Destiny 2’s New Solstice Armor Sets Feature A Streamlined Upgrade System

Destiny 2’s Solstice event returns on July 19, and like previous years, there’ll be some shiny new gear to obtain. One big difference this year is that upgrading the armor sets will be done in a new way as Bungie has streamlined the process.

As detailed in this week’s Bungie blog post, armor upgrading is focused on actively improving the gear through new player actions and incentivizing players to chase armor rolls for the duration of Solstice. This in turn will allow players to craft armor that suits their needs by creating stat-specific builds that can shine in specific activities such as Gambit, Nightfall Strikes, and the Crucible.

Upgrades will require players to collect Silver Leaves, a new currency earned by completing activities throughout the game. Silver Leaves can then be turned into Silver Ash by completing the new activity Bonfire Bash before being used to reroll armor stats from the armor mod screen.

Another currency that can be collected is Kindling, which is acquired by completing Solstice Event challenges. You’ll be able to spend Kindling to upgrade your armor stat roll potential, with each piece of armor can be upgraded three times. This only needs to be done once per slot, and each time you upgrade a piece of Solstice armor, it is permanent and shared across all pieces for that slot. What this means is that if you upgrade a helmet up to Tier 3, then every Solstice helmet currently in your inventory and any future helmets you earn for that class will have access to Tier 3 stat rerolls.

As for the armor, this year’s sets feature both free and paid glow effects like in previous years. Fully upgrade your armor, and it will have a healthy glow and you’ll earn the chance at a high-stat roll focusing on a stat of your choice. For more on this year’s Solstice, you can also check out how the Event Card has changed, which Bungie describes as a new way to engage in the event.

Before Solstice begins, you can check back in tomorrow to see where Xur is, although there won’t be a Trials of Osiris event due to this week’s Iron Banner PvP tournament.