Destiny 2’s Solstice event has returned, but there are some big changes to this year’s event. At its core, Solstice is still a rewarding activity that can help you get armor with a desirable stat point distribution, some powerful weapons with updated properties, and some new gear like the Lucky Star Battle Bow.
You can read more below to learn how to make the most of this year’s Solstice experience, how to upgrade new armor sets, and why this year should emphasize teamwork rather than fighting alone on the map.
2024 solstice start and end dates
This year’s summer solstice is from August 8th to 27th.
How to start the 2024 solstice
Everyone’s favorite mom from Destiny 2, Eva LeVante, is in the tower social space next to the Solstice campfire. She’s right in front of you when you land, between Banshee-44 and Tess Everis’ shop, so you’ll be hard-pressed to miss her. Talk to her and she’ll give you the Solstice Forge to help you get started.
How to use the Solstice Furnace
If you want to get the fancy New Solstice armor, you’re going to need to complete quite a few bounties. These can all be found in the Solstice Forge – accessed via the mission menu and when interacting with Eva – but the catch here is that there can only be one active bounty per piece of armor. These aren’t difficult to complete, and each completed bounty will net you five alloys for specific pieces of armor. Completing any activity will also reward you with Winter Leaves, which is one of the currencies you use when forging armor.
Quick reminder: There are five categories of armor in Destiny 2—helmet, chest, gauntlets, legs, and class items—and you’ll only see bounties for three of them on Solstice Forge. There’s a second page here, so don’t forget to grab the bounties here and see how a few of them overlap with each other when it comes to completing specific tasks.
Bounty rarity
Bounties are divided into three tiers—common, rare, and legendary—and cost Silver Leaf to obtain. A common bounty requires one silver leaf, a rare bounty requires three silver leaves, and a legendary bounty requires five silver leaves. As you’d expect, there’s a balance of risk and reward here, with normal bounties being the easiest to complete, but only giving you five armor alloys in return. Meanwhile, legendary bounties are harder, but you get 50 armor alloys, so they’re worth the investment. These are required to complete high-level activities such as Grandmaster Nightfall and Dungeon Encounters, so get your Guardians ready for battle.
You can re-roll the bounty page to get a new challenge page, but this will cost you five Silver Leaves. A great way to take advantage here is to find bounties that task you with spawning energy orbs while you’re out in the wild. Run this bounty across all five armor classes and you can figuratively kill five birds with one stone to get a ton of armor alloy.
How to get Silver Leaf
Multiple events in Destiny 2 will reward you with Silver Leaf, as you can earn the Winter Currency through Legendary Lost Sectors, Level 4 Overthrows, Public Events, Ritual Events, and Bonfire Bashes.
Forged Noble Armor
Once you have enough armor alloys, you can load up the Solstice Forge and select the “Forge Bar” bounty. Complete the Campfire Bash, turn in the bounty, and you’ll get your armor. The good news is that once you forge that piece of armor, it’s added to the Bonfire Rush loot pool, so you have a good chance of being rewarded with a piece of armor every time you complete the event.
You can further improve them by completing Eva’s “Celebrating the Solstice” quest, which adds a white light effect to your gear. This requires playing more campfire slamming and some armor alloys, and you can do it quickly in a few sessions. If you want other colors of light, you’ll have to buy them from the Eververse Store, where the full bundle costs 1,500 Silver ($10 real cash) or 6,000 Bright Dust. Bungie will be giving away free Bright Dust packs over the next few weeks, and progressing through the Season Pass tiers will also add the currency to your in-game wallet.
Improve your exalted armor
So you’ve got a cool Sublime helmet for your Titan, but the mobility is so high that you’d rather prioritize investing some points into resilience. Here you can earn new bounties that may reward you with high-stat Solstice armor and weapons with a variety of properties. The rarer the bounty, the better your chances of getting the dice you need.
Visit EAZ
EAZ can be accessed from the Game Director inside the tower. As a matchmaking event, you’ll explore with two other players as you explore this branch of the European Dead Zone. Not much changes here, as the EAZ is a series of floating islands and wide-open arenas that are home to the Bonfire Bash mode. Verticality is an important element here, so equip your Guardian with the best skills to navigate these high-rise environments, or memorize the locations of jump pads scattered across the map to quickly access rooftops crawling with enemies. Also keep in mind that Eva will be selling bounties that can only be completed in Bonfire Rave.
Summer Solstice Lovers and How to Have a Bonfire Bash
The main goal of the Bonfire Party is to light a bonfire in the middle of the EAZ. To do this, you’ll want to keep an eye out for special Ignition Carrier enemies that spawn with small units. Their locations will be highlighted on the map, and these challenging enemies will also have a shiny effect applied to them to make them stand out from the crowd.
Defeat one of them and they’ll drop three orbs that you can pick up and throw into the bonfire so you can light the flames. The problem here is that these orbs will only be active for a few seconds, and depending on where exactly they drop, it may be impossible for a single guardian to catch all three orbs before they expire.
This is where teamwork comes into play, as an organized fire team can catch all those orbs in time. The more orbs you use to light the fire, the better rewards you’ll get at the end of the Bonfire Event. The event also has a timer. Once the time is up, the Heat Drinker Boss will arrive on the field. Defeat it, collect your gear and Silver Ash, and you can complete a round of Bonfire Bash.
This year will be a more challenging experience, but if you stick with your fireteam, you’ll find there’s some extra power to tap into at Solstice, thanks to two buffs unique to the event. By staying within range of your team, you’ll activate Firebound, which gives you increased recovery and super regeneration when you’re close to a fireteam member, while Flare (also available in Vanguard Ops) frees you Damage: When you defeat an enemy quickly, a wave of super-causal energy is created.
Once you win, you can collect your rewards and be ready to participate in the event again! Solstice event cards will also offer some additional rewards for you to claim if certain goals are met, so check that to-do list often to see if you can add some new gear to your collection. A premium version of the event card is also available, and unlocking it with premium credits will add exclusive shaders, ghost shells, and exotic emotes to your collection.
Solstice Activity Card Challenge
- illuminate the furnace – Complete the Solstice Crucible bounty
- fuel for fire – Light the fire 35 times during the Campfire Bash event
- fuel for fire 2 – Light the fire 70 times during the Camp Fire Bash event
- fuel for fire 3 – Light the fire 100 times during the Campfire Bash event
- Good to ignite – Defeat 15 Firestarters in the Campfire Bash event
- Set fire to the one who was taken away – Defeat 15 Prisms in the Campfire Event
- Forging and recasting – Use Silver Leaf to re-roll to daily bounty five times
- like wildfire – Defeat targets anywhere in the system. Defeating Guardians rewards progress
- superlative – Defeat targets with super powers
- Handheld lighter – Use hand cannons, shotguns, rocket launchers or bows to defeat targets
- burn them – Defeat 40 bosses anywhere in the system
- Raking coal – Complete playlist activities to earn Silver Leaf
- Dare to dream – Complete “Blind Shaft” or “Eternal Challenge” to get Silver Leaf
- rain of light – Complete Operation Vanguard or Nightfall to get Silver Leaf
- fire of competition – Complete matches in Crucible or Gambit playlists to earn Silver Leaf
- Flame Keeper – Complete all event challenges during the Winter Solstice
How to Obtain the Flame Keeper Seal and Title
Solstice is your only chance to earn the Flame Keeper title in 2024, and like last year, it requires you to complete all the victories listed on the seal. Completing a few extra goals will be the icing on the cake.
