A new Bungie blog post from Joe Blackburn, Assistant Game Director on Destiny 2, has revealed many of the developer's intentions for the game's fourth year of content.
Much of the blog post is in response to player criticism of a shallow loot pool, but it also offers an interesting look at what Guardians can expect over the coming months.
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In a frank statement, Blackburn says that "there were a few clear-cut misses with our first rollout" (Beyond Light).
"The initial reward pool with this release was just too small," he notes, adding that "it's frustrating to be playing Destiny and see another player use a weapon that is no longer obtainable in-game".
In an attempt to combat this, Bungie is looking to add a series of new Legendary weapons for Strikes, Gambit and Crucible for Season 13.
Nightfall Strikes will also get strike-specific loot with adept variations, something we've somehow not had since Destiny 1.
Bungie is also looking to work on the game's approachability for new players, with Season 11 and 12 weapons being added as world drops in Season 13.
"If you want to chase a specific piece of soon-to-be-capped loot, you’ll find it with the Gunsmith," the blog reads.
"This is all part of our larger commitment to making sure that players can always earn anything they might need to take on challenging activities."
Bungie also notes that holiday weapons like the Braytech Werewolf aren't going to be included in this.
Limited-time quest weapons are being added to the exotic kiosk in the Tower, too, so you'll be able to get Felwinter’s Lie, Whisper of the Worm, and Outbreak Perfected from there.
Blackburn has revealed that the Rewards Team at Bungie has been bolstered with more talent to allow for an improved rewards pipeline. That same plan is likely to apply to armour in the future, too.
"While we are not ready to talk concretely about armor plans right now, we do want to get more gameplay novelty on armor itself so that looting a piece of armor in a new season has the potential to change the way you play," Blackburn notes.
2021 is also looking to offer a huge update to the game, with Transmog coming to allow for more customisable appearances for Guardians, as well as DDOS protection.
It'll also see the return of Destiny 1's first Raid, The Vault of Glass, and two strikes from the first game (Fallen S.A.B.E.R. and Devil's Lair).
Legendary and Master Lost Sectors will come to the Moon, too, with three new pieces of Exotic armour.
Finally, players will be able to team up regardless of platform as cross-play is introduced.
Everything sounds positive going forward then, and as someone that has spent a lot of time with Destiny 2 (and Destiny 1) since launch, it feels like the game is finally approaching that balanced MMO/shooter that I've been looking for.