Destiny 2 Solstice 2022 guide, including Candescent Armour upgrade steps and rewards - High School of Posts and Telecommunications and Information Technology

Destiny 2 Solstice is an annual summer event given a major refresh in 2022.

Previously known as Solstice of Heroes, it once again provides unique armour with three tiers of upgrades to unlock – with the challenges required to do so changing. Meanwhile, Elemental Orbs are also no more.

The centerpiece location – the EAZ – has also been given a revamp, tying in closer with how you unlock and upgrade your armor pieces.

Elsewhere, there’s the usual Tower makeover, new Eververse items, several new resources to earn and another new weapon to unlock, Something New, alongside the return of Compass Rose. In other words, plenty to keep you busy until the event concludes.

On this page:

How does Solstice armor work in 2022?

Solstice has seen a complete overhaul compared to previous years, and though there are new resources to earn and manage, with armour tasks moving from individual armour pieces to a series of event challenges, it’s still the same grind.

The end result is the same, however – giving you an armor set with powerful stats, and the ability to add glows with enough time and effort.

Additionally, there is now a more way to focus on the stats you like – and it’s easier to purchase new armour pieces if they aren’t to your liking.

First, play the opening ‘Celebrating Solstice’ quest (see the next section for specific steps) to collect your first Candescent Armour set and learn how to collect Silver Leaves, Silver Ash and Kindling.

You can then upgrade the armour like so:

Complete Solstice event challenges to earn Kindling. Applying one Kindling to Candescent Armour pieces allows you to ‘imbue’ that piece to the ‘Glowing Embers’ tier, so you can upgrade its stats for 20 Silver Ash.
Applying two Kindling will upgrade to the ‘Shining Embers’ tier, allowing you to upgrade its stats further for 40 Silver Ash.
Applying another three Kindling will upgrade to the ‘Fully Rekindled’ tier, adding a glow and allowing you to select which stat you want to boost by +20 for 60 Silver Ash.

This means for each armour piece, you must spend a total of six Kindling and 120 Silver Ash for a full upgrade.

Though you cannot re-roll these pieces, you can purchase new armour pieces from Eva Levante for 100 Silver Ash each if you want a new roll attempt. Though you’ll have to spend the Silver Ash again to fully upgrade, the Kindling unlocks will remain on that specific armour type.

Celebrating Solstice quest steps

To unlock the ability to use Kindling on Candescent Armour, you must complete the Celebrating Solstice quest and unlock event challenges.

First, visit Eva Levante in the Tower to start the quest and receive your Candescent Armour. The eight quest steps are as follows, copied verbatium from the in-game quest log:

Equip a full set of Candescent Armour.
Visit Eva Levante in the Tower.
Complete the Bonfire Bash activity to transform your Silver Leaves into Silver Ash, and acquire 20 Silver Ash.
Visit Eva Levante in the Tower.
Open your Event Card and claim your first event challenge.
Add the Kindling you earned from completing the event challenge to any piece of Candescent Armour. Doing so will allow you to spend Silver Ash to imbue the armour with Embers that improve it.
Adding Kindling to your Candescent Armour has given you the ability to imbue it with Glowing Embers to improve its stats. To do so requires the Silver Ash you acquired from the Bonfire Bash, and can only be done for the armour piece to which you applied the Kindling.
Visit Eva Levante in the Tower.

Your reward for this is not only the ability to apply Kindling, and in turn Glowing Embers / spend Silver Ash, but also 4x Silver Leaves and the ‘A Guardian in Shining Armour’ quest.

Destiny 2 Solstice of Heroes 2022 end date

Destiny 2’s Solstice of Heroes began on Tuesday, 19th July and has an end date of Tuesday, August 9th, at the following weekly reset times:

UK: 6pm (BST)
Europe: 7pm (CEST)
East Coast US: 1pm (EDT)
West Coast US: 10am (PDT)

This is not quite the end of the season – you can read what else is happening around then with our Season of the Haunted roadmap.

At this point, the ability to earn Silver Leaves, Silver Ash and Kindling resources will end – so hopefully you got the Candescent Armour upgrades or rolls you were looking for.

How was Destiny Solstice of Heroes like in 2021?

If you’re interested in how previous Solstice of Heroes compares to later years, here’s the 2021 objectives and armour appearances at a glance.

Upgrade your Solstice 2021 armour fully to give it a glow.

Solstice of Heroes 2021 Hunter armour upgrade steps

Hunter Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to upgrade Majestic	Steps to upgrade Magnificent
Helmet	Complete the European Aerial Zone activity Collect Elemental Orbs (200) Defeat combatants with Finishers (20)	In one run, defeat 5 EAZ minibosses (3) Collect Elemental Orbs (500) Rapidly defeat combatants (100)	Complete Nightfall on Master / Grandmaster
Gauntlet	Complete Strikes, Crucible or Gambit playlist activities (1) Open Solstice Packages (10) Defeat Fallen (200)	Complete Altars of Sorrow or Override (100%) Empowerment buffs gained (20) Void weapon kills (200)	Complete a raid
Chest	Complete public events on any destination (2) Collect Solar or Stasis Elemental Orbs in Strikes, Crucibles or Gambit playlist activities (50) Defeat Guardians in Crucible or Gambit (30)	Complete Blind Well / Wrathborn Hunts (100%) Solstice Key Fragments (50) Solar grenade kills (100)	Complete a dungeon
Legs	Complete patrols on any destination (1) Collect Orbs of Power (50) Defeat combatants with Super abilities (50)	Complete Battlegrounds / Europa-based activities (100%) Playlist Arc or Stasis Orbs (100) Arc subclass melee (50)	Defeat Champions or Guardians in competitive playlists (15)
Class Item	Complete Lost Sectors on any destination (3) Collect Void Elemental Orbs in free roam on any destination (TBC) Precision kills (100)	Complete Nightfall / Competitive playlists (3) EAZ Solar Orbs (50) Powerful Cabal (50)	Lost Sectors on Legend or Master (3)

Solstice of Heroes 2021 Titan armour upgrade steps

Titan Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to upgrade Majestic	Steps to upgrade Magnificent
Helmet	Complete the European Aerial Zone activity Collect Elemental Orbs (200) Defeat combatants with Finishers (20)	In one run, defeat 5 EAZ minibosses (3) Collect Elemental Orbs (500) Rapidly defeat combatants (100)	Complete Nightfall on Master / Grandmaster
Gauntlet	Complete Strikes, Crucible or Gambit playlist activities (1) Open Solstice Packages (10) Defeat Hive (200)	Complete Altars of Sorrow or Override (100%) Empowerment buffs gained (20) Solar weapon kills (200)	Complete a raid
Chest	Complete public events on any destination (2) Collect Arc or Stasis Elemental Orbs in Strikes, Crucibles or Gambit playlist activities (50) Defeat Guardians in Crucible or Gambit (30)	Complete Blind Well / Wrathborn Hunts (100%) Collect Solstice Key Fragments (50) Arc Grenade kills (100)	Complete a dungeon
Legs	Complete patrols on any destination (1) Collect Orbs of Power (50) Defeat combatants with Super abilities (50)	Complete Battlegrounds / Europa-based activities (100%) Playlist Void / Stasis Orbs (100) Void melee kills (50)	Defeat Champions or Guardians in competitive playlists (15)
Class Item	Complete Lost Sectors on any destination (3) Collect Solar Elemental Orbs in free roam on any destination (200) Precision kills (100)	Complete Nightfall / Competitive playlists (3) EAZ Arc Orbs (50) Powerful Hive (50)	Lost Sectors on Legend or Master (3)

Solstice of Heroes 2021 Warlock armour upgrade steps

Warlock Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to upgrade Majestic	Steps to upgrade Magnificent
Helmet	Complete the European Aerial Zone activity Collect Elemental Orbs (200) Defeat combatants with Finishers (20)	In one run, defeat EAZ minibosses (3) Collect Elemental Orbs (500) Rapidly defeat combatants (100)	Complete Nightfall on Master / Grandmaster
Gauntlet	Complete Strikes, Crucible or Gambit playlist activities (1) Open Solstice Packages (10) Defeat Cabal (200)	Complete Altars of Sorrow or Override (100%) Empowerment buffs gained (20) Arc weapon kills (200)	Complete a raid
Chest	Complete public events on any destination (2) Collect Void or Stasis Elemental Orbs in Strikes, Crucibles or Gambit playlist activities (50) Defeat Guardians in Crucible or Gambit (30)	Complete Blind Well / Wrathborn Hunts (100%) Collect Solstice Key Fragments (50) Defeat combatants with Void grenades (100)	Complete a dungeon
Legs	Complete patrols on any destination (1) Collect Orbs of Power (50) Defeat combatants with Super abilities (50)	Complete Battlegrounds / Europa-based activities (100%) Playlist Solar or Stasis Orbs (100) Solar Melee kills (50)	Defeat Champions or Guardians in competitive playlists (15)
Class Item	Complete Lost Sectors on any destination (3) Collect Arc Elemental Orbs in free roam on any destination (200) Defeat combatants with precision damage (100)	Complete Nightfall / Competitive playlists (3) EAZ Void Orbs (50) Powerful Fallen (50)	Lost Sectors on Legend or Master (3)

How was Destiny Solstice of Heroes like in 2020?

If you’re interested in how previous Solstice of Heroes compares to later years, here’s the 2020 objectives and armour appearances at a glance:

How the Solstice 2020 armour looks.

Hunter Solstice 2020 armour upgrade steps

Hunter Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Drained	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to upgrade Majestic
Helmet	1x EAZ run 50 precision final blows Defeat 100 Fallen	Defeat 200 enemies 2000 Elemental final blows 300 Arc weapon kills	Complete a Nightfall Ordeal on the Master difficulty
Gauntlet	Solar Orbs in Crucible / Gambit 5 Playlist Strikes 10 Solstice Packages	10 Heroic Public Events 300 Arc Orbs in Strikes 300 Cabal kills	Complete a Nightmare Hunt
Chest	Defeat 50 enemies in EDZ 50 kills with Solar sub-class in EDZ 400 Elemental Orbs	10 Gambit matches 1000 Elemental Orbs 100 Void grenade kills	Complete Pit of Heresy
Legs	Defeat 25 Guardians in Crucible / Gambit 5 Public Events Defeat 50 enemies with Supers	Defeat 100 Guardians with Void weapons as a team in Gambit / Crucible 600 playlist kills in Strikes 100 ability kills	Win seven Trials of Osiris matches (not on a single Passage)
Class Item	5 Gambit / Crucible Matches 100 Arc Orbs in Strikes 5 Adventures	5 EDZ Patrols 200 Elemental Orbs in EDZ 20 boss kills	Complete a Tier 5 Altar of Sorrow three times

Titan Solstice 2020 armour upgrade steps

How to fully upgrade the Solstice armour for the Titan class:

Titan Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Drained	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to upgrade Majestic
Helmet	1x EAZ run 50 precision final blows Defeat 100 Hive	Defeat 100 Guardians with Arc weapons as a team in Gambit / Crucible 10 Gambit matches 1000 Elemental Orbs matching subclass	Complete a Nightfall Ordeal on the Master difficulty
Gauntlet	50 Arc subclass kills in EDZ 50 Super kills 400 Elemental Orbs	10 Heroic Public Events 100 ability kills 20 boss kills	Complete a Nightmare Hunt
Chest	Defeat 25 Guardians in Crucible / Gambit 100 Solar Orbs in Strikes 5 Adventures	200 kills in EDZ 600 playlist kills with subclass matching Solstice burn 300 Fallen kills with subclass matching Solstice burn	Complete Pit of Heresy
Legs	100 Void Orbs in Crucible / Gambit 5 Public Events Open 10 Solstice Packages	300 Void Orbs in Strikes 2000 Elemental final blows 100 Solar melee kills	Win seven Trials of Osiris matches (not on a single Passage)
Class Item	5 Gambit / Crucible matches 5 Playlist Strikes 50 EDZ kills	5 Patrols on Io 200 Elemental Orbs in EDZ 300 kills with Solar weapons	Complete a Tier 5 Altar of Sorrow three times

Warlock Solstice 2020 armour upgrade steps

How to fully upgrade the Solstice armour for the Warlock class:

Warlock Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Drained	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to upgrade Majestic
Helmet	1x EDZ run 50 precision final blows 100 Cabal kills	200 Elemental Orbs in EDZ 600 playlist kills with subclass matching Solstice burn 20 boss kills	Complete a Nightfall Ordeal on the Master difficulty
Gauntlet	Defeat 25 Guardians in Crucible / Gambit 5 Playlist Strikes 400 Elemental Orbs	Defeat 100 Guardians with Solar weapons as a team in Gambit / Crucible 300 Solar Orbs in Strikes 2000 Elemental final blows 1000 Elemental Orbs matching your subclass	Complete a Nightmare Hunt
Chest	100 Arc Orbs in Crucible / Gambit 5 Adventures Open 10 Solstice Packages	10 Gambit matches 100 ability kills 300 Void weapon kills	Complete Pit of Heresy
Legs	100 Solar Orbs in Strikes 50 kills in EDZ 50 Void subclass kills in EDZ	10 Heroic Public Events 300 Solar Orbs in Strikes 300 Hive kills with subclass matching Solstice burn	Win seven Trials of Osiris matches (not on a single Passage)
Class Item	5 Gambit / Crucible matches 5 Public Events 50 Super kills	5 Titan Patrols 200 EDZ kills 150 Arc Super kills	Complete a Tier 5 Altar of Sorrow three times

How was Destiny Solstice of Heroes like in 2019?

If you’re interested in how previous Solstice of Heroes compares to later years, here’s the 2019 objectives and armour appearances at a glance:

Solstice 2019 armour Drained

Solstice 2019 armour Renewed

Solstice 2019 armour MajesticHow Drained, Renewed and Majestic Solstice 2019 armour looks.

Hunter Solstice 2019 armour upgrade steps

Hunter Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Drained	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to Masterwork
Helmet	Complete EAZ runsPrecision final blowsDefeat Fallen	Complete bountiesLoot EAZ chestsArc weapon kills	Complete Prestige Nightfall with a score above 200k
Gauntlet	Complete Strikes in playlistsCollect Solar Orbs in GambitUnlock Solstice Packages	Complete Heroic public eventsCollect Arc Orbs in StrikesDefeat Cabal with subclass matching the day’s element	Playlist Strike completions with clanmates
Chest	Loot EAZ chestsComplete any Elemental OrbsDefeat EAZ enemies while using Solar subclass	Complete Gambit matchesCollect Orbs matching element of the dayVoid grenade kills	Shattered Throne completion with fireteam of two or less
Legs	Complete Nessus public eventsComplete Solstice of Heroes bountiesDefeat Guardians in Crucible or Gambit	Complete daily or weekly challengesKills in Strike playlists with subclass matching element of the dayGuardian with Void weapons in Crucible or Gambit as a team	Reset Season 7 Valor ranking in Crucible
Class Item	Complete AdventuresCollect Arc Orbs in StrikesComplete Crucible or Gambit matches	Complete EDZ patrolsCollect Elemental Orbs in EAZDefeat 50 EAZ minibosses	Defeat yellow bar enemies

Titan Solstice armour upgrade steps

Titan Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Drained	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to Masterwork
Helmet	Complete EAZ runsPrecision final blowsDefeat Hive	Complete Gambit matchesCollect Elemtnal Orbs that match your subclassGuardian kills using Arc weapons in Crucible or Gambit as a team	Complete Prestige Nightfall with a score above 200k
Gauntlet	Loot EAZ chestsComplete Solstice of Heroes bountiesDefeat EAZ enemies while using Arc subclass	Complete Heroic public eventsComplete daily or weekly challengesDefeat 50 EAZ minibosses	Playlist Strike completions with clanmates
Chest	Complete AdventuresCollect Solar Orbs in StrikesDefeat Guardians in Crucible or Gambit	Kills in Strike playlists using subclass that matches element of the dayLoot EAZ chestsDefeat Fallen using subclass matching element of the day	Shattered Throne completion with fireteam of two or less
Legs	Complete Nessus public eventsCollect Void Orbs in Crucible or GambitUnlock Solstice Packages	Complete BountiesCollect Void Orbs in StrikesSolar melee kills	Reset Season 7 Valor ranking in Crucible
Class Item	Complete Strikes in playlistsCollect any Elemental OrbsComplete Crucible or Gambit matches	Io PatrolsCollect Elemental Orbs in EAZSolar weapon kills	Defeat yellow bar enemies

Warlock Solstice armour upgrade steps

Warlock Solstice Armour	Steps to upgrade Drained	Steps to upgrade Renewed	Steps to Masterwork
Helmet	Complete EAZ runsPrecision final blowsDefeat Cabal	Kills in Strike playlists using subclass matching element of the dayCollect Elemental Orbs in the EAZDefeat 50 minibosses in EAZ	Complete Prestige Nightfall with a score above 200k
Gauntlet	Complete Strikes in playlistsCollect any Elemental OrbsDefeat Guardians in Crucible or Gambit	Complete bountiesCollect Elemental Orbs matching your subclassGuardian kills in Crucible or Gambit using Solar weapons as a team	Playlist Strike completions with clanmates
Chest	Complete AdventuresCollect Arc Orbs in Crucible or GambitUnlock Solstice Packages	Complete Gambit matchesComplete daily or weekly challengesVoid weapon kills	Shattered Throne completion with fireteam of two or less
Legs	Loot EAZ chestsCollect Solar Orbs in StrikesDefeat EAZ enemies while using Void subclass	Complete Heroic public eventsCollect Solar Orbs in strikesHive kills using subclass matching element of the day	Reset Season 7 Valor ranking in Crucible
Class Item	Complete Nessus public eventsComplete Solstice bountiesComplete Crucible or Gambit matches	Titan PatrolsLoot EAZ chestsArc Super kills against Guardians in Crucible or Gambit	Defeat yellow bar enemies

Thanks to JpDeathBlade’s datamine on reddit for filling in the gaps in the above.

How was Destiny Solstice of Heroes like in 2018?

If you’re interested in how Solstice of Heroes 2018 compares to later years, here’s the 2018 objectives and armour appearances at a glance:

Solstice armour upgrade Scorched – 200 Power

Solstice armour upgrade Rekindled – 340 Power

Solstice armour upgrade Resplendent – 400 PowerHow Scorched, Rekindled and Resplendent armour looks. Each appearance is an Ornament if you want to roll it back, too.

Hunter Solstice armour upgrade steps

Hunter Solstice armour	Steps to unlock Rekindled (340)	Steps to unlock Legendary (400)	Steps to unlock Masterwork (400)
Helmet	Spark ReduxSolar Orbs in EDZ10 Guardians Defeated	Chosen ReduxVoid Energy weapon killsNightfall	Prestige Nightfall score beaten
Gauntlets	Homecoming ReduxArc OrbsMeditation mission for Ikora	Payback ReduxVoid Grenade kills3 Heroic Strikes	5 Heroic Strikes with at least one clan member
Chest	Chosen ReduxArc Orbs in Strikes10 Heroic Public Events	1AU ReduxSolar Power weapon kills5 Crucible match wins	Prestige Levithan Raid
Legs	1AU ReduxVoid OrbsMinibosses defeated	Spark ReduxSolar melee kills10 Adventures	Legend rank in Valor for Crucible
Class Item	Payback ReduxSuper Kills in the Crucible10 Patrols	Homecoming ReduxArc Super kills20 Challenges	Defeat 10 bosses