Destiny 2Season 11’s Umbral Engrams and Prismatic Recaster return in Season 13, Bungie announced in this week’s blog post. That’s great news as it has made for one of the better loot times in the game’s recent past.
Unlike most legendary engrams in Destiny 2, which decode into arbitrary gears that you have no control over, Umbral Engrams in the Prismatic Recaster (a weird barrel of smooth space magic) can be ‘refocused’ into specific gears that are likely to have certain benefits or stats. There’s still some RNG involved, but it’s far from the driving force behind the grind. Plus, the weapons Umbral could decipher Engrams in were all pretty good. The whole progression system was so popular that Bungie now even plans to bring it back, but with additional capabilities.
“The Prismatic Recaster returns as a newsstand with the ability to turn Umbral Engrams into Focused Umbral Engrams, which include a smaller outdoor table,” the studio wrote. “Because Umbral Engrams are here to stay, the new Recaster has different pages for each season, and you can focus engrams on the season of your choice.”
This is part of Bungie’s new commitment to reducing the seasonal “FOMO” (fear of missing out) and ensuring that the new missions and activities added every few months stay year-round rather than disappear. as soon as the new season starts. For example, Season of the Hunt’s Wrathborn Hunts and accompanying story missions will continue until the end of the most recent game Beyond light extension. Umbral Engrams and the Recaster, meanwhile, will provide a new way to get targeted loot from previous seasons without being completely at the mercy of RNG. It’s really cool to watch.
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At the same time, like everything else with Destiny 2, this news cuts in several ways. Am I excited to see one of the game’s better loot mechanics return? Of course. Do I want to work on upgrading the Recaster again to have a better chance of unlocking the exact gear I want? God no. It remains to be seen what loot Umbral Engrams will include next season and what goes into retooling the new Recaster, but I’m skeptical that it won’t feel like I’m repeating chores I’ve already done. And of course above all of this looms the specter of sunset, which gives all the loot you take in Destiny 2 an expiration date.
The other big news this week is that Bungie is adding a new set of titles to the game that will allow players to effectively re-grind and ‘prestige’ the core titles – Flawless, Conqueror, Unbroken, Dredgen – they’ve already completed. This adds a gilded edge. However, at the end of the season, these boundaries will disappear, encouraging players to complete new challenges to reach super-cool status again the following season. I’ve never been very invested in Titles and Triumphs, but I’ve always admired those who have, and the fun little badges that pop up on the screen when you inspect a player’s build with one.
However, it’s the durability that makes them so special, and adding a gold-plated performance that resets every few months just feels like another symptom of Destiny 2 become too seasonal. Like bicycles in and out and sunsets, some aspects of the game are starting to feel more like a rat race than ever, and I’m not for it. But Umbral’s Engrams are back anyway.