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

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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.

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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.