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16 February 2023
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This Week at Bungie -02/16/2023

This week at Bungie, we have a ViDoc, a cinematic, and some Lightfall news to cover.

Happy TWABsday, Guardians! Before we get into today's news, did you see the ViDoc?! Our End Begins! Weaving the Threads! Welcome to Neomuna! Okay, I'll stop shouting the titles in the ViDoc now. But on a less "yelly" note, seeing Rohan, Nimbus, the pouka pond, new Exotic armor and weapons, on top of working with Devrim, Petra—[deep breaths] yeah, let's roll it one more time.

TL;DR

And because this seems to be a Guardian favorite, we've got a TL;DR. Here's one for last week's TWAB.

  • The latest Strand news.
  • Update on performance issues tied to latency.
  • FotL results and Trials map voting.
  • Prime Gaming loot update.
  • VFX and Dresstiny going forward.
  • And more!

Oh, while we're at it, here's what's coming up in this week's TWAB too:

  • Journey Through Darkness trailer.
  • The ViDoc.
  • Season 19 ending cinematic.
  • Destiny 2 x SteelSeries.
  • Transmog for your desktop (wallpapers).
  • Lightfall ritual weapon reveal (and ornaments).

Journey Through Darkness

We've been sharing quite a lot of information almost daily recently, hence the TL;DR. We wanted to share this interactive way to get caught up on what you need to know going into Lightfall, just in case you know a Guardian or two who may have been touching grass instead of hitting rank 497 in their Season Pass.

Lightfall Interactive Trailer

Lightfall and the Year Ahead

On Monday, we sat down with Joe Blackburn, Game Director for Destiny 2, and he told us more about Lightfall and the year ahead.

  • Big goals for Season 20 and future Seasons leading up to The Final Shape:
    • Expand players' imaginations
      • Currency and engram changes.
      • Continuing to cast a wide net when it comes to themes within Destiny 2.
      • New weapon crafting enhancements.
  • Bring challenge back to Destiny
    • Baseline challenge in most content being brought up.
    • Increasing ability recharge time.
    • Reducing damage resistance granted by resilience.
    • Reining in unintentional power creep.
  • Enrich our content
    • Upcoming Crucible Updates
      • New Crucible Labs modes.
      • Countdown returns in Season 20 with a new mode variant.
      • Three PvP maps coming in 2023.
      • New matchmaking updates.
    • PvE Updates
      • Season 16 and 19 Battlegrounds added to Vanguard Ops.
      • Refreshing Lake of Shadows and The Arms Dealer strikes.
      • Mars Heist Battlegrounds coming to Nightfall rotation.
      • Exotic Mission rotator planned for Season 22.
      • Targeted changes to ritual content throughout the year.
  • Connect our Guardians
    • Commendations and Guardian Ranks coming with Lightfall.
    • Text chat updates planned.
    • Fireteam Finder early preview.

Enhancing Weapon Crafting TL;DR

This week we shared a blog post going over weapon crafting changes and going a bit more in depth with those. Because we know you're ready for your second to last TL;DR* (*may or may not be second to last TL;DR), here you go. 😊 Year 6 of Destiny 2 will include weapon crafting changes to:

  • Deepsight Resonance.
  • Resonant Elements.
  • Enhanced raid Adept weapons.
  • And more!

We're also seeing some conversations around crafting, and we wanted to confirm that for Lightfall's release, the number of crafted weapons will be similar to what was released in The Witch Queen.

What you can craft in Season 20:

  • Seasonal weapons.
  • Neomuna weapons.
  • Base raid weapons
  • Plus, a handful of other weapons that don't have direct comparisons to TWQ sources.

In Season 21 going forward, the following will be craftable:

  • Seasonal weapons.
  • Raid reprise weapons.

Destiny 2 x SteelSeries

Neptune's gleaming megacity of Neomuna is the inspiration behind the new limited-edition Destiny 2: Lightfall collection of SteelSeries and KontrolFreek accessories. The collection includes the award-winning Arctis 7+ Headset, Aerox 5 Wireless Gaming Mouse, QcK Prism XL Mousepad, and KontrolFreek Thumbsticks.

As a bonus, customers who purchase something from the special-edition collection will receive exclusive in-game cosmetics for Destiny 2:the Viral Celebration emote and Luminescent Precision emblem, designed specifically for the Destiny 2 x SteelSeries collaboration. Available starting today at BungieStore.com, SteelSeries.com, and KontrolFreek.com.

Moar Cinematics!

On Monday, we had our "Lightfall and the Year Ahead" blog go live. Tuesday brought us a new Season ending cinematic featuring Ana, Rasputin, the Traveler, and well, if you haven't seen it yet... check it out:

Oh, and that moment that sent you hurtling back to 2014, we heard you wanted a high-res version for your wallpaper needs.


Desktop Version
Mobile Version

It's Not The Holidays Anymore, But We've Got Ornaments!

And the Lightfall ritual weapon coming in Season 20 is going to be.... [drum roll]

Introducing Ecliptic Distaff, a Void Glaive. While we aren't going to share all of the details, we did want to share the new perks debuting on this weapon: Replenishing Aegis and Destabilizing Rounds.

Also, here's a look at the different ornaments.

Boosted

Starting with Lightfall, we're changing how paid Character Boosts work. Specifically, we're introducing a new type of Character Boost that includes a campaign skip.

Once Lightfall launches, players will see one of two types of boosts on their character screen depending on their progress:

  1. Lightfall Character Boost
    1. Appears when you hit soft cap with one character but have not completed Lightfall
    2. This boost provides the selected character with a set of high Power level gear
    3. This boost does not skip the campaign
  2. Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost
    1. Appears when you complete Lightfall
    2. Skips the Lightfall campaign for your selected character and unlocks Strand
    3. This only includes a set of high Power level gear if your main character has hit the Soft Cap

If you haven't reached the Soft Cap or completed the Lightfall campaign, neither Character Boost will be available.

It's also worth noting that while the Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost does unlock Strand, you won't receive the rewards (items, upgrade materials, etc.) you would've earned through playing through the campaign. Lastly, you might've guessed this, but skipping the campaign doesn't count as having completed Legendary mode or any of the post-campaign missions. If you want those Triumphs, you'll still need to play through the missions.

The Centurion in the room is obviously, "Does this mean I can skip previous campaigns too?". There isn't a way for now, but rest assured, we'll continue to monitor your feedback on the matter.

Player Support Report

Who's ready to be so shiny next Season?

The Player Support team is back this week with deadline reminders, PlayStation pre-load info, and some known issues.

LIGHTFALL 24-HOUR DOWNTIME

To prepare for the launch of Lightfall, Destiny 2 is scheduled for 24-hour downtime. Destiny 2 will be brought offline at 9 AM PST (-8 UTC), February 27, at which time:
  • Ongoing activities will end.
  • Players will be returned to the title screen.
  • Pre-loading for Lightfall on all platforms will become available.

Players will be able to log back in once downtime concludes at 9 AM PST (-8 UTC), February 28.

BUNGIE REWARDS DEADLINE

During the 24-hour downtime leading up to Lightfall's launch, players will be unable to claim and purchase Bungie Rewards. Bungie Rewards from Season 19 and The Witch Queen that are expiring must be earned and claimed by the beginning of downtime at 9 AM PST (-8 UTC), February 27.

PLAYSTATION PRE-LOAD

PS4 players, and PS5 players using the PS4 version of Destiny 2, who are looking to pre-load Lightfall should make sure that they have about ~80 GB of free space for an additional install package to be downloaded on top of the existing Destiny 2 ones. The old packages will be removed once Lightfall launches, but during the 24-hour downtime, both versions will need to be in storage for the pre-load to succeed.

MISSING MARKETING EMAILS

Players having issues receiving Destiny 2's marketing emails should work through the troubleshooting steps provided in our Troubleshooting Marketing Email Issues help article.

If these steps do not resolve the issues, players should submit a help request using the contact form linked in the article. This form is only dedicated to opting players into receiving Bungie's marketing emails.

KNOWN ISSUES

While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help forum:
  • We are continuing to investigate reports of WEASEL errors occurring for characters on log in.
  • Players who receive a leaver penalty in the Competitive Crucible playlist may be unable to launch into the playlist once their leaver penalty has expired. This can be resolved by swapping characters and playing another match in the Competitive Crucible playlist.
  • VFX from the Symmetry Exotic perk, Revolution, may continue to display for players once the weapon is stowed.
  • The Push the Objective Crucible bounty does not gain progress in Momentum Control.
  • Daily Crucible bounties for capturing zones in Control are unable to be completed when Iron Banner is active.


For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Destiny House

Hippy: Destiny House: It's like Destiny 2 but stuck in a 1990s' sitcom format. And we say "stuck" in the most loving way because the cheesiness of the '90s is matched only by its epicness. If you were a fan of Full House growing up, then this Movie of the Week is the one for you. Somebody do Step by Step next, please, and thank you.

Movie of the Week: Destiny House

Sam: The past few weeks have been nothing but hype after trailer after blog post, so for this MOTW pick, we are slowing down a little bit and checking out a new weather channel we came across.

Movie of the Week: Destiny 2 Weather Channel

Nap Time

Happy belated Valentine's Day to all Guardians out there! We hope you had a wonderful day with your special ones and celebrated with lots of love and, of course, chocolate. Love to you all out there in the stars.

Art of the Week: "The one that brought me light.. was Saint."

Ivan: Where are they heading? What's on their mind? Probably not regular father and son stuff. Well, the Hive has its ways, and the Hive knows how to do Hive stuff. We have stopped them many times before, but maybe this time we'll let them do whatever they want?

Art of the Week: Dad and his boys

Art of the Week: Nap time protocol

Alright Guardians, we think that about covers it for today. Twelve days until Lightfall. Goodness, time sure flies when you're saving humanity, doesn't it?

Stay Crafty,

Sam