Diablo Immortal’s Tong-Shi’s Renewal Update: What’s Really Coming!

ECHO Gaming Staff January 20, 2025 Gaming Diablo 1 month ago

TL;DR (Updated): The official Diablo Immortal patch notes for the Lunar New Year are here! While rumors from the Chinese server mentioned a Hearthstone crossover, extended auto-combat, and new servers, these features are not listed in the official Western patch update. Instead, prepare for the Tong-Shi’s Renewal limited-time event, Gem Surge, the Celestial Serpents Phantom Market, balance changes, returning events, and more. Here’s a rundown of everything Blizzard confirmed.

Background: Original Chinese Server News vs. Official Western Patch Notes

Our initial report came from news circulating on the Chinese Diablo Immortal servers. These notes suggested a Hearthstone crossover, brand-new servers for the Year of the Snake, and an extended auto-combat feature. However, Blizzard’s official Western patch notes do not confirm these specific updates for our region. Below, we’ll correct the record and outline what is actually coming, according to Blizzard's A Gilded Dawn: Tong Shi’s Renewal patch announcement (dated January 20, 2025).

What Was Rumored But Isn’t in the Western Notes

Hearthstone and Diablo Crossover Event: While the Chinese patch notes teased a collaboration with Hearthstone (cards, books, gifts), Blizzard’s official Western notes make no mention of a Hearthstone crossover event at this time.
Extended Auto-Combat: The Chinese server mentioned auto-combat extended up to one hour. The Western update focuses instead on “Helpful Familiars” for bounties and does not mention an hour-long auto-battle.
New Server (Year of the Snake): The official patch notes do not list a new server release or special server-wide gifts. That appears specific to the Chinese region’s celebration.

Of course, Blizzard can release region-specific or future surprise events at any time, so if these rumored features do arrive on Western servers, we’ll provide an update.

Official Lunar New Year Update: Tong-Shi’s Renewal

According to Blizzard, the Lunar New Year festivities revolve around the Tong-Shi’s Renewal event, celebrating the new year in Sanctuary. Here’s what you can expect:

Tong-Shi’s Renewal Limited-Time Event

Event Duration: January 22, 3:00 a.m.–February 13, 2:59 a.m. server time.
Players can complete up to five daily tasks (Dungeons, Elder Rifts, slaying elite monsters, Bounties, and hunting Jingun) to earn Red Bags and Tseym.
Red Bags can be gifted to friends or your Clan and reward everyone involved with in-game goodies.
Tseym can be contributed for random rewards such as Gold, Scrap, Dust, or even a Legendary Item.
If you miss a log-in day, you can complete a special quest to claim your missed rewards.

Jingun, Eater of Mountains

Adventurers can team up to track the massive Jingun. Completing a daily task to find “Signs of Jingun” yields currency rewards, and defeating Jingun grants a Telluric Pearl and Legendary Items on the first takedown (plus Red Bags on subsequent victories).

Lunar New Year Fractured Plane

The Fractured Plane event returns with two potential builds to pick from, plus randomized affixes/modifiers similar to Elder Rifts, offering a fresh challenge.

New Limited-Time Event: Gem Surge

The Gem Surge runs from January 22, 3 a.m. server time–February 13, 2:59 a.m. server time. Earning Polished Jade via Crests, Phantom Market purchases, or Phantom Gallery draws lets you upgrade your Legendary Gems from 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 Quality. There is a total of 22 Polished Jade available throughout the event—just enough to push a 5-Star Legendary Gem to full 5 quality if you plan wisely.

Tong-Shi’s Gem Trial

During the event, you can try max-powered versions of specific Legendary Gems (Golden Firmament, Roiling Consequence, Maw of the Deep, Stormvault, Heart of the Wolf) for three hours of online play. This allows you to experiment with high-level gem builds without fully investing resources.

Celestial Serpents Phantom Market

The Celestial Serpents Cosmetic Set is this year’s festive cosmetic, obtained by purchasing random draws with Obols. You’re guaranteed all available items after 10 draws. Leftover Obols convert to Platinum once the event ends (February 18, 2:59 a.m. server time). The set also includes an optional Tempering and Polishing system to visually enhance your Serpents and add special finishing effects.

Helpful Familiars

While the Chinese patch notes mention extended auto-combat, the official notes simply say: During the Tong-Shi’s Renewal event, your Familiars can help complete Bounty tasks! This is a handy quality-of-life boost if you’re juggling multiple in-game chores.

Balance Changes

Several class skill changes have been implemented:

Barbarian: Skills like Undying Rage, Chained Spear (Cracklefell), Hammer of the Ancients (Breaker’s Wheel), and Whirlwind (Grimroost) have adjusted damage, duration, or life stats.
Demon Hunter: Skills such as Escape (Agony’s Specter) and Knockback Shot (Duplicitous Prophetics) received range and distance buffs, among others.
Necromancer: Skeletal Mage (Black Wall) sees a 22% damage increase.
Tempest and Wizard also gain select damage boosts.

Returning Events

Blizzard has scheduled a rotation of returning limited-time events. Here’s the quick list with their respective dates:

Tong Shi’s Renewal Fractured Plane: January 22 – January 29, and again January 29 – February 5
Alley of Blood: January 24 – January 31
All Clans on Deck: January 25 – February 1
Trial of the Hordes: January 31 – February 7
Into the Dark Wood (7-Day Event): February 1 – February 8
Tong Shi’s Survivor’s Bane: February 5 – February 13
Conqueror: February 7 – February 14
Hungering Moon: February 8 – February 15

Feature Updates and Quality-of-Life Changes

Resonance Cap Increase: The maximum Resonance from embedded Legendary Gems is now 13,024, granting a new tier of Resonance Wings at 13,000.
Monster Density Boost: Dark Wood and Ancient’s Cradle have higher monster density and faster respawns.
Conditional Drop Rate: If you go 30 Eternal/Legendary Crests without a 5-Star Gem, you’ll receive a boosted drop rate beginning on the 31st crest, culminating in a guaranteed 5-Star Gem on the 50th.
UI Improvements: Armory filters, ring orientation in inventory, a “mute cinematic” option, multiple set-item dismantling, and stacked Immortal Sigil turn-ins are now live.
Two Additional Stash Tabs: Purchase up to two more stash tabs with Platinum (2,000 each).
Necromancer Summons Fixes: Rare despawn issues have been resolved.

Everything Confirmed That Wasn’t Mentioned Before

Tong-Shi’s Renewal Fractured Plane: A special version of Fractured Plane returns twice during the event window, featuring new build paths and random affixes.
All Clans on Deck: A limited-time event focusing on collective clan activities to earn extra rewards.
Trial of the Hordes & Into the Dark Wood: Time-limited challenges pushing players into repeatable content for special loot.
Tong-Shi’s Survivor’s Bane & Conqueror: Themed events offering tasks and progression-based rewards.
Hungering Moon Return: The classic recurring event for Moonslivers and Blessings is part of the rotation.
Gem Surge and Conditional Drop Rates: Blizzard’s major focus for gem progression, allowing players to push their Legendary Gems to higher quality with better odds.
Balance Tweaks: Multiple classes have skill damage/duration changes, ensuring a fresh meta for the new year.

Our Updated Thoughts

While early information from the Chinese Diablo Immortal patch notes hinted at some flashy additions—like the Hearthstone tie-in and hour-long auto battles—those are not confirmed for Western servers. Instead, Blizzard’s official patch focuses on Tong-Shi’s Renewal, Gem Surge, Celestial Serpents Phantom Market, and a hefty set of balance and quality-of-life updates.

We’re excited about the improved gem-upgrade options, new cosmetics, and returning events like the Fractured Plane. And for all the would-be bounty farmers, having Familiars complete tasks will be a welcome time-saver, if only for the limited duration of the Tong-Shi event. We’ll keep an eye out for any surprise announcements or updates regarding the rumored features from the Chinese version.

Wrapping Up

Diablo Immortal’s Lunar New Year festivities kick off on January 22 and run through mid-February. Whether you’re diving into the returning events, chasing that guaranteed 5-Star Gem via the Conditional Drop Rate, or just unveiling the new Celestial Serpents Cosmetic, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into. Stay tuned for more updates if Blizzard decides to sprinkle in any surprises from the Chinese patch—until then, enjoy Tong-Shi’s Renewal!