What does the Destiny 2 Sundial activity entail? Destiny 2’s Season of Dawn has launched and at its centre lies a mysterious time machine, and the Red Legion want to capture it for their own use. This magnificent monument was created by Osiris in an attempt to save Saint-14, but it was unsuccessful.
But in the Season of Dawn, the Sundial serves another purpose: it gives us a new activity. So I'm here to talk you through its ins and outs, up and downs, and give you the tips and tricks needed to see you through.
The Sundial sees a team of six Guardians attempting to score enough points from various challenges to reach a final boss. Much like The Menagerie, the encounters can rotate and the speed at which you can complete an encounter is tied to your performance in each wave. It appears so far that you'll need to complete a minimum of two waves after the ascent.
How do you unlock the Destiny 2 Sundial?
First you need to complete a few quest steps to get the Sundial working. When the new season starts Ikora sends you on the Destiny 2 A Matter of Time quest, which starts with a visit to Mercury and a chat with Osiris in front of the Sundial. The quest involves some resource farming and some trips to the Tangled Shore, but it eventually leads you back to a now-accessible Sundial activity.
How to tackle each Sundial encounter
There are four encounters that I'm currently aware of in the Sundial, excluding the boss. You may not see all of these encounters if you perform well, but it’s important to know how to tackle each one.
- Ascent: This is your bog standard opening encounter. There’s no real potential to lose points and there’s no tier. Just kill everything in front of you and activate the Sundial.
- Bombardment: The goal of Bombardment is to kill shielded enemies around the outskirts to obtain relics. You then throw these relics at a mini boss enemy in the centre of the arena to lower their shields. The more enemies in the centre you kill within the allotted five minutes, the harder the encounter becomes.
- Datamine: This is a King of the Hill-style challenge in which players need to sit and capture a designated point. While they are charging the point, a series of enemies will attack them while Psion Commanders spawn in the background. When the Psions spawn, they prevent progress. The only way to defeat them is by punching them, similar to the Leviathan raid. After capturing the first point, a mini boss spawns. Killing it spawns two further points that operate in the same way.
- Gatecrash: The fourth non-boss phase requires you to kill Vex minotaurs holding Arc Charges: you must deposit those charges in vessels at the opposite sides of the map. After banking three, a mini boss spawns before more Vex Minotaurs to spawn again. this lets you repeat the charge process.
Sundial bosses
With the Season of Dawn content in the Destiny 2 roadmap in mind, there are four possible end bosses: Niruul, Ozletec, Tazaroc, and Inotam. It’s not currently known if these bosses will have different arenas, but this guide will be updated if that's the case. So far, here's how to beat Niruul.
Niruul works largely like any other boss in Destiny 2: it hits hard, has a mechanic that prevents you from dealing damage, and boasts a potential one-hit-kill move. As you fight it, you may get caught in a purple sphere: if you don’t escape it, you'll die. To get out, pay attention and shoot the lighter area of the bubble that captures you.
While dodging purple balls and bringing the pain to Niruul, there comes a point where it gains an impenetrable shield. Like the Datamine encounter, you must punch Psion Commanders to break the shield. The number of Psions start at one, but they will increase by one each time the boss gains a shield until you finish the encounter.
Once you beat the boss, you are transported back to the Sundial mechanism and rewarded for your efforts. This week it's the Steelfeather Repeater auto rifle and the Breachlight sidearm, but they come with randomised perks. That said, these rewards may change.
Sundial gear recommendations
This is a fairly straightforward activity, but it's important to know what you're up against. You'll likely be fighting foes with solar shields, so a solar weapon and subclass are recommended, but packing some void equipment will help against the Vex Minotaurs.
In terms of team composition, it'll help to have a wave-clearing super and some form of defensive/support super, like a Titan bubble or Warlock Well of Radiance, especially when it comes to the Datamine encounter. Finally, make sure you level up your seasonal artefact to unlock anti-barrier rounds and unstoppable rounds, and watch the Sundial rewards roll in.
