Destiny 2's Crimson Days event returns next week with new loot and a custom Crucible mode

With the meat of Destiny 2: Black Armory behind us, Destiny 2 is currently in a bit of an intermission. Ahead of the next major annual pass DLC - Joker's Wild - players have Crimson Days, a Valentine's Day-themed Crucible event, to look forward to. It kicks off Tuesday, February 12 and runs through February 19. As always, the love-is-war-style event is about playing 2v2 matches in the Crucible, but this year's Crimson Days shakes things up in a few interesting ways. 

The playlist this year is 2v2 Clash, but with a few unique rules added in. As long as you stick close to your partner, your abilities will recharge faster. However, if you get split up, the enemy will be able to see your position. (How do they say it in that there Anthem game? Strong alone, stronger together?) Crimson Days is all about fighting together with a buddy, so these rules are a good fit. 

If you don't already have a PvP partner in mind, you'll be happy to know that Crimson Days will feature matchmaking. To grease the PvP grind, Bungie is also upping Valor rewards for all Crucible modes for the duration of the event. If you're not into PvP, you can join in the festivities through PvE-related bounties sold by Lord Shaxx. Those bounties also play a big role in earning Crimson Days rewards, which have been overhauled for this year's event.

Last year, you had to complete specific challenges to get certain items. That process has been streamlined for 2019: now you just need to earn Confectionery Hearts by completing bounties and Crucible matches. Winning a match gets you seven hearts, losing gets you five, and daily and weekly bounties will award 15 and 75 respectively. You can spend these Hearts on the items Shaxx is selling, which include:

  •  Tirastrella Legendary Ghost Shell - 25 hearts 
  •  Undeterred Exotic sparrow - 50 hearts 
  •  The Vow Legendary bow - 100 hearts 
  •  Wardcliff Coil Dieselpunk ornament - 125 hearts 
  •  Flaunting Dance Legendary emote - 150 hearts 
  •  Warmhearted Gift Package - 15 hearts 

Many of these items were also available in the previous Crimson Days event. Notable newcomers include The Vow, the first bow available to non-Forsaken players, and the Warmhearted Gift Package, which can contain enhancement cores and mods among other things. Apart from Shaxx's loot pool, you'll also have access to all the items in the event's Crimson Engrams, which will drop alongside - not in place of - normal Bright Engrams. Note that the Tiny Bow emote and the ornament for The Vow are exclusive to Eververse and must be purchased. Finally, you can complete all the event triumphs available for Crimson Days to earn this chocolate Ghost shell:  

There are plenty of new events in Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter. Here's everything we know about the season and its accompany DLC, Joker's Wild. 

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.