Wintersday

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Freezie.jpg
Wintersday Card 2013.jpg

At Noon Pacific (-8 GMT) on December 19th, the Wintersday festival begins. Enjoy the seasonal quests, delightful drops, special activities, and more! The icy celebration culminates in a final battle of the gods, every three hours, starting at 12:01 AM Pacific on January 1st. For more information, visit http://www.guildwars.com/.

Login screen announcements

See towns glimmering with festive décor, deliver presents to needy little urchins, defeat the scheming Grentches, and spread Wintersday cheer to your fellow Tyrians! The fun culminates with a grand finale that runs every three hours on January 1!

Official website

Wintersday is a special event that occurs annually from December 19, 20:00, to January 2, 20:00 UTC,[1] which celebrates the Tyrian New Year according to the Mouvelian calendar and Dynastic Reckoning. It is the celebration of the end of the Season of the Colossus and the beginning of the Season of the Zephyr, decided through the outcome of a battle between the gods, Grenth and Dwayna. During Wintersday, snow covers the lands and the Snowmen and Grentches appear to spread their versions of the celebration across the land, through giving and destroying presents respectively.

It features towns decorated with gifts, snow, candy, and holiday NPCs.

Schedule[edit]

PST UTC[1] Description
December 19th, noon December 19th, 20:00 Start of the event. Wintersday NPCs, except Rift Warden, also appear.
December 20th, noon December 20th, 20:00 Rift Warden appears.
January 1st, 12:01 am until January 2nd, 12:01 am January 1st, 08:01 until January 2nd, 08:01 Finales every 3 hours. (See accompanying chart.)
January 2nd, noon January 2nd, 20:00 End of the event. Candy Cane Shard collectors (i.e. Candysmiths and Wintersday Gift Giver), Frozen Accessory Token-related NPCs (i.e. Brrrnadette, Krunch, Brrrtie, and Krisp), and Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm collectors remain.
January 9th, noon January 9th, 20:00 All remaining Wintersday NPCs disappear.
Last update
Tuesday, 10:26 UTC
PST
(UTC-8)
UTC / GMT
(24 hr format)
12:01 am 08:01
3:01 am 11:01
6:01 am 14:01
9:01 am 17:01
12:01 pm 20:01
3:01 pm 23:01
6:01 pm 02:01
January 2
9:01 pm 05:01
January 2
12:01 am
January 2
08:01
January 2

Finale[edit]

Main article: Wintersday/Finale

The Wintersday grand finale runs every 3 hours starting at 12:01 am PST on January 1st, and ending 12:01 am PST on January 2nd in Lion's Arch. Finales also take place in Kamadan, only 15 minutes later.

The finale involves the Avatars of Dwayna and Grenth opposing each other in a mini-game similar to Nine Rings at the Shing Jea Boardwalk, but the price is Candy Cane Shards instead of Festival Tickets. The gods earn points for each supporter standing on one of their rings. Playing this game counts towards your Lucky and Unlucky title tracks. Each round costs 1 Candy Cane Shard. Players standing in the winning ring receive a Wintersday Gift and three, four, or five shards (depending on whether one stands on the center, edge, or corner rings respectively) plus an equal number of Lucky points. Those standing on an adjacent ring receive two shards and two Lucky points; everyone else receives 1 Unlucky point.

There are 3 sets of 5 rounds per finale, making 15 rounds total, so players should have at least 15 Candy Cane Shards on them. If players go to Kamadan immediately after, they'd want 30 Candy Cane Shards. Attending both Lion's Arch and Kamadan finales all day requires a total of 270 Candy Cane Shards.

At the end of the finale, approximately a dozen Wintersday Gifts will be added to everyone's inventory, regardless of whether they played the mini-game or not. You receive the gifts one at a time, every 70 seconds for 15 minutes. (Rarely a district might receive every second gift after 10 seconds, so end up with 22.) One random Wintergreen weapon (not dependent on the primary nor current secondary profession of your character, nor weapons that are equipped) will also be added to everyone's inventory at the end of the first finale attended by each account.

The rings for Grenth and Dwayna in Lion's Arch and Kamadan respectively are directly adjacent to the spawn points of each map, and are usually more filled than their opponent's rings.

Decorated outposts[edit]

Wintersday Card 2008.jpg

Ascalon City, Lion's Arch, Droknar's Forge, Kamadan, Jewel of Istan and Eye of the North are all redecorated in a suitably festive (and snowy) style.

Quests[edit]

See also: List of festival quests#Wintersday
Lion's Arch
Kamadan, Jewel of Istan
Lion's Arch and Kamadan, Jewel of Istan
Eye of the North

Other festivities[edit]

Each Wintersday will make the Dwayna Vs Grenth Snowball Fight arena available for use along with The Great Snowball Fight of the Gods. Candy Cane Shard, Eggnog, Frosty Tonic, Fruitcake, Mischievous Tonic, and Snowman Summoner will also drop from PvE foes for the duration of the event.

Guild versus Guild[edit]

NPCs in Guild versus Guild have their models altered as follows:

NPC Red Team Blue Team
Archer Elf.jpg Telius.jpg
Bodyguard Priestess of Melandru.jpg Zenjal.jpg
Footman and Knight Freezie.jpg Grentch.jpg
Guild Lord Avatar of Dwayna model.jpg Avatar of Grenth model.jpg

The opposing Guild Lord drops 10 Wintersday Gifts for each player of the winning team when he dies. To prevent exploitation, no rewards are offered if (a) the match ends after 28 minutes without either side killing a Guild Lord or (b) the battle ends in under 5 minutes (e.g. due to one team resigning or zoning).

Items[edit]

Candy Cane Shard.png Candy Cane Shard Eggnog.png Eggnog Frosty Summoning Stone.png Frosty Summoning Stone
Frosty Tonic.png Frosty Tonic Frozen Accessory Token.png Frozen Accessory Token Fruitcake.png Fruitcake
Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm.png Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm Miniature Polar Bear.png Miniature Polar Bear Mischievous Summoning Stone.png Mischievous Summoning Stone
Mischievous Tonic.png Mischievous Tonic Peppermint Candy Cane.png Peppermint Candy Cane Rainbow Candy Cane.png Rainbow Candy Cane
Snowman Summoner.png Snowman Summoner Spiked Eggnog.png Spiked Eggnog Wintergreen Candy Cane.png Wintergreen Candy Cane
Wintersday Gift.png Wintersday Gift Wintersday Grab Bag.png Wintersday Grab Bag Yuletide Tonic.png Yuletide Tonic

Candy Cane weapons[edit]

Candy Cane Axe.png Candy Cane Axe Candy Cane Bow.png Candy Cane Bow Candy Cane Hammer.png Candy Cane Hammer
Candy Cane Staff.png Candy Cane Staff Candy Cane Sword.png Candy Cane Sword Candy Cane Wand.png Candy Cane Wand
Gingerbread Focus.png Gingerbread Focus Gingerbread Shield.png Gingerbread Shield Peppermint Daggers.png Peppermint Daggers
Peppermint Scythe.png Peppermint Scythe Peppermint Shield.png Peppermint Shield Peppermint Spear.png Peppermint Spear

Wintergreen weapons[edit]

Wintergreen Axe.png Wintergreen Axe Wintergreen Bow.png Wintergreen Bow Wintergreen Daggers.png Wintergreen Daggers
Wintergreen Hammer.png Wintergreen Hammer Wintergreen Scythe.png Wintergreen Scythe Wintergreen Shield.png Wintergreen Shield
Wintergreen Spear.png Wintergreen Spear Wintergreen Staff.png Wintergreen Staff Wintergreen Sword.png Wintergreen Sword
Wintergreen Wand.png Wintergreen Wand

Headgear[edit]

Starting with Wintersday 2012, each Wintersday festival hat from Lion's Arch and Kamadan can be obtained from Brrrtie and Krisp for one Frozen Accessory Token.

Year Dwayna Grenth
2005 Yule Cap.png
Yule Cap
Horns of Grenth.png
Horns of Grenth
2006 Stylish Yule Cap.png
Stylish Yule Cap
Freezie Crown.png
Freezie Crown
Great Horns of Grenth.png
Great Horns of Grenth
Jester's Cap.png
Jester's Cap
2007 Wreath Crown.png
Wreath Crown
Ice Crown.png
Ice Crown
2008 Rudi Mask.png
Rudi Mask
Grentch Cap.png
Grentch Cap
2009 Snow Crystal Crest.png
Snow Crystal Crest
Ice Shard Crest.png
Ice Shard Crest
2010 Divine Halo.png
Divine Halo
Demonic Horns.png
Demonic Horns
2011 Festive Winter Hood.png
Festive Winter Hood
Stylish Black Scarf.pngStylish Red Striped Scarf.pngStylish White Striped Scarf.png
Stylish Scarves

NPCs[edit]

Wintersday globe.jpg

Some zones have additional spawns:

Core[edit]

Great Temple of Balthazar

Prophecies[edit]

Ascalon City
Lion's Arch
Droknar's Forge

Nightfall[edit]

Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

Eye of the North[edit]

Eye of the North
Ice Cliff Chasms

Other[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • Cantha does not celebrate this festival.
Bug Bug.From Wintersday 2014 onward, from the start of the first finale (i.e. January 1, 2015, 08:01 UTC) until the end of the event (i.e. January 2, 20:00 UTC), the Frozen Accessory Token-related NPCs (i.e. Brrrnadette, Krunch, Brrrtie, and Krisp) stopped appearing in Lion's Arch and Kamadan districts that were created before the first Winterday finale began (e.g. Lion's Arch America district 1, Kamadan America 1 to 3, and Lion's Arch and Kamadan International 1), but they continued to appear in Lion's Arch and Kamadan districts that were created after the first finale began (e.g. Korean district 1 [probably because that district was empty and was only created when a character map traveled there] and Lion's Arch and Kamadan America 5 and higher).

Trivia[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]


Special events
Canthan New Year 20072008200920102011201220132014 onward
April Fools' Day 20072008200920102011201220132014 onward
Anniversary Celebration 2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th-14th15th onward
Dragon Festival 20062007 (Redux) • 2008200920102011201220132014 onward
Wintersday in July 2008200920102011201220132014 onward
Halloween 2005200620072008 (Redux) • 200920102011201220132014 onward
Wintersday 20052006200720082009 (Redux) • 2010201120122013 onward
Other annual events Breast Cancer Awareness MonthLucky Treats WeekPirate Week
Special Treats WeekSweet Treats WeekWayfarer's Reverie
One-time only events Day of the TenguFarewell to Gaile