Destiny 2 has been out for almost five full years, with the franchise being almost 8 years old as a whole, and many things have changed across both games over time. The gameplay loop and its rewards are very different now than they were eight years ago, and the overall experience has been significantly altered through sandbox updates, improvements to activities and gear, and much more. Yet, at its very core, Destiny 2 remains the typical looter shooter when it comes to item rarity, as it uses the classic full spectrum that ranges from white to purple and yellow or golden items, with the last two colors being represented by Legendaries and Exotics.
Legendaries are in a good spot in Destiny 2 because they are essentially the bread and butter of any loadout thanks to them being mostly farmable or craftable, making them the second-best rarity in the game and also the most flexible for what it offers. Legendaries also don't come with restrictions imposed on how many of these items players can actually wield, when instead they are limited to a single Exotic weapon and armor piece per loadout. To increase variety and to further allow Bungie to focus on build-crafting, Destiny 2 could introduce a brand-new rarity of both weapons and armor that goes beyond Exotics or one that is on par with them.
How a New Item Rarity Could Work in Destiny 2
While Exotics are great to work with to make interesting builds, they are also limiting players to use them in specific slots and in place of other specific options, which is the price to pay to enhance a given playstyle or combination. However, Destiny 2 could use a rarity beyond Exotic that works similarly to many other looter shooters, including games like Outriders and The Division series, where players can get items that belong to a given set, which unlocks more benefits or only provides full benefits when players equip multiple pieces from it.
This could be anything from generic build-enhancing perks to game-changing stats and abilities, and the concept would fit perfectly into the gameplay loop that Destiny 2 already has. These new-rarity items could come from different places, and they could be tied to all slots rather than just armor, creating sets that can be made out of two weapons and two armor pieces, for example. This would mean that building a character with Legendaries, Exotics, and this new rarity could feel more rewarding because it allows players to make choices that are more meaningful than those they can make right now.
Providing set bonuses with a new item rarity would also make items like Artifice Armor and crafted weapons much more valuable than they are now, as they currently are most often the best in slot in every slot that matters. Instead, providing players with a new rarity that grants both weapons and armor with randomly rolled set bonuses would make the hunt for god rolls more gratifying in the long run, and also increase the variety of builds available in Destiny 2.
A new item rarity that provides great benefits could even justify not running Exotics in some loadouts, especially when many Destiny 2 Exotics are in a bad state right now, and they don't provide enough value when equipped. Exotics should be game-changing to a degree, but in many cases, they are mostly improving existing playstyles in minor ways, whereas set-wide bonuses could make builds go to the next level. Of course, adding a new rarity could increase power creep in a game that already suffers from it, but overall the benefits would outweigh the issues if Bungie manages to do something similar while keeping Destiny 2 as balanced as possible.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.