Destiny 2 is getting two smaller expansions subsequent yr as Bungie motion pictures away from its annual huge content material drop mannequin, and with these two expansions, the developer will add a brand new raid and a brand new dungeon, together with content material updates for every.
Bungie defined a number of the adjustments it is making to Destiny 2’s endgame content material drops in a blog post, the place it laid out what gamers can count on for the sport in 2025, which it calls Codename: Frontiers. The developer beforehand acknowledged that 2025 will see two smaller content material expansions with main updates to comply with, reasonably than its conventional method of launching one huge one. The primary content material enlargement, Codename: Apollo, will include a brand new raid when it launches in Summer season 2025, whereas the second, Codename: Behemoth, will include a dungeon in Winter 2025.
Notably, this seems to imply that Frontiers will solely see one dungeon launched for Destiny 2. Lately for the reason that Witch Queen enlargement, Bungie has launched two dungeons per enlargement, which gamers may entry by buying a “dungeon key,” or getting it as a part of the bundle for every enlargement that included its annual move. Bungie notes within the weblog put up that as a result of the dungeon can be included with Behemoth, there will not be a dungeon key for Frontiers.
Bungie didn’t instantly reply to GameSpot’s request for clarification on the adjustments to dungeon content material in Frontiers, however we’ll replace this story if the developer does.
The weblog put up did not go into a lot element about what gamers ought to count on from Apollo’s raid, however Bungie did write that it’s “exploring some twists on the raid format.” It additionally famous that with the deliberate main updates that may comply with Apollo, Bungie will introduce adjustments to the raid to freshen it up and add new challenges, shifting away from the present method of providing a Grasp issue stage for raids. As a substitute, raids will now embody a system known as Feats, which may introduce new guidelines reminiscent of time trials or Contest mode issue combatants.
The Feats system sounds lots just like the Skulls system present in Bungie’s Halo video games, the place gamers may add totally different modifiers to the sport by activating totally different collectible skulls they might uncover. The extra Feats you activate in a raid playthrough, the more durable that raid can be, however the higher rewards you will obtain, as properly. Bungie famous in its final slate of weblog posts that it intends so as to add a tier system to the loot rewards gamers obtain from totally different actions, so including Feats to your raid runs could be a method to earn these higher rewards.
Bungie says new raids beginning with Apollo will embody the Feats system as a part of the higher push to permit for extra issue customization in activities–but it does not sound like they will be utilized to raids at the moment within the recreation. The brand new raid can even obtain a “problem replace” as a part of the most important replace following Apollo’s launch, “including new rewards, new mechanics, new Feats, and probably even new encounters,” in accordance with the weblog put up. Raids at the moment launch with a Raid Race, wherein gamers attempt to be the world’s first crew to finish the raid, and the problem replace will embody its personal race as properly.
As for the second half of Frontiers, the Behemoth enlargement will include the brand new dungeon, which sounds to be considerably expanded from what we have seen from dungeons previously. Bungie writes, “the reward providing for brand spanking new dungeons can be expanded to incorporate full weapon and armor units, on par with raids.” Nonetheless, the scale or scope of the dungeon is not mentioned.
The most important replace following Behemoth’s launch will embody new raid- and dungeon-related content material. Bungie describes it as probably being just like the Pantheon exercise the developer added with the Into the Mild content material forward of The Ultimate Form enlargement. Pantheon was a very fashionable boss rush mode that featured raid bosses, growing in issue every week and providing particular challenges and raid rewards.
Within the first main replace following Behemoth, “we’re planning for an additional Occasion that introduces novelty and permits our crew to experiment with legacy raid and dungeon choices to create shocking aspirational challenges.” The weblog put up says the occasion remains to be in its early planning levels, nevertheless, so it is not fairly clear but what it’d truly be. It does sound just like the replace will give attention to content material that’s already within the recreation, although, reasonably than including new content material.
A significant focus for Frontiers is bringing further choices to gamers to regulate the issue of Destiny 2 content material and so as to add rewards that make replaying that content material worthwhile, and the adjustments to endgame content material sound like they’re all targeted on that objective. A variety of what Bungie mentioned contains adjustments and extra challenges for present content material or content material launched earlier within the yr, so we’ll must see how Frontiers adjustments how Bungie approaches making content material for Destiny 2 and the way it shifts the methods gamers interact with it.