I erroneously suggested on Twitter and Mastodon that Bungie might finally have some news regarding what is next for them, speaking about their next original IP, slated to be a RPG adventure, eSport friendly with a name by Matter (maybe codename instead of official name?) aside for Lightfall.
But no, Bungie just referred to everything that is going for a short term in Destiny 2, mainly what to expect on Lightfall as the next main story expansion.
With the sense that Destiny 2 had become too predictable with time and a big weakness on the surprise element, Bungie via Game Director Joe Blackburn, announced some changes that went silently tested during the course of The Witch Queen Expansion.
First of all, the social aspect of the game and also the feeling of being challenged will be addressed so players can no longer feel burned out with repetitive activities and enemies that are expected to be challenging and are NOT, to ACTUALLY be challenging.
Starting with Lightfall, you will notice that ability cooldowns will take longer and enemies will hit harder and also you will notice that the Power mechanics for improving your light will begin to be depleted from importance and by 2024 to be gone entirely.
Adding to this, loots and Umbral Engrams will begane to be less repetitive or no constantly appearing to avoid people hoarding the same prizes over and over again and more seasonal engrams will be the main focus to guarantee new and different loots and also, Seasonal chests will unlock with a single key farmed from the seasonal activity.
Starting with the Lightfall we can expect that less seasonal vendors BUT, they will offer good upgrades and not repetitive (and ironically getting repetitive here, lol) and finally, Deepsight weapons only drop for patterns you don’t have yet.
As per missions and activities, New Crucible modes Countdown, Countdown Rush, and Checkmate Control with more challenging Vanguard Ops playlist, Lake of Shadows & Arms Dealer strikes upgraded and Battlegrounds missions added to Nightfall rotation.
Coming in Season 21 (Season of the Deep) and later:
- A new Looking for Group (LFG) tool
- Exotic armor added back into main activity loot pools
- Exotic mission rotator to bring back Presage and other favorites
- Random weapon rolls can be enhanced just like crafted weapons
This is pretty much the short and long term expectations for the expansion Lightfall, which will be released on February 28th, 2022.
