Diablo 4's Lunar New Year event supes up the game's shrines

The shrines of Diablo 4 have acquired some big new powers, which we'll all get to experience when the Lunar Awakening in-game event kicks off. As the name suggests, the event is a celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

If you’ve been keeping track, this makes Lunar Awakening the game’s second limited-time event, following the holiday’s Midwinter Blight. Unlike that one, however, Lunar Awakening will be available across both the Seasonal and Eternal Realms.

Lunar Awakening will be live for two weeks, kicking off Tuesday, February 6 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm UK. It wraps up at those same times on Tuesday, February 20, which should be enough time to climb through all ten reward tiers.

Lunar Awakening amplifies the powers of shrines in Sanctuary, both in the overworld as well as within dungeons. When activated, you’ll earn a whopping 50% bonus xp, gain a 30% boost to your movement speed and other bonuses.

This also allows you to earn Ancestors Favor, which is the currency you’ll be using to spend on event cosmetics. Lunar Shrines will stand out, thanks to their unique map icon. In the world, you’ll know them when you see their dragon decorations.

And, just like Midwinter Blight, Lunar Awakening also introduces a new NPC to the game, and a way for you to redeem your reputation points. His name is Ying-Yue, leader of the Lunar Night Market. She sets up shop in the northern part of Ked Bardu, which is going to act as your event hub.

The more monsters you kill while under the effects of a Lunar Shrine, the more Ancestor’s Favor you’ll acquire. Spend it at Ying-Yue’s for some Lunar Renewal-themed rewards. Those in Diablo 4’s endgame have one more bonus to look forward to. Nightmare Dungeon Sigils will, during the event, have a chance to drop with a unique Ancestor’s Favor dungeon affix.

This makes it so you only come across Lunar Shrines in that dungeon, which means more buffs and more rewards. Nightmare Dungeons with that affix will also reward 10% bonus Glyph XP at the end of the dungeon. The even better news is that you can activate a Nightmare Dungeon using a Sigil with the Ancestor’s Favor Affix anytime after the event has concluded, so you don’t have to worry about clearing all of those special Nightmare Dungeons immediately after you get the Sigil.

Another source of Ancestors Favor will be Whisper bounties with a special Lunar Awakening theme, which serve two functions as they contribute to your Tree of Whispers progress and reward event currency.

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If you’re curious how much more powerful Diablo 4’s shrines are going to get when they turn Lunar, here’s a breakdown Blizzard provided of all the powers that await. Just be aware that Miserly spirits will spawn immediately upon activating a shrine, so be ready for a fight.

• Artillery Shrine – Casts have a chance to summon a holy bomb.
• Blast Wave Shrine – Each explosion summons a cluster bombardment.
• Channeling Shrine- Increased attack speed and chance to reset cooldowns.
• Conduit Shrine – Summon frequent, powerful, shocking strikes.
• Greed Shrine – Chance to summon a Treasure Goblin. While the Shrine is active, 25 kills summons a Treasure Goblin, and 50 kills summons a second.
• Lethal Shrine – Chance to instantly execute a struck monster, causing Fear on surrounding monsters (excluding boss and other players).
• Protection Shrine – You reflect all incoming damage. Damage reflected scales with Level and World Tier.

Throughout all ten reward tiers, you can unlock six different Lunar-themed cosmetics. They range from weapon transmogs, to mounts, mount trophies and other items. And, of course, you’ll have the chance to spend way too much (real) money on the in-game store for much better looking cosmetics, also available for a limited time. See the screenshots above.