How do Solar Ignition and Scorch work in Destiny 2?

Season of the Haunted brought several new implementations to Destiny 2, including the second light subclass to receive the 3.0 treatment, Solar. Looking to update systems that have felt stale for years, all light subclasses (Void, Solar, and Arc) will be updated to be more in line with Stasis, allowing them to use Aspects and Fragments to further customise builds.

With Season of the Risen/The Witch Queen, Void 3.0 debuted to almost universal praise. While Solar 3.0 has had a more mixed reception, Bungie will look to tune the new subclass to make it as exciting as Stasis and Void.

One important characteristic that 3.0 subclasses try to emphasise is the use of keywords. With Void, we saw Volatility and Weakened states take the centre stage, for Solar, is all about Ignition and Scorch.

Most builds, if not at all, will revolve around how players can maximise damage from ignition blasts and scorched enemies. If you're new to Destiny 2 or are looking for a reminder regarding how these work, stick around this, hopefully, helpful guide.

How does Scorch work in Destiny 2

Scorch is a damage-over-time debuff you can apply with your Solar abilities (grenades, melee, sometimes Super) and certain weapons. Enemies will be singed by Solar damage. It can be stacked, so the more times you scorch an enemy, the more damage it'll take over time.

Players will have to find a way to synergise armour mods, increase stats such as Discipline or Strength, and even bring weapons that can enhance the benefits of scorching targets.

Why is that? Well, after enough stacks of Scorch are placed into a single enemy, they ignite.

How does Ignition work in Destiny 2

Ignition is simply the result of putting enough stacks of scorch into an enemy. It'll trigger a large Solar explosion that deals damage in an area around the target, perfect to wipe out a zone clustered with enemies.

Constantly triggering both Scorch and Ignition effects can be beneficial, as certain Fragments are designed to grant buffs when you do. A quick example is Ember of Singein, which gives you a faster class ability to recharge when you scorch targets.

Now, it's important to remember, that these effects are not mutually exclusive. Meaning you can trigger Solar explosions instantly, without waiting for scorch stacks to trigger them.

The most effective way is to use the appropriate guns that mesh well with Solar 3.0, particularly, Solar exotic weapons or guns with the Firefly perk, as the explosion it activates is Solar.

Ace of Spades has Firefly, so it's definitely becoming a hot commodity. Another one is the Sunshot exotic hand cannon, as it doesn't require precision kills to trigger Solar explosions. We highly suggest you take a deep dive into your vault to see which guns can work wonderfully with Solar 3.0.

If you're having trouble triggering solar ignition, the new Incandescent perk helps a ton when doing so. This perk can be found on Opulent weapons, so be sure to hunt down Opulent Keys to get your hands on them.

For more Destiny 2 news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below: