After first teasing it with a new trailer yesterday, Bungie provided deeper insight into Destiny 2 Season of Dawn today, including the new six-player matchmade Seasonal activity, The Sundial. While the Sundial and the new Seasonal Artifact may have been the highlights of the show, it was another detail on the Destiny 2 Season of Dawn roadmap that caught keen players’ eyes. The icon for this year’s The Dawning event seems to tease the return of Sparrow Racing League.
Sparrow Racing League, or SRL, was first introduced in Destiny 1 on December 8, 2015. It was a limited-time event, only around for three weeks before going away on December 29 of the same year. SRL was a curated Sparrow racing mode inspired by players who would race Sparrows around patrol destinations. It featured custom race tracks just for the mode and exclusive gear to earn. Bungie brought it back the next year on December 13, 2016 with two additional tracks as part of The Dawning, Destiny’s winter holiday/Christmas-themed event. Once again, the limited-time mode was only available for three weeks, but players could still experience it in private matches once it went away.
When the sequel launched in 2017, many players expected to get a Sparrow Racing League Destiny 2 edition for that first year’s Dawning event, but neither 2017 nor 2018 saw the return of the mode as Bungie focused on other content updates and projects. Finally, the upcoming Season of Dawn roadmap seems to hint at SRL’s Destiny 2 debut in just a week and a half, on December 17. Give the image below a look yourself.
There’s plenty more on the Season of Dawn roadmap, including the rotating Sundial bosses, and a curious event only titled “Save a Legend,” which we can only presume will have something to do with Saving Saint-14. Bungie is keeping how that will play out close to the chest, including how our actions will lead into the next Season in March. Get a look at the full Destiny 2 Season of Dawn roadmap below.
Destiny 2 Season of Dawn Roadmap
December 10 –
- Season of Dawn begins
- The Sundial: New Seasonal Activity
- Niruul, The Hollow Voice
- Premium Season Rank Rewards
- The Sundial: New Seasonal Activity
- Seasonal Update free for all players:
- New Seasonal Artifact (The Lantern of Osiris)
- Solar Subclass Update
- PVP Mode: Elimination
- Reprise D1 PVP Map: Rusted Lands
- Osiris Obelisks: Tangled Shore and Mars
December 17 –
- Osiris Obelisks: Nessus and EDZ (Free)
- The Sundial: Ozletc, The Sky Piercer (Season of Dawn)
- “Save a Legend” (Season of Dawn)
- The Dawning Seasonal Event, possibly featuring Sparrow Racing League (Free)
- Ends at reset on January 14
December 24 –
- Iron Banner (Free)
- The Sundial: Tazaroc, The Sun Eater (Season of Dawn)
January 7 –
- The Sundial: Legend Difficulty (Season of Dawn)
- Exotic Quest: Devil’s Ruin Sidearm (Season of Dawn)
January 28 –
- Exotic Quest: Bastion (Season of Dawn)
February 4 –
- “Empyrean Foundation” (Free)
- The Sundial: Inotam, Oblivion’s Triune (Season of Dawn)
February 11 –
- Crimson Days (Free)
- Runs for one week, ending at reset on February 18
March 10 –
- Next Season Begins
Both “Save a Legend” and “Empyrean Foundation” are curious additions, and seem to be parts of the ongoing story that will be told this Season. There are also some notable content gaps that could house other secrets and moments of player discovery. Notably missing is an Exotic Quest free for all players (the two on the Roadmap are for Season Pass owners only), which could mean we’re simply not getting one this season, or it could also mean Bungie’s eventually got another Whisper of the Worm/Outbreak Perfected type of quest up its sleeve. One of my biggest criticisms about Season of the Undying was having everything spoiled for us by the roadmap, trailers, and ViDocs, killing any opportunity of players have moments of community and discovery together.
There’s also a pretty big gap between Crimson Days and the opening of the next Season. In Season of the Undying, Bungie added the “Vex Offensive: Final Assault” to the roadmap in the final three weeks, something that just ended up being a visual boss-swap instead of a new event, disappointing players. It could be that Bungie is trying to temper expectations for the final moments of Season of Dawn here, letting the closing moments of the Seasonal narrative play out without expectation.
All updates on the Destiny 2 Season of Dawn roadmap are either free for all players or included as part of the $10 Season Pass for this Season. Nothing on the roadmap indicates that it is expansion-exclusive to Shadowkeep. Many players expressed disappointment that the return of Osiris and Mercury didn’t herald a return of the long-missed Trials competitive PvP mode, though some (mainly myself) speculate that saving the legend Saint-14 will allow him to take up the mantle as the mode’s proprietor in a future Season when Bungie is finally ready to bring it back.
