Destiny 2 August 27, 2021 Bungie Weekly Report Shared
What an awesome week, where do we start?
Tuesday was a big day. A very big big day. Even some of the news ended up being saved for Wednesday. Many of you tuned in to see all the details of the showcase, but there's still so much more that needs to be said. Let's do a quick recap for the newbies. Yes, you're about to see a whole bunch of links, but we couldn't possibly cover it all without turning this post into an update document:
The Evil Ghost Phantom has been announced, and our enemies can even use light energy as well.
There's too much information to summarize in a few points. Head over to our product page to learn more!
The Divine Concealment season is now live, and the tale of two queens has begun.
Cross-platform play is now live, allowing players to play together regardless of platform.
We've also announced our 30th Anniversary Celebration, including the return of the Horn of Galar, a new six-player campaign, and more!
For our PvP players, we have some quality of life improvements to the game, some interesting news about security, and information about Trials!
We've announced our partnership with BattlEye Anti-Hacking and released new security improvements in Destiny 2.
As we collect data and enhance detection, we thank all players for continuing to report possible plug-ins via the contact form.
We also announced updates to our security policy that address win trading and account subbing in competitive environments.
We announced upcoming improvements to Osiris Trials, including rewards, matchmaking, and labs.
The Trials will be temporarily suspended until they open on September 11th, so if you haven't read about it yet, go ahead and read below.
There's a lot for everyone to read, and quite a bit more to discuss over the next few months.
Let's start with the expected setting, shall we? In the Destiny 2 Showcase, we talked about the upcoming Light Energy branching career rework in Destiny 2. Even though we showed you a small gameplay video, we thought we'd explain the rework a little more closely.
First, let's take a look at the updated news about the Bungie Foundation motion.
UPDATED NEWS ON THE BUNGIE FOUNDATION MOTIONS: TEAM RUBICON AND DIRECT RELIEF
Last week, we announced several charitable motions designed to help those in need around the world. This community has proven time and time again that gaming can be for good, and that we are the guardians of the world.
The Bungie Foundation: Today, Team Rubicon and Direct Relief have teams around the world actively providing life-saving medical treatment, critical medical and PPE supplies, food, water, and shelter to hundreds of people in need. These are people who may have been affected by recent natural disasters - including the earthquake in Haiti, wildfires on the West Coast and in the Mediterranean, and flooding in Tennessee and Germany. They haven't given up on their mission to get the more vulnerable populations vaccinated with the new crown vaccine, either.
Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered a Guardians of Hope T-shirt from the Bungie Store, made a direct donation, or purchased a Bungie Foundation collectible. We know it's been a very challenging year for all of you, and your continued generosity is mind-blowing. In the past week, you've helped us raise nearly $125,000 through direct donations or pre-ordered t-shirts.
Please continue to support us! You have until September 2nd at 2:59pm PST to help us reach our goal of raising $500,000 to help Team Rubicon and Direct Relief save millions of lives around the world.
As a reminder, you can earn the following rewards:
Donate $25 to receive an Anchor Logo, to be distributed via email on Friday, September 10th.
Pre-order a Guardians of Hope t-shirt to receive the Elixir of Life logo, distributed via email on Friday, September 10th.
Receive the Star of Peace logo with the purchase of an item from the Bungie Foundation Collection, distributed via email after the purchase is complete.
REMINDER: To receive the above in-game items, donations or purchases must be implemented between August 20 and September 2 at 2:59 p.m. PST. Unique redemption codes will be emailed to you on Friday, September 10th as the fundraiser ends. Only one eligible donation or purchase corresponds to an email containing a redemption code corresponding to one item.
Thank you for being Guardians in the real world. Your support has saved countless lives.
Feel the Void
Starting with the Phantom of Evil, we'll be progressively updating the Light Energy branching professions over the course of the season, giving Guardians more customization options and more ways to use their skills. While our team is still deep into developing these features,
Sandbox Leader Kevin Yanes and Game Designer Samuel Dunn will give us a rundown of their goals for the skills, as well as the upcoming reworks.
Kevin: Hi everyone, I'm Kevin from the Skills team, and I'm here to share the details of the upcoming changes. By the time this article is published, I think you've all seen what kind of delicacies are being prepared in Bungie's digital kitchen. The game world, characters and story lines are moving forward and the world is a very different place. Destiny 2 is evolving, which means the sandbox has to evolve with it. Previously, I spoke about the line of changes up until Season 15, vaguely mentioning some hints about what's to come. Now, I'd like to go further and say what we'll be doing in the future.
Straight to the point
During Wednesday's showcase, we watched your reactions to Evil Ghost Phantom, Divine Hidden Season, and the 30th Anniversary. Some of them were about branching professions, the Ice Shadow astral phase, and shards. I think we should reveal a few scars before moving forward:
There will be no new Shadow branching professions during Evil Ghost Phantom or Year 5.
We've decided to focus our efforts on the Light Energy branch career during the year. As you can see below, it's not just simple changes, it's a lot of new and exciting stuff.
There will be no new Ice Shadow astral phases or shards in the Divine Hidden season.
Similar to the last decision, we wanted to focus on different motions rather than just adding more Ice Shadow stuff.
We feel that the diversity of the branching professions' loadouts are now in a better position to benefit more from the tweaking changes.
As a result, we'll be focusing on taking care of the balance update for the Divine Concealment season as well as another copy of the change update that was released in tandem with the 30th Anniversary.
Combat Reimagined
Today, you're going to get a quick look at Void 3.0 - a brand new interpretation of the Void branching professions. Over the next few weeks, you'll also learn about the changes we've made to player skill energy regen and how these changes, released with the 30th Anniversary, will affect both PvE and PvP. To name a few: reducing the number of one-hit kills in the Furnace Arena and adjusting the Hyper Energy regen so that it will be more profitable for players to engage in combat rather than wait for a dry spell to regen their skills. Later in Year 5, we hope to share a motion that the team is discussing internally: to make bullet reps a more deterministic and at the same time more consistently paced experience across all events. I hope what I'm describing now shows a clear picture of what's on the horizon: the game is evolving for the better. Destiny 2 is alive and well, and as we enter our 5th year, we're thinking about how we can evolve the sandbox as you know it, so as to not only create exciting new experiences, but also to better refine parts of the game that we haven't tended to much since its release in 2017. We've learned a lot from each version of the sandbox over the years, and we want to better apply those learnings in Year 5 and beyond. I hope you hold the same excitement and anticipation for the future that I do!
Brave New World
As you've already seen at the showcase event, we're going to be doing a serious reworking of the Light branch professions that already existed in Destiny 2. Our Void, Blaze, and Arc branch professions and damage types have been with us since Destiny was released. In fact, some Destiny 2 player fantasies and mechanics are the same today as they were when Destiny 1 was released in 2014. Despite the updates we made in 2017 and 2018 when Destiny 2 and the Forsaken Clan were released, some of these branching professions were left behind by the new energy levels as well as the fitting settings. To address this, we're rebuilding and revamping these branching professions, redefining the game's fantasies and mechanics, and integrating them into the modern branching profession experience.
In Destiny 2: Lingering Light, we introduced a new system of branching careers we called Branching Careers 3.0. The goal of Branching Careers 3.0 was to create an experience that would provide players with a way to customize in a similar way to Destiny 1, while also having a meaningful evolutionary experience. For us, matchmaking + best moves + power fantasy = a gameplay experience you can't feel anywhere else, and that's the best formula for success in Destiny.
Gazing into the Void
In Void 3.0, we're reorganizing the branching professions you know and love. This means adding new skills and mechanics, dropping some old ones where appropriate, and spreading out what you already have to create new combinations and experiences. We want to keep the style of gameplay you know and love, and then create new experiences that you haven't even known before. We can't wait to see what you think of these changes, and we look forward to your feedback.
So next, we have our team to unpack.
Sam: Hi everyone. I'm Sam Dunn, skill designer on the Sandbox team. I'm going to take you through further details about Void 3.0
New Forms
Kevin said it above, we're updating the branching career 3.0 system for Void, Blaze, and Arc, and you'll be able to choose between Hyper, Grenade, Melee, Astral, and Shard to customize your play style. In Phantom of the Wicked Lady, you get your first taste of these changes by using the Void against Savatuan and her Swarm of Light.
It bears repeating that this update will change a lot of things. Destiny 2 has changed a lot in the three years since the release of Legacy, and we feel that the Light branching professions need to keep up with the pace of change. Most of the Void gameplay experience you know and love will continue to exist, just in a different form. Some things will not return. At the same time we've added some new things that we think you'll enjoy.
For the Void 3.0 rework, here are our main goals:
Preserve the powerful power fantasies of the Void that already exist. We're focusing on why this damage type is more fun to use, giving the entire profession a tightly bonded identity, while adding something new that you'll feel is a natural wink to the power of the Void.
New and exciting possibilities for fitting crafting through a combination of astrological signs and shards. Not only do we want you to be able to pull off loadouts that are similar to those of past branching professions, but we also want you to explore some new ways that your Void skills work with your armor and weapons.
Provide a framework for the integration of damage type systems later in the game. We feel that Ice Shadow does a great job of providing a set of shared combat behaviors or working with other elements of itself and other branching professions. And for Void, we wanted to expand on that effect further by reorganizing the branching professions in a similar way - we'll be doing the same for Blazing Sun and Arc in the future.
Speaking of keywords
For Void 3.0, we've defined a set of core keywords used by the traits and skills of multiple Void branching professions, similar to all of Ice Shadow's slows, freezes, and shatters. Each profession will specialize in a few words, but you can also negotiate with your fireteam and thus work with other branch professions to combine specific skills with shard combinations. Additionally, these verbs will appear outside of the branching professions page - Weapon Traits, Exotic Armor, Seasonal Artifact Modules - and we'll be gradually expanding this list in the future. We believe that these interactions between your skills and the systems you equip are central to the crafting aspect of Destiny 2 matchmaking.
For the Void, there are three negative effects you can apply to your enemies:
Suppression - The target will be removed from the state of any active skill in use and will not be able to activate any active skill or movement style for the duration of the suppression effect. Affected enemy combatants will be unable to fire their weapons.
Weakness - The target will take additional damage and slow movement. The enemy combatant's weapon accuracy is reduced.
Unstable - The target is affected by Unstable Void Energy, which creates an explosion when taking extra damage or dying.
At the same time you can apply three positive effects to yourself and your teammates:
Void Cover Shield - A protective void light energy barrier that reduces damage from combatants.
Stealth - You will disappear from sight and will not appear on enemy radar.
Eclipse - You will devour the energy of your enemies. Kills will return to full blood, gain grenade energy, and extend the devouring time.
Old Dogs, New Tricks
To close out this section, here's a preview of some of the new and updated skills you'll be experiencing after the release of Void 3.0 and the changes.
Night Dive Hunter
Shadow Arrows - Mobius Arrow Pouch - Superpower
Fires two sets of three Void Arrows, searching for enemies and generating Void Anchor Points on hit. Shadow arrows destabilize bound enemies and deal higher damage to already bound targets.
The main pain point with the current Mobius Arrow Pouch is that you have to press the Hyper button multiple times to fire the arrows individually, which can take a long time and be clunky, affecting output (as well as causing the player to float out in less-than-stellar directions - such as jumping off cliffs and other such enigmatic maneuvers). By firing multiple arrows at once, you can quickly clear an area or deal a burst of damage to a boss.
Dashing Executioner - Astrological Signs
Defeating weak, suppressed, or unstable targets grants Stealth and True Sight. After completing a Dashing Executioner, your next stealthy melee attack weakens the enemy.
This is a variant of the current Perfect Execution trait of Mid-Row Void Hunting, an astrological aspect that allows the hunter to sustain stealth by defeating enemies affected by negative statuses.
Sentinel Titan
Watcher - Astrological Phase
Summon a barrier of Void energy to provide a Void-covered shield for yourself and friendly forces. This enhanced barrier slowly returns void covering shields to friendly troops hiding behind it.
We wanted to bring players closer to the Sentinel fantasy of a frontline protector, so the Watcher is a very powerful tool to prepare for the start of a battle, providing a safe place for the team to pull back in a time of crisis.
Shield Throw - Ballistic Melee Attack
Throw shields at your enemies. The shield bounces off enemies and the ground, generating a small void-covered shield for you with each hit.
We wanted to give Titans more options for ballistic melee attacks. Shield Throw can help push more aggressively into a group of enemies, dealing damage to them and improving your survivability in danger.
Voidwalker
Pocket Singularity - Ballistic Melee Attack
Fires an unstable sphere of void energy that tracks an enemy, detonating it as it nears the enemy, pushing the target away from the center of the blast and rendering it unstable.
This is a tool for recoiling faces, as well as pushing enemies out from behind cover. Pay attention to where you release it; it's very possible (and satisfying) to bounce an enemy into the air and trigger the destabilizing effect with a straight shot to the head.
Sons of the Old Gods - Astrological Phase
Unleash your Rift to summon a sentient black hole that floats around you, waiting for a target. It will automatically track enemies, then suck their energy and weaken them, feeding their life energy back to you as grenades and melee energy (if you're using a Healing Rift) or lifesteal (if you're using a Strong Energy Rift). Defeating an enemy that is being siphoned returns a portion of the rift energy.
Son of the Old Gods is a very powerful tool for getting on negative statuses, allowing Voidwalker an extra way to control an area while renewing himself.
We hope these previews will ignite your curiosity and get you thinking about what would be some of the cooler new Void matchups. Have you ever thought about Ghostly Spirit Blades paired with Stealthy Steps? Dawn Shroud and Restraining Destruction? Handheld Supernova and Devour? There are a lot of new possibilities as we approach the Phantom of the Wicked Lady, and we'll be telling more about Supernova, Shards, and Grenades in future weekly reports.
We're excited about what we've been able to accomplish, and we can't wait to get it into your hands. In the meantime, check out the skill balance changes we've released in Destiny 2 update 3.3.0 for the Shenandoah season. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.
Better, More Rewards
This week was full of surprises. Even outside of our Destiny 2 Show and Season of Shenanigans releases, we had a fun time refreshing our best rewards. Like we did just two weeks ago, right? Well, this event isn't stopping and more rewards are always great. Let's see what we've got this round.
The Lost Wisdom of Shinobi Season
Every year, Destiny player support improves their readiness for the new season. Known issues and need-to-know solutions are sent to your device the moment the update goes live. This season, we've found a few issues that are preventing progress on mission completion, and our team is already working on fixes.
Here's what they're reporting.
Cocoons and URCHINS When the Divine Concealment season was released, the Destiny Player Support team noticed an increase in the number of players receiving the error code URCHIN, especially after completing the Divine Concealment season quest, "Quest: Cocoon." This occurs when a player attempts to take a new quest step when the quest item bar is full. Players who receive the URCHIN error code should make room in their quest item bar so that they have room to add new quests as they complete them. Current Known IssuesWhile we are working on a variety of known issues, we have received a number of issues that have been reported back by players:
Some PC players have been unable to start the game due to missing unknown files.
In "Mission: Cocoon", PC players may experience a game crash.
Opening the armor synthesis page while equipping camp armor (Death Orbit, Future War Zealot, New King's Faction armor, or armor skins) can cause the game to crash.
The Osiris Trial gear does not display correctly when previewing gear on the details page.
In the Shattered Realms event, players may not be teleported even after the screen is completely white. Players should continue forward until they are teleported.
Players who have received all or most of the already existing Prophecy Dungeon rewards do not have access to the newly remastered Nine's Trials weapon.
We're investigating an issue where the Journey quest steps for multiple Trailfinders are not completing properly. Players who are stuck on a particular step, specifically step 4, should abandon and regain the quest to continue progressing through the quest.
The barrier that exists around the Scorch Launchers in the Fallen Groundwalker Public **** event bounces off all who approach them, causing Heroic Mode to be unavailable for that public ****.
In the Starmine Calibration event, there is a very noticeable delay between opening the last treasure chest and getting the event reward.
In the Starman Calibration event, joining a level in the middle of the event will cause the player to be unable to complete the level.
The Straight to the Point achievement does not count Vex Flying Dragons killed by Precision Damage.
Progress on the Chasing Stars quest does not count Atlas Voyage charts picked up prior to the player earning the achievement, nor does it count Atlas Voyage charts picked up on another character.
The Upper Dimensional Ballast I Season Challenge did not properly track the Upper Dimensional Anchor that the player picked up in the Shattered Field. Players should pick up the one on the watercraft first so they can complete that challenge this week. Players affected by this issue will need to wait until the second week of this season to complete this challenge.
The Sober Pre-Order Logo for Phantom of the Wicked is not showing up in the collection.
Some players are unable to enter the door in the Glass Vault Open Door Pass. Players who leave their Fireteam, return to orbit, and then rejoin their Fireteam may receive their reward and continue to complete the raid.
Knights in the Prophecy Dungeon will not drop Light or Shadow Glow correctly depending on where the player is.
The Blighted Heatwave artifact module has no description text. After equipping this module, dealing damage with the Blazing Sun skill briefly weakens the Warrior.
The Ice and Fire artifact module generates only one Blazing Sun and Ice Shadow elemental well.
No Plan B Exotic Titan Hand Armor can't use shaders.
Hunter's Lucky Pants Exotic Leg Armor cannot change its elemental properties.
The Hunter's 2021 to Sunshine Flare gauntlet skin cannot be equipped.
A player's Bungie Friends list is not automatically updated when a Bungie Friend request is accepted.
When attempting to import Bungie friends from other platforms, some platforms display an error and fail to import friends.