Destiny 2 fashion aficionados, you have something to get pumped about before The Final Shape. That's because, arguably, the best weapon shader is returning to the game via the upcoming Riven's Wishes content. I'm talking about Twilight Keepsake, the matte black one. So, while you may have all the Starcats and every Wish-Keeper Catalyst, there's still something to look forward to during the next expansion's lengthy delay. It's especially true for anyone who missed out on Twilight Keepsake the first and only other time it was available in-game.

Twilight Keepsake is a shader that can only be applied to crafted weapons. Further, it is only usable after reforging or initially crafting a weapon of choice with a Lost Memento. The Lost Memento and, by proxy, Twilight Keepsake shader originally made their debut during 2023's Festival of the Lost, attainable only by participating in the festivities. The thing is, something else happened right around Halloween in 2023: the layoffs at Bungie. While nothing prevented players from playing Destiny 2, the recycled activities and disheartening news didn't exactly draw crowds.

Thankfully, Twilight Keepsake will transcend the link to that terrible event and become widely available to players starting January 30. Alongside that Tuesday reset, Riven's Wishes will arrive in-game. Riven's Wishes are weekly quests that players can nab from Mara Sov, paying out some solid rewards. According to Bungie, one of these weekly objectives might ask you to delve into Legendary Lost Sectors or complete Dungeon runs. That said, it seems like they will be focused and set in the Dreaming City. The best part is that players get to choose their rewards.

So what can you get for undertaking one of Riven's Wishes? Well, of course, Lost Mementos are on the table, or else, you know, I wouldn't be writing this article. Other than that, there are plenty of goodies up for grabs. There's the option for a red-bordered Raid weapon from Last Wish, a piece of Exotic armor from Lightfall, and even the other super-rare weapon shader from 2023: Rime Keepsake via Dawning Mementos. Oh, there's also the option for Ascendant Shards, Ascendant Alloys, and Exotic Ciphers, but I couldn't imagine wasting one of Riven's Wishes on those.

All in all, Bungie says that players will get six weeks of Riven's Wishes. However, it does note that they'll be available to complete "up through The Final Shape's release." So, there's no rush to finish the Wishes as soon as they're available. Players have time to tackle them before the next expansion releases in June. As for me, I'll be using all six of my Wishes on those sweet sweet Lost Mementos.

The post Destiny 2’s best shader is coming back in a limited capacity appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape simply whelmed players on the day of its showcasing, only to be followed by a bout of nasty layoffs and a release date pushback. Ahead of the DLC's postponed release, however, Bungie managed to eke out some victories, such as the Guardian re-customization feature.

Indeed, players will finally get the option to rebuild their Guardians in Destiny 2 sometime before the release of The Final Shape, and what's particularly impressive is that it won't cost a penny. Broadly infamous for its nickel-and-diming of players that's only gotten more aggressive over time, Destiny 2 isn't shy about monetizing a variety of things. Armor transmogrification, for example, comes with a built-in seasonal limit that can only be bypassed by paying, so the obvious expectation was that the ability to change your Guardian's looks would be a paid option, too.

Destiny 2 will soon give you the ability to modify your Guardian's appearance

Thankfully, the ability to change your Guardians' looks will be totally free and available whenever, as per Bungie's latest TWID blog post: "You will be able to modify the appearance of your Guardians anytime, without cost or limit to the number of changes," says the announcement. Do note, however, that you will not be able to switch your Guardian's origin. If you've got an Awoken Guardian, you won't be able to turn them into an Exo, for example.

It's currently unclear when, exactly, this option might be dropping into Destiny 2, but the blog does clarify that it should be coming before The Final Shape's release window. The Final Shape is due to launch on June 4, which gives us a very rough estimate of when the re-customization options might be coming. Bungie did reveal, however, that an update in March would reset your Synthweave bounty cap, allowing you to earn more of the items needed to unlock armor transmog currency. It is possible that both of these features might come out at the same time, though it's still a tad early to tell.

With the widely acclaimed Fireteam Finder and the ability to re-customize a Guardian in tow, Destiny 2 may well end up in a solid spot before The Final Shape comes out. Everything that Bungie does before that is merely triage, however, and the DLC's quality is what will set the stage for Destiny 2 in the future. Only time will tell how that might pan out.

The post Destiny 2 will finally let you re-customize your Guardian appeared first on Destructoid.

Riding the wave from highs to lows, it's all too easy to forget that Destiny 2's live-service model is still trucking on regardless of any other happenstance. For example, consider this year's Festival of the Lost, which once again allows players to vote on their favorite armor ahead of time.

Last year's Festival of the Lost featured some interesting novelties and one of the most coveted Mementos in the game, and while these features are currently expected to return this year, the spooky bug-themed armor voting will not. Instead, this year's vote is down to two different types of wizards, with each of the game's Classes getting their own spellcaster armor to splurge on.

The Destiny 2 FOTL 2024 armor vote is now up

As per Bungie's latest TWID blog post, players can now officially begin casting their votes as to whether they'd like to get the "good" or "bad" wizard armor as part of 2024's FOTL. As usual, only one of these armor sets will end up being implemented, making this vote a relatively important decision for the community. Anybody that's interested in chipping in their own two cents on the matter can do so via Bungie's SurveyMonkey poll. You may also get an email from Bungie inviting you to cast your vote.

One thing worth highlighting here, however, is that the armor sets might not get implemented exactly as-is in the end. "Remember that these are draft concepts," says the TWID. "While we don't intend to change the designs substantially, we always reserve the right to do so. Our art team is composed of masters of their craft, so if they come up with a way to make them even cooler, we want to leave them the space to do what they do best."

Destiny 2's good wizard armor

The good wizard armor sets feature ornate tidbits and a blue-and-gold color combo by default, with plenty of doodads hanging about to really underline the armor sets' theme. With scarves, fine cloth, and softly glowing tidbits thrown in for good measure, these sets have a good vibe about them for sure.

Destiny 2's evil wizard armor

On the flip side, the evil wizard armor features heaps of pointy bits and an edgier aesthetic overall, with brown leather and greyscale metal bits bringing the designs together. Of course, players will be able to slap custom Shaders onto their armor however they see fit, so there's plenty of flexibility to be found here.

Of course, this does mean that the infamous Hunter Godzilla armor from a few years' back is not getting implemented at all. It's a shame, to be sure, but both of the presented themed sets are fairly snazzy in their own right, so it's a bittersweet situation for Destiny fashion fans, for sure.

The post Vote for your favorite Destiny 2 Wizard armor for Festival of the Lost appeared first on Destructoid.

It feels like Destiny 2 and Bungie are going through a never-ending torrent of struggles as of late, ranging in severity from downright catastrophic to mildly annoying. Somewhere closer to the annoying side of the scales falls the recent Checkmate PvP mode issues, which Bungie is now trying to alleviate.

Notably, Bungie admitted in mid-December its relatively newfangled Checkmate multiplayer mode didn't quite pan out. The community was so unhappy with it, in fact, that Bungie updated PvP to allow players to choose between Checkmate and the regular Control modes, which was a reasonably timely bandaid in its own right. Now, however, a new series of changes is coming to Checkmate, which may well be what the mode needed in the first place.

How Destiny 2's Checkmate PvP is changing

As per Bungie's latest Reddit post, players can expect a fairly hefty array of changes coming to Destiny 2's Checkmate PvP mode as early as today, January 9. The weekly reset brings with it a slew of potentially crucial improvements, such as:

• An adjustment of primary weapon time-to-kill, with the goal to bring all weapon classes up-to-par with the hand cannons
• Clash and Control Checkmate now starts players off with two kills' worth of special ammunition (e.g. 2 shotgun cartridges)
• Increased special ammo credit for assists and deaths, leading to more frequent ammo drops
• Reduced special ammo drops (to balance out the change outlined in the prior entry)
• Ability cooldown penalties reduced from 30% to 15%
• Increased melee damage (leading to two hits being enough to take a Guardian down)

Players can expect a more detailed summary of what's changing with the specific weapon archetypes as part of the January 9 patch notes. As it is, the changes do sound good on paper, but Destiny 2's meta is a fickle and finicky thing, so there's no telling how it'll all pan out until players get to spend some time in the new gameplay sandbox.

The post Bungie outlines a new set of Checkmate PvP changes for Destiny 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 and developer Bungie don't have the best reputation with the MMO's community right now, and that sentiment continues to pop up even in smaller ways. That rings true for this year's Dawning event, too, as it seems Destiny's snowball feature remains broken.

More specifically, special throwable snowballs are a unique feature of Destiny 2's seasonal Dawning celebrations. Only appearing for a limited time, snowballs have an entire series of upgrades dedicated to them as part of the Dawning progression system, as they allow players to take down enemies and apply crowd control via Stasis effects. Further, snowballs also spice up the regular gameplay loop, as they appear in Patrol Zones and playlist activities while the Dawning is active.

It should come as no surprise, then, that players are not happy with the fact that all five of the pertinent Dawning snowball upgrades have been broken from the very start of the event until its finale.

Fixing Destiny 2's weirdly broken Dawning snowballs

Destiny 2 players reported that the game's Dawning snowball upgrades were practically ineffective at the start of this year's holiday event. The obvious expectation was, naturally, that Bungie would get around to sorting this issue out before the event wrapped up, but that ship has now officially sailed. Indeed, with 2023's Dawning now having come and gone, we can say that an entire third of Destiny 2's unique event upgrades did not function for its entire duration.

Of course, there was still merit in completing the Dawning upgrades and all of the event's attached quest lines, as players could score a bunch of themed cosmetics and assorted loot drops. Still, it's not surprising to see that many are unhappy with how Bungie's handled the issue.

In and of itself, this wouldn't be a huge problem, necessarily, if Bungie wasn't already going through a hard time with Destiny 2 in a broader sense. Following a series of layoffs and a pushback of the company's flagship DLC, as well as a general loss of trust in Bungie, the game, the creatives supporting it, and the community are in an ugly spot.

The post Destiny 2’s Dawning snowballs did not get fixed, after all appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been a very tumultuous time for Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2. Layoffs and reports have complicated the game's future. A potential balm? The Fireteam Finder, from the looks of it.

I'm being slightly cheeky here, of course, but the simple fact remains that Bungie has burned through surprisingly massive amounts of community goodwill ever since Destiny 2: Lightfall came out. After moving from one precarious situation into another, it was a bit of a surprise to see the studio embrace certain features and changes that, realistically, should've been in Destiny 2 from the get-go.

What makes Destiny 2's Fireteam Finder such a big deal?

Right off the bat, Bungie is clearly onto something with the Fireteam Finder. Though it is currently in its beta form with the full release slated for January 2024, the feature already enjoys widespread acclaim from the community.

To be perfectly honest, Bungie could've easily phoned things in for the Fireteam Finder, same as it did with the now-forgotten Guided Games feature from years back. The feature's failure would've hardly even registered compared to the problems Bungie has been going through as of late. The fact that people are as thrilled with a mere beta as they are implies that the expectations were, indeed, low.

It's great news, then, that Destiny 2's Fireteam Finder is just about everything a solo player needs to compete in endgame-tier activities. Whether it's Raids, Dungeons, or something as innocuous as a simple Vanguard Playlist romp, the Fireteam Finder allows players of all makes and experience levels to meet up and enjoy the game.

Up until now, all of Destiny 2's LFG (i.e. looking-for-games) systems have been out-of-game ordeals. Players had to use official or third-party apps, forums, and Discord servers to find other players for their fireteams, and for a game that underlines its social features to such a degree as Destiny, this was a truly befuddling choice on Bungie's end.

How Destiny 2's community ties the whole thing together

The Fireteam Finder is feature-rich and comprehensive already, allowing players to fine-tune their requests and playing group preferences however they want. All this would've been for naught if people weren't eager to participate, however.

While it's certainly worth remembering that the DestinyTheGame subreddit is just a tiny sliver of the broader Destiny 2 community, people have been reiterating their positive experiences in a recent thread, and they paint a very favorable situation for the Fireteam Finder.

"Ingame Fireteam Finder is a huge development," said poepkat, adding that they are "very happy with it." Destiny player DeepImpacted had similar things to say, explaining how they're "so glad [the Fireteam Finder] is in the game now."

Amid a sea of positive feedback, it was Inclemens' comment that piqued our interest in particular, though: "[The Fireteam Finder] is an amazing too. I just don't understand why we are only getting it now at the end of the game's life." People are, clearly, enjoying the Fireteam Finder for what it is, and it is an objectively valuable addition to Destiny 2. Moreover, it will get even better as the beta comes to a wrap early next year, but an in-game LFG system alone won't carry the game forward.

Destiny 2's hazy path forward

It is, perhaps, interesting that the successful beta release of the Fireteam Finder isn't the only recent example of Bungie successfully handling the community expectations. The second major highlight comes from the recent Vault accessibility bug, for one. After players discovered that they could access their Vaults even after loading into combat activities and Patrol zones, Bungie recognized the need for this feature and promised to reimplement it with official support further down the line.

It is through these relatively small-scale, player-focused grassroots implementations that Bungie has an opportunity to win back large portions of its player base ahead of The Final Shape. This is one of those better-late-than-never situations, and Destiny 2 is certainly a better game for the Fireteam Finder's existence.

The post Destiny 2’s Fireteam Finder is great, actually appeared first on Destructoid.

As Destiny 2's Season of the Wish rages on, it's becoming increasingly more curious how agreeable Bungie is with its community following its recent troubles. The latest example of this being the case is the new Crucible PvP update, providing an alternative to the widely disliked Checkmate Control mode.

Following the introduction of an in-game LFG system and the adoption of a beloved bug-turned-quality-of-life improvement, Bungie is now making it clear that it's heard the PvP fans' critique of Checkmate Control. To that end, Destiny 2 update 7.3.0.3, which is coming out later today, on December 12, will allow players to choose between Checkmate Control and Control proper, depending on how they feel about the mode.

Destiny 2 replaces Checkmate Control with Control in PvP

Even though Checkmate Control was one of the more interesting PvP changes jotted for release alongside the Lightfall DLC, the community did not take a liking to it all that much. "Based on player feedback," says Bungie's official post on Reddit, "we are enabling Control as a selectable activity while Checkmate Control is active."

What this means is that, following the release of update 7.3.0.3, players will have access to a special PvP sub-menu where they'll get to choose between Control and Checkmate Control modes, each featuring their own matchmaking and queue functionalities. However, Bungie isn't giving up on the newer mode in lieu of the old classic: "Checkmate Control will remain at the forefront as the primary 6v6 Unranked activity while we continue to gather data and feedback on this modifier," says the announcement. "In the meantime, we want to allow players to opt out of this experience as desired."

Those who found themselves struggling with Checkmate Control's worse ability uptime and more powerful weaponry will now have an alternative. The obvious downside, of course, is that the PvP playerbase may now split between those who enjoy Checkmate Control, and those who do not.

Regardless, Bungie's willingness to compromise in Season 23 is a welcome change of pace and shows that the studio is trying to do all it can to win back its audiences, now that Destiny 2: The Final Shape has been pushed back.

The post Destiny 2 enables classic PvP mode after new experiment flunks appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Season 23 started strong, featuring the new Warlord's Ruin Dungeon and activities like The Coil. But beneath the surface, it's possible Bungie and Destiny have received a blow that's impossible to recover from.

A new report from IGN's Rebekah Valentine alleges that the situation only worsens for the remaining employees at Bungie. Morale and company culture seem like they're taking a backseat, in order to avoid something as drastic as a complete Sony takeover.

Following Bungie's layoffs at the end of October, reports surfaced that the studio was drastically missing revenue targets. A Bloomberg report claimed the company would delay Destiny 2's The Final Shape expansion in addition to the upcoming new title Marathon.

Bungie would confirm these delays shortly before Destiny 2 introduced the Season of the Wish. Now, IGN reports that employee morale is at an all-time low and that there's a chance Sony could put a firmer hand on Bungie's affairs.

IGN reports that since Bungie became a Sony subsidiary, it has operated with a split board of directors. While Bungie management makes up half of the board, there's an indication that things can change. IGN's sources allege leadership has stated that Sony can eliminate the existing board and seize control if Bungie underperforms. And with that knowledge in mind, this financial fear likely led to Bungie's layoffs.

In addition to trimming staff, IGN reports that Bungie has implemented other strategies to save money. Hiring, holiday bonuses, competitive industry compensation adjustments, and donation matching reportedly all took a hit, just to name a few. Obviously, this has done little to improve the morale of the remaining employees after the layoffs. Many tell IGN they are understandably bitter after seeing their friends and coworkers coldly let go, and this just compounds frustrations.

While Bungie hopes to rebound from its financial losses, employees' enthusiasm has essentially disappeared. IGN's sources note that the in-studio atmosphere has been "soul-crushing." A lot is riding on The Final Shape, and the team knows it, as one source tells IGN that they know the expansion needs to do well, or else they feel they're "definitely looking at more layoffs."

Another fear rising among studio staff is Bungie's increasing reliance on outsourcing. IGN's sources allege an uptick in conversations about outsourcing since just around the time of the layoffs. Though it's standard enough throughout the game industry, Bungie has employed a sizable internal team for years. Now, employees have to worry about whether their job security is a worthwhile investment for Bungie. "Folks still there are very much feeling' us vs them' between leadership and workers," an IGN source noted. "That trust has been eroded."

The post Bungie employees describe ‘soul-crushing’ atmosphere after layoffs in new report appeared first on Destructoid.

As many Destiny 2 players are sure to be aware, Bungie used the release of Season 23 to push out a hugely important quality-of-life improvement, allowing Guardians to access their Vaults from the Orbit. This, however, was bugged, with the feature being available even after loading into an activity.

Naturally, Bungie's original intention was to fix the bug and contain Vault access as it was originally envisioned, but that doesn't seem to be the plan any longer. According to Bungie's latest Reddit post, even though the bug will be fixed in a new hotfix, there are already plans to bring it back as an official feature "based on the positive reception [from the community]."

Destiny 2 is finally letting you access your Vault from activities

As per Bungie's clarification, Guardians can expect to lose access to their Vaults while playing activities such as dungeons, but this will only be a temporary setback.

"We're planning on reverting [December 5's] fix in a January update," says the post. Even though the bug is a janky expansion of the feature's original design - having the Vault accessible from Orbit - Bungie has decided that the right way to handle this was to eventually keep the bug as-is, collect feedback from the players, and then reimplement it in a full-fledged format down the line.

"Our goal is to allow your full fireteam to be able to vault from anywhere in an update after The Final Shape," Bungie clarified.

Combined with the recent introduction of endgame-tier matchmaking features, Bungie's decision to embrace this bug shows a newfound dedication to delivering quality-of-life improvements that Destiny 2 has sorely needed for quite a long time now.

Of course, Bungie does need all the player goodwill it can get, given that The Final Shape got postponed following a series of problematic developments at the studio, including layoffs. Even though Bungie is now on track to resolve some of Destiny 2's in-game fumbles, the company's real-world troubles are still very, very fresh indeed.

The post Destiny 2’s Vault access bug will become a feature, in a surprising twist appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie is almost ready to bring Lightfall's long-awaited Fireteam Finder feature to Destiny 2. But players can get in on the action a little early, as stress tests have begun rolling out starting today.

Players logging into Season 23 on November 30 were in for a treat. An in-game message informed Guardians they could participate in the day's Fireteam Finder stress test, as Bungie previously noted in a November 22 Dev Insights post.

Today is the only day confirmed for stress testing, but it's the first chance players have to try Fireteam Finder out. Players can jump into Fireteam Finder's first stress test between 9 AM and 5 PM PST (12 PM to 8 PM EST) on November 30.

The experience is limited to Raid content, and, per the in-game notice, Bungie already anticipates the test could lead to some hiccups with game performance. That said, the pop-up also provided a method for players to report any issues they came across.

Will there be another stress test?

Right now, the only announced stress test is happening on November 30. That said, Bungie has already gone on to outline the path ahead. Following today's stress test, a Beta period will begin in December.

Bungie hasn't specified exact dates in December just yet, but that news will likely come after this first test concludes. Bungie did note in the Fireteam Finder Dev Insights post that the Beta's start would depend on how the stress test goes. 

Following the new year, Bungie estimates that Fireteam Finder will be ready for a full release in late January. This is, of course, if everything goes according to plan. And Bungie has promised to keep players updated on any timeline changes, should they develop.

The post Destiny 2 Fireteam Finder stress test is taking place today appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Season 23 is live, inviting players to investigate Ahamkaras and the lost 15th Wish. While the season revolves around events from the Forsaken expansion's Last Wish Raid, Destiny isn't the only popular franchise with a famous Last Wish, as Destiny meets The Witcher series.

In Season 23, Destiny 2 hosts a crossover between it and The Witcher, adding several themed cosmetics to the game. Early on, eagle-eyed players can even spot a steamy homage to the famed monster hunter. And, oddly enough, it's in the possession of Mara Sov.

Upon beginning Season 23, you'll tackle an opening quest introducing the featured mechanics and activities. By the end, Mara asks Guardians to meet her in a small chamber below the H.E.L.M's Wing of the Wish. There, The Witcher fans might notice a certain wooden bathtub lovingly adorned with lit candles. The water-filled tub even has two familiar swords leaning against it, one with fiery engraved runes and another with a School of the Wolf pommel. Geralt's wolf head medallion rests hanging around the two weapons.

What does the bathtub have to do with The Witcher?

Those who have played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt know the title practically opens with Geralt having a bath. He relaxes in a wooden tub, just about identical to the one found in the H.E.L.M. His surroundings are also dotted with lit candles in The Witcher 3 — another detail Bungie nailed. Geralt's weapons have their own Destiny twist applied, with Solar energy emanating from the runes on one sword and an Arc-charged pommel on the other.

Did Mara Sov take Yennefer's place?

While it's easy to write off the bathtub as a cheeky Easter egg, there might be more that's being implied. When the original bath scene plays out in The Witcher 3, Geralt enjoys his scrub in Yennefer's similarly bare presence. The sorceress of Vengerberg sits on a cushioned chair to the left of Geralt's tub by a desk. Interestingly, a cushioned stool and a full mirror vanity sit to the left of the tub in the H.E.L.M.

It would be one thing to sneak the bathtub in somewhere, but the whole bath scene has been nearly rebuilt. Further, Geralt's existence is all but confirmed by the presence of his gear. And the monster hunter would never part ways with his trade tools. Unless, of course, he wants to engage in some romantic adventures.

Though Geralt is selflessly committed to his love, it's not entirely out of character for the Butcher of Blaviken to pursue other women. After all, there was that whole ordeal with amnesia and Triss Merigold. Either way, it seems unlikely that Guardians will ever know precisely what happened between Mara Sov and Geralt of Rivia.

The post Destiny 2’s Season of the Wish includes a steamy Witcher Easter Egg appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Season of the Wish has already begun, but one of its most important pieces of content - the new Dungeon, Warlord's Ruin - won't be available until November 30. Some bits and pieces of Warlord's Ruin have already leaked out, however, such as its all-new armor set.

Dungeons are, ostensibly, mini-Raids that are shorter and mechanically simpler, making them crucial bite-sized endgame content for serious Destiny players. Their loot, in particular, is highly coveted both for its looks and its functionality, and the new Warlord's Ruin dungeon appears to be Iron Lord-themed, featuring snow survival gear for all three Guardian classes. In fact, if you're interested, you can check out your class's featured set by going over to the Appearance Customization interface.

How to preview Destiny 2's Dark Age dungeon armor

Whereas the majority of new items and cosmetics coming to Destiny 2 pop up at the end of the last page of their given Appearance Customization UI category, this doesn't seem to be the case with Dark Age armor sets. Instead, you'll find them on the first or second page of the armor selection interface, allowing you to preview the full Dark Age armor set for your selected Guardian class. You can even slap a cute Shader on top if you are so inclined.

New Dungeon armor is usually kept under wraps until the Dungeon itself comes out, making this a standout opportunity for Destiny 2 players. What's more important, perhaps, is that Dark Age armor sets also reveal the theme of the Dungeon, which seems to be dealing with Iron Lords themselves to some capacity.

Further, some Destiny 2 players have managed to discover an official image of Warlord's Ruin that seemingly corroborates the Iron Lord theme. The artwork depicts an ancient Earth castle with an ominous green glow emanating from within, which is very promising indeed.

Warlord's Ruin is, of course, not going to be available to all Destiny 2 players. Newer Dungeons are, instead, locked behind a separate, standalone purchase that hasn't been all too popular with the community for obvious reasons. At the very least, those who do have Dungeon keys will be able to matchmake for them using the new Fireteam Finder feature, which has been a very long time coming.

The post Destiny 2’s new Dark Age-themed Dungeon armor is now previewable appeared first on Destructoid.

Even though the delay was leaked amidst monumental layoffs at Bungie not even a month ago, Bungie has now officially confirmed that Destiny 2: The Final Shape has been delayed until June 4, 2024. According to the blog post, Season of the Wish which begins tomorrow will serve as the major content loop until The Final Shape releases in June.

New content planned for April

This equates to a roughly four-month delay, which while isn't the longest amount of time, sets Destiny 2 up for running with the same content loop for half a year which is a pretty long time. In an effort to break down the repetitiveness, Bungie plans to release a new content update in April titled Destiny 2: Into the Light. The two-month-long content update will prepare players for their journey into the Traveler.

Destiny 2 Game Director Joe Blackburn also posted a video update on YouTube in which he broke down the content players can expect between now and the release of The Finale Shape.

As someone who hasn't played Destiny 2 in a while, I was genuinely interested in returning with The Final Shape. It seemed like a great opportunity to jump back on board with the newly added system to play through specific important story missions to get caught up on things. However, with the layoffs and now hefty delay, I have to admit I find the interest waning.

For those who are actively playing, is the updated content window for Season of the Wish too long? Six months can seem like a lifetime when playing the same content over and over. Hopefully, the new content scheduled for April is enough to freshen things up until June.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape releases on June 24, 2024.

The post Bungie confirms delay for Destiny 2: The Final Shape, announces new content for April appeared first on Destructoid.

While Bungie may well be going through a rough patch over the past couple of months, Destiny 2's Season of the Witch has proven to be quite good in the end. Now, with Season 23 about to release on November 28, Bungie's revealed more details about its Seasonal Artifact.

Notably, the latest Destiny 2 weekly blog goes in-depth on the Queensfoil Censer: a mysterious Ahamkara-borne object that's going to infuse Guardians with power over the course of the Season of the Wish. Players can expect a focus on Solar, Strand, and Stasis abilities and buffs, as well as an affinity for rocket launcher weapons, allowing for powerful combinations both expected and not.

Destiny 2 Season of the Wish Artifact: the Queensfoil Censer

The Queensfoil Censer is, from the looks of it, made of Ahamkara bones and teeth grafted into a censer made for some unknown purpose. Its importance in lore is currently unknown but as the Season of the Wish is bound to discuss Ahamkara to a great extent, we're hoping to learn a thing or two about some of Destiny's biggest mysteries.

As curious as the Queensfoil Censer's design and purpose might be, that's not the most important bit players are eager to learn about. That honour, instead, falls upon Censer's all-new modding opportunities, and Bungie has already blessed us with a comprehensive overview of what Season 23 will offer.

Season 23 Artifact Mods in Destiny 2

It should come as no surprise that the Season of the Wish's Seasonal Artifact doesn't appear to mechanically differ from any of the older Artifacts, from what we currently know. It still comes with a selection of mods both old and new (25 of them in total) that players will be able to pick off and unlock, one at a time.

In regard to one of Destiny 2's most infamous enemy type, players will have immediate access to the following anti-Champion mods in Season 23:

• Anti-Barrier Sidearm
• Unstoppable Hand Cannon
• Unstoppable Bow
• Overload Auto Rifle
• Overload Pulse Rifle

As an added bonus, there's a special Overload Rocket Launcher mod in the fourth unlock pillar of the Artifact. Though, it's going to take a while until anyone can unlock a fourth-tier mod in the first place.

Interested players can check out the full assortment of Destiny 2 Season 23 mods via the aforementioned TWID blog post, but some highlights include:

• Hail The Storm: Shattering encased targets and Stasis crystals deal more damage, with Stasis crystal explosions sending out ice shrapnel that damages and slows nearby enemies.
• Rays of Precision: Radiance allows Solar precision final blows to ignite other combatants.
• Dragon's Bite: Breaking combatant shields with Strand or Stasis weapons can suspend or freeze the combatant. Seasonal armour increases the chance of this happening.

And, finally, the beloved Solo Operative mod is making a triumphant return as well as a fifth-tier mod. Getting to it might take some work, then, but it's bound to be handy for those who aim to get some solo flawless Dungeon runs done. All in all, we're in for a fairly promising season if the meta pans out!

The post Destiny 2 reveals Season of the Wish Artifact, Mods, and more appeared first on Destructoid.

There's a whole slew of big changes coming to Destiny 2 with the release of the Season of the Wish on November 28. Aside from getting rid of Legendary Shards, for example, Bungie is also about to finally push out the working version of the long-awaited Fireteam Finder.

According to Bungie's latest in-depth feature overview blog for Destiny 2, Guardians will have access to a work-in-progress version of an actual, honest-to-goodness in-game LFG (looking for game) system, after close to a decade of relying on external services to find Fireteams. The aptly titled Fireteam Finder will, supposedly, scale to "millions of players" and allow them to quickly and easily find a playgroup for any type of Destiny 2 content, from regular Vanguard Strikes all the way to Raids and Dungeons.

Destiny 2's Fireteam Finder is coming

It's immediately important to underline that the Season 23 version of Destiny 2's Fireteam Finder will be a beta version of the full feature. Bungie intends to roll the whole thing out in stages, and the plan is as follows:

• November 30, 2023: Raid Stress Test (available only from 9 AM PST to 5 PM PST)
• December 2023: Open Beta Test
• January 2024: Full release

Granted, it's not a bad idea for something as game-changing as the Fireteam Finder to roll out in safe, controllable stages. "We’re going to be monitoring the results of the initial Raids Stress Test closely and considering opening more activities as we progress with the end goal of having a Fireteam Finder option for every activity in the game," Bungie explains.

Guardians will be able to access the Fireteam Finder from the in-game Destiny 2 Director (map) menu, simply by choosing the 'Roster' tab and fiddling around with the subsequent options. Alternatively, each activity will have a special 'Fireteam Finder' access option that'll pop up during the launch screen, so it should be easy and intuitive enough to use the feature.

Exciting news, for sure, but those who have already gotten used to third-party or out-of-game solutions for Destiny 2 LFG might choose to stick with those options, instead. Bungie appears to understand this, and the developer has come up with a one-size-fits-all solution: "Both the website and Companion app will remain available until the new Fireteam Finder, both in-game and out-of-game, is ready," says the blog. "Yup, the Bungie.net team has been hard at work developing a new out-of-game Fireteam Finder that’s fully integrated with the in-game system. However, it’s not going to be available during the early beta period."

It's going to take a bit to see how this whole thing pans out for Bungie and Destiny 2. That said, the preview screens and UI examples appear to be fairly comprehensive and detailed. Naturally, you'll still need to know what KWTD means in Destiny 2, as it'll still be a relevant item, but at least it should now be easier for you to find some folks to play with.

The post Destiny 2’s endgame matchmaking system is finally coming appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie has officially announced an unexpected collaboration for both Destiny players and The Witcher fans. CD PROJEKT RED will partner up with Bungie to debut Witcher-inspired content in Destiny 2. The crossover is set to launch alongside Destiny 2's Season of the Wish on November 28.

This isn't the first time Destiny has seen a crossover with another franchise, but it's certainly among the more high-profile, right along with the previous Sony crossover. That collaboration introduced armor sets inspired by God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima. The next set of Guardian cosmetics adds more armor to your closet, along with a finisher, Ghost shell, ship, Sparrow, and emote.

Guardians meet The Witcher

The crossover is inspired by the famed monster slayer Geralt of Rivia. As far as Guardian cosmetics go, the collaboration between Bungie and CD PROJEKT RED looks to have produced some genuinely unique pieces embracing the source material. The result is something that steeps Bungie's fantasy-inspired sci-fi aesthetic even further into fantasy elements. Accouterments of The Witcher are visible, with rustic leather belts and woven hoods accenting the three Guardian Class appearances.

Each class sports a distinct look, with Titans outfitted in something reminiscent of heavy armor Geralt could wear in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings — gratuitous amounts of chainmail and all. Hunters look like they might have Redanian colors, with a matching red set of pants, cloak, and hood. Over most of the Hunter's armor, it's accented with studded leather. Then there's the Warlocks, battle mages decked out in sporadic metal bits, leather, and cloth robes. All Classes have two swords sheathed on their backs.

Toss a coin for The Witcher

Beyond Witcher-themed armor, there's an additional few in-game items, including a Ghost shell, ship, and Sparrow. While the Sparrow and ship remain elusive, the promotional art offers a glimpse at the Ghost. It's hard to say with certainty, but it could be a twist on Geralt's iconic wolf medallion. Additionally, players can express themselves with a unique emote and finisher, adding another touch of The Witcher's flair to Destiny.

If you're wondering how much it'll cost you, Bungie has yet to reveal specific pricing for its upcoming cosmetics, but it wouldn't be surprising if the cost aligns with the last big crossover. Back in the day, Bungie's various PlayStation cosmetics ran players $20 per Class armor set. The community didn't love the price, but the cosmetics appeared popular nonetheless. Given that the premium Eververse releases always see some adoption, the previous price points are likely here to stay.

The post Destiny 2’s next crossover adds The Witcher swag appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 is currently in a rough spot. Player morale is at an all-time low, tanking after a round of Bungie layoffs and news of a reported delay for the upcoming The Final Shape expansion. And while Bungie is using the delay to double down on ensuring the new expansion is a smash hit, serious concerns about Destiny's longevity are cropping up. Even if The Final Shape proves to be everything Bungie promises, inescapable factors persist against the game.

But the situation didn't get like this overnight. Bungie's decisions reportedly came after noting the title's yearly revenue would fall 45% below expectations. That sharp decline is symptomatic of issues that have been building for years. And with player sentiment where it is, alongside a projected content drought and a perceived "endpoint" at The Final Shape, it's hard to see a bright future ahead for Destiny 2.

Bungie doesn't have a good reputation with players

Players' animosity toward Bungie is nothing new. And fairly, any studio taking on a game with the scope of Destiny should expect a degree of backlash at some point. But Bungie has become infamous for some of the decisions it has made over the span of the Destiny franchise. Though the studio often tries to make amends with the community, it tends to be too little too late.

Of course, one of the most prominent stains on Bungie's reputation came when Destiny 2 saw most of its early content vaulted. Bungie explained that it was a necessary evil in order to keep adding to the game and later promised the practice would end. However, the act angered veteran players and made it impossible for new players to experience the story-centric game fully.

Frustrations had continued, whether because of half-baked seasonal content or ever-increasing monetization. Still, it came to a head in 2023 as game outages and error codes frequently left players unable to log in. In some cases, routine weekly resets would turn into several hours of downtime. This came after community posts highlighted previous back-end work on game stability.

Most recently, Bungie promised that studio jobs would remain unaffected by Sony's acquisition of the company in 2022. As the community saw first-hand, this was not the case. Just a day before Halloween in 2023, Bungie laid off 8% of its staff, or around 100 employees, without notice. This, naturally, led to fans vocally criticizing Bungie on social media.

Engagement was already sinking

If Bungie's layoffs and delays are indeed due to revenue loss, the likely culprit is engagement. Many factors can affect whether players are actively romping around (and spending money) in Destiny 2. Sometimes, these circumstances can even be out of Bungie's control -- like the outstanding selection of games released throughout 2023.

Outside of the year being packed with bangers, it's easy to recognize Lightfall as a major miss for Bungie. Coming off of the stellar The Witch Queen expansion, Lightfall had high expectations. While it would initially sell well and provide Destiny 2 with its highest headcount, Lightfall wouldn't land. Bungie later admitted that Lightfall's delivery was off, but the damage was already done. New players, lured by Lightfall's hype and burned by the fumbled story, would be hard-pressed to put further faith in the game.

With most of Lightfall's growth squandered, Bungie would have to hope that Seasons 21, 22, and 23 proved alluring enough to reengage players. While Seasons 21 and 22 had some great content, they did little to stabilize the population. Now, with Season 23 on the horizon and the possibility of it unexpectedly inflating to six or seven months, it'll be tougher than ever to convince newcomers to join the game. And that's topped by those actively canceling their The Final Shape preorder in light of Bungie's layoffs.

This population and engagement problem is a tricky one. Destiny 2 is about to enter one of the game's most sterile and empty periods, already at a player deficit. With the title largely populated by veteran players who may have already hit a point of burnout, an overlong season with a lack of content won't help bolster numbers before The Final Shape.

There's still worry even if The Final Shape is great

Even if The Final Shape is better than favored expansions like Forsaken and The Witch Queen, Bungie will still have a daunting hill to climb. Namely, this is because, for better or worse, The Final Shape is billed as the end of Destiny's initial saga.

While Bungie relied on Destiny veterans to carry the title through its worst times, the upcoming expansion will act as an exit for many players. With no new expansions confirmed, and with three longer "Episodes" replacing the typical four yearly seasons, it feels a lot like The Final Shape is the game's final act and Episodes are an epilogue.

Though Bungie has repeatedly stated that Destiny will go on after The Final Shape, no one knows in what capacity the game will continue. And these worries haven't been soothed after the Bungie layoffs included central figures like composer Michael Salvatori. With the initial saga concluding, decade-long Destiny players could hardly be blamed for hanging up their hats after The Final Shape.

Of course, this only reintroduces the problem of engagement. With an expected dropoff of those that Bungie usually banks on to play Destiny 2, will the game be able to make up those players? It's certainly possible. But it won't be easy, given the ongoing disastrous state of the new player experience.

Where can Destiny go from here?

Some have noted that this predicament might signal that it's high time for Bungie to start considering a successor to Destiny. The idea of a Destiny 3 has some merit. It could effectively act as a hard reset and a point of excitement for longtime, burnt-out players. The same could be said for those hesitant to participate in the hellscape that is trying to start Destiny 2.

That said, it would mean that longtime Guardians would have to face some scary changes. Players would likely have to give up their hard-earned loot again, learn the intricacies of whatever new systems the game might bring, and lose access to even more beloved content. This, of course, does not sit well with every player. And who's to say the game wouldn't just stumble back into the same issues?

Regardless of where players stand on a Destiny 3, there doesn't seem to be any indication that it's something Bungie has lined up. While there's no telling what the future might bring, the current plan is to continue riding out Destiny 2. A lot hinges on the success of The Final Shape. Here's hoping it serves as a triumphant turnaround rather than a nail in Destiny's coffin.

The post Destiny 2 may have just received a blow it can’t recover from appeared first on Destructoid.

Though Destiny 2 is no stranger to mysteries both big and small, none of them have ever been quite as popular as the infamous 15th wish from the Forsaken-era Last Wish raid. While some might've expected this particular narrative thread to never be fully untangled, Bungie's just upended that theory.

It should go without saying that this piece of news is loaded with spoilers for the Season of the Witch and its final, most important cutscene. Those who haven't yet gotten to that point and wish to do so ought to stop reading, with that in mind. Players have been neither here nor there about the storytelling of Season 22, but the final mission of the Imbaru Engine has ended up revealing that Savathun has, in fact, been waving the 15th wish of the Wishing Wall in front of the Guardians all along.

If you haven't yet gotten around to completing the whole roster of Imbaru Engine puzzles yourself, you can check out the short but sweet reveal cutscene using the link featured below, as uploaded by Destiny 2 player Kliuqard:

The Wishing Wall from Destiny 2: Forsaken is now complete

As anyone who's spent any amount of time farming loot in Destiny 2's The Last Wish will know, this particular raid features something no other raid has got: the Wishing Wall. On it, Guardians can input codes that do all manner of things, from spawning in loot chests all the way to embedding metaphysical hyper-predators into their psyche (e.g. a literal ahamkara).

The final, 15th code, however, has remained hidden and only hinted at in lore ever since the Forsaken DLC's come out, and players have been eagerly anticipating its eventual reveal, only for it to drop out of nowhere as the final reveal of the Season of the Witch.

Now, as it turns out, it was the player Guardian themselves who figured out that the 15th wish was jotted down on Savathun's own wings, setting the stage for next year's The Final Shape DLC. Of course, there's one more season of content to go before The Final Shape hits, and as soon as players unlocked the final Imbaru Engine cutscene, Bungie congratulated them on Twitter with a big reveal.

In hindsight, it shouldn't be a huge surprise that the final season before the grand finale of the Light and Dark saga wraps up would deal with the wish-dragons. The execution of this whole reveal is quite neat, in fact, and would've been way more impressive had Bungie not bungled almost all player goodwill with a recent round of layoffs and pushbacks.

As it is, this is a historic Destiny moment that might not end up getting the attention it deserves, with a fairly impressive leadup into an all-new season of content - the Season of the Wish - due to begin on November 28.

The post Destiny 2 Season of the Wish answers a long-running Destiny mystery appeared first on Destructoid.

In the wake of devastating layoffs at Destiny 2 developer Bungie, the studio has said this week has been “one of the most difficult weeks” in the studio’s history. To move forward, it is now committed to making the upcoming Destiny 2: The Final Shape expansion one of “the best games we’ve ever made.” 

“We know we have lost a lot of your trust,” the Destiny 2 development team wrote in a blog post. “Destiny needs to surprise and delight. We haven’t done this enough and that’s going to change.”

To start, the studio says it has “more than 650 dedicated teammates pouring all their energy and expertise into delivering” The Final Shape, in addition to the Episodes that will follow. Bungie says fans can expect to hear more about the future of Destiny 2 “in the weeks ahead.”

In the latest example of a long line of games industry layoffs, Bungie laid off an estimated 100 employees according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier in late October. Schreier also reports The Final Shape will see a delay, as well as Marathon.

This instance is simply the latest in a long string of layoffs and shutdowns in the games industry. Other studios that have experienced layoffs include Epic Games, CD Projekt Red, Naughty Dog, Twitch, and Ubisoft, among many, many others. Studios that have been shut down include Volition Games, Dang!, Vanpool, and PixelOpus.

The post Bungie to Destiny 2 players: “We know we have lost a lot of your trust” appeared first on Destructoid.

While Destiny 2 may have done some things right with this year's Festival of the Lost Halloween event, the game's main activity appears to be fairly problematic. Specifically, the Legend Haunted Lost Sectors have made a return from last year's Festival of the Lost and some of the community is well and truly fed up with them already.

Legend Haunted Lost Sectors are, essentially, just what it says on the tin: a heavily souped-up version of the regular Lost Sector missions with a bit of Halloween pizzaz plastered on top. They wouldn't even be particularly offensive as a side activity to accompany a full-fledged Festival of the Lost event, but Bungie instead introduced them as a replacement to the Haunted Forest, which veteran players may remember. As it now stands, Legend Haunted Lost Sectors are being described as "tedious and unfun" by players.

Destiny 2's Haunted Lost Sectors don't work, it seems

On top of this active and lengthy Reddit critique of Destiny 2's premiere FOTL activity, many other members of the community have been posting their own takes on the situation. Arcturus1800, for example, points out that the activity is strangely punishing and difficult, and that the players simply don't care enough to put on the appropriate anti-Champion mods. It doesn't help, either, that the "rewards are garbage," as they put it. "Legend Haunted Sectors are far too difficult for something that should be a holiday event to be relatively casually played, rewards are terrible and the people playing them also make it infuriating to run them," Arcturus1800 concluded. Many of their thoughts are echoed in Spicy_Godrolls' own featured thread, of course.

The really interesting bits, though, come from some of the older threads posted on the r/destinythegame subreddit. Notably, this year's Festival of the Lost is more-or-less functionally the same as it was last year, and users reported "grueling multi-day grinds," back then as well, saying that they will "never do [them] again."

It is, perhaps, telling that Reddit user FarGrape1953 posted a month ago expecting these very same issues to crop up over the course of 2023's Festival of the Lost, calling for the return of the Haunted Forest. Many of the comments responding to their thread shared these sentiments.

In other words, the community believed well ahead of time that the Festival of the Lost would end up being unenjoyable in some respects, and Bungie ended up being entirely predictable in this respect. As we mentioned at the start, though, the new Exotic focusing feature is a bit of a silver lining, but it doesn't seem to be enough to keep players entertained as the event keeps on going.

The post Many Destiny 2 players do not like Legend Haunted Lost Sectors, at all appeared first on Destructoid.

Eva Levante offers Hocus Focusing

What's inside Eerie Exotic Engrams?

While there's no guarantee players will get the Exotic they're specifically looking for, Candy is a currency that only exists within the Festival of the Lost, so the only actual cost is time. A respectable 2500 Candy isn't hard to amass, but it will undoubtedly take some time spent within Haunted Lost Sectors or other activities with a Festival mask equipped. With that known, Guardians will want to prioritize the slot they want to gamble on and hope they have enough Candy to see the desired result.

Warlock

Legs

Chest

Arms

Head

Titan 

Legs

Chest

Arms

Head

Hunter

Legs

Chest

Arms

Head

The post Destiny 2: Festival of the Lost adds a spooky new way to earn Exotics appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Season 22 story is just about complete. With the formal weekly story updates culminating in a finale for Week 7, all that remains, barring any substantial deviations from the norm, are a few audio logs, lore entries, and a final activity in the Imbaru Engine. But instead of a satisfying conclusion to the suspense that had been building even before the Season of the Witch began, players got a confusing mess of a cutscene that prompted more questions than it provided answers. Perhaps worst of all, critical narrative-moving events occur directly after the depicted scene, partially nullifying the finale's cinematic. However, that vital information lives only in lore pages that most players will never see.

Season of the Witch begins where the preceding Season of the Deep ended. Players discover they need Savathûn's help, as the Hive God is vital to traversing the portal used by the Witness at the end of Lightfall's campaign. In opposition to these plans is Xivu Arath, Savathûn's sister and the Hive God of war. To that end, the season saw Guardians helping Eris Morn engage in rituals to propel her into Hive Godhood. While this is happening, tension is growing between Eris, Xivu, and the plans within plans Savathûn is known for.

Despite the strong hook, Season 22's storytelling falls apart in its most pivotal moments. Players never get to see Eris flex power as a Hive God, and Xivu has still yet to appear outside of flashbacks to the Hive Gods' origins. Making matters worse, key narrative happens off-screen, including the half-baked, meandering answer to how players will follow the Witness into the Heart of the Traveler.

This feels like The Veil all over again

The proposition was simple: revive Savathûn and get whatever MacGuffin allows the plot to move forward. However, things don't come to quite as neat a conclusion. While Season 22's Week 7 cutscene shows Eris Morn killing Savathûn to gain her power and seemingly voiding the original deal, the Hive God is still quite alive. Following the check-ins at the H.E.L.M, players receive a lore entry in the Rites of Passage book. It reveals that Savathûn is immediately revived by her Ghost following the cutscene's events. She then tells players that the key to following the Witness will reveal itself when the moment is right.

So, to be clear, Savathûn knows whatever is needed to follow the Witness and is opting to give a hand-waving answer that amounts to, 'Well I guess you'll just have to wait and see.' All the while, she presses the importance of players not failing to pursue the Witness. Bungie has tried this method of creating a winding mystery around a new plot device before, and it blew up in its face. This stinks to the high heavens the same way the intrigue around The Veil did in Lightfall's campaign.  

What is The Veil? Players certainly didn't know at the time, but NPCs seemed to understand how important it was. Yet there was nearly no discussion about what The Veil was and why players should care about it. It was just a hook without any bait. Bungie eventually acknowledged that narrative delivery around The Veil was off and took measures to remedy the issue. But it feels like history is repeating itself. The other big problem is, because these important story details exist only as a lore entry, there will likely be many players who'll simply believe Savathûn is dead, having only watched the cutscene.

Xivu Arath was unceremoniously defused

While it's frustrating that significant story beats were surprisingly less accessible in Season 22, it's no more so than how Xivu Arath was handled. After Eris absorbs the power from killing Savathûn, she creates a fiery image of Xivu Arath's symbol in her hand. Eris crushes it, and just like that, Xivu is banished from her throne world. The act renders the God mortal and effectively takes a lot of the wind out of the villain before she can appear in the game.

It was never likely that Eris and Xivu would battle each other one-on-one, given that the Hive God of war draws power from acts of conflict. However, dealing with Xivu Arath off-screen after the last two seasons had her screaming over Guardians' comms for battle feels a bit deflated. It would have felt like a worthwhile payoff for players' work, even if it was just a few seconds, for Xivu to get her on-screen debut or to showcase Eris' strength defending herself from the God of war. 

Of course, it doesn't seem like Xivu is completely out of the picture. But losing a throne world, the source and manifestation of a Hive God's power, is quite the blow. While there's still some chance Guardians will hear from Xivu again before the season officially ends, it'll lack the flair that could've been incorporated into the Week 7 finale.

Season 22's confusion leads to nothing

At the end of the season, what are players left with? Well, for those who care enough to read through the optional lore entries, they'll know Savathûn is alive, albeit withholding the information that allows the story to progress. Those who didn't get out their reading glasses will be in shock the next time the Hive God of lies shows up unscathed, making pointed remarks as if nothing's wrong. All players will know from the cutscene that Xivu Arath was dealt with off-screen. Not officially defeating the long-withheld Hive God, but doing enough to defuse a seemingly inescapable confrontation.

So, with all that considered, Guardians are pretty much right where they started. Players still don't have a definitive answer to the overarching question that's been stretched since the end of Lightfall's campaign: how do we go through the portal? But there apparently is an answer; it's just being tugged in front of players like a carrot on a stick. The conflict with Xivu Arath wasn't resolved in any major way; just put on hold. And players still haven't gotten a glimpse at Xivu's current form, even after two seasons of Bungie hyping the God up.

If anything, Guardians' only progress this season was in bringing back a powerful enemy. And even that will be a point of contention between those who just casually play the game and those who read every scrap of lore. It's a shame because Season 22's story was quite interesting — showcasing Eris grappling against the Hive's and Xivu's influence. It was really just the bizarre finale and its awkward split presentation that left such a sour note. Destiny 2 is a live game, and things could change in an instant, but right now, it feels like Season 22 was players getting screwed out of their end of a deal.

The post Destiny 2’s Season 22 pulls the most anticlimactic bait and switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Despite its remarkable lore and crisp gunplay, Destiny 2 plays host to no small number of imperfections. Some of these problems have been around for literal years, to the point where players actively avoid anything to do with them. One of the most (in)famous examples of this is Destiny 2's Attrition activity modifier. After hundreds upon hundreds of hours in the game, it's looking like a bigger issue than most first anticipated. In fact, it's holding back Destiny 2's core gameplay loop.

For those who might not be in the know, Attrition is a special gameplay mutator that comes into play in select activities. When it's active, it massively slows down the Guardians' passive health and shield regeneration as a baseline. To alleviate this, killing enemies will sometimes generate special Light wells that heal you and give you some Super energy. Does this sound good on paper? Yes. But in practice, Attrition is one of the most hated activity modifiers in Destiny 2.

What was the point of Attrition, and why does it not work?

Attrition is, in theory, an easy way for Bungie to totally revamp select seasonal activities and Nightfalls with minimum effort. Simply by toggling this modifier on, Destiny 2's emblematic spellcasting/gunplay combo grinds to a staggering halt, forcing players to stick to cover and engage even the weakest of foes at a long range. Preferably, of course, with a reliable scout rifle and the like.

The underlying concept here isn't terrible, because Destiny can sometimes turn into a fairly competent tactical shooter. In mechanics-heavy content, such as raids and dungeons, players sometimes do need to duck to cover and engage enemies slowly, with intent. Attrition should, therefore, do something similar, right? Sadly, it does not, and it never has.

As Reddit threads from months and years back plainly show, Attrition has only ever been an annoyance. Attrition-enabled content fails to meaningfully engage players in a way that even the highest-grade Nightfalls do. Instead, it simply forces them to play safe and slows down mission progress to the point of annoyance.

Players actively avoid Attrition content in Destiny 2

The discussions surrounding Attrition have come to a head once again very recently. One Reddit thread saw a huge number of Destiny 2 community members agreeing that it is, in fact, one of the worst activity modifiers in the game.

"It's not challenging, it's not engaging," says Reddit user chainsaw_grizzly. "Matching with two other guardians that keep dying because they have no idea what Attrition is, is NOT FUN," they explain, adding that seeing Attrition active simply makes them avoid the activity altogether until the modifier rotates out of the roster.

"It's less a modifier and more just a straight-up debilitating handicap," says 0rganicMach1ne. "Same with Grounded," they added, referencing an entirely different activity modifier that forces players not to jump.

These discussions have recently come to a head due to Attrition's presence in the newest seasonal content: the Altars of Summoning. Whereas Bungie usually keeps seasonal activities mechanically lean and straightforward, Altars (and the Imbaru Engine variant, specifically) are a notch above the usual seasonal fare. Add Attrition into the mix and you've got a recipe for disaster, especially with underequipped and unprepared players.

Making the best of the situation

Of course, players certainly can build a custom setup designed specifically to counter punishing activity modifiers. In the case of Attrition, that means coming up with ways to heal more reliably. Or, alternatively, to straight-up not take damage at all. And, certainly, one could argue that modifiers like Attrition and Grounded nudge players to think out of the box.

Yet, Destiny 2 is at its absolute best when it empowers players, rather than taking options away from them. Players don't enjoy its raids and dungeons because they're loaded with negative activity modifiers, but because they get an additional layer of engaging complexity on top of satisfying combat. Attrition, therefore, ends up de-emphasizing Destiny 2's strongest features, making it obvious why players wouldn't be thrilled with it.

In a game that reliably delivers meaningfully challenging content, it's hard not to become annoyed with modifiers that seem designed specifically to annoy. It is unlikely, then, that Attrition will ever stop being one of the most hated modifiers in Destiny 2. It cannot, because it doesn't lean into the game's combat and mission progression loops: it actively works against them.

The post Destiny 2’s Attrition modifier weakens its core gameplay loop appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 is known for its dynamic action, longstanding narrative, and impressive weaponry, but it's also one of the best multiplayer Warhammer 40K experiences around. While there are plenty of surface differences between the franchises, Destiny 2 is built from the same stuff that has kept 40K fans loyal since the 80s. Of course, it's by no means a perfect translation. There are legitimate Warhammer 40K games out there that incorporate actual lore and characters. But if players want to engage in an immersive grimdark future where super-powered protectors of humanity confront galaxy-wide conflict against alien factions and supernatural entities, Destiny is the place to be.

Fans of Warhammer 40K love its dystopian future teeming with warring civilizations and demonic magic. But the whole package seldom culminates in a gaming experience that mirrors the epic scale of the storied franchise. While plenty of licensed Warhammer 40K games detail skirmishes between a couple of factions and a few varied locales, the scope is often meager compared to the franchise as a whole. Further, the 40K games that try to incorporate a more representative slice of the universe tend to be strategy games that strain worldbuilding by burying players in menus. Destiny 2 seamlessly blends an expansive grimdark backdrop against consequential narratives on a scale that rivals Warhammer 40K. The game's snappy FPS gunplay, ease of playing with friends, and engaging content are just icing on the cake.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war

Destiny 2's artistic direction, featuring grandiose architecture, mysterious landscapes, and cosmic anomalies, closely aligns with the aesthetic language of Warhammer 40K. Coupled with the omnipresent juxtaposition of hope and despair, these elements nail the grimdark atmosphere Warhammer 40K thrives alongside. This intertwines with profound lore featuring various species, factions, and even supernatural forces. It all comes together to deliver something akin to 40K's complex setting. Sometimes, that'll mean learning about a space prison and its malfunctioning warden through a Strike with friends; other times, a big bad will reveal itself over the course of a season's story missions. Either way, Destiny frequently throws players right into its narrative's most significant moments.

Like the innumerable factions in Warhammer 40K that battle for supremacy, Destiny 2 features various groups vying for control. Each has unique philosophies, goals, aesthetics, and fighting styles. Naturally, this carries the ever-evolving alliances, betrayals, and power struggles found within Destiny 2. Often, these beats reflect corresponding ideological conflicts prevalent in the Warhammer 40K universe. The Fallen, Destiny's space pirates, turned to a life of plunder after the Traveler abandoned their Eleksni society. The aliens share more than a few threads with the 40K Aeldari factions that have adopted similar practices. Additional comparisons can be drawn between Space Marines and Guardians, the Hive Gods and the Chaos Gods, and even the Traveler and the Emperor of Mankind.

All that said, it would be irresponsible not to mention the elephant in the room. While the narrative delivery in Destiny can be top-notch, especially compared to some official 40K games, Destiny 2's first few years of content were removed to make room for new additions. While the decision has remained ever-unpopular with players, even in its diminished state, the setting and story content are more than enough to scratch a particular grimdark itch.

And they shall know no fear

The extensive range of weaponry, armor, and customization options available in Destiny 2 should make any Warhammer 40K fan feel at home. And the possibilities likely eclipse what's available in many actual 40K titles. Titans' attire frequently retains a Space Marine power armor look, while Hunters and Warlocks often appear more akin to 40K Scouts/Assassins and Psykers, respectively. On top of armor, Destiny 2 boasts a wild assortment of weaponry ranging from traditional fare like shotguns and auto rifles to more unique options like glaives and fusion rifles. This is before individual weapon frames, perks, and rare Exotic weapons turn performance and functionality up to 11. There are even a few options that feel as though they were directly inspired by 40K, like a classic bolter ala the Skyburner's Oath Exotic and a chainsword via The Lament Exotic.

Destiny 2 players can optimize their Guardian's stats and upgrade their gear, emulating the strategic planning inherent to the Warhammer 40K tabletop game. Once players have equipped their Guardian the way they want, it's time to dive into Destiny 2's blend of PvE and PvP. The cooperative Raids and Strikes enable players to band together, reminiscent of weighty narrative moments and cataclysmic battles in Warhammer 40K. Meanwhile, competitive multiplayer offers a platform for players to test their mettle against each other, reflecting 40K's relentless and shortsighted conflicts. And while this content isn't updated as frequently as longtime community members would like, the live-service title is constantly evolving and adding new content to explore.

While Destiny 2 and Warhammer 40K originate from different creative visions, the two franchises share too much to ignore. Numerous parallels in lore, an extensive focus on wargear, and atmospheric design make Destiny 2 compelling for 40K enthusiasts. The simple fact is that Destiny 2 offers a similar setting at a scale that in-universe games typically do not. And with the flexibility to interact with the universe beyond a lone single-player campaign, it can provide much more mileage. Of course, it's all the better when some friends tag along for the ride.

The post Despite flaws, Destiny 2 is the best multiplayer Warhammer 40K game around appeared first on Destructoid.

Following a particularly fun and delightful bug from the week prior, Destiny 2 was recently beset by something far less entertaining: a possible DDoS attack from an unknown source. According to player reports on Reddit and other Destiny 2 community hotspots, the game has been suffering from a wide array of connectivity issues both minor and major, up until the point that the whole thing became wholly unplayable for a period of time.

The problems have been so pervasive that players faced issues in all of Destiny 2's game modes, from the Trials of Osiris all the way to the humble Lost Sector missions. PvE enemies have been unresponsive to attacks, while rounds of PvP would wrap up in a tie no matter what, leading to widespread confusion and understandable annoyance with the state of the game.

Did someone DDoS Destiny 2 over the weekend?

Broadly speaking, it doesn't seem like the game is in real long-term trouble. While it's certainly a big pain that the players couldn't enjoy Destiny 2 over the past couple of days, the odds are good that Bungie already has a handle on the problems. Most seem to be able to jump into Destiny 2 just fine already, and while that's no guarantee that there won't be further issues down the line, it is a good sign, regardless.

This latest batch of problems, notably, might not have been Bungie's fault after all. While the developer is yet to chime in on anything relating to these issues in an official capacity, some believe that the whole mess is the handiwork of an angry hacker, no less. It goes without saying that this entire story ought to be taken with a pinch of salt, as there's no actual evidence of any sort to corroborate it. At the same time, there is, indeed, a possibility that the theory crafting going on in the featured Reddit thread is correct, which would be a heck of a development all on its own.

The post Destiny 2 just had one of its roughest weekends yet from a stability perspective appeared first on Destructoid.

As almost every active Destiny 2 player will know, the game has had a heck of a weekend thanks to what is easily the most ridiculous and fun bug in franchise history. Notably, the game's weapon customization/crafting system somehow ended up allowing players to build mish-mashed monster-guns. A particularly egregious example, just to illustrate the ridiculousness of the bug, was to slot the Aggressive Shotgun Frame onto a grenade launcher, allowing said launcher to simultaneously fire a dozen grenades all at once.

Bungie took it all in a stride, funnily enough, allowing the gun-bonanza to last over the course of the weekend. Now, though, a new update has been pushed out to disable some weapon perks, with plans to replace them sometime down the line. Even though the fun's now over, the community is positively thrilled with the studio's handling of the issue, with most players having had the time of their lives over the last couple of days.

It was never going to last

"I cannot remember the last time I laughed my ass off this much while playing a game," said Reddit user errortechx. "It was so much fun going all mad scientist mode," added zoey_amon. Indeed, Bungie's had some trouble getting the year of the Lightfall DLC going proper, with a large number of players having gotten increasingly more irate as the company messed things up one after the other. Slowly, though, the hubbub has settled to a reasonable level, and the fact that a bug as ridiculous as the one outlined above could stick around for a few days shows that Bungie still knows how to have fun.

The problem wasn't going to stick around, of course. Certainly, Bungie could've taken the servers down, considering the severity of letting people slap shotgun perks onto rocket launchers, auto rifles, and the like. It's likely that this wouldn't even be a particularly unpopular decision. Yet, the game stayed up and the community created the most cursed arsenal of weapons Destiny 2 is ever likely to see.

This, of course, is unlikely to ever happen again, and those who might've missed out on the bug won't have a chance to give it a go in the future. Those who did jump in, though, are happy to have done so. As skyline_crescendo explains, "I stopped playing Starfield and Mortal Kombat to partake and it was worth it. This weekend was incredibly rewarding and fun."

The post Destiny 2’s broken weapon builds were the game’s best bug ever appeared first on Destructoid.

While Destiny 2's Season 22 has some key wins, a change is coming with the start of Season 23. A balance must be maintained that makes all elements of the game enjoyable for everyone. However, Legendary Shards have consistently presented a challenge in achieving this balance. The vast discrepancy in acquiring these shards has led to inequality among players. The result is an in-game economy where Legendary Shards don't feel significant to some or attainable for others, regardless of their play habits. This, coupled with the constant exploitation of loopholes in the Shard acquisition process, has propelled the developers to take a decisive step toward simplifying the game's economy. 

The aim is to eradicate the current clutter of currencies, consumables, and items. This will create a more streamlined experience that duly recognizes and rewards the time and effort invested by players across various activities. To that end, Bungie is removing Legendary Shards from the game. But you won't hear me complaining. In fact, I say good riddance. Bye-bye, Legendary Shards, I won't miss you -- and neither should other players.

While some players may worry about what will happen post-Legendary Shards, others may feel frustration from the dissolution of a long-accumulated currency. Nevertheless, phasing out Legendary Shards will serve the greater Destiny 2 community. The only change to gameplay comes via removing an artificial hindrance.

Season 23 is the beginning of the end for Legendary Shards

The journey towards a Legendary Shard-free Destiny 2 begins in Season 23. In a move that promises to aid new and returning players in unlocking weapons with greater ease, the initial phase involves the elimination of Legendary Shard costs from the Monument to Lost Lights, leaving the costs of Glimmer, Exotic Ciphers, and Spoils of Conquest unaffected.

Furthermore, Season 23 will see Legendary Shards retire from ritual gear focusing, altering the cost structure of various items in the game. Here's what Bungie has shared about the new cost framework:

• New Ritual Weapons: 1 Engram, 0 Glimmer
• Standard Ritual Pool Weapons/Armor: 3 Engrams, 5000 Glimmer
• Legacy Weapons/Armor: 5 Engrams, 15,000 Glimmer
• Iron Banner/Nightfall Weapons: 5 Engrams, 25,000 Glimmer
• Adept Nightfall Weapons: 1 Engram, 50,000 Glimmer, 10 Nightfall Ciphers
• Trials Weapons: 5 Engrams, 25,000 Glimmer
• Adept Trials Weapons: 1 Engram, 50,000 Glimmer, 7-Win Trials Passage

Say goodbye to Legendary Shards alongside The Final Shape

With the upcoming release of The Final Shape, Destiny 2 will bid farewell to Legendary Shards entirely. They won't be rewarded anymore, and costs associated with the currency will be wholly removed from the game. It's vital to note that there will be no exchange scheme for stored Legendary Shards. So, if players have a large stash, like previous Gunsmith materials, it's worth making daily trips to Master Rahool starting now. The good news is that there will be no increase in Glimmer prices or the introduction of alternative materials for items previously associated with Legendary Shards. In line with this transformation, Guardians' currency bar will undergo a revamp, showcasing only Glimmer, Silver, and Bright Dust. 

Following player feedback on these changes, Bungie added that it plans to augment the drop rates of various in-game items, including Glimmer and different engrams. This should enrich the reward system and promote a more flexible reward-earning approach. Furthermore, the costs associated with retrieving ships and Sparrows from collections will be abolished. Guardians will finally be able to modify their style effortlessly. Given that dismantling gear, ships, and Sparrows has been a primary source of acquiring Legendary Shards, Bungie is looking into ways to ensure it remains worthwhile to dismantle. Depending on gear type and rarity, the initially proposed reward system rework offers varying amounts of Glimmer, Enhancement Cores, and Gunsmith rep. That said, Bungie also noted that these values can change before The Final Shape releases.

Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn hinted that fans can also anticipate alterations to how the mysterious Exotic vendor, Xûr, traded in "The Final Shape." Although specific details remain under wraps, removing Legendary Shards, one of the vendor's primary currencies, will introduce new ways to acquire Xûr's goods. Guardians can only hope this comes with some updates to what Xûr sells.

These sweeping changes might seem like a lot to take in, but they signify a pivotal moment in Destiny 2's economy. It marks a shift towards a more inclusive, balanced, and rewarding experience. There won't be players with more Legendary Shards than they could ever use alongside scores of those who struggle just to get enough to participate in essential game functions.

The post Bon voyage Destiny 2 Legendary Shards, I won’t miss you appeared first on Destructoid.

Given that Destiny 2's Raids are its pinnacle-level content, featuring both mechanical and statistical difficulties, it is fairly self-evident that Raid bosses, too, ought to be equally impressive in more ways than not. Challenging, imposing, and memorable, Raid bosses are supposed to serve as the final obstacle to loot and other assorted goodies, but is that always the case? Or have some Raid bosses become overhyped Strike targets rather than top-end world-ending threats?

While we don't aim to make any of the following Destiny 2 Raid bosses seem like outright pushovers, one could easily argue that that's precisely what some of them are. Which ones are actually, genuinely compelling, though? Which ones can be taken down by less than a full fireteam of Guardians? Let's try and rank them all based on how hard they are to take down!

Grading Final Destiny 2 Raid bosses based on how difficult they are

[caption id="attachment_403370" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#13: Argos, Planetary Core

Though Argos was, at its core, an oversized Vex Hydra, it was a fun and lightweight boss encounter at the end of the Eater of Worlds Raid Lair. The boss fight consisted of two main phases: the one where Argos is shielded behind Arc, Solar, and Void crystals, and the one where it actively engaged the Guardians in combat. Though the fight certainly was challenging on day one, by the time the Forsaken DLC rolled in, Guardians were already well-equipped to handle Argos easily, and its simple mechanics meant that it couldn't pose much of a challenge compared to other Raid bosses.

[caption id="attachment_403372" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#12: Emperor Calus

The very first full-fledged Destiny 2 Raid boss was the dethroned Cabal emperor, Calus. Or, rather, a robotic replica of Calus. Much like Argos, this boss was a pushover in practice, but it was a bit more difficult due to the encounter forcing players into two teams with disparate mechanics: one team had to read symbols, while others had to activate them in a wholly different dimension, where Calus's mental projection tried to take them down. Fun stuff, but not very difficult at all!

[caption id="attachment_403374" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#11: Taniks, the Abomination

A legendary figure in the Destiny universe, it was perhaps inevitable that Taniks would end up a Raid boss in his own right. Having rejigged a massive Eliksni Shank into a nuclear hover tank platform - which, yes, does sound suspiciously akin to an actual Metal Gear machine - Taniks will quickly punish inexperienced Raid teams with a wipe if things go awry. Yet, the Abomination is a fun and engaging encounter where everyone gets a role and does something to help their team, which is more than could be said about some other Raid bosses.

[caption id="attachment_403376" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Tobias Kwan[/caption]

#10: Nezarec, Final God of Pain

Once your Raid team gets to the bottom of his mechanics, Nezarec ends up one of Destiny 2's easiest Raid bosses by far. The boss fight itself was only ever challenging while Challenge Mode was active, to begin with, and it's entirely possible for just three players to wrap the encounter up without too much hassle. This means Nezarec can't really hold a candle to some of Destiny 2's more imposing Raid bosses, but it's still a fun and engaging encounter, even if there aren't enough mechanics for everyone to get wrapped up in.

[caption id="attachment_403377" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#9: Atheon, Time's Conflux

The infamous final boss of the Vault of Glass raid returns anew in Destiny 2, and it's not as much of a weakling as some might've expected it to be! Atheon is a tough, punishing boss that becomes delightfully easy as soon as your Raid team figures out all the right callouts and combat roles. Due to the randomized nature of Atheon's main fight mechanic - the temporal teleportation - each member of your fireteam needs to have a handle on every part of the encounter, but it's still not a big deal to come to grips with it all. Until that happens, mind, it's wipe-o-clock.

[caption id="attachment_403385" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Roderick Weise[/caption]

#8: Insurrection Prime, Kell's Scourge

The final encounter of the now-sunset Scourge of the Past raid was Insurrection Prime, a Brig/Servitor hybrid equipped with Black Armory weaponry. Its end goal was even loftier still, lore-wise, as it was supposed to activate a nuclear bomb within the walls of the Last City. Its boss fight was appropriately epic, with players needing to spawn in actual tanks to whittle the mech down so that it could be properly damaged. The fight was the most challenging part of Scourge itself, as its many interlocking mechanics meant everyone had something to do at any given point during the encounter, but since the whole raid was fairly quick and easy, that's not saying all that much.

[caption id="attachment_403386" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#7: Oryx, the Taken King

The Taken King is no slouch in Destiny 2, as it turns out. The Hive god's massive size in the raid underlines his importance as a foe, and though he does come with a number of gameplay mechanics that players must figure out to be able to damage him, Oryx is far from the game's toughest Raid boss. Instead, players will discover that the fight itself is reasonably fun and challenging, and as soon as the fireteam members settle into their roles and learn the proper callouts, the whole encounter becomes a bit of a breeze.

[caption id="attachment_403368" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#6: Crota, Son of Oryx

The legendary and revered Son of Oryx returns triumphantly as one of Destiny 2's more difficult and compelling boss encounters. With Crota's End back in the active Raid rotation, Guardians must contend with a rather hard-hitting boss with a substantial health pool. In other words, the margin for error is small when dealing with Crota, and the boss fight is a tad punishing until all members of the active fireteam know precisely what to do and how to avoid his attacks and the wipe mechanic.

[caption id="attachment_403387" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#5: Val Ca'uor

Though the Spire of Stars Raid Lair has now been sunset, veteran Destiny 2 players may recall just how strangely complex the Val Ca'uor boss fight was back in the day. This may well be the most mechanics-heavy Raid boss Destiny 2's ever had, with players having to go through seven different gameplay stages before finally opening Ca'uor up to take damage. Relying on gameplay mechanics to such an extent was quite novel back during Destiny 2's first year of content, which meant that Val Ca'uor blindsided many players who expected to see something along the lines of Argos, instead.

[caption id="attachment_403389" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

#4: Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer

Gahlran was one of the most difficult Raid bosses in Destiny 2 due to the players needing to juggle several different buffs and debuffs during the fight. On top of that, juggling status effects wasn't enough on its own, but players had to carefully time their switches so that everyone could pull their weight during the fight. Gahlran could also spawn Deceptions that players had to take down before damaging the monster itself, adding extra layers to a challenging fight.

[caption id="attachment_403390" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Tobias Kwan[/caption]

#3: Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness

Rhulk is, to this day, one of the best Raid boss fights Destiny 2's ever had. Dynamic, engaging, and tense in all the right ways, the Rhulk fight stands out from most others simply because it features a boss that moves around the arena and will easily one-shot players silly enough not to evade his attacks. The mechanics of the encounter aren't overly complex, granted, but the grand finale of the Vow of the Disciple Raid will quickly wipe out a fireteam that doesn't take the fight seriously enough.

[caption id="attachment_403391" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Lawrence Rusty Durbin[/caption]

#2: Riven of a Thousand Voices

Some would argue that the Guardians' clash with Riven is Destiny 2's most difficult Raid boss fight, and the curious bit is that they wouldn't necessarily be wrong. The fight itself - as Bungie designed it - leaves virtually no room for error when the going gets tough, and the legendary wish dragon will easily rampage through the fireteam if the opportunity shows. It's great fun, too, and may be one of Bungie's best boss fights ever. What scuttles Riven from spot #1 to spot #2 is that the vast majority of fireteams will cheese the fight in its entirety, ignoring key gameplay mechanics by simply targeting Riven's legs with melee weapons.

[caption id="attachment_403392" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Roderick Weise[/caption]

#1: The Sanctified Mind

The Sanctified Mind of the Garden of Salvation Raid is, therefore, #1 difficulty-wise. The bit that elevates it beyond any other Raid final boss is that its mechanics are relatively complicated and remarkably fiddly, making it all too easy to mess up an entire damage phase's worth of progression by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Every single player needs to understand what's going on with the Sanctified Mind at a given point in the encounter, and a misstep is more than enough to ruin the encounter. The complexity of the tether mechanics also lends itself to excessive bugs, making the whole thing that much more difficult.

That summarizes all of Destiny 2's Raid boss encounters at the time of writing! Bungie's got plenty more to offer over the coming months and years, of course, which means there'll be more Raids and Raid bosses for us to rank against all the ones already featured on the list. To that end, you can expect consistent updates to this article as more Destiny 2 content emerges. The next big Raid is expected to launch alongside the Final Shape DLC, for example, early in 2024. It's possible that The Witness will be the final Raid boss at the time, and if that ends up being the case, it's going to be interesting to see whether the big bad of the Light and Dark saga will be more difficult than, say, Riven of a Thousand Voices!

The post All Destiny 2 raid bosses ranked by difficulty appeared first on Destructoid.

In a precedent-setting move, a judge has issued a legal permaban to one Destiny 2 cheat creator, on top of ordering them to pay a whopping $500,000 in copyright damages. ArsTechnica reported on a recent consent judgment between Bungie and teenage cheater Luca Leone, wherein both parties agreed to the aforementioned court ruling. Bungie claimed that Leone's leveraging of cheat software constitutes Destiny 2 copyright infringement via graphical overlays and injected code, and the court has provided an assessment that this does, indeed, make for "unauthorized derivative work."

Following the court ruling, Leone is now officially and legally prohibited from "obtaining, downloading, copying, playing, streaming, or otherwise interacting with Bungie's games" ever again. Leone has also been ordered to scuttle down any and all accounts and services under his control that could be used to promote or discuss his legal infringements, and though the cheater is free to use regular social media, he is fully prohibited from posting anything related to the "use and proliferation of cheating software." A heck of a legal whammy for Bungie, that's for sure.

[caption id="attachment_398673" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

A permaban of ages for Destiny 2 cheater

While it may seem strange that Bungie would rail so heavily against just one cheater, there's some additional context to keep in mind about Luca Leone, specifically. On top of producing and disseminating a comprehensive cheating app for Destiny 2, Leone was also a known harasser and one of the reasons why Bungie reduced communication with the community. Leone threatened and stalked the beloved Destiny community manager Dylan "dmg04" Gafner, for example, with the harassment campaign being serious enough that the court also issued an order that the cheater wasn't allowed to come within 1,000 feet of Bungie's offices or any of the employees' known addresses.

The slightly funny bit is that Leone, at one point, attempted to get around Bungie's legal Destiny 2 agreements by opting out of them as a minor. Not only has the court decided that this made for unlicensed violations of Bungie's copyright, but it also means that Leone received an extra $2,000 in damages for each and every one of his subsequent opted-out logins, of which there appears to have been at least 100.

The post Destiny 2 cheater gets legally permabanned from the game appeared first on Destructoid.

Put those Tractor Cannons away, Guardians. The Crota's End contest mode has come to a close, and players can now go back to using the full extent of their abilities and armory. The 48-hour contest mode for the returning Destiny Raid addressed Bungie's former promise to bring difficult content back to Destiny 2. And it didn't disappoint. That said, with contest mode ended, players should once again have little trouble toppling the son of Oryx.

While Bungie has been on the backfoot with its community, including a fumble during the most recent State of the Game and the lackluster reveal of The Final Shape expansion, it's tough to argue the company isn't at least trying to make some amends. Joe Blackburn has become the face of the studio, commenting on community backlash and responding to conspiracies around future content. On top of that, Bungie turned the difficulty to 11 for the Crota's End relaunch, a direct response to the overwhelmingly negative feedback following the Root of Nightmares Raid. Initially, this posed a bit of a surprise considering the original Destiny version could be soloed, but hardcore players reveled in the challenge. Thankfully, Ol' Crota's weekend romp is over, and now it's time for Guardians to take out those contest mode frustrations.

Contest mode Raids are no new thing in Destiny 2. Since the Crown of Sorrow Raid during The Forsaken expansion, Bungie has built hype and a little competitive energy around the launch of these new endgame PvE activities. On top of players typically heading into these new Raids without knowing what they'll encounter, contest mode sets players at a power disadvantage. It also prohibits using specific abilities, armor, weapons, and mods.

What made Crota's End contest mode so hard?

[caption id="attachment_401740" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Now that contest mode is over, Guardians jumping into Crota's End might wonder what all the weekend fuss was about. Sure, the Raid features a mix of puzzles and boss encounters that demand a bit more than the average Strike or Dungeon, but with the contest mode smoke cleared, the content is no more daunting than a pass through King's Fall or Europa's Deep Stone Crypt.

Part of what had made contest mode so grueling was the heavy restrictions during the first 48 hours. Entire Subclass Aspects, Exotic weapons, Exotic armor, and even mods were completely disqualified from use. That nigh unkillable and super fun to play Strand Banner of War Titan build? Disabled. The powerful new Tessellation Exotic fusion rifle earned via preordering the $100 version of The Final Shape expansion? Disabled. And for good measure, the Seasonal Artifact Mod that makes heavy ammo easier to come by, Elemental Embrace, was also disabled. 

Of course, players managed without these boons, as they always do. But considering most of these recent additions shook up the PvE meta and readily incorporated into prep builds for the return of Crota's End, the changes left Guardians scrambling to find viable alternatives for the time-dependant race. Tack on the power disadvantage, which translates to less outgoing damage with increased incoming damage, absurd enemy density, and the fact that players were learning the updated content for the first time, and it's easy to see why this contest mode felt so much more complicated than the last.

Crota's just a regular raid boss now

[caption id="attachment_401741" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Back at full power, without the restrictions imposed by contest mode, Crota and his Raid isn't much to worry about. That's not to say that Guardians can race through without participating in each encounter's mechanics. But generally, it should mean there's a lot more flexibility between a group wipe and pulling through by the skin of your teeth. The leading threat players will face in Crota's End at its regular difficulty is coordination. 

All encounters revolve around receiving a specific buff, passing it around to other team members, and using it to interact with particular objects when needed. It's nothing too out of the ordinary for Destiny 2, but it does require clear communication and listening skills. Without the constant threat of death from the overpowered adds swarming the team, it'll just take a little practice. 

The Raid's bosses similarly cause less stress. Without the gear and mod restrictions, Guardians can access the exact build and abilities they want for any situation. And naturally, with the power disadvantage removed, all foes, including those pesky bosses like Crota, take more overall damage and deal less (so long as players' power level is higher than the contest mode's 1780 power gate).

While it's now mostly sunshine and rainbows, one crucial point for Crota is that his damage phase triggers via a finicky Destiny 2 mechanic: the Hive relic sword. Though contest mode often demanded the use of three relics before Crota's shield broke, the regular difficulty still requires two. These Hive relics are pretty hit or miss (no pun intended) regarding hit detection on Crota's giant form. However, once that shield finally comes down, he's now nothing more than just another Hive boss in a Raid. Bring a sword, Guardians.

The post Destiny 2: Contest Mode is over, Crota’s End is easier again appeared first on Destructoid.