Destiny 2’s best loot mechanic from last year returns

Destiny 2Umbral Engrams and Prismatic Recaster from Season 11 return in Season 13, Bungie announced in this week’s blog post. That’s great news, given that it made for one of the best loots in the game’s recent past.

Unlike most legendary engrams Destiny 2, which decipher into random gear over which you have no control, Shadow Engrams can be “refocused” in Prismatic Recaster (a strange vat of space magic) into specific pieces of gear more likely to have certain benefits or statistics. There is still some RNG involved, but it’s far from the driving force behind the grind. Also, the weapons Umbral Engrams could decipher were all very good. The whole progression system was so popular, in fact Bungie now plans to bring it back, but with additional abilities.

“The Prismatic Recaster returns as a kiosk with the ability to change Shadow Engrams into Focused Shadow Engrams, which contain a smaller loot table,” the studio writes. “Because the shadow engrams are here to stay, the new Recaster will have different pages for each season, and you can focus the engrams on the season of your choice.”

This is part of Bungie’s new commitment to reduce seasonal ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) and ensure that new missions and activities added every few months last all year rather than disappear once the new season started. For example, Season of the Hunt’s Wrathborn Hunts and corresponding story quests will continue until the end of the latest version of the game. Beyond the light expansion. Umbral Engrams and the Recaster, meanwhile, will provide a new way to get targeted loot from previous seasons without being completely at the mercy of RNG. It’s really cool to see.

At the same time, like everything else Destiny 2, this news is divided in several ways. Am I impatient for one of the best loot mechanics in the game to return? Of course. Do I want to work on upgrading the Recaster again so that I have a better chance of unlocking the exact gear I want? God no. It remains to be seen what loot Umbral Engrams will contain next season, and what will be involved in the revamp of the new Recaster, but I’m skeptical that I won’t feel like I’m repeating the tasks I’ve already completed. And of course, on top of it all is the Specter of the Sunset that gives all the loot you get in Destiny 2 an expiration date.

The other big news this week is that Bungie is adding a new level of titles to the game that will effectively allow players to replenish and “prestige” the main titles – Flawless, Conqueror, Unbroken, Dredgen – that they have already completed. This will add a golden border. At the end of the season, however, those boundaries will disappear, encouraging players to take on new challenges to regain super cool status the following season. I’ve never been very invested in titles and triumphs, but I’ve always admired the ones that did and the cute little badges that appear on the screen when you inspect the build of a player who has them. a.

It’s the permanence that makes them so special, and the addition of a golden achievement that resets every two months feels like another symptom of Destiny 2 becoming too focused on the seasons. Like the content of indoor and outdoor cycling, and time loot, some aspects of the game are starting to feel more like a rat race than ever before, and I’m not here for that. But at least the Umbral engrams are back.