With recent leaks and bugs surrounding Destiny 2, fans have theorized that the next season will be called “Season of the Worthy,” complete with a redux of the fan-favorite Trials of Osiris. This PvP-centered season sounds incredibly fun and could be a great change of pace from previous seasons, but there is still plenty that can go wrong.
Past seasons have focused on horde modes and recycled mods that may carry over here. At the same time, this season is a great opportunity to expand on Destiny’s rich lore and loot structure. Here are 5 things we want to see from Destiny’s next season along with 5 things that would be bad for “Season of the Worthy.”
10 Want: IKELOS Weapons With Random Rolls
One of the coolest additions in the “Warmind” expansion for Destiny 2 was the inclusion of IKELOS weapons. Available as a rare drop from Escalation Protocol bosses, the IKELOS weapons contained exclusive perks that were game-changing with how strong they were.
Of course, most of their unique perks are now available for other weapons and the perks themselves have fell off in usefulness. Seeing as this season appears to be focusing on Rasputin and Mars, it would make perfect sense for the IKELOS weapon set to make a return in Year 3 with random rolls and masterworked stats.
9 Don’t Want: No New Perks
Most fans were incredibly excited for Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, a massive expansion for Destiny 2 that would bring players back to the Moon with newly revamped armor and new guns. Except the guns in “Shadowkeep” and “Season of the Undying” included no new perks.
They included older perks like Subsistence and Demolitionist, but no new weapon perks were introduced, a first since the “Curse of Osiris” DLC. This season introduced new perks like Vorpal Weapon, so hopefully, Bungie includes more unique perks for the next season.
8 Want: Powerful Exotics
Exotics have been in a strange state of balance since “Shadowkeep” launched. They didn’t receive perk nerfs as Lengedaries did, yet they lack the ability to damage champion enemies with anti-champion artifact mods.
Weapons like Xenophage and Leviathan’s Breath lack the power of older Exotic weapons to carve their own corner of the meta. Xenophage has received buffs, but these weapons still pale in comparison to the likes of Anarchy or Whisper of the Worm. This season’s weapons like Bastion are also underwhelming. Hopefully, Bungie goes back to making impactful Exotic weapons in “Season of the Worthy.”
7 Don’t Want: Bounty Farming
Since the introduction of a season pass in “Season of the Undying,” earning experience from playing activities has been more critical than ever before. This has resulted in many players focusing on farming bounties to achieve good experience gains.
Main activities such as Raids, Strikes, or Crucible provide meager amounts of experience compared to the bounties tied to said activities. Many players feel forced to complete these bounties to receive bright dust for Eververse microtransactions, season pass ranks, or new weapons tied to “Season of Dawn.” If activities themselves got an experience increase, this wouldn’t be an issue next season.
6 Want: A Focus on Story
Destiny has some of the most in-depth lore out of any video game currently on the market. So much of the game’s lore is tied behind Grimoire cards, though, and not shown in the actual game. This is why cutscenes like the recent one between Osiris and Rasputin are so fascinating.
They give a glimpse into the large world Bungie has created and the drama present in the lore. A focus on displaying this lore in-game and building a story around it for players to experience would be amazing. “Season of Dawn” did this to great effect with reviving Saint-14, so there is hope Bungie will do the same for “Season of the Worthy.”
5 Don’t Want: Unresolved Plot Threads
Many plot points have been introduced in Destiny 2 over the years. The revival of Uldren, the Dreaming City curse, Savathun’s plan, and now the Darkness have all been revealed in some form or another. What all of those threads have in common is how they haven’t been resolved.
We don’t know what Uldren is doing, when the Dreaming City curse will end, or when the Darkness plans to return. “Season of Dawn” introduced Saint 14 and his experience living again, but his plot thread could easily be dropped for Rasputin’s instead next season. This would be a massive shame.
4 Want: Focus on Trials
Crucible players have seen little new content since “Forsaken” shipped over a year ago. A few new maps and a couple of game modes have been introduced since then, but that’s mostly it. Hardcore PvP players have been clamoring for a competitive game type that isn’t the Competitive playlist.
This is what Trials of Osiris did for Destiny and, for the first year of Destiny 2, Trials of the Nine accomplished, Bungie has recently announced that Trials is making a return this season, which is great news for hardcore Crucible players. As long as there is meaningful loot to back up this game mode, it could be one of the best additions to the game in a long time. If this game mode does not get enough support, however, it will die just like Trials of the Nine did.
3 Don’t Want: Recycled Artifact Mods
There has been a trend among the artifact mods every season. Mainly, the mods introduced are mostly variants of what has come before. Void Battery is one example, granting an overshield while activating your class ability. While great for Hunters, this was already in the game last season for Arc users with a mod called Arc Battery.
“Season of Dawn” introduced Tenderizers and Guardian Angel as new mods, while the rest of the roster were recycled or had their elemental affinity swapped. Mods like Guardian Angel should be the standard for mods every season, not the exception.
2 Want: Community Events
Community events are a fantastic way to get players working together under a common goal. We saw a Mars event a few months ago, but the Empyrean Foundation event from “Season of Dawn” is a great example of how to do this right.
In the Empyrean Foundation, players had to work together donating a unique resource to restore an old event. This event is rumored to be Trials of Osiris, seeing as the progress on this is shown in the Crucible menu and the Tower hub area. Along the way, players who donate get bounty progress towards seasonal guns, meaning that donating large quantities of resources can provide amazing guns to use next season. This type of event needs to come back next season with how successful the Empyrean Foundation was.
1 Don’t Want: More Horde Mode
Every DLC for Destiny 2 since “Warmind” has included some form of horde mode. That is, fighting progressively harder waves of foes for loot. “Warmind” added Escalation Protocol, “Forsaken” added Blind Well, “Black Armory” added Forges, “Season of the Drifter” added Reckoning, and it keeps going from there.
A new horde mode this season would inflate the matchmade activity pool and just be another boring shooting gallery. A rework of Escalation Protocol, focusing more on large-scale public events, would be fantastic instead of adding another temporary 3-month activity that matchmakes with 6 players.
NEXT: Destiny 2: Top 10 Pinnacle Weapons, Ranked
