The Shadowkeep expansion for Destiny 2 is set to introduce a lot of changes to the popular game including a brand new armor system that doesn't force players to choose between style and functionality. Game Director Luke Smith teased plenty of new Shadowkeep features and mechanics in his lengthy three part Director's Cut blog post detailing the past, present, and future of the franchise. Following up on that, Smith revealed new details on the seasonal structure for Year 3 including the addition of a battle pass style mechanic.

A big focus of the team at Bungie for Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is making the reward chase a bit more predictable while still keeping an element of RNG. Alongside the Seasonal Artifact, Bungie is adding a Season Pass to the main menu. Each season will have its own Free and Premium version of the Season Pass with 100 ranks to progress through. Players unlock new ranks by earning XP in game through normal activities like bounties, doing strikes, playing a Crucible match, and completing challenges.

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The design of the Season Pass screen has been intentionally made to look similar to other games with Seasonal Passes like Rocket League or Fortnite. Players can clearly see a free and premium track, how long the pass is active for, as well as what rewards are upcoming. Keep in mind that the best gear and weapons will still be limited to the most difficult modes and overcoming high end bosses, but the Season Pass is there for people who want to feel like they've made progress each time they log in.

destiny 2 season pass

Inside of the Season of the Undying, players can earn a new exotic Hand Cannon called Eriana’s Vow. Free players get access to it at rank 35, while premium members unlock it at the very start. Premium owners will also get their hands on an Exotic Bow called Leviathan’s Breath. Seasons beyond the next one included with Shadowkeep will cost players $10 and will include the premium track as well.

The other key part to this new reward pursuit is the Seasonal Artifact, which fans have already gotten a brief glimpse of in the Shadowkeep vidoc from E3. For the Season of the Undying, all players will receive The Gate Lord's Eye, an item that will allow players to further customize their build through unlocking new mods just by earning XP in game. Unlocking new mods also increases the power of the artifact, which players can continue to grow throughout the season without a power cap limit. A new artifact will be introduced each season, giving Bungie a way to feature a system that is flexible enough for players to try out new builds without committing to them long term or forcing the developer to nerf suddenly strong ways to play the game.

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep releases October 1, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.

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Source: Bungie