Destiny 2 will undergo its next great transformation when The Witch Queen finally arrives on February 22. This new content comes with a catch, however, as older content is moved to the Destiny Content Vault to make room for what’s new. There is still time to play this content and collect loot that may soon become hard to find. Here is everything you should do before The Witch Queen arrives.
Further reading
- Here’s the entire Destiny 2 story explained, up through Beyond Light
- How to make a clan in Destiny 2, and where to go from there
- How to transfer your Destiny 2 account to Steam
Story
A significant amount of story is being excised with the upcoming update and, unlike weapons, it is not likely to be easily accessible again any time soon. We strongly suggest players who are interested in the grand Destiny narrative start here.
Forsaken
The entire Forsaken campaign is leaving soon. This is far and away the largest piece of the Destiny story that is leaving, and it is a major tone-setter for much of what you currently see in Destiny 2. The entire Forsaken faction, the Tangled Shore, Spider, and the fate of Cayde-6 are all part of this release. The good news is this campaign is currently free to play. Most players should be able to complete this in 6 to 8 hours, well worth the time investment to play through.
Season of the Hunt
The Season of the Hunt launched with the Beyond Light expansion. It’s also the origin story for Crow, a key character in the current Destiny 2 Season. Your job is to hunt the Wrathborn, an army of Hive and Fallen under the command of a Hive God. This is the first domino to fall in what leads to the upcoming Hive heavy expansion.
Season of the Chosen
Destiny 2 began with a story of a Cabal invasion of Earth, culminating in a raid to take on Calus, the emperor of the Cabal. Season of the Chosen acts as a bridge between that time period, and the current events of Destiny 2. Caiatl, Cabal Empress of daughter of Calus, has come to earth to forge an alliance against the encroaching darkness. She demands fealty in return for her partnership, leading to conflict. This introduced the H.E.L.M., a new public space and mission hub, and the Battlegrounds, a series of three-player matchmade battles against the Cabal to assert dominance in this uneasy partnership.
Season of the Splicer
The Season of the Splicer continues the theme of old enemies becoming allies, as a splinter group of humanity-friendly Fallen may hold the key to putting a stop to a Vex simulation plunging the world into an endless night. It’s one of the most interesting stories in Destiny 2, tackling issues like xenophobia head-on. A new six-player matchmade activity called Override was introduced, as were the three-person Expunge missions. This also marked the return of the Vault of Glass raid, which (thankfully) will continue to be accessible.
Season of the Lost
The Season of the Lost is the final season of the Beyond Light expansion. It marks the return of Mara Sov, Queen of the awoken, and the official introduction of Savathûn , the titular Witch Queen of the upcoming expansion. This is the official lead-up to the next major campaign. It introduced the Shattered Realms missions, and the six-player Offensive: Astral Alignment activity. In many ways, this is the prelude to the next major step forward in Destiny.
Weapons
Weapons themselves don’t really get vaulted, and Bungie has largely walked back their policy of sunsetting items. Still, the way some weapons are acquired will be going away, and there is no guarantee that they will be readily available any time soon. It’s better to play it safe and grab these weapons now.
Hawkmoon
Hawkmoon is an exotic Hand Cannon and has been around since the beginning of the Destiny franchise. Precisions hits and final blows power up the last round in the magazine, and the superior handling makes this gun a PVP favorite. Visit Spider on the tangled shore and collect the quest As the Crow Flies. This will set you on the path to adding to unlock the Harbinger mission, which awards Hawkmoon. As an added bonus, you can redo Harbinger to try and earn better secondary perks on the gun. It’s a perfect opportunity to chase your ideal Hand Cannon.
Dead Man’s Tale
Dead Man’s Tale is an old-fashioned lever-action rifle, perfect if your guardian has a bit of old west cowboy in them. This olde tyme firearm has a perk called Cranial Spike. Landing precision hits adds stacks that increase damage while decreasing reload speeds. Skilled play turns this easy-to-use and accurate rifle into a solid DPS machine. Launch the Arms Dealer strike from the Director, and clear the first room of enemies. Don’t hack the computer right away, instead keep to the right and go through the door. You’ll find some additional enemies and a Distress Signal. Once you’ve picked up the signal, head to Zavala in the Tower and he will send you on the Presage mission. Dead Man’s Tale is a reward for completing this mission, and, much like Harbinger and Hawkmoon, this can be redone to earn different perks on the gun.
Lord of Wolves
One of the more unique weapons in Destiny 2 is the Lord of Wolves. It’s a shotgun, but rather than fire single blasts of shot, it fires a burst of hard-hitting shells. It’s effective at surprisingly long range and works well in PVP or PVE. This gun is earned by completing bounties for Spider, resident crime boss of the Tangled Shore. It is a random drop, so your best bet is to visit Spider regularly, and keep completing his bounties until the RNG gods smile upon you.
How else to spend your time
The Prismatic Recaster allows you to specify what types of items will drop from engrams, and gives you influence over the stats of armor you decrypt. Unfortunately, it is going away along with the rest of H.E.L.M. No replacement has been identified, so you should assume for now that your best option for controlling the rolls on gear will soon be gone. Keep collecting Umbral Engrams and use the Recaster to hunt for your best arms and accouterment.
Etheric Spiral is the destination material for the Tangled Shore and will be disappearing soon. One of Spider’s functions is to exchange materials. Now would be a great time to turn all your Etheric Spiral into another material or glimmer. Spider regularly changes what materials he will trade, so if he’s not taking Etheric Spiral one week, be sure to check back the next.
Ranking up the Wayfinder’s Compass, Splicer Servitor, and War Table in the H.E.L.M will give you the ability to purchase unique mods. Keep completing the triumphs for the Seasons associated with those devices to increase your rank and snatch up these mods while you can. It is not known if a way to acquire these mods will be added later, so get them no while you can.
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