Destiny: In Which We Talk About The Dawning

Destiny: The Dawning

Developer: Bungie / High Moon Studios
Publisher: Activision
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

If you are not familiar with Bungie’s Destiny, then you are blessedly exempt from the love-hate relationship that many dedicated Guardians have with the game. This past Tuesday, Destiny launched its surprise holiday event “The Dawning,” along with the return of the Sparrow Racing League.

Let’s catch you up on a few things first. Guardians are those in Destiny selected and imbued with light from something called the Traveller. We fight space monsters and try to protect the planets from total takeover. There have been three major expansions for the game so far: The Dark Below, The House of Wolves, and most recently The Rise of Iron. All of which saw added game content, gear, and weapons. Along with expansions, Destiny launches in-game events that last for about two weeks around holidays.

This winter brought The Dawning, and the Tower (the main social space of the Guardian’s) it looks amazing! Check out my Titan below decked out in some of the new gear for this event, and a shiny new shader.

Apart from new gear and shaders, The Dawning saw new strikes, a long-awaited Vanguard elite strike scoring system, and the return of the Sparrow Racing League. Silver Dust, the premium currency that allows you to purchase vanity items, is now available for purchase rather than waiting for random drops, and you can also purchase all the weapon ornaments if you’re a collector. Eva Lavante is bestowing daily gifts in the Tower, with some larger loot boxes that require special keys. As with similar holiday events, your Guardian can earn or purchase Treasures which contain the loot drops specific to The Dawning, as well as some festive consumables. Snow globe head, anyone?

For those of you craving a bit more nostalgia from Year 1, quest and earn your Year 3 Icebreaker! Dropped from Zavala’s Nightfall bounties, though there is still a degree of chance in it being obtained, just as there was in Year 1. The trademark regenerating ammo is still a thing, though the rebuff time has been slightly nerfed. Still a decent sniper for PvE and PvP, if that’s your thing.

After sinking twelve or so hours into this event and semi-expansion since SRL is now a perma-fixture to the game, I can say that I am still in love with Destiny. Earlier, I mentioned that many players have a love-hate relationship with this game. Whether it is the microtransactions for purely cosmetic items, or paying almost full price for bits and pieces of a game, Destiny has certainly seen a decline since the highly successful launch in 2014.  Regardless, whenever Bungie drops a gem the Guardians flock back to check out whether or not it has changed their opinion. It is why the game and the universe is still expanding, and it is why we will see Destiny 2 in 2017 (most likely).

The Dawning will continue through January 3rd, and if you haven’t visited your Guardian in some time I strongly suggest you consider picking up that controller. Run a few races in the SRL, try out the new strike scoring system and earn those gold tier medals, or catch up with clan members (shout out to the Keepers of the Serpahs). If you’re a PvP player, Trials of Osiris is still as competitive as ever. My final verdict is a positive one, give Destiny and The Dawning a try. Eyes up, Guardian!