The Lantern Rite event in Genshin Impact has many moving pieces, so it’s easy to get a wee bit lost in all the festivities. There are story quests, side quests, a new activity, an event shop, and even a free character up for grabs. There’s a lot to take in here, so I’ll breakdown how each piece of the Lantern Rite event in Genshin Impact fits together, that way you don’t miss a single reward.
The Lantern Rite event has three bespoke portions: the “All That Glitters” story, Lantern Rite Tales side quests, and Theater Mechanicus activity.
After you’ve unlocked the Lantern Rite event in Genshin Impact by completing “The Origin of the Lanterns” quest (which is a bit of a to-do, and you can read how here) you’ll earn access to quests that in turn unlock the Lantern Rite Tales and Theater Mechanicus activity. Once you’ve opened both of these up you’ll have full access to the Lantern Rite event, to an extent. I know, that sounds confusing and there’s quite a bit going on here, so let’s make this simpler to understand.
The Lantern Rite event in Genshin Impact has three portions that all feed into one another, and you need to participate in each to unlock everything on offer. “All That Glitters” is the banner under which the three Lantern Rite story quests are grouped within. These story quests start with the introductory “The Origin of the Lanterns” quests, and include two more that both unlock on specific days. These quests need to be completed to access additional stages in Lantern Rite Tales, Theater Mechanicus, and the Xiao Market. These are the most important tasks to complete.
The Lantern Rite Tales act as the second content gate within the Lantern Rite event in Genshin Impact. These are a collection of event themed side quests, and completing them earns you “Festive Fever” Festive Fever is reputation for the event, pure and simple. There are three stages: “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Guests Flock From Afar,” and “Glow of a Thousand Lanterns“. Each stage unlocks additional Lantern Rite Tales and Theater Mechanicus stages, so long as you’ve completed the most current “All That Glitters” story quests. Furthermore, you need to reach the max rank of “Glow of a Thousand Lanterns” to pick a free character from “Stand By Me.”
Theater Mechanicus fits into all of this as the way you earn the Lantern Rite event currency, Peace Talismans. Theater Mechanicus is a tower-defense minigame where your attacks and Elemental Bursts do diddly-squat, but you can use your Elemental Skills to trigger combos, push enemies around, and create general havoc. Clearing Theater Mechanicus challenges will earn you Peace Talismans, which are used in the Lantern Rite event shop – the Xiao Market – to earn additional rewards. You also need 1000 Peace Talismans to grab your free “Stand By Me” Character.
So, to break this all down:
- Complete “All That Glitters” quests when they become available to unlock additional Lantern Rite Tales and Theater Mechanicus stages, period.
- “Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns”: February 14th at 01:00am PST
- “Light Upon the Sea”: February 18th at 01:00am PST
- Knock out Lantern Rite Tales side quests to raise your Festive Fever and unlock more Lantern Rite Tales and Theater Mechanicus stages.
- You can’t rank up until you complete the “All That Glitters” story quest attached to that rank, so if you may run into a time-gate if you are on top of this activity.
- Clear Theater Mechanicus stages and challenges to unlock additional stages and higher difficulties, all of which reward Peace Talismans.
- Spend Peace Talismans in the Xiao Market for additional rewards, and save up 1000 for a free character from “Stand By Me.”
See, that’s not too terrible once you see how all the Lantern Rite portions come together in Genshin Impact. There is one very, very important rub to all of this: you need to craft Xiao Lanterns to participate in Lantern Rite Tales side quests and to enter the Theater Mechanicus. Thankfully they’re pretty simple to make, and the materials are easy enough to acquire. For the sake of brevity I’ve written a separate guide for the Xiao Lanterns, but to summarize them here: harvest plants, mine ores, and kill Hilichurl, Elite Fatui, and Geovishaps to grab everything you need.
As a bonus, all of the above have rewards tied to them outside the Xiao Market, so you’ll earn Primogems, Hero’s Wits, Mora, and more just by participating. Remember, the Lantern Rite event in Genshin Impact ends February 28th, so you’ll want to knock everything out by then. The Xiao Market and “Stand By Me” will remain open until March 7th, however, so you’ll have time to spend all your hard earned Peace Talismans after the event comes to an end.
