Destiny 2 ends timeout, but delays next expansion

Every year or so, one of Destiny 2’s top developers will write an extensive blog post inspecting MMOFPS issues and offering solutions. “It could be good,” I always think, “depending on how they implement it.” But the plans are always vague and have often turned out to be disappointing in reality. So I’m very happy that the latest blogblast features some very specific changes that are certainly welcome. Also, it looks like they could continue Destiny for many, many years.

First, the longer-term news from Associate Game Director Joe Blackburn’s 3,600-word article: This fall’s annual expansion, The Witch Queen, is delayed until early 2022. That’s in part. because the pandemic got in the way, and in part because they want to do it right as the Destiny story approaches some sort of conclusion. Players expected that ending to come in this Lightfall, expansion 2022, but apparently not – in two ways.

Blackburn said Bungie realized “that we need to add an additional unannounced chapter after Lightfall to fully complete our first Destiny saga.” 1) Oh, so Lightfall won’t be the end. 2) Oh! Even the end after Lightfall will only be the end of the “first saga”! Ooh! The current booth is called their “Light and Darkness Saga,” he said, with no indication of what might follow. I’d be happy with more Destiny expansions until Bungie releases their mysterious all-new stuff in 2025 and hell, I’ll take more Destiny after that too.

Witch Queen’s delay could be of concern, given that Beyond Light’s delay last year left the final pre-expansion season very thin. They at least have plenty of time to plan around that, and the plans for this year’s seasons look promising.

The biggest news for the next one, Season 14, is that Bungie is ending the procrastination. Non-exotic weapons and armor will no longer have a high level cap, you can infuse their power level. This delayed the duration of equipment use in endgame activities, caused many beloved weapons to regroup, and led to many replacements of old favorites. While Bungie doesn’t remove the timeout altogether (which would make me cry so much gear that I needlessly dismantled), they do end it. If the equipment can currently be infused up to the maximum power level this season of 1310, congratulations it will be good next season too and forever.

“With Season 11, we’ve introduced infusion caps, an infusion iteration designed to keep Destiny’s gear set fresh from release to release and to create a healthy ecosystem for our ambitious content,” said Blackburn. . “While we still believe in these goals, it is clear that our execution was irrelevant.”

I myself was up for a theoretically cautious procrastination, if Bungie could demonstrate any interesting consequences. They did not do it. It’s such a nuisance to grind for new armor, and especially for new re-released Sunset Weapon Rolls. Sunsetting also left the current meta with a real shortage of kinetic weapons using special ammo. Goodbye, bad system.

Looking forward to more changes with the still unnamed Season 14 …

• Grind power is reduced, with future caps only increasing by 10 per season. Well. But at this point, why even keep it?
• Destiny’s Vault Of Glass first raid emerges from the Destiny Content Vault. There will also be another World First Race, with a slew of tough triumphs, as people already know how to complete the raid.
• Ikora will stop moping silently around the tower and become part of history again.
• Transmogrification will finally arrive. Synthesis of Armor, as it’s called, will allow players to turn armor into universal adornments to slap on other gear (and no, you don’t need to hoard in preparation – it will ruin your collections) . Ada-1 from the Black Armory will return to do so, along with the materials needed for transmogrification materials obtained either by doing bounties or paying cash (actual microtransaction cash). I have so many fashion projects.
• Shaders will no longer be inventory items, just unlock that we can easily apply through similar adornments in the new appearance customization screen. Hooray.

Bungie also plans to change Stasis to PvP this season and the next two. Stasis Hunters and Titans will be nerfed, Warlocks will have bugs fixed, and being frozen will give additional damage reduction. I still think Stasis is irreparably bad for PvP because being slowed down or frozen still isn’t fun in a first person game, but I guess that’s something?

Other promising future projects …

• Ending “3-peeking” in Trials and Competitive PvP, the strategy of pulling out a sword without ammo to get the third-person camera and watch the rounded corners. You will only be able to equip them if they have ammo. Well.
• Fight cheaters by doubling the size of the security team.
• Polish underutilized light subclasses, which in my opinion is … most of them?
• Try not to make the trials so boring that players would rather jump off cliffs than play.
• Real Stasis weapons suitable for your energy and power slots, not just that novelty rubbo ice launcher we have right now.
• Cross-platform play is coming in Season 15. PC and console players will not be matched in PvP, unless the consoles specifically join a PC game.
• Continue to polish Crucible by rebalancing guns, introducing new weapon perks, and possibly making weapons a little more focused than they currently are relative to abilities.
• And yes, the Dominant Felwinter Crucible Shotgun will have a nerf. Although bad news for the PvE buddies: Warmind Cells will probably also take a hit.

Ah, lots of good things. Yes, some of these plans are the vague statements of intent we’ve heard before, but enough big plans are concrete that I’m very happy. Swallowing their pride and ending the procrastination is such a relief. The reduction in grind power is long overdue. Destiny’s violence, exploration, and raiding are so good I would have continued without these changes, but now I’m going to growl a lot less. Although I’m incredibly skeptical of the even more vague talk about fixing Crucible, which has been destroyed and neglected for so long.

I didn’t recap everything because ha ha ha, so read the blog yourself. What do you think of all this?