Previously, Destiny 2 dipped a toe in abstract, geometric colourscapes in last year’s Prophecy dungeon. Now, in the Vex-themed Season of the Splicer, due next Tuesday, Bungie is going all-out Tron with a series of simulations that Guardians will be tasked with bringing down.
As Ikora explains in the new season’s trailer, the Vex have forced the city into eternal darkness, which apparently is something they can a) do, and b) have only just done. To stop him, we’ll be turning to our Fallen pal Mithrax—finally the star after years spent hiding in sidequests, lore and that bit in the Zero Hour secret mission where he turns up, kills one Dregg and then swoops in at the end after you’ve done all of the hard work.
Also, yes! Ikora is speaking for the first time since Season of the Undying, over a year ago.
The two currently revealed activities for this season are the weekly pinnacle mission, Expunge, where Guardians will infiltrate the Vex network, and a new six-player matchmade activity called Override. You also hack the Vex network in that one: presumably in a slightly different way.
Season of the Splicer’s teaser page also hypes 30 new and reprised Legendary weapons, and the introduction of transmog—itself the subject of recent controversy thanks to the very Destiny 2 way that Destiny 2 is handling it. We also get a trio of Exotic boots, including—finally—a Warlock Exotic that adds alternate utility to rifts by doubling down on support potential with a Lumina-like effect.
- Star-Eater Scales: Allows Hunters to feast upon Orbs of Power, charging their Super more quickly and making it more potent.
- The Path of Burning Steps: Titan armor that converts Solar eliminations into increased weapon damage and makes them more difficult to lock down with Stasis.
- Boots of the Assembler: Condenses a Warlock rifts’ healing or empowering energy into projectiles that seek out their allies to bless them with noble benefits.
As for the Season Pass Exotic—Cryosthesia 77k—it’s Destiny 2’s second Stasis elemental weapon. Hopefully it will fair better than the first, Salvation’s Grip, which I don’t think I used at all outside of that one Beyond Light fetch quest where you had to shoot pyramids with it for reasons.
Slightly after the season’s launch, on May 22, we’ll see the addition of Destiny 1’s Vault of Glass raid. This, over all of the above, is likely what will draw lapsed Guardians back into the game, and I’m definitely looking forward to see if and how it’s changed to fit into Destiny 2’s radically different combat sandbox.