Destiny 2’s Solstice of Heroes event adds new armor and a shotgun

Solstice of Heroes, Destiny 2’s summer celebration event, will return this year on July 6. Bungie announced the holiday’s return in a post on its website. The event will run until Aug. 3, and players will be able to earn some new goodies to celebrate summer in the Last City. This comes after after the final Season of the Splicer mission, which Bungie launched on June 29. It’s notable that, in the screenshot above, the Tower is shown in the day time, whereas it has been mired in darkness since early May.

As usual, the Solstice of Heroes event revolves around acquiring and upgrading special armor sets. Players will get low-ranking armor at the start of the event and slowly improve it by performing various tasks throughout the Destiny world. The daily rotating element is back this year — asking players to use a certain subclass for combat benefits — meaning players can charge up Stasis for the first time.

Image: Bungie

Many of the armor tasks will take players into the European Aerial Zone, a returning activity from Solstice of Heroes events past. Players can matchmake into the holiday-only zone, where they’ll battle as many minibosses as possible before taking on the mode’s primary boss. Once all the enemies are done, Guardians will have a small window to collect a group of chests scattered around the space. It’s unclear how or if the European Aerial Zone will change this year.

Armor isn’t the only thing up for grabs during Solstice of Heroes this year. Players can unlock a Solstice of Heroes-themed Legendary shotgun by playing the event. There’s also an unlockable Exotic Ghost shell players can earn. Those that start the initial quest will get a special emblem, and fans who fully complete an armor set can purchase a real-life Solstice of Heroes shirt from Bungie’s store.

Image: Bungie

As is always the case with Destiny 2’s holiday events, the Eververse store will be packed with goodies. This includes some pretty adorable-looking Ghost shells modeled after inflatable sea critters and a Ghost shell wearing a floppy sun hat. The Eververse will also sell Universal Ornaments that glow based on the Guardian’s subclass.

Guardians can also make their Solstice armor glow just by playing the game, but it’s unclear if this glow is different or the same. In previous years, the earnable glows were a universal white color, while the Eververse glows changed colors based on the player’s current element.