When Bungie started talking about this year’s major Destiny 2 expansion, Beyond Light, the studio also began detailing the Destiny Content Vault (DCV), a big fancy name for the list of stuff that’s no longer going to be playable in Destiny 2. The idea is that Destiny 2 is simply getting too big—both in file size and in manageable activities and locations—to sustain ongoing growth. At this point, a hard reset to a full Destiny 3 isn’t an option, so Bungie is compromising with the DCV as way to both remove and add content to the game. Recently, Bungie released a list of exactly what will be headed into the DCV this November when Beyond Light launches.
It’s important to note that the DCV is also considered to inlcude all content from Destiny 1, and that Bungie is open to revising and bringing back old content in the future, hence why the content leaving Destiny 2 is said to be “vaulted” and not fully removed. In fact, alongside Beyond Light, Destiny 1’s Cosmodrome destination is coming back, as well as the Will of Crota Strike. Later in Year 4, Devil’s Lair and Fallen S.A.B.E.R. Strikes will also return, as well as the original Vault of Glass Raid. It’s unknown if these destinations and activities are simply being ported over or will return updated in some way.
As for what’s leaving, Bungie set a general rule, saying “When a destination goes into the DCV, so too do its PvE activities and associated rewards.” That means if Io is leaving the game, all strikes associated with Io are going too. There are certain cases where content is under consideration outside of this rule, most notably Gambit and Crucible maps. So even if a location leaves the game, it still may have maps on that particular destination. As one example of this, Trials’ Mercury-based Lighthouse will still be available to those who go Flawless, despite Mercury going away.
On November 10th, here’s what will be leaving Destiny 2:
Destinations:
- Io
- Titan
- Mars
- Mercury
- Leviathan
Strikes:
- The Pyramidion
- The Festering Core
- Savathûn’s Song
- Strange Terrain
- Will of the Thousands
- Tree of Probabilities
- A Garden World
Gambit:
- Cathedral of Scars (Dreaming City)
- Kell’s Grave (Tangled Shore)
More details will come later on changes to Gambit, but effectively Gambit and Gambit Prime are being combined into a single mode now, which is “a single round face off with tweaked Blockers, heavier mote drain, and some changes to the Primeval fight.” Also interesting is the line that says “We felt it was important to keep the select Gambit maps in rotation for the best competitive play (regardless of their destination’s fictional state).” Particularly noting the part that says “regardless of their destination’s fictional state,” does this mean that narratively, the destinations entering the DCV will indeed be destroyed?
Crucible:
- Meltdown
- Solitude
- Retribution
- The Citadel
- Emperor’s Respite
- Equinox
- Eternity
- Firebase Echo
- Gambler’s Ruin
- Legion’s Gulch
- Vostok
Crucible Modes:
- Supremacy
- Countdown
- Lockdown
- Breakthrough
- Doubles
- Momentum Control
- Scorched
Raids:
- Leviathan
- Eater of Worlds (Leviathan)
- Spire of Stars (Leviathan)
- Scourge of the Past (Last City)
- Crown of Sorrows (Leviathan)
Exotic Quests:
- Sturm
- MIDA Multi-tool
- Rat King
- Legend of Acrius
- Sleeper Simulant
- Polaris Lance
- Worldline Zero
- Ace of Spades
- The Last Word
- Le Monarque
- Jotunn
- Izanagi’s Burden
- Thorn
- Lumina
- Truth
- Bad Juju
Exotic items that are tied to Vaulted Exotic quests will be added to a “Memorial” kiosk, which Bungie will detail more as we approach November.
Exotic Catalysts:
- Bad Juju
- The Huckleberry
- Izanagi’s Burden
- Legend of Acrius
- Polaris Lance
- Skyburner’s Oath
- Sleeper Simulant
- Telesto
- Outbreak Perfected
- Whisper of the Worm
- Worldline Zero
Miscellaneous:
While these items don’t necessarily fit into any of the buckets above, Bungie additionally confirmed these things will be going away too:
- The Farm (social space)
- Reckoning (activity)
- Black Armory Forges (activity)
- Niobe Labs (secret puzzle)
- Zero Hour (secret mission)
- The Whisper (secret mission)
- Standard Nightfall
- The Menagerie (activity)
- The Tribute Hall (social space)
- The Red War (campaign)
- Curse of Osiris (campaign)
- Warmind (campaign)
- All Year 2 Seasonal Narratives (Season of the Forge, Season of the Drifter, Season of Opulence)
- All associated vendors for Vaulted destinations and activities
With the original campaigns going away, Bungie will have the onboarding process use the Cosmodrome for new players essentially “joining the fight” in the current timeline as newly resurrected Guardians rather than start the story ahead of the Red War. The path to this had already been largely paved with the move to free-to-play last year.
For more details on what’s entering the DCV and leaving Destiny 2, check out Bungie’s full support article and recent TWAB regarding the changes.
The DCV marks some pretty enormous and drastic changes to Destiny 2, which makes it understandable why the massive expansion and update had to be delayed from its original September release date. Destiny 2 Beyond Light now launches on November 10. Bungie will showcase additional Beyond Light details, including the new Stasis powers, at gamescom Opening Night Live.
