Genshin Impact Lantern Rite Festival

The Genshin Impact Lantern Rite Festival, the flagship event of the 1.3 update has finally launched, and there is a lot to do. The Lantern Rite Festival, which is inspired by Chinese New Year celebrations, has plenty of new questlines and rewards. If you like strategy games, look out for the Theater Mechanicus minigame in particular!

Note that some parts of the Lantern Rite event take time to unlock. Others require certain stages to be completed before you can participate. If you find it confusing, just follow the order of this guide (starting with Xiao’s story quest). All events from the Lantern Rite Festival remain active until February 28.

1. Every Genshin Impact Lantern Rite Festival event explained

The Lantern Rite Festival is a very big event with lots of different activities. To avoid getting lost, here’s a short summary:

All That Glitters: three quests needed to unlock parts of the other events.
Lantern Rite Tales: small requests from NPC’s that will reward you with Festive Fever needed to complete Stand By Me.
Theater Mechanicus: a tower defense minigame rewarding you with Peace Talismans to spend on Xiao’s Market and Stand By Me.
Xiao’s Market: the main reward page where you can spend Peace Talismans.
Stand By Me: a simple page to collect a free 4-star character with Peace Talismans and Festive Fever.

2. How to start the Genshin Impact Lantern Rite Festival - Xiao’s story quest

The Lantern Rite Festival has certain requirements that need to be met before you can start. You must be Adventure Rank 23 or higher, and you must have completed Archon quest Chapter 1: Act I (‘Of the Land Amidst Monoliths’).

Furthermore, you need to complete the new character Xiao’s story quest: ‘Alatus Chapter’. To find it, just open the event page, click ‘Lantern Rite’, and then ‘All That Glitters’. This will open the Journal and activate the Alatus Chapter.

3. All that Glitters event: The Origin of the Lanterns quest

The part of the Lantern Rite Festival called ‘All that Glitters’ is the first event to unlock after completing Xiao’s story quest. It consists of three main event questlines, starting with ‘The Origin of the Lanterns’. This is how you complete the first All That Glitters quest:

Talk to Verr Goldet at Wangshu Inn.
Talk to Changchang, Madame Ping, Jiangzhou, Wang’ya, and Yi’nian. There are all located in the northern part of Liyue Harbor.
Talk to Jingming to learn how to make a Xiao Lantern. You need 3 materials: Lantern Fiber, Wick Material, and Plaustrite Shard. Keep reading for more info on how to make them.

The next All That Glitters quest, ‘Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns’, starts on February 14. The third and final one, ‘Light Upon the Sea’, starts on February 18. All three will remain open for the duration of the Lantern Rite Festival, but you need to complete the previous one to get to the next.

4. Lantern Rite Tales: how to collect Festive Fever

Completing The Origin of the Lanterns starts the second part of the Lantern Rite Festival: the Lantern Rite Tales event. Go back to the event page, activate the quest, and follow these steps:

Talk to Wang’ya and four other NPC’s in Liyue Harbor.
When you reach Cai Le, climb the tree next to him and grab the Xiao Lantern at the top.
Talk to Cai Le again, then go back to Wang’ya to complete the quest.

Congratulations, you just unlocked the Lantern Rite Tales event! Open the main event page, then go to the Lantern Rite Tales. You can choose whichever request you like. Completing them earns you Festive Fever, which you need to collect a free 4-star character later on.

The Lantern Rite Tales event has three different stages, but only stage I is available for now. Lantern Rite Tales 2 unlocks after completing the Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns quest, and Lantern Rite Tales 3 unlocks after completing the Light Upon the Sea quest and reaching Festive Fever stage ‘Glow of a Thousand Lanterns’. You also need to complete all the requests from the previous stage.

5. How to play Theater Mechanicus, the Genshin Impact tower defense game

The Theater Mechanicus is a unique part of the Lantern Rite Festival. It is basically a game of tower defense. You need to stop incoming waves of enemies by placing elemental mechanisms, the Mechanici, in strategic positions. You cannot deal damage by attacking the enemies yourself, and neither will they damage you.

To start Theater Mechanicus, talk to Ruijin in Liyue Harbor. While participating in the Theater Mechanicus game costs Xiao Lanterns, Ruijin lets you enter a free trial stage first. Here are a few basic tips to help you get started:

Successfully completing a Theater Mechanicus game will award you with Veneficus Sigils. Use them to upgrade your Mechanici in the Armory.
You can play in co-op with a maximum of two players. The number of constructible Veneficus Mechnici is shared, but the rewards are the same as in single player mode.
Go to the ‘Stage’ tab to see a hint for each map.
Complete the achievement in the Challenge menu to earn extra Veneficus Sigils.

6. Xiao Lantern: where to find Lantern Fiber, Wick Material, and Plaustrite Shard

If you want to play Theater Mechanicus again, you need more Xiao Lanterns. You made the first one as part of All That Glitters, and you can make more at any crafting station in Genshin Impact. This is how you can find the resources:

Lantern Fiber: harvest plants to get 1 additional Lantern Fiber. Any plant will do!
Wick Material: defeat Hilichurls or Fatui elite enemies, they will drop Wick Material.
Plaustrite Shard: you can defeat Geovishaps or Stonehide Lawachurls, but the easiest way to gather Plaustrite Shards is by collecting ore. One ore gives you one Plaustrite Shard.

7. Xiao Market: use your Peace Talismans

Completing Theater Mechanicus stages will get you Peace Talismans as a reward. You can spend the Peace Talismans in the Xiao Market, which is the main reward page for the Lantern Rite Festival. You can choose from a wide range of Character Level-Up and Ascension Materials. Just like other Lantern Rite Festival events, the Xiao Market has three stages of which the latter two will open later on.

The most expensive Lantern Rite rewards in the Xiao Market are the Crown of Insight and the Namecard. The Namecard is purely decorative, but the Crown of Insight is a rare Talent Level-Up Material. It’s a good idea to save up 1000 Peace Talisman to buy it, but do keep in mind that the ‘Stand By Me’ event also requires 1000 Peace Talismans.

8. Stand by me: How to obtain a free 4-star character in Genshin Impact

This is one part of the Lantern Rite Festival you definitely don’t want to miss: get a 4-star character from the Liyue region for free! No wishes required. You can collect the Stand By Me character reward by clicking the tab in the main Lantern Rite Festival menu.

There are two things you need to do in order to claim your free 4-star character: reach the Glow of a Thousand Lanterns level of Festive Fever (the final stage), and spend 1000 Peace Talismans. There are 6 characters you can choose from (see picture).

You’re ready to join the party in Liyue Harbor. Happy Lantern Rite!