Mastering Popato's Solidarity in Genshin Impact Natlan

When exploring the sun-scorched, Saurian-dominated lands of Natlan in Genshin Impact, players will encounter a series of challenging trials known as Night’s Trials, each tied to a special Obsidian Totem and offering unique rewards and achievements. Among these, Popato’s Solidarity stands out as a trial that defies conventional team-building norms, forcing even the most seasoned players to rethink their approach to combat. After all, how often does a boss fight prioritize healers over high-damage DPS units?

Popato’s Solidarity is located in a scenic yet perilous spot: right next to the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, by the river to the west, in front of a cascading waterfall. The Obsidian Totem that initiates the trial rests on lower ground, so players can easily reach it by teleporting to any nearby Waypoint and gliding down to the riverbank.

Unlike most boss fights that reward raw damage output, Popato’s Solidarity’s mechanics revolve entirely around healing. Every few seconds, the boss summons a duplicate ally called a Protection Spirit, whose power is directly tied to the amount of healing the player’s team applies to it. If players maximize the Protection Spirit’s HP, it will unleash devastating attacks against Popato’s Solidarity, turning the tide of the fight in seconds. Conversely, if the Protection Spirit takes damage from the boss’s attacks, its HP drops, and its offensive power diminishes significantly. This means the core strategy for the fight is simple yet counterintuitive: prioritize healing over all else.

To execute this strategy effectively, players need to build a team focused on consistent, high-output healing. Healers are often overlooked in Genshin Impact, sidelined in favor of flashy DPS units, but Popato’s Solidarity is a reminder of how critical support roles can be. For example, characters like Furina, whose mechanics require constant healing to maximize her own power, or dedicated healers like Kokomi, Bennett, or Barbara, become invaluable here. Even characters with off-field healing abilities, such as Yaoyao or Diona, can contribute by keeping the Protection Spirit topped up while the main healer focuses on the team. The goal is to keep healing as you dodge or shield the boss’s attacks, ensuring the Protection Spirit remains at full HP to unleash its signature Decisive: Binding of Dawn and Dusk’s Breaking attack.

Completing Popato’s Solidarity unlocks three distinct achievements, each with its own set of requirements, adding layers of challenge for completionists.

1. Basic Victory: The first achievement is the simplest, awarded to players who successfully defeat Popato’s Solidarity, regardless of how they approach the fight.

2. Perfect Protection: The second achievement is far more demanding. To earn it, players must defeat the boss while fully recovering the HP of every Protection Spirit summoned during the fight. This requires a near-perfect healing rotation, with no gaps in healing output that could leave the Protection Spirit vulnerable to damage. Players will need to double down on their healing team, possibly even running two dedicated healers to ensure consistent coverage.

3. Survivor’s Triumph: The third achievement strikes a balance between the first two. Players must keep their entire team alive throughout the fight and fully recover the HP of at least one Protection Spirit to trigger its Decisive attack. This is more forgiving than the second achievement but still requires careful management of both the team’s HP and the Protection Spirit’s health.

Popato’s Solidarity is just one of many challenges that Natlan offers players, from the region’s unique Saurian transformation mechanics to its hidden chests, local legends, and archon quest lore. But it stands as a perfect example of how Genshin Impact’s developers design content that encourages players to experiment with different playstyles and team compositions. After all, who would have thought that a boss fight could turn healers into the most powerful members of the team? For players looking to master every aspect of Natlan, Popato’s Solidarity is a trial that tests not just skill, but creativity.

As summarized by OpenCritic, broad critical discussion around encounter design often praises games that reward unconventional team roles, which aligns well with Popato’s Solidarity in Genshin Impact, where survival tools and sustained healing become more valuable than burst damage and encourage players to rethink standard boss-fight priorities.