Did you know Genshin Impact has a missing element? While we have warriors who wield flaming claymores, frosty bows and arrows, and characters who zap around the battlefield like lightning, we don’t have any who use Dendro, the plant element. It’s easy to see how it would be fun, though: entangling foes in vines, creating barriers made of branches, or making some kind of giant Venus Flytrap that swallows enemies whole?

Technically, Dendro isn’t missing from the game, because while no characters use it, there are some enemies that do. But the element’s current state is lackluster with only one reaction, so it’s understandably a long-requested addition to the game. But it could be right around the corner. Now that the Inazuma quest has concluded, we turn our sights to Sumeru, the realm of the Dendro Archon, and the next chapter in the Traveler’s story.

So, what do we currently know about Dendro? A fair bit, as it turns out. With the likes of Yaoyao, Dendro characters have been rumored since the game first launched, and it’s been a long wait for all those green-fingered Genshin players. In this Dendro guide, we’ve squirreled together some acorns of info about a potential release date, characters, Sumeru, and the Flower Archon herself.

When is the Genshin Impact Dendro release date?

Currently, all we know for certain is that Dendro is likely to release alongside Sumeru, the realm where its Archon, Lesser Lord Kusanali, resides. If you follow the order that’s featured in the Genshin Impact preview trailer — which the game has followed until now — Sumeru is the next region set to arrive after Inazuma. In terms of what we know about Sumeru, it’s a nation known for scholarly pursuits and is made up of sandy deserts and lush rainforests. Some images of Sumeru City’s 3D modeling even leaked a while back, and you can still find them on Imgur.

However, if the Genshin Impact 2.4 leaks surrounding the new area of Enkanomiya are correct, and they seem to be, it’s likely we aren’t going to get Sumeru for a few more versions at least, considering it would be as significant as Inazuma in terms of new content. Sumeru might arrive in version 3.0, similar to how Inazuma arrived in 2.0, but considering 2.0 was actually version 1.7 and skipped three versions, it could honestly arrive anytime. Another possibility is that we get the long-rumored Chasm region alongside Dendro, but that’s pure speculation.

Are there any Genshin Impact Dendro characters?

Only one Dendro character has appeared in Genshin Impact so far. Baizhu, who many might remember from the Liyue Archon quest as the owner of Bubu Pharmacy, wears a green Dendro vision at his waist, showing him to be a user of the element. He also has a pretty in-depth backstory. Even though he’s a doctor, a mysterious illness has plagued him his entire life, and so he is extremely curious about the subject of immortality.

This is partly why he shelters the zombie character, Qiqi, but he has also grown to care about her in his own way. Furthermore, Baizhu is named after the Chinese bai zhu plant and has green hair. What more evidence do you need that he uses Dendro?

Yaoyao is another character who is speculated to be Dendro. She was leaked a while back as part of the original Genshin Impact closed beta, as you can see in this tweet from Lumie, and appeared in some promo art for the first Moonchase Festival event. From what we know, she studied under the same culinary master as Xiangling but now helps out Ganyu as an assistant. Despite all this, she’s never appeared in-game and wasn’t even part of the recent Moonchase Festival cutscene, which even included upcoming characters Shenhe and Yun Jin.

Finally, there’s Cyno and Lesser Lord Kusanali. Cyno is the featured character for the region of Sumeru in the preview trailer, and while there’s a strong case to be made that the jewel at his waist is a Pyro vision, he could potentially be a Dendro-user instead. Lesser Lord Kusanali is the Sumeru Archon, so it’s pretty much a given she’ll use the element, considering Venti was Anemo, Zhongli was Geo, and the Raiden Shogun was Electro.

Kusanali is the youngest of the Archons and inherited the role after the God of the Woods died five hundred years earlier during the events that destroyed the nation of Khaenri’ah.

What are the current Genshin Impact Dendro reactions?

Unlike the other elements, Dendro only has one reaction in Genshin Impact right now, and that’s “burning.” As you might guess, this is when you apply Pyro to Dendro, causing it to set alight, and spread the fire to other surfaces. Some enemies are also capable of using Dendro. Though they are less common, you can spot Dendro Slimes pretending to be flowers, and they’ll ambush you when you aren’t paying attention.

There are also Dendro Samachurls who summon thorny barriers to block your way and Dendro Mitachurls whose shields you have to burn in order to hit them properly. According to the leaker, Project Celestia, there are also two new elemental reactions in the works called ‘Overgrown’ and “Intensified.” Considering all other elements have their reactions already, it would make sense for these to be Dendro, possibly in conjunction with Hydro and Geo.