Destiny 2 Lightfall Coming In February, Season Of Plunder Launching Today

Today’s Destiny 2 Showcase brought us a wealth of new info about the ongoing living game. There is plenty to look forward to for both longtime and new players. The Season of Plunder, the new season that launches today, gave us a sneak peak at the Lightfall expansion. We also got information about the green-hued Strand Subclasses. That’s along with a host of changes coming to the core game experience.

Lightfall will arrive on February 28, 2023. The expansion represents the “beginning of the end” of the Light and Darkness Saga that has been unfolding for many years now. Calus, who has been in communion with The Witness returns to his army and starts the Shadow Legion. He then overtakes Neptune. We learn that ever since the Collapse, a separate branch of humanity has been flourishing on the distant planet, including within a neon-lit city called Neomuna. Cloudstriders are a warrior group that protects Neomuna. They have a similar mission for Neptune’s civilization to the Guardians on Earth.

The futuristic metropolis will be open to players during the Lightfall events. Players can also expect to confront the Shadow Legion with their new Strand powers. Guardians will have new tools thanks to this latest subclass. This includes a grappling hook, which can grab the space between reality and swing to almost any location. Each class also has new things to discover, in addition to the grapple. Warlocks are telekinetic masters who can hurl missiles which unravel into swirling threads causing destruction everywhere they hit. Titans are able to create long claws which they can use against their adversaries. Hunters have access to an ultra-smooth rope dart.

Guardians are likely to need those new powers to confront the enemies in store for them. In addition to newly Darkness-infused Cabal warriors, a new Pyramid unit arrives with Calus’ forces: The Tormentor is a towering foe that wields a scythe in combat, and is clearly built to disrupt a battle with overwhelming force. In addition, after the positive response to Witch Queen’s legendary campaign, players can expect a new legendary campaign in Lightfall, tuned to offer impessive challenge and commensurate rewards.

Bungie highlighted some other initiatives it is working on in Destiny 2 2023 beyond the expansion content. Bungie is working to improve build-crafting and make it more accessible with loadout and mod management tools. To make Destiny easier to use and understand for new players, the team has created a structured, navigable route through the content. This includes Guardian Ranks. This ranks allow you to gradually display your abilities and showcase them to others within the game, so players are able to find better partners for new content. Alongside a new looking-for-group functionality, and the ability to apply commendations to your fellow players after an event completes, there’s a clear effort to reward good play, leadership, and companionable experiences with others.

While 2023 is looking bright, the showcase also brought details about the Season of Plunder, which launches today. It should not surprise, given the title, that the next few months will be devoted to pirate-themed adventures.

Eramis is the character we defeat in the Beyond Light Campaign. Eramis has begun to free herself and begin to collect crews of disenfranchised Fallen to her side. They are attempting to retrieve dark and lost relics throughout the system. To stop those efforts, you’ll build up your own pirate crew, recruiting new members onto your team over the course of the season, and even getting to navigate your own Fallen Ketch ship on your adventures. Those pirate experiences include several new activities. Ketch Crash, a ship-to-ship assault in which you jump from your Ketch onto a ship of enemy to stop them, is an example. Expedition is an activity where you’ll guide a massive drill to buried treasure relics while fending off foes. And Pirate Hideouts are a third new activity, in which you’ll infiltrate the places where the enemy pirate captains have stashed their loot.

The new season includes a redesign of Arc, which allows for similar build-crafting to Solar and Void, as well as the original Stasis appearance. Arc’s new redesign focuses on speed, aggression and closer inspection. Warlocks can transform into living arc attackers. Hunters get the Gathering Storm super, which allows them to throw a staff that is infused with Arc energy. Titans get a new movement called Thruster that seems to function a bit like the Hunter’s dodge, enabling you to close distances quickly or fling yourself quickly to the side. Titans will also have a charge melee that can kill one opponent in PvP.

Longtime Destiny fans will be pleased to hear about the return of the King’s Fall raid this season – one of the largest and most elaborate of Destiny’s raids, in which players take on Oryx, the Taken King.

Bungie also announced that they’re ending the sunsetting of expansions starting right now, so players can expect to experience everything that is in the game in the lead-up to the saga’s conclusion. The team is doing everything it can to make the game inviting to new players, including launching onto a new platform with the Epic Games Store, and offering a Gift of the Thundergod arc-oriented gear set for new players to snag after they start playing, which immediately offers good gear and a cool exotic – Thunderlord. For players who are interested, the entire expansions can be downloaded for free during this week.

It’s an exciting time to be a Destiny enthusiast, and it’s clear that Bungie has a clear roadmap ahead to continue making the game compelling over the coming months. Good luck to all the Guardians out there today as you start exploring the new Arc rework, and don’t forget to hoist the main sail as you start on your pirate adventures later today.