Destiny 2 sunset weapons and armor are coming back
Sunsetting has been sunset, with gear from years ago riding back over the horizon and into players' loadouts.
Remember all those weapons and armor you probably dismantled because they were sunset? Well, it turns out that Bungie is unsunsetting them. Due to the upcoming Fireteam Power system, the developers behind Destiny 2 realized that the new system did not play nice with the sunset weapons and as such, these old weapons will be usable in content once again.
The launch of Beyond Light back in 2020 saw Bungie limit the Power of many weapons and armor from earlier releases. This prevented players from infusing weapons up to the new Power cap, which meant those weapons were incapable of dealing damage and armor was ineffective at preventing damage. This was dubbed “sunsetting,” by Bungie.
Source: Bungie, TWAB May 5, 2020
The purpose of sunsetting was to encourage players to focus on new weapons and armor instead of constantly using older gear. This worked, but there was a lot of pushback. Many of the older weapons that were now obsolete were earned through tough, endgame activities. Bungie reversed its decision about sunsetting, stating that it would no longer sunset more weapons but that any gear that had already been sunset would remain that way.
There were a lot of great weapons lost to the annals of time due to sunsetting. A cursory glance at the Monument to Lost Lights shows a great deal of Legendary weapons, many of which were considered must-have items back in the day, have been sunset. While some of these have been reissued with Onslaught (The Recluse and The Mountaintop) many are still useless in any activity that takes your Power into account. Then there is the Collections tab, which reveals just how many weapons are set to return during this "sunrise," era.
Source: Shacknews
All of this is set to change with the release of The Final Shape. In the April 25, 2024 TWID, Bungie revealed that all previously sunset gear would be unsunset. These weapons and armor would once again be useable in content. How did this come to be? It’s thanks to the upcoming Fireteam Power system.
Fireteam Power takes the player with the highest Power and makes them the Power Leader. Other players in the fireteam will have their Power temporarily set to 5 points below the leader’s (unless their Power is higher than that). This system allows users who are drastically underpowered to participate in tougher content provided one player has a decent Power level.
This new system had an unintended side effect: If a player equipped sunset armor and weapons, then that gear would be effectively lifted up to the Fireteam Power. It completely circumvented the sunsetting Bungie had put in place. To that end, Bungie decided to just remove the Power limits from this legacy gear.
Source: Bungie
While this is definitely good news, it does mean that anyone who dismantled their gear due to it being sunset now has to contend with the notion that they could have kept it around. Bungie regrets that there is no recovery mechanic but offers some good news: The developers intend to reintroduce these weapons and armor via new sources and they will include new properties, like Origin Traits.
It’s also worth considering that many of the current weapons and armor in the sandbox far outclass sunset gear. There might be a lot of nostalgia attached to older gear, but the inclusion of crafting, and now the Brave Arsenal weapons, has resulted in tremendous power creep. So although you might be able to use Go Figure or Curtain Call in The Final Shape, there are so many other weapons that no doubt outperform them.
When The Final Shape releases, it will be worth seeing how these older weapons perform against the new, especially ones that are reissued with a new perk pool. Keep your eyes trained on our Destiny 2 Strategy Guide as we lead you into The Final Shape and beyond.
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