Before we dive into our final TWAB of the Season, we’d like to spend a moment focusing on an important message that our Black at Bungie inclusion club published on Tuesday. Our hearts go out to the victims of the tragedy that occurred in Buffalo, NY, last weekend, and anyone impacted by this act of violence.
Our full statement, and pledge that all profits from the “Be Heard” Pin on the Bungie Store will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center for at least one year, can be found here:
This week at Bungie, Guardian Games is coming to a close, and we’re but days away from a new Season.
That’s right Guardian Games is nearing its end. Warlocks are dominating as of this writing. Will they hold on for their first Guardian Games victory? Only time will tell. Actually, not true—our social media channels will also tell. And you might be able to do the math by visiting the podium in the Tower, as they might have such a commanding lead that Titans and Hunters couldn’t possibly catch up to their space magic.
We’re just a few days out from a new Season. We’ve covered quite a few systematic changes coming to Destiny 2. Sandbox changes, ritual reputation changes, and a few other details on how gameplay in general will be updated. Many of you (and when I say many, I mean almost every single one of you) have been asking about the new stuff. What is Season of [Redacted] all about? What’s the next challenge our Guardians are about to face? What’s going on with [Redacted] and their [Redacted]!? Where’s the trailer?! Which subclass is getting the 3.0 treatment!?!
There will be a day where many of your questions will be answered, but today is not that day. It’s a scary, but fun, balancing act in the grand scheme of things. I’ve said it before, but player discovery is one of the most potent things in gaming. Do we spill the details in TWABs and tweets, or do we hold things a bit closer to the chest with each Season to let players dig in on day-one and find out some cool things in the game itself?
If you’d like to go dark, this should be one of the last Bungie communications you read before Tuesday at 10 AM Pacific. If you’d like to get a quick taste before launch, tune in a bit earlier on Tuesday morning and keep an eye out for a countdown for our next trailer.
So, what will be our final TWAB before launch? We’ve got some details on how Seasonal Events will be evolving, a quick spoiler free patch note preview, a rundown on when our next dungeon is going live, and a preview of upcoming Trials of Osiris armor sets. Keep an eye out for our Player Support section too, as we’ll be breaking down the timelines for Destiny 2 Update 4.1.0 (which kicks off Season of [Redacted] on Tuesday)!
Destiny Event Updates
Once a Season, Guardians get the chance to take a break from our galaxy-saving duties to relax and reflect in special annual celebrations. These themed events—which include Guardian Games, Solstice, Festival of the Lost, and The Dawning—have become an integral part of the annual flow of Destiny 2, where players can celebrate together and collect cool rewards along the way.
Over the past year, the team has been working hard on giving many of these events a makeover. This effort began with last year’s Festival of the Lost, which featured new twists like the Monsters vs. Dinos community poll and Glint’s ghost stories. Our goal is that every event provides joy and discovery for new and veteran players, and the enthusiastic reaction to the 2021 Festival of the Lost reaffirmed our plans to keep evolving our events to keep them fresh and fun. While not every event will get a big update this year, we wanted to share a high-level look at our plans for the upcoming Solstice event, which begins on July 19.
Solstice. Just Solstice.
That’s right, we dropped the “of Heroes” from the name of our summer event and are just going with “Solstice.” While we’ve got a new name and will have some beautiful new floral arrangements adorning the Tower during the event, those familiar with Solstice events from the past should still feel right at home. As in previous years, there will be an awesome set of armor to pursue; only this time, instead of completing armor objectives and collecting keys and packages consumables, you’ll be completing Event Challenges (more on those in a bit) to make progress towards your ultimate glowing masterpiece of bodily protection.
One of the biggest changes you’ll notice with Solstice is we’ve changed the armor experience a lot. Players will only upgrade one set of Solstice armor throughout the event. While you can get multiple instances of a helmet, for example, upgrading armor will allow you to reroll its stats and the stat potential of the armor will be shared across those drops.
Another new feature coming to Solstice is an activity in the European Aerial Zone called Bonfire Bash, where Guardians will be building and stoking what can only be described as “paracausal bonfires” while the enemies of summer fun (including the Taken, Cabal, Hive, and Fallen) will be attempting to crash the party and extinguish the fires. In your mission to guard the flames from wave after wave of incoming enemies, we’ve made it easier to transverse the EAZ, adding floating islands and removing building-barriers for maximum maneuverability.
Look for more details on Solstice armor upgrades and Bonfire Bash as we get closer to the launch of Solstice.
Introducing the Event Card
With our Solstice event, we’re introducing a new feature called the Event Card. In much the same way that Seasonal Challenges introduces an easy-to-understand (and find) list of goals you can complete in a Season, the Event Card does the same for Destiny 2’s annual events. When Solstice begins, players will gain access to this Event Card which includes new points of interest to explore, including:
- Event Challenges
- Event Seals and Titles
- Unique Event Rewards
Every Event Card will be available for free to all players and can be accessed by interacting with Eva Levante in the Tower or via the Quests tab (right next to Seasonal Challenges). Event Cards and their associated challenges and rewards can be accessed for the entire event before disappearing once their corresponding event ends.
Let’s take a look at some of the individual parts of the Event Card in order to better understand how they tie into events overall.
Event Challenges
Like Seasonal Challenges, Event Challenges are objectives that players can complete to earn rewards. Certain Event Challenges will award players with familiar items such as event shaders, emblems, or other gear, and they’ll also grant Event Tickets.
Every Event Challenge will be available for players to complete right when the event starts, so you won’t need to wait until the next week for additional Challenges to become available. Event Challenges can be completed in any order and at any point while an event is active.
Event Seals and Titles
In addition to Event Challenges, we’re also going to be introducing event Seals and titles that you can earn. There are two types of event-based Seals that players can work towards:
- Individual Event Seals
- A New Multi-Event Seal
Starting with Solstice this year, each Destiny event will come with a seal that players can complete as well as gild. Completing these event Seals is as simple as completing all the Event Challenges on its Event Card. Finishing every Event Challenge will automatically earn you Seal progress and unlock the title for that Seal. Gilding event Seals will require completing additional Triumphs that will only become available once the standard Seal has been completed—gilding lasts until the event begins again the following year. Progress on individual event Seals can be tracked directly in the Event Card by hovering over the card on the left-hand side of the screen or by viewing the event Seal from the Triumphs page.
There’s also a new multi-event Seal that event-loving players will be able to work toward. Starting with Solstice, players can complete a certain number of Event Challenges in each of the four yearly Destiny events to complete this Seal. This means that the earliest players can complete the multi-event Seal will be in Guardian Games of next year and doing so will also earn them a unique event title. You’ll also be able to gild this new Seal after completing the standard version and we’ll be sharing more details on how to do this in the coming year.
Upgraded Event Card Rewards
A new event means new event-themed cosmetics for Guardians to customize their experience. While those items have traditionally been part of the Eververse store, with the upcoming Solstice event, we will curate a collection of these items as unique rewards through the Event Card itself. These rewards will only be available through the Event Card during their initial release but, like most of our cosmetics, there’s always a chance they’ll become available again via Eververse at a future date.
While the Event Card and Event Challenge rewards are free for all players, acquiring these extra cosmetic rewards will require players to purchase the upgraded Event Card. Upgrading the Event Card will cost 1000 Silver and immediately grants players an Exotic reward bundle. Players can then acquire even more rewards by spending the Event Tickets they collect from Event Challenges.
The overall value of the upgraded Event Card will vary somewhat but is expected to regularly exceed 3000 Silver.
| Description | Type | Instant Unlock / Event Tickets | |
| Hot Dog Eating Champ | Exotic Emote | Instant | |
| Sunny Exotic Ghost Shell | Exotic Ghost Shell | Instant | |
| Iris Gossamer | Legendary Shader | Instant | |
| Skateboarding Emote | Legendary Emote | Tickets | |
| (TBD) | Legendary Ghost Hologram | Tickets | |
| (TBD) | Exotic Ship | Tickets | |
| (TBD) | Legendary Ghost Hologram | Tickets | |
| (TBD) | Legendary Transmat FX | Tickets | |
Hint: If you aren’t sure whether you will complete the event, wait until the last week to make the purchase and see how many Event Tickets you have accumulated! But don’t wait until the very last minute because Event Tickets will expire once an event ends and the Event Card goes away.
We can’t wait for everyone to jump in and experience all the new Solstice changes we have in store. See you in July!
Another Patch Note Preview
While we’ve already gone over quite a few changes, ranging from ritual streak bonuses to a behemoth of a TWAB covering sandbox, we still have a few smaller patch notes to share with you before Tuesday comes around. This will be a mash-up of fixes with no specific theme. It’s all just Destiny 2, baby.
UX/UI
- Updated the Director navigation header to a new style to make it more scalable.
- Fixed a visual bug on the Title Screen when playing with a screen aspect ratio greater than 16:9.
- Fixed a logic bug that would sometimes show inaccurate informational text on the Bungie Name Change screen after a player had changed their name via Bungie.net.
- Improved the consistency with which PlayStation and Xbox platform rosters update the online status of platform friends.
Dares of Eternity
- Increased Strange Coins earned from the reward chest in Dares of Eternity from 1 to 3.
- This does not affect the number of Strange Coins earned from Lightning Round chests.
Power and Progression
- Power Bands have been increased for the new Season:
- Power Floor: 1350 (unchanged)
- Soft Cap: 1510 (up from 1500)
- Powerful Cap: 1560 (up from 1550)
- Hard Cap: 1570 (up from 1560)
- The Character Power Boost has been increased to 1510 with the new Soft Cap.
Vault Space
- Vault space has been increased by 100 (was 500, is now 600).
- While we know this doesn’t enable players to save every single piece of loot in the game, the team was able to pull some strings and get a little more space for your vaults as they continue to investigate future solutions.
Xûr
- Xûr's inventory should no longer be different if players manage to find him at destinations shortly after the weekly reset happens on Tuesday.
- He will still reappear with new gifts from the Nine when he returns at his regularly scheduled time on Friday.
- While his will is not his own, he needs a break each week—no more working overtime.
Scorn
- Increased Scorn Crossbow damage by 300%, ensuring players will always be one-shot by their attacks, no matter their Power level or how many damage resist modifiers they have equipped.
- Don’t worry, that’s a joke.
- Had you there for a second, didn’t I?
- Here’s the real patch note...
- Scorn sniper damage brought in line (reduced) with other combatant sniper weapons.
- Spread of projectiles increased to reduce instances of multiple projectiles hitting players.
Dungeon Diving
Next week, we are launching a brand-new dungeon on Friday, May 27 at 10 AM Pacific. The recommended power to enter for normal difficulty is going to be 1550. Master difficulty will be live day one as well, but we'll leave those entry requirements for you to see in the game next week.
We’re going to let you discover where you will be going and what you will be doing for yourselves, but we wanted to give you a quick tease at what rewards you can expect to earn once inside.
Here is a high-level look at all of the rewards available from the dungeon next Friday:
- 1 Legendary Armor Set Per Class
- Artifice Versions can also be acquired via Master Difficulty
- 4 Legendary New Weapons
- 2 Legendary Reprised Weapons
- 1 Exotic Weapon
- 1 Exotic Catalyst
- 1 Exotic Accessory (Ship or Sparrow)
- 2 Legendary Emblems
Assuming you plan to brave the challenges that await you, these are the treasures you can claim.
Best way to get this dungeon as well as the one coming in Season 19 is to have the Digital Deluxe Edition of The Witch Queen. If you have that, you are already good to go! If you want to experience an entire year of Destiny 2 content and haven’t purchased the Deluxe Edition yet, starting next Tuesday, it’s going to be on sale for 25% off (exact timing and duration may vary by platform).
If you just want the dungeons, totally fine, you can pick up both as part of The Witch Queen Dungeon Key in the Eververse store for 2000 Silver.
Trials, Trials, Trials
This weekend, we have some fun lined up for Trials of Osiris. Over the last two Seasons, we’ve been experimenting with Freelance and Zone Capture weekends, learning some great lessons about the Trials ecosystem and population as it waxes and wanes over a given Season. This weekend, we’re mixing things up just a little more with another Freelance weekend, with Zone Control enabled. This will be your final weekend of Trials for a while, as the mode will have a short hiatus through June 10.
When Trials comes back around, there will be some new loot to earn. While we’ve already announced that a Fusion Rifle and Sidearm will be up for grabs, we’ll also have some new armor for your fashion game. We’re leaning deeper into the Trials themes that you’ve seen over the years, and excited to see how you mix and match these new sets with pieces from activities throughout the game.
But wait! There’s more!
If you’d like to kit out your Guardian a bit more with the Trials theme, we have two new cosmetic rewards coming online next Season. You may have already noticed the Ghost in the armor preview above, but we also have this beauty to introduce...
Falcon's Chase Sparrow (that I can't stop looking at. It will be mine. Someday...)
We'll see you out there (and maybe even duke it out a bit) on June 10 when these rewards go live.
The Gauntlet 2022
Rounding out our week of Bungie news, the Bungie Foundation brings wonderful news of our 8 anniversary participating in the Gauntlet Tabletop fundraiser. If you’d like to help our team in the competition, while also helping to raise funds for important causes, check out the information below!
Bungie Foundation: This weekend will culminate in a head-to-head tabletop tournament full of fun, competition, and most importantly, supporting a great cause. Help us raise funds for this year’s recipient, Zeno Math. Zeno’s mission is to spark joy and inspire a love of math in youth children and families through racial equity, family engagement, and play, all centered in the experience of communities of color. Zeno changes the landscape of early math through a unique play-based approach, and they believe that math skills and abilities are essential to leading a full and robust life.Head to our team’s Donation Page to commit your support on or before this Sunday, May 22 at 11:59 PM Pacific!
Anyone who donates $25 in a single donation to our Team Page will receive the Venn’s Pulsar emblem, which will be distributed by Friday, June 10.
Rules of the Road: To be eligible for the emblem, donations must be made to this campaign between May 15 and May 22 at 11:59 PM Pacific. A unique redemption code will be emailed to the email address used to make the donation. One redemption code will be distributed per email for qualifying donations.Thank you in advance for supporting this amazing organization!Love,Bungie Foundation
Release the Update!
It can be difficult to wait for the goods, so to speak. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at the clock just today wondering how much longer we have until the new Season is out. Patience, my friends. Patience.
In the meantime, our Player Support team has a roundup of timelines and need-to-know updates in preparation for your upcoming downloads.
This is their report.
UPDATE 4.1.0 RELEASE SCHEDULE
To prepare for the launch of Season of [REDACTED], Destiny 2 will undergo scheduled downtime from 9 AM PDT (1600 UTC) to 11 AM PDT (1800 UTC) on May 24. Below is the scheduled timeline for this release:
- 9 AM PDT (1600 UTC): Maintenance is scheduled to begin.
- 9:45 AM (1645 UTC): Destiny 2 is brought offline.
- 10 AM (1700 UTC): Destiny 2 will be brought back online. Update 4.1.0 will be playable on all platforms and regions.
- 11 AM (1800 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance is scheduled to complete.
For more information, please visit our Destiny Server and Update Status help article.
LAST CHANCE BUNGIE REWARDS
Players looking to earn certain Bungie Rewards should complete the associated in-game achievement before 10 AM PDT (1700 UTC) on May 24:
- 2022 Guardian Games Tankard
- 2022 Guardian Games Medal
- Psionic Operator Long Sleeve Shirt
- Vow of the Disciple Pin
- The Witch Queen Legendary Pin
- Risen Seal Collectible Medallion Pin
These rewards will be available to purchase from the Bungie Store until May 31, 2022, at 11:59 PM PDT (0659 UTC).
CLAIM YOUR (IN GAME) REWARDS
Players should make sure to claim all engrams and other rewards before the new Season begins. Any rewards not claimed from ritual vendors (Zavala, Shaxx, Drifter, and Saint-14) will be removed at the beginning of the next Season.
VOW OF THE DISCIPLE EMBLEM
The Cleaver emblem and associated Triumph for the completion of the Vow of the Disciple raid during the Contest Mode extension have been successfully distributed to all qualifying players.
Destiny Player Support has investigated reports of players who believed to have qualified for the emblem and Triumph but did not receive them, and in all instances the players had at least one encounter of the raid that was not successfully recorded as complete during the Contest Mode window.
For players to have earned this emblem, they had to receive a reward in every raid encounter during Contest Mode. If players did not receive a reward after completing a specific encounter, the game did not count them as completing the encounter, and so The Cleaver emblem could not be granted.
KNOWN ISSUES
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:
- The final two pages of the Mnemosyne lore book do not successfully unlock for players.
- The Renewal Grasps' damage buff may not function within a Duskfield Grenade's area of effect.
- Words in text chat may display vertically. This can be resolved by restarting Destiny 2.
For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.
Get Your Mad Scientist On
Sam: Happy TWABsday, Guardians! (Does anyone else say that out loud, or is it just me?) Anyway, this week we have some super rad movies! Starting off, we have one of the coolest custom PC builds, with some of the most solid video editing I have ever seen. I am a huge fan of customizing your gaming setup, but doing so with Wardcliff Coil, that’s some "mad scientist" stuff right there. After that, we have a PvP montage that not only shows how rad Warlocks are, but it also really captures the essence of space magic.
Movie of the Week: Wardcliff Coil PC Build:
I needed to build a new PC and thought I should have some fun with it. The Wardcliff Coil PC Build. It’s always been my favorite exotic in Destiny 2. Hope y’all like it #Destiny2art #AOTW #MOTW @A_dmg04 @DirtyEffinHippy pic.twitter.com/7ulUjjbZEH
— Pete Taylor (@bansheebotpete) May 15, 2022
Movie of the Week: Trampoline: Trampoline
A Hunter, a Warlock, and a Titan Walk into a T-Rated Bar
Hippy: Guardian Games is all about which class can come out on top when it comes down to taking home that big W. It’s fun, especially when you get a chance to (playfully) dunk on Hunter mains, but it’s understood by the community that this is all done from a good-natured place. In actuality, the three classes are pretty dope and so, for this week, we wanted to share three gorgeous pieces of art that make this ‘ol Titan’s heart proud. Whether you rep those Jumpy Beans or like to Thundercrash alongside those Space Wizards, at the end of the day, we’re all just here to game and have a good time.
Wow, that was way wordier than anticipated, so let’s just jump right into it, shall we?
Art of the Week: Titan Love
One of my favorite pieces #Destiny2Art #AOTW pic.twitter.com/KsqlVX3xHI
— ItsaMePistola (@pistola_me) May 9, 2022
Art of the Week: Red String of Fate
"The Red String of Fate ties you to your enemies. Sever it."#destinythegame #destiny2art #aotw pic.twitter.com/HK8nxVFOvt
— dazzle | comms closed :( (@thedazzledone) May 14, 2022
B-b-b-BONUS round.
Art of the Week: A Peaceful Date Night
A peaceful date night ✨#Destiny2 #Destiny2Art #AOTW @DirtyEffinHippy @A_dmg04 @Cozmo23 pic.twitter.com/fA8QVrujCk
— Blep (@StaceyBlep) May 12, 2022
As always, make sure to tag us in those glorious Destiny 2 videos and art by tagging #Destiny2Art, #AOTW, and #MOTW. Go on, do it. We dare you.
Before You Go, We’ve Got One Last Spear to Throw
Hippy: That title is funny when you realize we’re talking about an actual spear. The Synaptic Spear is pretty cool, right? But what if we made it real? Well, not us, but we did commission two vastly creative fabricators to create a life-size model of this particular piece of gloriousness. It’s not just one spear, either. We’ve got seven of these bad boys to give away as a super-exclusive product to be distributed worldwide. US, UK, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and ANZ regions will be utilizing their socials to partake in this speartastic endeavor in order to give away these powerful 1:1 props. Each region will partake in these giveaways with their own unique flare, so make sure to keep a lookout for your local social channels to see some exciting opportunities surrounding this particular spear. Who knows, maybe you’ll be one of the lucky few that wins one!
Designed to stop the unstoppable.
— Destiny 2 (@DestinyTheGame) May 18, 2022
The Synaptic Spear expertly crafted by @hasfoundry. pic.twitter.com/2HO78ltaJp
Because this is Destiny 2 and we love our lore, here’s a special snippet from our Narrative team about the history attached to this spear:
Guardian—My Psions toiled to affix the ruins of Ghaul’s Light-suppressing device to a weapon frame.A war axe would be too heavy for weak Human arms. A maul lacked the resonance to pierce the psionic sphere.Finally, I held the Synaptic Spear in my hands. Untested. I frowned.It was meant to be wielded by a Lightbearer in the Mindscape, where their power would change it into a gleaming beacon. Even Savathûn would shield her eyes from its glare, they told me.I listened to their claims before taking the weapon for myself. They raised their voices in protest, but I silenced them with a look.On the far shores of Sorrow’s Harbor, I waded into the hordes of ravening Hive. Though the dull metals of the spear would not speak to me, I still made it sing.I may not have the Light.But I have strength.—Empress Caiatl
The Anticipation...
Well, that’s a wrap! Your final TWAB before Season of [Redacted] ships. Now all that’s left is a weekend of Freelance Zone Capture Trials, and maybe a few Triumphs standing between you and the Season of the Risen title.
We’ll see you again next Tuesday, patch notes and all.
Cheers,
dmg04