Impact Genshin is one of the most gigantic and, after a certain point, grindy games that exist today, but its players are still hungry for content. On February 3, they will soon be sated by a big new event: The Lantern Rite Festival, which will bring with it a new playable character, stories and challenges, and a tower defense mode.
During a broadcast today, developer Mihoyo announced that the Lantern Rite Festival will be the centerpiece of the Impact Genshin1.3 update and described what it will contain. Taking place at the port of Liyue, the event will decorate the place with – what else – lanterns. As Mihoyo knows what makes players come back (hint: they are hot anime characters), your first task will be to complete a story quest centered on a new playable character: Xiao, the demon conqueror.
Xiao is an elemental of Anemo (read: wind) wielding a pole weapon, and one of his abilities allows him to initiate a dive attack from any height without taking damage from falling. The damage of the attack is determined by how high it is when it starts, so I’m looking forward to the inevitable flood of YouTube videos in which players shoot at tough bosses sticking them from the top of the world. Xiao also has an elemental burst ability called “Bane of All Evil”, which makes him wear a cool mask and increase his damage and AOE, but at the cost of his HP.
During the Lantern Rite event, players with Adventure Rank 23 or higher will be able to complete Xiao’s mission without the need for a story key. After the event is over, however, you will need to be 32 or older, and if you do not have a story key, you will need to earn one by completing eight commissions, which are basically daily missions. If there was any doubt, Mihoyo wants players to come back and play again (and buying Primogems) sooner or later.
Driving this point home, the Lantern Rite Festival will also include a Ley Line overflow event, during which special challenges (which require Genshinthe often defamed “resin” currency) will grant double rewards. This event will take place for a limited time together with the Rite of the Lantern Festival. Currently, neither has a definite end date, although players are speculating that it is likely to be in mid-February. At that point, the Lantern Rite Festival won’t end forever, but it won’t be repeated until next year.
After completing Xiao’s mission, the Lantern Rite Festival will begin for real. It will consist of several parts, including a special event store called Xiao Market, which, according to the voice actors who are hosting the stream, confusingly has no connection to the Xiao character. The store will unlock new products in stages, as you complete requests and stories to fill a “Festive Fever” meter.
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You can earn money from the event by completing various activities, including a new mode called Theater Mechanicus, which appears to be a hybrid of Impact Genshin preparation of combat and tower defense. In it, you organize Mechanici – little guys who look like robot chess pieces – to defend a territory and then fight waves of monsters next to them.
There is also a new photo-based activity that looks like a fun change of pace (albeit a little coercive). Each day of the event, there will be a new photographic theme. You will have 10 chances a day to use a new item called “Kurious Kamera” (lmao) to take a picture of the corresponding object, which, in turn, will yield a random photo as a reward. No, this is not a typo. Yes, you are taking a photo for a photo. Each photo has a color. If you collect a complete set of five colors, you can exchange it for a treasure of fortune, which contains Primogenics and materials. Now, as the rewards for the photos are random, there is a chance that you will get several matching colors. The system, then, is designed to encourage you to make and trade with friends within the game.
Along with these key features, the update will also include improvements in the quality of life, such as a “living beings” file category, which allows you to view detailed information about everything you’ve found in the game world, as well as additions to the game’s screen. character. The character’s rise – that is, improving the characters after reaching the maximum level – will also become easier, with new unlockable items that will allow players to create one elemental material into another and transmute materials.
Finally, there will be new menacing stone dragon monsters called Geovishaps for you to hunt, first by sending characters of your choice (including one belonging to a friend) on expeditions, then going to their location and finishing the job yourself. The boss fights that will follow will apparently be very difficult. Hopefully, there will be some very high cliffs above.