Prior to Season of Dawn, Solar was the least popular subclass in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep. The subclass was only used for niche situations or to complete a quest or bounty.

With the release of Season 9, Bungie reworked Solar subclasses, as well as other content, such as weapons and quests, in order to increase their usage rate. There are an overwhelming amount of changes that Bungie made, so this guide will take a look at them and see which Solar subclasses benefited the most or the least heading into the Season of Dawn.

Hammer of Sol

  • Impact damage decreased Detonation damage increased

Sunbreaker Code of the Fire-Forged (Top Path)

  • Vulcan’s Rage: Increased detonation time and cluster spread

Sunbreaker Code of the Devastator (Middle Path)

  • Throwing Hammer: Increased impact damage and pickup radius Roaring Flames: Increased damage bonus and duration Burning Maul: Increased idle Super duration, reduced cost for Light Attack, reduced tracking and speed for Heavy Attack, and increased height, cost, and explosion size for Heavy Attack

Sunbreaker Code of the Siegebreaker (Bottom Path)

  • Mortar Blast: Increased explosion radius Sol Invictus: Burning targets killed make Sunspots and trigger the heal, kills with the Sun Warrior buff make Sunspots, and 1 second cooldown on creating Sunspots Sun Warrior: Increased ability recharge

As a whole, the Titan Solar subclass was made much more explosive with explosion radius buffs and impact nerfs across the board. While the Top Tree only received a minor adjustment and the Middle Tree received quite a few buffs, the Bottom Tree is definitely the winner of the Season of Dawn Solar changes. When a Guardian stands in a Sunspot, grenade and melee abilities recharge faster, and their Super lasts longer. With these buffs, Solar Titans can now make Sunspots all over the place, and they will be able to spam their abilities potentially faster than any other class.

Gunslinger Way of the Outlaw (Top Path)

  • Explosive Knife (now Proximity Explosive Knife): Sticks to surfaces, fuse time of 14 seconds , impact damage decreased,. detonation damage increased Six Shooter: Increased damage fall off distance

Gunslinger Way of the Sharpshooter (Bottom Path)

  • Knife Juggler (now Weighted Knife): Damage and precision modifier increased, longer animation, faster projectile speed, and less projectile drop Practice Makes Perfect: Amount of super energy granted reduced, increased buff duration, precision kills now grant 2 stacks Crowd Pleaser: Original perks (precision damage, precision hits generate Orbs of Light) have been moved to “Line ‘Em Up” and replaced by “Knock ‘Em Down” (precision kills increase weapon stability and ADS speed, kills and assists adds time, Golden Gun does 30% more damage when the buff timer is above 20 seconds) Line ‘Em Up: Passive bonus to aim assist and range while aiming

Amongst all of the Solar subclass changes, Hunters had the least amount. Bungie didn’t touch the most popular Solar subclass, Way of a Thousand Cuts (Middle Path), but they did strictly buff the other two. The winner of these changes is the Bottom Tree. Weighted Knife’s damage increase and the new Knock ‘Em Down perk gives Hunters consistently high damage output making the Bottom Tree Solar subclass choice to try out in both PvE and PvP.

Dawnblade Daybreak (All Paths)

  • Reduced the speed of Burst Glide activations while in Super

Dawnblade Attunement of Sky (Top Path)

  • Swift Strike (Now Celestial Fire): Shoots three spiraling, homing projectiles which do approximately 35 damage each. Winged Sun: Allows Celestial Fire activations, gives more melee energy for aerial kills, but no longer gives grenade energy for aerial kills Heat Rises: Consume grenade to gain Heat Rises buff (increases in-air accuracy, changes movement mode, and reduces Glide activation and upkeep cost) Icarus Dash: Two dodges per 5 seconds, dodge now has a slight upward velocity, and dodge in Super is now one long dodge per second

Dawnblade Attunement of Grace (Middle)

  • Guiding Flame: Doubled the range of the empower effect Divine Protection: Increased healing radius Benevolent Dawn: Can now be refreshed if additional friendly targets are healed/empowered while you still have the buff, removed cooldown, and reduced energy regeneration Well of Radiance: Standing in the Well now grants 20% damage reduction from other players

Dawnblade Attunement of Flame (Bottom Path)

  • Phoenix Dive: Heals a fixed amount over time, healing can be interrupted by incoming damage, and while in Super, returns Super energy depending on how much you healed

Warlock’s Solar subclass is quite dependent on the Guardian’s playstyle, and the changes to the subclass differentiate them even further. The Bottom Tree for Warlock has the third least amount of all subclass changes, and while it make for a tankier build, its impact on the game doesn’t match the other two branches. For Guardians with independent, aggressive playstyles, the Top Tree is the way to go. The buffs to aerial combat allows players stay aggressive while being difficult to counterattack in both PvP and PvE. For Guardians who like a more support-type playstyle, there isn’t a better subclass than this Middle Tree in all of Destiny 2.

More: How to Get ALL NEW Ritual Weapons in Season of Dawn

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Stadia.