View source for Winter Event

{{Past event}}<br/>
The '''Winter Event'''<ref>The Winter Event was based around the Japanese PC/PS2 servers' [http://phantasystaruniverse.jp/event/1st/ 1st Anniversary Thanks Festa].</ref> was a special event which began [[Updates/January_2008#Update_035|January 11, 2008]] and ran until [[Updates/February_2008#Update_038|February 1, 2008]] for the PC/PS2 servers and [[Updates/February_2008#Update_039|February 8, 2008]] for the Xbox 360 servers<ref>The Winter Event lasted one extra week on the Xbox 360 servers due to a delay in [[Updates/February_2008#Update_038|update 038]] which was caused by a necessary title update not being certified by Microsoft in time.</ref>.  Presented to the GUARDIANS as thanks for all of their hard work over the past year, this event featured two missions, both set in VR simulations based around popular missions from past events such as [[Operation Firebreak]] and the [[1Up Platinum Cup]] as well as a variety of free, party and story missions.  As an added bonus, item drop rates were increased by 250% while EXP payout was boosted throughout the missions based on performance, with a maximum boost of 350%!  Furthermore, rare enemy encounter rates were increased and the number of boxes that appeared after a boss fight were doubled.

== Event missions ==
There were two missions available during the Winter Event.  Initially, only one mission was available per week, however both missions were made accessible starting with the third week and lasting for the duration of the event.
* [[The Protectors α]]
* [[The Protectors β]]

== Mission overview ==
During the first week of the Winter Event, just [[The Protectors α]] was available, only to be replaced by [[The Protectors β]] in the second week.  The third week reintroduced the initial mission to run alongside the second for the remainder of the event.  These two missions were VR simulations created by Holupe Dence as a training program for future GUARDIANS recruits.  Blocks of each mission were based around areas from past events like [[Operation Firebreak]] and the [[1Up Platinum Cup]]; others were borrowed from various free, party and story missions.

The objective of each Winter Event mission was to collect chips which were scattered throughout the levels.  Both missions had a choice of two routes to take, and each route had 10 chips to collect.  Your final grade at the end of each mission was directly affected by the number of chips you collected.  Furthermore, displayed on the right side of the screen was a meter represented by empty and solid stars.  These served as indicators of your current EXP boost.  Each mission began with a 200% EXP boost and continued to climb while progressing through the mission, usually maxing out at 300% by the time the second boss was reached.  The maximum boost of 350% was obtainable only by receiving a rare map.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Stars !! EXP boost
|-
| ★★☆☆☆ || 200% EXP
|-
| ★★★☆☆ || 250% EXP
|-
| ★★★★☆ || 300% EXP
|-
| ★★★★★ || 350% EXP
|}

== External links ==
* [http://www.phantasystaruniverse.com/news_item.php?item=nid20 Official event announcement]
* [http://phantasystaruniverse.jp/event/1st/ Japanese 1st Anniversary Thanks Festa site]

== Reference notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Major events]]