Coming back to Destiny 2 after a long break can be confusing. The game has changed a lot, especially since The Edge of Fate, so it’s easy to get lost or overwhelmed.

In fact, players returning to Destiny 2 might as well be playing “Destiny 2.5″ due to the sheer amount of new systems, such as gear tiers, armor 3.0, and a stat rework.

Here’s our guide for returning players in Destiny 2, with a breakdown on the most important tips anyone should know when coming back to the game after a long pause.

Power Levels and difficulty

If you’re logging in from before The Edge of Fate, your Power level has been reset to a meager 10. You’re not weak again, though: Destiny 2 has drastically changed how power and difficulty work. Your teammates can also temporarily bump up your power to access certain activities, but without affecting your rewards.

With Monument of Triumph, power goes from 10 to 550, but you don’t have to grind all that. Your drops will fast-track you to 300, which is essentially the new soft floor. Even better, you can skip straight to 300 by buying weapons and armor from Zavala in the Tower and infusing them on your gear. Bumping up your level is the next part of the journey.

How to raise your power level in Destiny 2

As of The Edge of Fate, the Portal was the main way to level, with Renegades‘ Lawless Frontier showing up later. With Monument of Triumph, however, power and tier will seemingly be related to activity difficulty. Higher difficulties should grant you bigger boosts, but for the most part, almost anything in the game should bump up your power. Until then, the Portal is your safest bet.

You’ll notice your drops may have some diamonds on them, which relates to their tier—another addition from The Edge of Fate, which we’ll break down below.

Gear Tiers, explained

With The Edge of Fate, both weapons and armor have gear tiers. The higher the tier, the more valuable the loot. Any drop added since that expansion is tiered by default.

Weapons get different upgrades depending on tier. Anything T2 or above gets the benefits of having enhanced perks, but more importantly, T4 and T5 drops roll with extra traits, so it’s easier to get a good roll of them. Your weapons still work if they’re not part of the tier system, however, and crafted weapons can be upgraded to have similar benefits to a T5 (though you won’t get any extra perks added to an existing weapon).

Armor tiers, on the other hand, indicate the total stat points on a given piece. Tiered armor has deterministic drops, with a fixed primary and secondary stats and a random tertiary stat. Your stat spikes depend on your armor’s archetype.

Well-rolled old armor has equivalent stats to the new T3. T4 pieces have 70-75 stat points, and T5s are guaranteed 75s with a little bonus called a tuning stat. That’s five points on a random stat in exchange for as many in a stat of your choice. New armor also has set bonuses for wearing two and four pieces, regardless of their tier.

With this many stat points, you’re gonna get over 100 on a given attribute easily. That’s good: with the stat rework, your attributes can go up to 200.

Stat rework: 100+ Points and Armor 3.0

The Edge of Fate stat rework lets you turbocharge your builds by giving you up to 200 in all stats, without breakpoints. For Grenade, Class, Melee, and Super, any number between 0-100 boosts how much ability regen you get from all sources, with points above that threshold giving you bonus damage or an extra effect.

You’ll notice two new stats as well: Health and Weapons—previously Resilience and Mobility, respectively. The former heals you on orb pickup (like the Recuperation mod) and the latter buffs your weapon damage and reload, with more benefits after 100.

Naturally, your stat priority will depend on your build, though you’ll probably want over 100 on your core stat(s). The 0-100 band affects all sources of regen, including orbs of power and scalars. Tweak them however you like according to your build and playstyle.

How to get higher-tier gear in Destiny 2

As of Monument of Triumph, gear tiers depend on your power level and the difficulty of the activity you’re facing, not counting other potential bonuses. Drops may depend on performance (Crucible) or feats (raids and dungeons). For patrol zones, you get T3 gear on public events and T4 for their heroic versions, with a chance of T5. Distortions drop gear one tier above the normal.

With The Edge of Fate, fireteam boosting lets you access higher difficulties but doesn’t improve your rewards past your maximum. In other words, if you tag along in an Ultimatum activity, you’ll still get gear that’s around on par with what you can achieve, so you can’t get powerleveled.

Attunement, explained

Attunement surfaced during Into the Light and rolled out across the board with Monument of Triumph. Attuning to a weapon vastly improves the odds of getting it as an activity reward. You can target one weapon at a time for each active pool by going into the Attunement tab in your Inventory menu. Make sure you’re focusing on weapons before jumping into activities.

Best things to do for returning players in Destiny 2

If you’re coming back to Destiny 2 after a long break, you may need some time to acclimate yourself. Destinations will drop at least T3 gear, while Heroic public events can drop T4-T5. Distortions—those ominous red portals in the sky—will bump that up by one tier.

The old Portal Ops playlists offer you some ideas on what to do depending on fireteam size, from solo to six-man missions, and each type has its own loot pool. Pinnacle Ops encompass old Exotic quests, so they’re a good way to add something powerful to your arsenal (like Choir of One in Encore) since they’re not tiered.

Onslaught has a few iconic weapons from the franchise’s history, and the horde mode is one of the most fun, unique activities available. The Coil is another favorite of ours. Just mind the traps.

Crucible and Gambit are also good choices, given their designated drops. For Gambit, just summoning the Primeval is supposed to get you T5 drops, so go bank those Motes. It’s unclear if this has any other requirements, however, like higher Guardian Rank or power. On the flip side, try Sparrow Racing League (SRL) if you’re feeling confident on your driving for a shot at unique weapons and armor.

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Last week, Bungie made a half surprising, half the writing was on the wall decision to end active development on Destiny 2. The long running live service shooter's final update has been set for June, with responses to the news generally oscillating between genuine upset and baffled disappointment. Worse still, a report suggested that the studio is facing "significant" layoffs as a result of this choice. Except the choice didn't come last week, but earlier in the year, a choice that another report now claims that many at Bungie weren't privy to until it was made public.

Read more

It’s the last stop for Destiny 2, and that means that Moment of Triumph is all about cleaning up lingering elements for players. Have you found yourself wishing that all of the subclasses had the same number of aspects? The patch brings three new aspects to reach exactly that parity, with new abilities for all of […]

In the wake of Destiny 2’s imminent collapse, MOP’s Chris and I were musing on which games would benefit most from the exodus of players who will eventually leave when given no fresh content or even seasons on a loop (a bizarre choice, but Sony clearly enjoys leaving money on the table or we wouldn’t […]

The next big update to Destiny 2, Shadow and Order, has been delayed as it undergoes a substantial round of tweakage and expansion. Such a substantial round of tweakage and expansion, in fact, that it'll no longer be called Shadow and Order when it returns.

Read more

Bungie have announced that their next large update to Destiny 2,  titled Shadow and Order, has been delayed.

“Our next Major Update, Destiny 2: Shadow and Order, is undergoing large revisions and will be delayed. This update is being changed and expanded to include sizable quality-of-life updates and as a result, will also be renamed. This update will now launch on June 9, 2026.

We will provide exact details closer to release covering previously announced Weapon Tier Upgrading, but also additions like expanding Tiered Gear to all Raid and Dungeon activities, Pantheon 2.0, Tier 5 stats for Exotic Armors, and more. Through June, we will continue to have routine bug fixes and stability improvements, continued portal modifiers, Guardian Games (March), and the return of a more frequent Iron Banner cadence

In terms of communications, we will be focusing on providing you with updates about our live game content, community activations, and general upkeep through the TWID and our Destiny social channels. Thank you for your continued patience and support. We will have more information on our next major update and future plans for Destiny 2 closer to launch.

See You Starside.”

The Shadow and Order update had been due to arrive just after the Marathon Server Slam and just before Marathon itself launched, so it seemed inevitable that it would be moved to allow Bungie some space for that.

Bungie have not released a roadmap for future updates but if Shadow and Order – or whatever it gets called – is delayed by three months then there is a very good chance that the next expansion, Shattered Cycle, will also get pushed back.

Bungie are clearly prioritising Marathon, and they really have to as they need another big hit. Destiny 2 is a shadow(keep) of its former self, and delaying big updates for months on end is not going to incentivise the players left.

Source: BlueSky

If your first thought when hearing about Marathon’s March 5th release date was how that would immediately clash with Destiny 2’s plans for a major update for Renegades on March 3rd, well good news! It’s not going to get in the way anymore because Bungie is delaying that update for nearly four months. Wait, no, that’s the opposite of […]

Destiny 2 feels like it's in a real spot of bother - when even the burst of excitement from a Star Wars-themed expansion can't be sustained, you know there's something really wrong with the core of the game. I myself have fallen off of the Destiny wagon in recent months, and while I really want to return, I'm struggling to find the motivation to do so. Initially set to drop on March 3, the Shadow and Order update was another potential moment to win me back. However, it never felt like it had a good chance, being sandwiched between the free Server Slam test and full release of Marathon, Bungie's new extraction FPS game. Now, the studio has confirmed the inevitable - it's delaying Shadow and Order. However, it's pushing it back by more than three months, and says that "large revisions" are the reason, not Marathon.

Read the full story on PCGamesN: Bungie delays major Destiny 2 update that was set to clash with Marathon, but its three-month pushback has stunned me

Destiny 2's Shadow & Order major update was set to launch on March 3, but Bungie uncerimoniously delayed it by three months. The next big piece of content is scheduled for June, leaving even less to do in the game until then.

With less than two weeks to go until the scheduled update, Bungie made an anemic announcement of the delay in official channels, where it promised to bundle a slew of other improvements to the game by June 9. The Shadow and Order name is gone altogether, though it doesn't have an official replacement.

While Destiny 2 is in dire need of a shakeup, delaying a major update doesn't pose a good short-term scenario for its dwindling player counts. Here's why Shadow & Order was delayed and Bungie's ambitious promises for when it drops in June.

Shadow & Order delay, explained

Marathon is often mentioned as one of the reasons behind the Shadow & Order delay. The major update was slated to release on March 3—just two days before the controversial extraction shooter's debut on March 5. Forbes' Paul Tassi reported this would be the reason, and it seems to be among the top drivers behind the delay. The new June 9 release date is way off, giving Marathon enough time to settle.

That said, it's also likely that Shadow & Order was simply not up to the standards of what the game needed right now. Destiny 2 has been bleeding players for years, with The Edge of Fate accelerating the vertiginous downfall in its user base. Far from being a necessary revolution, the Ash & Iron update halfway through The Edge of Fate was largely a lackluster, more-of-the-same piece of content—down to the reissue of weapons such as Drang and the MIDA Mini-Tool.

Pushing another lukewarm update as Destiny 2 faces its biggest player crisis in history would likely only make it worse. Given Bungie's recent track record, there might not have been enough time to concoct anything above mediocrity, so putting it back in the oven might be the right move.

The next major update (which we're still unofficially calling Shadow & Order until an actual title comes along) is bringing a slew of much-needed, long-requested improvements to the game—though one can easily argue The Edge of Fate should never have launched without them in the first place.

The announcement promises "sizable quality-of-life updates," including a few hot topics. As its release draws closer, Bungie will inform players of items like tier upgrading, Exotic armor pieces being tier five, reissued gear for raids and dungeons, and a "Pantheon 2.0." The wording here is telling: "We will provide exact details closer to release," the announcement reads, so temper your expectations.

"Shadow & Order" also needs to bring in more content. This is theoretically implicit in Bungie's wording, but it's still worth highlighting. The Portal is already a syncretism of reused, worn-out activities, so all these changes are borderline meaningless without new missions to put them to use. Bungie's initial vision for The Edge of Fate—a grueling, resetting slogfest—is more than enough to make fans wary about how the studio will handle content after the next major update, too.

The post Why was Destiny 2’s Shadow & Order delayed? appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's next large-scale update, Shadow and Order, has been delayed out of its launch in just a couple of weeks. But players already pretty much knew that.

Shadow and Order was scheduled to launch on March 3, two days before Bungie's new game Marathon, and the writing has been on the wall for a while: radio silence about the update for a long time, until today.

https://twitter.com/DestinyTheGame/status/2024242522004836464

Bungie posted today that Shadow and Order is now launching on June 9, which is just over three months from its initial launch point, and "undergoing large revisions" in the process. Needless to say, even though they knew it was coming, Destiny 2 players are none too pleased on the subject.

"We will provide exact details closer to release covering previously announced Weapon Tier Upgrading, but also additions like expanding Tiered Gear to all Raid and Dungeon activities, Pantheon 2.0, Tier 5 stats for Exotic Armors, and more," Bungie said.

Shadow and Order is now being "changed and expanded to include sizable quality-of-life updates and as a result, will also be renamed" in light of the change, which feels directly Marathon-related, whether intended or not.

"Through June, we will continue to have routine bug fixes and stability improvements, continued portal modifiers, Guardian Games (March), and the return of a more frequent Iron Banner cadence (April)," Bungie said, confirming the roadmap of content will be a bit more scant than originally scheduled. "In terms of communications, we will be focusing on providing you with updates about our live game content, community activations, and general upkeep through the TWID and our Destiny social channels."

Bungie and Sony both need Marathon to be a success, and the chances of Destiny 2 players trying it out, buying it, and spending money on it is likely a lot higher if they don't have Shadow and Order to distract them from the new extraction shooter.

Before its delay, Shadow and Order was set to include a new rewards pass, exotic weapon and ornament, new legendary weapons and armor ornaments, new cosmetics, "and more."

The post Destiny 2’s big Shadow and Order update has been delayed, confirming what players already knew appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie have announced that their next large update to Destiny 2,  titled Shadow and Order, has been delayed.

“Our next Major Update, Destiny 2: Shadow and Order, is undergoing large revisions and will be delayed. This update is being changed and expanded to include sizable quality-of-life updates and as a result, will also be renamed. This update will now launch on June 9, 2026.

We will provide exact details closer to release covering previously announced Weapon Tier Upgrading, but also additions like expanding Tiered Gear to all Raid and Dungeon activities, Pantheon 2.0, Tier 5 stats for Exotic Armors, and more. Through June, we will continue to have routine bug fixes and stability improvements, continued portal modifiers, Guardian Games (March), and the return of a more frequent Iron Banner cadence

In terms of communications, we will be focusing on providing you with updates about our live game content, community activations, and general upkeep through the TWID and our Destiny social channels. Thank you for your continued patience and support. We will have more information on our next major update and future plans for Destiny 2 closer to launch.

See You Starside.”

The Shadow and Order update had been due to arrive just after the Marathon Server Slam and just before Marathon itself launched, so it seemed inevitable that it would be moved to allow Bungie some space for that.

Bungie have not released a roadmap for future updates but if Shadow and Order – or whatever it gets called – is delayed by three months then there is a very good chance that the next expansion, Shattered Cycle, will also get pushed back.

Bungie are clearly prioritising Marathon, and they really have to as they need another big hit. Destiny 2 is a shadow(keep) of its former self, and delaying big updates for months on end is not going to incentivise the players left.

Source: BlueSky

Destiny 2 players may have already heard the news: Shadow & Order is delayed. Naturally, eager guardians are wondering when the game's next major update will be—and when it will get any meaningful new content.

"Major updates" is how Bungie calls the intermission between one expansion and the other, after a two-expansions-a-year cadence instated with The Edge of Fate and Renegades. It's essentially an extremely light new season, complete with a new rewards pass (a season pass minus the season). Shadow & Order was supposed to be

A delay can be bad enough on its own, but with the dropping player count, some are afraid the game will shut down. Here's when Destiny 2's next big updates release.

When does Destiny 2's next major update release?

The next huge update for Destiny 2 is scheduled to drop on June 9—a three-month delay compared to the original March 3 release date for Shadow & Order. This is presumably in part due to Marathon's release on March 5.

Until then, players can expect a couple of smaller in-game novelties. Guardian Games kicks off in March, and Bungie teased "the return of a more frequent Iron Banner cadence" (by that, the studio means "actually adding an Iron Banner cadence"). The same old Portal mutations like Accelerator are set to appear.

Outside of that, Bungie hasn't yet mentioned a new rewards pass, the release of the remaining Conquests, or other reasons for players to come back to the game. Wacky Portal modifiers will continue, but that wasn't enough to push the needle even when the player count was at less critical levels.

Is Destiny 2's major update Shadow & Order?

Destiny 2's next update will presumably build upon Shadow & Order, seizing what was in line for the update, throwing much-needed, long-requested quality-of-life features in the pile.

That said, the next big update won't be called Shadow & Order—though we're still using that name as a placeholder. The extra time in the oven may also alter the story arcs that would surface, so a name change is more than in order.

What's on Destiny 2's next major update?

We don't know a lot of what's coming in June for now. Bungie has given us a baseline of what to expect in the announcement:

"We will provide exact details closer to release covering previously announced Weapon Tier Upgrading, but also additions like expanding Tiered Gear to all Raid and Dungeon activities, Pantheon 2.0, Tier 5 stats for Exotic Armors, and more," the studio said.

This is undoubtedly an ambitious move for a struggling game, and the verbiage on the announcement is enough to maintain a degree of caution. Bungie said it would give details, so theoretically, "we're working on it and it's coming in a future release" could qualify for that. It's unlikely they'll reissue weapons for all raids and dungeons within a few months, so there's bound to be a small selection of these to get the ball rolling, with plans of doing more at fixed intervals.

Presumably, the next major update will also bring in some new content. This has been the formula for the bigger content releases since time immemorial, and providing these shiny new tools without a new stage to use them in would be counterproductive.

In the meantime, Bungie will continue with the basics, including Guardian Games in March and bringing back Iron Banner in April. This time, there's no Into the Light-esque content to pull out of a hat, so the player counts will continue to struggle until Destiny 2 gets meaningful content.

The post When is Destiny 2’s next major update? appeared first on Destructoid.

I still remember the sentiment surrounding my joining the world of Destiny 2 and the impressions I had framed in my mind. I remember the storyline of the game and the characters that came with it. I remember the planned group activities with friends where I would come for the game and laughter, and enjoy the melting pot of cultures that I would experience. Dystopia would contribute to the cultural side of the game. I would remember the game for the positive memories of the friends I would meet.

I would experience the game for the people's memories, for the friends I would meet. Madness in the romance, I would only be in for the people. There is madness in the romance; I would only be in for the people. There is madness in the game; I would only be in for the people. suger

A Game of Two Halves: Wonder and Frustration

Spectacle is Destiny 2’s calling card, and there is no better place to see that than in the stark and beautiful war-torn zones of the game. The blend of the celestial and the terrestrial is well balanced. The game’s environments ooze atmosphere, whether you are in the crumbling and scarred landscapes of the EDZ or in the illusory woods of Nessus. The game does well to instill in you the perspective of the vast and indifferent universe that surrounds you, the little spark-wielding guardian, the universe that surrounds and watches you.

It’s frustrating to see the wide gaps in the lore after seasonals and plot drips. It’s like trying to complete only one half of a jigsaw puzzle, and the rest is in a completely different house. My background in the genre as a traditional JRPG player made the gaps hard to appreciate. Destiny 2 does not have storylines that are traditional, and that’s one of the things that has to be appreciated most: the ambition. Unfortunately, the game does not seem to provide the lore or the rich storytelling to back that ambition up to the extent that a player deserves.

Weapons and Loot: The Double-Edged Sword

Ah, the loot. It’s the carrot on the stick that keeps Guardians grinding through strikes, raids, and gambit matches. But here’s the thing: not all loot is created equal. The doubtless lucrative rewards complain. When Early Destiny 2 started, it lacked truly enticing pieces. Yes, there were a few outstanding weapons and some sets of pieces of armor, but more often than not, after a long, exhausting activity, I’d receive a piece of gear that was.

Bungie, to some extent, has resolved this issue. These weapons, more than tools of killing, are statements. Yet there’s room for more. Destiny 2, for all its outstanding gear, still lacks top-tier enough high-end gear to truly reward its most loyal followers who buy cheap PS4 games. There are far more hours than I’d like to admit spent chasing God Rolls than there are high-end pieces of loot to reward that effort. Available loot should match the depth and complexity of the gameplay.

Social Glue Destiny 2

Destiny 2 without its social aspects? No thanks. It wouldn't even be enjoyable. This game is, no doubt, about its community. Be it a raid, nightfall, or just crucible, gameplay is enjoyed even more with a friend or group. Numbers do change the fun, but it is still the moments in gameplay, or the Leviathan in my case, that stick with you. Six hours, dying and laughing, with a group, only to win in the end, the value is in the collective enjoyment, even in defeat. Little moments create and force repetitive gameplay. They make you do it. They bring you back.

Adversely, social aspects can be a burden. Group content boundaries mean the best parts of the game for solo players are lost. Solo gameplay has its own content and parts to engage with, if you buy PS5 shooter games that are action role-playing first. It wouldn't be unreasonable to give more ends and means to the lone Guardians in the endgame. They should be able to engage and appreciate the boss or grind. It isn't just the friends that count.

The Road Ahead

Destiny 2, like any live-service game, is still a work in progress. Its first year was rough, marked by questionable design choices and a community that felt increasingly alienated. But there is one thing that Bungie has proven. They will listen. The Year 2 expansion, Forsaken, reworked systems and breathed new life into the game. Even with the stumbles, there is a commitment from the developers to evolve the game.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light

At this time, the primary story campaigns have been made free, but the high-level, permanent activities like Raids and Dungeons are bundled in "Packs," so you will still have to get one of those. Destiny 2: Beyond Light, released in 2020, the fifth extension, introduces the Stasis subclass, the first ability set tied to the Darkness. The endgame content is packaged in the Beyond Light Pack (a paid purchase), which includes the Deep Stone Crypt Raid, certain Nightfall Strikes (The Glassway and Proving Grounds), and access to over 15 Exotic weapons and armor pieces associated with the expansion.

Destint 2: Shadowkeep

In 2019, we had Destiny 2: Shadowkeep extension, the fourth major expansion for Destiny 2, marking the game's Year 3 content. The endgame content is packaged in the Shadowkeep Pack (a paid purchase), which includes the Garden of Salvation Raid, the Pit of Heresy Dungeon, the Scarlet Keep Nightfall strike, and access to over 15 Exotic weapons and armor pieces associated with the expansion. The endgame content is packaged in the Shadowkeep Pack (a paid purchase), which includes the Garden of Salvation Raid, the Pit of Heresy Dungeon, the Scarlet Keep Nightfall strike, and access to over 15 Exotic weapons and armor pieces associated with the expansion.

Destiny 2: Years 5 to 8

The Witch Queen (2022, Year 5) proposes the confrontation with Savathûn, the Hive God of Cunning, and the introduction of the Light-wielding Hive and the new weapon crafting system.

Lightfall (2023, Year 6) is a chase after The Witness to Neptune, uncovering the hidden city of Neomuna, and the introduction of the new Strand Darkness Subclass.

The Final Shape (2024, Year 7) is the epic conclusion to the "Light and Darkness Saga," as Guardians enter the Traveler to face The Witness. It introduced the Prismatic Subclass.

The Edge of Fate (2025, Year 8) is the most recent "medium-sized" expansion, which began a new saga for the game. It is part of Bungie's new content release model of two expansions per year.

There is so much potential with so many ideas that feel just shy of fully realized. As someone who has fallen in love with this game, Bungie is a developer that I hope will balance ambition and execution. Until then, I’ll be there chasing the next raid clear, the next legendary drop, and the next moment that makes it all worthwhile.

The Destiny 2 Portal was one of Bungie's biggest recent gambles, and so far it's largely been a pretty disappointing one. Introduced as an overhaul to the iconic 'Director,' it aimed to wrestle the FPS game's increasingly cluttered and unwieldy map of destinations into a more streamlined progression system. The pitch was to offer "quick and clean access to a wider offering of activities with updated rewards," and while it does do that to some extent, it feels like it's lost a lot of its soul. Now, players are pointing back to an old Bungie GDC presentation that suggests the team had already considered something similar back during the early days of development, only to write it off.

Read the full story on PCGamesN: The Destiny 2 Portal is a disaster, and a 2016 GDC talk shows that Bungie already wrote off a similar idea a decade ago

It is not exactly a secret that, in recent years, Destiny 2 hasn't been doing so hot. Frequenters of the pseudo-MMO have found certain expansions and updates to be disappointing, and for a live service game a few too many disappointments can be devastating. Now, in a new interview, the game's director Tyson Green has acknowledged how the game is struggling to bring in a new audience, and discussed the difficulties that come with that.

Read more

Justin and Bree discuss WoW Midnight, Gloria Victis' revival, the Cryptic mess, Neverwinter, and Albion Online, with a run-down of all the cool stuff coming in early December (WoW's housing, LOTRO Kingdoms of Harad, EverQuest Shattering of Ro, Destiny 2 Renegades, Guild Wars Reforged, along with adventures in LOTRO, Guild Wars 2, and WoW, plus a mailbag topic on predatory MMO monetization.

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Well, today is the day when Destiny 2 marries Star Wars for reasons: Destiny 2 Renegades is officially live for fans who can make it make sense in their head or just, you know, love the heck out of lightsabers and John Williams-esque music. Which is most of us. “Today, Bungie launches Destiny 2: Renegades, […]

The new era of Destiny 2, spearheaded by June's Edge of Fate expansion, hasn't exactly gone to plan for Bungie. I was extremely excited for a fresh Destiny experience post-Light and Dark saga, but so far it's failed to hit the mark. Looking across the last four or five years as a whole, I'd still proclaim that Destiny 2 is my 'favorite' shooter, but since Edge of Fate arrived, players have massively leaked from the game - myself included, in recent times. However, a Star Wars-themed expansion sounds like just the ticket to renew interest, and to an extent, Destiny 2 Renegades has done just that, with a healthy Steam spike on launch day and plenty of praise for certain aspects of the new campaign. However, that spike is still a long way off where Destiny 2 should be.

Read the full story on PCGamesN: Destiny 2 Renegades results in a generous surge on Steam, but even Star Wars mania can't bring back the highs of my favorite FPS

Destiny 2 Renegades arrives with the long-running MMO-lite in something of a nadir. The game’s last expansion, Edge of Fate, was intended to kick off a new story arc, but flopped. Player numbers are down, and while Renegades’ Star Wars roots would have been put down years ago, a cynical eye could see it as a desperate attempt to grab back attention.

With Bungie’s back against the wall, I’m pleased to say that this shorter, medium-sized expansion is much, much better than Edge of Fate, and while it doesn’t necessarily shake up the Destiny formula too much, it might just show there’s plenty of life in this old Jedi, sorry, Praxic Warlock, yet.

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The Escapist recaps

• Renegades is the second Destiny 2 expansion of 2025, following on from the divisive Edge of Fate.
• The Star Wars links are goofy, but Bungie leans into a way that feels earnest, providing the set dressing for a solid campaign. 

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They got Star Wars in my Destiny

Let’s get the obvious out of the way – Renegades is a homage to Star Wars from the first frame of a huge ship lumbering into view while it chases a smaller craft, and it doesn’t really let up from there.

It’s all a bit silly, yes, but it actually leans into the more pulpy feel of Renegades’ action. There are moments of weight, but there’s also a hefty dose of chaos throughout its campaign.

Part of the reason Star Wars works so well here is that Destiny has long held ideas that have felt analogous to the Lucasfilm property. Guardians and Dredgen have long felt like two sides of the same coin, like Jedi and Sith, and if that coin is The Force, then you can easily swap that out with Light and Darkness.

There’s plenty more, of course, but the big change this time around is how the story feels much closer to A New Hope or Return of the Jedi.

That’s because a new bad guy, Dredgen Bael, pops up alongside a new sect of the Cabal called the Barant Imperium. They’re kitted out in white armor, fancy new shield tech, and even have AT-ST-looking walkers, and they’re also building a superweapon.

The usual Destiny 2 story caveats apply: Expect to deal with a lot of exposition, and an awful lot of important dialogue during combat, but after the timey-wimey of Edge of Fate, something a little more straightforward is very, very welcome.

Aleks Le, whose deep, dulcet tones bring Dredgen Bael to life, gives a phenomenal performance, flitting between calculating and genuine naivety within a heartbeat. He’s clearly inspired by Kylo Ren, sure, but his writing and the nature of the questions he poses give a vastly different look at what we’ve held true since our first steps onto the Cosmodrome in 2014.

New Frontier

While the campaign takes us all over the galaxy and back to new social space Tharsis Outpost, the real meat is in The Lawless Frontier.

I’ve been begging for this more sandbox-like approach to Destiny 2 content for a while, and I’m so pleased to report that the new activity type is a blast.

Drop in solo or with others to complete a series of objectives and escape, with objectives ranging from hunting a boss to blowing s**t up. I was worried that having a wider playspace might make Destiny’s combat lose some of its shine, but the inclusion of new Renegade abilities like bombing runs from your ship or health pickups are a fun twist.

My only real gripe with this system is that it’s mapped to the same button as not only finishers, but also triggering your Prismatic transcendence. I lost track of the number of times I intended to finish an opponent or trigger my Prismatic superpowers, only to accidentally threaten to drop a Cabal drop pod on my head.

Another way Bungie has kept the activity exciting is by dialing up the enemy density in just about every area in the Lawless Frontier. There are so many enemies that I was regularly finishing missions with four to five hundred eliminations, making it a great way to test your new builds. 

Once the dust settles, you’re encouraged to head back to Tharsis Outpost, and it’s here where you’ll take on jobs for the crime syndicates that preside over the frontier. On the one hand, a new social space is welcome since the Tower was feeling a little quiet, and its smaller interiors make it feel much more like a bustling hive of activity.

On the other hand, I really wish the spawn point could be closer to the actual cantina itself – it’s a small nitpick, but running across the frontage just feels like unnecessary busywork.

Fight Saber

I’ve deliberately avoided speaking about the Praxic Blade, because for me it felt a step too far – and in some ways, it still does.

This is a weapon so iconic that putting it anywhere other than Star Wars makes me feel a little uneasy. Plus, after over a decade of Destiny, we’ve not seen one, and now they’re all over the place.

Still, I will say that it’s an awful lot of fun to use, customizable colors and all, with the option to deflect projectiles and hurl it at foes, making it a joy to use. It doesn’t fit, but it’s fun, and while I won’t spoil how you can get one of your own, I will say it’s tied to one of the best exotic missions in Destiny 2 in a while.

Much more appropriate are blaster weapons, a new archetype that eschews ammo in favor of needing to be vented to prevent heat buildup. Again, I wasn’t sure how these would feel, but each one feels fantastic in its own way, from the initial Pulse Rifle to the Hand Cannon and a new Heavy Sniper option, too.

I’ll have more to say about the Portal and endgame systems in the coming days, but as of right now, Renegades feels like the expansion that gets Destiny 2 back on track.

Whether Bungie can continue that momentum remains to be seen, and much could hinge on what we’re doing in a few weeks, given that we now have less content month-to-month than we used to.

Still, with a fun story, great new weapons, and a chaotic new activity stitching it all together, we might just be back.

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