 2020 to be exact. The concept’s brutally simple: take your two best teams through 12 floors, with Floors 9-12 being where dreams go to die. You need to clear chambers with 420, 300, or 180 seconds left on those 600-second timers for maximum stars.
Here’s where it gets nasty - enemy HP scaling hits 250% on Floor 12 compared to overworld mobs. That Gluttonous Yumkasaur Mountain King on Floor 12-1 in Version 5.8? Nearly 4.6 million HP. Yeah, you read that right.
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Imaginarium Theater: The Roster Glutton
This roguelite beast dropped July 1, 2024, and immediately changed the endgame conversation. Instead of perfecting eight characters, you’re suddenly scrambling to level everyone you’ve ever pulled.
The difficulty tiers tell the whole story:
Easy: 8-10 characters, Level 60+ (basically tutorial mode)
Normal: 12-14 characters
Hard: 16-20 characters, Level 70+
Visionary: 22-26 characters, Level 70+ (where the real rewards live)
Version 6.0’s throwing us Arcanum difficulty requiring 28-32 characters. Because apparently 26 wasn’t enough suffering.
Each character burns 2 Vigor points per Act, so you can’t just spam your favorites. Strategy actually matters here - imagine that in a gacha game.
Why These Rewards Actually Matter
In a typical 42-day patch cycle, endgame modes contribute roughly 1,600 Primogems out of 13,390 total F2P income. That’s about 12% - not massive compared to Daily Commissions (2,520) or exploration (2,500), but consistent income you can count on every month.
Breaking Down Spiral Abyss: High Risk, High Skill
The 800 Primogem Promise
Abyssal Moon Spire hands out 800 Primogems monthly if you can manage a perfect 36-star run. They bumped this up from 600 starting Version 4.7 - probably because they realized how soul-crushing the mode had become.
Each floor’s worth 200 Primogems broken down as: 50 for 3 stars, 50 for 6 stars, 100 for 9 stars. Resets happen on the 16th every month like clockwork. The one mercy? Since Version 5.1, 36-star veterans can skip Floors 9-10 and just claim rewards directly.
The Blessing Roulette
Monthly rotations completely reshape Floors 11-12 enemy lineups each version. One month you’re cruising with your Neuvillette team, the next you’re crying because everything has Hydro immunity. This performance-gated system means weaker accounts get absolutely shafted during brutal rotations - partial clears yield proportionally pathetic rewards.
Imaginarium Theater: Quantity Over Quality
Theater Tokens and the Completion Game
Theater’s genius lies in its completion-based reward structure. Hit 10 Acts in Visionary Mode? Boom, 800 Primogems guaranteed. No star requirements, no timer stress, just finish the content.
Hard Mode (8 Acts) still nets you 620 Primogems - not bad for accounts still building rosters. First-time Visionary completion is absolutely loaded: 1,500 Primogems, 1 Crown of Insight, 1 Midlander Billet Trove, and 4 Fragile Resins.
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The Hidden Value in Act Rewards
Visionary Mode rewards scale beautifully - every character beyond the 22 minimum (up to 26 total) gives all participants HP +1,600, ATK +100, DEF +100, EM +40. These buffs can turn mediocre builds into functional ones.
Vigor management becomes this weird resource game where you’re constantly weighing character usage against upcoming Acts. Fantasia Flowers add another layer, letting you recruit characters mid-run or grab powerful buffs.
Exclusive Goodies You Can’t Get Anywhere Else
Theater’s secondary rewards blow Abyss out of the water. Thespian Tricks (character poses), Envisages Echoes (character trails), Transient Resin (60 Original Resin worth), and Sanctifying Elixir for artifact enhancement.
Plus you get to play with unique reactions like Rimegrass (Cryo-Dendro) that don’t exist in the main game. It’s like having a testing ground for future mechanics.
Head-to-Head: Where Your Time Actually Goes
Primogem Efficiency Reality Check
Both modes promise 800 monthly Primogems, but Theater’s completion-based approach guarantees that income regardless of your performance. No more watching 790 Primogems slip away because you couldn’t clear 12-3 with enough time left.
Version 6.0 tips the scales further - Arcanum difficulty bumps Theater to 1,000 monthly Primogems (300 first-clear, 200 monthly after) starting October 2025.
Secondary Rewards: No Contest
Theater absolutely demolishes Abyss here. Monthly Transient Resin, Talent Books, artifact materials, and exclusive cosmetics versus… Abyss’s handful of Mora and random artifacts that’ll probably roll into DEF anyway.
Those Sanctifying materials are particularly clutch for artifact enhancement - something every endgame player desperately needs.
Time Investment: What You’re Actually Signing Up For
Real Clear Times (From Someone Who’s Done Both)
Experienced players can knock out Abyss in 30-60 minutes (15-30 with the Floor 9-10 skip). Theater demands 60-90 minutes for Visionary completion, but the Rewind Performance function lets you reset to previous Acts twice without starting over completely.
That rewind feature is honestly a game-changer - no more watching an entire run crumble because you mismanaged Vigor on Act 8.
Investment Requirements: Vertical vs Horizontal
Abyss is all about vertical investment - you need deep team rotation knowledge and heavily invested artifacts/weapons to meet those brutal DPS checks. We’re talking perfect artifact sets, high-level weapons, beneficial constellations.
Theater flips the script entirely. It’s about adaptability and roster management, with those powerful buffs partially covering for moderate investment levels. A Level 70 character with decent artifacts can absolutely contribute in Theater - try that in Floor 12 and watch yourself get obliterated.
Building for Success: Two Completely Different Games
Abyss Optimization: The Meta Slave Approach
Success demands 8 highly optimized characters forming meta teams. Think Neuvillette-Furina compositions, perfectly tuned Rational teams, or whatever the current flavor-of-the-month DPS carry happens to be.
You’re essentially playing a different game - one where artifact substats matter more than character variety, where weapon choice can make or break entire runs.
Theater’s Roster Management Game
Visionary Mode wants 22-26 characters at Level 70+ (28-32 for Version 6.0 Arcanum). The Principal Cast system gives 20% HP/ATK/DEF buffs to 6 designated characters both inside and outside Theater - basically permanent account upgrades.
Supporting Cast lets you borrow one friend’s character per run, which can be clutch for filling roster gaps or grabbing that one meta unit you never pulled.
Strategic Recommendations: Making Smart Choices
For F2P Players: Theater First, Abyss Eventually
Theater’s accessible Primogem income and lower optimization requirements make it the obvious priority. Use those completion-based rewards to slowly build toward Abyss viability.
The beauty of Theater is that every character you build contributes immediately - no need to wait for perfect artifact sets or 5-star weapons.
For Spenders: Why Not Both?
If you’re already investing in the game, Theater’s requirements actually justify broader character acquisition while maintaining Abyss optimization. It’s like having a legitimate reason to pull for every character beyond I like their design.
Resource Allocation: The Long Game
New players should absolutely focus on Theater participation first. Completion-based rewards with lower optimization requirements mean immediate payoff for your investment.
Veterans maintaining Abyss performance can use Theater as motivation to expand rosters for future difficulty increases - because let’s be real, they’re not stopping at Arcanum difficulty.
The Questions Everyone’s Actually Asking
Which mode gives more primogems monthly? Currently tied at 800 each, but Theater’s completion-based system makes those rewards way more accessible. Version 6.0 bumps Theater to 1,000 monthly, so Theater wins long-term.
How many characters do I actually need? Abyss: 8 highly optimized characters minimum. Theater: 22-26 for Visionary (28-32 for Version 6.0). Completely different investment philosophies.
Which should new players focus on? Theater, no question. Completion-based rewards and powerful buffs that compensate for less-optimized gear make it infinitely more accessible than Abyss’s brutal DPS checks.
Are Theater’s secondary rewards worth the extra time? Absolutely. Monthly Transient Resin, exclusive cosmetics, artifact materials, and Talent Books versus Abyss’s pathetic Mora drops? Theater wins by a landslide.
How often do these reset? Abyss resets on the 16th, Theater on the 1st. Staggered schedule means consistent endgame content throughout the month - actually pretty smart design.
Can I use the same strategy for both? Nope. Abyss rewards vertical investment (making fewer characters incredibly strong) while Theater rewards horizontal investment (making many characters moderately strong). You need both approaches to succeed at endgame.
