Destiny 2 Solstice Guide: How To Get Silver Leaves, Upgrade Armor, And More

Solstice has arrived in Destiny 2, bringing with it unique armor rolls that you can fine-tune, a new Strand rocket launcher, and a cheerful mood in the Tower as you as everyone celebrates their greatest triumphs in this annual event. Like last year, Solstice involves a mode set in the European Aerial Zone and features a few new changes to its formula. The time-limited mode is free for all Destiny 2 players and offers armor pieces with three tiers of upgrades to unlock using Kindling, Silver Leaves, and Silver Ash, with this year's armor sets featuring a particularly regal design.

You can read more below for how to get the most out of your Solstice experience this year, how to upgrade your new armor sets, and why you should emphasize playing as a team this year instead of lone-wolfing your way across the map.

Solstice 2023 start and end dates

Solstice runs this year from July 18 to August 8.

How to get Silver Leaves, Kindling, and Silver Ash

The big draw of Solstice is the chance to craft a roll of armor that suits your specific needs. This starts by earning Silver Leaves from Destiny 2 activities and then transforming that resource into Silver Ash in Bonfire Bash activities. You'll be able to reroll Solstice armor stats by spending Silver Ash to help you chase down that perfect stat roll, but you'll first need to claim some of the resources unique to this event. You'll need the following three resources, but keep in mind you should keep all of your Solstice armor equipped (it's given to you by Eva at the start of the event):

• Kindling - Earned by completing Solstice Event challenges; used to upgrade your armor
• Silver Leaves - Earned by completing activities throughout the game while wearing Solstice armor
• Silver Ash - Completing Bonfire Bash activities with Solstice armor equipped will transform your Silver Leaves into Silver Ash; can also be earned by completing Solstice challenges

How to upgrade Solstice Armor

It's worth noting that every time you upgrade a piece of Solstice armor with Kindling, the changes are permanent and shared across all Solstice armor pieces for that slot. This only applies to your current class, so you'll need to go through this process all over again for either your Hunter, Warlock, or Titan.

For the actual upgrade, go into your character menu and inspect your Solstice armor. In the Solstice Embers mod slot, you can then apply your Kindling to upgrade a piece of armor. Having done that, you can spend Silver Ash to reroll the stats on your armor a limited number of times. This is not guaranteed to give you a better roll than what you already had. Once you've fully upgraded a piece of armor, you can reroll it once again, and this time guarantee a minimum roll of 20 in the stat of your choice. The overall roll still may not fall where you want it, but this is a reliable means of building out a set of armor with desirable stats.

Visit the EAZ

The EAZ can be accessed from the game director, within the Tower. As a match-made activity, you'll be joined by two other players as you explore this offshoot of the European Dead Zone. Not much has changed here, as the EAZ is a collection of floating islands and wide-open arenas that is home to the Bonfire Bash mode. Verticality is a big element here, so equip your Guardian with the best skills for navigating these high-rise environments or memorize the locations of jump pads scattered throughout the map so that you can quickly gain access to the rooftops that are crawling with enemies. Also keep in mind that Eva will sell bounties that can only be completed in Bonfire Bash.

Solstice buffs and how to play Bonfire Bash

The main goal of Bonfire Bash is to stoke the titular bonfire in the middle of the EAZ. To do this, you'll want to keep an eye out for special Ignition Carrier enemies who spawn alongside a small army. Their location will be highlighted on the map, and these challenging foes will also have a shining effect applied to them to make them stand out from the crowd.

Defeat one of them, and they'll drop three orbs that can be picked up and thrown into the bonfire so that you can stoke the flames. The catch here is that these orbs will only be active for a few seconds, and depending on the specific location where they drop, it may be impossible for a single Guardian to grab all three before they expire.

This is where teamwork comes into play, as an organized fireteam can grab all of these orbs in time. The more orbs you use to stoke the flames, the better your rewards at the end of a Bonfire Bash activity. This event also runs on a timer, and once time is up, a Heat Drinker boss will arrive on the field. Defeat it, collect your gear and Silver Ash, and you'll finish a round of Bonfire Bash.

This year will be a more challenging experience, but if you stick with your fireteam, you'll find that there's some extra power to take advantage of in Solstice thanks to two buffs that are exclusive to the event. By staying in range of your team, you'll activate Firebound, which gives you increased recovery and Super regeneration when you're close to a fireteam member, and Flare--which is also available in Vanguard Ops--causes you to unleash damaging waves of paracausal energy when you rapidly defeat enemies.

After you emerge victorious, you can claim your rewards and get ready to do this event all over again! The Solstice Event Card will also have several extra rewards for you to claim if certain objectives are met, so check in often on that to-do list to see if you can add some new gear to your collection. A premium version of the Event Card is also available, and unlocking this with the premium Silver currency will add exclusive shaders, Ghost shells, and Exotic emotes to your collection.

Solstice Event Card challenges

• Bashing Success - Complete the Bonfire Bash activity
• Ash Tray - Collect 350 Silver Ash
• Good Ignite - Defeat 15 Ignition Carriers in Bonfire Bash
• Torch the Taken - Defeat 15 Prismatic Taken in Bonfire Bash
• Fuel for the Fire - Stoke 35 flames in the Bonfire Bash
• Fuel for the Fire II - Stoke 70 flames in the Bonfire Bash
• Fuel for the Fire III - Stoke 100 flames in the Bonfire Bash
• Like Wildfire - Defeat targets anywhere in the system, defeating Guardians awards bonus progress
• Forged in Flame - Defeat 10 opposing Guardians in any activity
• Superlative - Defeat targets with Super abilities
• Hand Lighter - Defeat targets with hand cannons, rocket launchers, and shotguns
• Burn Them Down - Defeat 40 Bosses anywhere in the system
• Fires of Competition - Complete 10 matches in Crucible or Gambit playlists to earn Silver Leaves
• Brightfall - Complete runs of the Blind Well or Dares of Eternity to earn Silver Leaves
• Raking the Coals - Complete playlist activities to earn Silver Leaves
• Dare to Dream - Complete Vanguard Ops or Nightfalls to earn Silver Leaves
• A Spark in the Dark - Complete rounds of Altars of Sorrow or Salvage to earn Silver Leaves
• In the Hot Seat - Complete activities on Neptune to earn Silver Leaves
• Flamekeeper - Title claimed

How to make your Solstice armor glow

A Solstice armor piece that has been upgraded with Kindling will achieve a glow effect, or if you're impatient, you can also buy the glow effects in the Eververse store with Silver in-game currency.

How to earn the Flamekeeper seal and title

Solstice is your only chance in 2023 to earn the Flamekeeper title, and like last year, it'll require you to complete all of the triumphs listed on the seal. Completing several additional objectives will gild the seal.