Genshin Impact is one of the more gigantic and, after some point, grindy games that currently exist, but players remain hungry for content. On February 3, they will be briefly saturated by a major new event: The Lantern Rite Festival, which will bring a new playable character, stories and challenges, and a tower defense-style mode.
During a stream today, developer Mihoyo announced that the Lantern Rite Festival will be the centerpiece of Genshin Impact‘s 1.3 update and outlined what it will include. The event will take place in the port of Liyue and will deck the place in – something else – lanterns. Since Mihoyo knows what keeps players coming back (hint: they’re hot anime characters), your first assignment is to complete a story quest focused on a new playable character: Xiao, the conqueror of demons.
Xiao is an Anemo (read: wind) elemental with a pole arm, and one of his abilities allows him to perform a diving attack from any height without taking fall damage. The damage from the attack is determined by how high it is when it starts, so I’m excited about the inevitable flood of YouTube videos where players took tough bosses in one fell swoop by stabbing them from the top of the world. Xiao also has a basic burst ability called “Bane of All Evil”, which shows him a cool mask and increases his damage and AOE, but at the expense of his HP.
The Lantern Rite event allows players from Adventure Rank 23 and above to undertake Xiao’s quest without the need for a storyline. However, after the event ends, you must be 32 or above, and if you don’t have a story key, you must earn one by completing eight commissions, which are basically daily quests. In case there was any doubt, Mihoyo wants players to come back and resume play (and Buy Primogems) rather now than never.
Bringing home this point, the Lantern Rite Festival will also feature a Ley Line overflow event, where the special challenges (which require Genshin‘s oft-maligned’ resin ‘ currency) will bring double rewards. This event will take place temporarily next to the Lantern Rite Festival. Currently, neither has a set end date, although players are speculating it will likely be mid-February. At that point, the Lantern Rite Festival won’t be over forever, but it won’t return until next year.
After you complete Xiao’s quest, the Lantern Rite Festival really begins. It will be made up of several parts, including a special event store called the Xiao Market, which, according to the voice actors hosting the stream, is confusingly unrelated to the character Xiao. The shop unlocks new goods in stages as you complete requests and stories to fill a “Festive Fever” meter.
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You can earn event currency by completing various activities, including a new mode called Theater Mechanicus, which appears to be a hybrid of Genshin Impact combat and tower defense preparation. In it, you control Mechanics – little guys who look like a chess piece – to defend an area, then fight waves of monsters next to them.
There’s also a new photography-based activity that seems like a fun (though somewhat compelling) change of pace. Every day of the event there is a new photo topic. You have 10 chances per day to use a new item called “Kurious Kamera” (lmao) to take a photo of the corresponding object, which in turn will give you a random photo as a reward. No, that’s not a typo. Yes, you get a picture for a picture. Each photo has a color. If you collect a complete set of five colors, you can exchange it for a fortune, which includes primogems and materials. Since photo rewards are random, chances are you will get multiple matching colors. So the system is designed to encourage you to make friends and trade with in-game.
In addition to these important features, the update also includes quality of life improvements, such as an archive “living creatures” category where you can see detailed information about everything you’ve encountered in the game world, as well as additions to your character screen. Character Ascension – that is, improving characters after they reach max levels – will also become easier, with new unlockable items that allow players to craft one elemental material into another and transmute materials.
Finally, you will be menacing new rock dragon monsters called Geovishaps to hunt, first by sending characters of your choice (including one from a friend) on expeditions, then by going to their location and finishing the job yourself. The ensuing boss fights will apparently be pretty tough. Hopefully there are some very high cliffs above our heads.