It’s been almost a month since the release of Destiny 2: The Final Shape, and I can state with certain confidence that this expansion is well worth the price. Playing through the introductory campaign, attempting to complete the new Raid, and exploring the new location all proved to be an enjoyable and pleasing experience.
At the end of the last Season What’s-Its-Name (yes, it was that boring), Season of Riven, the Guardians were deceived. Again. How unexpected when it comes to the cunning old Ahamkara. The last Wish made by Savathun would allow only one creature to penetrate the Wanderer. The choice fell on Raven, as – due to their connection – Queen Mara Sov would be able to take us to him.
Thus begins the campaign of The Final Shape, showing how Guardians attempt to penetrate the Wanderer, get shot down, and… And the game shows the most beautiful plot sequence. I’d even venture to say a wildly beautiful, stylish, emotional and stunning sequence. You should REALLY play through it yourself if you haven’t yet.
Without delving into spoiler territory, but even if you have left Destiny 2, the time to come back is now. No, Bungie has not corrected all minor mistakes, a part of the plot as always is hidden behind books, buried in item descriptions and so forth… No, the season will still move forward at a snail’s pace, but the community is used to it by now.
At one point, we considered the Forsaken expansion to be the pinnacle of Destiny 2. However, The Final Shape had proved myself and my guild alike very wrong and pushed its way to the top of the pedestal as the best expansion. This is the best endgame for Destiny. Having completed the story, I do not regret a second spent.
Without irony, speaking as a person that played Destiny almost from the very beginning and who had very high expectations. Even considering that the last few years saw my interest in the game fade a little bit more with every expansion and season, be it from the peculiar narrative, due to the lore being buried who knows where, because of the lack of changes to Gambit (do you remember that this mode still exists, Bungie?), or even simply with the lack of friends playing the game anymore, but I succumbed to the general depressing mood. The disastrous Lightfall killed any kind of hope many players held onto for The Final Shape, as it would prove quite a challenge to cook up a beautiful ending after all its flaws. Bungie themselves stated that they wanted to surpass the Forsaken, but it was hard to believe.
But they did it. Having spent a couple of weeks in the game, I can say with confidence that they have succeeded. Bungie gave players everything we’ve asked for (except for Gambit updates, sorry to say): a new subclass that allows players to mix Light and Darkness, new exotics, all of which are useful in their own ways, a new raid that was so hard only a few players beat it on Day One. Our team that was preparing for the raid for a week before its release got stuck on the final boss and didn’t manage to down him before the time was up. Last but not least is the new location, with such a great number of events that you might get lost at first.
And, while players pay compliments to the location itself, we also beg Bungie to provide map zoom as it doesn’t fit on the screen!
The plot gives so much emotion, pure concentrated fan-service and sheer epic of the events that sometimes you just don’t have enough time to absorb everything happening around your character. No one will remain indifferent during their playthrough. The decision to return Cayde-6 was correct, used as a device to explain what happened since the Forsaken for players that left back then.
While going through the plot, the game would force Guardians to use the mechanics that are also applicable to the raid. Usually, Bungie’s story missions are simple and forgettable, but not this time. Every mission would introduce some kind of new mechanic, providing a feeling of progress and a wealth of emotions. Finishing the plot on the Legend is both interesting and quite hard. The last 3 missions change radically between solo and co-op playthroughs. It is really two amazingly different experiences, both worth trying for yourself.
The new Prismatic subclass is absolutely gorgeous. I don’t even want to swap from it back to the regular specializations anymore. The number of possible combinations it possesses is simply incredible. Warlock with endless grenades? Hunt with unending invisibility and with some self-healing from a fist punch that damages bosses as much as a rocket launcher shot? Demolishing dozens of enemies just passing by as a Titan? All in. The combinations of aspects, skills and ultimates astonish.
I hoped that the new endgame content will be varied and rich and not turn out to be dull second work that will force you into endless grind. And I got what I wanted with Pale Heart, the best part of the expansion that contains the best locations, the best events and other memorable moments of the last 3 years. A bunch of mysteries, secrets, collectibles, lost sectors, and much, MUCH more.
Having played for hours, I couldn’t get enough, let alone grow tired of it all. The game kept the interest constant and made grind not feel like a soul-sucking, boring endless farm. There is a controversial point in that Pale Heart is designed around Solo Play. If you want to be joined by allies, you have to either go into a special mission, or invite specific people. There are no random players there, like there are on other planets. It would be interesting to see this location more lively, although the Solo Play is dictated by the plot.
Bungie managed to trim all the excess fat and unnecessary stuff, and focused on everything that the players love. This entire expansion turned out to be a breath of fresh air when compared to Lightfall, largely considered to be a failure by the community.
I can’t say much more about the plot without delving into the major spoilers category, so let’s jump into some game mechanics instead.
The caps for the Light Power (LP from now on) got changed:
- Starting – 1900 (the gear of all players got automatically raised to this value);
- Soft – 1940;
- Powerful – 1990;
- Pinnacle – 2000.
LP is now shared across the account, and here’s how it works: if you have reached LP of 1960 on one character, then when you switch to the twink who is currently at 1900, you will still be obtaining 1960 value rewards. Of course, you still have to take into account the types of rewards. Because of this, there is no longer any need to transfer equipment from one character to another.
Destiny 2 also received a new system of Group Light Power level. It automatically adjusts the level of the group members following the formula of “The Light Power of the most geared up character reduced by 5”. Thanks to this new feature, it’s become a bit easier to connect and cooperate with players and friends that don’t devote too much time to leveling up their characters.
All activities are now split into three groups:
- First – your Light Power does not affect the difficulty of the opponents;
- Second – you do not receive any bonuses if your LP is above the specified threshold;
- Third – there are no restrictions on LP;
The game also now provides a visual indicator of activities’ difficulty. Hovering over the activity icon reflects it in skulls, from one to four.
Other changes include showing player HP as a bar around the rank icon. Certain changes came to player storage that had finally been expanded by a whopping 100 additional slots, now having a total capacity of 700 items. There are two new loadout slots that can be unblocked by finishing the expansion’s story. The game’s interface and icons also got a fresh coat of paint.
A rank system has been added to the Cryptarch. You gain experience by opening the legendary and exotic engrams, as well as when performing a decoding. After you reach the maximum rank of 17, the Cryptarch unlocks a special third tab that can help you acquire Exotic equipment you haven’t gotten yet.
As promised, the developers have added the ability to improve some non-craftable guns by turning them into a version of their craftable variations. The upgrade is split into 3 tiers. If the weapon can be upgraded, in the details interface you’ll see a button to switch to T1, followed by the bar of the weapon level. To switch to T2, you have to increase the level to 11 and press that button again which will make all perks from the left column transform into their powered up versions. To swap to T3, you need to level the weapon up to 17, which will also prompt the perks from the right column to turn into their enhanced versions.
Pale Heart
The location contains eight regions: Lost City, Landing, Refraction, Blooming, Seclusion, Divide, Impasse and Transgression, with a total of 4 teleport points. Due to the fact that it is located within the Wanderer, each region represents a separate section of the world once visited by the player. For example, first you’ll run among the ruins of the first tower, then explore the surroundings of the tree of silver wings, stumble on the house that Zavala once lived in, and so forth.
You will not find the standard open events in the Heart due to the fact that they were replaced with larger, more interesting and very simple events called “Overthrow”. They take place only in the Landing, Blooming and Impasse regions. Having arrived in any of these regions, you automatically take part in the event that goes along these lines:
You have to finish three levels to summon the final boss. Completing a level takes a 1000 points that can be acquired by killing opponents or by completing events. Their exact locations are indicated by special objects in the sky that also outline the faction you will have to take on.
Every Overthrow follows the scheme of a standard public event with any player able to take part while trying out new mechanics, unique for every region. There are quite a lot of them, too! After collecting the required 1000 points, a chest with intermediate reward will appear, and after a short delay the event will move into the next stage. As a reward for killing the final boss, you will get new equipment, a copy of new exotic weapon, and a special seed.
There are also Blessings to talk about – a new system of passive buffs that can be received from Overthrow chests or through challenges. They are split into 2 types. To activate the first one, you have to open a separate menu on the map and click on the desired option on the left side. To activate the second, you need to find a pedestal in the form of a hand and use it in a region where an Overthrow is taking place. It will use up the seed mentioned above.
All of the Blessings are limited in their duration and will disappear 24 hours later, even if you haven’t used them. These can offer increased energy recovery rate or provide additional boosts when the specified conditions are met.
As you explore the regions, you might stumble upon a locked chest entwined with black roots and emitting orange energy. To unlock it, you must meet a certain condition within 1 minute and 30 seconds. For example, collect pillars of energy scattered throughout the region, or roll a ball from point A to point B, or blow up some plants with grenades.
Pathfinder is a new system designed to replace contracts. At the moment, it is only available for such activities as Strikes, Gambit and Crucible as well as Pale Heart. On the map of the Pale Heart, click on the star icon for any ritual activity to open the Pathfinder interface. That will reveal an interface with a number of points connected between themselves and spread into 5 lines, ending up in an engram or the final reward.
Every point is a random quest associated with a specific event. The variability of tasks is exactly the same as it was for contracts, that is, you can be sent to kill X opponents in Y ways, perform activity-specific things, etc. Points can be marked and then tracked, up to a maximum of 6.
To acquire the engram, you need to move from line to line. To do this, complete a point and it will unlock another point associated with it on the next line. You can complete a point’s quest even before unlocking it. That is, in the process of completing tasks from the first line, you can also finish the quest from for example the last one. After you receive the engram, you can update your Pathfinder and receive the rewards again. You can do this several times a week, but with each update the final reward will be slightly smaller.
There are a lot of great additions to talk about. Transcendence, new weapons, new enemies, new mechanics… To sum it up, Bungie completed the main story in such a way that makes me want to play and believe in it. My expectations were exceeded in all respects.
I can only imagine the Herculean work that went into The Final Shape, and I’m glad to have been wrong about Bungie. I’m grateful to them for all the emotions I’ve received. The Final Shape is the best thing that has ever happened to Destiny 2.