Still recovering from a fan-fueled bruising following the launch of Destiny 2‘s Curse of Osiris DLC, the MMO FPS is welcoming the yearly Christmas event dubbed “The Dawning.” Not unlike Christmas, The Dawning is based on the idea of gift giving and games — however, this is focused more on celebrating the Light that fuels Guardians. And for those looking to take place in the festivities, the event opens to everyone early next week, on December 19, 2017.
Of course, anyone who has followed the Destiny lore and meta since the original release will recognize The Dawning. Much like Destiny’s Festival of the Lost (aka Halloween), the event is a recurring yearly event to add some seasonal content for the fanbase. With that said, The Dawning is Destiny 2’s first seasonal event, given that Bungie chose to skip over Festival of the Lost for Year 1.
No, Sir. We may see it again someday but Season 1 has been about launch and ritual activation. The first event for Destiny 2 is The Dawning.
— DeeJ (@DeeJ_BNG) October 21, 2017
But what is included in Destiny 2‘s The Dawning? Along with the normal wintery makeup of social areas, players can utilize snow found throughout the world (and in Strikes) as weapons. Snowballs will have the ability to stun enemies and “deal big damage.”
On top of the snowballs, the off-the-wall Mayhem mode will be open for PvP. For those out of the loop, Mayhem adds an increased super recharge, more frequent heavy-weapon ammo, and general bedlam. And to accompany this, Dawning-themed gear (including an exotic ship, ghost, sparrow, and emote) will be available during the event.
With that said, it’s worth noting that it looks like Bungie is carefully toeing the line of microtransactions. Specifically noted in the blog post, completing milestones each week will reward a Dawning engram and players will be able to directly purchase each Dawning item on a weekly rotation. In other words, it doesn’t appear anything will be locked behind the random loot boxes.
For those interested in joining in on the event, it is only available for a limited time: specifically from December 19 to January 9. Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Check out the gallery below that showcases some of the wintery setting and brand-new armor:
