State of the Game - Aug 2023

Highlights

Ritual Playlists:

• Ritual rewards are being combined. No need to do 3 strikes, 3 crucible games, and 3 gambit games each week.
• Newest ritual weapons can be target farmed the season they release instead of waiting a season.

PVP:

• Trials GL is Strand. Unclear if it's breach or Heavy.
• New Vex network map coming next Season. Asymmetrical map for multiple modes.
• New 6v6 Relic mode.
  • Party Mode
  • VoG Aegis, Synaptic Spear, and Haunted Scythe will be usable in this mode.
  • Players charge their relic energy with their normal loadout and grab one from a specific map point.
• Checkmate (gun focused PVP) is a modifier.
  • More focus on Primary weapon gunplay.
  • Guardian health is increased.
  • Longer range weapons are less effective.
  • Ability cooldowns lengthened
  • Special Ammo not dropped on death.
• Relic and Checkmate start in labs in Season 22.
• Matchmaking updates to Iron Banner and Control in Season 22
• New Iron Banner mode in Season 23
• New Aggressive Strand Pulse as comp reward in Season 23
• No new comp reward in Season 22. Mecurial Overreach Sniper will remain the reward.
• Citadel Dreaming City Map returning in Season 23.

Vanguard:

• Vanguard Medals available in Strikes and Nightfalls in Season 22
• Finishers will not grant medals.
• New medals in Season 22 and 23 we haven't seen yet.
• Selection of Medals is determined by the active surges to encourage diversity.
• Additional battlegrounds coming to the Ops playlist in Season 22 and 23.

Gambit (RIP):

• No plans to transform Gambit.
• Player engagement is too low and it would take resources from other parts of the game.
• Dreaming City Map is returning
• Shadow Legion & Lucent Hive are being added as enemy types.
• Reducing number of Gambit specific seasonal challenges.

Armor Set Rewards:

• Haven't gotten new ritual armor because it's challenging to make and players don't use it as armor or cosmetics.
• New Trials armor in Season 22. Titan looks like a Bear?
• New Ritual armor in TFS but will no longer get a new set with each expansion.

Security:

• Bungie is getting better at detecting cheaters.
• Legal team is aggressively going after cheat makers.

Stability:

• Logs and monitoring helped get updates in place quicker than previously thought.
• Issues with the Claims service has improved.
• Patch 7.2.0 is focused on fixing existing issues.
• Patch 7.3.0 is aiming to prevent future ones.

Quality of Life Updates (All Season 22):

• Favorite Shaders (thank god)
• Pin up to 100 shaders.
• Any character who completes the Beyond Light campaign can unlock all Stasis Aspects and Fragments from Elsie Bray. No more waiting for reset.
• Transmat effects are permanent unlocks.
• Wishender quest updated.
• Resources tab in collections. Shows you where to get them and what they're for.
• Changes to IB challenges. One challenge to get the multiplier that doesn't require specific subclasses. Pinnacle will require specific subclasses.

Sandbox Updates:

• New strand Aspects in Season 22
  • Whirling Malestrom for Hunter
  • Banner of War for Titan
  • Weavewalk for Warlock
• More exotic armor reworks in Season 22. No specifics.
• New weapon subfamilies coming. Will be shown during the showcase.

Weapon Tuning:

• Goes over the changes coming to range values and damage falloff. See the other post for more details.

Goals for the next 6 Months:

• Expand Player's Imaginations
  • New seasonal paradigm coming. To be revealed at the showcase.
  • Seasonal Storytelling is designed to be more connected than last year leading up to TFS.
  • The Final Shape and its Raid will provide a definitive conclusion to the Light and Dark Saga before they look ahead for Destiny 2.
• Bring Challenge Back to Destiny
  • No power cap raise in Season 22
• Enrich Our Content
  • Exotic Mission rotator available day one in season 22
  • Some bounties being replaced with a system tentatively called "Pathfinder" that will be implemented in TFS on its destination.
• Connect Our Guardians
  • New ways in Season 22 to experience key D2 Moments
  • In game LFG in Season 23
  • New ways to track player progress in TFS.

Destiny 2 Showcase is August 22nd