With less than a month to the release of the Witch Queen expansion for Destiny 2, players might be wondering what they should do in preparation for Season 16. A lot of new content is on the way from Bungie, but that also means plenty of stuff is getting vaulted, making it a top priority for players.

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The new expansion will introduce players to a brand-new location, Savathun's throne world, as well as a new raid, a new dungeon, and many other activities. The first week is bound to be hectic for hardcore players and casuals alike, so here's what to do before the Witch Queen is released for Destiny 2.

10 Stock Up On Materials

An open Destiny 2 chest filled to the brim with glimmer.

Whether it's planetary materials, Glimmer, Enhancement Cores, or Upgrade Modules, players should spend this remaining time gathering as much materials as possible. The reason for this is simple: once the new expansion comes, it will be much nicer to immediately be able to upgrade any weapons and armor, without having to worry about materials and Glimmer.

Of course, the new expansion will introduce changes to weapons and armor through a crafting system, which might change some gameplay aspects. However, without much more information than that, it's best to be on the safe side and stock up on those precious materials now when there's not much else to do.

9 Clean The Vault

Destiny 2 Weapons Stored In Vault

​​​Vault cleaning has been a recent trend in the Destiny 2 community, with big names like Datto going around helping other content creators get rid of useless items bloating their vaults. Given that a new season and expansion is approaching, this is the perfect time to do a bit of early spring cleaning.

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Go through every item category and delete weapons that have never seen any use. There's no need to hoard ancient weapons when a lot of new content is coming, and much of it is most likely going to be tailored around the Artifact mods introduced for Season 16. So, there's no need to panic about not having a specific godroll weapon around to do the new raid.

8 Finish The Season 15 Story

Destiny 2 Mara Sov During The Season of The Lost

It goes without saying, but players who have neglected the PvE aspect of the game should at least finish up the Season 15 story (and any past seasons, such as Season of the Chosen and Season of the Splicer). Not only do these quests provide a bit of context into the story going forward to Witch Queen, but they also have some good rewards.

The Season 15 story also includes the Exotic weapon Ager's Scepter, which is worth grinding for. This stasis trace rifle is one of a kind, and though it's not a meta weapon by any means, once the catalyst is unlocked it can become ridiculously powerful in certain scenarios.

7 Complete Grandmaster Nightfalls

Destiny 2 Grandmaster Nightfall

Players who have yet to play Grandmaster Nightfalls should try to reach the minimum level of 1345 and complete a few of these, as the rewards as fantastic. There are Ascendant Shards, which players should stock up on before heading into Witch Queen, but there are also Adept weapons like the Uzume sniper rifle and Hung Jury scout rifle which are officially going out of the Nightfall loot pool rotation in Season 16.

This means the time to grind for these weapons is now. Players can check the Today In Destiny site to see which strike is currently in rotation, and which weapons are rewarded. Starting February 2022, this is the rotation for Nightfall weapons for the last weeks before Witch Queen:

Week

Weapons

February 1st-7th

  • Palindrome hand cannon
  • The Swarm machine gun

February 8th-14th

  • The Comedian shotgun
  • Shadow Price auto rifle

February 15th-22nd

  • Hung Jury scout rifle
  • Hothead rocket launcher

6 Complete Missing Triumphs

Destiny 2 Triumph Progressions Screen

Since three seasons' worth of content is essentially getting vaulted from the game, that also means a bunch of triumphs from previous seasons are going to be snapped out of existence. Players who are concerned about their Triumph score should work on finishing these triumphs.

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This means anything to do with the Tangled Shore as well since this area is getting vaulted with the arrival of Witch Queen. Players can check their Triumph progress for this content by going through the Season of the Lost, Season of the Splicer, and Season of the Chosen triumphs.

5 Get Rid Of Gunsmith Materials

Destiny 2 Banshee-44

There are some remarkable changes coming to vendors in the Witch Queen, and one of those things is how Banshee-44 works. Bungie has announced that Gunsmith Materials will be essentially useless going forward into Season 16 since the reputation system is changing.

Players who haven't by now used up all of their Gunsmith Materials should absolutely start spending it all up. At the very least, it will result in a ton of Legendary Shards and a bit of Glimmer collected from all the useless weapons dismantled.

4 Focus Umbral Engrams For Past Seasonal Weapons

destiny 2 waepons umbral engram

Though there are already some good theories on what the meta will be for Season 16, it's never a bad idea to get what's still considered good right now. Players with any excess Umbral Engrams should head over to the HELM and start focusing them for a chance to get some good weapons from past seasons.

A few good examples are the Chroma Rush auto rifle from the Season of the Splicer, the Ignition Code primary grenade launcher (look for a Blinding Grenades perk), and the Threaded Needle linear fusion rifle from the Season of the Chosen (look for Vorpal Weapon, which remains a strong perk even after its nerf).

3 Finish Incomplete Catalysts

Destiny 2 Ticuu's Divination Bow

Catalysts help Exotic weapons reach their true potential, but they take a lot of time to grind, or even acquire. Players with any Exotic catalyst quests should get started now, especially if the task of finishing a catalyst is particularly monumental.

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Having these catalysts ready can potential help players as they set out into the new raid come March since it will introduce extremely challenging PvE content. Weapons like Ticuu's Divination, Witherhoard, and even the Lorentz Driver might still be good, but any Exotic is fair game when the Season 16 meta is still up for debate.

2 Complete Seasonal Challenges

A Destiny 2 player receives a Gambit cake to make Drifter proud for their birthday.

Seasonal challenges might feel trivial at this stage, as players near the end of a very long Season 15. However, completing all of Season 15's challenges will grant them a large pile of Bright Dust, and tons of XP. While XP won't matter in a month's time, players who have yet to reach the Grandmaster Nightfall minimum requirement light of 1345 should definitely go for the XP boost.

Many of these challenges can take a while to complete, as they involve leveling up vendors and playing Crucible or Gambit, so the earlier players can start tackling these challenges, the better.

1 Grind Presage And Harbinger Exotic Missions

Destiny 2 Presage

Two quests are going to get vaulted come Season 16: Presage and Harbinger. While their weapons will still be available for purchase, why waste precious resources to buy them at a later time when they can be farmed for right now?

The Presage mission is especially recommended for players who enjoy PvP, as the Dead Man's Tale scout rifle continues to be extremely good in Crucible and dominates long-range Trials of Osiris maps as well.

Destiny 2: Witch Queen is set to release on February 22, 2022, and will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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