With the most recent update, Bungie's 30th Anniversary celebration launched in Destiny 2. Aside from a slew of new weapons and armor available to Destiny 2 players, a new mode called Dares of Eternity became available.
Dares of Eternity is the new 6 player activity available to all Destiny 2 players, regardless of whether they purchased the 30th Anniversary pack or not. In it, players are abducted to a realm in unknown space by everyone's favorite peddler of exotic wares, Xur, and an eternal equine, Starhorse.
Dares of Eternity
Taking the form of a cosmic game show, Dares of Eternity pits six matchmade players together in a contest against opponents from across the paraverse. Xur and Starhorse act as commentators as the players spin a cosmic wheel that summons opponents to battle for glimmer and prizes. Xur now adopts the persona of a game show host and comments several times that he must say certain lines because Starhorse requires it. All the while, Starhorse whinnies and neighs its consternation or approval at the contestants.
The actual event itself is split up into several different encounters. The first always starts the same, with players spinning a wheel to determine the enemy they will be fighting against. The mechanics will change depending on the enemy race summoned. For example, summoning the Vex brings up invulnerable Vex Minotaurs that require their shields to be destroyed by Vex Craniums looted from defeated glowing enemies. To help players through the encounter, there are various power-ups spread throughout the map that increase super energy, speed, and more.
Clearing the first encounter, Destiny 2 players must run a "zany" obstacle course. There are two that can be encountered, depending on if the player can make the jump to the higher course. Should they fail to make the jump, it's a matter of running the course at the bottom of the map. Both will lead to the next encounter, however the course at the top of the mountain will automatically refill super energy. This is kind of a moot point, though, as helpful players can plant a raid banner before the next fight.
Much like the initial encounter, players will spin a wheel to determine what "contestants" are summoned from the paraverse to compete. Again, like that first encounter, there will be different objectives depending on the enemy type summoned. However, unlike the first encounter, each of these fights has two phases. For example, the taken encounter will spawn Taken Minotaurs that must be defeated. Upon dying, they will drop several orbs that must be picked up and thrown at the floating blight in the middle of the room. The second phase requires players to kill glowing taken mobs to gather orbs so the shields of the taken bosses can be broken.
Completing the second encounter will prompt yet another obstacle course. But, for this one, players must guess at which of three enemy types the final encounter will be. To do this, players must stand on platforms to vote. Guessing correctly will see the players receive Starhorse's favor.
The third and final encounter is a boss fight. Like the two encounters before, each is unique. Fighting the Hive will trigger a Crota encounter, while Zydron serves as the Vex boss. If the Cabal are the opponent of choice, players will be pit against Valus Ta'aurc.
Finally, if players are fortunate enough, a lightning round may be triggered following the boss fight for additional glimmer and prizes. Currently, there is no confirmed way to trigger the lightning round, though there are plenty of theories floating around.
Once complete, players can head to Xur's Treasure Hoard in Eternity to claim prizes, acquire bounties, and open chests with keys earned from completing the event. There's a lot to unlock and enough replayability to keep the mode from getting stale for quite some time. Dares of Eternity is Bungie having fun with Destiny 2, and that only makes the experience all the better.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.