The core mechanic of Destiny 2, as well as the original Destiny, that keeps players logging in every day is easily the grinding for Light Levels that the end game content strives for. Eventually, the loot runs dry for every diehard player and the only way to go is up, so clans and fireteams head out to conquer Raids and other high-level missions for better gear.
Over the last 5 years, the formula has changed slightly here and there, sometimes to the liking of the players, and other times causing frustration. While the grind is far from perfect, it at least gives players something to do in Destiny 2 on the daily and weekly resets with a clear goal of getting stronger in mind.
However, Destiny 2 can easily fix some of the more annoying aspects of this grind with the implementation of a few more changes to the current formula, while still maintaining a balanced grind and incentive to sign in, similar to the upcoming sword update. The following is a modest proposal of a new type of component that could change Destiny 2 for the better, if implemented properly. And before we begin, let's preface this by saying that game design is difficult work and some devs on the team may have already raised this option with it being shot down for a number of reasons, but all the same, this is an idea that deserves discussion.
The Origin of Light Levels
Light Levels started all the way back in the original Destiny, with the player level capping at 20 and the Light Level raising players to 30. Since then, Light Levels were changed, both to show the wider difference between base max and geared max, but also to do away with the old upgrade components. These old components, most might remember being called Ascendant Shards, were the only way to level up gear to raise players to level 30.
When The Taken King released as the biggest Destiny expansion until Forsaken, Bungie opted to trade out the component model and instead have weapons with fixed power levels and allow players to sacrifice stronger weapons to upgrade weaker ones. This opened up the max Light Level to players who were unable to complete the Raid, as well as making the upgrade process feel more fluid and natural. However, in the process, the most frustrating aspect of the new light grind appeared in the form of underwhelming or sometimes duplicating drops.
The Problem
So, with this new Light Level system in place in the original Destiny, fans were happy to know that there were now more ways to the top and more incentive to continue collecting high-level gear from Destiny 2's most challenging missions. Unfortunately, thanks to the way the game tries to slowly grow players through the back end of the level cap, some drops can be more impressive than others.
For example, if a player is running through the Raid for gear and finds a new helmet that is stronger than anything else they own, it will give that player a huge boost in Light Level. However, if that player continues through the same raid and another helmet drops, as opposed to boots or a chest piece, then the next boost will be much lower than the previous one, since the drops take total light into account for new gear. This is most frustrating when a player has almost an entire set of max level gear, but the one slot they have unfilled just won't drop.
The Solution
The easiest solution to this frustration would be to let players infuse any piece of gear with any other piece of gear, regardless of type, but that could break the flow of the grind, as some of the toughest encounters are intended to drop certain pieces of gear. Instead, it might be better if Bungie implemented a new component into the gear sets that we'll call Light Cores for now. These Light Cores would allow players to swap out the Light Level between different pieces of gear, possibly at the cost of some glimmer or component parts.
It would essentially be the same thing that players have now, only, instead of grinding up for new gear, players can grind up for more powerful Light Cores. This way, if a player is sitting at max with all pieces of gear except for their gloves and they get a duplicate chest piece that they already have, they can now swap out the Light Core from the chest piece into the glove, and now they're max level. This would solve one of the most frustrating issues with grinding for Light Levels in Destiny 2 without changing too much about how the grind actually works.
Balance
The feature can be tweaked as well, for the sake of balance in Destiny 2. One of the better possibilities would be to make it so that Light Cores could only be transferred by Banshee-44 back at the tower. This means that if players only have enough Light Cores for a single set of armor and guns, they can switch out which pieces of gear will be max level, but they can't switch on the fly, mid mission.
Leaving the ability to transfer Light Cores to Banshee-44 would give an incentive to grind for more cores, so that players can fill all of their favorite gear with max level cores on multiple characters. Eventually, the end goal would shift from becoming as powerful as possible, to being able to change guns on a whim, and still be at max level. This would also mean that players would have to plan out their gear sets for each specific mission when leaving the tower, making sure that they're paying more attention and customizing for every encounter.
Bonus: Lore
As a bonus for all of the lore aficionados out there, who have read through every chapter and verse of the Grimoire, Light Cores could even fit into the lore. In fact, the addition of Traveler blessed components would make why gear has different strengths make more sense. The key would be Banshee-44 again, with his memory loss causing him to forget how to interact with Light Cores without destroying them, as infusion would be currently doing.
This could start at the beginning of the next Destiny 2 season, or during a new event, with Banshee-44 coming across some sort of memory chip that teaches him how to handle Light Cores again. As a result, it would also reinforce that the power of the Traveler has always been what helps Guardians fight. No matter how you cut it, Light Cores would add to Destiny 2 through lore and item management, while removing some frustration from the grind.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.