Bungie’s recent Destiny 2 livestream contained a smorgasbord of hot, juicy info about the future of their live service baby. No longer held back by Activision’s influence, the now independent developer has a lot in store for Destiny 2 fans all the way into the next generation of consoles. According to game director Luke Smith, they don’t want to add another number to the box so Destiny 3 is off the table.
Here’s everything you need to know about what’s coming next for Destiny 2.
A New Expansion This Way Comes
The biggest news from Bungie’s livestream was the reveal of Destiny 2’s next expansion. It’s called Beyond Light and it will take Guardians to one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. It’s a cold, frozen celestial body with heaps of hidden mysteries to uncover and even more, rewards to gain. The most surprising announcement was that Beyond Light will introduce a brand new damage type for Destiny 2 Guardians to play around with. It’s called Stasis and will be a darkness-type element that will enable freeze and slow abilities among others. Hunters, Titans and Warlocks will all reportedly wield this new power differently.
Europa will also lay host to a number of new stories to unravel and activities to undertake. The main Big Bad is Eramis the Shipstealer who’s rebuilt the Fallen empire on the frozen moon. Expect to blow up a lot of Dreg heads during Beyond Light’s story missions. Beneath Europa’s frozen wastes lies Deep Stone Crypt which will be the new 6-person raid complete with brand new bosses and heaps of loot. Apparently the Exo stranger is making a return in Beyond Light’s story, too.
All of this when Beyond Light releases on September 22nd.
More Content has Arrived
As of June 9th, Destiny 2’s eleventh season has...arrived and bares quite a few gifts. Titled Season of Arrivals, Guardians will have their plates full with several new activities, including new live events, a new Strike and plenty of strange secrets to uncover. It all started off with the arrival of a pyramid ship on Io. Once you’re there, you can participate in an intense public event and reap some rewards. The all-new Prophecy strike is also open and waiting. It reportedly has something to do with the Nine, the enigmatic group Xur is affiliated with. Plenty of lore to possibly discover there. Engrams are also receiving an amazing new feature. Dubbed the Engram Focus System, what this will allow you to do is fine-tune the rewards you receive from your Umbral Engrams. These dark energy infused Engrams can be taken to the Drifter to be decoded. By using Twisted Energy and another device called the Prismatic Recaster, you can increase the research level of an Umbral Engram. This will eventually allow you to obtain a weapon or piece of armor with the stats that you want. Sounds convoluted but an interesting way to help Guardians min-max their gear.
Next-Gen Ready
Another piece of exciting news from the Destiny 2 livestream involved the game’s move to the next generation of consoles. Destiny 2 will be arriving on PS5 and Xbox Series X when they finally launch. If you’re a PS4 or Xbox One Guardian, you can get the game for PS5 and Series, respectively, for free. This will include all the content you’ve purchased including Beyond Light. On top of that, Bungie announced that there will be inter-generational cross-play. PlayStation 4 players can play with those on PlayStation 5, while Xbox One owners will be able to link up with Series X players. Bungie also left a note that true cross-platform play is in the works. This would mean that all Destiny 2 players can finally play with each other, which would likely be the greatest thing ever.
Destiny 2 has a lot of exciting stuff on the horizon. After a lukewarm reception at its launch, the most popular looter shooter has only gotten better and better in terms of content. With Bungie finally free to pursue its own destiny (no pun intended), we’re already getting a glimpse of what their true vision for the game is. If you’re a lapsed player, maybe you’ll want to dive back in.