Destiny 2's Solstice of Heroes event will give players their first shot at earning armor 2.0 sets

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Destiny 2's Solstice of Heroes event will return on July 30, and will deliver a few new twists on the celebratory format, including elemental buffs, a new zone in which to play with them, and an opportunity to earn the first of the new "armor 2.0" sets that are coming to the game in the Shadowkeep expansion.

Each day of the Solstice event will feature one of three elements—Solar, Arc, or Void—that will drop Elemental Orbs on Elemental kills. (Elementary, right?) Collecting the orbs will enable you to complete objectives to upgrade your armor, and collecting 30 orbs that match the element of the day will also apply a brief elemental buff: A burning wave of energy for Solar classes, invisibility and enhanced ability regeneration for Voids, and increased speed and melee damage for Arc classes.

Note that these buffs will not be active in Competitive play or Gambit Prime. They will, however, be active in the new European Aerial Zone. Fireteams will take on as many minibosses as they can handle within a set time limit, after which they'll face a  final boss. Once that's done, treasure chests will appear throughout the zone that contain Solstice Packages which can be opened using Solstice Key Fragments earned in any other activity during the event. The more mini-bosses you kill, the more chests you can find—and, if you do it elementally, the more Elemental Orbs you'll pick up, too.

At the start of the event players will be given Solstice of Heroes armor sets that can be upgraded from their initial "Drained" state to "Renewed" by completing various objectives for each piece in the set. Getting the full suit to Renewed will then grant you a "Majestic" Legendary set, and even more objectives which when completed will unlock the Masterwork version. 

It's a lot of work, and to ensure the effort isn't wasted Bungie has decided to make Solstice armor the first 2.0 armor set in the game: Any sets you earn during the event will be available from the Gunsmith as 2.0 versions when Shadowkeep goes live. Although the 2.0 armor system hasn't been exhaustively detailed yet, we do know that gear pieces will be able to host multiple mods, and that Intellect, Discipline and Strength stats are returning to the game in order to enable deeper, more RPG-style character builds.

Interestingly, there will not be an event engram this year; instead, all items will be offered for direct purchase with Silver and Bright Dust. Full details on this year's Solstice of Heroes event, and a look at some of the new cosmetics it will bring, are up at bungie.net.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in FPS
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
A crew of prospectors in Wildgate, featuring a robot, a rabbit man, and a small aquatic creature in a combination mech/aquarium.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's new company is putting Sea of Thieves-style shenanigans in space with a new crew-based shooter
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Fragpunk
Somebody finally figured out casual Counter-Strike
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
An image of a golden first place award from Geoguessr
'We're actually getting GeoGuessr on Steam before GTA 6': the Google Street View puzzler arrives on Valve's platform this April
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node