At the end of the year, when the snow begins to fall in the Tower, a celebration kicks off in Destiny 2. Guardians new and old gather around to share gifts, bake cookies, and show off dazzling sets of new armor and emotes purchased from Tess in Destiny 2.
The Dawning is one of Destiny's oldest celebrations and kicked off in 2016 during the Rise of Iron expansion. It is an amalgamation of holiday traditions brought by thousands of refugees to the Last City. Such traditions include giving gifts, passing blessings of good luck, baking treats, and lighting lanterns. Master Rahool explains the practice of lighting lanterns best "...we light lanterns to guide the Light back to us in a time of Darkness. The fires from our candles and hearth flames remind us that no matter how black the night is, there will be a dawn."
The Dawning 2016 - 2020
The Dawning first came to Destiny in 2016, and was exclusive to owners of the Rise of Iron expansion. It marked one of the first instances where players were split depending on if they played on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, versus PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Rather than be an update specifically for The Dawning, it acted as a gateway to a larger update which brought about a number of new features.
Sparrow racing made its return, with a host of new sparrows and new tracks to hurtle down. The popular Strike scoring was also added to Destiny with this update, and breathed new life into the playlist. Eva Levante headed up the event at the Iron Temple, while Tess handled things at the Tower. It was also this year that the popular sniper Icebreaker was introduced.
When Destiny 2 was released in 2017, the first big event to come to it was The Dawning. It celebrated the end of the Red War and gave humanity a chance to take a breath after nearly facing extinction one more time. The Tower and the Farm were decked out for the festivities. Snowball fights broke out spontaneously thanks to premade bunkers and the piles of snowballs laying around.
Adding a fun mix to the Strikes playlist, snowballs could also be thrown at enemies to stun them and deal massive damage. Soccer in the Hangar was replaced by an oversized hockey puck and fun was had by all. By completing milestones each week, players would be rewarded with a Dawning engram. This would reward players with Dawning-themed gear, emotes, and other items. For those hunting a particular item, Tess would rotate her Eververse stock.
With 2018's Dawning event, space grandma Eva Levante returned and brought what has arguably been the most popular addition to the event, her baking holiday oven. By collecting ingredients from defeated foes, players were able to discover recipes and craft goodies for their favorite NPCs. Upon receiving a batch of baked goods, the NPC would gift the giving player with things like Enhancement Cores, mods, legendary gear, and the Avalanche Heavy Machinegun. Along with all of those goodies was a new sleigh sparrow that would drop glimmer while riding along. For those drowning in Bright Dust, Tess also returned with a pile of emotes, ships, and shells.
Eva returned in 2019 with her oven and even more recipes for guardians to learn. Her holiday oven was reworked this year with built-in recipes, making crafting bulk batches of baked goods that much easier. New recipes were added as were their corresponding recipients like Riven and her Thousand Layer Cookie. To help players along, Eva brought her own bounties which rewarded guardians with specific ingredients, Essence of Dawn, and double XP. Aside from that, there were new sparrows, emotes, ships, and shells to be had, per usual. Giving something for players to chase after over the course of the event was Alpine Dash, an upgradable sparrow.
2020 was very similar to the 2019 event. Grandma Levante brought her oven back and guardians had the opportunity to craft more baked goods. There were new seasonal triumphs to chase, sparrows, armor, emotes, and shells to buy from Tess in the Eververse. Joining the ranks of the must-have weapons was the fusion rifle Glacioclasm. Xenophage and Monte Carlo would also get ornaments in the form of Glee Barrage and Merry Maker respectively.
However, the greatest treat was the Starfarer 7M ship. Much like the Alpine Dash quest chain from the previous year, players could upgrade the ship. But what made the ship so great is that it had a perk called Spirit of the Season that granted a chance to generate Dawning Spirit whenever the player found a Dawning ingredient. Over time, this would significantly cut down on the grind for unlocking content.
The Dawning 2021
Now that the Dawning has come around for 2021, it would seem that Bungie has locked down the formula it plans on using. Tess has flooded the Eververse with all manner of goodies including the most elaborate armor sets yet, an astounding train sparrow, an ugly sweater for Ghost, and so much more. With a new set of triumphs to chase down and a fancy emblem to show off, there's plenty to do in this winter wonderland.
Plus, there's never been a better time to farm ingredients as the Dares of Eternity mode spawns all manner of villains from across the paraverse that are just begging to be turned into ingredients. And for those willing to delve into the lore, this year's Dawning celebration is better than ever as new alliances and bonds are formed with the House of Light eliksni and Emperess Caiatl's cabal.
The Dawning continues to be one of Destiny 2's more popular events. This is largely thanks to fun side activities that work in conjunction with the regular grind, like gathering baking ingredients while doing strikes and crucible and the huge amount of new gear, weapons, emotes, and more to collect. Plus, unlike Festival of the Lost, it has seen continual enhancements over the years and seldom feels like it is a stagnant event. Now is the perfect time to get out there and bake some treats!
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
