The second half of the Spiral Abyss is where most Travelers leave stars on the table. The late chambers stack shield checks, resistance gates, and bosses with fat health bars, so raw damage alone rarely gets you the full three stars per chamber. What works is matching your damage core to the reaction the mode is rewarding and to the enemy that is blocking your timer.
Quick answer: Bring one heavy damage core and one element the chamber demands. A Lunar-Bloom team (Nefer, Lauma, Columbina, Nahida) or a Cryo Freeze team (Skirk, Escoffier, Furina, Shenhe) covers the most second-half mechanics, while Mavuika, Xilonen, Citlali, and Bennett handle anything that needs sustained Pyro.
Best second-half Spiral Abyss teams
These are the five cores that consistently push the second-half chambers to a clean clear. Each one is built around a single reaction or role, so pick the one that matches both your roster and the chamber in front of you.
| Team | Core role |
|---|---|
| Nefer + Lauma + Columbina + Nahida | Lunar-Bloom, fast elemental application |
| Zibai + Linnea + Columbina + Illuga | Lunar-Crystallize with Geo shield breaks |
| Skirk + Escoffier + Furina + Shenhe | Cryo and Freeze, single-target burst |
| Mavuika + Xilonen + Citlali + Bennett | Sustained Pyro for gauge and RES checks |
| Chasca + Citlali + Furina + Bennett | Nightsoul hypercarry for Void Wards |
Lunar-Bloom core: Nefer, Lauma, Columbina, Nahida
A full Lunar-Bloom setup is the strongest all-rounder for the back half. Nahida and Lauma keep Dendro on the field, Columbina and Nefer add the off-field reactions and fast hits, and the team converts almost any wave into steady reaction damage. Nefer’s high attack speed is the key part. Enemies that drop Void Wards need quick, repeated elemental application to fill them, and a hyper-reaction driver clears that gate without slowing your rotation.
If you are running this against Dendro-gated bosses, keep the Dendro application constant. The damage curve only spikes once the boss is back in its normal state, so don’t blow your burst windows while it still has its resistance buff up.
Lunar-Crystallize and Geo core: Zibai, Linnea, Columbina, Illuga
Geo-forward teams are the answer whenever a chamber leans on shielded enemies. Zibai and Navia both break Geo-type shields and the rock-plated foes faster than any other element, and pairing a Geo DPS with Linnea and Columbina keeps the Lunar-Crystallize reactions flowing for extra true damage.
One caveat. If the chamber also features a Dendro resistance check, slot in a Dendro unit to clear the mechanic first, then return to your normal Crystallize rotation. A fully built Geo core finishes the floor quickly once the gate is open.
Cryo and Freeze core: Skirk, Escoffier, Furina, Shenhe
When the timer-eating threat is a single tanky boss, the Skirk Freeze team is the cleanest pick. Escoffier and Shenhe stack Cryo buffs and application, Furina drives the damage multiplier, and Skirk’s fast attacks tear through large health pools.
This core also doubles as a hard counter to the laser-phase automatons that gate damage behind constant Cryo. Two Cryo units fill the gauge fast enough that the boss spends most of the fight neutralized. Swap Shenhe for Citlali, or run Wriothesley over Skirk, if that fits your roster better.
Pyro and Nightsoul options for resistance gates
Some enemies open with high all-element resistance and only drop it once you fill a Pyro overheat gauge. That is where Mavuika, Xilonen, Citlali, and Bennett shine. Mavuika’s burst, backed by Xilonen’s shred and Bennett’s attack buff, fills the gauge and then chunks the target the moment its resistance falls. Arlecchino slots into the same shell if you prefer her as the carry.
For chambers built around Void Wards or Nightsoul mechanics, a Natlan Nightsoul hypercarry is the cleanest fit. Chasca with Citlali, Furina, and Bennett applies the rapid, Nightsoul-aligned damage those wards demand, and Kinich or Mavuika serve the same purpose if Chasca is busy elsewhere.
Common reasons the second half stalls
Most failed runs come down to bringing the wrong element into a gate rather than a lack of damage. Keep these checks in mind before you commit a team to a chamber.
- Bosses that open with high all-element resistance need a specific element to fill their gauge, usually Pyro for overheat foes or Cryo for laser-phase automatons.
- Dendro-state bosses force you to apply Dendro to remove their resistance buff, and using Pyro or Electro during the stun window can knock them back into their protected state.
- Void Ward enemies block damage until the ward is filled with high-frequency elemental hits or Nightsoul damage, so slow single-hit carries struggle here.
- Shielded foes resist direct damage, and a Geo unit or the right Swirl reaction clears those shields far faster than brute force.
How to confirm a full clear
Each chamber awards up to three stars based on how much time you have left when the last enemy falls. You earn one star with more than 180 seconds remaining, two stars above 300 seconds, and all three above 420 seconds. Clearing both halves of the final floor at full marks pays out Mora x60,000 and Primogem x200, on top of the Domain Reliquary artifact rewards.
The simplest sign your team is built correctly is the timer at the end of a chamber. If you are clearing well above the 420-second threshold, your damage core and element are aligned with the chamber. If you keep finishing with little time to spare, the bottleneck is almost always a resistance or shield gate you are fighting through instead of solving, so adjust your element before you re-roll the whole team.
Treat the second half as a series of element puzzles with a damage check on top. Lead with the core that matches the reward, pack the element each gate asks for, and the late chambers fall into place far more often than they fail.
