Destiny 2is perpetually fluid, with developer Bungie embracing change more than ever. Lightfall may have received a deserved cacophony of criticisms for its sloppy story, but several other changes had an overwhelmingly positive effect on the state of the game.
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With every new expansion, we can expectsecret exotic quests for special weapons, like Vexcalibur, but there’s more to Lightfall than meets the eye. Improved character customization and quality of life (QoL) improvements highlight the best changes to accompany this expansion. Whether you’ve been losing track of your engrams or are tired of using third-party apps to manage your gear, here are the biggest issues Lightfall corrected.
8The Engram Tracker
This is a change you may not have even noticed while playing Lightfall, and with plenty of new features to digest, it’s understandable. While it may not seem like much, the Engram Tracker in your inventory is a handy QoL improvement that will save you a ton of time checking in with your vendors to see how many engrams you have.
Instead, this convenient node will let you know exactly how many engrams each vendor is hanging on to while they wait for you to claim your prize. This is particularly useful for end-of-season cleaning as you empty out your rewards and inventory to prepare for an influx of new gear.
7Crafting Changes
Destiny 2 weapon crafting received a major overhaulwith Lightfall’s release, removing Resonance Elements from the game and simplifying the cost of crafting. The crafting economy has been changed to focus on using materials we already earn in abundance – like Glimmer and Enhancement Cores – instead of forcing us to earn additional materials. These alterations are only the beginning. Bungie stated that only craftable weapons will drop with a red border from now on.
6Removal Of Armor Energy Types
For much of its lifespan,Destiny 2 armor has been outfitted with a particular elemental chargethat dictated the type of mods you could use with that armor piece. That system is now gone. Instead, armor elements have been removed completely, allowing you to use any piece of armor with any set of mods you choose.
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Gone are the days when you would be forced to wear Arc armor to equip the legendary Powerful Friends or Radiant Light. Instead of the elemental energy attunement, once you masterwork your gear, you’ll simply have ten energy that is not affiliated with Arc, Solar, or any other element. On its own, this change is helpful when build-crafting and fits perfectly into the rest of the changes Bungie made to armor and modifications.
5Set Champion Stun Sources
Each season, the rotation of weapons you’re able to use to stun Champions changes, but Bungie finally decided to add more methods of stunning to this feature. While theartifact mods for Champion Stunningare usually a necessity, you can now use various abilities and effects to stun Champions without purchasing or equipping a mod.
For example, in Season of Defiance, you have several standard methods of breaking Barrier Champions' shields, including using radiant effects, Volatile Rounds, or Unraveling Rounds. In addition, you’ll receive the weapon-specific Champion stunning mods on all weapons of that type after purchasing.You do not have to buy a mod and then equip it on your armor anymore; instead, it automatically works.
4Strand
Strand is a subclass unlike any we have ever experienced before, though, like Stasis,it will take some time and effort to fully unlock Strand’s full potential. Once you have put in the time to fully kit out your subclass, then spend some time playing around with the abilities to get a better understanding of how they combine.
The Strand grenade slot can be filled with more traditional damage-dealing grenades, like Threadling Grenade, but the Grapple ability is Strand’s signature for a reason. Grappling can be combined with in-air melee attacks to great effect, and the Grapple can save you from death or a variety of sticky situations. While Strand is about controlling your enemies and the battlefield first and foremost, the Threadrunner Super currently also does an incredible amount of damage, particularly when combined with Star Eater Scales.
3Physics Changes
Bungie announced there would be several physics changes with Lightfall, including fewer instant deaths due to stubbing your toe on uneven ground. Considering the incredible amount oflaunching yourself at high speeds during the Root Of Nightmares raid, this change is incredibly necessary and a prudent choice.
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Being thrown against a wall by a Phalanx’s shield will now leave you with one health, so you may survive as long as you are not hit by anything else. Similarly, you can catapult yourself across the map with the launchers in the raid or by using an Eager Edge sword without any fear of splattering against a wall. Get out there and feel free to swing around the map with reckless abandon.
2Complete Modification Overhaul
In addition to the armor energy changes, Bungie took a long look at the armor mod system, choosing to give it a much-needed overhaul to eliminate the unnecessary intricacies and complex rules. Not only are there generic versions of old mods that are no longer restricted to particular elements, but there are also completely new mods and altered costs for the existing ones.
Now, you can focus ongetting your favorite buffs on any armor piece, particularly the Weapon Charge mods, which give bonus damage to weapons of a particular type. Now that you don’t have to worry about the element of a mod, you can combine your armor with the best stat spread and begin to build around that. Make sure to take note of the mods that reduce ability cooldowns in particular, as they can combine for some superbly useful builds.
1A Loadout System
The last piece of the puzzle for Bungie’s new set of armor mods is the loadout system which allows you to store all of your favorite weapon and mod combinations. Once you’ve tried out a build and want to keep it, simply navigate over to the left side of the character screen and click the menu option which will open up your loadout slots.
You begin with a handful of slots and can add another four slots once you’ve reached Guardian Rank seven. Each loadout will allow you to save all your weapons and armor – including the mods and fashion choices – at the touch of a button. you’re able to also overwrite an existing loadout if you want to begin a template and then finish crafting it later. While it could use some additional QoL customization options, this long-requested feature is the start of a new age in Destiny where build-crafting is encouraged for all activities.
