GamerEscape

With only two weeks to go until the release of Destiny 2‘s latest expansion, Lightfall, Bungie released a mini-documentary to showcase the new features, threats, and threads players can look forward to on February 28. On top of that, there were also two new blog posts this week looking at the year ahead, adding even more info. We’ve summarized everything you need to know down below and you can watch the full video right here:

As Light Falls

Lightfall will feature a double-pronged approach to the story. While the Guardians spearhead the defense of the Traveler in the new city Neomuna on Neptune, the Season of Defiance will bring players back down to Earth and deal with seasonal activities in the EDZ and the Cosmodrome alongside notable NPCs from those zones.

The neon-bright city, on the other hand, is the stage of the final battle between the Traveler and the Witness and will reveal the true purpose of the Guardian: why they were given the Light, and why they are able to wield the Darkness.

Strand Subclasses

After Stasis released in Beyond Light, Lightfall is bringing the second Darkness-powered subclass to players: Strand. This subclass has players literally weave their different powers in new and exciting ways. Each Strand class will receive a Grappling Hook that takes over the Grenade slot and allows for a new way of traversing the world, engaging enemies, and evading attacks. On top of that, Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans will get new abilities uniquely flavored to their class identity and inline with this new power:

• Warlock Broodweaver summon creatures from the Weave that rush their enemies
• Hunter Threadrunners swing a rope dart and dash through the air in constant pursuit of their prey
• Titan Berserkers turn their fists into spikes and hammer down on anything standing in their way

The new subclass will be unlocked as part of the Lightfall story and doesn’t come from the Traveler or the Pyramids, but will be found within the Guardians themselves.

New Weapons, New Gear

As with each new expansion, Lightfall will come with a full arsenal of new exotic and legendary weapons and gear. All classes will receive Strand specific exotic gear which will enhance your new powers and abilities, while the weapons are free for all and allow for a variety of new combinations on any subclass.

Today’s TWAB also featured a first look at the new ritual weapon coming in Season 20: the Ecliptic Distaff, a Void Glaive which will come with a set of ornaments for each of the three activity playlists: Vanguard, Gambit, Crucible.

Loadouts & Build Crafting 2.0

One of the biggest quality of life changes coming with Lightfall is the long-awaited Loadout system. Up to this point, players had to rely on third party tools and websites to manage and build loadouts to optimize their gear, stats, and abilities. The new build crafting system aims to bring that functionality into the game itself, making it easier for people to learn and master build crafting, and also give players a new and improved overview of their gear, perks, mods, and stats.

Alongside loadouts comes a wholly new way of levelling that will also replace what people see when looking at other players: Guardian Ranks. These are aimed at giving players better guidance on what they should do throughout each Season. To level these up, you will have to complete Challenges and Triumphs. Each rank will feature a list of different activities such as Lost Sectors, PvE and PvP playlist activities, as well as increasing your Guardian’s Power level and interfacing with the new Commendations system.

Similar to the Player Commendation system in Final Fantasy XIV, this new Lightfall feature aims at a more regular and positive interaction between players who will be able to reward helpful or especially good players with a commendation at the end of Raids, Strikes, and Dungeons.

Boosting

Lightfall will introduce changes to how boosting your character works and offers two separate versions:

1. Lightfall Character Boost 
   • Appears when you hit soft cap with one character but have not completed Lightfall. 
   • This boost provides the selected character with a set of high Power level gear. 
   • This boost does not skip the campaign. 
2. Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost 
   • Appears when you complete Lightfall.
   • Skips the Lightfall campaign for your selected character and unlocks Strand.
   • This only includes a set of high Power level gear if your main character has hit the Soft Cap.

Either of these will only appear once you’ve met the requirements of hitting the Light Power soft cap or finished the Lightfall story. The story skip will unlock the new Strand subclass but not unlock any rewards, currencies, or count towards Triumphs. Bungie also confirmed that this type of boost will currently only be implemented for Lightfall.

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Images courtesy of Bungie.