It’s that time of year again when Destiny 2 fans and gamers start foaming at the mouth as Bungie announces and trickles in about the next expansion, the next big chapter in the sci-fi saga. With Lightfall set to launch on February 28th, 2023, I attended a preview event hosted by Bungie, where a development team showed off and commented on a full set of gameplay for the expansion, and further explained some of the things that will come with it. New mechanics and features to come.
For this, since there is aLOTFor some chewing, I’ve broken this preview up into sections, highlighting each of the new and improved parts of Destiny 2 and what’s in Lightfall.
What is the plot of Light Meteor?
Destiny 2 players may be very familiar with what’s coming in Lightfall, but for those who aren’t up to speed, here’s a very quick rundown of the expanded plot.
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With the looming threat of The Witness looming on the Sol System, the Guardians moved into the system’s perimeter to confront the former Cabal Emperor turned Disciple of The Witness, Calus, as he invaded the Neptunian city of Neomuna.
This campaign will have a Legendary Mode for Guardians looking for a harder challenge, which will reward a full set of powerful armor.
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What makes Neomuna different?
With the narrative out of the way, let’s talk about this new destination, which seems like a very, very big step up from what we’ve seen before. Based on the previously sparse and rather empty environments that created the Destiny 2 locations in the past, Neomuna seems busier and more crowded. The cyberpunk city is full of buildings, defined by their verticality and towering skyscrapers. It feels cramped, busy, and colorful, but at the same time full of new activities and opportunities to explore.
A new group event that appears to be similar to the Nightmare Containments challenges in Haunted Leviathan rather than Public Event’s challenges will be available, and these events are called the Disrupt Hack. Beyond that, according to Leviathan’s comparison, enemies roaming the streets of Neomuna will have more fights than enemies roaming the EDZ and elsewhere.
Neomuna’s design also appears to be more complex than other locations, which are largely defined by its three main sub-areas and branching paths, while the city is a more complex place to navigate and explore. As for some locations, above the cityscape, Guardians will be able to venture to Pouka Pond, see the strange flying fish that inhabit the area, and even travel to Calus’ massive ship, the Typhon Imperator.
Neomuna’s hub area will also be an upgrade from other location-specific hubs, and will have mailboxes and ways to access vaults, and will both have a new provider who happens to be one of the new characters, Cloud Strider, Nimbus. Guardians also encounter the digital citizens who inhabit Neomuna, who can act like The Dreaming City’s Corsairs, providing additional narrative beats and even the occasional short quest.
How to award Guardians Strand?
Bungie has shown off quite a few new subclasses of Strand, so I’ll briefly touch on some of the new parts we’ve been told about here.
This would be a Darkness power, not obtained in the same way as Stasis or any Light subpower. It will slowly unlock over the course of the Lightfall campaign, with the Guardian being introduced to more powers as the narrative continues. Strand also doesn’t gather power from Travelers or Pyramids, but is described as“The Web of Life”.
The Strand’s unlock pattern also applies to the way Guardians acquire Aspects, and so on, which means it will have more of a power curve as the story progresses, rather than steep leaps that create other subclasses.
As for the Strand super, each is called:
- Titan: Berserker – Bladefury
- Hunter: Threadrunner – Silkstrike
- Warlock: Broodweaver – Needlestorm
Each Strand subclass can use a grappling hook in place of their grenade, which is almost like an enhanced melee, since you can not only use it to jump and travel around, but also throw yourself in for a devastating melee distance damage.
As far as how the class looks in action, the gameplay revolves around the Silkstrike Hunter super, which from what we’ve seen almost looks like a combination of Arc Staff with Spectral Blades, looks really smooth, has high damage, and ends with It’s very unique in its own way.
Who will the Guardians fight?
With the new expansion comes new enemies, though not to the extent we received in The Witch Queen. Many of the enemies you’ll face will be very familiar, and Calus’ Shadow Legion is essentially a more difficult branch of the Cabal to take down. Beyond that, however, there will be Tormentors, more menacing enemies who can use their Dark Harvest ability to drain life from Guardians. What makes Tormentors so special is that these enemies will have variants, some of which are stronger/weaker than others, and the toughest are a real threat to unsuspecting Guardians.
Beyond that, it’s briefly indicated that enemies can now have Strand shields that you’ll need to overcome, and some are even wearing what appear to be Darkness-type shields with the orange-gold glow of Pyramids. Vex also appears to be present on Neomuna, but the extent is unclear.
Finally, as a quick note, we see snapshots of Calus, who, for those wondering, appears to be twice as tall as Tormentor – so a very big lad indeed.
What Exotics do we know so far?
- Quicksilver Storm: The Cloud Strider automatic rifle, already available to anyone with a Lightfall pre-order.
- Final Warning: The Strand uses a tether and fires a sidearm that fires homing rounds.
- Deterministic Chaos: Void machine gun that weakens targets while firing.
- Winterbite: Stasis freezes enemy swords on impact.
- Cyrtarachne’s Façade: Hunter’s helmet, which provides anti-recoil armor when using the Strand Grapple.
- Abeyant Leap: Titan leg armor that spawns multiple seeking projectiles when barricade is used.
- Swarmers: Warlock leg armor that spawns Threadlings after destroying the Strand Tangle.
Of course, there will be further Exotics to find, as well as a collection of Legendary armor and weapons, as shown below.
How are build kits formed?
Since Bungie has been pretty open about this feature for a while, I’ll refer anyone who’s looking for incredible details on modding/building crafting and builds (which I’ll discuss below) to the dedicated blog post here. However, what I would add is how it looks and seems to work in practice.
The system will be similar to the Transmog system and allow players to enter a defined user interface specifically for crafting. Here you’ll be able to find all the mods you’re currently equipped with, see all the power bars your armor provides, a clear and clear display of the Champion Mods you’re housing, and the same deals for weapons, all in a separate but additional in windows.
It’s designed to be straightforward and easy to understand, which is why mods will no longer be defined by specific energy elements, and why some mods have been removed entirely.
The system is also designed to be easy to share, meaning you can simply grab a screenshot and show off your build to friends who are interested in testing it.
It should be added here that with the changes to Champions so that they can be rocked by actual elemental moves, rather than just depending on available Seasonal Mods, creating builds to accommodate endgame events like Grandmaster Nightfalls should become simpler.
How does the equipment work?
Following the construction aspects, fitting functions are also discussed. This will allow players to save up to ten unique pieces of equipment (equipment slots earned through Guardian Ranks, which I’ll also get to later). This will work by allowing players to withdraw items and weapons from their vault without actually accessing it or using a third-party app, although it will only do so if you have the necessary space in your inventory. Assuming you do, just click on the gear you want – which can be defined by name, special flags, etc – and everything will change instantly, and I mean everything, including mods, subclassed aspects, etc.
It should be clear here that you can only retrieve items from the vault using the equip mechanic, as it won’t be able to store unused items–at least not yet. Also, gear swapping only works where your gear isn’t locked, i.e. doesn’t work during certain late game events.
What are Guardian Ranks and how do they work?
For a long time, the journeys players take in the Destiny series have been created and recorded as Triumphs, and while that won’t change, the Guardian Ranks system will give these more weight.
This would be a better form of induction for New Lights, but would also create additional challenges for veterans. The idea is that you earn ranks as you complete tasks in the game, and these ranks are defined by the Triumphs you complete. There will be 11 levels to pass, with the first 6/7 mostly due to new players and the missions they’ll take on first. Rankings after that will be tied to each season and will revolve around increasingly demanding events and missions, with a top rank 11 reserved for those who enjoy Grandmaster Nightfalls, Master Raids, Trials of Osiris, and other true endgame activities. These tiers will reset when the new season arrives, but will be commemorated throughout the Guardian’s journey.
Bungie also describes the feature as a way for Guardians to clearly see what they should be searching for next and trying to do better on Destiny 2.
Season 20 – Season of the Defiance
While the conversation was mostly about Lightfall, we did learn a little more about the upcoming season with the expansion. It will be called Season of the Defiance, and will revolve around action happening close to home. Expect to see some of your favorite characters from the past few years (including Mithrax, Petra, and Devrim Kay) work together to illustrate the rescue and evacuation of civilians while freeing prisoners from the invading forces tasked with conquering Earth.
Sixth grade brief introduction
While Bungie didn’t delve into the details, the developer did tease out Destiny 2’s Year 6 content, promising changes to seasonal models, Rituals playlists, player abilities, difficulty, and more, which means hopefully more support for the wider Destiny experience Make a lot of adjustments.
The Final Shape and Beyond
Finally, a brief moment is allotted for what happens after The Flash Falls. We’re told that the upcoming expansion is the catalyst behind The Final Shape and the Light and Darkness Saga.
To that end, Bungie also added that Destiny (as a series, not necessarily Destiny 2)”far from over”the future will take us beyond the solar system and into the depths of the universe.
Expect to hear more about all of this once Destiny 2: The Final Shape arrives sometime in 2024, as well as Bungie’s plans for Destiny 2’s 10th anniversary.
As for Destiny 2: Lightfall, be sure to check out the expansion for yourself when it debuts on February 28, 2023 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.