So there I was, standing in a hall that looked like someone decorated it by dropping an entire chandelier factory from orbit, while Nastya politely waited for me to solve a puzzle that apparently requires a physics degree and the patience of a saint. Welcome to The Forbidding Doors of Melancholy, a quest in the In the Dwelling of Life questline that unlocks right after you open the elevator to the assembly hall during Back on One's Feet. And yes, it is as melodramatic as the name suggests. 🎪

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Step One: Politely Punch Furiosa In The Face

Before I could even admire the architecture, Furiosa blocked my path and demanded a fight. Rude. I obliged anyway, because that is what I do. After she finally agrees to stop being a roadblock, you can enter the mysterious hall, where you will find a Precious Chest and a Teleport Waypoint waiting for you. Grab both — future you will be grateful when you inevitably need to teleport back here for the eleventh time.

Next, try opening the door on the right, then investigate the hole beneath the big door. Let Nastya handle the actual door-opening (she insists, and honestly, who am I to argue?), then walk through. Now the real headache begins: find a way to move the curtain.

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Moving The Curtain: A Chandelier Commute

Here is the sequence, distilled so you do not spend twenty minutes staring at a lamp like I did:

  1. Find Nastya up the stairs.

  2. Place a Grappling Gun Prime Ice Construct on the square platform next to her. This yanks the chandelier across the hall.

  3. Hop onto the hanging lamp, then remove the Grappling Gun so the chandelier swings back up.

  4. Build a Launching Platform to reach the top section of the chandelier and claim the Exquisite Chest sitting up there. Free loot is free loot. 💰

  5. Build another Grappling Gun to pull the second chandelier closer, then jump onto the pulled lamp.

  6. Remove the Grappling Gun again so it drifts to the other side.

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Once it stops moving, look across to the other side where a Cryoculus is floating smugly. Build yet another Grappling Gun there to grab it and access the second switch. At this point the group realizes — with the enthusiasm of people who have never done a co-op puzzle — that both switches must be pulled simultaneously. Paimon and Nastya take one side; I get volunteered for the other. Naturally.

The Countdown That Will Haunt Me

Find the second switch and press Ready Up so Paimon gives you the cue. Then pull the mechanism when Paimon says "One" so both sides activate together. Miss it? Do it again. This is the part where I discovered my reaction time is roughly that of a sleepy Slime.

Doing it correctly opens the curtain and reveals a peculiar mechanism. Then it is back downstairs to regroup with Paimon and Nastya, and the quest updates to Head to the door leading to "home".

The Dial, The Cube, And The Cheesiest Solution

To reach the door, you must pull the dial to the correct position. My process:

  • Build a Grappling Gun on the left side of the disk to pull it left. Result: too far left. Classic me.

  • Build a Cube in the opening underneath the disc.

  • Remove the Grappling Gun so the dial moves back — but now the Cube blocks it from overshooting. Alignment fixed, puzzle solved, ego mildly bruised. 🧊

Ride the elevator up and the quest becomes Investigate the strange room.

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Investigate The Strange Room (Read Everything)

You must interact with these objects to complete the task:

Object Location
Yellowed Records A book on the table on the left side
Less-Than-Legible Notes Books on the floor on the left side, near Nastya

Then use the stairs and interact with the console. The console, because of course, turns out to be a trap. I got caged like a very confused hamster while Nastya got jumped by enemies.

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Use your guns to clear the enemies so she can approach the cage and free you. Then place the item Nastya gives you onto the console to deactivate the trap and reveal a secret path.

Wrapping Up

That concludes Forbidding Doors of Melancholy and kicks off the To Rest in a Forgotten Field mission. Follow through a bit further and the whole In the Dwelling of Life questline is finally done — chandeliers commuted, cubes deployed, trust issues acquired. And if you are still hunting achievements elsewhere in Teyvat, remember that this puzzle is far easier the second time around. Mostly because you will not be staring blankly at a lamp for twenty minutes. Probably. ⚙️