City Buried by Ash is Act I of the Lost Traveler in the Ashen Realm World Quest series in Ochkanatlan, introduced with Version 5.2, “Tapestry of Spirit and Flame.” Start at the Ochkanatlan Statue of the Seven, work through the tower’s Iktomisaurus wall-mark puzzles, collect three Secret Source Scraps in Ashflow Street, and defeat the dragon in two stages. The quest is mostly linear, but the starting tower access has two options: use the Qucusaurus portal or climb to the upper level.
This walkthrough follows the documented sequence and calls out the exact object placements, combat requirements, optional fights, and the reward list reported by GameWith.
How do I start City Buried by Ash?
Go to the Statue of the Seven in Ochkanatlan. The door at ground level is closed, so you must reach the building’s upper level before the quest can begin.
Reach the upper level
- Travel to the Ochkanatlan Statue of the Seven.
- On the left side of the building, use the Qucusaurus portal to reach the upper level, or climb the exterior structure if you prefer a direct route.
- Enter the upper-level room and interact with the mechanism inside.
- Unlock the Statue of the Seven. This starts the City Buried by Ash quest sequence.
If you arrive at the statue and see only the sealed ground-floor entrance, nothing is wrong with the quest. The intended access is from above, not through that lower door. The Qucusaurus portal is the faster route; climbing is the alternative when you do not want to use the portal.
What is the route through Act I?
The quest moves through four practical sections: the Ochkanatlan tower, the first return to the tower after meeting Bona and Cocouik, Ashflow Street, and the dragon’s lair. The table below gives the sequence before the detailed puzzle instructions.
| Section | Location | Main task | Combat requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Statue of the Seven | Reach the upper level, activate the mechanism, and unlock the statue | None required to trigger the quest |
| Tower entry | Closed tower entrance | Use the stairs on the left and enter from above | Approach enemies can be bypassed |
| Tower puzzles | Interior rooms | Scan wall marks and place movable cubes or boxes to control doors | Progress is puzzle-based |
| Scrap hunt | Ashflow Street | Break Abyssal sources and collect three Secret Source Scraps | Nearby enemies are optional |
| Dragon sequence | Dragon encounter and lair | Use Cocouik, defend against fireballs, then break the lair boss’s shield with elemental attacks | Required in the lair fight |
How do I enter the tower?
Follow the quest marker from the statue toward the city. When you reach the closed tower entrance, do not keep trying the lower doorway.
- Find the stairs on the left side of the tower entrance.
- Climb to the upper approach.
- Use the upper entry prompt to enter the tower.
The enemies along the approach do not have to be defeated. If your objective is simply to reach the interior, running past them preserves resources and gets you to the puzzle rooms faster.
How do the tower puzzles work?
The tower’s progression is built around the Iktomisaurus’s Spiritspeaker state. You scan marked sections of wall, reveal or move a cube or box, and use those objects to hold doors open or create clearance. If a door appears stuck, look for the wall mark rather than searching for a hidden switch.
First puzzle: remove the cube and take the elevator
- Enter the first puzzle area and activate the Iktomisaurus’s Spiritspeaker state.
- Scan the wall mark.
- The scan removes a cube that is blocking the mechanism or passage.
- Operate the lever.
- Use the elevator to descend to the next section.
The important order is scan first, lever second. The lever does not solve the obstruction on its own; the wall-mark interaction has to clear the cube before the elevator route is available.
Second puzzle: place the box under the stuck door
- Enter the room on the left.
- Scan the marked wall with the Iktomisaurus ability.
- Use the ability to place the box beneath the stuck door.
- Leave enough space for your character to pass through instead of pushing the box flush against the doorway.
This is a clearance puzzle, not a damage check. If the opening still cannot be crossed, reposition the box so it supports the door while leaving a walkable gap.
Two-door room: keep the first doorway open
The next room uses one lever and two doorways. The cube’s position matters because the first doorway would otherwise close when you return to the lever.
- Operate the lever to open the first doorway.
- Go through the first doorway.
- Scan the mark on the left wall.
- Place the cube in the first doorway.
- Return to the lever.
- Operate the lever again. The second doorway opens while the cube prevents the first doorway from closing.
- Pass through the second doorway and continue along the quest marker.
Do not leave the cube in the room or place it beside the door. It must occupy the first doorway itself so the mechanism can open the second route without sealing your way back.
What should I do after meeting Bona and Cocouik?
After the conversation with Bona and Cocouik, the story sends you back toward the tower’s first area. The exit is blocked by an Abyssal source.
- Return to the first tower area when the quest marker directs you there.
- Break the Abyssal source blocking the exit.
- Leave the tower and follow the marker toward Ashflow Street.
This return is part of the quest flow, so reaching the earlier room again is not a reset or a missed objective. The obstruction is the intended final tower gate for this section.
How do I collect all three Secret Source Scraps?
Search Ashflow Street after leaving the tower. The three Secret Source Scraps are marked on the map, and you can collect them without clearing every nearby enemy.
- Enter Ashflow Street and open the map to locate the three marked scrap positions.
- At each position, break the nearby Abyssal source.
- Collect the Secret Source Scrap revealed at that location.
- Repeat until all three scraps are in your inventory.
Enemies near the sources can be ignored while you collect the objectives. If a fight starts, you can disengage and return to the marker; the documented collection requirement is breaking the Abyssal sources and picking up the three marked items, not defeating every hostile in the street.
Scrap-hunt checklist
- All three map markers are cleared.
- Each associated Abyssal source has been broken.
- The quest objective updates after the third pickup.
- No separate enemy-clear condition is required by the walkthrough.
How does the first dragon encounter work?
The initial dragon sequence is handled through Cocouik rather than a conventional damage race. Your two jobs are to shoot at the dragon and use the defense action when it launches fireballs.
- When the encounter begins, aim at the dragon and fire.
- Watch for the dragon’s fireball attack.
- Use Cocouik’s defense action against the fireballs instead of trying to absorb the hit with ordinary movement.
- Continue the sequence until the quest directs you to the dragon’s lair.
The encounter’s distinctive mechanic is defensive timing. If the dragon is throwing fireballs, prioritize the defense action; the walkthrough does not describe this opening sequence as a standard party-versus-boss rotation.
How do I win the dragon’s lair fight?
The follow-up battle in the lair has a clear two-step damage rule: elemental attacks must break the dragon’s shield before normal damage can meaningfully progress the fight.
- Enter the lair and begin the encounter.
- Use elemental attacks to remove the dragon’s shield.
- Once the shield is down, deal damage normally while avoiding its attacks.
- Continue until the quest advances.
Do not judge your damage output while the shield is still active. If the health bar appears resistant, switch your priority to elemental attacks and treat shield removal as the gate to the damage phase.
The Beebom walkthrough reports that the dragon leaves when it has roughly 20% health remaining. That percentage is a report from the guide, not an independently tested gameplay threshold, so do not assume the encounter is bugged if the dragon retreats before it reaches zero.
What rewards does Act I give?
GameWith lists the following rewards for Act I of Lost Traveler in the Ashen Realm:
| Reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| Primogems | 40 |
| Hero’s Wit | 4 |
| Adventurer’s Experience | 350 |
| Mora | 30,000 |
| Mystic Enhancement Ore | 4 |
This is a secondary-source reward list attributed to GameWith, whose quest page was last updated October 3, 2026. It should not be read as an official HoYoverse reward table; the official Version 5.2 material establishes the update context rather than supplying this Act I breakdown.
What should I check if progress seems stuck?
The statue entrance is closed
Use the Qucusaurus portal on the left side of the building or climb to the upper level. The ground-floor door is not the intended starting route.
The tower lever does nothing
Return to the nearby wall mark and use the Iktomisaurus’s Spiritspeaker state. The first puzzle requires the cube to be removed before the lever can send you to the elevator.
The stuck door will not let me through
Re-scan the marked wall and place the box beneath the door with walking room left underneath or beside it. A box pressed too tightly against the opening can block your passage.
The second doorway will not open
Open the first doorway with the lever, scan the left-wall mark beyond it, and put the cube in the first doorway before returning to the lever. The cube has to hold the first route open while the second one activates.
I cannot find all three scraps
Check Ashflow Street’s map markers one at a time and break the Abyssal source at each location. Nearby enemies do not need to be defeated, so do not let an optional fight distract you from a remaining marker.
The dragon’s health barely moves
In the lair, use elemental attacks against the shield first. The initial Cocouik sequence is different: there, shoot at the dragon and use the defense action against fireballs.
What does a completed Act I run look like?
You have finished the act when the sequence has taken you from the upper level of the Ochkanatlan Statue of the Seven, through the tower’s wall-mark and movable-object puzzles, out through the broken Abyssal source, across Ashflow Street with all three scraps collected, and through both dragon encounters. Keeping those phases in order prevents the most common detours: forcing the sealed ground entrance, overlooking the cube placement, fighting optional street enemies, or attacking the lair dragon before breaking its shield.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is City Buried by Ash a branching quest with different endings?
The documented Act I route is linear. The only route choice described is how you reach the statue’s upper level: take the Qucusaurus portal or climb the building.
Is there a time limit during the dragon sequence?
No countdown or timed fail condition is reported in the walkthrough. Progress is controlled by the Cocouik defense interaction in the first encounter and shield removal in the lair battle.
Does the quest require a specific party element?
The lair encounter requires elemental attacks to break the dragon’s shield, but the available material does not specify one mandatory element or a fixed party composition.
Are the listed rewards officially confirmed by HoYoverse?
The quantities are listed by GameWith, a secondary guide source. The Version 5.2 update notice provides release context, while the reviewed official material does not present a separate Act I reward table.