Destiny 2 fans have a lot to look forward to after today's showcase, as Bungie revealed everything about Season of Plunder, the returning King's Fall Raid, and of course, the upcoming Lightfall expansion. Lightfall remains the biggest piece of news covered in today's livestream, as it will be the penultimate chapter in the Light and Darkness saga set to conclude sometime in 2024 with The Final Shape, which won't be the ending of Destiny 2's storyline as a whole. What makes Lightfall so exciting is that it comes with many novelties, such as the secret city of Neomuna on Neptune, Calus' Shadow Legion of Cabal, the Pyramid Tormentors as major enemies in the campaign, and more.
Tormentors are a great addition to the game because they are essentially a new race of enemies, even though very little is currently known about them. The Shadow Legion could also behave differently from the base Cabal units that Destiny 2 players have come to know over time. And yet, even with Strand being revealed, one of the most important aspects of Lightfall is the reveal of the Cloud Striders -- a new race that could change everything.
Why Lightfall's Cloud Striders Are Important in Destiny 2
There were only two major occasions in Destiny 2 and its predecessor's shared history where Bungie introduced new races, and they are The Taken King and Forsaken expansions, which added Taken and Scorn enemies, respectively. With Lightfall, Bungie not only adds new enemies through Tormentors and the Shadow Legion, but it is also adding the first ever new allied race in the form of the Cloud Striders. Even though Cloud Striders are not an alien species, but rather bionically-enhanced humans, they are the perfect mirror for Lightbearers of mankind.
As many players know, Guardians are not self-proclaimed heroes in the lore of Destiny 2, but rather they are chosen by the Light to carry the Traveler's blessing and fight off the forces of the Darkness. On the other hand, Cloud Striders are volunteers, as Bungie put it. They are people who chose willingly to sacrifice a good chunk of their lifespan to obtain bionic enhancements that could allow them to defend humanity from those who seek to wipe it. Cloud Striders are sacrificing their own mortality to stand for their people, whereas Guardians use their immortality as a weapon.
The Cloud Striders and people of Neomuna remained a secret to all of mankind for years, and they avoided the gaze of other powerful beings in the universe of Destiny 2 as conflicts came and went in the Solar System. However, The Witness now wants to obtain a powerful artifact that is found in Neomuna, and the Cloud Striders will have to help fend off the forces of Darkness alongside Guardians, eventually teaching them how to wield the powers of Strand. The existence of another stronghold of mankind changes everything, as it means that the Last City is not really the "last," since mankind can survive and even thrive somewhere else.
According to the lore, the Warmind Rasputin knew of a place called "Nefele Stronghold," with Nefele possibly referring to the Nephele from Greek mythology, a cloud nymph involved in the myth of the Golden Fleece. If this is the actual inspiration for the name, it's possible that the connection between the cloud nymph and the Cloud Striders is made apparent in the lore books to some degree, making mankind's long journey in the universe of Destiny 2 come full circle when Lightfall drops.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.