Wind Chaser Departure event guide

The Wind Chaser's Departure journey event runs from September 25 to December 10. The Irisalis event covers the same window: 75 days, starting September 25th and ending December 10th.

That is a long season, and you need it, because the main reward comes at the end of a quest chain rather than from one login. You can start late and still finish, but the Petals come from quest progress, so the sooner you begin, the less you have to cram near the end.

There is also a server-wide progression track that every participating player feeds. It needs 200 million total points. Your own play adds to it, but nobody finishes it alone.

The Wind Chaser's Departure Anipod guarantees a Sparkling appearance. Any Aniimo you capture with this premium pod is Sparkling. Nothing is rolled and there is no bad luck to sit through. You get one guaranteed result for one craft.

The pod also grants an exclusive Windchaser seasonal effect, so a catch made with it carries a mark of this event on top of being Sparkling.

Because the guarantee is tied to the pod and not to any particular creature, decide what to throw it at before you craft it. It is the most valuable thing the event gives you, so don't spend it on whatever happens to be standing nearby.

Iris Petals are the event currency. You earn them by progressing through the journey quests of the Wind Chaser's Departure. The quest chain is the supply, so Petals arrive as you move through the story of the event rather than from grinding one activity.

The catch is the order. You can only spend Iris Petals on the legendary Wind Chaser's Departure Anipod after you have crafted the Irisalis Anipod. Craft the Irisalis pod first, then put your Petals toward the legendary one.

The wider crafting system, including how pod tiers and legendary recipes work in general, has its own guides on this site. For this event, all you need to know is that Petals come from journey quests and the Irisalis pod comes first.

The event pod guarantees one Sparkling. The Wind Chaser badge raises your odds of finding more in the open world, but where it applies is not settled. It is described both as a bonus across the whole map and as a bonus limited to Breezy Plains.

What is given for the Breezy Plains version is specific. The badge's first stage raises open-world Sparkling and Umbral spawn rates by about 50%, to roughly 1 in 13,000 for Sparkling and roughly 1 in 2,000 for Umbral.

If you want to hunt for Sparkling the normal way during the event, Breezy Plains is the safe choice, because both versions of the bonus cover it. Even boosted, those are long odds, which is exactly why the guaranteed pod is the headline reward.

Completing daily activities awards experience toward the seasonal battle pass, so your daily list is worth clearing on days you don't touch the journey quests.

One daily trips people up. The photo event objective does not complete just because you take a photo. You have to interact with the check-in point. If the objective hasn't ticked over, go back and use the check-in point.

If you lose track of where anything is, press F1. It opens the navigation menu, the traveler guide and the Companion Manual.

06Where to start

Start the journey quests early and bank Iris Petals as they come in. Craft the Irisalis Anipod first, then the legendary Wind Chaser's Departure Anipod, and save it for the Aniimo you most want Sparkling. Everything has to be done by December 10. Clear your dailies along the way for battle pass experience, and use the check-in point for the photo objective.