The March 2026 Returning Costume Celebration runs from March 26 post-maintenance through May 6, 2026 at 23:59 UTC+8. Every player gets a free Returning Costume Voucher (redeems any S/A-rarity returning costume at zero cost), two 50% Off Cards, and three 388-Echo Discount Coupons. All characters are free to use during the event.
Claim the Voucher first. It's worth up to 2,888 Echoes and dies hard on May 6 — no grace period, no extension.
What This Event Actually Is
This is NetEase's periodic archive revival: vaulted costumes return to the Fragment shop alongside a free-reward package built to lower the barrier for returning and active players alike. It's not gacha. Every major reward is either free or fixed-price, which makes planning simple once you know the rules.
Who benefits most:
Players missing one or two specific S-tier costumes from past seasons — the Voucher handles one for free
Returning players (6+ months away) — free character access removes the I can't test this hunter barrier
Veterans who own everything: the Voucher converts to 8,000 Fragments as a fallback — useful, but not the jackpot
Maintenance window: March 26, 08:00–10:30 UTC+8. All modes online by 11:00 UTC+8. Unpatched clients are forced offline after 10:30 — update immediately.
Every Free Reward, Fully Listed
Core Event Package
Daily Login Rewards
Log in each day through the event interface (not auto-claimed) and you'll receive:
A-rarity Accessory Unlock Card
888 Inspirations
1,888 Clues
Missing a day means losing that day's stack permanently.
Fragment Packages (Limit 1 Each, March 26–May 6)
Both are genuinely good value — standard Fragment pricing makes 6,888 Fragments cost significantly more than 980 Echoes at market rate. Buy both if you have any costume targets in the returning roster.
Concurrent Sub-Events
Visitor From Beyond Investigation (March 26–April 22, 23:59 UTC+8): Daily Battle Task completions reward Clues, Fragments, and Spyglasses that feed into event shop exchanges. This ends two weeks before the main event — front-load those tasks. Don't ignore it because it looks minor.
Manor's Secret Rite runs the full duration (March 26–May 6) with additional parallel rewards.
The Four Deadline Layers — Don't Confuse Them
Most guides treat this as a single-deadline event. It isn't. Confusing these layers will cost you real value.
The most dangerous misconception: players see the Echo Coupons expire May 31 and assume they have extra time for everything. They don't. The Voucher and 50% Off Cards die May 6 with zero grace period.
Countdown Strategy
Week 1 (March 26–April 1): Claim Voucher, identify target costume, buy both Fragment packages, start Visitor From Beyond daily tasks, redeem active codes
Weeks 2–4 (April 2–April 22): Complete Visitor From Beyond before April 22 cutoff; use 50% Off Cards on second and third costume targets
Final stretch (April 23–May 6): Use remaining 50% Off Cards; claim all daily login rewards; don't let May 6 pass with an unused Voucher
May 7–31: Echo Coupons still valid — apply to any S/A costume Echo purchases in this window
Echo Coupon Guide: What They Do and How to Stack Them
Echo Coupons are not event shop currency and not Echoes. They're discount instruments applied at the point of purchase — each deducts 388 Echoes from any S/A-rarity costume bought with Echoes.
Three coupons = 1,164 Echoes saved. On an S-tier priced at 2,888 Echoes, stacking all three brings the cost to 1,724 Echoes — a 40% reduction on one purchase, or spread across three separate A-tier buys.
One confirmed restriction: official patch notes exclude first-week combo purchases. If a costume is bundled in a launch-week promotional package, the coupon won't apply. Use them on standard-priced purchases instead.
Voucher vs. 50% Off Card vs. Echo Coupon
Optimal order: Voucher on your highest-value unowned S-tier returning costume. Then 50% Off Cards on the next two S/A returning targets. Then Echo Coupons on whatever S/A purchases you make through May 31.
If you already own all returning costumes: the Voucher gives 8,000 Fragments, the 50% Off Cards become irrelevant for returning stock. Pivot — use Echo Coupons on new S/A releases in April or May before May 31.
You cannot stack a 50% Off Card with an Echo Coupon on the same transaction. Use them separately.
Which Costumes Are Returning in March 2026?
Returning ONCE Series — A-Rarity (18 Costumes)
Survivors: Doctor Recovery, Violinist Devil's Symphony, Geisha Chintz, Photographer Hangover, Embalmer Blindspot, Mechanic Fine-Tuning, Entomologist Flower of the Wasteland, Lawyer Weight of Justice, Disciple Prayer Among the Flowers, Cowboy Tidings of Spring
Hunters: The Ripper Good Child, Grave Keeper Epitaph, First Officer Departure Date, Mad Eyes Measurer, Bloody Queen Promised Day, Prisoner Graduation Day, Hermit Orientation Day, Hell Ember Not For Sale
All 18 are A-rarity, priced at 1,388 Echoes or 4,888 Fragments at standard rates.
Returning Ivory Tower Series — B-Rarity (28 Costumes)
Includes Doctor Model Student and Perfumer Regal Maiden among 28 B-rarity costumes. B-rarity items don't qualify for the Voucher or 50% Off Cards — prioritize S/A targets with those tools.
Rarity Quick Reference
Always apply the Voucher to an S-tier if you have one unowned. The Fragment savings (12,888 vs. 0) dwarf the 8,000 Fragment fallback by 4,888 Fragments — roughly one full A-tier costume worth of difference.
The Fragment Fallback Trap (What Most Guides Miss)
If you own all applicable returning costumes, the Voucher converts to 8,000 Fragments when used. That sounds acceptable — until you check whether you're actually missing one S-tier.
Near-complete collectors who own 17 of 18 returning costumes sometimes assume the Voucher is basically just Fragments anyway and delay using it. But if that 18th costume is an S-tier, the Voucher saves 12,888 Fragments — not 8,000. The difference is 4,888 Fragments, equivalent to one full A-tier costume.
Check your costume archive before May 6. If even one S-tier returning costume is missing, use the Voucher on it. The Fragment fallback is a consolation prize, not the target.
Is It Worth Spending Echoes Here?
The F2P ceiling is genuinely high. Active grinding through dailies, weeklies, and Logic Path generates roughly 3,500–4,000 Echoes per month. Over 41 days, that's approximately 4,700–5,300 Echoes from pure gameplay — enough to cover both Fragment packages (1,140 Echoes total) with budget remaining.
Active March 2026 Codes (Redeem Immediately — Limited Quantity)
Note: community reports conflict — some sources confirmed queenbee1127 and 27026 active as of March 22; others reported zero active codes the same day. Limited-quantity codes expire within hours. Redeem immediately.
How to redeem: Go to identityvgame.com/card/en/index.html → select your server (Asia or EU-NA) → enter your Player ID (Lobby > Settings > Account). Rewards arrive in mailbox within 5–10 minutes. Most common failure: server mismatch — your server is fixed at registration.
Redeem codes before any top-up purchases. Free Echoes from codes count toward cumulative recharge thresholds (like the 10,000 Echo milestone for 1 Spark), so stacking them first maximizes threshold progress.
The 300–550 Echoes from codes cover 20–40% of a single A-tier costume. Not transformative, but meaningful when combined with the Voucher and discount cards.
Minimum Paid Investment for Next-Tier Value
The Fragment packages are the clearest paid value play: 1,140 Echoes total for 8,776 Fragments — enough to craft one A-tier costume and bank the rest. If you're targeting a specific S-tier you don't own, the Voucher handles it free, so paid spending is most justified for a second S-tier target after the 50% Off Card is applied.
For players looking to top up before the May 6 deadline, Identity V Echoes cheap top up March 2026 discount coupon options are available through BitTopup with competitive pricing and fast delivery.
Day 1 Checklist & The 5 Mistakes to Avoid
March 26 After 11:00 UTC+8
Install the patch before 10:30 — unpatched clients are forced offline
Open the event interface and claim your Returning Costume Voucher
Browse returning costumes; identify your highest-priority unowned S-tier target
Apply the Voucher immediately if you have a clear target
Purchase both Fragment packages (limit 1 each)
Redeem all active March codes at the official portal
Start Visitor From Beyond daily Battle Tasks
The 5 Most Common Mistakes
1. Treating May 6 and May 31 as the same deadline. They're not. Voucher and 50% Off Cards die May 6. Echo Coupons survive to May 31.
2. Saving the Voucher for later. There is no later. Players who wait until May 5 often make suboptimal choices under pressure — or forget entirely.
3. Using the Voucher on a B-rarity Ivory Tower costume. It won't apply. Voucher is S/A-rarity only.
4. Skipping Visitor From Beyond. It ends April 22. Daily Clues, Fragments, and Spyglasses compound over 27 days. Missing the first week is a real loss.
5. Applying Echo Coupons to first-week combo purchases. Official patch notes explicitly exclude these. The coupon won't apply — it's not a bug.
Character Day Events (April 2–5)
Three Character Days run April 2 (with second rounds April 3–5): Orpheus (Novelist/Nightmare), Grace (Naiad), and Qi Shiyi (Antiquarian). Prior participants receive returning-participant bonuses — check your event history to confirm eligibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Echo Coupons expire when the main event ends May 6? No. The three 388-Echo Discount Coupons expire May 31, 2026 at 23:59 UTC+8 — 25 days after the main event closes. Use them on any S/A-rarity Echo purchase through May 31, excluding first-week combo deals.
What happens to unused Vouchers and 50% Off Cards after May 6? They expire with no conversion and no compensation. The Voucher converts to 8,000 Fragments only if used before the deadline — not if it expires unused. Unused 50% Off Cards disappear entirely.
Can I join late and still get the main rewards? Yes — the Voucher, 50% Off Cards, and Echo Coupons are claimable through May 6. But you'll miss daily login rewards for days you weren't logged in, and Visitor From Beyond ends April 22, so joining after that date means losing those Fragment and Clue rewards.
Are these returning costumes available permanently after May 6? No. The Returning ONCE Series designation means these are vaulted items on a limited window. Once May 6 passes, they go back to the archive. NetEase runs periodic returning events, but there's no confirmed schedule for when specific costumes will appear again.
Is the Super Fragment Package worth buying if I already own most returning costumes? Yes. 6,888 Fragments for 980 Echoes is below standard market rate regardless of your collection status. Bank the Fragments for future releases or use them toward Ivory Tower B-rarity costumes. It's limit-1 and doesn't require a specific target to justify.
The March 2026 Returning Costume Celebration is one of Identity V's more generous event structures — but only if you treat the multiple deadlines as separate planning targets. Claim the Voucher early, front-load Visitor From Beyond before April 22, and let the Echo Coupons work through May 31 on whatever S/A purchases you make after the main event closes. The F2P ceiling here is real. Use it.