'Destiny 2': Solstice of Heroes (2019)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Guardians all of ages. Veterans and Newcomers. The Solstice of Heroes has been in full swing for weeks, now. How have you come along in your Progress?

This article will bring you up to speed on my own Progress through the treacherous Journey of upgrading to Majestic Legendary Armor... for all three Classes: Titan, Hunter, and Warlock.

To be honest, the Journey didn't start out very well. The Warlock is my Main Character, so I plunged into Armor Objectives with little knowledge of what was expected... And it was rough. Unorganized. Scattered Progress. I stumbled to the finish line fully expecting not to touch Destiny 2 for at least a week.

However, I was determined. (... Or crazy). I decided to double my efforts and begin with Hunter. With full knowledge of what to expect, I wrote out my plan in a trusty notebook. I watched videos for how to take time-savings shortcuts and applied what I continued to learn along the way as lessons for when my Titan was up for his turn.

This Blue Armor could have been the death of me. Gambit. If I have to play one more Round of Gambit... just one...! Strikes. 25 Patrols. 100 Mini-Boss Kills in the EAZ (this was before the latest Patch that decreased the Requirement to 50 Mini-Boss Kills in the EAZ).

Tired? Exhausted. After grinding a total of 200 Mini-Boss Kills on two characters at about 4 Mini-Boss Kills per EAZ run... I was tired. Actually, I probably took a day or two off from the game because I couldn't take it any more. I needed to Recharge. Recover. Reset. Still... I'd taken another step closer to my goal:

Side Note: I am not concerned with the Masterwork Upgrade of each piece, though I've already acquired one by resetting my Valor Rank in Crucible during Season 7.

Two Classes down...

One to go.

Exactly. "What in the world happened to you?" I'm still in the process of upgrading Titan's Blue Armor Set. To be honest, I haven't exactly been in a rush. And this being the third time I'm going through the Upgrade Progress, it feels so much easier. Still a tedious grind, but easier.

Time-saving tips? Be Patient. Be Smart. Be Mindful of what Solstice Element Day it is, which changes each day. I'd like to explain this in more detail, but I'm trying not to get a headache. It's slightly convoluted, to be honest.

Lesson 1: Split up the Activity & Element Requirements (Titan Blue Armor Set)

• Strikes.
• Gambit/Crucible.
• EAZ.

Strikes: Titan needs 300 Kills and 500 Void Orbs. In order to get creates Elemental Void Orbs, you need to kill enemies with Void weapons WHILE using a Void SubClass. Otherwise, I don't think they count. Of course, make sure the Blue Armor piece that needs the specific Objectives completed is actually Equipped. If you're not wearing the specific Armor piece, your Efforts don't count.

Gambit/Crucible: You have to complete 10 Gambit Matches. I tie the Crucible in this one because you need 75 Guardian Kills with Arc Weapons. There are so many Invaders in Gambit, you can easier rack up 20 Guardian Kills with a decent Heavy Weapon, good vision, and a quick Trigger. So, I go into Gambit Matches with an Arc SubClass and as well as Arc Weapons, but I don't think the Arc SubClass is needed to count towards Guardian Kill Progress.

However, it does count towards Orbs. You need 1,500 Elemental Orbs, in general. If you pick up Orbs and your SubClass is a different Element than the Element on your Weapon, the Orbs gathered don't count towards your Progress... I know. Ugh. As I said, be mindful.

EAZ: You need 300 Elemental Orbs specifically from the EAZ. So, don't run around other Activities trying to collect 1,500 Orbs in general. You'll get them naturally by completing all the requirements.

You still need 50 EAZ Chests Looted, which was never too difficult... as long as your team stays until after the End Boss(es) are Killed.

Now, you need 100... oops, I mean 50 Mini-Boss Kills. Believe me, I'm thankful it's not 100 Mini-Boss Kills anymore. That was the worst part of the Grind, which I usually saved for last.

Once Guardians looted their 50 EAZ Chests... we didn't even stick around to complete the Boss Phase because there are no Mini-Bosses in the last Phase. Back to Orbit. Restart. The first 5 minutes used to hunt Mini-Bosses. Once that was over, back to Orbit. Restart.

Looking at this data, Bungie decided to not only to decrease the number from 100 to 50 Mini-Boss kills, but if you complete the Boss Phase, it counts as 5 Mini-Boss Kills. FIVE.

Yes, I'm relieved, but a part of me is like: Are you kidding me?! That makes it so much easier to get to 100 Mbs Kills, let alone 50. Ugh! When news of this change went around, I heard some people waited for the Patch to trigger before even starting these EAZ runs.

Lesson 2: Make a List.

Check it twice. No. I'm not done. Yes. There are a lot more Requirements for Titan's Blue Armor to Upgrade to Majestic Legendary Armor.

300 Fallen Kills

Match with Daily Solstice Element?

10 Heroic Public Events

Please, new Guardians, wait until the Heroic Stage triggers before you kill the main Boss. And learn how to trigger Heroic Public Events. If you don't trigger the Heroic Stage or if you don't Complete the Heroic Stage, your Efforts will not count towards Progress.

25 Patrols on IO

... Um. Try not to fall asleep during this. It's weird. I figure the Developer knows we don't like Patrols that much so... make us do 25 per Character? They got me this time, but once this Objective is completed, it's back to the regularly scheduled program of not doing Patrols.

5 Challenges Completed

Daily/Weekly Milestones. Eyes up, Guardian. The requirement changed for completing the Weekly Strikes Milestone. In the past, your SubClass had to Match the SubClass of a teammate. Now, your SubClass has to Match the Element Buff featured in the Strike List for that particular day. Meaning, if the Daily Solstice Element is Void, the Strike Element Buff will either be Solar or Arc. They never match (or haven't from what I've seen) which simply makes you run Strikes more to complete certain Requirements.

Also, the Matchmaking System seems to analyze your SubClass and Weapon Element. So, if you start up Strikes wearing your required VOID gear/weapons because you need VOID Orbs, more likely than not you're going to be paired with Classes that need a different Orb Element in Strikes. Meaning, you three Guardians will be fighting each other for Kills because you need a specific Elemental Orb.

Yeah, I need Void Orbs in Strikes. So, Warlocks and Hunters get agitated because I'm creating Void Elemental Orbs on Kills, which slows their Progress. Anyway..

200 Solar Melee Kills

Yes, punch a lot of enemies, throw the Hammer... does your Super count for Melee Kills? I think so.

300 Solar Weapon Kills

Recommended Weapon: Prometheus Lens. All Trace Rifles are solid, at the moment. For Arc Kills: ColdHeart. For Void: Wavesplitter (the best of the three Trace Rifles in my opinion). Word of Caution: Trace Rifles tend to run out of Ammo at inopportune times.

50 Bounties

When you are grinding through your Green Armor Set to upgrade it to Blue, stock up on Bounties. Do NOT turn the Bounties in. Just complete them and let them sit on your PURSUITS page until you upgrade to Blue Armor. I average about 25 Bounties that I can Stock up on during the Green Armor Progress. Make sure your specific Armor piece is Equipped when turning in Bounties or again, it won't count towards your Progress.

Lesson 3: Simplify the Process

Simply put, and I know this is a lot, if I'm not in Gambit, Crucible, or Strikes... I'm rolling with SOLAR. SubClass. Weapons. All Solar.

In Strikes, VOID everything.

In Gambit/Crucible, ARC all. This is for Titan. Warlocks and Hunters will be different, but for most of the minor Objectives listed under Lesson 2, pick one SubClass/Weapon Element that you can roll with. This will help get you to the 1,500 Orbs you need.

Remember, once you complete a specific Armor piece, you don't need to wear it anymore. For example:

As you can see here, the Green Progress line on each Gear piece... I'm almost done with the Leg Armor... but I haven't made much of a dent in the Titan Mark's Progress. My Chest Armor piece is more than halfway home.

So, if I'm really close to finishing a certain piece of Armor, I just focus on completing that one. This allows me to replace it with a much better piece of Legendary Gear. With the Green and Blue Armor Sets, your Resilience and Recovery Stats are going to be very low, meaning, you'll die a lot, especially in Gambit and Strikes...

Try not to wear all five Green or Blue pieces at once, but if you have a tendency to forget to put the right Armor pieces back on when you need to, just leave all five pieces on until something is finished.

Well... I did not mean to write a small book about this, but that's all I have.

Eyes Up,

-Eric