After months of speculation, Bungie finally shed light on how weapon retirement will actually work. In a nutshell:
What is sunsetting in Destiny 2? Legendary weapons and armor now have a Max Power Level that can be reached through infusion. That Max Power Level will be set at the Player Power Cap attainable 3 Seasons after their release.
In other words: Legendary gear will have a one-year lifetime during which it can be used for difficult and Power-enabled activities.
This definition comes from Bungie’s May 14th’s TWAB, a post that also gave us more information about their plans for the game. Yet my biggest question remains:
When is this going to impact my favorite weapons?
In this post:
Today we will answer that question as we dive deep into Weapon sunsetting. We will also cover armor retirement and explain how sunsetting, in general, will work moving forward.
Destiny 2 sunsetting list: Weapons impacted [per Season]
The chart below should help you better visualize when some of the best weapons in Destiny 2 will be affected by this. This is not an exhaustive list with every weapon impacted. Instead, we’ll focus on all Pinnacles, Rituals, and the most popular weapons overall.
If a weapon is listed within a particular season, it means it will be retired at the beginning of that season. Example: Recluse will be retired/sunsetted in Season 12. This means Recluse will only be able to go as high as Season 11’s Max Power Level.
Destiny 2 sunsetting chart:
| Expires | Source | Retiring Weapon | Decent Replacement | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retiring Season 12 - Nov 10, 2020 | ||||||
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Vanguard Pinnacle |  | Loaded Question | Fusion Rifle |  | Elatha FR4 | Fusion Rifle | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Vanguard Pinnacle |  | Oxygen SR3 | Scout Rifle |  | The Scholar | Scout Rifle | Trials of Osiris |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Vanguard Pinnacle |  | Wendigo GL3 | Grenade Launcher |  | Interference VI | Grenade Launcher | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Vanguard Pinnacle |  | Edgewise | Machine Gun |  | Seventh Seraph SAW | Machine Gun | NA |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | Luna's Howl | Hand Cannon |  | Dire Promise | Hand Cannon | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | Not Forgotten | Hand Cannon | | Dire Promise | Hand Cannon | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | Redrix's Broadsword | Pulse Rifle |  | Cold Denial | Pulse Rifle | Umbral Engrams |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | The Mountaintop | Grenade Launcher |  | Truthteller | Grenade Launcher | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | Recluse | Submachine Gun |  | IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.2 | Submachine Gun | Umbral Engrams |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | Revoker | Sniper Rifle |  | Eye of Sol | Sniper Rifle | Trials of Osiris |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Crucible Pinnacle |  | Randy's Throwing Knive | Scout Rifle |  | Night Watch | Scout Rifle | Umbral Engrams |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Gambit Pinnacle |  | Breakneck | Assault Rifle |  | The Forward Path | Assault Rifle | Iron Banner |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Gambit Pinnacle |  | 21% Delirium | Machine Gun |  | Thunderlord | Machine Gun | Exotic Engram |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Gambit Pinnacle |  | Hush | Combat Bow |  | Point of the Stag | Combat Bow | Iron Banner Ritual |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Gambit Pinnacle |  | Exit Strategy | Submachine Gun | | IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.2 | Submachine Gun | Umbral Engrams |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Black Armory |  | Hammerhead | Machine Gun | | Seventh Seraph SAW | Machine Gun | NA |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Black Armory |  | Galliard-42 XN7568 | Auto Rifle |  | The Summoner | Assault Rifle | Trials of Osiris |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Black Armory |  | Blast Furnace | Pulse Rifle |  | Sacred Provenance | Pulse Rifle | Garden of Salvation Raid |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Black Armory |  | Kindled Orchid | Hand Cannon |  | Nation of Beasts | Hand Cannon | Last Wish Raid |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Black Armory |  | Stryker's Sure-Hand | Sword |  | Falling Guillotine | Sword | Umbral Engrams |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Menagerie |  | Beloved | Sniper Rifle |  | Omniscient Eye | Sniper Rifle | Garden of Salvation Raid |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Menagerie |  | Austringer | Hand Cannon |  | The Old Fashioned | Hand Cannon | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Menagerie |  | Drang (Baroque) | Sidearm |  | Buzzard | Side Arm | Vanguard Ritual |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Reckoning |  | Spare Rations | Hand Cannon | | Dire Promise | Hand Cannon | World Drop |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Nightfall |  | Mindbender's Ambition | Shotgun |  | Felwinter's Lie | Shotgun | Hidden Quest |
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Iron Banner |  | ► All Year 2 IB weapons. | |||
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Escalation Protocol |  | ► All Year 1 EP weapons. | |||
| Season 12 | Nov 10, 2020 | Moon Destination |  | ► All Shadowkeep weapons. | |||
| Retiring Season 13 - Winter 2020 | ||||||
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Vanguard Ritual | | Buzzard | Side Arm | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Crucible Ritual |  | Komodo-4FR | Linear Fusion Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Gambit Ritual |  | Python | Shotgun | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Season of Dawn |  | Steelfeather Repeater | Assault Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Season of Dawn |  | Breachlight | Sidearm | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Season of Dawn |  | Martyr's Retribution | Grenade Launcher | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Season of Dawn |  | Perfect Paradox | Shotgun | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | Season of Dawn |  | ► All other Obelisk weapons. | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | World Drop | | The Old Fashioned | Hand Cannon | - | - | |
| Season 13 | Winter 2020 | World Drop |  | Last Hope | Sidearm | - | - | |
| Retiring Season 14 - Spring 2021 | ||||||
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Iron Banner Ritual | | Point of the Stag | Combat Bow | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Hidden Quest | | Felwinter's Lie | Shotgun | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Trials of Osiris |  | Astral Horizon | Shotgun | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Trials of Osiris | | The Summoner | Assault Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Trials of Osiris | | Eye of Sol | Sniper Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | World Drops | | Dire Promise | Hand Cannon | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | World Drop | | Interference VI | Grenade Launcher | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Season of the Worthy |  | Seventh Seraph CQC-12 | Shotgun | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Season of the Worthy | | Seventh Seraph SAW | Machine Gun | - | - | |
| Season 14 | Spring 2021 | Season of the Worthy |  | ► All other Seventh Seraph weapons. | - | - | |
| Retiring Season 15 - Summer 2021 | ||||||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Garden of Salvation Raid | | Sacred Provenance | Pulse Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Garden of Salvation Raid |  | Ancient Gospel | Hand Cannon | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Garden of Salvation Raid | | Omniscient Eye | Sniper Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Garden of Salvation Raid | ► All other Garden of Salvation weapons. | - | - | ||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Last Wish Raid |  | The Supremacy | Sniper Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Last Wish Raid | | Nation of Beasts | Hand Cannon | |||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Last Wish Raid |  | Transfiguration | Scout Rifle | |||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Last Wish Raid | ► All other Last Wish weapons. | ||||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Umbral Engrams | | Cold Denial | Pulse Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Umbral Engrams | | Falling Guillotine | Sword | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Umbral Engrams | | IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.2 | Submachine Gun | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Umbral Engrams |  | IKELOS_SR_v1.0.2 | Sniper Rifle | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Umbral Engrams | ► All other Umbral weapons. | ||||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Iron Banner |  | The Fool's Remedy | Sidearm | |||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Iron Banner | | The Forward Path | Assault Rifle | |||
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | World Drop | | Truthteller | Grenade Launcher | - | - | |
| Season 15 | Summer 2021 | Prophecy Dungeon |  | ► All Prohecy Dungeon weapons. |
It is worth noting that weapon retirement will only affect endgame content where Power Level matters (which is less than a third of all the content available in the game). Yet, weapon retirement will still significantly shift the game’s meta. Currently, some of the best PVE and PVP weapons are Pinnacles that will be sunsetted in just a few weeks.
If you’re serious about endgame content, you have to start searching for decent replacements now.
About re-issued weapons…
Re-issued Weapons: Some weapons in the list above have an asterisk next to them (*). This means they have been re-issued. Re-issued weapons remain exactly the same as before but have a higher Power level cap. However, whatever god roll you already have from before will keep the same old Power Level Cap, not the new re-issued one.
I’m not one to rant, but the way Bungie keeps re-issuing weapons is worrisome. Many warned this could happen:
“Bungie is retiring our weapons to force us to grind for the same thing all over again”.
Bungie keeps saying weapon sunsetting will give them more freedom to create amazing weapons without having to worry they’ll need to keep them balanced forever (and then be forced to nerf them, as was the case for several Pinnacle weapons).
Pinnacle weapons: The ones we will miss the most…
I want to believe Bungie, but re-issuing weapons as they did with Gnawing Hunger and some Iron Banner weapons is not a good sign.
Absolutely nothing was changed.
No new perks, fine-tuned stats, or anything. They simply slapped a different logo to the thumbnail and increased the Power Cap. This is not what weapon sunsetting should be. I do hope this was an exception and that Bungie will indeed surprise us with amazing new weapons this Fall…
Destiny 2 Sunsetting: Exotics remain untouched
Some of our favorite Legendary weapons will be retired soon, but fortunately, Exotic weapons will not be subject to sunsetting. Not yet at least…
Anarchy shall remain one of the best PVE weapons for a little longer
This means you will be able to continue using your favorite Exotic weapons in end-game content and challenging activities for the foreseeable future. This makes the Top Tier Exotics even more relevant, and a priority, if you don’t have them yet.
The state of Combat bows is a great example. Most of the best bows in Destiny 2 will be retired when Beyond Light launches, and that makes the Exotics, such as Trinity Ghoul, even more appealing.
The same goes for hand cannons. The most popular hand cannon for PVP, Spare Rations, will be sunset with Beyond Light. Granted, other legendary hand cannons have appeared, but the best alternatives will be exotic hand cannons.
And this is an excellent move from Bungie. Losing all those difficult to obtain Pinnacle weapons will be hard to swallow. By excluding Exotics, Bungie is telling players that they somewhat respect their time and dedication. After all, some of the best Exotic weapons and Catalysts are locked behind difficult quests that can take several hours to complete.
Armor sunsetting in Destiny 2: The exceptions
Unfortunately, Sunsetting will also impact armor. This means all the armor pieces you spent massive resources on to Masterwork will also only have a one-year lifespan. More importantly, all armor from Season 1 to 8 will suddenly become obsolete with the release of Beyond Light this Fall.
The decision to sunset weapons has been criticized. But the decision to sunset armor, however, has been widely rejected by the community. It simply makes less sense. In fact, it seems like the only real reason to sunset armor is to push players to have to re-acquire and re-masterwork new armor.
A Masterworked piece of armor down the drain
There is one exception to this rule:
- Weapons from the Last Wish and Garden of Salvation raid will have a longer lifetime and won’t be sunsetted until Season 14.
- Armor from all raids, including legacy raids going away this Fall, will have a longer lifetime and won’t be sunsetted until Season 14.
Also, from a pure cosmetics perspective, the effects of armor sunsetting should be somewhat limited by the upcoming ability to transmog the looks of your favorite armor pieces into newer gear.
Destiny 2 Sunsetting rules: How will it work, exactly?
Bungie’s May 14, 2020, TWAB is a must-read if you want to know everything there is to know about weapon retirement, but these are the key “rules” you need to know:
- Each Legendary weapon and piece of armor will have a Max Power Level it can reach through infusion.
- Exotics will not have a Max Power Level.
- The Max Power Level for these items will be set at the player Power Cap attainable 3 Seasons after its release Season (4 Seasons total).
- This means all Legendary gear has a one-year span of time during which it can be used in activities where being at or near the player Power Cap is important (difficult and Power-enabled activities).
- The Max Power Level for these items will be visible in-game in Season 11, but no items will be at their Max Power Level at the start of Season 11.
- This means all your gear will be relevant in all activities during Season 11.
If you had the perfect Gnawing Hunger before, you now have to farm a re-issued version
- At the start of Season 12, weapons and armor released in Seasons 1-8 will have a Max Power Level at the Season 11 player Power Cap
- Gear from Seasons 9, 10, 11, and 12 will all be infusible to new player Power Caps for 1 year after their release.
- Weapons and armor from the Last Wish and Garden of Salvation raids, will be granted exceptions and will have a higher Max Power Level”
Those are the basics. But you may have additional questions, such as:
- Can I still use gear that has reached its Max Power Level?
- Yes. You will always be able to equip and use any piece of gear.
- Reaching the player Power Cap is beneficial, but not strictly required, for most activities in Destiny. You can continue to equip and use all gear in these activities.
- Does this apply to armor as well as weapons?
- Yes – all Legendary gear that provides Power will have a Max Power Level.
- When gear drops after its debut Season, what will its Max Power Level be?
- It will have the same Max Power Level as it did in its initial release Season.
- Will gear ever have its Max Power Level updated?
- Not directly, but gear can be re-issued in future Seasons. These re-issued versions will have a new Max Power Level based on the Season in which it is re-issued.
The community keeps pushing Bungie to answer more questions, namely:
Will we need to pull out armor from the Collections Tab or should we keep our Vault cluttered with stuff we are not using?
Frequently Asked Questions
At this point we’ve covered everything there is to know about sunset in Destiny 2. That said, I’ve been asked the following questions so many times, they deserve a dedicated section:
Is Drang getting Sunset? We thought it would, but Bungie just revealed that Gunsmith will begin selling a version of Drang on November 10 with no infusion cap. Same for MIDA Mini-Tool.
Is there a Destiny 2 Beyond Light sunsetting list? Yes, that the first section of the chart above, named “Retiring Season 12”.
Is Revoker getting Sunset? Yes, it will be sunset on November 10, 2020, with the release of Beyond Light.
Is Redrix’s Broadsword getting Sunset? Yes, it will be sunset on November 10, 2020, with the release of Beyond Light.
Is Spare Rations getting Sunset? Yes, it will be sunset on November 10, 2020, with the release of Beyond Light.
Your turn
You now know everything there is to know about weapon and armor sunsetting in D2.
The weapon list above is my take on how sunsetting will impact the most popular (and some of my favorites) weapons in Destiny 2.
But perhaps I missed some. If I did miss your favorites, or weapons you consider S Tier, let me know in the comments section below.
waking vigil
Agreed, great choice too.
Great Article, thanks
Thank you for the kind comment, always great to hear from you guys!
I think they’re sunsetting armor simply to lock players out of the new content. Forcing people to buy the new expansion to raise their light cap..
You can still do Powerful and Pinnacle activities to get armor with higher power level. There are more sources if you have the expansions but do not need them to get to Max power level.
I think its so they can get away with adding 6 hours of content and marketing it as a new game….
I loved Gambit…much to most of the playerbase having a different say, when i saw there was a pinnacle shotgun for it, i HAULED ass to get it, 2 days later i had it, kept it on all 3 classes, im sad to see its getting sunsetted- but it will never leave my inventory…
Loved the MoonFang-X7 as well… that armor looks kick-ass…
I dont care much about the sunsetting on my favorite weapons, im 143,926 kills deep for my Python, and you can bet imma still make memories with it in future seasons…
for those who wanna make some memories,
Xbox 1
Shadowette8262
Mine is Gr8Achilles
I might take you up on that.
Personally I truly hope they come out with weapons worth grinding for. I busted my butt to get some truly awesome weapons only to have them go extinct. If they don’t come through with this in an truly epic way it could really hurt them in the end.
Lets make memories
Gr8Achilles if you want to
Great article thanks for the insight into how sun setting works and the list of things going by the side of the road.
I’m not excited to see armor getting sunset. It takes 500 enhancement cores to masterwork an armor set. That’s a lot of grinding. The masterwork progression has to change. They need to remember what they said about valuing players time. For us to invest so much time to masterwork an armor set just to have it get left behind..smh. Bungie if you’re listening make it easier to masterwork armor so we don’t feel so wronged when this armor is obsolete.