[GameSpot] - Destiny 2 Solstice: Should You Buy The Upgraded Event Card?

[343iBot]

Destiny 2's revamped summer Solstice event introduces a bunch of changes to how developer Bungie handles these yearly celebrations. Along with new seals to earn and revamped activities, Solstice comes with an "event card" system that tracks challenges you can complete in the game to earn rewards. The event card comes in two versions: a free edition and a premium, "upgraded" one. But is the free event card worth your hard-earned Silver?

To make a clear decision about whether you should upgrade your event card, it's important to know what you're getting. Both versions of the event card track 24 "event challenges" that you can complete over the next 20 days during the Solstice event. Mostly, those challenges reward you with new in-game items to upgrade your Solstice armor, a special set of gear that can be upgraded with stat bonuses. You can also equip your Solstice armor with special "glows" that give them colorful neon accouterments, provided you're willing to pay for them with Silver, Destiny 2's premium currency that's purchased with real money. You need to fully upgrade your Solstice armor in order to equip the glows, but even if you don't purchase them, the armor can be powered up significantly if you put in the time to complete challenges.

You get the same gameplay benefits whether you use the free or upgraded Solstice event card. If you buy the upgrade, you're paying for the cosmetics.

If your only desire is to beef up your Solstice armor, the free version of the event card has you covered. Both versions include the same set of challenges to complete and dole out the same amount of special Solstice currencies you need to upgrade your armor. The upgraded version of the card doesn't affect any gameplay elements--so no faster means of upgrading your Solstice armor and no additional weapon rewards. Instead, it offers you the opportunity for more cosmetic items.

With each completed event challenge on your event card, you earn a currency called "event tickets." If you stick with the free version of the card, you can't do anything with these tickets, but if you purchase the upgraded card, event tickets can be traded for several additional awards. These include a skateboarding emote and a ship that looks like a speedboat.

The upgraded event card also gives you several cosmetic items for your initial purchase: a new shader called Iris Gossamer, an emote that makes you the champion of a hot dog-eating contest, and a Ghost shell that puts a nice hat on your robot buddy.

The Sunny Vacation Ghost shell is among the cosmetic items you can earn from the Solstice event if you're willing to pay in.

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It'll cost you 1,000 Silver to purchase the upgraded event card, which is the equivalent of about $10. Presuming you complete enough challenges to unlock all the event card's rewards, that 1,000 Silver buys you two emotes, a ship, a ghost shell, and a shader, as well as a transmat effect and a Ghost projection. All of these are unique to the Solstice event, so don't expect to buy them piecemeal elsewhere--at least, not until next year.

So the question of whether the upgraded event card is worth your money comes down to whether you want the cosmetic items offered on the upgraded event card track. The premium card won't give you a fast track on Solstice, so it comes down to a decision about whether you want to sport new summer-themed cosmetic gear, or if you're okay skipping it.

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