Destiny 2: Beyond Light

Destiny 2: Beyond Light
Developer(s)	Bungie
Publisher(s)	Bungie
Director(s)	Luke Smith
Composer(s)	Michael Salvatori Skye Lewin Rotem Moav Josh Mosser Michael Sechrist
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Stadia Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Release	November 10, 2020
Genre(s)	Action role-playing, first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Destiny 2: Beyond Light is a major expansion for Destiny 2, a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was released on November 10, 2020, as the fifth expansion of Destiny 2. Players travel to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to confront the Fallen Kell Eramis, who plans to use the power of the Darkness to destroy the Traveler back on Earth. The player's Guardian also obtains this new Darkness-based power as a subclass called Stasis, which also features new abilities. The expansion sees the return of the Exo Stranger from the original Destiny's campaign, as well as Variks from the original game's House of Wolves expansion, both of which guides the Guardian on Europa. Furthermore, Beyond Light adds other content across the game, including missions, player versus environment locations, player gear, weaponry, and a raid. Beyond Light is the first expansion of Destiny 2 to be released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms. Bungie described this expansion as the beginning of a new era for the Destiny franchise.

In addition to the expansion, some of the less played locations and activities from the first three years of Destiny 2 were cycled out of the game into what Bungie calls the Destiny Content Vault (DCV), which also includes all areas from the original Destiny. This was done to cut down on the install size of the game, but Bungie plans to cycle areas in and out of the DCV, updating older destinations to fit the current state of the game. Earth's Cosmodrome from the original game returned alongside Beyond Light. At present, this location mainly serves as the introductory destination for first-time players of the free-to-play base game with a full questline, but over the course of the year, Bungie plans to expand the area to its original size from the original game, including bringing back all of its strikes.

Gameplay

Main article: Destiny 2 § Gameplay

Beyond Light maintains the basic gameplay of Destiny 2; the player, as a Guardian using a power called Light that gives them superhuman abilities and the ability to be regenerated, fight in a mix of first-person and third-person shooter gameplay in both player versus environment and player versus player activities in a massively multiplayer online game world. Cooperative activities include various bounties, story-related missions, strikes, raids, open-world public events, special seasonal events, while competitive matches include matches with other Guardians in the Crucible or a team versus team mode in the Gambit arena. Players are rewarded with both new weapons and armor as well as various materials that are used as a form of in-game currency to gain or upgrade other equipment. Players can have up to three active characters, one from each of the game's main classes: Titan, Hunter, and Warlock, each that has several subclasses based on the type of elemental damage they select prior to missions. Players seek to improve their character's overall Power level—a rough average measuring the quality of weapons and gear they have collected—that allows them to take on more challenging activities in the game.

Prior to Beyond Light, there were three main elemental powers: Arc, Solar, and Void, which are rooted in Light; Beyond Light introduces a fourth elemental power called Stasis, which creates ice and cold-based damage, rooted in Darkness, and has a fully customizable skill options compared to the existing subclasses. Each class gets a new subclass for Stasis abilities: the Warlock's Shadebinder has them using an icy staff that shoots projectiles and unleashes an explosion to freeze and shatter enemies through their "Winter's Wrath" super, the Hunter's Revenant utilizes dual ice kamas that they can throw and create icy storms to trap and freeze enemies through their super "Silence and Squall", while the Titan's Behemoth uses frozen gauntlets to allow for melee destruction and unleash icy shockwaves on the ground that freezes enemies through their super "Glacial Quake". Game director Luke Smith said that these new customization options for the Stasis subclasses are an "experiment...to see how this goes" and that they may later add these options to the existing Arc, Solar, and Void subclasses.

Other major gameplay changes include:

• Five of the game's destinations that were available during the first three years of Destiny 2—Titan, Io, Mars, Mercury, and the Leviathan ship and their associated campaigns and other activities—as well as activities and content from Year 2's Annual Pass, were removed from the game and placed in the Destiny Content Vault (DCV), while two new areas, Earth's Cosmodrome (previously featured in the first Destiny) and Europa, were added to the game. One of the original raids from Destiny, "Vault of Glass", will also be added to the game sometime during Year 4.
• The shell for the player's Ghost, who in-game provides a companion for the Guardian and aids in respawning the character if they die, can now be customized with modifications, similar to other armor pieces introduced with the Armor 2.0 system. Prior to Beyond Light, while the player could obtain Ghost shells with various properties, these were typically fixed or had some random generated perks given to them. Bungie stated this was intended to give even further customization options to the character.
• The hybrid PvE/PvP Gambit mode that was added with Forsaken (2018) dropped the original three-round mode in favor of the single-round Gambit Prime mode (renamed as Gambit) that was introduced during Year 2's Season of the Drifter, tweaking some of the enemies that spawn in the mode and other timing factors. Impacts of armor from the Reckoning (a PvE arena activity that was also introduced in Season of the Drifter), which could boost certain Gambit gameplay factors, such as being able to summon more powerful blockers to the opponent's side of the map, were reworked into armor mods.
• Armor transmogrification will be introduced sometime in Year 4, which will allow players to change legendary quality armor pieces that they have earned in their Collections into universal ornaments, similar to those purchased in the Eververse microtransaction store, providing a means to further customize their appearance without affecting the attributes or abilities granted by the armor.
• All non-exotic weapons and gear now have a Power infusion cap, meaning older weapons and gear introduced in previous seasons have a maximum Power infusion limit and will eventually be less viable in activities that require a high Power level. For example, gear from the first two years of Destiny 2 have a max Power cap of 1050, which is the starting Power level for Beyond Light, making them more ineffective as the player advances further into the campaign. Going forward, new non-exotic armor and weapons introduced in a season will typically have a Power level cap that will make them viable for the current and the subsequent two seasons.
• Players can now re-obtain any abandoned quests through a quest archive kiosk in the Tower; this kiosk also grants veteran players access to the new player questline, which reworked the original Destiny's opening missions as a new questline for first-time players. Players also have access to an exotic archive in the Tower as well, where they can purchase exotic, pinnacle, and pursuit weapons from associated areas, activities, and seasons that were placed into the DCV. In keeping it fair to players who obtained the weapons by their original means, the weapons cost a substantial amount of various in-game currencies, as well as hard to obtain items.

New and existing players' Power levels were increased to the new minimum Power level of 1050 upon the release of Beyond Light and the first seasonal content offering, Season of the Hunt. Prime Engrams drop at the first soft Power level cap of 1200. The second Power level cap is 1250, while the pinnacle cap is 1260. A new raid mission, "Deep Stone Crypt", will be released on November 21, 2020, and will take place in the aformentioned Clovis Bray facility located on Europa which is the birthplace of the Exos.

Plot

Following the events of Season of Arrivals, in which multiple Pyramid ships began invading the Solar System, the Vanguard discover that Io, Titan, Mercury, and Mars have been consumed by the Darkness. Guardians are sent out to patrol for further evidence of the spreading Darkness. While on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, where the Darkness had invited the Guardian to discover an ancient power, the player's Ghost detects a distress call from Variks, the Loyal, who had led the revolt at the Prison of Elders that resulted in Cayde-6's death during Forsaken two years prior. Despite their wariness to his loyalty, the Guardian rescues Variks from a Fallen patrol. Variks warns them of Eramis, the Shipstealer, who has been named the new Kell of Kells and has brought the Houses of the Fallen together as the House of Salvation to fight against those that are protected by the Traveler, using the power of the Darkness, Stasis, that she has learned to wield and passed on to her lieutenants—Phylaks, the Warrior; Praksis, the Technocrat; Kridis, the Dark Priestess; and Atraks—through Splinters of Darkness.

The Guardian finds themselves quickly outmatched against Eramis' Stasis powers and retreats to safety. The Darkness then contacts the Guardian through Ghost, drawing them to a remote location on Europa overlooking a Pyramid ship where they find a Ziggurat facing the Pyramid, as well as the Exo Stranger, last seen at the end of the original Destiny's campaign, alongside Eris Morn and the Drifter fighting off Fallen troops. The Exo Stranger explains that she comes from a different timeline where the Darkness won. Just as she had provided aid to the Guardian against the Vex six years ago, she has returned to the present time to help prevent the Darkness from claiming victory and causing a second Collapse. She helps guide the Guardian to defeat Eramis' lieutenants, collect their Splinters, and commune with the Darkness through its Cruxes and the Ziggurat to be able to harness Stasis for themselves as to be able to defeat Eramis herself, methods that both Ghost and Commander Zavala do not trust but recognize as the only solution. Along this route, the Guardian learns that part of Eramis' plan is to reactivate a Vex portal that has been built by Clovis Bray I as part of his inhumane research into Exo development.

Ultimately, the Guardian is able to defeat Eramis and her remaining lieutenants and comes to have full control over Stasis after embracing the Darkness at the altar inside the Pyramid. While the immediate threat to humanity is ended, Zavala cautions the Guardian to make sure the Darkness they possess does not spread. Afterwards, the Stranger assists the Guardian in further controlling their Stasis powers so that they can use it to protect humanity. The Stranger also reveals that she is actually Elisabeth "Elsie" Bray, the granddaughter of Clovis Bray I and sister of Ana Bray, revived as an Exo due to a fatal illness; she also despises her grandfather for his experiments. Furthermore, Variks has the Guardian embark on Empire Hunts to take down any remaining Fallen who are attempting to claim Eramis' vacant throne.

Season of the Hunt

In the immediate aftermath of Eramis' defeat, Season of the Hunt will focus on Osiris, the Spider, and a resurrected Uldren Sov, now a Guardian known as The Crow, as they fight corrupted Hive, Cabal, and Fallen under Xivu Arath, God of War, a Hive god and youngest sister to Savathûn and Oryx.

Release

Unveiled on June 9, 2020, Beyond Light was originally scheduled for release on September 22, 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its launch was delayed to November 10. In addition to beginning Year 4 of Destiny 2's life cycle, Bungie described this release as the start of a new era for the franchise, as Beyond Light begins a trilogy of expansions where players "will explore the true nature of Light and Dark"—Beyond Light will be followed up by The Witch Queen in 2021 and Lightfall (working title) in 2022. The expansion is available as paid downloadable content (DLC) and there was also a physical collector's edition and a digital deluxe edition, both of which, among other things, include the season passes for all four seasons of Year 4. Seasonal content for Year 4 also changed. During Year 3, seasonal content was only accessible during the season it was active. While season passes are still available à la carte as they were during Year 3, the content of previous seasons in Year 4 can be experienced all year, regardless of when a player begins playing, much like the seasons during Year 2 of Forsaken's Annual Pass, though the player must still purchase each season's seasonal pass to access the content. Most seasonal triumphs, however, can only be completed during their respective season. The narrative across each season will also be more interconnected instead of being cut into individual seasonal arcs.

Core client changes

Destiny 2's size over its first three years had grown too large for Bungie to efficiently update and maintain, creating several software bugs when they introduced new content. The total content had reached about 115 GB and often required large patches with some updates. Rather than focus on developing a Destiny 3, Bungie decided to work on refreshing the current Destiny 2 content and address the state of the game with Beyond Light. Alongside Beyond Light, Bungie introduced the "Destiny Content Vault" (DCV) as part of this major reworking of the game. Five of the game's previous main worlds (Titan, Io, Mars, Mercury, and the Leviathan area) were removed from the game and placed in the DCV along with certain activities, including the campaigns, raids, weapons, armor, and items associated with those worlds. The DCV also includes all of the content from the original Destiny game. After Beyond Light, Bungie plans to go back to areas in the DCV and remaster them over time so that they can be better incorporated into the game at a later time (as seen with Earth's Moon location in the previous Shadowkeep expansion). Because of this change, the install size of the game dropped by about 30 to 40% on all platforms, but did require players to effectively reinstall the full game upon Beyond Light's release.