Destiny 2 returning to the Leviathan to duff up a zoo in Season Of Opulence
Tear open guts to find golden hats
The third and final season of Destiny 2's Annual Pass will arrive next Tuesday and send treasure-hungry Guardians back to the Leviathan, that vast gilded spaceship processing planets into wine for a decadent alien emperor to guzzle. Bungie have opened up about what's coming to their MMOFPS, shown in a shiny new trailer below. We'll get to rampage through his personal zoo in a new six-player mode (well, his "Menagerie"), have a say in the sort of loot we receive as rewards, nab ornate new armour, and more. It'll also bring a new raid on launch day, the Crown of Sorrow, which- oh no, has that daft git got some Hive sucked up in his ship's guts too?
I'll be glad to return to the Leviathan, a strange and special place. I'm especially glad that players without a raid group will get to see more of it too, as this vast ship filled with golden statues and gameshows really is a sight to behold.
Menagerie is Opulence's promised six-player activity with matchmaking. Looks like Emperor Calus has amassed quite a collection of aliens, and he wants us to kick 'em in because... reasons? Knowing him, we could be killing them for anything from his entertainment to stopping a catastrophe. Or why not both? Bungie say Menagerie will send us through "ever-changing paths and enemies," so I'm expecting random layouts and enemy spawns a bit like the recent Verdant Forest event mode. Sure, I might be up for a big ol' zoofight if the gear's good - which is what let Verdant Forest down a bit.
We'll actually get some control over which rewards we receive, Bungie say, as we power up an item named the Chalice of Opulence. Bungie explain that our spacewizards "will use the Chalice to create an offering of runes in exchange for the specific weapons and armour that they seek. Over time, Guardians will be able to upgrade the Chalice to acquire more plentiful and powerful rewards."
I'd flip my lid if this let me pick both an item and its perks. The Black Armory has a similar idea of letting us 'forge' specific weapons but we're still at the mercy of RNG for perks. After hundreds of forgings, I'm still chasing my dream Blast Furnace pulse rifle (big scope, Ricochet Rounds, Feeding Frenzy, Kill Clip, thanks for asking). Please, Chalice, pretty please.
You can see a load of the new armour and weapons on Bungie's Season Of Opulence page. Calus does have a flair for gaudy tack.
As for the new raid, Crown Of Sorrow, it's also set aboard the Leviathan - in an area that's caked in Hive crud. Oh dear. Has his ship hoovered up Hive while eating planets or is something more sinister afoot? Dunno! I look forward to finding out.
Bungie are once again pushing for a 'World's First' race to complete it. The raid will go live six hours after the start of the season, giving a little time to gear up. The new season will boost the power cap once more, to 750, though temporary caps on raid encounters for the first day will stop anyone from getting too far ahead with weird tricks. I look forward to completing it, uh, maybe a few days after that World's First.
On the opposite end of the power spectrum, the next Season will echo this season's Power Surge bounties that boosted players right up to a high gear level so they don't need to grind to get started.
Oh, and a new season of course means new 'Pinnacle' weapons to earn by playing certain modes. The PvP Crucible gets the Revoker, a sniper rifle which returns missed shots to your magazine "after a short duration" - handy given special ammo is precious in PvP. The PvE Strikes lead to Wendigo GL3, a grenade launcher whose blast radius and damage are somehow boosted by orbs of light. And Gambit gets Hush, a bow which fires faster when you hit hipfired headshots. I'd speculate about which ones sound good but this season's Recluse SMG turned out, against all predictions, to be ridiculously good so who even knows.
Also coming across the season: new Exotic items (including a gorgeous floral revolver), the summer event Solstice Of Heroes for all players, nerfs to hard-earned handcannons Luna's Howl and Not Forgotten, and more stuff. See the season roadmap for what's coming when and for whom.
The Season Of Opulence starts at 6pm (10am Pacific) next Tuesday, June 4th. To get in, players need the Annual Pass as well as the base game and its Forsaken expansion (which these days includes the prerequisist DLCs, Curse Of Osiris and Warmind).