In Destiny 2, the summer event “Sunsinger’s Solstice” will start shortly. With it, Bungie is slowly winding down the second year before the big autumn expansion Shadowkeep kicks off the third year in October. Here you will find out how the event unfolds, what rewards there are, and what else is new in it.
What is the Sunsinger’s Solstice all about? The now second Sunsinger’s Solstice is a seasonal summer event with which Destiny 2 concludes its second year. As part of this event, Guardians can reflect on and celebrate their previous achievements before the release of Shadowkeep.
When does the event take place? The Sunsinger’s Solstice is part of Season 7. It starts on Tuesday, July 30, and runs until August 27. The major autumn expansion Shadowkeep will be released on October 1, ushering in the third year of Destiny 2.
Who can participate? All owners of Destiny 2 can participate, regardless of additional content.
Watch the trailer for Sunsinger’s Solstice 2019 here:
What to expect at the Sunsinger’s Solstice 2019
This is how the event unfolds: This year, the event runs differently with some new features.
The celebrations begin with Eva Levante in the Tower, who waits for you by the Statue of Heroes. You will then complete various tasks, including the brand-new activity “Combat Meditations”, to upgrade your event armor and turn it into a masterpiece.
Each day, a different element – Arc, Void, or Solar – will be in focus, bringing fresh energy to activities. By getting elemental kills, you will create elemental orbs. You need to collect these orbs not only to complete certain tasks within the summer event and upgrade your event armor, but by picking up these orbs, you can also activate powerful elemental buffs.
This is how the elemental buffs work: Elemental kills with a specific element (through weapons and abilities) produce corresponding elemental orbs. If you collect 30 orbs matching the element of the day, you can deploy a limited-time buff that affects differently depending on the element:
- Solar Buff: You unleash a burning wave of energy that damages everything around you.
- Void Buff: If you crouch, you become invisible and gain True Sight (see opponent silhouettes through walls). Additionally, ability regeneration is improved.
- Arc Buff: You can move faster and deal higher melee and sword damage.
These effects last only for a short time and expire if you die. After that, you must collect another 30 orbs again. These buffs are not active in competitive PvP or Gambit Prime.
This is the new activity “Combat Meditations”: It is a new PvE activity with matchmaking designed for three players. You start it in the Tower or via the Navigator and are then sent to a completely new area on Earth – the European Air Zone (ELZ). As the name suggests, this location is set on a kind of floating islands.
Here you will face off against the Hive, Cabal, and Fallen. The goal is to eliminate as many mini-bosses as possible before time runs out. Once the time is up, you will face a final boss. After you send this boss to the virtual afterlife, you can scour the ELZ for treasures. The more mini-bosses you have defeated beforehand, the more treasure chests will await you to be found.
The Rewards from the Sunsinger’s Solstice
Sunsinger Packages: From the chests at the end of the Combat Meditations, you will receive Sunsinger packages. These can be opened with Sunsinger key fragments, which you receive by completing any activities during the summer event.
The packages include
- Rare and Legendary Gear
- Enhancement Cores
- Materials
Once you have earned the Legendary Sunsinger Armor, you will receive additional armor from the Sunsinger packages, allowing you to grind for rolls with improved perks.
Event Armors: As part of the Sunsinger’s Solstice, you will receive an event armor set. Like last year, you need to bring this from the empty, unusual state to the renewed rare state by completing various tasks.
At the end of the upgrade process, the majestic, legendary set awaits you.
For perfectionists, there is also the opportunity to unlock the masterpiece version of the set by completing further tasks.
By the way, if you manage to collect all legendary Sunsinger sets for all three Guardian classes, you will receive the “EV-37 Void Glider” as a reward.
The special thing about this year’s event armor: While the armor from last year became quickly obsolete due to the Forsaken release and the accompanying changes, you will be able to use the armor from the 2019 event fully in Shadowkeep.
It will even be the first armor set compatible with the new “Armor 2.0” system. Every complete Legendary Sunsinger set you earn during the summer event will be waiting for you in its 2.0 version at the gunsmith after the release of Shadowkeep.
Eververse Rewards: Even in the Sunsinger’s Solstice 2019, the Eververse will offer numerous thematically inspired rewards like sparrows, ships, ghost shells, or emotes for you. However, there will be a significant change regarding the Eververse rewards.
This year, there are no more event-specific engrams from which you receive the event rewards. Instead, you will be able to buy every single item directly – using silver (real money currency) and glimmer (in-game currency). Every event-specific item will be guaranteed to be available for glimmer at some point during the event.
Additionally, you will receive various armor glow effects for the Sunsinger armor sets through the Eververse. These effects can be equipped with any event set and shine brightest when your focus element matches the element of the glow. They will also remain available beyond the summer event and can be used afterwards. You will be able to buy entire glow effect sets with silver or glimmer through the Eververse.
New Triumphs: As part of the Sunsinger’s Solstice, the last two Triumphs for the Moments of Triumph 2019 can also be earned. Since these are tied to the summer event, it was not previously possible to complete the Moments of Triumph fully.
What do you think of this summer event? Are you in? How do you find the armors?
