What’s next for Destiny 2? Lightfall, Neomuna, Strand and new Social Tools

Bungie was back recently with their big annual showcase letting us know what is coming next for Destiny 2. The main focus here was Lightfall, the next major expansion, plus we’re really starting to hurtle towards the end of the Light vs Darkness Saga. We have a new subclass and new enemy types, plus we have new friends too with the Cloudstriders. The future of Destiny 2 looks bright, and today I am going to dive into what is coming next for Destiny 2.

Lightfall

Lightfall is the next major expansion on the Destiny 2 roadmap, and that is coming on February 28th 2023. This is all about the beginning of the end of the Light vs Darkness saga. Lightfall takes up to Neptune, and the Neon City of Neomuna, where we’ll be taking on The Shadow Legion, a darkness variant of The Cabal, plus new Tormentors, which appear to be Rulk-like mini-bosses. Calus appears to be reborn via The Witness as a Disciple of the Darkness. We have a brand new subclass coming with Strand, and this is our second darkness subclass, where we weave threads of consciousness.

There is a new story, new raid, new dungeons, plus the legendary campaign is making a comeback. Bungie announced that 66% of players who played through the Witch Queen Campaign actually played on Legendary difficulty, so it’s great to hear this is making a return, especially given Bungie made their name with Halo Campaigns.

Paired with the new dark forces of Calus and his Shadow Legion, we have new enemy types called Tormentors, which look like roaming mini-bosses. They look Rhulk-Esque, almost combined with Champions, although Destiny 2 players really don’t like Champions, so that comparison may not be welcome. Tormentors look like new exciting enemy types, much like we had Light Bearing Hive in the Witch Queen Campaign. Hopefully, Tormentors are more frequently used than Light bearing Hive, which were used effectively in the campaign and some Lost Sectors on the Throneworld.

Cloudstriders are a new ally on Neptune. We don’t know too much about Cloudstriders at the moment, other than they are protectors of Neptune, almost The Guardians of Neptune.

Neomuna

The Witness is coming, and the Pyramid Fleet has arrived on Neptune, where the Neomuna Neon City have been hidden for generations. Neptune and Neonmuna is unlike any other Destiny 2 location we’ve had before. We are used to breaking down, derelict cities, frozen moons or ravaged Throne World. This is a Neon City and looks more like Night City from Cyberpunk 2077 rather than The Last City on Earth.

This could be Nefele Stronghold, referred to at the end of the Witch Queen Campaign and subsequent missions. Rasputin had apparent knowledge of something called Nefele Stronghold.

New intel awaits you on the Evidence Board. The report includes a note to Ikora:

“To IKO-006: Here’s the AI-COM/RSPN protocol transcript we picked up from the wounds. According to this, before initiating YUGA SUNDOWN, Rasputin killed all protective measures in place for Human colonies and settlements. There’s a big list of codenames for the Moon, Mars, Earth, the Exodus ships, etc. but Rasputin also refers to a place called NEFELE STRONGHOLD. No record of that in any of our databases. Forwarding to A.B. for a cross-ref.”

A follow-up message from Ana Bray brings up more questions than it answers:

“To CHA-319: No hit on ‘NEFELE STRONGHOLD’ in any of Rasputin’s records. Can’t even find the original transcript you’re quoting. If it’s real, someone removed all traces of it. And if they did, they did it so cleanly that I’d suspect Rasputin himself.”

No action items on this case; just an unsatisfying label of “UNSOLVED.”

Nephele is Greek for Goddess of Clouds. We have Neptune, and the planet covered in Clouds, plus the Cloudstriders… it all makes sense. I am happy Bungie made reference to this, but you really had to dig deep into the lore. I was aware of Nefele Stronghold but didn’t put 2 and 2 together regarding Neomuna.

Strand

Our new Darkness Subclass has been long-rumoured, and it’s green as predicted. It’s not poison though, it’s Strand, which is weaving threads of consciousness. We have three new supers, one for each class, Warlock – Architect, Hunter – Thread Runner and Titan – Tyrant. Together with Strand we’re getting a grappling hook to take advantage of the vertical nature of Neomuna. It’s going to be interesting to see how players use Strand and specifically the grappling hook, given the older content wasn’t made with this in mind. We did see a Guardian using Strand to grapple onto a train and get pulled along, but we’re going to have to wait and see how this interacts with the environment.

In a recent interview Dan McAuliffe spoke to GamesRadar and said.

“I’m always worried about [breaking the game], especially when you add something as ambitious as a new movement ability, and one that we intend to extend across the entire game. I have a lot of faith in our team’s ability to test and vet that kind of thing. I’m probably most nervous – not nervous, but excited – to see what kind of utility it has in PvP. As with everything else that’s introduced, it will bring a change to the sandbox that we’ll react to.”

“If you can imagine doing past raids and thinking, yeah, maybe I want to be Strand in the jumping section because that’s a struggle for me,” adds Blackburn. “We like that. But we also do not want to be building the game where either player that haven’t earned Strand or, you know, just like running Solar, feel pulled. We’re really thinking of a balance here. There are some cool moments you can accomplish with Strand. I was playing this thing recently where there’s this fuckin’ bullshit thing of traps between me and where I wanted to go, and I’m watching Robbie Stevens, our assistant game director, hobble through the traps. And I’m like, nah, I think I’m just gonna grapple.”

Social Tools

There are a few new tools coming to Destiny 2, some of which have been asked for many years. Guardian Ranks aim to help players through the new player experience, by providing clear objectives. You’ll be walked through various levels of content, starting with easy content like Strike and Patrols, working your way up to Nightfalls, Dungeons and Raids. Commendations will be introduced too, for players so you can provide feedback to other players. Commendations will work into your overall player rating, which is going to work with a long-requested feature called Looking For Group.

LFG is a way to find other players for non-matchmade activities. This has existed outside the game in many forms over the years, Bungie launched an app, plus they have a fireteams section on their website which appears to use the same technology. If you don’t have a clan or friends who play Destiny 2 this is a very valuable tool, and something I use on a regular basis to raid, or do nightfalls or any endgame PVE content. You can also use this for Trials, although personally I use much more for endgame PVE content.

No more sunsetting

Sunsetting itself is also being sunset, so Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, Witch Queen and Lightfall campaigns are staying in the game. The most recent campaign which was taken away was Forsaken, but we’ve seen other campaigns like The Red War from the original 2017 campaign, plus other locations like Mars, Io, Mecury etc have all gone into the Destiny Content Vault.

New endgame activities

We have a new raid for Lightfall, plus we have two new Dungeons coming in Seasons 21 and 23. We’re also likely to get a returning raid from Destiny 1 in Season 22, but I don’t think that has been confirmed yet.

Let me know what you think about the future of Destiny 2.