Though Bungie recently left players just whelmed after The Final Shape reveal, the initial response to Season of the Witch seems to be a win. Alongside general weapon and armor changes and new Strand Aspects, Destiny 2's Season 22 adds a new Artifact with some interesting accompanying Artifact Mods. This season's Mods stray away from the former practice to spotlight a couple of subclasses with powerful effects. Instead, players can enjoy almost any subclass with a new seasonal gameplay focus on Tangles and Elemental Orbs.

Though the seasonal narrative will slowly reveal itself over several weeks, players can level their Artifacts and equip any unlocked Artifact Mods at their own pace. Anything that nets Guardians experience will progress the Artifact, and players can choose 12 Mods out of the available 25 to passively weave into their build. That said, Guardians will want to pick and choose with a bit of intention this season, as there are plenty of options that require specific subclasses to use.

[caption id="attachment_399304" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Column 1 Artifact Mods

• Anti-Barrier Auto Rifle - This Mod allows Auto Rifles to pierce the shields of Barrier Champions and stun them.
• Piercing Bowstring - This imbues Bows with shield-piercing arrows that can stun Barrier Champions.
• Unstoppable Scout Rifle - After peering down the scope for a few moments, Scout Rifles can fire an explosive stunning shot that disrupts Unstoppable Champions.
• Overload Hand Cannon - Multiple Hand Cannon hits disrupt Overload Champions and other enemies. The stun also reduces damage output and ability regen.
• Unstoppable Fusion - Like Scout Rifles, looking down Fusion Rifle sights loads an explosive that stuns Unstoppable Champions.

Column 2 Artifact Mods

• Arc/Strand Siphon Combo - This option fuses functionality of the Arc and Strand Siphon armor mods.
• Solar/Strand Siphon Combo - This option fuses the functionality of the Solar and Strand Siphon armor mods.
• Void/Strand Siphon Combo - This option fuses functionality of the Void and Strand Siphon armor mods.
• Origin Perk Specialization 1 - The Head Rush, Nanotech Tracer Rockers, Undated Hunger, and Cursed Thrall weapon Origin traits are all enhanced.
• Diviner's Discount - Scavenger armor mods of any kind appear at a reduced price.

Column 3 Artifact Mods

• Thanatotic Tangles - In addition to the other methods at players' disposal, Strand weapon kills have a chance to create a Tangle.
• Origin Perk Specialization 2 - Whenever an overcharged modifier is active in an activity, weapons with the Head Rush, Nanotech Tracer Rockers, Undated Hunger, or Cursed Thrall Origin trait are considered overcharged regardless of weapon or element type.
• Elemental Orbs: Void - Void weapon kills can create a Void Elemental Orb. If thrown, the Orbs erupt in a Void explosion and disperse the Volatile debuff.
• Elemental Orbs: Arc - Arc weapon kills can create an Arc Elemental Orb. These Orbs trigger a Jolting explosion when thrown.
• Elemental Orbs: Solar - Solar weapon kills can create a Solar Elemental Orb. The Orb explodes and Scorches enemies on impact.

[caption id="attachment_399313" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Column 4 Artifact Mods

• Overload Machine Guns - Continuous Machine Gun shots imbue rounds with a stun that disrupts Overload Champions, delays ability regeneration, and lowers enemy damage potential.
• Elemental Fury - Players deal additional damage with abilities and Elemental Orbs to stunned Champions.
• Communal Pickups - If an ally steals or blows up a Tangle or Elemental Orb, the cooldown to produce another is reduced by five seconds. Additionally, the creator receives a damage buff to any weapons using the same element as their equipped subclass.
• Refreshing Pickups - Energy is gifted to players' lowest-charged ability whenever they pick up a Tangle or Elemental Orb.
• Semi-Auto Striker - Continuous precision damage with Bows, Snipers, or Scout Rifles grants a stack of Armor Charge. This effect only triggers if players have less than two stacks of Armor Charge.

Column 5 Artifact Mods

• Monochromatic Maestro - Ability damage buffs matching elemental weapon damage and vice versa. The damage increase is 10%, and it lasts for five seconds.
• Rapid-Fire Ranger - Players can weaken long-range enemies or bosses by dealing continuous precision damage.
• Elemental Embrace - This Mod grants an absurd amount of Recovery and damage resistance against elemental damage matching players' subclass. The effect triggers whenever players receive a unique elemental buff from their subclass (Amplified, Radiant, Woven Mail or Devour).
• Elemental Munitions - Special and Heavy ammo can appear whenever foes are defeated with Tangles or Elemental Orbs.
• Frenzied Stacks - Orbs of Power grant a temporary stack of Armor Charge, which now increases the damage of Tangles and Elemental Orbs.

The post All Artifact Mods in Destiny 2’s Season 22 appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie appears to have done something very, very right with Destiny 2: Season of the Witch, according to the community. After a number of fumbles stemming from Lightfall's release onwards, it looked like the studio just couldn't catch a break with Destiny 2. Now, thankfully, things appear to have settled down, and players seem pretty happy with Season 22's key novelties.

The excitement comes from the destinythegame subreddit, where players posted dozens of trending threads doting over some of Season 22's best offerings. The Savathun's Spire activity has already been singled out as a particularly notable highlight, endeared for its high enemy density, interesting mechanics, and solid threat escalation from beginning to end.

[caption id="attachment_398431" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

It's not just gameplay hitting a high note in Season 22, either. Users like Voltax1999 and DerCatrix shared praises and jokes about major story beats and character arcs. In particular, Eris Morn's attempt to become a genuine Hive God rivaling Savathun, Xivu Arath, and even the late Oryx himself—may Deep rest his Oversoul—has captivated fans. Both threads received thousands of upvotes, delivering some much-needed positivity to a scene that's been gloomy as of late.

Ultimately, the community's response to Season of the Witch reads as a major Bungie win. Given the new season just launched on August 22, maybe take some of the fanfare with a grain of salt. But considering the humble community expectations for Season 22, Bungie may well be onto something here.

Season of the Witch and Player Feedback

Earlier this month, Bungie's Joe Blackburn commented on the game's troublesome state. Judging from his tweets, the studio finally seemed ready and willing to take some community critique to heart. Just note Blackburn's comments were more recent, so the feedback mentioned may not play a part in Season 22's quality. Though perhaps that's all the better and, hopefully, a signal things are looking up for Destiny 2.

After a rough period, it's welcomed news that some key seasonal mechanics, like Eris's deck of Hive playing cards, disguise Bungie's extremely well-trodden progression tropes. The new system is, technically, the same thing in place seasons prior, but Bungie's improved upon it through thoughtful tweaks. There's innovation present in Season of the Witch that hasn't been there in quite a long while. If Bungie keeps it up, the community may be on board again by the time The Final Shape launches in February 2024.

The post Destiny 2: Season of the Witch delivers key wins for Bungie appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's The Final Shape reveal has come and gone, and, as it turns out, the community isn't too thrilled about it. Due to launch on February 27, 2024, the long-awaited The Final Shape expansion pack is supposed to fully wrap up the franchise's seminal Light and Dark saga. With the clash between the two primordial forces officially coming to a close and/or cooling off into a state of equilibrium, some Destiny fans may have expected Bungie to go all-out with a new elemental subclass, a new race of enemies to fight, and more. That, however, isn't happening for the most part.

Bungie was never going to meet all of its community's expectations, naturally, but there's a non-insignificant number of very whelmed and indifferent responses to the latest Destiny 2 showcase on the game's subreddit. Some have even gone so far as to call the whole event "incredibly weak," though it's entirely possible that the studio's recent problems have caused such cynicism, too.

[caption id="attachment_398356" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2 players are not too thrilled about The Final Shape (yet)

While it's immediately worth pointing out that there is an air of careful optimism to be felt in the destinythegame subreddit, the Destiny 2 Showcase Recap 2023 thread is filled with jaded takes, too. From RayTrain's simple proclamation of being "whelmed" about the reveal to skyline_crescendo's announcement that this will be the first time they don't pre-order a Destiny 2 DLC, there's a wealth of similar comments to pick and choose from. Players seem to be careful, broadly speaking, about getting overhyped.

Danbuarth, for example, says that they're hoping "[Bungie is] holding a LOT back," possibly referring to the fact that Bungie is releasing new Light supers for Destiny 2 instead of delivering an all-new Darkness subclass. AjenoMervielles felt conciliatory - in their own words - saying that there may well be merit in accusations that Bungie is recycling content and leaning heavily onto fan service to keep The Final Shape afloat. Cayde-6 is, after all, making a grand return, and the new area is made up of pieces of old, previously explored architecture.

It's impossible to say what Bungie is going to deliver with The Final Shape just yet, naturally. There are many moons to go before the DLC drops, and the stakes have never been quite as high before, given that this particular DLC represents a new stage in the franchise's lifecycle. Time will tell!

The post Destiny 2: The Final Shape reveal whelms players appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Season 22 is launching on August 22, and the community has some admittedly sensible expectations for some of its key content. Namely, one of Destiny's most important features has always been its trademark Bungie gunplay, which naturally ties into the game's weaponry. One of the reasons why Destiny 2: Lightfall missed its mark was because the DLC's main weapon set consisted of slightly remodeled and re-skinned Shadowkeep weapons, leaving a bad taste for some players.

Granted, Lightfall had way bigger problems than just reskinned guns, and those too are allegedly going to start being addressed as of Season 22, according to Joe Blackburn himself. In the time interim, with just hours to go before Bungie reveals Season 22 proper, the community has explained precisely what it wants and expects out of the season's arsenal of new weapons.

[caption id="attachment_397678" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

What the community wants from Destiny 2 Season 22 weapons

Judging by r/destinythegame, the biggest and most prominent Destiny subreddit, the community has got two big expectations for Destiny 2 Season 22. The first is that Season 22 weapons ought not to be reskins of previously existent gear, and the second is that the new gear should be worth chasing. These are, once again, perfectly sensible in the context of a live-service game that needs to keep its loot treadmill going. As it currently stands, however, the previous two Destiny 2: Lightfall seasons have failed to deliver on these promises.

Notably, Season of Defiance featured a partial set of re-textured Season of the Lost weaponry, while the Season of the Deep mainly featured old Reckoning weaponry in two different variants. Aside from Exotics, then, it's easy to see why the Destiny community might feel like the regular Legendary-tier weapons are being visually left behind, making them relatively uninteresting. The changes coming with Destiny 2 Season 22 should, therefore, include a more hands-on approach to the game's lower-tier gear.

Whatever the case may be, the good news is that the Destiny community won't have to wait long to see what Bungie's got in store for Season 22. Its content has been locked in for some time now, however, so it's entirely possible that Bungie couldn't pivot this particular piece of content following the disastrous response to its latest State of the Game blog post.

The post The Destiny 2 community has humble weapon expectations for Season 22 appeared first on Destructoid.

It's hardly a secret that Destiny 2 and Bungie are in a bit of a pickle right now. Most years, the big "State of the Game" blogs used to signal big batches of positive changes coming to the game with the next paid DLC. This did not happen this time around. Instead, the community raised pitchforks after Bungie clarified that, no, there wasn't a big PvP content drop on the horizon. And no, there was no yearly ritual armor refresh because the team was too busy working on microtransaction armor.

The release of 2023's Lightfall DLC already soured things for a non-insignificant number of players. The game became more expensive to play on top of failing to reach the heights of 2022's Witch Queen expansion. This set the stage for some big disappointments, then, with the State of the Game simply underlining them further still. There's a flicker of goodness on the horizon, though, which Bungie's new "This Week in Destiny" blog highlights.

This comes hot on the heels of Destiny 2's game director Joe Blackburn promising to work on some of the game's biggest problems. This includes, but is not limited to, a downright ridiculous lack of investment in its PvP content. Blackburn also promised to deliver occasional Q&A streams where he'd play Destiny 2 and interact with the community to the best of his abilities - another unprecedented change.

[caption id="attachment_397286" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Will Destiny 2's Season 22 correct its course?

Players who are unhappy with the current state of Destiny 2 won't need to wait until The Final Shape to see (potentially) positive changes, either. The latest TWID went into some details on what to expect out of Season 22, which is due to kick off on August 22, appropriately enough. Some of the most notable highlights include:

• The Exotic mission rotator, allowing players to enjoy old Exotic missions and reap the rewards for their troubles
• A revamp of Destiny 2's resource economy
• A comprehensive rebalancing of many old Exotic armor pieces and abilities
• Relatively light PvP changes focusing on respawns, matchmaking, and related features

These are all supposed to launch with Season 22. Additionally, there's a mysterious Raid coming back over the course of the season, too. Blackburn promised that Bungie would deliver on his promises for further PvP improvements with yearly map packs and beyond.

The big question, of course, is whether Bungie will pull through on all of its new promises. The studio is now working on a Marathon revival in the form of an extraction shooter, of all things, and Blackburn already confirmed that Destiny 2's seasonal content model will undergo big changes with the 2024 release of the Lightfall DLC. Fans may need to prepare for a rocky rest of the year, with that in mind. Even though Bungie is now seemingly trying to pivot towards things that the community considers important, it's anyone's guess whether the studio will be able to follow up on its promises.

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

The post Bungie outlines Destiny 2’s Season 22 features and more appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 has had a bit of a rough time after the launch of the Lightfall DLC earlier in 2023. Following a troubled set of releases that came at a higher price than ever before in the history of Destiny, as well as a "disastrous" State of the Game blog post detailing what the developer has in store for the game in the coming months, it hasn't been a grand old time for the players.

Destiny 2 Game director Joe Blackburn has, therefore, taken to Twitter/X in an attempt to assuage the community to some extent. In a recent 15-minute video, Blackburn has taken some of the players' vocal critiques to heart, promising changes and compromises, as well as a renewed focus on PvP.

[caption id="attachment_396940" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Changing the course of Destiny 2 - new showcase dated for August

Following the "we're listening" spiel that was posted in the recent Destiny 2 State of the Game blog, it seems that Bungie has taken at least some of the community's feedback to heart, with Blackburn now slated to take the brunt of the critique for the time being. Notably, Blackburn has not only promised to start streaming the game with live questions-and-answers features every so often, but he's also detailed a number of key changes slated for Destiny's near and far future.

The most notable of these is, perhaps, the fact that Destiny 2's live-service content delivery model is due to undergo some big changes after the Final Shape DLC comes out in 2024. According to Blackburn, more information about these changes will be shared at the upcoming Destiny showcase, which is due on Tuesday, August 22. Another key highlight is that the game will receive occasional free PvP map packs, though it may take a while before the first of these actually comes out.

https://twitter.com/joegoroth/status/1691512349398822914

The upcoming Final Shape expansion will also bring about some changes for the resident tentacle-faced miser, Xûr, as well as a new revision of Destiny 2's HUD. One of the more specific highlights is a buff interface, allowing players to quickly and easily reference what's going on with their character.

Blackburn went into some detail on a variety of other changes, one of which is the fact that Bungie is revamping the Season 22 Eververse armor, turning it into a freely available ritual armor that anyone can farm at their own behest. This, however, appears to be a one-off designed to appease the community.

The post Destiny 2 game director shares big (but vague) changes coming to the game appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie has announced that the new voice of Destiny 2's Commander Zavala will be none other than the legendary Keith David. David is known for a variety of acclaimed performances, having appeared in Cloud Atlas, Pitch Black, and the Halo franchise. He will now continue Zavala's journey following the tragic news that the character's former actor, Lance Reddick, had passed away earlier this year.

The Destiny 2 community was hit with the news about Reddick last March, bringing his long tenure as the talent behind Destiny's Commander Zavala to an untimely end. Reddick was responsible for a substantial number of iconic video game, film, and TV show roles. The issue with Destiny, specifically, was that Bungie would need to recast Zavala moving forward or scrap the character entirely.

Thankfully, Bungie went with the former option. The beloved character will continue leading the Guardians in their struggle against the forces of Darkness.

"I am honored to continue the great work of Lance Reddick as Zavala," said David. "Lance captured the character's sense of integrity so wonderfully. It is my intention to continue that work."

[caption id="attachment_204626" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Lance Reddick's work will remain

In previous instances of character recasting in Destiny 2, the new actors would re-voice all the old, existing dialogue alongside the new stuff. However, Bungie clarified that this wouldn't be the case for Zavala. According to the official statement, Reddick's existing voice-work as Commander Zavala will remain untouched "for the upcoming release."

It is worth pointing out that this isn't the first time that Keith David has joined forces with Bungie. Notably, he voiced the Arbiter in Halo 2 and Halo 3. It goes without saying that the role of Zavala is particularly significant, considering the character's history.

"Bungie is honored to continue the relationship that began with Keith during the days of Halo, and the team is excited for what he brings to the role of the Commander," Bungie wrote in the announcement's conclusion. "We will always remain respectful to the role Zavala has played thus far, and look forward to the journey ahead."

The post Keith David Joins Destiny 2 as Commander Zavala appeared first on Destructoid.

I've been around the block with Bungie, having played Destiny since the original Destiny 1 alpha. And let me tell you: it can be rough! Bungie is a fascinating case study, as they've managed to create one of the best-feeling shooters ever made, but haven't been able to figure out how to run a live service game for nearly nine years. Their recent "State of the Game" blog tests that theory once again.

Why are people so mad at the August 2023 Destiny 2 State of the Game blog?

In the aforementioned blog, Bungie essentially delivers their "we're listening, but not doing much about it." It's a classic read-between-the-lines situation for the studio, which has struggled to keep up with player requests, basic quality-of-life additions, and everything in between. The core issue is that folks have been asking for more Gambit and PVP variety: an aspect of the game that has slowed to a crawl with a distinct lack of updates. The answer? "Tough."

Here's an excerpt:

"The most frequent feedback we see is that there is just not enough new PvP content, specifically new maps. To set expectations, our studio structure is built to support more overarching updates to PvP like the ones above, rather than focusing exclusively on maps. When we do focus our resources on building new Crucible maps, it comes with the tradeoff of multiple teams' bandwidth on work that contributes to a variety of experiences that players also hold dear, such as new story or Exotic mission content, core activities that make up the foundation of each Season, or new destinations. Similarly, bringing back reprised maps also involves extensive porting to the latest version of Destiny 2, which requires additional resources to ensure the maps work correctly for multiple game modes and play styles for years to come."

Destiny's rickety code strikes again! Although the team promises "exciting" content coming, it essentially amounts to a map and a few modifiers. The even bigger issue is that Gambit mode (PVPvE) is seemingly dead, as old maps and enemies are being "ported over to the current version of Destiny 2." That idea to vault nearly everything is still biting them.

Beyond PVP woes, the massive blog update manages to technically say a lot, without saying much at all. The "main" Destiny reddit is aflame (more than usual, ha!) with posts like this, which hit differently after a fairly underwhelming expansion drop. Many big content creators are speaking out against the update as well, and when coupled with disappointment from the last expansion; even some of the most fervent Destiny supports are losing hope.

This is to be expected, as a long-time Destiny player. It's no secret that the game waxes and wanes, big sweeping bad changes are made, and the team walks them back to the point where it's "acceptable." The question is: how long can they keep operating like that? Especially with Marathon on the horizon.

The post Bungie’s recent Destiny 2 state of the game is one of its most disastrous appeared first on Destructoid.

Don't Pay to Play

Gaming can quite quickly become an expensive hobby. The non-stop conga line of fantastic games this year has made it harder than ever to play without hurting your wallet. Not every worthwhile experience has a price tag on it, however. With the following PS5 titles, you'll have a blast without spending a cent.

[caption id="attachment_387340" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Respawn Entertainment.[/caption]

10. Apex Legends

When it comes to free-to-play games, fans of first-person shooters have more than enough to pick from. Apex Legends is a battle-royale style game featuring a cast of characters serving as either Recon, Support, Skirmisher, Assault, or Controller. With a good variety of guns and maps, it is a title that easily hooks players for hours at a time.

[caption id="attachment_387345" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Bungie.[/caption]

9. Destiny 2

Yet another first-person shooter appears on the list in the form of Destiny 2. It has managed to remain relevant thanks to constant expansions, including Lightfall in 2023. With Sony's acquisition of Bungie, it appears the franchise will be supported for a long time to come.

[caption id="attachment_387344" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Digital Extremes.[/caption]

8. Warframe

The third-person shooter Warframe was first released in 2013, and it has maintained popularity since. It uses a mix of both procedurally generated and fixed levels that have players using guns and stealth. With new expansions regularly released, it's always a good time to start playing Warframe.

[caption id="attachment_387342" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

7. Sky: Children of Light

Sky is a game that is best experienced instead of described. Players who enjoyed titles like Journey and Flower will instantly fall in love with Sky. Much like the aforementioned titles, Sky features a minimalistic style of storytelling along with multiplayer elements implemented in unexpected ways. Play Sky, it may be the best thing you do all week.

[caption id="attachment_387339" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Maxis Studios.[/caption]

6. The Sims 4

The popular life simulation game The Sims 4 went free-to-play in 2022, breathing new life into a somewhat dated game. Although the controls on consoles are occasionally awkward, The Sims 4 is definitely worth playing. It has earned its longevity through its expansive gameplay, detailed character creator system, and quirky humor that has characterized the franchise for years.

[caption id="attachment_387343" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Epic Games.[/caption]

5. Fortnite

It's hard to make any free-to-play list without including Fortnite. Over five years after its initial release, it has since grown into a phenomenon encompassing celebrities, music concerts, and various other gaming franchises. Nevertheless, it remains ol' reliable when it comes to exciting battle royale gameplay.

[caption id="attachment_387359" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Blizzard.[/caption]

4. Overwatch 2

The first-person shooter Overwatch 2 is one of the most popular games of its type around. Gameplay is fast-paced and fun, with a learning curve that's not too steep. The player base is very active, ensuring you can jump into the action at any time.

[caption id="attachment_387341" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

3. Rocket League

When it comes to addictive gameplay, it's hard to do better than Rocket League. Released in 2015, it has players playing soccer with rocket-powered vehicles. It has since developed a competitive scene, though casual players can still easily join at any time. In 2020, it went free-to-play, opening the game to an even wider audience.

[caption id="attachment_387338" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

2. Fall Guys

Fall Guys launched in August 2020, and it was an immediate record-breaking hit. Though it may not make as many headlines in 2023, Fall Guys is still a silly battle royale game with an active user base. Much like the show Takeshi's Castle, players are tasked with completing an assortment of games and obstacle courses. Little beans are the competitors, which makes things all the more sillier.

[caption id="attachment_387336" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

1. Astro's Playroom

Astro's Playroom is bundled with the PS5, and it familiarizes players with the features of the DualSense, as well as the blinding speed of the console's SSD. It is, without a doubt, a must-play for every PS5 owner, and years later it remains one of the best showcases of the PS5's abilities.

The game features gorgeous visuals that reference many classic PlayStation franchises, and the platforming gameplay is both fun and varied. The only wish now is that the PSVR 2 receives a similar title.

There is a good variety of free-to-play games available on PS5, and they'll satisfy fans of sports games, shooters, and platformers. Upcoming free-to-play games to look out for include the soccer game UFC, as well as the MMORPG Throne and Liberty.

The post 10 best free games to play on PS5 right now appeared first on Destructoid.

Infinite shards for a finite time

By the time you're reading this, chances are Bungie developers will be hard at work at Destiny 2 headquarters trying to fix this rampant and easy-to-perform glitch, so let's get to it. There's a new method to easily acquire legendary shards in Destiny 2, and odds are it'll be gone before the weekend.

Want to get infinite shards in Destiny 2? Well, then this is what you have to do

• Meet up with Ikora at The Tower, and take one of the exotic quests. Any will do the trick, so maybe get the first one.
• Follow the quest steps until the fourth step. No more, no less.
• Head back toward Ikora, talk to her, then get away from her without taking the armor.
• Open the menu and chose to abandon the quest.
• Talk to her again, and congrats, you'll now be able to take infinite pieces of exotic armor.
• Now you just have to dismantle the exotic pieces of armor until you get tired of being rich or Bungie fixes the leaky golden fountain.

You'll get legendary shards each time you dismantle something, and you can keep doing it constantly. Youtuber Divide managed to blow this wide open, and you can watch their tutorial on how to use the glitch below:

https://youtu.be/x5KDoBoUh9Y

Bungie will surely make short work of this bug very soon, so we highly recommend you check out this sweet early summer gift as soon as you can.

[Update: Some players are reporting that there was a quick server-side fix that kicked them out of the game at roughly 6PM ET. If you're still in, you might be able to squeeze some shards in.]

The post Check out this glitch for infinite shards in Destiny 2 before it is gone appeared first on Destructoid.

Another dive into Bungie's new shooter

During yesterday's PlayStation Showcase, Bungie revealed it was reviving the Marathon franchise for a new sci-fi extraction shooter. And through an ARG hidden inside the reveal trailer, fans unlocked another look at Marathon though a Bungie ViDoc.

A QR code was hidden in the Marathon teaser from yesterday. And the internet sleuths who found it were quick to work and uncover just what it meant. This spun out into what's usually known as an Alternate Reality Game, or ARG; a series of clues and puzzles that weave in and out of the web, usually leading to some secret information. Destiny YouTuber Skarrow9 has a video up, detailing how the community worked together to solve it.

The result was a new ViDoc, Bungie's term for a behind-the-scenes making-of video short. Bungie's created a number of them for Destiny, and it looks like Marathon is getting its own as well, starting with the uncovered video "What is Marathon? | Somewhere In The Heavens."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrv0dpztryY

Space cowboy

Much of the ViDoc covers material from the PlayStation Blog interview. Bungie plans to incorporate every within this PvP, extraction shooter playstyle. If you're unaware, extraction shooters are a handy catch-all for a genre of FPS that's been popularized by games like Escape From Tarkov. You enter an area, collect good loot, tussle with other teams, and try to "extract" the loot before getting wiped out.

For Bungie, it looks like they're trying to kindle much of that tension and use it for storytelling. Marathon will be PvP, but the team teases world events too. The idea of being the "world's first" to uncover a new area, opening it up for other players. It's intriguing, though I wonder how well it would work on a grander sccale.

What really catches my eye in the ViDoc is the art. The Marathon teaser had an incredible style to it, and that carries through the art here. The colors and contrast, between future tech and alien flora, is gorgeous.

We'll see more of how Marathon stacks up to its legacy as Bungie shares more details. Otherwise, you can catch up with all the news from yesterday's PlayStation Showcase here.

The post Bungie shares a Marathon ViDoc after fans solve an ARG appeared first on Destructoid.

Old name, new game

You might just remember that before Destiny, and before Halo, Bungie had Marathon. Almost three decades later, Marathon is back, as Bungie is reviving the franchise for its new PvP sci-fi extraction shooter.

Revealed during today's PlayStation Showcase, Marathon is a completely new project for the team. It will pit players against each other as cybernetic mercenaries called Runners, battling for riches and fame.

The question of "how does this relate to the original Marathon" is valid, and a little vague. Over on the PlayStation Blog, game director Christopher Barrett expands on how this relates to the 1994 to 1996 Marathon series.

"We have a tremendous amount of respect for the original Marathon games and, from the very start, we’ve wanted to honor that, especially the mythology, story, and themes of the world," Barrett said. "At the same time, our vision for this game is something new. It’s not a direct sequel to the originals, but something that certainly belongs in the same universe and that feels like a Bungie game. Finding those opportunities to nod to the universe’s lore, while also getting to build something different and new has been one of the best parts of developing this game so far."

So it's new, but old; inspired by the classic, but creating something new with it. As Barrett goes on to say, Bungie is making something for both new players and those that have been waiting years for more stories in the Marathon universe. There will apparently be references and "deep cuts," too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y-e2krA3uE

It's a marathon

Barrett and general manager Scott Taylor confirm a few more things about Marathon in the PlayStation Blog. It's in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It's a PvP-focused game, and won't have a single-player campaign. However, Marathon will have a opportunities for "player-driven stories" to unfold. It sounds like these are the sorts of stories that evolve out of tense firefights and extractions, the "share around the water cooler" style of story.

But they also want to have players affect the persistent zones and larger world as a result of their actions. They offer the example of a crew finding an undiscovered artifact, that could open a new area of the map for players to explore. "In essence, we’re creating a game where the actions of players can have ramifications for the world and players with each unfolding season," Barrett says.

There's no details in terms of a launch window or anything like that, though Taylor says that the next time we hear about Marathon, Bungie will be able to show gameplay and be "much closer" to launch. We'll see what Bungie has in store for its old-new shooter around then.

The post Bungie revives Marathon for a new sci-fi extraction shooter appeared first on Destructoid.

The DMCA claims another court victory

Bungie has succeeded in the latest of an increasing line of lawsuits targeting online cheat sellers — The Destiny 2 developer was awarded $12 million in damages this week in its case against website VeteranCheats and its owner, Mihai Claudiu-Florentin.

As reported by The Game Post, Bungie filed suit against Romanian Claudi-Florentin in 2021, accusing the website owner of committing copyright infringement and tortious interference through the development selling of various hacks and cheats, distributed through the VeteranCheats domain. The key software allows players to see through walls and auto-aim, alongside other in-game advantages.

Bungie argued that the sale of VeteranCheats had caused significant harm to Destiny 2 and its community, frustrating users and undermining the game's intent. Bungie sought default judgment of just over $12 million USD, including statutory damages of $2,000 for each of the cheat's 5,848 downloads, as well as an additional $146,000 for copyright violation, and payment for the studio's legal fees.

The District Court of Washington found in favor of Bungie's claim, and ordered a total damage reparation of $12,059,912.98. In addition, Claudi-Florentin was barred from engaging in any activity that opposes Bungie's copyright act and DMCA rulings. As of this writing, the VeteranCheats website is still operational, selling cheats for other popular video games including Call of Duty and PUBG. The Destiny 2 hacks, obviously, have since been removed.

This lawsuit represents the latest of a series of successful suits Bungie has filed against online cheat sellers, having previously won damage cases against companies such as AimJunkies, LaviCheats, and Elite Boss Tech.

Bungie Wins $12 Million Award Against Destiny 2 Cheat Seller [The Game Post / GamesIndustry.biz]

The post Bungie awarded $12 million in latest Destiny 2 cheat seller lawsuit appeared first on Destructoid.

The publisher vows to "make updates based on constructive feedback"

When I played through Destiny 2: Lightfall, I saw a lot of things slip through the cracks that shouldn't have. It turns out I wasn't alone, as even Bungie themselves have acknowledged many of these pratfalls in an open letter on a recent blog post.

Here's the gist of what they had to say:

"With a solid amount of data now under our belts, it’s clear we missed the mark on some of our goals and needed to make updates based on constructive feedback. While the first batch of Guardian Ranks has proven to be an invaluable guide for New Lights, we want to improve the system for all players."

For reference "New Lights" refers to new players. Bungie is noting that they managed to generally hit a good groove with the new player experience given some of the fundamental revamps of certain systems, but also let down some of their playerbase with other design choices. That sums up the fan reception to the expansion as a whole (with maybe a little more urgency as far as the community is concerned).

Bungie spent the rest of the blog post explaining how they're going to improve the game from here on out, so let's break things down.

What is Bungie actually changing to make Lightfall better?

Here's a quick rundown of the massive bible of a blog post:

• Guardian Ranks (overall account levels) are being revamped with "shortcuts" to avoid more grinding (which is classic Destiny, to do it after the fact)
• Commendations are being reworked to allow more time to celebrate teammates while making the process less laborious to rank up using commendations
• Enemy scaling is being changed: "While we feel incoming damage to players is in a great spot in Legend and Master activities, non-boss units had a bit too much health and could feel more like bullet sponges than we’d liked. We’ve made some changes to balance things out, starting with these tuning updates that went live on March 30:"
• Heist Battlegrounds are being tweaked to lower the difficulty due to fan feedback, as well as some Noemuna (the new core area) patrol activities
• The Terminal Overload area will be a bit more lively with more matchmaking capabilities
• "Legend and Master Lost Sectors will feel very approachable for regular players" going forward
• Exotic drop rates have been increased in several areas of the game (Legend and Master Lost Sectors, as well as the Vex Strike Force event)

Artifact perk refunds, a better seasonal schedule that's more packed, and buildcrafting (armor mods) are also getting tweaks in the future. So that's a lot to fix!

It would be nice to see Bungie hit the mark more often the first time around, but given that they're still around with this business model, something must be working.

The post Bungie openly says they “missed the mark” on parts of Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion appeared first on Destructoid.

Eyes up, Guardian

Destiny 2 players are gathering in the game's central hub, the Tower, to pay their respects to Lance Reddick. The voice actor of the Titan Vanguard, Zavala, passed away on March 17, and within minutes of the news breaking, Guardians were flocking to the Tower to hold a vigil for their beloved commander.

https://twitter.com/saniyaga/status/1636818291938263040?s=20

If you head to the Tower yourself, players can still be seen by Commander Zavala, paying tribute to Reddick's work. Members of the community, as well as Bungie staff members, have also been sharing their tributes to the actor online.

"I loaded into the tower to go salute Zavala and was happy to see a lot of people crowded around Zavala just sitting nearby, some coming to salute with an emote and then leaving. Y'all made me feel good about this community and it makes me happy seeing everyone paying respects," said one user on the Destiny 2 Reddit forum.

https://twitter.com/SchviftyFive/status/1636810257224835072?s=20

Bungie released a statement shortly after the passing of Reddick was announced.

"Lance Reddick was an iconic presence on screen, in Destiny, and most importantly, in person. His love for our community shined through in Commander Zavala, in his uncompromising dedication to his craft, and out of the radiating kindness that touched those around him," reads the message. To say he will be missed is a profound understatement, yet no less true. Rest in peace, Lance."

[caption id="attachment_369433" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Reddick was known to be a big fan of the Destiny franchise, hosting many live streams of himself and his friends playing the game while interacting with the community. This personable approach to his role as Zavala was deeply appreciated by fans, and his role in the game would see the Commander become somewhat of a leader, a father figure to New Lights, and an advisor to Guardians worldwide.

https://twitter.com/JoshKulinski/status/1636879110357258241?s=20

Reddick was also well known for his career across TV and gaming, starring in shows such as The Wire and Fringe, and for his supporting role as Charon in the John Wick series. As Commander Zavala, he will forever be the headstrong leader of the Last City and Destiny's Guardians. He will be truly missed.

The post Destiny 2 players gather at the Tower to pay respect to Lance Reddick appeared first on Destructoid.

How to find the Node.Ovrd.Avalon Vexcalibur Exotic mission

It's only week two of Destiny 2: Lightfall and already Bungie is adding more and more content with the expansion. As part of the Season of Defiance, players can now embark on a hidden Exotic mission to find the (very cool) Glaive, Vexcalibur. There's plenty of lore and some secrets hidden within this quest, but it's not the easiest or most obvious to find to begin with.

Head to the EDZ using the Gulch landing spot. You can do this solo or with friends, it doesn't make much difference. If nobody in the area has found all of them already, you will need to seek out six little glowing Vex nodes to jump through to obtain a keycode. This keycode will open up a cave. The locations of the Vex nodes are:

• By the billboard at the back of the loading zone
• Next to some trees on the right
• In the middle of the landing area where the public event usually takes place
• On the hill on the right side of the spawn
• Next to the Lost Sector entrance floating in the air underneath the road
• On the hill above a yellow box

[caption id="attachment_367504" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

They're not hard to miss, they glow brightly and emit a Vex-like noise as you get closer to them. Collecting all of these will give you the cave's access code. From the tunnel, you'll want to travel up the road, keep left, and look in a corner for a newly opened cave entrance. Head in here and drop down, and you'll see a friendly Harpy. This is pretty important to the Exotic mission's lore. Fans of Destiny will probably know what's about to be signified within. You can start the quest from a marker in here, and from now on it'll also appear on your EDZ overworld map for easy return.

How to complete the Node.Ovrd.Avalon Vexcalibur Exotic mission

[caption id="attachment_367505" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

There are a few puzzles in here and a bit of a tricky time finding the right path, to begin with. This mission isn't matchmade, so if you don't want to do it solo you'll have to either search for a fire team online or link up with some friends. There are three main sections that are connected by a series of Vex networks and stunning environments. To begin with, there's a code consisting of shapes that you'll have to shoot on a pylon in the correct order whilst the Vex try to attack you. Once all of these codes have been successfully entered, a new pathway will open up with more enemies. Kill them all, progress through, and you'll soon come to a circular room with a conflux in the middle.

[caption id="attachment_367506" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Kill enemies to gather purple motes which need to be dunked at the central conflux to open a "safe" pit below. This pit isn't actually all that safe, but your fire team won't wipe in here. In the left corner of the screen, it should tell you how many motes to collect and dunk to open the safe area. After two rounds of doing this a boss will spawn, put enough damage into them and they'll disappear for another round of mote collecting. This can get a bit chaotic, so try to manage the enemies and get rid of as many as possible whilst collecting the motes. The boss will then come out again and can be defeated here allowing you to traverse to the next section of the Exotic mission.

[caption id="attachment_367507" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The final part of the mission is a fight against a reimagined Brakion from the Pyramidion strike which was on IO but was then sunset. Asher Mir guides you throughout the Exotic mission so it's very fitting that Brakion, his old nemesis, is the main boss for this mission. There are a few phases to this fight, some of which will require inputting codes to break an immunity shield he puts up. These function in the same way as the opening section, consisting of shapes that must be entered in the right order to progress. They are sunken into triangles on the ground and quite difficult to find if you don't know where to look.

[caption id="attachment_367508" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The final phase of the fight sees Brakion lose his head and run around frantically. That's not a turn of phrase, just like in the old Pyramidion strike, his head actually does fall off. Kill him to finish the quest, and Asher Mir will direct you to the corner of the arena to pull the aptly named Vexcalibur out of some Vex stone.

What is Vexcalibur?

[caption id="attachment_367509" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Vexcalibur is an Exotic Glaive with three achievable catalysts and seven secret intrinsic perks to find, although only one is available for now and requires a separate quest. The Glaive has a shield that can be used to deflect incoming damage which then charges a Void over shield. Getting melee kills will recharge this over shield each time, and extend its timer. It, therefore, has the capability to have an infinite Void over shield, which could prove hugely useful in end-game and difficult content in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is out now on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

The post How to find the secret Exotic Glaive Vexcalibur in Destiny 2: Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.

Unlimited barricades?!

With the launch of Destiny 2: Lightfall came a new Darkness subclass, Strand. Whilst the initial fan reception to Strand was pretty underwhelming, as time has gone on the more dedicated players have had time to dig deep into the new subclass and come up with some powerful new builds. We've already covered Warlocks and Hunters, with armies of Threadlings and infinite enemy suspension all possible. This time we're going to take a look at the space shooter's brutes, the Titans.

We're looking to create a build that will give unlimited barricades to protect against incoming enemy fire as well as turn you into a suspending machine. We're obviously going to be using the Strand subclass, and some important aspects, fragments, and armor mods to help achieve that.

Aspects and fragments

[caption id="attachment_367272" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

We'll first be using the aspect Drengr's Lash. This creates a ripple that travels forward along the ground, suspending and damaging any targets it hits when you use your class ability. This means whenever you use your barricade, it will also be suspending and damaging any enemies in its path. We're also going to use the aspect Into the Fray. This grants woven mail for you and your nearby allies when you destroy a Tangle or cast your Super. When you do have woven mail, your melee regeneration rate is also increased.

The fragments we will use here are Thread of Mind, which grants class ability energy when defeating suspended targets, and Thread of Warding which grants woven mail when picking up orbs of power. The woven mail provides a valuable 60% over-shield to protect against incoming damage. The next fragment we'll use is Thread of Wisdom which gives orbs of power when defeating suspended targets with precision final blows. This will be valuable to create the orbs of power to collect in order to transform into woven mail. Finally, we'll be using Thread of Generation which generates grenade energy when dealing any kind of damage.

We'll be using the shackle grenade which suspends enemies it hits.

Exotics, gear, and armor

[caption id="attachment_367273" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

This build will synergize with the lesser-used Khepri's Horn exotic helmet. This means that Solar damage kills will recharge our barricade which then also unleashes a blast of Solar energy when it's summoned. This might not seem like the best choice at first glance, but it will really work with this build as not only will we be activating the Solar blast but also the suspension due to the Strand aspect.

As we need a Strand weapon in this build we'll be using the Synchronic Roulette Strand submachine gun in the kinetic slot. We've managed to roll one with Target Lock which increases the damage the longer you hold down fire. Remember that the Exotic relies on Solar damage kills to activate its Exotic perk, so we've chosen to use the Solar grenade launcher Explosive Personality. This will recharge our barricade and give it that Solar blast to cause devastation to foes.

Finally, we've also chosen the Solar sword, The Lament, for the heavy weapon. When Strand targets are suspended, Titans can launch themselves into the fray and mow down all of them. This will give health back when revving the sword's charge too.

Artifact mods

On the artifact, there are three Strand build mods for this Titan that we'll want to ensure we have unlocked. Untangler means that destroying a Tangle with a Strand weapon will suspend targets damaged by its explosion. Allied Unraveling means that any rapid final blows using a Strand weapon will grant that weapon Unraveling Rounds, which lasts longer when near allies. Unraveling rounds will cause enemies to literally unravel before your eyes into a pile of Strand matter which then explodes, causing damage to all nearby foes. Finally, Threaded Blast means that destroying a Tangle with a Strand weapon will create a larger and more damaging explosion.

Armor mods

[caption id="attachment_367274" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The armor mods will really bring this build into its own. On the helmet, we're going to use Strand and Solar siphons to get as many orbs of power as possible. On the gauntlets, we're going to use Heavy Handed which creates orbs of power on powered melee final blows as well as Momentum Transfer which reduces the melee cooldown when you cause damage with a grenade. Finally, we're going to use Harmonic Loader to increase the reload speed of Strand weapons.

On the chest armor, we'll use Lucent Blades to synergize with The Lament. This will increase the energy recharge rate of equipped swords. We'll also use Melee Damage Resistance which reduces incoming damage from point-blank enemies.

On the boots, we'll use Recuperation which replenishes health when picking up orbs of power, and a Solar Weapon Surge which gives Armor Charge as well as a small bonus to Solar weapon damage. Finally, we'll use Orbs of Restoration which regenerates ability energy when picking up orbs of power.

On the class item, the mark, we'll use Utility Kickstart which means that when our class ability is fully expended, we gain more. As well as this, we'll add Time Dilation so that when we're not using a barricade, we can make Lament stronger. We'll also use Bomber which reduces grenade cooldown when we use our barricade, the class ability.

With all this in mind, you've got a strong Titan with long uptime on woven mail over-shields that can almost infinitely suspend and damage targets with a Solar blast, which creates devastating explosions when destroying those enemies with Tangles too. This is one of the strongest Titan builds possible right now, and worth considering for the upcoming World's First raid race which begins March 10 for the new raid, The Root of Nightmares. Good luck, Guardians.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is out now for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

The post Best Titan Strand build in Destiny 2: Lightfall Season 20 appeared first on Destructoid.

What is happening?

[WARNING: This review contains light campaign spoilers]

Since the release of Destiny 2, many questions in the space shooter's lore history have been answered, but many more have been equally opened. Unfortunately, it seems that Bungie has struggled to adjust to its "new" release schedule, with Lightfall intended initially to be the closing chapter of the "Light and Dark saga" — a narrative which has been ongoing since the release of the original Destiny in 2014.

As it now stands, this saga is expected to end sometime in 2024 with the release of the closing expansion The Final Shape concluding the story's 10-year span of content. With so many questions left to answer, does this negatively impact our experience of Lightfall? In short yes, but also no.

[caption id="attachment_364139" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2: Lightfall (PC [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Bungie
Released: February 28, 2023
MSRP: $49.99 / $99.99 for Lightfall + Annual Pass

Destiny 2: Lightfall is the seventh expansion of Destiny 2 and the eleventh expansion in the Destiny franchise. It follows the story of "The Witness" who is threatening the solar system, or Sol, the Last City, which is the only remaining safe space for humanity, and "The Traveler", which is a mysterious giant sphere associated with the Light. Assisted by its newest Disciple, Emperor Calus, The Witness hopes to cause a second collapse and destroy humanity for good. But first, it must find a mysterious object called the Veil.

Lightfall opens with a chaotic cutscene that sees some of the Vanguard such as Saint-14, Amanda Holliday, and others racing through the sky in ships, trying to fight off the Witness' fleet of pyramids that surrounds the Traveler. With a mere flick of its wrist, the Witness decimated a Guardian and their Ghost, as well as sending out a shockwave to destroy multiple ships dotted through the sky. Seeing the carnage, the Traveler fired a huge beam of Light at the pyramid ships and the Witness.

This terraformed all surfaces it touched but did not affect the Witness who floated through the beam untouched. The Witness then connects mentally with the Traveler and unveils its secrets including the planet of Neptune and the hidden city of Neomuna, which houses the Veil. The Witness calls upon its newest disciple, Calus, for aid and Osiris begins to understand what the Witness has seen. He orders the Vanguard to Neptune to defend Neomuna and work with its leaders, the Cloud Striders, to protect the Veil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-7Cq7LLPr4&ab_channel=Destiny2

Dealing with history

Your first duty as a Guardian is to hijack an enemy ship and set it to self-destruct before rapidly exiting with Osiris. During this mission, we find ourselves face to face with a terrifying new enemy, a Tormentor. As it grabs me, restricting my movement and applying a suppressing effect to all my abilities I am genuinely fearful of this new creature. I spend the rest of the campaign on edge, waiting for more to appear, and they do. Bungie has balanced the Tormentor appearances so well that I'm never quite sure when one will turn up, and when they do, it's always horrific. Learning their exposed weakness areas and dealing with them efficiently as a fireteam is paramount to survival, and they are one of the best new additions to Destiny 2.

As we progress through the events of Lightfall we can't help but think that this must feel very alienating to new players. There's a lot of lore, some explained and some not. What is the Veil? Well, no one seems to know exactly. Destiny has always focused on storytelling, worldbuilding, history, and intricate relationships, all of which are difficult to keep up with even for die-hard fans of the game. It turns out that the Veil, an object of paracausal power, has been hidden in Neomuna since the first Collapse, and Savathun, The Witch Queen's protagonist, is responsible for hiding it. The Witness sends Calus to Neptune to find it and set up a link between it and the Traveler.

The Witness and Calus originally intended to use something called the Radial Mast to connect with the Veil, although nothing about what this actually is or how it came to exist is explained which is more than  a little frustrating. Regardless, we soon find ourselves in a room fighting off giant tanks, Calus' Shadow Legion forces, and trying to destroy the Radial Mast to prevent the Witness from making this connection.

[caption id="attachment_366630" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Wielding new powers of Darkness

Throughout the campaign, which is available at either normal or legendary difficulty, we're introduced to Strand, the new Darkness subclass. Using Strand, Guardians can grapple through the air, hooking onto enemies before slamming down on them causing them to explode. Strand gifts Guardians with extreme mobility and whilst the new subclass can take some time to get to grips with, when it clicks it's incredibly satisfying. Osiris is your teacher as you learn how to wield Strand and a difficult exercise in learning how to best utilize Strand in the campaign is repurposed in the activities available after its completion in the form of a time trial.

The build crafting overhaul featured in Destiny 2: Lightfall means that it's simpler than ever to find something that works exceptionally well, and by day two I had already created a Strand Hunter build that could almost infinitely suspend groups of enemies, rendering them helpless to my relentless bullet fire. Defeating these suspended enemies spawns Tangles which can be shot to cause a blast radius of damage or thrown for a similar effect. Strand is not built to rely on one or two abilities to cause huge damage, but rather to wield the battlefield to your advantage, stringing a series of effects together to devastating effects. When you realize this, it becomes one of the strongest subclasses in the game.

[caption id="attachment_366510" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Neomuna, the lifeless city

Landing on Neomuna for the first time is awe-inspiring. Its neon-draped streets are the most modern Destiny has ever looked but it's deathly quiet. As the Cloud Strider Nimbus explains, all of its citizens have uploaded themselves to a metaverse of sorts. In their place are some fragmented yellow figures — at first I thought this was some sort of weird futuristic grass, but no, they're supposed to represent Neomuna's population.

Nimbus is a bright, sometimes clumsy, often goofy new character. They begin the campaign as Rohan's protege and end it as the protector of Neomuna. Nimbus could be used to provide context and story around the Veil and Neomuna but they just... don't. Having said that, their voice actor is both fantastic and engaging and I have nothing but praise for them.

[caption id="attachment_366632" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

I'm an avid Destiny 2 fan, I play almost daily with my clan, and I am struggling to see how this expansion would bring in new players. And even then, will said newcomers stay beyond the campaign to discover what the Veil is, what the Witness does next, and how this decade-long saga will come to an end in 2024? I wouldn't blame anyone that doesn't. Personally, however, I definitely need to see the end of this saga.

Prior to Lightfall, I felt Destiny was at its strongest point ever. The narrative was exceptional, the character development was unrivaled by any other FPS, and the future seemed both terrifying and wildly exciting. After Lightfall, I am still intrigued to see what happens next, but I think that lies solely with my thousands of logged hours and personal emotional investment that may not exist for new players. There is so much potential in Destiny for newcomers, but it isn't easy to find, and Bungie often doesn't help them along the way.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Destiny 2: Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.

Lightfall truly has arrived

It's been a huge week for the Destiny 2 team at Bungie. On February 28 the latest expansion, Lightfall, was released and the player base came out to support in its masses. Not only did Destiny 2: Lightfall see massive numbers and a surge in concurrent players, but it broke its own previous Steam record.

As shown on SteamDB, the record for the number of concurrent players on Steam prior to February 28's release of Lightfall was around 292,000. This happened with 2019's release of the Shadowkeep expansion, which was the first major DLC to be released independently by Bungie after acquiring publishing rights for the series from Activision earlier that year. 2022's The Witch Queen came in close, but Lightfall saw a record-breaking 316,750 concurrent Steam players logging in to discover the secrets of the newly discovered city of Neomuna.

It's unclear what precisely drew so many Guardians into the game at once with the launch of Lightfall. Is it the new Strand subclass? Perhaps it's the new storyline detailing Calus and his Shadow Legion's invasion of Neomuna in search of the Veil? Maybe it's just hundreds of thousands of people excited to continue with the seasonal storyline, which sees Mara Sov team up with Guardians to face Xivu Arath's impending war. Whatever the reason, the record has been smashed for Destiny 2 by over 10,000 players.

Our end begins

[caption id="attachment_361843" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2: Lightfall is the penultimate installment in the Light and Dark saga of the game, which will be concluded with 2024's The Final Shape. Bungie recently released a mammoth blog post detailing the year ahead, and it is expected that players will hear more about the future of Destiny within the next 12 months as we draw closer to the next expansion's release.

The post Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion shatters its own concurrent player record on Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

I hope things improve as the season goes on

Destiny 2: Lightfall is out, and like many Destiny expansions over the years (dating all the way back to the original game), the phrase "expansion" can be applied very loosely to many facets of the actual release. Let's take a look at where it falls short.

As an aside there will be no major story spoilers here, other than broad themes.

[caption id="attachment_366507" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The Lightfall story is abrupt, and doesn't really explain anything

All roads seem to be leading to The Final Shape expansion, which will be dropping in 2024. Well, a lot of roads have been heading there previously, but Lightfall is more like a detour.

Much like many infamous mystery box shows, Lightfall is content with telling us about a lot of cool stuff that might happen without actually showing us. Many cutscenes are low impact, filled with new characters to juggle (to the detriment of older beloved cast member development) and a complete lack of stakes that drive the overarching narrative forward. More mysteries are provided and remain mysteries.

Also, the handling of Osiris, a very prominent lore figure, is baffling here. For years many of us wanted to meet him, now I hope I never have to deal with him again.

[caption id="attachment_366508" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The power fantasy of the energy grappling hook just isn't there

One prominent feature of Destiny 2: Lightfall marketing thus far was the ability to grapple through the air like Spider-Man. A friend of mine said to me pre-launch that he couldn't wait to partake in this feature, and that it was the standout thing of the expansion for him. Well, about that!

Destiny 2: Lightfall goes through great lengths to make the neon-green Strand abilities (the new subclass) fun to use during the campaign. But it turns out that system is mainly a ruse, as your powers are significantly lessened when you actually acquire Strand for use in the core game; including a super lengthy cooldown on grappling. It's a rug pull.

Bungie has always had issues juggling PVE and PVP play, but this is something that should be fixed soon-ish: reduce the cooldown on grappling as soon as possible, especially if it's being used solely as a means of traversal.

[caption id="attachment_366509" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Grinding out more things isn't going to be appealing for a lot of casual players

Piggybacking off of that, you need to grind a lot of the cool aspects of the Strand subclass until you can actually use it. That's on top of the existence of the season pass (which has an XP grind if you want to acquire the new exotic bow on the free track, among other rewards), and all the other grinding in the game.

As soon as the story is over (abruptly), you're greeted with a big grind in a small pond. It's a stark contrast to the richness of some prior expansions, which felt like they injected a new living world into the mix.

[caption id="attachment_366510" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Neomuna, the new main area, is a big letdown

I was stoked for Neomuna before launch. The neon aesthetic, the promise of a futuristic built-up city that was a haven against the darkness: it all sounded and looked cool on paper. But in practice, it's empty, looks partially unfinished, and is full of enemies we've already seen before; just slightly modified. I know, I know, fool me twice (or 10 times)!

Not only that, but the inhabitants of Neomuna are also all over the place tonally, including one extremely polarizing NPC that's basically a future version of Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's like two different people directed two different versions of the expansion and smashed them together.

You don't get a second shot at a first impression, and so far Lightfall has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of some long-timers. There's still a full season for that (if you're sticking around), and now I'm more curious than ever to see how the next expansion shakes out. Following the general "every other expansion is good" format, I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

The post Let’s look at the biggest Destiny 2: Lightfall issues so far appeared first on Destructoid.

A paracausal superposition?

It's finally here. Lightfall has been released for Guardians worldwide and with it comes the new Darkness subclass, Strand. The campaign reveals a lot of information about this mysterious new power, and Osiris is present to hold our hands and help us uncover its true capabilities. Some Guardians may remember Beyond Light, where the full power of Stasis wasn't readily available and some steps needed to be completed before we could wield it.

Strand is no different, and there are some steps to follow to unlock the Strand subclass in Destiny 2. It's reasonably straightforward though, and it's an exciting adventure to set out on. In addition to being a devastating offensive tool, Strand can be used to create a grappling hook for ultra-fast world traversal, to give Guardians a protective Strand layer of armor, suspend enemies in midair and reduce their damage output.

How to unlock the Strand subclass

[caption id="attachment_366404" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Strand needs to be unlocked before it can be used throughout Destiny 2, but Guardians will get their hands on it from quite early on in the new Lightfall campaign. There are several steps to complete, but Strand will be fully unlocked by completing the Lightfall campaign. To begin the campaign, an automatic prompt will appear in the game the first time you log in after purchasing the new DLC. This can be canceled and you can enter at any time by selecting Neptune on the Director screen.

Throughout the campaign, there are multiple opportunities to wield the power of Strand to slowly get familiar with the new subclass. You'll spot dense areas of Strand threads in locations where this is possible, and Osiris is usually on hand to assist with the technical side of things. More power can be given to Strand as Guardians unlock Aspects, Fragments, and different Grenade functions.

How to unlock Aspects, Fragments, and Grenades

[caption id="attachment_366126" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

After completing the campaign to unlock Strand, the next objective to make the most of your new Darkness subclass is to acquire all of its Aspects, Fragments, and alternative grenade abilities. To do this, head to the Pouka Pond near Strider's Gate. Here, similarly to Ikora in the Tower, you can meditate and acquire the desired upgrades. Completing these upgrades will cost Strand Meditations, which is a currency earned by using Strand and completing public events, lost sectors, and the Terminal Overload activity on Neomuna.

Each Aspect costs 150 Strand Meditations, Fragments cost 200 Strand Meditations and Grenades cost 50 Strand Meditations. Grenades can't be bought until the Aspects and Fragments you were able to try out throughout the campaign have been bought. These will be the only available Aspects and Fragments until you've bought them all.

Destiny 2: Lightfall sees a brand-new campaign, new subclass, and new seasonal storyline and is out now for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

The post How to unlock the Strand subclass in Destiny 2: Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.

Mysterious Mechanical Creatures

Destiny 2's mysterious creature, the Pouka, has been subject to much speculation ever since one was first seen back in early 2020. They've not been sighted much since then, but Bungie has released a Pouka figurine with the Collector's Edition version of Lightfall. As shown off in pre-release trailers, lore books, and Lightfall marketing materials, Poukas will be much more prominent throughout this campaign.

Still, there remains limited information about them. We've explored the lore books and trailers to discover all there is to know about these new mysterious mechanical creatures that could be seen floating around Neomuna on February 28.

What is a Pouka?

[caption id="attachment_366126" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

The Pouka is a small airborne mechanical creature that slightly resembles a fish or butterfly, and the one we're familiar with spends its time accompanying Elisabeth Bray, also known as the Exo Stranger. Looking at the lore for the pre-order bonus weapon Quicksilver Storm reveals that it is a juvenile Pouka, and this could hint towards the Pouka being a native species to Neptune or Neomuna specifically. The Exo Stranger discovers the Pouka on an abandoned space station in orbit toward Pluto.

In the Season of Arrivals in mid-2020, Eris Morn spotted a Pouka hanging around her camp and mistook it for a Ghost. The Drifter is known to lack trust in the Pouka, as he and Eris discovered it at the Beyond camp on Europa, alone. Until now, no further information had been available about the Pouka, but in the lore book Bitter from the Lightfall collector's edition, there lies some interesting information.

Pre-order bonuses

[caption id="attachment_366127" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The Quicksilver Storm auto rifle and the Speed Metal ghost shell are exclusive pre-order items for Lightfall and hold some important information about the Pouka. In these lore entries, the Exo Stranger is exploring the outer reaches of the solar system and discovers the abandoned space station near Pluto. When she enters, she discovers modern equipment and a giant human handprint which we assume belonged to a Cloudstrider, the native race of Neomuna.

She then discovers a ghost named Tokki who was on the space station looking to resurrect their own Guardian. Tokki shows the Exo Stranger several things including some advanced technology and "nanomachines" that she has crafted into her own ghost shell, before introducing her to the Pouka. The Exo Stranger is very intrigued by the nanomachines as she's never seen anything like it, but cannot get them to function until the Pouka registers her in the machine's systems.

Quicksilver Storm

[caption id="attachment_363043" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

In the Quicksilver Storm in-game lore, the Exo Stranger says, "Someone out there has a weapon I've never seen before, don't understand, and don't know how to defend against. The closest thing we've seen to this is SIVA, and these bugs are so far beyond that." The Pouka then registers Elsie Bray — the Exo Stranger — as a new user, allowing her to investigate the discovered weapon further. She pulls the trigger, which causes the Pouka to emit a distress call. Since Elsie found the giant handprint, we can also assume this advanced technology is linked to the Cloudstriders, too.

Collector's Edition

[caption id="attachment_363044" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

In the Collector's Edition lore, this story continues. Elsie takes Tokki and the Pouka with her after leaving the station but Tokki departs later to continue searching for their Guardian. Elsie is then alone with the Pouka and after some time she learns that she can use it to begin to relive old memories. In the lore book Bitter, Elsie relives memories that are indicated with an emotion such as satisfaction. Elsie becomes fond of the Pouka after this point, referring to it as a "field therapist" and her "pet". The Exo Stranger has lived through many time loops, so she finds the Pouka invaluable as it helps her to relive past memories and sort through them.

Rediscovering Stasis

[caption id="attachment_268422" align="alignnone" width="640"] Destiny 2 Stasis[/caption]

This is also how the Exo Stranger rediscovers Stasis. Elsie vaguely remembers using Stasis in previous time loops but cannot remember how she began to wield it. By using the Pouka to look through her past memories she discovers that previously, someone else always learned Stasis before her but was corrupted by it. This time, she vows to be the first and visits the Pyramid ship on Europa. In the lore book Bitter, the pyramid seems to be aware of Elsie's time loops and that she is "too early" this time. This could mean that the saga's scariest protagonist, The Witness, is aware of Elsie's time loops too.

As Elsie attempts to claim Stasis from the pyramid it manifests a Nightmare of Ana, her sister, to torment her. Continuing in the Bitter lore book it reads, "The Europan Pyramid pressed shapes into her heart the same way Pouka could, but the molds it cast were deeper and more urgent." After tormenting her, Elsie manages to break the Nightmare's bond. "The Pyramid's gift for constructing this revenant was a grand imitation of Pouka's gift," the book reads.

This implies that the Pouka is so powerful at uncovering memories that the Pyramid doesn't phase the Exo Stranger, even when imitating her sister. Bungie has a theme that Darkness is about memory and remembering and the Light is about forgetting, meaning that the Pouka is more closely aligned with the Darkness. The Pouka guided Elsie through the Pyramid ship by avoiding the "pools of Darkness" as well as helping her to uncover her memories on how to discover and wield Stasis.

Subclasses

https://youtu.be/fTPJy0m9n6A?t=2

Since Stasis and Strand are both Darkness subclasses, it remains to be seen whether the Pouka will become important in learning how to discover and wield Strand. Strand is about "consciousness" and requires Strand to access the weave, something which connects all living beings. On the topic of Darkness, the lore reveals that Elsie realizes that Stasis is harnessed through her desire to control and debates how Darkness would respond if it could be wielded with other emotions. "What other abilities - what shapes and tools - could be forged by deference? Or compassion?" she ponders.

If Stasis is linked to controlling, then what is Strand linked to? In a trailer shown at The Game Awards 2022, Osiris mentions that rather than using strength he has learned to use power through loss. "Through loss, we can overcome the impossible," he says. You can see that timestamped above. Is the Pouka about to help us uncover the Strand subclass through its powers?

Only time will tell, as Lightfall releases on February 28 for PC, Xbox and PlayStation.

The post Who or What is ‘Pouka’ in Destiny 2: Lightfall lore? appeared first on Destructoid.

That's it, Guardians...

The servers are officially down in the lead-up to the release of Destiny 2: Lightfall on February 28. Bungie has had some surprises up its sleeves though, as it released a very heavy blog post detailing all of the changes being made to the game during the server downtime, which lasts for 24 hours.

Amongst all of the details, one controversial nerf has been spotted by fans. One of the most popular Titan Exotics in Destiny 2, Heart of Inmost Light, has had a huge change which severely diminishes its effectiveness. In the patch notes, Bungie detailed the changes being made to Heart of Inmost Light. Prior to the servers being taken down, the Exotic chest plate was giving a 150% class regeneration buff in PvE activities and 38% in PvP. After the changes, this drops to 25% across both PvE and PvP activities. As well as this huge drop, the duration of its Empowered buff will decrease from ten seconds to just five.

Bungie, why?!

[caption id="attachment_361917" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Bungie always has its reasons for adjusting equipment and weapons in Destiny 2 and it seems this alteration to Heart of Inmost Light is no different. "This change is intended to decrease how easy it is to get and maintain a 2x empowerment bonus in PvE, as well as reduce the total amount of bonus ability energy provided," Bungie said. "The goal is for Heart of Inmost Light to remain strong in ability-focused builds while giving room for other Exotics to shine as well."

The Exotic chest piece became popular for the Titan class in Destiny 2, as it regenerated ability energy faster than many other Exotics. This led to ability-focused builds that could create "loops" of using abilities almost endlessly, with those abilities also outputting higher damage numbers. This doesn't seem to have changed in the massive overhaul being done with the introduction of Lightfall.

Perhaps the most valuable thing about Heart of Inmost Light, though, was the fact it could be used with any subclass build. Without its effectiveness, there's a chance Titans will look to Hallowfire Heart for Solar builds, or another neutral Exotic such as Mask of the Quiet One.

All is not lost though, as there are plentiful reworks, system overhauls, new mechanics, and an entirely new subclass in the form of Strand for Guardians to get their hands dirty with when Lightfall becomes available on February 28.

The post Heart of Inmost Light nerfed last second ahead of Destiny 2: Lightfall release appeared first on Destructoid.

Our end begins

Destiny 2: Lightfall is set for release on Tuesday, February 28, and players can expect a brand-new campaign mission, quality of life improvements, and the brand-new darkness subclass, Strand. Bungie usually brings plenty of content with its annual expansions and Lightfall is set to be no different.

The team has already detailed its long-term plans for the game as well as the new subclass, Strand, and its abilities and new in-game vocabulary to be aware of. We've seen an emotional season finale during which Rasputin learned how to trust humanity again, and in doing so sacrificed himself to save the world from the clutches of Beyond Light's main protagonist, Eramis. As guardians globally are now in their final hours of frantically preparing for Lightfall, when can you expect to be able to jump in and land your fireteam on the newly discovered city of Neomuna?

Planned server downtime

[caption id="attachment_361838" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

To allow for as seamless a process as possible, Bungie has announced that it will be taking the Destiny 2 servers offline for a full 24 hours. During this period, preloading Lightfall will become available. Luckily, Bungie has also detailed the install sizes needed for each platform. Starting at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT on February 27, the Destiny 2 servers will be taken offline, with players being removed from activities 15 minutes prior to this. Players have until this time to wrap up any Season of the Seraph objectives as well as earn the seals for any of the seasons since the launch of The Witch Queen a year ago. This includes Season of the Risen, Season of the Haunted, Season of the Plunder, and Season of the Seraph. After this time, all of this content will be removed from the game.

Lightfall install size

[caption id="attachment_361844" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Bungie has warned that the install size for Lightfall will be quite hefty, but following the initial load, the game will take up less space and see improved loading times. Most notably, Bungie has warned that anyone playing the PlayStation 4 version will need additional space to install the game, around 80GB, but that the old files will be removed after the installation is complete. PC users on both Steam and Epic Games Store will need at least 223GB of free space in order to preload Lightfall. There's a helpful article on Bungie's website that details this in full.

PlayStation 5

• Install size: 102.6GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 102.6GB

Xbox Series X|S

• Install size: 108.59GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 108.59GB

PlayStation 4

• Install size: 88.21GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 184.64GB

Xbox One

• Install size: 89.21GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 89.21GB

Steam

• Install size: 102.50GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 233.2GB

Epic Games Store

• Install size: 101.51GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 223.3GB

Microsoft Store

• Install size: 102.13GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 223.3GB

Players should note that the install size may vary dependent on the languages installed, and the install size shown is the maximum that may be needed.

So when can we play?!

[caption id="attachment_363154" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2: Lightfall servers will go live on Tuesday, February 28 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT. All players are required to download and apply the latest updates available for Destiny on their platform whether they have purchased Lightfall or not.

The post Destiny 2: Lightfall preload information: install size and server downtime appeared first on Destructoid.

Eyes up, crewmate

The official Among Us Twitter page has shared a cryptic teaser about an upcoming collaboration, and eagle-eyed fans of a particular space shooter have gathered that it could be referring to Bungie's Destiny 2.

A message reading, "HMMM found an incoming message about some Impostors that might be hiding among a certain fireteam very soon..." was posted to the game's Twitter account on February 21, but had no further information included. Various silhouettes were also featured in an image that accompanied the tweet and the phrase "Eyes up, crewmate." Destiny 2's Commander Zavala has the catchphrase, "Eyes up, Guardian," which fans have taken to mean the teaser definitely refers to Destiny. Add to that the original tweet's choice of "fireteam" language, which is the term used to describe player groups of up to six in Destiny 2, and it's almost certain that fans will see an announcement of a collaboration between the two space-themed games very soon.

https://twitter.com/AmongUsGame/status/1628092269269065731?s=20

Bungie is set to release the Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2 on February 28, and there's speculation that this new Among Us collaboration could coincide with that launch date, although this is unconfirmed at the time of writing.

That's ... only slightly sus

[caption id="attachment_363154" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

A collaboration with Destiny 2 certainly wouldn't be the first time Among Us has received crossover content. It's previously been paired with the likes of Fall Guys and Fortnite where players could select special Crewmate skins and cosmetics in-game. It's therefore not entirely untoward to expect that players could soon be customizing their Crewmates with reimagined Destiny 2 armor. As developer Innersloth has revealed that it plans on releasing new maps in 2023, alongside the recently released Hide and Seek mode, it could also delve further into the crossover and bring some of Destiny 2's Crucible maps to Among Us.

Among Us is available now for mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Destiny 2 is available now for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Related: All Destiny 2 DLCs and expansions on Dot Esports

The post Among Us teases Destiny 2 collaboration appeared first on Destructoid.

The beginning of the end

With Destiny 2: Lightfall releasing on February 28, the game is at its most exciting point yet. Lightfall is the franchise's penultimate expansion in the Light and Dark saga, meaning this story arc will soon be coming to an end, but there are plenty of loose threads to tie up before then.

On February 16, Bungie shared a 16-minute video documentary that gave fans of the series a deeper look at Lightfall and what comes next. There was plenty of information to sink our teeth into, and we'll dissect the Lightfall ViDoc and bring you all you need to know about its contents.

https://youtu.be/mIlCRqj0ZsM

Osiris, the strand weaver

[caption id="attachment_364137" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

The beginning of the ViDoc shows the Traveler, which had an important cut-scene featured in the second week of February 2023, surrounded by The Witness' pyramids as well as Osiris wielding Strand fibers. Strand, as we now know, is the new subclass coming to Destiny 2 with the launch of Lightfall. Osiris himself no longer has the Light, the power which keeps Guardians alive, so it's interesting to note here that he is the one wielding Strand and teaching Guardians about it. It is described as something that everyone has within them and is not related to the Light, which is important for the narrative ahead.

Our end begins

[caption id="attachment_364138" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

The Witness' ship is shown in the ViDoc and we're informed that they will finally materialize physically to face off against the Traveler. This will be the first time players have seen the physical manifestation of The Witness in the game, and when it's followed by the quote, "Big shit is going down," we can't help but feel that's somewhat of an understatement. Involved in that "big shit" will be Crow, Amanda, Petra, and Devrim Kay. This is the first time in a while these characters have been heavily involved in an expansion's storyline, but it remains to be seen in which context.

New weapons incoming

[caption id="attachment_364139" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Several new weapons were shown off in the trailer, somewhat indirectly. In various cutscenes and stills new weapons and armor could be seen. Firstly, an Exotic stasis bow called Verglas Curve that looks to freeze enemies at rapid speed, should make an interesting addition to most builds. We were also shown a short clip featuring a purple sword which we now know is the season's ritual weapon. This is the weapon Guardians can earn by taking part in ritual activities such as Crucible, Gambit, and Vanguard Ops.

In a loading in screen, there is some Lightfall-themed armor with plentiful bullets and a red and green aesthetic. The Titan's helmet seems new and could be an Exotic we haven't seen yet. The Quicksilver Storm from the pre-order bonuses is shown off, as well as a Strand tracking pistol that Bungie has previously revealed.

Guardian ranks and loadouts

[caption id="attachment_364140" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Guardian ranks have been announced by Bungie already, but a new screen shows how this system will look when logging in after Lightfall releases. There are 11 ranks to achieve, and each rank has individual sections of suggestions for ways in which players can achieve the next rank. This is not locked to specific content, and Bungie stipulates that these are only suggestions and not requirements.

The new loadout screens show all equipped mods and all armor pieces on one screen as well as some new weapon perks and armor mods. The seasonal sword is Solar energy and can roll with Incandescent, meaning that it can spread scorch stacks to enemies resulting in igniting them and causing huge damage. The seasonal grenade launcher has the ability to roll with the Volt Shot perk. If Guardians gain the ability to use blinding grenades and volt shot it could quickly enter the new meta, especially in PvP. Circular Logic, another seasonal weapon, is shown to roll with the Hatchling perk which we can assume is related to the new Strand subclass and the threadlings connected to it.

In terms of armor mods, one new addition is the Font of Vigor arms mod which causes players to gain a temporary armor charge when collecting an orb of power. Armor Charge is shown to give a bonus to the strength statistic, and decays over time. Melee Kickstart now also gains a temporary Armor Charge. Font of Agility gains one temporary Armor Charge as well as a bonus to the mobility statistic. Void Weapon Surge causes one temporary Armor Charge as well as bonus damage to Void weapons.

Aside from these finer details, the remainder of the ViDoc focused on showing more of Neomuna as a city and detailing some patrol zones, as well as shedding a little light on some multi-guardian activities that will be coming to Destiny 2 when Lightfall releases on February 28.

The post Everything revealed in the Destiny 2: Lightfall ViDoc appeared first on Destructoid.

What does it mean?!

On February 12, 2023, Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn posted a cryptic tweet featuring nothing but a plain wall with a sticky note attached to it. Seemingly uneventful, right? Well, not exactly. That sticky note promised a "State of the Game" post on Bungie's website for the following day consisting of no less than 5,300 words, covering Destiny 2 Lightfall and the year ahead.

For those new to these articles, every now and then the Destiny developer team will share a blog on the state of the game, the future as they see it, and changes coming to future expansions. Generally speaking, these blog posts come about once every year or two, have plenty of detail, the contents are rarely if ever leaked, and it usually spells exciting new directions for the game.

Expand players' imaginations

[caption id="attachment_361838" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

As the article dropped, Blackburn began by noting that each major update for Destiny 2 is released with the team's hopes to "get the gears" turning inside players' heads. This has become more prevalent with Season of the Seraph as the clues and hints around the universe foretell a story that is yet to be concluded. Some players have intricate and exciting theories, whilst others choose to take things as they see them, but Blackburn acknowledges that "this wasn't true for all of our releases last year" and recognizes that "it's going to take changes across multiple releases" to reach the final goal.

Blackburn revealed that season 20, which launches at the same time as Lightfall, will be called Season of Defiance. Umbral engrams and energies will be removed from the game, so when it comes to seasonal focusing Guardians will only need Glimmer and a seasonal engram. These engrams will also be stored and tracked with seasonal vendors.

Destiny 2 will no longer require players to hold stacks of the seasonal currency to open the bonus chest at the end of seasonal activities. Instead, the game will drop keys throughout the universe which allows for better rewards from seasonal activity chests. Blackburn also mentions that this will change the way players think of these additional chests. "Unlike today's seasonal currencies, keys won't drop every time you complete an activity," he said.

As well as this, seasonal vendor upgrades will be fewer but more meaningful.

For future reference

[caption id="attachment_363152" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

For the first time in a long while, Blackburn revealed the name of a future season early in the form of season 21, Season of the Deep. Following player feedback, Season of the Deep will not feature vendor upgrades at all, nor will the following season. "This doesn't mean players will never see a vendor upgrade system again," says Blackburn, but rather that more varied and experimental gameplay is on its way.

In Season of the Deep and season 22, there will be "more fresh" activity experiences, similar to when the Shattered Realm was first introduced in Season of the Lost, or the debut of the Battlegrounds in Season of the Chosen.

More changes to weapon crafting

[caption id="attachment_363151" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Blackburn also noted that the way to craft desired weapons can be "too random" but that the ability to craft the exact weapon with the exact perks Guardians desire can take away the excitement of having a weapon drop with an excellent roll. For this reason, fewer total weapons will be craftable, and more long-term weapons will get added value from random perk rolls. In order to facilitate this change, starting from Lightfall non-crafted weapons will have the ability to be enhanced. This allows the dropped weapon to level up, use mementos and gain access to enhanced perks and intrinsic properties.

Enhancing will allow Guardians to take a random rolled weapon and enhance its existing roll "to match the full power of a crafted weapon." This will initially launch with Lightfall raid Adept weapons at the beginning of Season of the Deep. This will be expanded over the longer term to become available for "most" non-crafted weapon drops.

For crafted weapons, Guardians will now no longer see Deepsight on a weapon unless it is something to make pattern progress on. This adds value to red-bordered weapons. Beginning from Season of the Deep, craftable weapons will be able to have Deepsight activated if Guardians do not yet hold the pattern.

Bring challenge back to Destiny

[caption id="attachment_363153" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Bungie has already acknowledged that most base content at a lower level doesn't bring any challenge to the game at all. In response to that, the team recently issued an ability tuning preview, which detailed adjustments to Guardian abilities coming to the game. Blackburn also notes that some enemy combatants "just aren't hitting as hard" as the team intends, so the cost of resilience mods will be increased from 1 to 2 for minor mods and 3 to 4 for major mods, as well as the amount of damage resistance granted by resilience being adjusted.

Bungie is issuing a balancing patch to gear-driven buffs as the introduction of build crafting updates and loadouts makes great builds more accessible to more players. Blackburn mentioned that the level of difficulty in the Season of the Seraph seasonal Battlegrounds was appropriate for Guardians' ability as well as the team's vision of the game. Due to this, Season of Defiance will be around the same difficulty level as well as the Vanguard Ops playlist activities. Alongside this, patrolling Neomuna will present a similar difficulty level.

Enriched content

The Crucible is a place Guardians may fear to venture into, but it's a very replayable element of Destiny 2 and provides constant and changing challenges. Recently, new modes were added to the PvP part of Bungie's game, and in Season of Defiance Blackburn reveals that the Countdown mode will be returning alongside a respawn version called Countdown Rush. Players must detonate two bombs on the map before the round ends.

Checkmate Control is coming to PvP which sees weapon damage, ability uptime, and ammo adjusted to reward players who are skillful and smart. A new map will be coming to Crucible in Season of the Deep called Meltdown, as well as a new Vex Network map in season 22. The Citadel will return to the Crucible in the last season before The Final Shape.

Blackburn also revealed that the team is looking at the reward and matchmaking systems for Trials of Osiris and will be pushing more updates on that throughout 2023, as well as making it more clear for Guardians why they won or lost rank points in Competitive and making it easier for players to climb to their best-matched Crucible rank.

PvE is good for me

[caption id="attachment_363156" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Starting in Season 22, Destiny 2 will add an exotic mission rotator to the game. This will feature past exotic missions such as Presage, Vox Obscura, and Operation: Seraph's Shield on a rotation basis. The team also hopes to use this same framework to add other classic missions to the game. Could this see the return of previously vaulted expansion content?

Inside the strikes playlist, Lake of Shadows and Arms Dealer will have objectives and encounters "reimagined and upgraded" to make them more relevant and match the difficulty levels of newer strikes. Battlegrounds from Season 16 and Season 19 will be added to the playlist, with some being added as Nightfalls. The Mars Heist Battleground is the first to receive this treatment, being part of the Nightfall rotation in Season of Defiance. This means that four of the six Nightfalls available as Grandmasters will be first-timers.

Guardian seeks Guardian for fun and frolics

[caption id="attachment_363157" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Bungie wants to enrich the way in which Guardians interact with one another. For that reason, Commendations will be joining the game with the launch of Lightfall. The Commendations system enables players to thank others that they appreciated playing with. "Pacesetter" and "Saint's Favorite" are exclusive to Trials of Osiris whereas "Perceptive" and "Knowledgable" are earned in raids and dungeons.

Game-wide text channels will change from opt-in to opt-out meaning more players will naturally be put into text channels. Text chat is not becoming required, and opting out will be a quick and easy process.

Also joining the game is the Fireteam Finder which will launch alongside a brand-new dungeon in the final season of the year. Players will be able to queue for it from anywhere in the game, tag posts with keywords, automatic joining as well as approve and deny features for Fireteam leaders.

With such a hefty dose of additions to the game, there's plenty for players to explore and discuss. The next Destiny 2 expansion, Lightfall, goes live later this month on February 28.

The post Destiny 2: State of the Game – Lightfall & the year ahead appeared first on Destructoid.

Lightfall is just around the corner

Destiny 2: Lightfall is set to release on February 28, 2023, and Guardians globally are preparing their characters for the penultimate DLC in the Destiny Light and Dark saga from Bungie. There are multiple ways to do this, and over the years many have discovered the optimal way to ensure they head into Lightfall with the best jump-start possible.

[caption id="attachment_361842" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

With the new raid set to launch on March 10, the rapid power grind is vital to those who may be striving to beat the World's First race which rewards players with a belt engraved with their fireteam's name as well as the notoriety of being one of the fastest-thinking, strongest teams in the game. Others may want a slightly more leisurely ride heading through Bungie's new legendary version of the story campaign. With handy third-party tools such as Destiny Recipes on hand to track progress, players are finding the preparation period easier than ever.

Bounty hoarding

[caption id="attachment_361844" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

One of the most efficient ways to prepare for any new season is bounty hoarding, as cashing in all of the experience points from completing the bounties as soon as the expansion launches will see Guardians jump a few power levels early on. The difference now is that the seasonal artifact will function in a new way meaning that new abilities will be unlocked as seasonal perks.

For example, choosing to select an Unstoppable glaive perk will see all equipped glaive weapons also functioning as a means to stun Unstoppable champions, instead of requiring the insertion of a mod as before. This effect lasts for the entire season unless players choose to reset the artifact and choose different seasonal perks. To really maximize the potential from hoarding bounties, make sure to add an XP mod to the in-game Ghost. It's important not to hoard bounties from any seasonal vendors in the Helm. As they're disappearing at the end of the current season, so too will the bounties from player inventories.

Focus seasonal weapons

[caption id="attachment_361911" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

In the Helm, every vendor now allows one focused red-box weapon per day meaning that unlocking the patterns for weapons is now easier than ever. With all of these weapons leaving the loot pool at the end of the current season, anyone wanting to be able to craft these weapons should collect as many patterns as possible. There are many suggestions on weapons to get before Lightfall drops, but some include the wave-frame solar grenade launcher Explosive Personality, and the Season of the Haunted submachine gun, Calus Mini-Tool.

Vault spring cleaning

[caption id="attachment_361917" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

With a lot of brand-new loot and weapons about to be released into the Destiny universe, plenty of vault space is important. Bungie has announced that Deepsight weapon focusing is leaving in Lightfall as well as the materials, so any red-bordered weapons that haven't been used to get the materials to drop yet can either be dismantled if you have plenty of crafting materials, or used until the Deepsight progress reaches 100%.

Resource gathering

[caption id="attachment_360872" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Having a stockpile of resources is imperative for infusing and upgrading armor and weapons come the start of Lightfall, when powering up quickly is important. Glimmer, upgrade modules, enhancement cores and prisms, ascendant shards, and legendary shards are the most valuable resources to be collecting. Modules are used to infuse gear whilst enhancement cores, prisms, and ascendant shards are required to masterwork armor which may be beneficial after getting a high-stat new Exotic piece. If players find their inventory is full, things like enhancement prisms and ascendant shards can be stored in the Postmaster, but be careful to regularly clear this out too, or risk losing them completely.

Finish the season pass

[caption id="attachment_361847" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

It may go without saying, but the season pass will also be replaced with a new one at the start of Lightfall as season 20 begins. Getting the season pass to rank 100 will ensure that Guardians are getting the most for their money, and redeeming all possible rewards. Seasonal challenges are the quickest way to progress through the season pass, and completing all of them will reward a nice pile of bright dust for use in the Eververse store. If it happens that you simply forget to redeem all the rewards on the season pass, it is now possible to do this retrospectively on Bungie's website. Whilst it's not possible to level up past season passes, it is possible to claim lost rewards that were already unlocked.

With the launch of Lightfall on February 28, Guardians have also been contemplating the true powers of the new darkness subclass, Strand. There's plenty of new vocabulary, new enemy effects, abilities, and fragments to explore as well as new super abilities that seem to bring a whole new dimension to the world of Destiny.

The post How to prepare your Guardian for Destiny 2: Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.

Defining a strand game

Destiny 2 heads to Neptune with the Lightfall expansion later this month. Today, Bungie is going into a little more detail about the string-like new power Guardians will be using there, also known as Strand.

In a new trailer, Bungie spotlights the three new subclasses for Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks arriving as part of Destiny 2: Lightfall. The Strand powers each vocation in different ways, ranging from high mobility to summoning lots of little guys to wreak havoc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgv00uCRt60

The Bungie blog goes into more detail, highlighting each of these subclasses. There is some universal terminology, though, when it comes to weaving the Strand power. Creating an object using the Strand is weaving, and killing an enemy affected by Strand will unravel them, creating a Tangle. These Tangles can be blown up with a shot for area damage, or picked up and thrown by Guardians.

Additionally, there are a few debuffs to know: Suspend lifts enemies off the ground, Unravel will cause threads to rip out of a target and spread to others, and Sever rips enemies from the world, reducing their damage.

Rip, weave, tear

As for the classes, Warlocks get to pick up the Broodweaver profession, spawning explosive Threadling minions from the Strand. They'll run around and leap onto enemies, exploding to cause extra damage. Plus, Warlocks can chain together Arcane Needles, threading the projectile through foes.

Hunters can become Threadrunners, leaning into the mobility of the Strand. The Threaded Spike lets Hunters whip a rope dart around, empowering their melee energy. And Titans can lean into their inner warrior with the Berserker subclass. Leaning into "wild, untamed power," it's all about doing damage and severing enemies. Seems like a good specialization for those who love to get right in the middle of things.

All three Strand subclasses arrive as part of Destiny 2: Lightfall on February 28, 2023.

The post Latest Destiny 2: Lightfall trailer highlights its Strand subclasses appeared first on Destructoid.

Sharing the wealth

February is a packed month, and part of that is due to the Destiny 2: Lightfall expansion arriving in a few weeks. Before that happens Reddit user goboy3133 has done a public service of sorts: sharing the contents of the Lightfall Collector's Edition with the world.

Bungie is no stranger to esoteric puzzles and scavenger hunts, and we're getting another one in the Collector's Edition itself. Beyond story bits (including Vanguard Reports on various story facets dealing with Osiris, Calus, and Elsie, all of which are available to read in the above link), Bungie has also hidden redemption codes for Destiny 2 emblems in the Collector's Edition reports.

As usual the community answered the call, and uncovered all of them. If you want to grab the Destiny 2: Lightfall Collector's Edition for yourself and figure out the puzzles within: stop here!

All Destiny 2 Lightfall Collectors Edition emblem codes

Note that the first code can only be redeemed once (typically by the owner of the Lightfall Collector's Edition). The rest can be used openly, and goboy3133 has created instant-redemption Bungie.net links for them, which can be found below. I tried them out myself: they work! You just need to sign into Bungie.net with the platform of your choice, and you're good to go. If the links don't work for whatever reason, you can enter them manually here.

• LF CE Emblem 1: (Can only be redeemed once)
• LF CE Emblem 2: YAA-37T-FCN
• LF CE Emblem 3: 993-H3H-M6K
• LF CE Emblem 4: XVK-RLA-RAM
• LF CE Emblem 5: J6P-9YH-LLP

The post Destiny 2 player shares Lightfall Collectors Edition emblem codes with community appeared first on Destructoid.