An Ultimate Guide to The Destiny 2 Showcase

The Destiny 2 Showcase is definitely one of the best announcement streams and I feel confident about that. We have seen so much about the new Destiny 2 DLC: The Witch Queen, we were showed the new D2 season: Season of the Lost and we were given the chance to jump straight in and we even learned some special things Bungie have in store for us players over the next few months and years to come.

Everything shown off looks so incredibly amazing and interesting and it shows that the best days of Destiny are really ahead of us and it won’t be long until we get a feel for all of the new stuff. We have even gotten news and announcements that suggest that the state and replay ability of D2 will improve.

Before I go and jump into what Bungie have announced, what it means for players and just a bit of what I feel, I just want to bring up the huge milestone that since separating from Activision, D2 has seen 20 million new players. That’s absolutely amazing and it’s great to see more players wanting to get involved.

Let’s just jump into everything we know.

The Witch Queen:

We have finally got a look at the new DLC and everything it has in store for us, despite the fact a lot of it has been spoiled through leaks. Which definitely needs to get under control.

But anyway, we’ve got our first look at the next enemy of the franchise: Savathun. A villain who has been working in the background of the story and orchestrating most of the events we got to see behind Season of the Splicer and before. And she has revealed herself and what she has managed to do while we’ve been focusing elsewhere.

If you don’t want to learn the main story plot then you can skip this part, so spoiler warning, I guess. Savathun and her legion of hive have managed to steal light from the Traveller, giving them access to light powers and ghosts, turning them into a far more deadly threat. In Witch Queen, we will be facing this new legion of light infused hive and taking down Savathun and learning the truth behind her plans.

Hostiles Alert:

Though we aren’t getting any brand-new enemies, which we don’t normally get anyway, we are getting to see a more lethal threat than what we’ve seen before. Light infused hive. We are going to see acolytes, knights and wizards fighting us with the powers we know and love. We’ll see hive casting supers like blade barrage, and in order to destroy these opponents we have to crush their ghosts in the palm of our hands as soon as we take down an enemy.

Personally, I think this makes for a very interesting and more challenging experience when it comes to progressing through the story and activities. Though I imagine it may cause some frustration here and there, it challenges us to find ways to fight against the abilities we know in a completely new environment.

Harness the Light:

This is going to be a short and sweet point, Bungie announced that light subclasses will start getting reworks starting from Witch Queen. The reworks will give light subclasses aspects and fragments just like darkness subclasses. It will start with void super reworks in Witch Queen, and different subclasses each season after.

Great to see this happening. The darkness subclass setup and system is just far better than the light subclass system. Making them the same is such a great move that will only improve each super.

Jumping Into a New Destination:

We are taking the fight straight to Savathun and her soldiers, and that means we are jumping into a brand-new location. Savathuns throne world is going to be our destination and it looks and sounds brilliant.

Savathun’s throne world combines a series of different environments to make one giant and diverse space where will face dangerous threats. We will get to see Savathuns castle where we will get to lay siege and invade to face our threats, a murky swamp on the outskirts of the throne world that is swarmed by danger, a fiery underworld for us to delve into and break enemies and wouldn’t you know it, a grounded and damaged pyramid ship that will most likely be involved in the plot.

Of course, with a new location we can expect the normal bits and bods, new lost sectors, public events both old and new, activity spaces and more.

Seeing such a diverse location is just exciting to think about, and I can’t wait to jump into it.

We’ll Need Weapons:

Every DLC needs weapons and we are definitely going to get them. Though we did not see many new weapons or exotics in the showcase for Witch Queen, we did get to see an in depth look at a new weapon archetype. The Glaive.

I'm just going to say that the glaive looks like a really cool addition and I just can’t wait to get my hands on one. The glaive is a new type of melee weapon for D2, imagine it as like a spear but far more deadly. It is a first-person melee weapon that combines melee combinations, projectiles and defensive options into one single weapon.

But how you obtain a glaive is going to be a lot different compared to the original world drops or quests we normally have to do. To make a glaive, we will have to forge it ourselves through the new weapon crafting system.

Do It Yourself:

Our first weapon crafting system is going to be introduced within the throne world in Witch Queen. And it’s not going to be anything like that painful prophecy weapon system in Curse of Osiris.

We are going to be given the opportunity to choose between the different options and parts we want on our weapon and forge different weapons to use against the hive and other opponents. I imagine we will have to go through different objectives to unlock more crafting options, but it seems this weapon crafting option will be a lot more versatile compared to the umbral decoder.

Not only can you forge the glaive, but you can also create a number of the Witch Queen and seasonal weapons along it.

I think the concept of the weapon crafting sounds good, but I am a bit cautious around the delivery of such a concept in this game. I can’t help but think of the transmog situation when it comes to this, brilliant concept but dreadful delivery. I understand these are two different situations and systems, but I am willing to wait and see if my worries are proved wrong, until then I am just going to stay neutral.

Bring us Death!

I’ve already mentioned how I think the new hostiles could provide a good challenge in the campaign and different activities, but Bungie have also announced a new opportunity to make things even more difficult.

Upon the normal Witch Queen campaign, we are also going to be given the option to play a more difficult version: the Legendary mode campaign.

Over the last couple of years, we have only seen a number of activities with options in terms of difficulty. The main ones being nightfalls with legend, master and grandmaster for those who love a good challenge and want some extra loot, and a few forgotten options like Nightmare Hunts.

The legendary mode campaign looks to be quite a nice addition. Providing something a bit more difficult for players who like a challenge. Having done some grandmasters myself I do believe that legendary campaign will be a good addition, as long as there is a good reason to do it other than for the challenge. I would still like to see if there are any exclusive rewards or higher-powered gear that you can get from doing it. Or if it is purely just a difficulty option. There’s so little we know leading to many questions, like will legendary mode give us more story details or more areas? Will this have unique modifiers or mechanics?

Bungie have also expressed an interest in bringing more deeper and exciting missions like what we got with Presage and Expunge. And with Witch Queen it looks like the campaign will be filled with missions like these according to Bungie. If so, I can only see this as a good thing, getting exciting missions like storming a castle and uncovering deep story points only brings a richer experience.

More to Come:

There was quite a lot that was revealed with the Destiny showcase, but there was also a lot that wasn’t. The main thing I was hoping to see that we didn’t get was a look at some new exotic weapons and other legendary gear. Yes, we got to see glaives, that look absolutely brilliant don’t get me wrong, but that’s about it other than some of the new armour. I feel like an extra look at some exotics and legendaries would build a bit more hype and give us a really good idea of what comes next.

The other big thing is the Witch Queen raid. I wasn’t expecting to see any of the new raid yet but a nice hint would be a really nice touch. Just to remind us that yes, it’s coming and here is a bit to get you excited.

It has also been announced that there will be a new 6 player activity, but we know almost nothing about this as well.

What Can I Get?

With every Destiny DLC we’ve been offered multiple options in terms of editions and bundles, all giving different bonuses which are either available in game or physical.

The biggest option, and an edition that Bungie has really shown off quite a lot, is the collector's edition. The collector’s edition has everything you’d possibly want with the DLC, including digital bonuses like exclusive emblems and gear, season access and more. But what Bungie have really shown off with the D2 Witch Queen collector’s edition is the physical hive ghost shell that you get with it.

The Hive ghost shell is pretty neat I’ll give them that. It’s got a really cool design that also lights up when interacting with it. Obviously based upon the Hive ghost shells we will have to destroy in game.

Of course, you’ll get the Witch Queen Deluxe Edition included with the collector’s edition and the 30th Anniversary pack (I talk more about this a bit below) and a bunch of other physical items. The collector’s edition does look cool, but they are in limited quantity and will cost quite a bit.

The Deluxe edition will give access to all of the Destiny 2 Year 5 seasons (so seasons 16, 17, 18 and 19) and some additional bonuses. But if you get the deluxe edition, you will get access to a brand-new exotic when Witch Queen releases. We don’t know what the exotic is called at the moment, but what we can see is that it’s an exotic submachine gun that is Hive themed. No idea what it does, but it looks pretty good. It will also give access to two dungeons that will release in year 5.

Pre ordering will give an exotic throne world ghost shell, an exotic emote and a legendary emblem, that will be instantly available upon pre-ordering.

Of course, the regular standard edition will be available that is just the DLC and not much else, season pass not included with this version. The prices for each version are as followed:

• Standard Edition - £34.99
• Deluxe Edition - £69.99
• Deluxe Edition with 30th Anniversary Bundle - £87.99
• Collector’s Edition – Around £220 depending on exchange rates

But we all have the big question of when? The Destiny 2 Witch Queen release date will be on the 22nd of February 2022, so we still half a year to go. But I am really looking for toward it.

Beyond the End:

Bungie also announced that even the light and dark story has concluded, that Destiny 2 will continue beyond the end of its long story line. We don’t know what the story will move to after this main story line has ended, but we can be certain that we will continue to get content afterwards.

And with this announcement, Bungie revealed the final DLC that will see the conclusion of the light and dark. Destiny 2 The Final Shape will serve as the last DLC about the story line we have been on since Destiny 2 began in 2017.

We already know that the next DLC after Witch Queen will be Destiny 2 Lightfall. And knowing there will be another DLC after that is good to know that there is a clear timeline in place and events that we are bound to see.

And as for Witch Queen and beyond, that’s all we have for now. But there is still a lot more to go over. Starting with Season of the Lost (available right now, go and play it if you can).

Season of the Lost:

Season of the Lost has now kicked off and it’s a dreaming city themed season. Mara Sov has finally returned to the dreaming city, and we are going to be teaming up with her and her followers to achieve a major goal: freeing Savathun of her worm and ending the dreaming city curse.

As the final season of year 4 and the last season before the Witch Queen releases, this season and the story will set the stage of the DLC. I am sure you have many questions but I want to leave the answers for you to discover in game. Not only because I believe it is more worthwhile and is a better experience, but also because we don’t have all the answers at the moment.

I also want to mention that the launch of Season of the Lost has got to be one of the smoothest Bungie has done. Despite an overflow of users coming into play, the servers seemed to hold up really well and handle the increased demand.

What’s New?

With every season we get a number of different activities, missions, artefacts, weapons and so much more for us to enjoy for the whole season. As this season is going to be the longest yet, at around six months long, we are going to need a lot to keep us entertained over the months.

Of course, there is a new season pass and tiers that reward you as you level up. The armour ornaments tend to be quite a nice target for players who pick up the pass. This season we have some dreaming city themed armour ornaments that I recommend you check out.

I want to start by talking about the new activity: Astral Alignment. You do need the season pass to play this activity, but there is a free trial for users without the season pass to try the activity.

Astral Alignment is a new 6 player activity that takes us through a range of different new locations in the dreaming city in order to align a series of beacons or prevent a threat.

The activity as a whole is fine, it does exactly what most of the previous introduced activities do and uses mechanics that we’ve already seen. This activity combines a lot of different mechanics and activities and puts it into one place. Starting with the blind well where you clear out enemies, before moving to an area where you have to clear blighted plates using the eye of riven mechanic that we got in the Last Wish raid.

Then once you have met the objective you move onto another new area, this will be one of multiple different locations. The different locations obviously have different objectives, but these areas and objectives are just improved versions of public events. You could get an objective to get orbs from an oracle and dunk it on a plate in order to kill a taken enemy, or stop scorn from filling servitors with ether (literally just the Ether Ritual event but in a different location and more servitors) and more. Once you’ve met this objective, you’ll be sent back to the blind well in order to kill a boss using the eye of riven mechanic once again.

I don’t mind this activity; it can be quite a bit entertaining but I would prefer if they went for more unique mechanics rather than using what we already know.

Just like with season of the chosen and season of the splicer, we also got a new weekly mission called the Shattered Realm. Again, this requires the season pass. We go into the Shattered Realm to clear out some taken, align a number of beacons that lead us to a corrupted tech witch/techyun which have to defeat and free in order for them to return to Mara Sov. Given that this is the first week of the season we don’t know what all of the missions will entail, but after completing this first mission I can talk a bit about it.

The Shattered Realm is a taken focused space and mission that again does not guide you through it. But the premise is quite simple, you have to explore through the different areas to find a beacon. You activate and defend this beacon from taken. Once fully defended the beacon will light up a number of lamps that will lead you to the next beacon, where you need to repeat the process. Once both are defended you will be led to a taken portal and to the final boss (techyun) of the mission. You have to lower the shields of the boss by killing a series of acolytes.

I’m not a massive fan of defending the objective kind of mission, but this was alright. It was cool to explore the areas and fight a series of enemies. The defending didn’t last a long time which was good. The boss wasn’t that difficult but because of the number of powerful weapons this isn’t a surprise. I am not sure if the missions will follow the same objectives, but I guess we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Also going to quickly mention the new artefact. It’s called the Wayfinders compass and it has a number of new and returning mods. Last season we got mods that focused around grenade launchers, this season it looks like Bungie have moved the focus to fusion rifles. With unstoppable fusion rifle mods, high end fusion rifle mods that boost damage and more.

The Exotic Life:

With a new season comes new exotics, and we have quite a few that have returned and a couple that are brand new. We’ll start off with the armour.

Each class gets a new exotic piece of armour, all of which are returning from Destiny 1. Hunters will be getting the original Destiny 1 boots, the Radiant Dance Machines. They have been changed from Destiny 1, now they allow you dodge multiple times for a short period after dodging while near enemies. Like previous exotic armour pieces, these will most likely drop from legend and master lost sectors.

For titans, the No Backup Plans exotic gauntlets make a comeback. They are a bit different but have the same focus. When your melee energy is fully charged, getting a kill with a shotgun will activate your defensive strike and use all of your melee energy. Shotgun kills will also give melee energy.

And for warlocks, the nothing manacles return. Working exactly the same as D1, where you gain additional scatter grenade charge and enables tracking for scatter grenades.

Great to see these exotics return and I am sure that they’ll work really nicely. I can’t wait to get my hands on them and it would be interesting to see how these work with different abilities and builds.

The first exotic weapon we’ve got a hold of this season is the season pass exotic, the Lorentz Driver. A special and void linear fusion rifle that does the following. the weapon will target enemies using an automated targeting system (this does work through walls, which feels a bit nasty). Killing the marked target will generate a telemetry pattern and picking up these patterns will grant bonus ability energy. Collecting 3 telemetry patterns without dying will give you a long-lasting damage buff. Precision blows with the weapon also creates an implosion that pulls in nearby enemies before causing a void explosion.

After using the weapon for myself I can say it feels quite nice, especially when it comes down to add clearing. The implosion and explosions and damage bonuses feel really good in drawing enemies together and clearing them out without effort. I haven’t got to trying it out in crucible just yet, but with its automated targeting I am sure it will be incredible.

But there is one more exotic to talk about.

Tracing the Stars:

The tracing the stars quest is one that we have just got a hold of an it seems likely that this quest, and the others after it, will lead us to the new exotic: the Agers Scepter. A new stasis trace rifle that will be available later in the season.

Some of you may be wondering where to get the tracing the stars quest. It’s very simple, just go to the Wayfinder's compass vendor in the new section of the H.E.L.M and the quest will be available after going through the first part of the story line.

At this moment the tracing the stars quest is not the exotic quest for Agers Scepter, but it seems like it will be the quest that leads to it. The quest is focused around find a number of Atlas Skews around the dreaming city, this week 5 are available. The quest obviously has a bit of a story to it, taking a look into a tale that is told by the Awoken about the twins Ager and Rega. Mara Sov has tasked you with finding all of the Atlas Skews located in the system and returning them to a location called the Atlas Terminal which will be made accessible through the HELM, where you will be told more about the tale of Ager and Rega.

As said this quest only involves you getting 5 atlas skews, and there are definitely more to come. So, this looks like it will be a weekly quest until we gather all of the skews. After this is done, we can assume that it will give us the Agers Scepter exotic trace rifle.

What the exotic does is unknown at the time of writing this.

The Longest Season:

I’ve already talked about this but I just want to cover a couple more points that have been revealed by Bungie. As this season is going to last all the way to February next year, this is going to be one of the longest seasons we ever have in D2.

And because of this long-time frame, we are going to see a number of different events throughout the duration of the season. During October we will see the Festival of the Lost return to the tower. For those who are new and don’t know what this is, this is Destiny’s Haloween event. Normally we would see the Haunted Forest activity which would have us racing against a timer to defeat as many bosses as we could with increasingly difficult modifiers. But with Mercury being placed into the Destiny content vault we may either not get the Haunted Forest or it will take place in a simulation of the area like the lighthouse currently is. Festival of the lost usually offers the community the chance to earn spooky themed gear and cosmetics.

But the big thing about Festival of the Lost this year is that we finally get the robotic dinosaur armour sets that the community voted for earlier in the year.

Around December time we will see the Dawning Event come back, Destiny’s Christmas event. There isn’t usually an activity tied to this event but we do normally get a quest that involves the community working together to meet a milestone and earning a reward. And we also see a number of festive themed weapons, gears and cosmetics.

And we will also see moments of triumph return, no date has been confirmed. But moments of triumph give us a set of objectives and challenges to complete. And we are rewarded with in game items and the opportunity to get real life items. The objectives tend to be completing a raid or activity, hitting a milestone and more.

Bungie often bring in events to give players more to do throughout the season and seeing these events return is fully expected. Bungie have been doing these events for years and we always know that we are going to see them come in. But the regular issue with some of these events is that the content never tends to remain engaging over the course of the whole event, so I am hoping we see some really engaging and rewarding activities.

And of course, as one individual season you can expect all of the season pass tiers, artefact levels and challenges to remain the same and progress as usual throughout the whole season. No resetting.

Play Together with Crossplay:

Crossplay launched alongside Season of the Lost, beginning a cross platform experience which everyone has been waiting for.

Crossplay is quite simple, upon logging into Destiny 2 you will be assigned your Bungie Name. This name will automatically be set as the gamer tag or name of the profile that you’ve logged into. Any inappropriate names will automatically be changed to “Guardian.”

To play with your friends you just need to add your friend’s account on the Destiny app or in game. Then you can just join in on a game as you usually would when playing. I recommend looking at any of Bungie’s information of cross play for more information.

Gear Up:

With a new season you know you’ll get new weapons. And with season of the lost, over 25 legendary weapons have been introduced with this season, some returning, some brand new.

One of the big things that Bungie announced a while ago was the introduction of stasis legendaries. So, of course, new legendary stasis primary and power weapons have been introduced. Please note that stasis weapons will not be placed in the energy slot – only kinetic and heavy. But we are going to be taking a look into all of the weapons that have been added.

Since the release of season of the chosen, nightfall weapons have been a great focus of the community. Some of the classic Destiny 1 weapons made a return as nightfall exclusives, with adept versions of the weapons also available through grandmaster nightfalls. First in season of the chosen, we got the shadow price auto rifle, palindrome hand cannon and the swarm heavy machine. Then with season of the splicer we got the hung jury scout rifle, plug one fusion rifle and uzume sniper rifle. But now with season of the lost we also have access to the comedian shotgun, a 55rpm aggressive frame shotgun that is void and goes in the energy slot. And we got the hothead rocket launcher, a 20rpm adaptive frame rocket launcher. Both return from D1 and go into the nightfall rotation alongside the previous nightfall exclusives. Adept versions of these weapons will also be available once grandmasters are again available.

I’ve also included a list of all the weapons that are now available with season of the lost, and a bit of information about them:

• Scathelock – a kinetic 600rpm auto rifle that is a returning weapon from the first year of Destiny 2. Scathelock is a world drop and will come from most sources.
• The Last Breath – another kinetic 600rpm auto rifle. The Last Breath is trials of the nine returning weapon that originally released from Trials of the Nine in curse of Osiris DLC. This weapon will only drop from the Prophecy dungeon.
• Judgment – a kinetic 140rpm hand cannon that is also a trial of the nine returning weapon. It originally released from Trials of the Nine before DLC released, and is again a Prophecy dungeon drop
• Darkest Before – is an arc energy 540rpm pulse rifle and is again a trials of the nine returning weapon. It originally released from Trials of the Nine in the curse of Osiris DLC. This weapon is a Prophecy dungeon drop
• A sudden death – an arc energy 55rpm shotgun that originally was from trials of the nine before any DLC released. It will drop from the prophecy dungeon that is available to access through the tower.
• The Long Walk – a 72rpm solar energy sniper rifle that again released at first from trials of the nine before any DLC released for the game. This sniper will drop from the Prophecy dungeon.
• A swift verdict – a 260rpm void energy sidearm that was first available trials of the nine in the first few months of Destiny 2’s release. It now drops form the Prophecy dungeon.
• Legal Action II – a kinetic 340rpm pulse rifle that was originally a New Monarchy weapon that first featured in faction rallies in year 1 of Destiny 2. It is now a world drop from legendary engrams and rank up packages.
• Spoiler Alert - a kinetic 360rpm sidearm that originally dropped from Commander Zavala and vanguard strikes in year 1 of Destiny 1. It is now a world drop and can drop from any source.
• Shepard’s watch – a kinetic 90 rpm sniper that was a world drop throughout the first year of destiny 2. Upon release this weapon and other special weapons were all heavy weapons, but after weapon slot reworks in Forsaken and year 2, it was moved to special. It will continue to be a world drop.
• Sorrow’s Verse – is a new 600 rpm arc energy auto rifle that drops from the crucible playlist. This auto rifle is from the Suros foundry. Similar weapons also released in year 1. This weapon has a chance of dropping at the end of any crucible match.
• Servant Leader – a new 260rpm kinetic scout rifle that drops solely from the gambit playlist. Featuring an old-fashioned look. At the end of a gambit game this weapon has a chance to drop alongside any other gambit exclusive weapons.
• Annual Skate – a returning 140rpm solar energy hand cannon from the first year of Destiny 2. It was originally a world drop when it released, and will continue to be a world drop now.
• Punching out – a new 450rpm solar energy sidearm that drops within the strike playlist, at the end of a strike this weapon has a chance to drop along with other vanguard exclusives.
• Contingency plan – a returning 260rpm arc energy scout rifle that originally was available from dead orbit during faction rally events in D2 Y1. It will now be world drop.
• Vulpecula – a brand new 180rpm stasis hand cannon. This is one of the new seasonal weapons that you can pick up from umbral engrams, the seasonal activity, quests, challenges or vendor rank up packages.
• Fractethyst – a new kinetic 65rpm shotgun that features among the new seasonal weapons. This shotgun has a chance to drop from umbral engrams, the seasonal activity and vendor ranks up. But it is guaranteed to drop from season rank 30.
• Chrysura Melo – a brand new 360rpm solar energy auto rifle that is another of the new seasonal weapons. Like the Fractethyst shotgun it can drop from umbral engrams, the seasonal activity and vendor rank ups. But is guaranteed to drop from season rank 45.
• Wolftone draw – a new arc energy bow that is another of the seasonal weapons. It can drop from umbral engrams when decoding seasonal engrams, it can drop from the seasonal activity or vendor rank ups and seasonal challenges.
• Iota Draconis – a new solar energy high impact fusion rifle that drops alongside the new seasonal weapons. It can drop from umbral engrams from this season or from the new seasonal activity and vendor.
• Canis major – a new heavy solar grenade launcher that features as one of the new seasonal weapons. It again can drop from seasonal umbral engrams, the seasonal activity and rank up packages from the Wayfinder's compass.

Upon all of these weapons there is a new seasonal weapon called the Ascendancy. It is a solar rocket launcher that features four perks. Split into 2 columns that can be changed to your liking. First column includes impulse amplifier (increased rocket speed) and ambitious assassin (kills add more shots to the magazine). The second column includes explosive light (returning perk that first featured on the wendigo grenade launcher, where picking up orbs of light grant one stack of explosive light that buffs the damage and blast radius of the next projectile) and chain reaction (kills cause an elemental explosion).

On top of the weapons above, there are two new weapons for Iron Banner. Including the forges pledge 390rpm energy pulse rifle and the peacebond 491rpm kinetic sidearm. These will be available presumably from a new Iron Banner quest alongside the brand-new Iron Banner armour set or from Iron Banner games. Once earned they will be added into the Iron Banner rank up package loot pool.

I personally believe that the weapon balancing in Destiny 2 at the moment is at a really good point, everything is pretty much viable in the sandbox currently so these weapons should actually perform quite well.

Trials of Osiris:

Trials of Osiris is finally getting a bit more love. I think most of us can agree that trials has not been in a very good place for a while now, with cheaters swarming the mode on PC, matchmaking preventing more people from playing or making progress and rewards being inaccessible to newer players. Though matchmaking hasn’t been directly mentioned in any changes, other massive changes are on the way.

The first: Bungie’s new partnership with BattlEye. A new anti-cheat system that will help to clear out a lot of cheaters. This has been a long time coming, many of us have been patiently waiting for a new anti-cheat to come out and help solve the cheating issue. In terms of BattlEye’s effectiveness, I am not sure on how it will work on how good it will be, but I am sure that it’s better than what we currently have.

The other big move in terms of preventing cheaters is that Trials of Osiris will now require the purchase of the yearly expansion in order to play. This one has a number of great benefits and also some downsides. Good thing is that when a player is banned, they can’t just jump straight back into trials for free, putting a paywall in the way. Bad thing is that free players cannot experience the changes unless they buy the DLC.

But moving away from anti-cheat, trials is getting a number of reworks to get players more interested and get newer players involved. How are they going to do this? More matchmaking options are being added so that you can solo queue or go in as a duo, instead of there being one option where you have to have a full team. And you can continue to play your trials card even after three loses.

Gear distribution is also being changed, now being round based rather than game based. Tokens have been completely removed and any gear will drop from trials engrams. So, when playing you will make progress towards an engram simply by winning rounds. Going flawless will remain the only way to get adept trials weapons and adept mods, so no changes on the flawless front.

These are very welcome changes for me, giving people the option to jump straight in and play and get rewards much easier. Anti-cheat is always a big win in my book.

It isn’t trials without new weapons, though there are not many new weapons there is one. The Reed’s Regret heavy linear fusion rifle. This is going to be a stasis linear fusion rifle as well which is just brilliant, and of course there is going to be a normal and adept version.

As for season of the lost, for now that’s about it. There is bound to be a lot more throughout the season that you’ll have to keep an eye out for. But there is one more thing I promised to discuss.

Bungie 30th Anniversary Event:

In celebration of 30 years of Bungie, Bungie have announced that a 30th Anniversary Event will take place during Season of the Lost. Bringing a lot of new content, reprised weapons and a lot more to be excited about.

The Bungie 30th Anniversary Event will be a paid event; you have to get the Anniversary Event pack in order to access all of the content. No release date has been confirmed yet.

Return of the King:

The most iconic weapon in Destiny history makes its return. The Gjallahorn exotic rocket launcher will make its way to D2 with the Anniversary event. Most people who play Destiny 2 have never got the chance to test out this weapon, or may not even know what it is. Which is what makes its return so special.

The Gjallahorn is a solar rocket launcher that features tracking rounds and the unique perk called wolfpack rounds. Upon a rocket hitting an enemy, a number of additional explosive rounds will come off of the rocket and also attack the enemy, making its damage potential absolutely crazy.

This is a weapon that I fell in love with in Destiny 1, and I am certain that many others did as well. It’s power and elegance were just something you could always find joy in, and it was always a weapon you could rely on in any situation.

Bungie did also say that Gjallahorn would be tuned so that it was balanced within D2. I am not sure what to say about this until we find out what happens, but I am hoping that it remains one of the best options in the games.

A Ton of Content:

There is a ton of content that will become available with the Anniversary event, but this guide has gone on for a quite a while so I am just going to quickly cover some of the main points.

• More returning weapons from destiny 1 will make their way into the game. Fan favourite weapons like the eyasluna hand cannon and 1000-yard stare will be available for players upon release. Eyasluna is a legendary hand cannon that closely resembles the Hawkmoon exotic hand cannon (a brilliant option for D1 players or players who loved Austringer). 1000 Yard Stare is a vanguard energy sniper rifle that originally released in the Taken King DLC, and proved a fan favourite for years.
• A Claymore Sword that is inspired by one of Bungie’s original games: Myth. And a shotgun that is inspired by another of their original games: Marathon.
• A new treasure themed dungeon that will take place in the cosmodrome. This is presumably going to take place near the classic loot cave location within Skywatch, and will reward us with multiple weapons and an exclusive exotic.
• A thorn armour set. Yes, as in the weapon Thorn. Bungie have actually shown off these armour sets and they actually look quite nice.
• Other stuff – unique helmet ornaments, exotic sparrows, ships, emblems, shaders, emotes and more. You know all of the cosmetic items you expect with a Bungie event.
• Streetwear ornament set and marathon themed ornament set. The streetwear ornament set has also been revealed by Bungie and it looks kind of funky and fun.
• And more to be announced

More About Raiding:

Alright this is the final point, I promise. Bungie announced that during year 5 of Destiny 2, after Watch Queen we will see another old raid will return. This year we saw Destiny’s very first raid Vault of Glass return and it’ll be great to see another make its way back.

We only have a set number of options for what it could be. It can either be the second raid released, and one of the easiest, Crota’s End. Where we head deep into the Hellmouth on the Moon in order to kill Crota, Son of Oryx, once and for. A hive themed raid that takes place on the Moon, an area that is currently available in Destiny 2.

The second potential raid, and the one I believe is most likely, is King’s Fall. Where we head deep into the Dreadnaught, Hive and Taken warship, and into Oryx’s ascendant realm to destroy him. A taken themed raid that is packed with encounters and cool weapons. The reason why I believe this is most likely is that Oryx is the brother of Savathun, the main enemy within Witch Queen. As one of the biggest raids that many players have never experience before, it seems like the best option.

The third potential raid, and a fan favourite, is Wrath of the Machine. Where we explore through a Siva infested area of the Plaguelands and the Last City walls within the Cosmodrome, facing a number of Siva infused fallen that serve as a major threat. Heading deep into an old Warmind and Siva swarmed bunker that contains Aksis: The Archon Prime. Although I love Wrath of the Machine, I believe it will be added later on when Rasputin or the fallen become more of a focus. Plus with Wrath of the Machine exotic: Outbreak Prime/ Outbreak Perfected already being in the game, I believe this raid will be one for the future.

Bungie also announced that every three months new Raid and dungeon challenges and activities will be added after Witch Queen. It seems a bit ambitious, but I am all for it.

Conclusion:

The future certain looks bright for Destiny 2, and I cannot wait to see what happens beyond Witch Queen. We have seen some big changes mentioned over the last few weeks and it only means good things. There are a few things I’ve not included here, like weapon balancing and sandbox changes. For those you should definitely head over to Bungie.net to get all the information you need.

If you want to add some information then feel free to drop a comment below.

But that’s about it for now. I’ll see you all on the battlefield.