Bungie has season 13 of it Destiny 2 today and it adds new attacks, armor sets and a coordinated activity called Battlegrounds. Season of the Chosen also revisits where Destiny 2 began bringing in Empress Caiatl from the Cabal as the main villain.
This is the first time players have played Caiatl, daughter of Calus, previous Cabal Emperor and Destiny 2‘s original substitute boss, instead of just reading about her in off-screen lore dumps. Season of the Chosen begins with the new Empress proposing an alliance with the Vanguard to fight back against the growing threat of the mysterious black pyramids and the Hive god Xivu Arath. However, the negotiations fail, leaving Zavala and co. to a new confrontation with Destiny’s race of overgrown Goombas.
Here’s the trailer:
Season 13 adds the following content:
- The Devil’s Lair and Fallen SABER Strikes from Destiny 1
- A new attack called Proving Grounds that takes place in the Last City and will be unlocked later in the season.
- A seasonal armor set called Governor
- An exotic bow called Ticuu’s Divination
- A coordinated activity for three players called Battlegrounds
- The return of the Guardian Games event
- A new hub-looking gathering place for activities called the HELM
That’s in addition to some of the things Bungie disclosed earlier, such as refreshed loot on the moon and in the dream city, new ritual weapons from each of the Tower’s three main sellers, and the return of umbral engrams and the prismatic recaster. Trials of Osiris loot is also being overhauled. Whether this means the “more than 25 exotic, legendary, and ritual weapons” Bungie promised in Season 13 will prove to be enough.
Destiny 2 feels a little squeezed at this point, as the undergoing mechanism makes older gear obsolete more quickly than new loot can be added. It doesn’t help that much of Season 13, at least initially, appears to be built on old content from the previous game and seasons. Combine questions around it with the news that some of players’ favorite weapons will be nerf and I have a lot of skepticism about the direction of the game coming next season.
Hopefully it proves me wrong. Season of the Chosen goes live next week on February 9th and runs through May 11th.
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Update – 11:05 a.m.ET, 2/2/21: Bungie has now released the full release calendar for next season. Battlegrounds looks like it’s going to be a rotating event with different goals and bosses, with the new Proving Grounds attack not being added until the end of March. And of course, the whole thing ends in late April with a new version of last year’s Guardian Games. Hopefully it’s less annoying this time and the rewards are better.
