Destiny 2has already confirmed that its Valentine’s Day event Crimson Days is returning this year on February 11 and run for one week as it usually does. ButDestiny 2’s developer Bungie has yet to provide any details as to what the event will entail this year in its fourth iteration. Because the current Season of Dawn runs from December to March, Crimson Days falls within its timeframe.
The Dawning, which is currently still live inDestiny 2, may give a little look at the scope of Crimson Days this year, due to its proximity to the upcoming Valentine’s Day event and how it was handled by Bungie under its new direction for Year 3. For the most part, the Dawning brought very little new to the table when compared to last year’s event outside of some additional recipes andEververse items, and with the addition of the new season pass system, changes to Bright Dust and Eververse, and focus on bounties, the event updated itself slightly to accommodate those.
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So, looking at the past iterations of Crimson Days may very well help in formulating what could be coming in the 2020 edition of the event. Plus, anyone new toDestiny 2, especially withthe release of New Lightthis past fall, will be able to understand what Crimson Days is all about, considering that Crimson Days is free to all players, including New Light players.
The First Crimson Days
Crimson Days made its debut inDestiny 1in 2016 during its Year 2 with the biggest feature of the event beinga new PvP mode called Crimson Doubles, which was a mashup of sorts betweenDestiny’s 2v2 Doubles mode and its round-based Elimination mode. It required pre-formed fireteams to enter and when one teammate was killed, they could be revived by the other, who also gained the Broken Heart buff that maxed their Mobility, Recovery, and Resilience stats and weapon handling until they were able to revive their fallen teammate or the round ended.
Completing the event’s quest rewarded an emblem and Crimson Days gave players a direct avenue to getting 320 Light Ghost shells, which was the max level at the time and could help players get a maxed out Ghost to take them to the level cap. The event also brought five emotes that could be purchased in the Eververse Store.
The First Crimson Days of Destiny 2
Crimson Days skipped 2017and did not come to the third year ofDestiny 1due to Bungie focusing on the release ofDestiny 2, which would come out later that year in September. The first time Crimson Days appeared inDestiny 2was the following year in 2018. Crimson Days launched into aDestiny 2that was trying to recover from a rough period after the launch troubles and came during the February 2018 when Bungie was very much trying to course-correct the game amid criticism and complaints.
Crimson Days in 2018 the next live event afterDecember 2017’s iteration of The Dawning, which was heavily focused on Eververse and pushing content through microtransactions. Crimson Days had a lot to correct and prove for the game in general and how Bungie would handle live events moving forward. Overall, it was a success. Instead of putting everything behind Eververse, players could earn Crimson Engrams from XP giving them Eververse items and there were an emblem, exotic Ghost shell, ornament, and emote that were earned directly from completing tasks in-game.
This Crimson Days also brought a new PvP variantsimilar, but different, from the first Crimson Doubles playlist fromDestiny 1. This was the first time a Doubles playlist had appeared inDestiny 2, and it came in the form of a matchmade, round-based Clash mode. It also featured a Crimson Days twist, increasing the recharge rate for abilities of duos who stayed in close proximity. If they strayed, the other team would get waypoints as to their position on the map. In addition, Crimson Days brought The Burnout map, a remixed version of The Burning Shrine fromDestiny 1.
Crimson Days 2019
Crimson Days in 2019 brought back the same Crimson Doubles playlist as the previous year, rewarding players who stuck close together with a faster recharge rate for their abilities. Butthe big change to the eventwas the focus on bounties and currency. Instead of everything being delivered at random via Crimson Engrams as they did the previous year, players earned the Confectionary Hearts currency from playing Crimson Doubles and completing event bounties. Then they could directly purchase what they wanted from Shaxx, who served as the event’s vendor.
Similar to how Festival of the Lost and the Dawning have offered special weapons, 2019’s Crimson Days offered a max-level legendary bow called The Vow that players could earn by getting enough Confectionary Hearts. Players could still earn Crimson Engrams with the same loot pool as the previous year, giving players another shot at collecting any items they may have missed in 2018.
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Crimson Days 2020
As the game has evolved so has its live events, which is clear just by looking at Crimson Days. With the game’s current focus on bounties and event currencies, it is likely that this year’s iteration will be very similar. But this year will likely not have Crimson Engrams as the game has moved away from that system for direct purchase items in the Eververse store, and it would not be surprising to see this year’s Crimson Days bounties also give Bright Dust likethis year’s Dawningbounties.
But outside of that, if there is anything new coming, players will need to wait until Bungie reveals more about Crimson Days this year.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeepis available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
