Hark! The Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes 2019 event is here. Or, at least it will be soon. Destiny 2‘s annual summer event is back to celebrate the nearing of the end of Destiny 2‘s second year. With the Destiny 2: Shadowkeep expansion on the horizon, Bungie is celebrating with Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes, allowing players to unlock unique armor, sparrows, ghosts, and other cosmetic items. Follow this guide to find out how to unlock all of Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes Year 2‘s cool goodies as well as its start time, end time, and how to get the quest started.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes start time and end time
Before we begin, you’re probably wondering: When does Solstice of Heroes start, and when does Solstice of Heroes it end? According to Bungie, the event begins on July 30 and ends on August 27. That means players will have just less than one month to collect all of the items listed above.
Is Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes free?
According to Bungie, all Destiny 2 players will be able to participate in the event, so it seems even those who do not own Destiny 2: Forsaken will be able to earn the new gear. Additionally, Destiny 2: Forsaken‘s Gambit will be made available for all players during Solstice of Heroes, so players who do not own Forsaken will be able to play the expansions PvPvE mode, as well.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes Quest | How to start the Solstice of Heroes quest
When players log into Destiny 2 during the Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes event, they’ll find a newly decorated Tower, complete with a statue of three Guardians called the Statue of Heroes. Near the Statue will be quest-giver Eva Levante, who will get Guardians started on their Solstice journey.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes Armor | How to upgrade Solstice Armor
Obtaining the swanky, gold-lined Solstice armor sets is perhaps the event’s main draw, so many Guardians are wondering how to unlock the Legendary Solstice armor. This year, it works pretty similarly to how it did last year: When Guardians begin the Solstice of Heroes questline, they’ll receive a “Drained” Uncommon set of armor. This must be upgraded to the “Renewed” Rare set and then finally to the “Majestic” Legendary set. Guardians must complete a variety of objectives, some of which will be centered around collecting certain numbers of Elemental Orbs (described in the next section). Additionally, there will be a final set of objectives on the Legendary armor set in order to unlock its Masterwork version. Note that if players want to unlock the Legendary set for all three classes, they will have to do so separately, on each character. Unlocking one class’ armor set will not unlock the others’.
Additional rolls and perks can be found for Legendary Solstice armor via Solstice Packages, described in a later section of this guide.
Will Solstice of Heroes armor carry over into Year 3 and Shadowkeep?
Players of last year’s Solstice of Heroes may remember that the Legendary set earned during that event was not able to be brought into the Forsaken expansion, since it was restricted to Year 1’s armor system. Bungie listed to fans’ feedback regarding this decision and changed things up this time. Guardians who earn Legendary armor sets during this year’s Solstice of Heroes will receive an “armor 2.0” version from the Gunsmith when Destiny 2: Shadowkeep launches, allowing them to carry it forward into Year 3. It seems only those who unlock a full Legendary set will be able to acquire its 2.0 version, however, so those who only unlock the “Majestic” helmet, for example, will most likely not be able to bring it into Year 3.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes Elemental Orbs | What are they?
During the Solstice of Heroes, elemental kills will give Guardians Elemental Orbs of the corresponding elemental type (Solar, Arc, or Void). These orbs will be required to complete objectives to upgrade the Solstice of Heroes armor sets. Each day of the event will feature a daily element, and collecting 30 orbs that match that element will give Guardians a brief elemental buff, applying unique effects and allowing them to rack up more kills with that element. Below is a description of each buff’s effect:
Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes Solar Buff Effects
When the Solar buff is active, Guardians will “emit a burning wave of energy” around them, damaging nearby enemies.
Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes Arc Buff Effects
When the Arc buff is active, Guardians will have enhanced movement speed and will deal more damage with Swords and melee abilities.
Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes Void Buff Effects
When the Void buff is active, Guardians will be able to turn invisible and gain the Truesight ability, which allows them to see enemies through walls, when crouching. Guardians that crouch while buffed will also gain enhanced ability regeneration.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes new area and Combat Meditations
The Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes event introduces a new area called the European Aerial Zone, which appears to be comprised of a bunch of floating land masses with similar geography to the European Dead Zone area. Players will be sent to the EAZ during the Combat Meditations missions, a new, three-player, matchmade activity which can be launched via the Tower or the Director menu.
During Combat Meditations, players must defeat as many minibosses as they can before the time runs out. Once that happens, they’ll fight a final boss, and then explore the EAZ to find treasure chests. The more minibosses they defeat during the timed portion of the Meditation, the more chests they’ll find in the EAZ. These chests will contain Solstice Packages, described in the next section.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes Solstice Packages and Solstice Key Fragments
Solstice Packages contain Rare and Legendary gear, Enhancement Cores and materials. These packages can only be opened with Solstice Key Fragments, which are earned by completing any activity during the Solstice of Heroes event. According to Bungie, the Solstice Key Fragments function similarly to the Essence of Dawing item from Destiny 2‘s The Dawning holiday event.
Once a Guardian has earned Legendary Solstice armor, Solstice Packages will reward them with additional Legendary armor with random rolls and perks.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes Eververse Store Items and EV-37 Sparrow
Like last year’s Solstice of Heroes, this one will include a ton of unique cosmetic items to unlock, some via the in-game Eververse Store and some via other means. We’ve outlined these unlocks below.
Eververse Items
Unlike last year’s Solstice, however, this year’s Eververse cosmetics won’t be unlocked through randomized engrams. Instead, all of the Solstice of Heroes cosmetics will be directly purchasable by both the game’s Silver premium currency and Bright Dust, which is rewarded when Eververse items are destroyed.
Entire sets of armor glows will be available for purchase for the Legendary Solstice of Heroes armor sets. These glows will glow brighter when their elemental color matches the Guardian’s equipped subclass.
There are a ton of awesome items available on the Eververse, including what looks like a stubby, toy version of a Sparrow, a Sparrow that looks like a wood-clad luxury yacht, a ghost that’s wearing a single lens of a pair of sunglasses, and several emotes.
EV-37 Voidstreak Sparrow
Once players have unlocked the Legendary Solstice armor set for all three classes, Titan, Hunter, and Warlock, they will be rewarded with the unique EV-37 Voidstreak Sparrow.
Destiny 2: Forsaken Solstice of Heroes new Moments of Triumph
The Solstice of Heroes event will introduce two new Moments of Triumph challenges for Destiny 2 players, though Bungie has not detailed what these Moments of Triumph will entail. As with the other Moments of Triumph introduced earlier this month, these will likely become unavailable in August at the end of the Solstice of Heroes.
