Destiny 2 Season of Dawn: Guide to Unlocking and Completing the Sundial

The Sundial is the newest seasonal PvE gamemode released in Destiny 2‘s Season of Dawn. This game mode has replaced the Vex Offensive activity from last season and puts six Guardians up against the Red Legion on Mercury. Similar to the Menagerie, players go through three rotating encounters and earn points by completing certain tasks and defeating enemies, and once complete, they face the boss for that week. However, it seems that Guardians must finish a minimum of two encounters during single run before fighting the boss. This guide will explain everything you need to know to unlock and complete the Sundial.

How to Unlock the Sundial

To unlock the Sundial, first speak with Ikora Rey in the Tower, and she will have the the quest, “A Matter of Time”. This quest requires Guardians to attune an Obelisk found in Thieves’ Landing on the Tangled Shore. Then head on over to Sorik’s Cut which Guardians can fast travel to at the top of the Tangled Shore map, and once enough Sundial Components are collected from killing Cabal, go back to the Obelisk to bank them. Guardians will then receive the next quest step which requires them to kill enemies with abilities and collect orbs of light anywhere in the game, so this is a great place to try out all of the new Solar subclass changes. It’s best to stay in the Tangled Shore, because the quest step afterwards is located there. Masterworked weapons and Super abilities will generate orbs of light faster than normal weapons and abilities as well. Once completed, bank them at the Obelisk in the Tangled Shore. The Sundial will now be unlocked.

How to Complete the Sundial Encounters

Every run of the Sundial will start with the Ascent. It is a fairly standard encounter, where the team of six Guardians needs to clear all of the enemies and start up the Sundial. Once the Sundial is activated the Guardians will go through the three following rotating encounters until they’ve earned enough points:

• Bombardment: This encounter has waves of minibosses spawn in the center of the map that are immune to all damage until their shield is destroyed. In order to break their shield, the team needs to defeat powerful units on the outskirts of the area. These enemies drop relics that can be thrown at the miniboss and break its shield. Once its shield is broken, the miniboss can be damaged and killed, and then a stronger one will spawn, up to three times. This encounter has a timer of 5 minutes, so rack up as many points as possible.
• Datamine: This encounter has Guardians holding and defending a point from invading Cabal for a certain amount of time. Psion Commanders will periodically spawn with a translucent bubble around them, and similarly to the Leviathan Raid, they can only be killed with a melee attack. If not killed quickly, the Psions will impede the progress of defense, and when the point is held for enough time, a miniboss will appear. Once defeated, two more points will spawn repeating the process, so make sure the team is coordinated and split up evenly.
• Gatecrash: This encounter has players defeat Vex Minotaurs to bring their dropped arc charges to the entrance of the map and deposit them. Be careful though because holding an arc charge grants a debuff that prevents Guardians from sprinting or using their jump ability. Once deposited, the activity repeats itself, and after three rotations, a miniboss will spawn.

How to Defeat Niruul, the Hallow Voice

Once the team earns enough points, they will face the final boss. Bungie has announced 4 different bosses for the Sundial, and until December 17th, Guardians will have to fight Niruul, the Hallow Voice. This fight is like a blend of the Bombardment and Datamine encounters since Niruul is immune from all sources of damage until the Psion Commanders are defeated. After every round of damage is finished without defeating Niruul, more Psions will spawn, so make sure the team covers as much ground as possible. Niruul will also fire purple bubbles that trap players inside and kill them if they stay inside for too long. If trapped, Guardians can fire themselves out faster by shooting the bright purple spots in the dome which inflicts precision damage. Once Niruul is defeated, the Guardians will be brought back to the Sundial for their reward.

What Gear to Bring to the Sundial

The two most important things to bring to the Sundial are Overload and Anti-Barrier Rounds. Each encounter has several Champion enemies that will be nearly impossible to get through without these types of rounds. Guardians should also be using Solar Energy Weapons as nearly every enemy shield is a Solar type. Another item that makes the activity easier are banners. These can be purchased from Suraya Hawthorne at the Tower and placed before every encounter. When a Guardian interacts with a placed banner, their ammo reserves are completely refilled and their Super  Abilities are recharged. Taking all of this information into the next Sundial run will surely make the run much easier and faster.