What is Arms Week?
Arms Week is a week-long event that focuses entirely on one weapon type. Everything you remember about the Arms Week from Destiny 1, you can throw out of the window. You'll spend seven days grinding with Hand Cannons, getting exclusive gear and rewards you can't find anywhere else.
The event runs from July 29 to August 5, 2025, following the usual Tuesday reset schedule. After that, you'll wait until sometime in August for the next one.
Event Schedule
One week of Hand Cannon focused activities, exclusive weapons, and Volatile Mods
Getting Started
Head to the Tower and open your map. You'll see the Shooting Range listed, so click it to launch directly there. No need to run around the Tower looking for Ada-1.
Once you find Ada-1, she'll give you a quest that kicks off the whole event. You'd better complete this first before you do any of the Arms Week activities or rewards. Make sure you've got a few Arms Week-specific weapon types, like Hand Cannons, in your vault because you'll be using them exclusively for the next week.
How Combat Telemetry Works
The entire event revolves around Combat Telemetry. After you complete the Arms Week quests or a Portal activity, you get a certain amount of Combat Telemetry. It's straightforward: basically, play the game during the event week and earn rewards.
While you're farming for Telemetry, don't forget to complete your Daily Challenges for Event Track progress. The track goes up to 15, and has plenty of juicy rewards like Event Tokens and Holofoil Weapons.
New Weapons You Can't Miss
This is the main attraction, Destiny 2's first spreadshot Hand Cannon. Instead of firing one bullet, it shoots multiple projectiles in a Shotgun pattern while using primary ammo. It's basically a pocket-sized Solar Shotgun that doesn't need green bricks.
A new Strand Trace Rifle that falls into the adaptive archetype. It uses Special ammo and gives you another option for sustained DPS with Strand effects.
Legacy Legendary Weapons Through Focusing
Ada-1's Arms Week Focusing menu lets you grab older weapons, like Hand Cannons, that aren't normally available:
- Exalted Truth
- The Palindrome
- Luna's Howl
- Exuviae
- Sightline Survey
- Kept Confidence
- Warden's Law
- Austringer
Volatile Mods: Temporary Power-Ups
Arms Week introduces three Exotic Volatile Weapon Mods that supercharge your Hand Cannons. These mods expire at the end of Season 27 and only work on Edge of Fate weapons (look for the light blue mark on the weapon's left side).
Available Volatile Mods
During Arms Week, you can only put these mods on the specific weapon types, like Hand Cannons, that meet the Edge of Fate requirements (the same weapons you use for Avant Garde challenges in Portal activities).
Daily and Weekly Challenges
Open the Event Home menu to see your active challenges. You'll find both daily objectives (reset every 24 hours) and weekly goals that last the entire event.
The Daily Challenges keep you engaged throughout the week, while the Weekly one gives you bigger goals to work toward. Do not ignore them, as the progress you earn every day is just tight enough to reach the max Event Track rank in time.
Arms Week also features a dedicated Event Reward Shop where you can spend your Event Tokens. This shop sells the event's exclusive weapons like the featured Hand Cannon and Ribbontail Trace Rifle, plus premium Exotic materials for upgrade purposes. You earn Event Tokens from completing Daily & Weekly Challenges and progressing through the Event Track.
The Event Reward Shop gives you an alternative way to acquire event weapons if you miss them through other means, though the token costs can be significant. Focus on completing challenges consistently to maximize your Event Token income since the shop refreshes weekly and has limited stock on the most valuable items.
Triumph Seal and Sharpshooter Title
Arms Week has its own triumph seal that tracks your progress across all event activities. Complete everything to earn the Sharpshooter title (a permanent badge showing you finished this event).
The triumphs cover more than just basic participation. You'll need to dig into every part of Arms Week, like the PvP mode and the Event Track, to check off all the boxes, making this title worth something for dedicated players.
Rewards and What to Prioritize
Reward Priority Guide
| Reward Type | Priority Level | Why Important | How to Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoneutria Fera & Ribbontail | Highest | Exclusive event weapons | Event Track, Ada-1 Quest |
| Volatile Mods | High | Temporary power boosts | Event Track Progression |
| Holofoil Variants | Medium | Cosmetic appeal | Daily/Weekly Challenges |
| Legacy Hand Cannons | Low | Collection purposes only | Focusing with Ada-1 |
If you're short on time, go for the event-exclusive weapons first. The Volatile mods are fun to mess around with, but they're temporary. Legacy Legendary Weapons are the lowest priority unless you're a collector.
Time Management Strategy
Seven days go by fast, especially if you want everything. Portal activities should be your main focus since they generate Telemetry faster than anything else.
Mix Solo Ops and Fireteam Ops based on your schedule and preferences. Solo Ops let you grind at your own pace, while Fireteam Ops can be more efficient if you've got a coordinated group.
Don't skip the daily challenges: they add up quickly and often match what you're already doing. Check them each day and adjust your activities if needed.
Optimal Daily Routine
Follow this daily loop to maximize your Telemetry generation and ensure you don't miss any time-sensitive rewards.
What's Coming Next
Bungie confirmed Arms Week will return in August 2025, though they haven't announced the specific date or featured weapon type. The event structure suggests they'll rotate through different archetypes, giving every weapon type its moment to shine.
Leaked weapons hint at what future Arms Week events might focus on:
Trachinus - A Slug Shotgun with a brand new Rapid Fire Slug Frame running at 90 rpm, using Stasis element. This would be perfect for a shotgun-focused Arms Week.
Synanceia - A Solar Sword with Wave Frame mechanics, suggesting a future melee weapon event.
- Shotgun-focused Arms Week likely coming
- Sword and melee weapon events planned
- Each archetype gets specialized rewards
This makes it reasonable to expect dedicated weeks for Shotguns and Swords, each bringing their own exclusive weapons and specialized mods. The rotation system means you'll eventually see Arms Week events for Pulse Rifles, Scout Rifles, and everything else in the game. Each one will probably follow the same basic format with archetype-specific rewards and temporary power-ups.
Making the Most of Arms Week
- Stock up on different weapons of a specific type before the event starts
- Make sure you have Edge of Fate weapons for the Volatile mods
- Clear your schedule for Portal activities if you want to maximize efficiency
- Check daily challenges every reset
- Experiment with different Volatile mod combinations
- Focus on Event Track progression over legacy weapon focusing
- Don't forget about the triumph seal if you want the title
- Intense but rewarding week of a specific weapon gameplay
- Unique weapons you can't get anywhere else
- Temporary power boosts that change how the specific weapon type feels
- A title to show off your dedication
Arms Week represents Bungie's attempt to give individual weapon types their time in the spotlight. It's a concentrated dose of themed content that rewards specialization over variety, at least for one week.