After somewhat of a reboot a few months ago with the Witch Queen expansion, Destiny 2 has been revitalized in the hearts and minds of its fans. In fact as I sit here and write this, a post sits at the top of the games subreddit entitled “This is the Golden Age of one of the greatest games ever.” Included here is a deluge of compliments being levied at the feet of the men and women of Bungie Studios. If you have followed this game and community as long as I have you would know this is not business as usual for the Destiny subreddit.
As much as that post is a tribute though, it is also a send off as fans prepare for the first big content drop since Witch Queen, Season of the Haunted. Launching today and running until August 23rd, Season of the Haunted looks to add to the story of Witch Queen as well as to the positive sandbox changes that came along with it.
The trailer above was released to kick off the season. In it we see the return of a familiar face, and by face I mean the planet-eating spaceship The Leviathan. Anyone who played the original release of Destiny 2 should recognize this as the home of the game’s first raid encounter and final boss Emperor Calus. This time, though, the ship is doing its best Shadowkeep impression, as it appears to be infested with Nightmare apparitions similar to those found in the Shadowkeep expansion. Here is a quick note on the story from Bungie.
Driven by an insatiable lust for power, Calus seeks the approval of a new master. His once-opulent ship, now derelict and corrupted, has returned to our galaxy—its sights set on the power promised by the Pyramid ship lying dormant on the Moon. As the Leviathan forms a connection with the Pyramid, Nightmares of humanity’s past awaken and threaten to torment any who dare intervene. Stare into the abyss and find bravery within the mantle of the reaper and the steel of the scythe.
The Leviathan is said to be a free roam/patrol area this time around and will be home to the two new PvE modes coming with Season of the Haunted: Nightmare Containment and Sever. Nightmare Containment is presumably a six-player event where you fend off challenging nightmare enemies (which in the past have been a combination of previous bosses and new foes). This mode will be free to all players. While the second mode, Sever, is part of the paid season pass and will be tied to the seasonal story which will explain exactly why exactly Calus has returned.
There is also a new dungeon launching on May 27th which has surprisingly little-to-no information available yet. However, The Leviathan being a patrol area heavily implies the dungeon will take place there. This dungeon is some what controversially only available to those who have the Witch Queen Deluxe Edition or paid for the Dungeon Pass (2000 Silver / approx 20$ USD).
The most anticipated content of the expansion though may just be the continuation of Witch Queens Void 3.0, with Solar 3.0. The changes made in the Witch Queen for the Void subclass brought much needed flexibility as the three main classes began to feel outdated next to the Darkness class introduced in Beyond Light. The changes look very refreshing and are absolutely what I’m looking forward to the most. Bungie has released a Developer Insight into these changes for even more details on the new ways to kill space monsters with your friends.
After an excruciatingly long wait there are finally some meaningful updates coming to the PvP sandbox in terms of new modes and maps. The new map was something that was teased by the games director last summer in this tweet, and last weeks TWAB revealed that Iron Banner would be changing this season from the control mode to the Rift mode from the original Destiny. Rift is essentially a Destiny-ified version of Capture the Flag. On top of all of that you have a brand new seasonal pass with some very cool looking gear to unlock including the returning Destiny 1 Exotic Trespasser side arm.
Although from the looks of things the burning questions left for us at the end of Witch Queen may still go unanswered, there is a lot of cool stuff on offer here, and I look forward to jumping in to it all. For full impressions of Destiny 2: Season of the Haunted stay tuned to Seasoned Gaming!
