Diablo 4’s first seasonal event, Midwinter Blight, has officially begun, and with it comes several new cosmetics and rewards for players to earn, including a new Aspect that players can apply to their gear.
The Shard of Dawn is a new Aspect that gives players some extra speed in their movement and attacks and includes some extra flavor that makes it work with a seasonal mechanic called the Midwinter Ward. To help you figure out the best way to use this Aspect and get some details on its quirks, we’ve put together this guide on the Shard of Dawn Aspect, its effects, and some suggestions on how to work it into your build.
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What is The Shard of Dawn Legendary Aspect In Diablo 4?
The Shard of Dawn is an Offensive Aspect that players can purchase during the MIdwinter Blight event in Diablo 4. This Aspect has the following effect:
After 30 seconds of Night’s Grasp, gain Dawn’s Haste, increasing your Attack Speed by [25 – 35]% and Movement Speed by 20% for 12 seconds. While empowered by the Midwinter Ward, killing an enemy reduces Night’s Grasp’s duration by 1 second.
Since the Aspect includes effects players will not have heard of before, I’ll explain what it does in simple terms. In essence, every 30 seconds, you will get the Dwan’s Haste buff, which gives you the Attack and Movement Speed buffs for 12 seconds. After that time, you will need to wait for the buff to be reactivated. However, if you have the Midwinter Ward buff on, which will explain momentarily, you can reduce this cooldown with every kill and effectively cause this effect to be a permanent buff to your character.
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This Aspect can be purchased from Gileon, the events merchant, for 10 Midwinter Proofs, an item you earn through exchanging materials during the event and from killing Blighted Enemies. This Aspect can only be purchased during the event, but any you purchase and do not use will persist after the event, so you can stock up and keep a few if you want to use the Aspect later.
What is Midwinter Ward?
Midwinter Ward is a buff player can earn in World Tier III after reaching Tier three in the Midwinter Tribute Tiers. This buff is activated by interacting with the Tribute in Kyovashad and provides you with a buff to your damage against event-specific enemies, meaning you can blast through the Blighted quicker and work towards earning the event rewards faster.
Additionally, this effect makes your Shard of Dawn a much more effective Aspect, as with each kill, the cooldown is reduced and essentially becomes a permanent buff that will make you attack and move much faster.
What Builds Should Use the Shard of Dawn Aspect?
Without the Midwinter Ward buff, this Aspect loses some of its luster since, while the benefits are good, waiting for the effects to activate isn’t very beneficial to a good amount of builds. With that said, it can be a good option if you need a little extra Attack and Movement Speed or to fill a gap in your build should you need a little extra power.
In truth, this Aspect works well with a few of the Vampiric Powers featured in Season of Blood, namely Ravenous, which, on a Lucky Hit, has up to a 20% chance to increase your Attack Speed by 40% of your Movement Speed for six seconds. There is also Moonrise, which puts you into a rage that increases Basic Skill damage by 160% and Movement Speed by 15% for 10 Seconds. These, along with a couple of Aspects like Rapid, Wind Striker, and some class-specific Movement and Attack Speed options, can make it viable, at least during the event.
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If you do have the buff, this can be a helpful Aspect to use during the event if you plan to farm for all the rewards since you can kill and move around the area faster and earn the materials quicker. In my case, I play a Rogue, and while playing around with this Aspect, I’ve paired it with Rapid and the aforementioned Vampiric Powers, and it has been great for grinding out seasonal materials. I personally think that’s its best use, but I can imagine players will find ways to use this Aspect to their advantage as they get their hands on it.
