Sparrow Racing League
Introduction
Sparrow Racing League consist of 6 player free-for-all death race through the enemy territories. The races are not only match made but also allows the players to participate with up to 5 friends. Visit Amanda Holliday in The Tower to pick up league related quests and bounties. Tess will also sell items related to the league.
- Sparrow Racing League is available to all players with The Taken King expansion.
Initially, Sparrow Racing League was an Event that took place from December 8, 2015 to December 29, 2015 (3 weeks). In Rise of Iron, SRL returned in The Dawning (December 13, 2016 to January 3, 2017).
The Dawning
- See also: Sparrow Racing League (The Dawning) and The Dawning
Introduction
Sparrow Racing League (The Dawning) is a returning playlist activity where players race in the Crucible to earn exclusive rewards. This activity introduces new and returning Quests, Bounties, tracks, and rewards, which are available only until the end of The Dawning on January 3rd, 2017 at 01:00 AM Pacific Time. Quests and Bounties for Sparrow Racing can be received from Amanda Holliday in the Tower Hangar.
- 2015 Sparrow Racing Book CAN BE completed this time around
- Speed Kills Limited Availability Quest
With the return of Sparrow Racing, all Destiny: Rise of Iron players are invited to complete the "Speed Kills" Exclusive Quest, which may only be obtained during The Dawning. Once the Quest has been received from Amanda Holliday in the Tower, it may be completed after The Dawning concludes on January 3rd, 2017 at 01:00 AM Pacific Time. – As per Bungie.
- Please Note - Crucible bounties, Exotic Class item quest and Jolly Holliday Quest can no longer be completed in Sparrow Racing
Tracks
- Campus Martius - Returning track from SRL 2015, set on Mars.
- Infinite Descent - Returning track from SRL 2015, set on Venus.
- Shining Sands - New to SRL 2016, set on Earth near Felwinter Peak.
- Haakon Precipice - New to SRL 2016, set on Mercury.
Rewards
- See also: The Dawning#Items
- Upon race completion Rep is awarded for SRL - Vanguard - Crucible
- 2015 Shaders ARE dropping from the post game rewards screen
- A new set of Shaders for 2016 are also have a chance of dropping (Can be previewed in the Kiosk)
- A new set of Emblems for 2016 have a chance of dropping (Can be previewed in the Kiosk)
- Swords of Dawn Emblem drops from REGULAR Crucible matches and NOT SRL.
- Crimson Shell & Sugary Shell confirmed as a potential reward
- SRL Ornaments can drop from Post Game Rewards. These do not act the same as the Trials & Raid Ornaments - These change the 'Look' of the armor to match certain Racing Gear.
- Y1 SRL Racing Sets "Bright" and "Jade Rabbit" have zero light and cannot be infused (except for helms). They are also no longer available as post-game drops. Post-game SRL drops the new "Speeder *Set", which accepts SRL Ornaments. Ornament options are "Bright" or "Jade Rabbit". Through this method, players may collect the Jade Rabbit or Speeder sets.
- 3oC can be used successfully and rewards granted at the end of each race (If successful). Please note - These can be used at THE END of a race and reward an exotic as long as it's used BEFORE the *rep appears on the side of the screen confirming the race has ended
- SRL Racing Suits earned from SRL matches have Light and can be infused
- Circuit racing gear obtained from the SRL License Quest now has Light and can be infused
- As per last SRL, SRL armor sets, including Speeder, Circuit, Momentum, feature class-agnostic pieces: Legs, Arms, and Chest. Players can transfer those pieces between characters regardless of class.
- Players can obtain an SRL helmet from Amanda Holliday at Rank 3 (1 per character)
- Players can obtain a Treasures of the Dawning from Amanda Holliday at Rank 5 (1 per character, max 3 per account)
- SGA Pick up the SRL bounties on EACH character daily so if/when you switch character to Rank 5 you will be in a good position to go up faster with more bounties
- Finishing position does not affect the rewards screen (First doesn’t yield better than last etc)
Item Drops
Armor
- See also: The Dawning#Armor
Sparrows
- See also: The Dawning#Sparrows
Shaders
- See also: The Dawning#Shaders
Emblems
- See also: The Dawning#/Emblems
Weapons
Weapons also CAN drop from the SRL Post game (Cannot be used in races – Confirmed so far (Please let me know if others confirmed - Believe this to be regular Crucible drops AND the new added as per the Patch Notes)
- Hopscotch Pilgrim (Pulse Rifle)
- Ill Will (Hand Cannon)
- Steel Oracle Z-11 (Rocket Launcher)
- Red Spectre (Auto Rifle)
- NL Shadow 701X (Scout Rifle)
- The Ash Factory (Rocket Launcher)
- Eyasluna (Hand Cannon)
- Party Crasher +1 (Shotgun)
- Matador 64 (Sniper Shotgun)
- 77 Wizard (Fusion Rifle)
- Cryptic Dragon (Scout Rifle)
- 20/20 AMR7 (Sniper)
Basics
- Players can talk to Amanda Holliday to obtain bounties and license quests.
- Players can obtain EV-40 Snowscream and armor from license quests.
- Players can obtain SRL Event Standing (reputation with Amanda Holliday) from bounties.
- After each race, players are randomly awarded with armor, shaders and horns.
- Higher your reputation rank and License Class, the better items you are awarded.
- Helmets and Class Armor can drop up to 320 Light. They can be used for Infusion.
- These 320 Light items require the players to have rank 3+ SRL Event Standing reputation.
- Players can purchase a SRL Record Book from Tess to keep track of their racing stats and complete challenges to earn additional rewards.
SRL Event Standing
- See also: SRL Event Standing
General Information
SRL Event Standing is your reputation with Sparrow Racing League and Amanda Holliday. Every reputation rank up earns the player a Racer's Toolkit, which contains a random Legendary Sparrow Gear.
Ranks and Level of Gear Dropped
| Rank | Reputation Required | Light Level of Gear Dropped |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | ≤ 290 |
| 1 | 1750 | ≤ 300 |
| 2 | 2750 | ≤ 310 |
| 3 | 4500 | ≤ 320 |
| 4+ | 8500 | ≤ 320 |
Reputation from Various Sources
Placement
| Placement | No Class Item | Class Item |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 100 | 114 |
| 2nd | 80 | 91 |
| 3rd | 65 | 74 |
| Finish | 45 | 51 |
Quests
| Quest | No Class Item | Class Item |
|---|---|---|
| Class C | 300 | 345 |
| Class B | 300 | 345 |
| Class A | 300 | 345 |
| Class S | 600 | 689 |
| Bounty | No Class Item | Class Item |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | 100 | 115 |
| Complete 10 Bounties | 600 | 690 |
Licenses
- See also: Licenses
| Quest | Task | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| SRL: Class C License | Complete 5 races. | EV-40 Snowscream |
| SRL: Class B License | Hit 200 gates overall and hit 60 gates in a single race. | Racing Legs, Racing Gloves |
| SRL: Class A License | Finish 10 times in top 3 and hit 15 gates consecutively. | Racing Suit |
| SRL: Class S License | Win 3 races and finish 3 races without losing your sparrow. | Racing Helmet/Crash Helmet/Racing Wings Winner's Circle |
| With Finesse and Speed* | Kill Taken and Taken Ultras Complete 2 Tier 3 Court of Oryx Complete Outbound Signal and Fear's Embrace within time limits |
EV-42 Nightsteed |
*Only available to PS3 and PS4 players.
Bounties
- See also: Sparrow Racing League Bounties
| Bounty | Task | Reputation |
|---|---|---|
| SRL: Bugs on the Windshield | Kill 5 enemies on the track during any SRL race. | 100 |
| SRL: Go Big or Go Home | Complete 10 other SRL bounties. | 100 |
| SRL: Mars Pacesetter | Complete an SRL lap on Mars in fewer than two minutes. | 100 |
| SRL: Martian Monopoly | Place in the Top 3 on Mars. | 100 |
| SRL: Pacesetter | Finish SRL races in the top 3 places 3 times. | 100 |
| SRL: Speed Bumps | Kill 5 enemies on the track during any SRL race. | 100 |
| SRL: Speedster | Complete laps in less than two minutes. | 100 |
| SRL: Threading the Needle | Hit 15 consecutive gates. | 100 |
| SRL: Through the Gates | Hit 60 gates in a single race during any SRL race. | 100 |
| SRL: Trick Rider | Complete 10 tricks in SRL races. Tricks are emotes, rolls and flips. | 100 |
| SRL: Venus Pacesetter | Complete an SRL lap on Venus in fewer than two minutes 3 times. | 100 |
| SRL: Venusian Victory Lane | Place in the Top 3 on Venus. | 100 |
| SRL: Wear the Shiny Off | Complete a race without your Sparrow being destroyed. | 100 |
SRL Record Book
SRL Record Book can be purchased from Tess Everis for 1,000 Silver ($10). The book not only tracks your SRL stats on each map but also present challenges players can complete for additional rewards.
Rewards: Momentum Gear, Shader, Emblem and Sparrow
Eververse Trading Company
- Sparrow Toolkit - Mystery Bag - 500 Silver - contains 1 random Legendary Sparrow (EV-35 Arcrunner, EV-37 Voidstreak, EV-36 Solscout, EV-38 Laurelbearer, EV-39 Lumos) that the player does not own.
- Custom Horn Kit - Mystery Bag - 100 Silver - contains 1 random Sparrow Horn (guaranteed), 1 EV-43 Lightrunner (rarely). - has a chance of dropping from Weekly Nightfall Strikes
- SRL Record Book, Vol. 1 - SRL Record Book - 1000 Silver - tracks the player's stats in SRL and awards the player with rewards for completing challenges.
- Victory Wave - Emote - 500 Silver - new emote!
Tracks
Campus Martius
Campus Martius is the track on Mars. It is the easier of 2 tracks.
Infinite Descent
Infinite Descent is the track on Venus. It is the harder of 2 tracks.
Shining Sands
Shining Sands is a track set on Earth near Felwinter Peak. It is introduced in The Dawning.
Haakon Precipice
Haakon Precipice is a track set on Mercury. It is introduced in The Dawning.
Sparrows
- See also: The Dawning#Sparrows
| Bounty | Acquired by |
|---|---|
| EV-35 Arcrunner | Randomly dropped from Sparrow Toolkit |
| EV-36 Solscout | Randomly dropped from Sparrow Toolkit |
| EV-37 Voidstreak | Randomly dropped from Sparrow Toolkit |
| EV-38 Laurelbearer | Randomly dropped from Sparrow Toolkit |
| EV-39 Lumos | Randomly dropped from Sparrow Toolkit |
| EV-40 Snowscream | Complete SRL: Class C License by completing 5 races in Sparrow Racing League |
| EV-41 Momentum Master | Completing the objective 100 Tricks Landed in Infinite Descent for SRL Record Book Vol. 1 |
| EV-42 Nightsteed | Complete the PS3/4 only quest With Finesse and Speed. |
| EV-43 Lightrunner | Randomly dropped from Custom Horn Kit |
Horns
- See also: Horns
General Information
- Horns or Sparrow Horns are awarded after completing races, licenses, bounties, opening Custom Horn Kits and from ranking up with SRL Event Standing.
- Rare Horns are temporary, they expire after a SRL season. Legendary Horns are permanent. Rare horns can be upgraded into legendary horns with Horn Relay.
- Horn Relay is obtained by dismantling Legendary Horns, except Happy Horn.
- Players can activate horns by pressing “Circle” button on PlayStation or “B” button on Xbox while riding a Sparrow.
Year 3 Horns
- Gjallar Horn
- Campfire Horn
- House Horn
- Alarm Horn
- Remix Horn
- Noisy Horn
- Sparkle Horn
- Bell Horn
- Whistle Horn
- Jingle Horn
- Frame Horn
- Dramatic Horn
- Bellow Horn
Year 2 Horns
- Air Horn
- Alert Horn
- Antique Horn
- Aquarian Horn
- Basic Horn
- Bike Horn
- Cadence Horn
- Chime Horn
- Clarion Horn
- Clown Horn
- Duck Horn
- Electric Horn
- Flourish Horn
- Fog Horn
- Happy Horn - Free Legendary Horn for all players, cannot be dismantled into Horn Relay.
- King's Horn
- Odyssey Horn
Gear
- See also: The Dawning#Gear
Gear are obtained from completing races, licenses, bounties, SRL Record Book challenges and from ranking up with SRL Event Standing. Each rank-up earns the player a Racer's Toolkit. The weekly bounty, which requires completing 10 daily bounties in a week, guarantees a legendary piece of SRL gear. Additionally, the higher the rank the player is with the SRL Event Standing, the higher light gear players can obtain after matches. You need rank 3+ for 320 gear.
SRL Armor Perks
Note that only Legendary SRL gear have perks, Rare SRL gear are cosmetically similar to Legendary gear but have no gears or bonuses.
- Helmets: Increased control while airborne on a sparrow by giving them the option to pitch their sparrow forward or backwards for decreased or increased time in the air. Use this to optimize air time for tricks or to more easily position yourself during tricky jumps. OR Reduced Time needed spent holding the “summon” button to hop on to your sparrow. Useful if you’re constantly being blown up.
- Chest Armor: Reduces the summoning cooldown after a player’s sparrow is destroyed so that they can get back into the action quicker.
- Gauntlets: Reduce fuel consumption during side-boost maneuvers allowing players to strafe more before needing to regain fuel.
- Leg Armor: Increase the amount of fuel players get from successfully performing tricks.
- Class Armor: Increases SRL Event Standing reputation gains.
SRL Armor Sets
Legendary
| Set | Rare Equivalent |
Helmet | Chest Armor | Gauntlets | Leg Armor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright | Stellam | Bright Guard Bright Shield Bright Ward |
Bright Armor | Bright Gauntlets | Bright Sheath |
| Circuit* | Circuit Defender Circuit Keeper Circuit Runner |
Circuit Chestplate | Circuit Gauntlets | Circuit Striders | |
| Momentum | Momentum Guard Momentum Helmet Momentum Shield |
Momentum Defense | Momentum Gloves | Momentum Boots | |
| Jade Rabbit | Rabbit | Headpiece of the Jade Rabbit Helm of the Jade Rabbit Helmet of the Jade Rabbit |
Vest of the Jade Rabbit | Gloves of the Jade Rabbit | Boots of the Jade Rabbit |
| Racing | Celeritate | Crash Helmet Racing Helmet Racing Wings |
Racing Suit | Racing Gloves | Racing Legs |
*Can be purchased from Amanda Holliday with Legendary Marks.
Rare
| Set | Legendary Equivalent |
Chest Armor | Gauntlets | Leg Armor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celeritate | Racing | Celeritate Type 2 | Celeritate Type 1 | Celeritate Type 3 |
| Rabbit | Jade Rabbit | Rabbit Type 2 | Rabbit Type 1 | Rabbit Type 3 |
| Stellam | Bright | Stellam Type 2 | Stellam Type 1 | Stellam Type 3 |
Class Armor
Cosmetics
Emblems
- See also: The Dawning#Emblems
| Bounty | Acquired by |
|---|---|
| Blessing of Momentum | Sparrow Racing League??? |
| Martius Momentum | Treasure of Ages |
| Sign of Momentum | Complete all the objectives in SRL Record Book, Vol. 1 |
| Winner's Circle | Complete SRL: Class S License quest |
Shaders
- See also: The Dawning#Shaders
| Bounty | Acquired by |
|---|---|
| Azura | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
| Bright Laurel | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
| Hallow | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
| Krokos | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
| Midnight Lumos | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
| Momentum's Pride | Acquired by completing the objective 100 Tricks Landed in Campus Martius for SRL Record Book, Vol. 1 |
| Phosphore | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
| Shimmer | Acquired in Sparrow Racing League by completing races and bounties. |
Guide
- See also: SRL Guide
Basic Things You Should Know Going In
For starters, you should know that your sparrow behaves differently in SRL than it does in patrol. What do I mean by that though? Specifically, your sparrow is balanced differently. In patrol, you sparrow behaves like a hand cart. If you imagine a rectangle that outlines your sparrow, in patrol, the points of balance are spread evenly to the corners. This is why I'm patrol you can move another guardian and be moved uniformly in any direction- that is to say you would only be pushed and not turned. In SRL your sparrow is balanced differently, instead of the center being spread evenly it's sat underneath your guardian(as illustrated by this pen on my finger). This difference is what allows other guardians and objects to turn your sparrow while racing in the SRL. In the photo above, the front of your sparrow is the longer portion of the pen leading right from my finger and the back is the cap leading left.
What Does That Mean?
It means that in SRL your sparrow is harder for other guardians to turn the closer to center they make contact with it. Barring head on contact which I'll cover here in a sec, your sparrow is easiest to turn from the front, less so from the back, and hardest to turn from its center of balance. In the case of head on collisions, where you and the guardian you're racing are sharing the same line of track, the front is much harder to turn(you're more likely to go under or over the person in front of you), and the back even more so. So if you mean to turn another guardian you want to be pushing from flanks and edges rather than directly pushing the front or back. If you're defending a push you want to keep contact either in line with your path or on your sparrow's center of balance.
The other change in SRL is your sparrow's speed. Unlike in patrol, in SRL your sparrow will not be able to reach its top speed by holding down on the trigger or boosting; it comes from hitting the gates laid out along the track. Your "fuel" gage on the bottom left of your screen still indicates how many lateral boosts you're capable of, but now that energy can be refilled by passing trough gates and performing tricks. Assuming you have racing gear on, which you should, this difference will become more pronounced. In patrol this gauge is refilled by letting off the accelerator.
The last thing to remember is that in SRL your sparrow is much more likely to explode. Hit something going max speed? Boom. You'll also take damage more easily from whatever enemies are loose on the maps. You can kill these enemies too however if you hit them while racing without taking a penalty to your speed. Even if you don't explode, just getting out to a dead stop when you run into a wall or fan blade can be just as bad as dying depending on how long it takes you to right yourself so keep all this in mind while you're out in the lanes.
Tips and Tricks
Use Both Sticks
When racing you should be driving with both your left and right stick. One controls your camera and the other your guardian as in the rest of the game but when used in conjunction while racing you'll notice you have a lot more control taking turns and positioning your sparrow when you use both sticks as one.
Brake for No One
What I mean by this is that in SRL, speed is king. You want to be going as fast as possible for as long as possible. This might seem redundant and obvious but I can't stress it enough. If you're not moving you're losing. Braking isn't bad, and can allow you to readjust your direction if it gets sent way off course, but you're better off managing your lateral boosts and powering through your turns. Personally I have my triggers set to standard for SRL and my right middle ringer is holding the gas the whole race. If I'm doing this right I'll only need my index fingers to boost laterally and I won't even touch the brake. If I need more control on a particularly sharp turn I will let off the gas before I brake. You regain almost the same amount of turning control and lose far less speed.
Use Your Weight To Your Advantage
What I mean by this is when colliding with other guardians while out on the track, and you will believe me, you need to approach each interaction as is most advantageous for you. Is someone coming directly behind you? Make sure you stay in front of them. If they push you from behind they won't turn or pass you. If they push you from and angle you'll be spun out and have to readjust. Is someone coming at you from an angle? Line yourself up with them so they're pushing into your center of gravity and won't be able to turn you. This is actually one of the few situations I might brake and would recommend your doing so as well. Are you approaching someone from behind? I'd recommend staying on the same line as them. You won't turn them but you have a good chance to go either under or over them as the track turns and that can place you ahead without getting spun out. Nothing worse than trying to push someone at their flank only to have them brake and ruin your afternoon.
Know Your Track
This probably seems obvious but I wanted to stress how important knowing the track is. There were plenty of s-turns and tight corners in the last SRL(especially on Venus) where you won't be able to really see what's going on as you take the turns at top speed. You're going to need to know how the track turns in these moments, that's where muscle memory is really key. Once you know where the gates are going to be you'll be able to laterally boost and slide your way through these tight turns faster than you probably think you can. When you reach higher levels of play it's going to be how you handle the toughest parts of the map that determine who wins, so set yourself up for success.
Don't Worry About Being In First Place
Try to focus on your performance. Did you not finish first but beat your personal best time? That's a win in my book. Did you finish in the top three against a group of tough opponents? Take that as a W, buddy. Much of SRL is chaotic and honestly something that had nothing to do with how you're racing can get you the win or leave you in last place. Don't sweat it though. Think of it as more you against the track rather than you against the other five guardians. Sure, you're competing against them but for the most part I think you'll find you're competing against your self. Keep that in mind if you start to get down because you haven't won a race in a while. That doesn't mean you aren't improving.
Remember to Have Fun
It's cliche I know but don't forget how easy it is to get salty in Destiny. SRL is no different and for some can open the salt mines very easily. Things aren't always going to go your way but honestly, if you persevere, you're only going to get better. So keep that in mind and try to relax, racing is supposed to be fun!
