Genshin Impact Time Skip | How to Skip Time and Why

Genshin Impact is a visually impressive anime game with a massive open world that is even the more beautiful thanks to a day and night cycle. But while some games use this just for artistic merit, this mechanic introduces some potentially clever gameplay twists. It's not hard to learn how to skip time in Genshin Impact; the real question here is just how well it will be used to create some devious quests and player challenges. From what we could gather from the closed beta, there is room for some clever touches with the Genshin Impact time skip feature, so let's look into it.

Genshin Impact Time Skip | How to Change the Time of Day

To skip time, go to the Paimon menu, the one where you check your Adventure Rank, set up your party, and check your current playable characters. You should spot a Time option, so your next step is to click there.

The next screen will show you the current in-game time and a fantasy clock with different phases of the day: daytime, nighttime, sunset, and sunrise. You can move the bigger arrow, the hand of the clock, to move it to the desired time, knowing that you can't skip more than a single day.

But why would you want to change the time of day in Genshin Impact? Surely this isn't just so that you can enjoy the marvelous sights under different lighting conditions, is it? While the day and night cycle is absolutely stunning, the truth is that some missions have strict requirements that demand you to act during the nighttime. For example, the quest where you must steal the Holy Lyre der Himmel from the Mondstadt Cathedral can only unfold at night, when there are less guards, although you still have to beat a stealth session that feels like a lighter, anime Metal Gear Solid.

Other quests require the use of the time skip function as well, mostly related to character routines. Diluc, the enigmatic owner of one of Mondstadt's taverns, asks you to meet him when everything is quieter, so you have no choice but to wait for dusk or speed up time.

As you can see, the Genshin Impact time skip function isn't just for show; it is used for progressing in some quests, so it's good to know where to find it and how to use it.