Destiny 2 has become a free-to-play game starting in 2019 to entice new players to give the game, its lore, and its mechanics a try to see if they enjoy the experience. However, as Destiny 2 has progressed through its subsequent story expansions, previous content has been removed – which Bungie refers to as vaulting. The starting portion of the game has been changed, and the remaining story expansions are only sometimes clear on where newcomers should begin to understand the rich lore and mythology.
In 2017, Destiny 2 began as a pay-to-play game with the Red War story campaign, which saw the Cabal Red Legion, led by Dominus Ghaul, entrap the Traveler and block the Light from all Guardians. This was followed by the story expansions Curse of Osiris and Warmind during Year 1, and Year 2 kicked off with the Forsaken story expansion, overhauling several gameplay mechanics. The fourth story expansion, Shadowkeep, saw numerous changes to the game, with the pay-to-play model being replaced with the free-to-play version of Destiny 2, featuring the New Light introduction. This fundamentally changed the way the game is played and what the new player experience is like.
The New Player Experience in Destiny 2
Shadowkeep was released in October 2019, making the game free-to-play (except for story expansions) and introducing Destiny 2's New Light quest to help newcomers ease into the Destiny universe. With New Light, Bungie reintroduced the first mission from the original Destiny as the introductory segment for the sequel. Completing this new intro led the player to a jump ship, which they then used to take off and fly to the Tower. After talking to Amanda Holliday and meeting various NPCs, players could begin the Red War campaign, along with the Curse of Osiris and Warmind.
The New Light intro was retooled in 2020 with the release of the Beyond Light story expansion, as the Red War, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind campaigns were vaulted - meaning they were put into the Destiny Content Vault and removed from the game. The New Light quest was also changed, keeping the introductory mission from the first Destiny but taking players further into the Cosmodrome and interacting with a new Destiny 2 character called Shaw Han.
This encounter involves several steps and tasks before the player gets their ship and flies to the Tower. Once at the Tower, the player is introduced to the different NPCs that can assist them in their experience, learning about Vanguard Strikes, Crucible PvP matches, Gambit, and other quests for obtaining the Light subclasses, all of which are still free. All quests under the New Light tab in the Directory are complimentary, along with the activities mentioned earlier. Dungeons, Raids, DLC-exclusive Nightfall Strikes, and story pack material, however, are behind a paywall that's hard to get behind for reasons other than money.
Understanding Story Expansions and Where to Begin in Destiny 2
It's possible that new players may grow tired of the free aspects and wish to continue leveling their character and diving into Destiny 2's intricate lore and layered gameplay loop. In that case, they must begin playing the story expansions. The most recent story expansion is The Witch Queen, which is Year 5 in the timeline. Starting with the now-vaulted Destiny 2 Forsaken expansion, each DLC pack came with four seasons that built upon the narrative featured in that expansion.
With The Witch Queen campaign, the available Seasons are 16 through 19, but new players may want to consider waiting for Lightfall's release as of now. While the Forsaken campaign may be gone now, players can purchase the so-called Forsaken Pack, which only consists of that story's Exotic Weapons. This makes it quite confusing for newcomers who don't know exactly where to begin with expansions, what they unlock, and which ones should be purchased in a timely manner to enjoy the most of what they offer. Ahead of Lightfall's release this upcoming February 2023, Bungie claimed it will not vault any more content, which is good news for those who are just starting and veterans alike.
New players wishing to play the story in order as it stands now will need to purchase the story expansions: Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and The Witch Queen. There is a Destiny 2 Legacy Collection that bundles the Forsaken Exotic pack (no story) with Shadowkeep and Beyond Light. Beyond Light is worth getting, even on its own, because it introduces the first Darkness subclass called Stasis, which players can only unlock with the associated campaign. If the Legacy Collection is bought, it is cheaper than buying the Forsaken pack, Shadowkeep, and Beyond Light separately. The seasonal content for Shadowkeep and Beyond Light is gone, however, and so will all the Seasons associated with The Witch Queen when Destiny 2's Lightfall launches.
Why Destiny 2 Makes it Hard For New Players to Get Into The Game
Players can purchase The Witch Queen story expansion on its own or as the Deluxe Edition that includes Year 5's Dungeons and all the Seasons. This difference was confusing enough for veterans, and it may be even more perplexing to newcomers. Currently, players are tackling the content from Season of the Seraph, which is going to conclude Year 5 on February 28, marking the release of Lightfall. There are two ways to gain access to the seasonal premium content: to use real money to buy Silver and purchase the Season Pass, which will only allow players to access Season 19 until the end of February, or the Deluxe Edition. Since Dungeons are not being vaulted, the Deluxe Edition may seem like the better route, but these are also difficult pieces of content that new players normally take a while to even try once.
To play the past Seasons under The Witch Queen, players would need to purchase The Witch Queen Deluxe Edition, once again proving to possibly be the best way to get into Destiny 2. The Deluxe Edition, or Annual Pass (as it's called for the upcoming Lightfall), grants players access to all Seasons under the current story expansion, even if they missed or didn't finish the past Seasons as they occurred. Once Lightfall releases on February 28, the recent Seasons under The Witch Queen will go away, and the Lightfall Annual Pass will give players the Lightfall story expansion, along with Seasons 20-23. Players can alternatively purchase Lightfall as a standalone story expansion, but in both cases, they won't be able to access Year 5 Seasons any longer.
There's also a 30th Anniversary Pack which grants players access to a Dungeon, the Gjallarhorn Exotic Rocket Launcher, and new weapons and armor. The 30th Anniversary Pack doesn't contain a story expansion, though, so it's more focused on the gameplay loop and new powerful gear. Lastly, players can purchase Silver bundles, which means spending real money to buy an in-game currency called Silver, used to buy the current Season Pass along with other in-game features such as armor appearances, emotes, Sparrows, Ships, and more.
As it stands, Destiny 2 may be one of the toughest games to get into because players are left to their own devices on all fronts. The learning curve for how the gameplay loop works is extremely steep, and the game doesn't do an excellent job of explaining the lore behind Destiny 2's enemies, characters, and locations, leaving New Lights to wonder why they should care about what is happening in the intro mission and beyond. On top of that, paid content doesn't help because newcomers can't possibly know which expansions they should get or which versions of the existing DLC and bundles are the best value for their money. As such, many new players may never make it to the good seasonal and endgame content because it's just easier to quit before that happens.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.