'Destiny 2' (Image: Bungie)
“EVERY END IS A NEW BEGINNING.”
So reads the headline on Bungie‘s farewell article for Destiny 2.
Bungie announced on its official website that it will conclude active development of Destiny 2.
“After The Final Shape,” Bungie proclaims, “we have reached the time for our shared worlds, and Destiny, to live beyond Destiny 2.”
The studio states that it will turn its focus to a new beginning and “will begin work incubating [its] next games.” However, on June 9, they “will release the final live-service content update for Destiny 2 to begin that new journey as a studio.” The studio intends for this final update to make Destiny 2 as re-playable as possible.
June 9 will see The Monument of Triumph become available for all players – Legends, Dredgens, Renegades, Conquerors and New Lights, alike. While Moments of Triumph have celebrated highlights from Destiny 2‘s most recent, respective chapter, Monument of Triumph will take it a step further and celebrate all of the epic moments across the game’s lifetime.
Players will even be able to win Legendary Marks from previous Moments of Triumph. They were announced to grant access to a wide array of accessories, weapon engrams, free armor ornaments and more. Fans will be able to immortalize themselves in the game by winning an additional, exclusive armor ornament set and Title.
To make this event as momentous as possible, the dev team is reviewing the many player requests they have received over the years and fulfilling as many of them as they can.
Story
Bungie confirmed that Monument of Triumph “will deliver small character beats to leave the story and characters in interesting places, touching on themes across Destiny.” They encourage fans to try to find all the callbacks, easter eggs and reveals.
The Return of the Director
A “newly refreshed” Director is set to return to its rightful place as the activity center in Destiny 2. All portal activities will still be available via lists in the nodes at the bottom of the Director.
A New Pantheon Is Coming
A Pantheon 2.0 will be added as a permanent addition with a new roster of bosses to face. On June 9, the first lineup of bosses will arrive, with two activities each featuring a unique ensemble of bosses. On June 13, a single activity will feature the full onslaught of boss encounters, and it will be called the gauntlet. Finally, on June 16, Bungie announces that “encounter rotations begin; players can attempt featured single boss encounters for rewards.”
Dungeon And Raid Loot Gets Updated
Weekly Featured Raids and Dungeons are coming back, giving fans more chances at winning high-tiered rewards. Plus, all dungeon and raid armor and weapons have been given modern upgrades, alongside full Tier parity, new perks, set bonuses and more. More will be disclosed in a future This Week In Destiny update.
Destinations Are Also Getting Updates
Destination armor and weapons have also been given modern upgrades, with full Tier parity, new perks, set bonuses and more. Additionally, some destinations will experience Distortions, bringing more challenge, variety and unique rewards.
New Abilities and Ability Updates In The SandBox
The Monument of Triumph will offer new aspects, such as Soul Siphon for the Void Warlock, Shieldburst for the Solar Titan and Crackshot for the Solar Hunter. A new melee titled “Phantom Surge” will be added for the Void Hunter. The new Strand Slicewire Grenade and Stasis Shatter Grenade will be introduced for all classes. Furthermore, abilities will be given more tweaks as Ward of Dawn is getting entirely reworked, Mindspun will interact with Threading Grenade, and Trapper’s Ambush will have new capabilities and more.
Enhancing Exotics
All Exotic armors obtained since The Edge of Fate will automatically be buffed to have Tier 5 stats. Many Exotic weapons will also receive Catalysts and tuning passes. There will also be a few changes to some Exotic armors, which will be discussed in more detail in an upcoming TWID.
All Portals Are Open
All Portal activities will be available to play through the portal nodes at the bottom of the Director, and the devs have confirmed to have “taken a deep pass on the Portal’s difficulty system to ensure players can approach the ops categories and have fun with Destiny 2 while still being rewarded.” There will also be more weapons and armor accessible within the portal activities. There will be new art, new set bonuses and a new exclusive armor added to Competitive Crucible. Onslaught, Contest of Elders and The Coil will also be more balanced. Onslaught will no longer have revive tokens, and players will get more scrap more often. Plus, a few weapons will make a comeback exclusively through Onslaught. Contest of Elders will now be only three laps instead of four, and all three activities will start at the highest difficulty; they will then increase in difficulty over time.
An Expansion of The Crucible
Three new game modes have been announced for the Crucible. “Arena” will be added to the playlist rotation, and it is reportedly “Gunplay-centric with some old school Bungie PvP vibes.” Players will be able to access “Glass Cannon” and “Software” through private matches. The prior will be “a throwback to Destiny 1 balancing,” and the latter will be “Third-Person Abilities Only – Think Mayhem, but a little more wild.” Heavy Metal will now have a new map, a third vehicle type, titled The Cabal Walker, and mixed vehicle combat and vehicle selection. Various Competitive Crucible weapons will now be tiered, alongside the introduction of a new armor set. Finally, Iron Banner will run every four weeks, with Trials appearing on non-Iron Banner weekends. Both of these modes will feature new armor sets and tiered loot.
Gambit Ops
The studio elaborates that “Gambit is being upgraded to an Ops category and receiving a rewards refresh.” New armor will be available to earn with a unique set bonus, and Gambit weapons will be boosted into tiered gear with new perks.
Seasonal Events No More
There will be no more seasonal events. Thus, an array of weapon rewards for Guardian Games, The Dawning, Solstice and Festival of the Lost can be obtained through engrams on a Monument of Triumph vendor. Bungie assures that “armor ornament sets previously available for Bright Dust will be available, not only through direct exchange, but also through Bright Engram Focusing.”
Eververse
Silver will still be functional in the Eververse for players to purchase and exchange for numerous items. Bright Dust will remain as a currency to be won through gameplay objectives, and players can now buy even more cosmetics with Bright Dust. Moreover, players can get even more with Bright Dust since the Bright Dust rotation is being changed from weekly to daily. Finally, a Focusing system has been added for Bright Engrams, where using an Engram and some Bright Dust lets you select from a variety of Engrams that guarantee the item category result. Fortunately, they do not produce duplicates, either.
Updated Rewards Pass
A new Exotic Hand Cannon, Armor Ornament, Armor Ornament sets, ghosts, shaders and more will be included in an updated rewards pass.
Armor Ornaments: True Exotic Armor Transmog
The devs excitedly reveal: “Starting June 9, players may apply common/uncommon/rare/legendary armor ornaments to their Exotic armors, visible in PvE environments!”
Destiny 2: Ultimate Edition
All Destiny 2 content packs, including Dungeon Keys, campaigns, the 30th Anniversary Packs and more, will be combined into a singular purchase, releasing on June 9. Bungie adds that “individual content packs and expansions will also receive permanent markdowns in June.”
The Return of Sparrow Racing League
Sparrow Racing League will join the game again as a permanent addition, re-introducing tracks from Destiny and adding a new place to race opponents. Armor sets make a comeback with a new set bonus, and various cosmetics will be available to win. A new, unique weapon set can also be won by participating in races. More will be explained about SRL in a few weeks.
Allegedly, there will be even more surprises on launch day.
Bungie confirms that it will explain more about the update each week through launch, with TWID updates and Developer Insight articles. Notably, there will be further elaboration on the Director’s return, the various activity updates, SRL, the weapons sandbox, the raid and dungeon updates and armor updates.
TWID will continue to provide information on the Monument of Triumph a few weeks after launch as well. After that, however, Bungie can be reached through its website, Discord, social media channels and other platforms.
Bungie closes off by assuring the fans, “You’ll still find us starside for years to come.”
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