Genshin Impact Snezhnaya exploration guide: how to obtain Eye of Graeae and use Prime Ice
Snezhnaya is finally open to exploration in Genshin Impact Version 7.0, Everwinter Without Mercy, bringing a frozen landscape, a railway network and a completely new exploration tool called the Eye of Graeae. Unlike previous regions, where gadgets were usually designed for one specific task, the Eye of Graeae is effectively a multi-purpose exploration system that lets you manage the cold, manipulate the environment and create objects to solve puzzles.
If you are heading into Snezhnaya for the first time, the most important thing is to learn the region’s exploration systems before trying to clear the map. Many puzzles and traversal challenges are built around the Eye of Graeae, while the railway provides a convenient way to cross some of the region’s enormous frozen stretches.
How the Eye of Graeae works
The Eye of Graeae is the most important new exploration gadget in Snezhnaya. You obtain it during your journey into the region and it serves several purposes, including protecting you from extreme cold and allowing you to interact with the new Prime Ice system.
The first thing to understand is that the Eye stores Kresnik Energy. When you enter particularly cold areas, this energy is gradually consumed to keep your character warm. Once the stored energy is depleted, the cold effect begins to accumulate.
This means Snezhnaya’s cold system is not simply a copy of Dragonspine’s Sheer Cold. Instead of constantly searching for a campfire, you need to keep an eye on your Eye of Graeae’s energy and use the environment intelligently.
Basic rule: if you are planning to explore a remote snowy area, make sure the Eye has enough energy before setting off.
The gadget also gives you access to several environmental tools, which makes it particularly important for exploration.
Prime Ice Constructs explained
One of Snezhnaya’s biggest exploration additions is Prime Ice. The Eye of Graeae can record blueprints for Prime Ice Constructs and then use stored Prime Ice and the gadget’s energy to build them. These constructs can alter the environment and help you reach locations that would otherwise be inaccessible.
The basic process works like this:
- Find a Prime Ice Construct or mechanism in the environment.
- Record its blueprint using the Eye of Graeae.
- Open the gadget’s construction mode.
- Select the blueprint you want to use.
- Position the preview where you need it.
- If the preview is shown in blue, the location is valid.
- Build the construct.
If the preview is red, the game is telling you that the object cannot be placed there. Move the blueprint until you find a suitable position.
Prime Ice is therefore worth treating as an exploration resource rather than something you should immediately spend whenever you see it.
What can you build?
The constructs are particularly useful because they can perform different jobs. Examples shown for Snezhnaya include a basic heat source, which can follow you and provide warmth, as well as devices that can help with movement and environmental puzzles.
One of the more unusual examples is a snowball launcher. It can turn the normally awkward snowy terrain into a traversal tool by launching the player across a gap.
There is also a grappling-style construct that can interact with certain objects and characters in the environment.
The best approach is therefore to avoid assuming that every Prime Ice puzzle has one obvious solution. Look around the area first and consider what type of construct would solve the problem.
How to remove Prime Ice
You are not permanently stuck with every construct you create.
Enter the Fab-Vision construction mode and position the blueprint over an existing Prime Ice object. When the object is highlighted in red, you can use the build function to dismantle it.
Destroying ordinary Prime Ice returns Prime Ice resources, while dismantling a Prime Ice Construct returns the materials used to create it.
This is useful when experimenting. If you place a construct in the wrong position, you can remove it and try again rather than wasting your resources.
Use heat strategically
Snezhnaya’s cold is one of the most important things to manage during exploration.
The Eye of Graeae automatically consumes Kresnik Energy while you are travelling through cold areas. This allows you to keep moving without constantly stopping, but it also means that wandering aimlessly can eventually leave you without protection.
A good exploration routine is:
Unlock a nearby waypoint → explore around it → solve local puzzles → collect resources → move to the next area.
Avoid immediately sprinting across the entire map. If your Eye’s energy is running low, look for a heat source or use one of the available Prime Ice constructions before continuing.
Snezhnaya’s railway system
The railway is another major part of exploring the region. Snezhnaya’s settlements are connected by an extensive train network, allowing players to travel across the frozen landscape much more quickly than they could on foot.
The trains are particularly useful when you have already unlocked an area but need to return to a distant settlement.
Rather than treating the railway simply as scenery, use it as part of your travel network:
- Use waypoints for short-distance fast travel.
- Use trains when travelling between connected settlements.
- Explore on foot around newly unlocked stations.
- Return by train after completing local exploration.
The Eye of Graeae can also be used to summon trains, making the railway system more flexible than a conventional fixed transport route.
Prime Ice Constructs from other players
Snezhnaya also introduces an unusual multiplayer feature: players can leave Prime Ice Constructs in other players’ worlds.
These can effectively function as signs or messages, allowing players to leave helpful hints or simply interact with the environment in creative ways. The system can be useful when exploring unfamiliar areas, although it can also become distracting if your map starts filling with other players’ constructs.
If you do not want to receive them, the game provides a setting that allows you to disable incoming Prime Ice Constructs. Existing constructs can also be managed from the map through the Manage Prime Ice Constructs option.
This is worth knowing before you start serious 100% exploration, because player-created objects can otherwise clutter areas you are trying to investigate yourself.
Don’t rush the map completion
Snezhnaya’s exploration is designed around gradually learning the region’s systems, so trying to collect everything immediately can make the experience more frustrating.
A better order is:
1. Follow the opening story until the main exploration systems are unlocked.
2. Activate Statues of the Seven and Teleport Waypoints whenever you encounter them.
3. Learn the Eye of Graeae before attempting difficult environmental puzzles.
4. Record Prime Ice Construct blueprints whenever possible.
5. Explore around each railway station before moving to the next one.
6. Keep an eye on Kresnik Energy when entering remote snowy areas.
7. Return later to puzzles that appear to require a tool or ability you do not have yet.
Snezhnaya is particularly rewarding when approached this way because the map is not simply a collection of chests placed across a snowy landscape. Its puzzles, traversal challenges and environmental systems are closely tied together.
Best exploration tips for Snezhnaya
Keep the Eye of Graeae charged. The gadget is effectively your survival tool in extreme cold, so do not ignore its energy level.
Record Prime Ice blueprints. New blueprints expand the number of ways you can interact with the environment.
Experiment with constructs. If a normal route appears blocked, look around for a Prime Ice solution rather than immediately searching for another path.
Use heat sources efficiently. A portable heat construct can be more useful than repeatedly travelling back to a fixed warm location.
Use trains for regional travel. They are particularly convenient once several railway connections have been unlocked.
Check your map regularly. Snezhnaya’s exploration systems introduce more reasons to revisit previously explored areas.
Do not worry about completing everything immediately. Some of the best exploration rewards come from returning to areas after you have learned how the region’s mechanics work.
The key to exploring Snezhnaya
The biggest change in Snezhnaya is that exploration is less about having one special character for every traversal situation and more about using the environment itself. The Eye of Graeae turns Prime Ice, heat and environmental machinery into tools that you can actively deploy as you explore.
Learn that system early, keep your Kresnik Energy under control and make use of the railway network, and Snezhnaya’s frozen wilderness becomes much easier to navigate.
