Guild Wars 2 is celebrating Lunar New Year ahead of End of Dragons

With the End of Dragons expansion right around the corner, Guild Wars 2 enthusiasts are set for an adrenaline rush. But the upcoming launch of a new expansion cannot stop festivities in the world of Tyria.

Every year since 2015, Guild Wars 2 has hosted New Year's celebrations in Divinity's Reach. Called the Lunar New Year, this event brings fireworks and magic into the world of Guild Wars 2, and in 2022, it's offering newer adventures and shinier rewards.

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Guild Wars 2 goes the extra mile

The Lunar New Year has been a staple of Guild Wars 2's yearly event schedule for the last seven years. But Arenanet does not simply rehash old content and call it new. Lunar New Year is based on the Chinese New Year, and each year, the developer puts enough effort into the rewards to reflect that.

Since 2015, every Lunar New Year event has represented the corresponding animal to appear in the traditional Chinese calendar. In keeping with said traditions, this year's event is thus developed around the Tiger. For example, this year's exclusive backpack skin is the Lucky Tiger Lantern and Lucky Great Tiger Lantern, which is a giant golden tiger statue adorning your back.

Apart from the tiger backpacks, the event also brings back all the rewards from previous years. Alongside these items, three weapons with exclusive skins, as well as a new food item, have also been released this year. There's also an ascended trinket available but it's a gold sink, so stay away from it.

Aside from cosmetics and food, Lunar New Year showers players with Essences of Luck. This consumable increases a player's magic find, which in turn affects the drop rate of items from Lucky envelopes.

Divinity's Reach gets to twice a year (Image via ArenaNet)

Frankly, talking about all the rewards will take up way too much time and space. Instead, let's focus on how to get these rewards. All of the aforementioned items can be obtained from opening Lucky Envelopes.

There are two types of envelopes: Little Lucky Envelope can be earned from basically any Lunar New Year activity, while Divine Lucky Envelopes can only be bought with gold and with Token of the Celestial Champion. Both envelopes have the same drop pool but the Divine guarantees a minimum coin return and a rare-tier reward.

Tokens of the Celestial Champion can be earned from races, achievements, and participation in the Celestial Challenge - an assortment of events themed around the past years of Lunar New Year. It's a very relaxing event, with a mix of combat and races, and an overall better option for Dragon Ball Bash if you want to relax.

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There is no better event than Lunar New Year to usher in the new expansion

It's quite poetic that the Lunar New Year is heralding the arrival of End of Dragons, Guild Wars 2's latest expansion. Lunar New Year has been associated with the land of Cantha, which just happens to be where End of Dragons will take place.

Since its introduction into the lore and the original Guild Wars, Cantha has been the area to feature oriental influences in culture, environment, and mythos. It's no coincidence either that ArenaNet is set to reveal the launch date of End of Dragons on February 1 - the very day the Chinese New Year begins in real life.

This event is a homage to the culture that shaped Guild Wars 2's past and will shape the MMO's future in the days to come. The players should just hop in-game and experience all the festivities for themselves. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a shiny tiger to acquire.