Destiny 2: Season of Dawn guide: Complete Obelisk guide

Destiny 2: Season of Dawn adds a new activity in the Sundial, and a bizarre crafting system to go with it. The Obelisks on the Tangled Shore, Mars, Nessus, and the EDZ act as the late-game progression this season. You can upgrade them, grab new bounties , and craft weapons on your own or via the Sundial.

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Destiny 2’s Obelisks from Season of Dawn.

Unlocking the Obelisks

Image: Bungie via Polygon

When you first start Season of Dawn and speak to Osiris, he’ll send you on a quest to activate the Obelisk on the Tangled Shore. You’ll need to complete a simple fetch quest by killing Cabal and then destroying enemies with abilities. Once you’re able to enter the Obelisk’s menu, you’ve officially unlocked it for further use.

The Mars, EDZ, and Nessus Obelisks have a similar quests from Osiris. But just because you’ve activated all the Obelisks doesn’t mean they’re connected to the Sundial.

Linking the Obelisks to the Sundial

At the start of the season, you can only link one Obelisk to the Sundial at a time. Each Obelisk allows you to choose one weapon at the end of a Sundial run. For example, if you link the Tangled Shore Obelisk to the Sundial and then complete a Sundial match, you can choose from the Steelfeather Repeater auto rifle or the Breachlite sidearm. Linking the Mars Obelisk grants access to the Martyr’s Retribution tube grenade launcher or the Line in the Sand linear fusion rifle. The EDZ’s Obelisk grants access to the Infinite Paths 8 pulse rifle or the Gallant Charge fusion rifle. The Nessus Obelisk grants access to the Patron of Lost Causes scout rifle or the Traveler’s Judgement 5 sidearm.

Tangled Shore Obelisk Weapon Recommendation

Both the Steelfeather Repeater auto rifle and Breachlite sidearm are good. Breachlite is best at short range, aggressive fights, where the Steelfeather Repeater is good for longer, short to medium range fights.

Mars Obelisk Weapon Recommendation

Neither the Martyr’s Retribution tube grenade launcher or the Line in the Sand linear fusion rifle are weapons you’ll use in every day combat. They’re special occasion guns, but Martyr’s Retribution is more useful due to its unique Wave Frame style, which creates a unique explosive pattern on the ground. When a Martyr’s Retribution grenade hits the ground, it creates a wave of energy that travels in a line, similar to Titan’s Thermite Grenade.

How to switch Obelisks for the Sundial

If you want to switch which Obelisk you have connected to the Sundial, you need to visit it in-person. If you currently have the Tangled Shore Obelisk linked and you want to switch to Mars, go to the Mars Obelisk. At the bottom of the menu, click on Sundial Link: Clear All. This is quite expensive at 10,000 Glimmer, so be sure before you click. This will deactivate any links you’re currently using. Then click on Sundial Link: Mars to link the Mars Obelisk to the Sundial. You’ll need to use the same process to connect the EDZ and Nessus Obelisks.

As you upgrade different Obelisks, or your season pass, you can start to link more Obelisks simultaneously.

Upgrading the Obelisks

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Each Obelisk comes with its own series of upgrades. For 200 Polarized Fractaline — Season of Dawn’s new currency earnable through Bounties, the Sundial, and the season pass — you can increase the level of one Obelisk. For the first rank, this unlocks new weapon frames for you to farm and other upgrades. Each subsequent upgrade unlocks the ability to farm a new weapon or increase the various Obelisk Enhancements.

The Timelost Weapon frame bounties let you quickly farm rolls for Season of Dawn’s new weapons without completing the Sundial. Each Obelisk also has a Timelost frame for an older weapon, like the Bygones pulse rifle. Each time you buy these frames, the objective to complete it will change to something random. But if you complete the bounty, you’ll get a new roll of the weapon.

The Obelisk Enhancements are just as helpful as new guns. Each Obelisk has an upgrade tree that slowly unlocks as you upgrade your Obelisk. The first skill on the Tangled Shore’s Obelisk grants you bonus Spirals on Scorn kills. But as you upgrade, you can increase the number of Obelisks connected to the Sundial at once.

There are also powerful late game Season of Dawn mods that unlock as you upgrade the Obelisks. Each Obelisk has a different skill tree, so you have a good reason to upgrade them all during the season.

The Tower Obelisk

Image: Bungie via Polygon

With Saint-14 back in the Tower, the Titan offers a quest to let you build a new Obelisk. This Tower Obelisk is a link between each of the other Obelisks on the EDZ, Tangled Shore, Nessus, and Mars. By connecting them all together, you can manage your Obelisks from the Tower without having to individually land on each planet.

When you first speak to Saint-14 in the Tower Hangar, pick up the “Cornerstone – Some Assembly Required” quest. You need to pick up 10 Crucial Components from Fallen, Cabal, and Vex in the system (30 total).

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Crucial Components drop from orange or yellow health bar enemies. The more difficult the enemy, the more Crucial Components you’ll receive. You’ll get most of these from just playing the game, but if you’re looking for a specific location, we recommend doing Lost Sectors on the EDZ for Fallen and Cabal, and Nessus for the Vex and Cabal.

Once you have all 30 Crucial Components, go talk to Saint-14 in the Tower. For the Delivery Pending step, go to the Obelisk near the Cryptarch in the Tower. Interact with it to get the Synchronized Resonance step.

You now have access to the Tower Obelisk, which includes two new consumables to speed up the seasonal grind — Timelost Friends and the Fractaline Skimmer. There are also four quests at the Tower Obelisk, one for each of the other Obelisks around the system.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

If you want access to another Obelisk’s inventory, you need to link it to the Tower Obelisk first. Grab a Timelost weapon bounty from the Obelisk that you want to link. Complete the bounty and collect the weapon. Now return to the Tower and interact with the Obelisk to forge a connection. Repeat this for the other Obelisks.

The Tower Obelisk is mostly about convenience, allowing you to buy bounties from any linked Obelisk without having to leave the Tower. But the Tower Obelisk also offers its own weapon bounties. You can grind for the Perfect Paradox shotgun or the two season pass weapons — the Trophy Hunter sniper rifle and Pyroclastic Flow rocket launcher — after you unlock them.

The only thing you can’t do with the Tower Obelisk is level up individual Obelisks with Polarized Fractaline. For that, you’ll still need to travel to the individual planets.