Spiral Abyss opens at Adventure Rank 20. Start with one familiar team, then prepare two separate teams for Floor 5 onward. You don't need a perfect star rating on your first clear: identify what stopped you, improve that part, and return.
Spiral Abyss opens at Adventure Rank 20. Start with one familiar team, then prepare two separate teams for Floor 5 onward. You don't need a perfect star rating on your first clear: identify what stopped you, improve that part, and return.
Find the entrance
Go to Cape Oath in Mondstadt and glide into the portal in the sky. It takes you to Musk Reef, where the Abyss entrance is located. Before entering a floor, check the enemy lineup and the displayed challenge conditions: enemies and environmental effects can change with updates.
At Cape Oath, guide the three nearby Seelies back to their courts. Ride the resulting wind current upward, then glide into the portal. (source)
Build one team, then two
From Floor 5, the two halves require separate teams; you cannot assign the same character to both. Give each side a reliable damage dealer, then add teammates who provide useful reactions, healing or shielding. Check the enemies on each side before assigning elements, especially when a shield calls for a particular response. Use characters you actually own, rather than copying a time-sensitive full-star lineup.
If you run out of time, first check the damage dealers' levels, weapons, talents and artifacts. If characters keep falling before the next chamber, bring healing or a shield and pay attention to health and energy before finishing the previous chamber. Upgrade the weakest relevant part instead of spreading materials evenly across your entire roster.
Adjust between attempts
Each floor has three chambers. At the start of a chamber, choose a blessing and check whether it lasts for the chamber, the whole floor, or takes effect immediately. Aim to clear first; if stars are missing, decide whether slow shield breaking, deaths or an interrupted damage rotation caused the problem, then change one thing and retry.
After completing the relevant Floor 3 and 4 challenges, check the Abyss screen for character rewards and their current claim conditions. Rewards on Floors 1–8 and later floors have different reset rules; check the current in-game screen rather than assuming all rewards repeat.
Sources: KQM Newbie Guide: Spiral Abyss, KQM Abyss cards, HoYoLAB community team discussion. These are community sources; check the game for current rules.