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The Season of the Lost is about to reach its end, and guardians in Destiny 2 will be able to face off against Savathun in her strange throne world starting off February 22nd, 2022. A new meta and new story will arrive for players to enjoy, with of course a brand-new raid.
So far, not much is known about the Witch Queen's raid, other than it will take place inside a pyramid ship in Savathun's throne world, and that it will pit guardians against some type of ancient threat lurking deep within. While story-wise there are many theories floating around from Taken enemies to the Scorn and even a different brood of Hive, the main concern players will have is surviving the raid's day 1 challenge within the first 24 hours. Here are a few tips for the upcoming Witch Queen raid in Destiny 2.
9 Stock Up On Rally Banners
There are a lot of resources and multiple in-game currencies in Destiny 2 players will need to stock up for when it comes to the campaign of Witch Queen and the new season, but Rally Banners can safely wait until the release date of the expansion has passed. Still, players shouldn't wait too long to invest in Rally Banners, especially those who plan on playing the campaign on hard mode.
Head over to Hawthorne and exchange some Legendary Shards for Rally Banners. This exchange is much more beneficial for players, rather than trading the Rally Banners against Glimmer. Players will need all the Glimmer they can get for other purposes, such as bounties, come Witch Queen.
8 Grind Light Levels The Week Prior To The Raid
The most obvious preparation task players will have to undertake is grinding their light level prior to the actual raid. Here's the timeline: on Tuesday 22nd of February, the expansion will release, and on March 5th, the new raid will be dropped by Bungie. This means players will have a little over a week to become as strong as possible.
Players will start off at a minimum level of 1350 on the release date, and according to Bungie will be able to attain a soft cap of 1500 light. It's still unclear what light level the raid will be, so the more light players can acquire the better. Bungie has hinted that replaying the campaign is one of the best ways to grind for XP and powerful gear. Players should prioritize activities that reward Pinnacle Gear or depending on how balanced their gear is, Powerful Gear to finish their incomplete build.
7 Fully Unlock The Seasonal Artifact Mods In Advance
Players who have yet to begin hoarding bounties from this season to season 16 should do so this week, as it's the last chance. With Iron Banner on, there are some good bounties with high XP yield to preserve as well. DestinyRecipes allows players to track their prep progress for the new season and provides an estimate of how much stored XP they will have.
But why is storing XP into bounties for the next season so important? Ideally, players will want to unlock all artifact mods as soon as possible, since they will make playing in challenging activities in season 16 significantly easier. The raid is likely to make use of the seasonal artifact mods as well, so level up that artifact asap.
6 Don't Ignore New Weapons And Exotics
A lot of new stuff is coming out for Witch Queen: Void 3.0 abilities, new seasonal weapons and perks (keep an eye on that land tank perk in seasonal weapons for extra resilience), and even new Exotic weapons and gear. One of the highlights will be the release of the glaive, a brand-new weapon type with amazing functionality depending on the class.
Some of these new features will very likely be optimized to work for the raid in some way, shape, or form, so unlocking as many of them as possible prior to it, rather than ignoring them, is a brilliant idea. The glaive in particular has been rumored to potentially play a major DPS role in season 16, though much of that remains unconfirmed.
With weapon crafting also on the table with the introduction of the Enclave, players have plenty to prepare for the raid by grinding for their favorite new weapons.
5 Prepare Loadouts In Advance, But Don't Be Restricted By Them
Once the raid drops, players will want to spend all their time grinding it to finish it within the first 24 hours. This means that the less time players spend tweaking their loadouts, the better. Of course, it's impossible to predict what exactly the raid will entail, so there won't be a perfect loadout right off the bat.
That's why players should prepare a bunch of loadouts starting from the release of Witch Queen, incorporating various playstyles. Having one build using Elemental Wells since Charged with Light is getting a nerf might be a good idea, but since the exact ramifications of this nerf are still unclear, players should also have a Charged with Light loadout at hand.
The same goes for weapons. Prepare a few loadouts focused on burst damage and some loadouts that deal with ad control and ad clearing. Destiny Item Manager has a fantastic tool for loadouts, though players have to be in orbit to apply them automatically.
4 Pay Attention To Messages On The Left Side Of The Screen
When players finally step into the raid, they'll be faced with strong enemies. But dealing with ads and bosses is just one aspect of a raid. Mechanics and understanding them quickly is key in finishing the raid within the limited contest-mode time frame.
Playing a lot of raids and dungeons prior to the Witch Queen raid is great to get a sense of Bungie's style of implementing mechanics. However, one little detail that's also helpful is paying attention to any messages that appear on the left of the player's screen. These will communicate key events during encounters, which players need to be aware of, and can help figure out what exactly needs to be achieved.
3 Wipe Frequently And Check The Score Screen For Clues
There's no shame in wiping, and it's for that reason that stocking up on those Rally Banners is important. Wiping gives the fireteam a chance to tackle the encounter with a clean slate, but it also brings up the scoreboard.
This board screen usually has a few hints that might relate to what Bungie's expecting players to do in certain encounters. For example, in the Last Wish raid, players stuck in the Riven encounter may have noticed that the score screen shows a column with "Symbols Cleansed". This tells players that they need to focus on this and that it's an important part of the encounter's mechanics.
2 Ask Other Fireteam Members What They See
Communication is key, and any raid veterans know this is a given. However, for new players going into a raid blindly, letting people speak and staying calm might not be obvious. The reason why this is important is not just to foster a good gaming environment, but because not all players might be seeing the same thing.
Depending on what certain players do or interact with, they might come in contact with one part of the mechanic others don't. Maybe one player is able to see something other fireteam members don't? Maybe only they can damage the boss? These are key pieces of information, which is why everyone should get to talk and explain what they're seeing, and if they notice any patterns.
1 Buffs, Debuffs, Roles, And Boss Bars
A classic mechanic seen time and time again in Bungie's raids is roles, buffs, and debuffs. Great examples of these are Shuro-Chi's song, which works as a timer for the encounter and a so-called debuff during the Last Wish raid. In Deep Stone Crypt, players could pick up buffs or "roles" which gave them the power to interact with certain objects in the environment.
In Vault of Glass, picking the relic gives players the sole ability to cleanse their teammates and kill Praetorians with white shields. This concept of roles, buffs, and debuffs is very likely to return, so keeping an eye on these is important.
Encounters will usually feature a boss bar, which might not seem important, but can provide a lot of information. For example, once Taniks reaches the final chunk of his health, he will move around the arena freely in Deep Stone Crypt. Shuro-Chi can only be defeated by chipping her health down bit by bit, and not removing a full chunk of her health would result in a wipe. So, never ignore the information a boss bar and how it's divided can provide for the fireteam.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available on February 22, 2022, for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.