With one final mission and a movie that puts its protagonists in a sticky situation, Bungie has marked the end of Year 5 of Destiny 2. It’s time, therefore, to project ourselves into the future and the Eclipse expansion that will be released on February 28 for Xbox, Playstation and PC. This is an opportunity to look at all of the announcements that the studio has made over the past few weeks.
Destiny 2’s storyline should get a big boost
A new expansion means a new campaign and with it a big additional scenario. This year, Bungie promises major upheaval in the story the writers have been building since Destiny in 2014. It is actually the penultimate expansion of the Light and Darkness saga. After building up various elements over the last few years, in 2022 the Witch Queen’s campaign had finally revealed the face of the main antagonist, The Witness.
In Eclipse, players travel to Neomuna, the capital of Neptune, which is under siege by Calus and his Shadow Legions. The former Emperor Cabal, well known to the Guardians, sometimes friend or foe, will therefore make his grand comeback as the Witness’ apprentice. In Neomuna, players will discover an advanced and previously hidden civilization. The latter, protected by the Foules Clouds (a sort of local guardian), will be by our side to face Calus and the Witness, determined to put an end to the Traveler and the Light.
Campaign, goal, doctrine and news activities
The big piece of this new expansion will of course be its campaign. After the success of The Witch Queen, Eclipse is said to pick up on the codes and again be accompanied by two difficulty modes (Classic or Legend). The new campaign will also be an opportunity to learn how to master the new doctrine: the dark thread. This new power given to Guardians should offer fairly aggressive crowd control based gameplay.
The dark thread also includes a great innovation, since it will be possible to use a grappling hook, which should largely renew mobility and movement in combat as in the exploration phases. Among the novelties, Néomuna will be the new destination to explore freely. “Terminal Overload”, a new activity in 6-player matchmaking, will also be part of the game. Finally, on March 10th, a new raid will be launched with of course its race for the world premiere.
Bungie wants to improve the user interface and user experience
If the new extension will bring its share of new activities, the developers have also planned many changes in terms of user experience. First, there’s a new build UI that lets you see all the possible options on a single screen. The goal is to provide players with a much simpler and more readable system than before. Accompanying this new system is the ability to save up to ten builds per character, allowing you to change them on the fly depending on the situation.
In addition, there are the “Guardian Ranks”, a new progression system, with which goals to be achieved are to be defined much more precisely than usual, especially for new players. In addition, this system will also make it possible to highlight the various achievements obtained in the game.Finally, Eclipse foresees the arrival of “Praise” as a way of thanking players at the end of an activity that will be the occasion for the community to, for example, a Identify players who can help others in raids. Finally, the new in-game squad finder system is announced for Season 23, which is expected to launch in early December 2023.
The Resistance season will accompany the release with advancements
The release of Eclipse will be concurrent with Season 20 called Season of Resistance. His action will take place on Earth, which is being stormed by the forces of Calus and the witness. The Guardians must therefore defend the last city and save their friends. With this new season, Bungie begins the various sandbox changes planned for Year 6 of Destiny 2. The biggest point is the light level (player strength) of the Guardians, who will see a big development.
So far, its max level has been increased in every season and expansion, except for Eclipse and Season of the Resistance, which should be the very last increase. After that, Bungie wants to redirect the interest of the activities to the loot. At the same time, it is the difficulty of the activities that will experience a new approach. At the moment, each level of difficulty implied a recommended light level. In the future, the difficulty will be based on the difference between your power and that of the enemies, whose minimum distance will increase depending on the difficulty chosen.
Multiple releases and content throughout the year
These are the main new features coming to Destiny 2 with the February 28th, 2023 Eclipse expansion. Eclipse is a paid extension with two options to choose from. A simple version including the expansion as well as the season pass for season 20. Or the expansion with the annual pass, which includes the season passes for the 4 seasons of year 6, access to the two dungeons in seasons 21 and 23, and a number of exclusive rewards. Destiny 2 is expected to see many more changes through February 2024, while the other three seasons are yet to come.
For example, an old raid with revised mechanics will return in summer with Season 22, and changes in the season system are also planned. Finally, for those who want to start the new expansion when it is released, note that the game’s servers will be taken offline for 24 hours before launch on February 27 at 18:00 (French time). During this break it is possible to pre-download the extension. As for the future, Bungie assures us Destiny is far from over.