The next year in Destiny 2 is ‘the beginning of the end’

By Jacob Roach August 23, 2022

Destiny 2 isn’t slowing down, and Bungie just wrapped its annual showcase timed with Gamescom Opening Night Live. We finally got details on the next expansion, Lightfall, and Bungie revealed what activities players can enjoy in the game’s latest season. And, of course, Bungie revealed it’s bringing back the King’s Fall raid to Destiny 2.

Contents

Lightfall and Strand
Better community tools
Season of Plunder and King’s Fall
Destiny 2 is coming to Epic Games Store

Destiny 2 Showcase 2022 - Livestream

You can comb through the full event above, but we rounded up all the big announcements so you can get up to date.

Lightfall and Strand

Destiny 2: Lightfall - Reveal Trailer

Before getting to what’s coming this season, Bungie showed the first trailer for the next expansion, Lightfall. Game designer Joe Blackburn said this is “the beginning of the end” with Lightfall, and the trailer dropped several big hints about what we’ll see in the expansion.

A new subclass called Strand takes point. It’s a darkness subclass like Stasis, but Bungie says Guardians are the first to wield it. A grappling hook seems to be a big focus on the new subclass, allowing you to quickly transverse the city on Neptune. Strand is “about peeling back the curtain of reality,” utilizing the hidden threads that tie the universe together.

The Strand subclass in Destiny 2. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

We got some story details as well. The infamous emperor Calus has been chosen as the new disciple of The Witness, and the expansion is centered around Neptune (a new destination for Destiny 2). There, you’ll find a metropolis where a race known as Cloud Striders have developed separately from humans.

The expansion launches on February 28, 2023, and pre-orders are available now. Just like The Witch Queen, Lightfall will feature a Legendary campaign mode for hardcore players.

Better community tools

Loadout manager in Destiny 2. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Alongside Lightfall, Bungie said it plans on making some community changes over the next year. You can give Guardians commendations for being a good player, easily find groups for raids or dungeons, and gain Guardian Ranks, which allow you to level up and show off your mastery of Destiny 2 from top to bottom.

We’ll also see a mod manager and loadout builder. Bungie says you’ll be able to save a few different loadouts directly in Destiny 2 so you can easily swap between them when you want to change up how you play.

Season of Plunder and King’s Fall

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen - Season of Plunder Trailer

The showcase marks the start of Season of the Plunder, which is a pirate-themed season that includes new weapons, three new activities, and the return of an iconic raid from the original Destiny.

The season starts with Eramis breaking out of the Stasis Guardians left her in at the end of Beyond Light. Your pirate crew, which Bungie says you’ll be able to build during the season, will start with some returning faces including The Drifter and Mithrax.

Season of Plunder weapons in Destiny 2. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Players have three new activities: Hideouts, Expeditions, and Ketchcrash. Ketchcrash is a six-player activity where players will raid pirate ships, Expeditions take you through looking for hidden treasure, and Hideouts let you take out Eramis’ quarters where strange artifacts are being held.

Bungie announced it would bring back another raid from Destiny this year, similar to what it did with Vault of Glass last year. Destiny 2 is seeing the return of King’s Fall, which is one of the most iconic raids from the original game. It will go live on Friday, August 26 at 10 a.m. PT. During the first 24 hours, Bungie will hold a raid race with the Contest Mode modifier, which caps your power level for a more difficult challenge.

The first fireteam to beat King’s Fall and complete each encounter’s challenge will win the raid race. Good luck, Guardians.

Destiny 2 is coming to Epic Games Store

Destiny 2 on Epic Games Store - Fortnite + Fall Guys Crossover Trailer

Destiny 2 is coming to the Epic Games Store today, and to sweeten the offer, Bungie is offering its 30th Anniversary content pack for free to anyone who downloads. Over the next week, players will also be able to play all of the Destiny 2 expansions for free regardless of the platform they’re on, as well as claim a free gear set called Gift of the Thunder Gods, which includes a set of Arc gear including the Thunderlord exotic.

As leaks suggested prior to the showcase, Destiny 2 and Fortnite are coming together. Three Destiny 2 skins are available in Fortnite starting today, and three armor sets inspired by Fortnite are in Destiny 2. In addition, Fall Guys will receive a set of Destiny–themed costumes on September 17.

For long-time Guardians, Bungie had an even more exciting announcement — no more sunsetting. Destiny 2 saw most of its content removed with the launch of Beyond Light, but Bungie says it won’t take any more expansions out of the game moving forward.

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Senior Staff Writer, Computing

Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…

Gaming

The best weapon upgrades in Alan Wake 2

Saga fights off a Taken in Alan Wake 2.

The Dark Place and Cultists in Alan Wake 2 may be dark and twisted manifestations of an evil force, but once you shed away the darkness, everything will fall into your arsenal of firearms. Neither Alan nor FBI agent Saga are exactly equipped with the firepower you'd want when wandering through the haunted woods and mind-bending Dark Place, but they can make do with what they have in clever ways. Saga specifically is skilled enough to upgrade all the weapons in her inventory to better protect herself against the supernatural threats that stalk her. Upgrades don't come cheap, and if you find all the weapons in the game, you will need to make some tough calls on how you improve them. Here are the upgrades you need to see the final chapter of Alan Wake 2's story.
How weapon upgrades work

You can upgrade your weapons whenever you like in Alan Wake 2 by visiting Saga's Mind Place. Any weapon you have is available to upgrade there, provided you have the required amount of manuscript fragments that you collect from the hidden Luncboxes around the map. These are distinct from the Cult Stashes, so be on the lookout for them since you will need to find quite a few before you can afford even the first upgrade.
Best weapon upgrades
More Bullets
Your starting pistol may not be the most flashy gun in Alan Wake 2, but it is always reliable and it never stops being effective. The first upgrade you should get has to be More Bullets. This will increase the pistol's default magazine size from 12 to 18. This will obviously make it easier and safer to deal with encounters since you won't be caught reloading as often but also helps keep your inventory clean since less space will be taken up for ammo.
Another Headshot
For another pistol upgrade, Another Headshot is very powerful if you're a sharpshooter. If you can score two headshots in a row, the unlucky Cultist will be stunned for a comically long time. That gives you plenty of time to either deal free damage, heal, or just run away if you're low on resources and not prepared for a fight.
Ready for More
The best shotgun upgrade is easily Ready for More. Healing is not only a limited resource, which again takes up inventory space but also a somewhat long animation. If you're in a tight situation and on the verge of death, there usually isn't much you can do. Ready for More can bail you out since it will turn any kill you get with the shotgun into a bit of healing. It isn't a huge amount, but every bit makes a difference.
Two Shots
The Crossbow may be a late-game addition to your toolset, but is absolutely worth saving some manuscript fragments to upgrade ASAP. Two Shots is borderline essential, making it so you can fire twice rather than just once before needing to reload.
Magnetic Pull
Magnetic Pull could be the best upgrade in the game. With it, after you skewer an enemy with a bolt, switching to another gun will make those bullets track to the bolt for guaranteed hits. If you're comfortable swapping weapons on the fly, this is satisfying and efficient.

Gaming

For horror fans, Fortnite is secretly gaming’s best haunted house

Fortnite Jonesy running from a ghost bride in a dimly lit hallway.

I never thought the day would come where I'd call Fortnite one of the greatest horror games of all time, but here we are.

If you find yourself questioning that revelation, I completely get it. “Is he talking about the tension of Battle Royale mode? Or maybe the zombies in the Save the World playlist?” No. I straight-up mean there is a fantastic horror game inside Fortnite. There are hundreds of them, in fact, and they're all completely free. These experiences, made entirely by fans in the game's creative mode, feel completely separate from the game they're based in. When taking an even closer look, I found that an entire community of developers have been saturating the Fortnite horror genre with quality titles for audiences of all ages.

Gaming

Destiny 2 studio Bungie hit by layoffs, internal game delays

A runner runs in Marathon.

Amid a wave of layoffs at Destiny developer and Sony subsidiary Bungie this week, Destiny 2: The Final Shape and Marathon have both reportedly been delayed.
On Monday morning, tweets from developers revealed that Bungie, which was acquired by Sony in January 2022, was suffering layoffs. This was followed up by a report from Bloomberg that went into more detail about the layoffs and their impact on Bungie's future games. Sony and Bungie have not officially commented on the delays yet, although the Bloomberg article mentions that Bungie CEO Pete Parsons will hold a team meeting later today to discuss the layoffs further. This all follows contractor layoffs at Sony studio Naughty Dog earlier this month, which happened as that studio struggles to develop and release a The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bloomberg suggests that these layoffs, like others at Sony this year, are tied to internal game delays. While Destiny 2: The Final Shape is publicly slated to come out in February 2024, Bungie reportedly told staff that it's now going to come out in June 2024. Meanwhile, we learned that Bungie's revival of Marathon was apparently targeting a 2024 launch -- although no release window was given officially -- but will now come out sometime in 2025. These delays make the PlayStation 5's 2024 game lineup look pretty sparse right now outside of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it suggests that Destiny 2's next season will be one of its longest.
As of now, Sony and Bungie have not publicly commented on the layoffs or delays, but we will update this post when they do say more about it.