Since its release three years ago in 2017, Destiny 2 has continued to evolve first through subtle updates and expansions to more foundational changes. Many would argue that the real push for change began in 2019 when Bungie and Activision essentially divorced, giving the former full control of Destiny 2 development and publishing. From there, Bungie released its first solo expansion in Shadowkeep, enabled cross-play, and brought the PC version to Steam.
However, that was apparently just the beginning for Bungie. 2020 has been the biggest and most radical year yet for Destiny 2 by bringing another expansion to fans but also with the studio also laying out expansion plans 2 years out in advance, creating the first darkness subclass in the form of Stasis, the establishment of a Content Vault which sunset heaps of modes, armor, weapons, and destination, along with plans to bring back classic Destiny content like the Vault of Glass.
While many may find these changes exciting, they're not quite universally loved by all players. Stasis has introduced a new dynamic into competitive modes like Crucible, fans remain divided over weapon sunsetting, and there's been some growing pains with many of the new mechanics. However, 2020 has seen a lot of very positive changes to Destiny 2 that has signaled a ton of big shifts for it.
Customizable Ghost Perks in Destiny 2
For most of the game's lifespan to this point, players typically ignored 90% of Ghost skins due to the fact that only a few featured the two most popular perks. Without an ability to change them, players typically never moved off of Ghost shells that featured Speed Demon to summon sparrows instantly as well as Guiding Light which gave players a 10% boost to experience.
Thankfully, Bungie has solved the problem by letting players customize their ghost shells with different mods. Similar to the Armor 2.0 system, players can upgrade their ghost shells by spending resources, letting them use more powerful mods that range from XP boosts, treasure and resource tracking, and more. Players can also determine the strength of the mod by spending more energy, so a level 1 perk may offer 2% XP bonus while 6 energy can unlock a better 12% XP bonus. For those wondering, the speed demon perk was simply eliminated completely and all sparrows were updated to instantly summon.
Destiny 2's Dark Menu Theme
Since the series began all the way back in 2014, the menu system in the Destiny franchise has always been on the lighter side. One of the most requested features fans have asked Bungie for over the years, besides various pieces of content or maps, was a Dark Theme reminiscent of most internet browsers and other computer applications.
Considering that the Beyond Light expansion focuses on the Darkness, Bungie clearly thought it was a perfect time to tie in this request. The start screen and menu systems have now replaced the bright whites with a darker shade of gray and black, and fans have responded favorably to the changes, especially those who enjoy playing the game later at night.
Double Nightfall Rewards
Earlier this year, a bug that specifically targeted Nightfall strikes benefited players by rewarding completions with twice as much Destiny 2 loot. Following the delay to the Beyond Light expansion this past fall, Bungie made the decision to reinstate the "bug" as a fun way to reward players and keep them happy through the extended season. While not common, Bungie has enabled double loot drops a couple of times in the past few months and has proven to be a big hit with players.
What makes this bonus equally appealing for players is that it turns these Nightfall missions into ways that players can farm for important upgrade materials like enhancement prisms and ascendant shards. Prior to this change, players would have to spend resources like Legendary Shards, glimmer, and other materials at the Gunsmith vendor at the Tower. For those who were looking to reach the hard cap or prepare for the arrival of the Beyond Light expansion, these double Nightfall reward weeks were essential.
Game Pass Addition
While this doesn't impact PC or PlayStation players, Xbox fans got a massive boost in 2020 thanks to Destiny 2 being added to Game Pass. Originally announced in July during Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase, the subscription service added the base game and even every expansion was also included, including the just-released Beyond Light.
After launching in September, the addition proved to be a boon for Bungie and players alike, which saved them a considerable amount of money. PC players also got a bit of good news as well as the same deal will be coming to the PC version of Game Pass in 2021. Unfortunately, there's no time table at the moment, but with the game being added to a popular service like Game Pass, Bungie should have little trouble maintaining a healthy population through its two upcoming planned expansions in 2021 and 2022.
Master/Legendary Lost Sectors
Prior to release, Lost Sectors were revealed to be hand crafted sections billed by Bungie to be mini-dungeons. They didn't take a lot of time to work through, and over the years, most players have either started to ignore them due to low end rewards or used them to quickly complete bounties.
With the Beyond Light expansion, Bungie has attempted to give the ones located on Europa a renewed purpose. Once the player finishes them and the campaign, they get access to a special version each day. One will be marked as a Master level Lost Sector while the other is set as a Legendary. What makes these more appealing than simply being a difficult test of the player's skill is that these are the only way to currently earn the new exotic gear pieces. The Lost Sector description will indicate the possible rewards earned from finishing it as the armor pieces are set to a specific rotation. This added twist provides a nice little incentive to revisit these mini dungeons, giving players another reason to pursue them.
Missed Exotics and Pinnacle Weapons
With the Destiny Content Vault removing a substantial amount of maps, destinations, and activities from the core Destiny 2 experience, naturally some weapons were also caught in the crossfire. Some exotic quests tied to these now legacy locations, pinnacle gear quests, as well as popular activities like Zero Hour and The Whisper are no longer available to be played or completed.
Thankfully, Bungie has decided to solve at least some of the FOMO related issues stemming from lost quests and exotics in the form of a new Tower kiosk. In between the Vault space at the Tower, players will find the Monument to Lost Lights Exotic Archive, which houses pinnacle and exotic weapons that are tied to these vaulted destinations. Exotics are grouped into Years 1-3 and will cost substantial resources like Ascendant Shards, destination resources, glimmer, and an exotic cypher. If the exotic is from a vaulted raid, players will also need to farm a new material called Spoils of Conquest, which are gathered from current raids like Last Wish and Deep Stone Crypt.
Players who missed the various pinnacle weapons and armor can also grab them from the Legacy Gear section. While much of this content doesn't require as much resources to obtain, most of the gear here has been sunsetted. Players can certainly acquire the gear, but it can't be infused above a certain power level. For higher end activities, the gear is largely useless at this point. Still, it's at least one way to eliminate the fear of missing out that Destiny 2 has become known for.
More Focused Loot Sources
Destiny has been a series that heavily relied on RNG practices when it came to loot, especially inside of the various engrams that dropped. While Bungie introduced things like strike-specific loot, there was no way for players to dictate what sort of gear they were getting. However, earlier this year, Bungie continued to introduce new ways for players to influence their potential rewards.
Season of Arrivals really doubled down on this improved loot structure by introducing an all new engram into the mix. Umbral engrams reduced the focus on bounties, which by the time Season of Arrivals rolled around, fans were already deeply burnt out on. The other part of what made this system so exciting was the fact that umbral engrams could drop from just about doing anything in the game, letting players do what they wanted to without being forced into a specific activity. By taking these new engrams back to a kiosk called the Prismatic Recaster, players could focus the engram into something a bit more specific including a certain weapon type, armor type, or items focusing on a specific stat. Focusing let players build towards specific loadouts meaningful to them or even have better odds at finding God Roll gear as well.
Turns out, Umbral Engrams were just the beginning as Beyond Light and the Season of the Hunt also feature numerous ways for players to control the loot that is earned. Players can modify Crow's Cryptolith Lure with specific mods to influence certain perks appear to even what sort of gear drops after a hunt. Variks, the vendor NPC found on Europa, even has specific weapon bounties that players can pick from if they're targeting a specific Beyond Light weapon.
Pinnacle Weapon Quest choice
In the past, pinnacle weapons have largely been hit or miss. While some weapons like Recluse have gone on to become incredibly popular, some have fallen by the wayside. Regardless, players were traditionally forced into a certain area of the game to acquire them. Crucible weapons pushed players to defeat players, finish matches, and some other tougher requirements such as hitting a certain rank in Glory specific modes in Competitive matches.
With the current season, Bungie released only 1 new pinnacle weapon, the Adored Sniper Rifle. However, players were now given a choice as to how they wanted to unlock it. When acquiring the quest from Banshee, players can select between requirements specific to Strikes, Crucible, or Gambit. This way, players can play how they want while working towards the pinnacle weapon. No longer are players forced into activities they don't want to play.
Return of Adept Weapons
The initial joy expressed by fans over the return of Trials of Osiris quickly dissipated once it was discovered that the classic loot pool from the first game wasn't coming back. Players who went Flawless, never losing a match, were granted access to a special location known as The Lighthouse. There, players could unlock Adept versions of normal Trials of Osiris weapons, which featured unique perks or stats than their normal counterparts.
Thankfully, this oversight has been fixed with the Season of the Hunt update, which finally brings these weapons back into the loot pool. While Trials of Osiris has currently been postponed due to Bungie attempting to fix exploits and bugs, these weapons will give fans a reason to grind through the competitive PvP mode once more and may help fix the mode's population problems. In addition to unique weapons, Flawless runs in Destiny 2 may also grant Adept Mods and shaders, only attainable to those who are able to reach the Lighthouse.
Small Power Level Increases from Activities
At the start of each season, players race to hit the new power level caps, which typically feature a soft cap and a hard cap. While getting to the soft cap number is fairly easy at first, with most items dropping at slightly better levels, the race to the hard cap really leans into the grind. At this point, players look for certain weekly activities in order to continue pushing forward to met the minimum requirements on the season's most difficult missions in order to get the best rewards.
While Bungie transformed certain powerful rewards into pinnacle rewards to help increase the number of sources players have access to every week back in March, the studio is going a step further with Beyond Light. Specifically, once players hit the soft level cap at 1200, they can earn small powerful rewards just by finishing any basic activity from Crucible, Gambit, and Strikes. Better yet, these sources are not subject to any daily or weekly lockouts and are enabled until the player hits the Power Cap of 1250. Not only does this help players continue leveling up, but it also incentivizes them to continue playing the game even after earning all of their usual Powerful Rewards for the week.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.