Destiny 2 Revelry event: the Arbalest Exotic, Verdant Forest, new armor, and everything you need to know

Spring has sprung in Destiny 2, and the Revelry event is underway. The Revelry will run through May 7, during which time players will be able to earn Inaugural Revelry armor, the Arbalest Exotic linear fusion rifle, and a mix of cosmetics like Ghost shells and ships.  To get involved in the festivities, talk to Eva Levante in the Tower near Hawthorne. 

The Destiny 2 Revelry event is similar to the Dawning and the Festival of the Lost. It's centered around a new activity called the Verdant Forest, a randomly generated dungeon styled after the Vex Infinite Forest. It's a lot like the Haunted Forest, but done up in springtime colors. As Bungie explained, "the objective is to clear as many rooms as possible. The more spaces you clear, the more time you’ll have to defeat the onslaught of five different bosses and claim your reward." In practice this plays out like a simple but fun horde mode with a boss rush at the end. The Verdant Forest supports matchmaking, but you'll have the option of going solo as well. 

Completing the Verdant Forest will net you multiple rewards. For starters, you'll earn pieces of the Inaugural Revelry armor set. The more bosses you kill in a run, the better your chances at getting an armor drop. (I was able to nab two pieces in one run after killing all five bosses.) Powerful versions of specific Revelry armor pieces will also be available via weekly bounties sold by event vendor Eva Levante. Additionally, Eva sells packages containing "world drops, enhancement cores, and ornaments for the Inaugural Revelry helmet" in exchange for Reveler's Essence, which can be earned from daily bounties and the Verdant Forest. 

Clearing the Verdant Forest will also charge up new consumables called Reveler's Tonics, which will be available from Eva. Three cooldown-reducing tonics will be available: one for grenade, one for your melee ability, and one for your class ability. The more Inaugural Revelry armor pieces you wear, the more potent your tonic will be. Even without any Revelry armor on, the cooldown bonus is very noticeable. I have a feeling the grenade tonic will be most popular, but after the arc melee changes in the latest Destiny 2 patch notes, the race might actually be close. 

Perhaps most importantly, by completing Destiny 2 Revelry triumphs and earning 300 Reveler's Essence, you'll unlock the Arbalest, a previously datamined kinetic Exotic linear fusion rifle. The Arbalest uses special ammo and deals bonus damage to all elemental shields, so it could be a pretty powerful PvE weapon. 

Any Bright Engrams you earn during the Revelry will come bundled with a Revelry Engram. These contain new ships, sparrows, Ghost shells, and an alternate version of the Inaugural Revelry armor called Vernal Growth armor. You can check out some of those cosmetics below: 

A few Eververse-only (direct purchase) cosmetics are also available: