Destiny 2 Gets a New Dungeon, Exotic Quest, Festival of the Lost Seasonal Event, and a New Crucible Mode

Since Destiny 2: Shadowkeep launched on October 1st, kicking off the Season of the Undying, there’s been no shortage of things to do in the game. Today, however, Bungie wants to really overwhelm Guardians with new content no matter which aspect of Destiny they love most. For the players who love the end game, there’s a brand new dungeon on the moon. If you’re into competition against other Guardians, a new Crucible mode that Bungie compares to the classic Halo custom game SWAT is here. Just want a brand new weapon? The long-teased Xenophage Exotic quest is available. And of course, the seasonal Festival of the Lost kicks off today too, Destiny 2’s version of Halloween.

A lot of mystery surrounds the new dungeon, though Bungie is being more open about it than Destiny 2’s previous dungeon, The Shattered Throne. The Shattered Throne was originally a secret and randomly discovered by players without knowing anything about it at all. With the new dungeon, we’ve seen teasers in video form, as well as getting the launch date of today announced. Destiny 2 dungeons are essentially three-person Raids, featuring difficult mechanics and enemies that will test even the heartiest of Guardians, but grant immense rewards for overcoming the challenge. There’s also a great narrative hook involved as we delve deeper into the moon.

Meanwhile, in the Crucible, Momentum Control is the opposite of Mayhem and shifts focus to gunplay. Respawn timers are instant to keep momentum in the fight. Weapon damage is increased across the board, so every weapon becomes a viable option if you are comfortable using it. In order to get ability energy, you must defeat opposing players. Finally earning a super is essentially like a Call of Duty killstreak though. Increased damage resistance in supers means they are rare but extremely powerful abilities. Only heavy weapons can put them down, but don’t worry, heavy spawns have increased. Oh, and your radar is disabled, so this is all about skilled gunplay.

As long as you own Shadowkeep, you’ll be able to begin the hunt for Xenophage, the mysterious “bug gun” that Bungie teased at numerous events leading up to the expansion’s release. Little more is known about the mysterious Exotic, but knowing the Destiny community, that will very soon change.

And finally, as if all of that’s not enough, Festival of the Lost goes live today. Guardians can once again enter the Haunted Forest to put down threats while wearing a selection of masks. Duringthe  event, you can earn candy and get the Braytech Werewolf auto rifle, a new random-rolled version of the Braytech Winter Wolf from the Warmind expansion. There are also plenty of cosmetic items to purchase, including the return of the broom sparrow with a new aesthetic and a new tombstone emote. Of course, the Tower is appropriately decorated for the spooky holiday that celebrates the dead.

That’s not all though! Today’s Destiny 2 update also brings a number of quality of life fixes and improvements; one of the first big updates since Shadowkeep launched. A few supers have been tuned, ornaments will now display on the item tile when equipped, stacks of many consumables have been increased drastically, and heavy ammo in Crucible has been tuned down to appear less often. It’s a huge list of patch notes, so while you download the latest update, get reading!

Destiny 2 Update Patch Notes

FESTIVAL OF THE LOST

2018 Masks

• Owners of 2018 Festival of the Lost masks automatically receive the associated ornaments to be used on the 2019 Festival of the Lost helmet

COMBAT SYSTEMS

Abilities

For developer commentary, please see the This Week at Bungie – 10/17/2019 blog article.

Striker—Code of the Juggernaut (Bottom Path)

Trample:

• Reduced amount returned possible per kill from 15% to 13% (before diminishing returns)
• Reduced the low end of the diminishing returns from 5% to 3.25%
• Changed the kills for the diminishing returns by splitting them out between players and combatants
  • • Was previously 15 kills; is now 14 combatant kills or 7 opposing Guardian kills (opposing Guardians count 2x toward diminishing returns)
• Tuned the amount of Super energy returned per kill
• Cost of Light attack in Super increased by 50% from 2% to 3%
• Regeneration on kill no longer procs on Super kills

Dawnblade—Attunement of Flame (Bottom Path)

Everlasting Flames: 

• Increased the low end of the diminishing returns from 0.75% to 0.95%
• Changed the kills for the diminishing returns by splitting them out between players and combatants
  • • Previously it was 30 kills. Now it is 21 combatant kills or 7 opposing Guardian kills (opposing Guardians count 3x toward diminishing returns)
• Tuned the amount of Super energy returned per kill (handled differently than Striker as this attack is an AoE)

Sentinel—Code of the Protector (Top Path)

Ward of Dawn:

• Armor of Light timer now correlates with the life of the Ward of Dawn
• Particle FX move more rapidly toward the end of the Ward of Dawn’s life

Nightstalker—Way of the Wraith (Middle Path)

Shattering Strike: 

• Shattering Strike lasts the proper 9 seconds once again
• Fixed a bug in which Shattering Strike activation window was reduced to 3 seconds along with Truesight

Shoulder Charge

We’ve removed a bug that allowed players to shoot immediately before activating shoulder charge, which allowed players to apply the 1–2 Punch damage buff to shoulder charge.

Weapons

• Exotics
  • • Jötunn
      • • Fixed an issue that caused this weapon to impact multiple times at close ranges
    • Divinity
      • • Increased the Weaken effect from 25% to 30%
        • NOTE: The Weaken effect from Judgment is not intended to stack with other Weaken effects. This issue will be fixed at a later date. The “cage” will still appear and act as a precision weak point in these cases, but the multipliers themselves will not stack.
    • Fixed an issue where Destiny 2 would crash if this weapon was combined with target-marking effects such as Vengeance (One-Eyed Mask)
    • Deathbringer
      • • Fixed the reload timing on this weapon
        • NOTE: This also affects other Rocket Launchers that share the same reload animation
• Legendary
  • • Adhortative
      • • Fixed an issue that would cause the leaves on this weapon to distort visually
    • Prophet of Doom
      • • Fixed an issue with the placement of shells during the reload animation
    • Hush
      • • Fixed a bug that prevented Archer’s Gambit from activating if the player manually un-draws their Bow and starts sprinting at the same time

Armor

• Sealed Ahamkara’s Grasps now have a short cooldown period between perk activations
• Stats and Perks
  • • Armor 2.0 mods that trigger on orb collection or using your class ability now no longer stack with their pre-Armor 2.0 versions
    • Pre-Armor 2.0 Exotics now have correct stat packages
    • Armor 1.0 Traction perk applies +5 Mobility, in line with Armor 2.0 Traction mod

PC

Steam

• Blocking communication with players in Steam will now block/mute players in Destiny 2
• Added functionality for /addfriend and /removefriend commands
  • • /addfriend [ PlayerName ]
    • /removefriend [ PlayerName ]
    • Note: Players must be in one of your rosters (fireteam, friends, or clan) in order to add/remove them as a friend.
• Added functionality for /invite command
  • • /invite [ PlayerName ]
    • Note: Players must be in one of your rosters (fireteam, friends, or clan) in order to invite them by player name.
    • /invite [ SteamID ]
    • Note: You can invite players by SteamID, regardless of whether they’re in your roster or not.
• Players can now /invite and /join another player regardless of their Steam online status (online, invisible, or offline)
• /help description updated to reflect new changes to commands

INVESTMENT

Ornaments

• When an ornament has been applied to a weapon or armor item, its icon will now update to reflect the currently equipped ornament
• Universal ornament packages that have been purchased but not opened now properly indicate they are owned in the Eververse store

Season Pass

• The Vow’s catalyst quest step now properly references “strike playlists” rather than the erroneous “strike activities”
• The Season Pass bonus Catalyst quest boost omega now properly describes is progression acceleration as “quadruples” rather than the erroneous “triples”
• The Exotic ship Never Live It Down now properly displays its name in the lore tab title section

Power and Progression

• Exotic quest “Symphony of Death” awards more XP than intended; set this to be the same as other Exotic quests
• Exotic quest “Make Bows, Not War” awards more XP than intended; set this to be the same as other Exotic quests
• Increased the Power of gear awarded by “Invitations of the Nine” bounties “Into the Unknown” to be powerful

Nightmare Hunts

• Increased the damage multiplier granted by Unstable Essence at difficulty levels Hero, Legend, and Master
• Adjusted Unstable Essence to be significantly more effective against Nightmares than Nightmare Bosses
• The Swordbearer Nightmare’s Sword in Nightmare Hunt: Despair now drains half as fast once a player equips it
• Navigation waypoint added to Nightmare Hunt: Servitude to help guide players more effectively toward the final encounter
• Hunts now have idle protection; idle players will not receive rewards

Raids

• Garden of Salvation
  • • Encounter rewards are now delivered as engrams instead of directly granted in the loot feed
    • Fixed an exploit where Cyclopes could be knocked off of their towers in the final encounter
    • Increased the radius for Relay Defender and Enhanced Relay Defender mods
    • Fixed an issue where music would not start properly when players enter the final boss arena
    • Fixed an issue where Consecrated Mind could slam into walls during DPS
    • Fixed an issue where geometry in the final encounter space could appear completely black when being removed or recreated
    • Fixed an issue where weekly challenge rewards could be re-earned repeatedly by deleting and creating new characters
• Last Wish
  • • Apprentice Guide and Journeyman Guide emblem variants will appear in collections after players discover them.

Destinations

• Moon
  • • Fixed an issue where the first Shadowkeep campaign quest step “In Search of Answers” could go to Postmaster if player’s quests inventory was full
    • Affected players can now recover the Shadowkeep campaign quest from Eris in the “Abandoned Quests” section
    • “Essence of Vanity” pursuit now displays number of Sniper Rifle kills required for completion; it will now display progress out of 25 instead of just progress
    • Lost Ghost Traces will no longer drop after all Dead Ghosts have been found; extra Traces will be removed from inventory when the last Dead Ghost is found
    • Fixed an issue in which using the Firewall Data Fragment in the K1 Revelation Lost Sector didn’t have a chance of providing a Cleansed Essence after three weeks of completions
    • Fixed an issue where Cross Save-enabled players could turn in a cleansed Essence to the Lectern of Enchantment and receive no rewards
    • If playing on a platform on which you don’t own Shadowkeep, the Lectern will no longer show the Essence reward screen
    • To receive the reward, log on to the platform on which you own Shadowkeep and visit the Lectern
    • Fixed an issue where daily bounties for both Eris and the Lectern of Enchantment were rotating weekly instead of daily
    • Fixed an issue where the Moon bounty “Tidal Lock” would progress only in Nightmare Hunts; it will now progress anywhere on the Moon
    • Phantasmal Core stack cap raised from 3 to 999
    • Triumph “Lore of Luna” now progresses when scan patrols are completed in Sorrow’s Harbor.
    • Removed blank, unobtainable page from lore book “Unveiling”
    • Fixed an issue where players who finished their bunny collection faster than expected weren’t awarded with the “Lunar Gloom” shader
    • On login, affected players will have a stack of five of this shader in their inventory and unlocked in Collections
• Black Armory (Misc)
  • • Quests for Gofannon and Izanami forges still existed on veteran characters who were on steps that could not be progressed; those steps have been removed from the players inventories
    • Fixed an issue where players could not acquire nor complete the Key Mold quest for Izanagi’s Burden
    • The Lock and Key (Mysterious Box) quest can be abandoned; players can reacquire the abandoned quest at Ada-1
    • The “Harvest Time” bounty will now progress when collecting Helium Filaments
• Dreaming City
  • • Balanced Awoken Talisman has been removed from veteran players’ inventories; it is no longer needed to access Dreaming City/Shattered Throne/Wish Ender quest
    • Fixed a bug that allowed players to loot the Orrery chest an unlimited number of times
• Shattered Throne
  • • Fixed an issue where, upon defeating Dul Incaru at the end of Shattered Throne, players could return to orbit and have a checkpoint for the activity; defeating the boss will now immediately complete the activity and award credit
• Nessus
  • • Exodus Black world quest turn-in step can be recovered from Failsafe if players abandon it
• Mars and Mercury
  • • Heroic adventures will now be available on their respective destinations when Mars or Mercury are featured as a Flashpoint
• EDZ
  • • Fixed an issue where the “Enhance” quest was no longer available

Reckoning

• Fixed an issue where Warlocks who wagered Weak Motes in Reckoning were incorrectly being rewarded Titan gear
• Increased stack size of Gambit Prime Synths to 999

Crucible

• Fixed an exploit in Countdown that allowed the defending team to get free wins by continuously swapping gear between rounds
• Fixed an issue that prevented some players from earning the Silimar’s Design Iron Banner Triumph; the Triumph will be awarded retroactively to any players who encountered this issue

Vendors

• Benedict 99-40
  • • Removed initial Vendor Challenge from Benedict 99-40
• Ada-1
  • • Removed challenge from Black Armory Forge unlock quest
    • Weekly Black Armory bounties now award Black Armory armor pieces
• Yuna (IGR Only)
  • • Yuna’s inventory is now updated to vend Armor 2.0 versions of Exotic armor
• Eris and Rune Table
  • • Daily bounties will now rotate daily, as opposed to weekly

General

• Fixed an issue where Gyro Ghost Shell’s rings would animate improperly when summoned
• Increased idle protections across numerous PvE playlists
  • • Play the game, get rewards
    • Seriously, just play the game
    • Don’t leave your team hanging
    • It’s not very nice
• The Traitor’s Fate sword is no longer marked as “Requires Exclusive Item” and can be successfully equipped

Lore Tabs

• Added Lore Tabs for the following Shadowkeep rewards:
  • • Legendary Garden of Salvation rewards
      • • 15 unique lore tabs
    • Divinity
    • Monte Carlo
    • Deathbringer
    • Leviathan’s Breath
    • Eriana’s Vow
    • Assassin’s Cowl
    • Phoenix Cradle
    • Stormdancer’s Brace
    • Never Live It Down

ACTIVITIES

Crucible

• Control
  • • Heavy Ammo initial spawn changed to 60 seconds (was 45 seconds)
• Iron Banner Control
  • • Heavy Ammo initial spawn changed to 60 seconds (was 45 seconds)
    • Heavy Ammo additional spawning changed to every 120 seconds (was every 60 seconds)
• Survival
  • • Heavy Ammo initial spawn changed to 60 seconds (was 30 seconds)
    • Reduced the amount of Heavy Ammo granted to match Elimination and 6v6 modes

UI SYSTEMS

Accessibility

• Added accessibility options for subtitles, which are available during account creation and the Settings screen
  • • The options add the ability for players to change the font size, font color, subtitle background style, and subtitle background opacity
• Added the continuous tabbing when tabbing past each end of the Director
• Reorganized some of the Settings on PC to better organize where certain options are sorted
• Changed the text opacity for the menu navigation bar to improve visibility with certain emblem themes

General

• Forsaken subclasses will display the correct Super icon in the PvP HUD; all Sentinal and Arcstrider subclasses still use the same Super icon for each of their three subclasses; these Supers will have new icons
  • • Thundercrash
    • Burning Maul
    • Blade Barrage
    • Spectral Blades
    • Nova Warp
    • Well of Radiance
    • Chaos Reach
• Fixed an issue that increased loading times for gear preview while in space flight
• Added protections against intense strobe effects that can be encountered if the player’s health is near the shield break threshold and the player has a damage-over-time effect and a healing effect active at the same time
• Fixed an issue where the page pips in the Quest tab would become highlighted when selecting on the screen
• Fixed an issue where the Strike node on the Moon map would not show a breadcrumb icon during the Shadowkeep campaign
• Fixed an issue where icons on the Season Pass would load at different times
• Fixed an issue where Cross Saved accounts would show incorrect names
• Removed the inaccurate “Season Rank” display while inspecting another player
• Fixed an issue where equipping an already-acquired emblem would cause the loot stream notification to appear
• Fixed an issue where Destiny Guardians was not being displayed for the Korea region
• Fixed an issue where gearset icons (such as Gambit Prime or Revelry armor) on the character screen would have empty spaces between them
• Changed the objective text on the Cache Out bounty to “Chests looted”
• Fixed an issue where the Spell of Abolition emote wasn’t showing in the emote feed

What new activity will you be hopping into first? I think I’ll see if I can’t get myself the mysterious “bug gun” and then start grinding away on the Festival of the Lost, though I’m sure my fireteam will come knocking soon asking if we can run that new dungeon. Let’s hope we can rise to meet the challenge. I had to delete a few things off my PS4’s hard drive to make space, so it’ll be minute before I can play.

[Source: Bungie]