The Court of Strahd Guide
Strahd has returned with a new ally and The Order of the Guardians needs your help! Read more about our event called The Court of Strahd to prepare yourself for the danger.
What is happening:
Strahd has reclaimed his lands of Barovia and is seeking vengeance against those who stopped him. The Darklord of Ravenloft has found a new ally in a being known as The Caller. Their machinations have expanded the reach of the Mists throughout the planes, consuming more innocent lives.
The Order of the Guardians is tracking The Caller's plans and is warning everyone who will listen about this new threat. Meanwhile, the members of Strahd's Court are venturing beyond Barovia, and it is up to YOU to stop them.
Getting Started:
Begin by traveling to the Mists which have appeared in Delera's Graveyard, the Graveyard in Eveningstar, or in Korthos Village. Enter the mists to complete an introductory quest, then speak to members of The Order of the Guardians located nearby. Select special lanterns that when equipped into your cosmetic shield slot will allow you to hunt Strahd's minions throughout the game!
You can acquire as many lanterns as you would like, but only one lantern can be equipped at a time.
Regular or Skull Lanterns?
The Order of the Guardians NPC named Zuria Velamont will provide you with regular Lanterns, and the NPC named Narstom Gelminedes will provide you with special Skull Lanterns. All Lanterns are Bound to Character. Lanterns may not be placed into your Shared Bank, but can be placed into Character Storage. Some Lanterns require the character to keep up with its power as it gains durability by completing quests above a certain base level in order to progress.
Skull Lanterns can only be acquired by level 1 characters that have received fewer than 1500 XP. A Reincarnated Character with any Past Lives is unable to acquire a Skull Lantern. When you acquire a Skull Lantern you will receive a buff called "Vow of Glory - The Court of Strahd" that only allows you to equip items that have appeared since the start of The Court of Strahd event. These items have a special indicator on them and will appear to all players during the event whether they are participating in the event or not. These items can be traded or auctioned based on their ability to do so without the Vow of Glory – The Court of Strahd.
Iconic characters can acquire Skull Lanterns by skipping their tutorial experience and interacting with Narstom Gelminedes. Any death while a Vow of Glory is active ends your Skull Lantern run! Make sure to acquire any of your rewards from full Skull Lanterns prior to death. Any rewards unclaimed at the time of death are lost.
Questing and Combat:
When you or another member of your party has a Lantern equipped, you may encounter Mists while questing anywhere throughout the game. Once these Mists appear, an enemy will soon follow! Defeating these enemies helps fill the durability of your Lanterns. The Mists, enemies, and rewards appear automatically, and no additional action on your part is required to collect your encounter reward.
Lanterns have a special activated ability several times per rest, so make sure to place your active Lantern into your hotbar prior to the start of combat!
Lantern durability is awarded to any characters with Lanterns equipped who are located near the enemy at the time of their defeat. In Heroic difficulty you must be closer than three levels over the base level of the quest to earn Lantern durability, and Epic and Legendary quests require characters to be at least level 20 to earn Lantern durability.
Rewards:
Lantern of the Pledge II – Half Cloak of the Pledge II
Lantern of the Order II - Cloak of the Order II
Lantern of the Hag's Blood – Hexblood Horns
Lantern of the Mists - Cosmetic Trail of The Mists
Lantern of Old Bones - Teleportation Style Portal of The Grave
Skull Lantern of the Pledge II – Skull Half Cloak of the Pledge II
Skull Lantern of the Order II - Skull Cloak of the Order II
Skull Lantern of the Hag's Blood – Grand Hexblood Horns
Skull Lantern of the Mists - Cosmetic Trail of The Deep Mists
Skull Lantern of Old Bones - Teleportation Style Portal of Grave Bones
Leaderboard:
Participating in the Skull Lantern challenge allows you to earn Fame and take part in the event's Leaderboard competition! You will gain Fame for completing quests you have not yet completed based on their difficulty. The higher the difficulty of the quest completed, the more Fame you will earn. Reincarnation will clear your earned Fame.
The Court of Strahd event Leaderboard will appear long-term in the Hall of Heroes after the event has been completed. Characters with inappropriate names or names that violate our Code of Conduct will be removed from the Leaderboard.
Rumors of Dark Powers
While fighting the Mists, you may find that your character gets “A Strange Feeling”. If this happens to you, speak with Van Richten. He can help you stave off this Strange Feeling...or...you can choose to embrace it and dare to find out what comes of it! Should you dare to embrace it, any effects gained from it will not persist through death.