This Week In Destiny - 02/29/2024

This week in Destiny, would you look at that? It's February 29! What a rare occasion. Let's celebrate with something nice, like showing what's coming with Guardian Games All-Stars on March 5! We won't skim through the details. 

• Guardian Games All-Stars arrives in style. 
• Guardian Games Cup is back! 
• Update 7.3.5 coming on March 5. 
• The Witch Queen, available with PlayStation Plus next week. 
• Our weekly Player Support Report. 
• The Artist and Movie of the Week winners. 

Let's do this! 

Guardian Games All-Stars Arrives on Tuesday! 

It's the time of the year when Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans compete against each other for honor, gear, and the bragging rights that come with being the winners of Guardian Games All-Stars! Eva Levante will be back at the Tower as your event manager, and she has a very special surprise for you all.  

Introducing the Skimmer 

Guardians, we couldn't be more excited to introduce a totally brand-new Exotic vehicle category for Destiny 2. Skimmers will live in the same slot as your Sparrows and can be used to do tricks, grind rails, or just stylishly skim around looking incredibly cool.  

The new Skimmer is called the Allstar Vector and will be available for everyone to earn during Guardian Games All-Stars. Just pick it up from Eva Levante after completing the onboarding quest, and if you want to keep it permanently after the event finishes (spoiler alert: you do!), complete the Drop In quest and the Allstar Vector will be yours to keep forever.  

Another Skimmer, this one inspired by a beloved Destiny weapon, will be available in the in-game Eververse as well. Whichever style of Skimmer you prefer, you’ll be able to start grinding those space rails next week! 

Let the Games Begin 

To take part in the Guardian Games, you'll start by greeting abuelita (grandma) Eva Levante at the Tower. She will gift you the Class Item needed to enter the competition as well as a simple starting quest. This is how you will earn your first Medallion and unlock the next quests, and also unlock all the challenges from the Event Card. 

Many Medallions and Many Glows 

The goal of Guardian Games All-Stars is simple: your class must win the majority of days during the three-week-long event, and that can only be done by depositing a ton of Medallions. 

Eva Levante will have a great variety of Contender Cards to choose from, divided between Gold, Platinum, and Diamond (which is the new tier implemented this year). The Diamond Medallions awarded by these are worth a lot and can change the course of the day, so they’re limited to three a week. Two of them are focused on end-game activities (one for PvE and one for PvP), and the third is kind of unique: it's a Twitch Drop from watching a Destiny 2 stream for two hours during that week. 

All Medallions Guardians banked in the Tower will be counted daily, and the crest of the daily winning class will be inserted into the Tower podium for everyone to keep track of their standing. In past Guardian Games, we measured class performance based on total Medallion score. Population imbalance has always been a hot issue with this scoring method, and we’ve always weighed these in the spirit of fairness. This year we’re taking a different approach. Each day, class scores will be measured by the average Medallion score of all players who’ve deposited a Medallion that day, separated by class of course. Our hope here is that this will make your contributions feel more meaningful and that the overall competition is less dependent on hard-to-understand population weighting or catch-up mechanics. 

Depending on your contributions to Guardian Games All-Stars, you'll also earn glows and the bragging rights that come with them. These are linked to your personal and group achievements, and we have five in total: 

• One for being the "best in Tower" Guardian. 
• Another for being a member of the winning class of the day. 
• A shoulder glow linked to your weekly performance in the Nightfall playlist. 
• A second shoulder glow for your weekly performance in Supremacy and Gambit. 
• And a bronze, silver, or gold glow with the shape of a laurel crown (depending on your class place) in the Friday coronation ceremony. 

At the end of the event, the class that wins the most days will be crowned winner, and their Class Item will change to gold until the next event, to remind everyone of their victory. Not only that, but for the whole year, members of the wininig class can also trigger some fancy fireworks in the Tower if they interact with the Guardian Games All-Stars statue! The second- and third-place classes will see their Class Items change to silver and bronze, respectively, and can still enjoy the fireworks when the winning class triggers them. This is a friendly competition after all! 

Quests, Activities, and Class Matchmaking 

If banking Medallions is one of the main pursuits of Guardian Games All-Stars, the other would be igniting the fires of victory behind the podium in the Tower. Complete the two weekly quests by earning high scores in the Guardian Games All-Stars special playlists. 

The first quest is called Shoot to Score. It involves Zavala, who asks you to get medals and points by diving into the Nightfall playlists. The Recreation playlist is just chill and good for practicing strategies, while the Competitive playlist is for serious business, to earn high scores, and to be ranked among the best of the best. The second quest is called Vying for Supremacy and will pit Guardians against Guardians in the Crucible and/or Gambit to earn high scores.  

Getting high scores in both playlists will unlock up to four chests for each of the quests. These chests reward you with gear and materials depending on the tier you reach (from bronze to platinum) and buff your Guardian so you can shatter your own high scores with ease.   

And no matter what activity you choose to focus on, you’ll be able to matchmake. Nightfalls can be played with standard or class-based matchmaking or without matchmaking at all. Supremacy will have mixed or same class matchmaking, and for Gambit, the only choice is to go class vs. class. Drifter demands it. 

Keep an Eye on Focus Activities 

But that's not all! You can get more out of the event if you jump into a Focus Activity. Every few hours, one of the Guardian Games All-Stars playlists (remember, Nightfall, Supremacy, or Gambit) will be the Focus Activity. They will be live for two hours from Monday to Thursday and for three hours from Friday to Sunday, and they are a new great way to get Medallions and other rewards. 

Playing a Focus Activity unlocks up to three tiers of reward packages that go from bronze to silver to gold, with better prizes for each tier. There’s one more package, the Champions Package, that (as you can imagine) will go to the class that dominates the Focus Activity by earning the highest scores. The Champions Package will fill the Medallion Case, not including Diamond Medallions because those are unique to their Contender Cards.  

Don't worry if your class doesn't win one Focus Activity. There are several chances to do so, and the Director will show exactly when these activities start so no one misses it. 

A New Weapon and New Memento 

Guardian Games All-Stars brings a new weapon to the table: Hullabaloo. This Arc Compressed Wave Frame Heavy Grenade Launcher couldn't have arrived at a better moment. This archetype will get an increase in damage the moment Guardian Games All-Stars drops, and it also has some unique perks, like Voltshot in the third column with Chain Reaction in the fourth. 

The two previous Guardian Games weapons will also have new perk pools this year. Taraxippos (Strand Lightweight Scout Rifle) will drop with new perks like Slice or Precision Instrument, while The Title (Void Aggressive Submachine Gun) has new perks, but also allows for a very exciting combo if you enjoy Void builds: Repulsor Brace (now in the third column) and Surrounded.  

And on top of these rewards, there's also the Guardian Games All-Stars Memento. You'll have a chance to earn this special customization item when banking Gold and Platinum Medallions, but if you really want one, you better focus on getting those Diamond Medallions (which guarantees the Memento). Once you have a Guardian Games All-Stars Memento in your inventory, Eva will store your extra ones until the end of the event. Just don't forget to use them before she leaves! 

Champ Title and Event Card 

The Champ title will be available again this year for those looking to go all in with Guardian Games All-Stars. To do so, you'll have to complete the Event Card challenges. These are event-specific and grant unique rewards, like event weapons, a Legendary shader, a Legendary emblem, an Exotic Sparrow, materials, and Event Tickets.  

Event Tickets can be used with the upgraded Event Card available in the in-game Eververse store to unlock additional rewards.  

Who Will Win Guardian Games Cup? 

For the third year in a row, we are celebrating Guardian Games Cup across the globe! From March 5 at 9:00 AM PST until March 26 at 9:59 AM PDT, players can compete for glory in-game while also supporting Direct Relief and the International Rescue Committee through the Bungie Foundation. You will need a fireteam of up to six members to participate in one or both of the available categories:  

• The Technical category tracks the total number of Medalions dunked by each official registered team during Guardian Games All-Stars.  
• The Charitable category tracks the total donation amount raised by each team throughout the event. 

The top four winning teams in each category (so, eight teams in total) will win these amazing prizes: 

• The first-place teams in each category will win a life-size physical Allstar Vector Skimmer replica with the team’s names engraved (one per team per category). 
• The top two teams in each category will win a Guardian Games Medal ($50 MSRP) for each team member (maximum of six per team per category). 
• The top three teams in each category will win Binary Cascade emblem codes for each team member (maximum of six per team per category). 
• The top four teams in each category will win Bungie Store $50 discount codes for each team member (maximum of six per team per category).

And as an extra incentive, all the players that donate $10 or more to their favorite teams will earn the amazing and brand new Together in Contribution emblem—and every $10 donated will net you an additional emblem.

How to Sign Up for Guardian Games Cup 

If you want to take part in this year’s Guardian Games Cup, all you need is a fireteam of up to six Guardians, one of whom must be an acting team captain and sign up through the official Guardian Games Cup website. All info about the sign-up process (including the FAQ, the requirements, and the rules of this year’s Guardian Games Cup) can be found in this Guardian Games Cup 2024 blog. Good luck, Guardians! 

Update 7.3.5 Arrives Next Week

Guardian Games All-Stars won't be the only new thing arriving with Update 7.3.5 on March 5. We've already shared the details on what's coming with it, but here's a reminder of what we covered in the past few TWIDs.

2/8 TWID

More Weapons Rewards:

• What weapons we are adding and when you'll be able to farm them.
• New weapons and some fan favorites coming into rotation for Trials of Osiris, Iron Banner, and Nightfalls next Tuesday.

2/15 TWID

Weapons and Ability Sandbox Updates:

• Fixed Restoration's timer.
• Some abilities are getting brought into line (Threadlings and Threaded Specter).
• Other abilities are getting some extra flair (Consecration and Gunpowder's Gamble).
• Buffing some Rocket Launchers and all Heavy Grenade Launchers.
• Nerfing Bows as well as Snipers ease of use.

2/22 TWID

Back to Prophecy:

• New weapons are coming.
• Some old weapons are getting element changes and new perks.

Console reticle and dead zone settings:

• Console players will be able to adjust the reticle position, just like is possible on the PC right now.
• All controller players will be able to adjust the dead zone to their likings, even lowering it to zero.

Improvements to PvP 

We continue to work hard to make PvP as fun and fair as possible for every Destiny player. Many changes are in already, and a lot more are coming with Update 7.3.5. We will also keep refining the Crucible with Update 7.3.6 in the near future.  

Next week, we are encouraging Primary ammo fights, altering the weapon sandbox, and helping players better understand why they win or fail with the changes. Check out the 2/15 TWID for more details on that. We’re also making several tweaks to lobby balancing and matchmaking as well as launching a new game mode called Collision, all of which you can read about in the 2/22 TWID. 

The Witch Queen arrives on PlayStation Plus 

No matter whether you’re Essential, Extra, or Premium, all PS+ subscribers will be able to acquire and play all the contents of the Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion starting March 5! Just be sure to claim it as part of the March PS+ offerings, and you’ll be ready to play this content in-game. As long as you download it by April 2, you’ll have access to all the content to play at your leisure as a PS+ subscriber.

This expansion focuses on Savathûn, Hive goddess of lies and one of humanity’s most complex enemies. Her Lucent Brood has somehow gained access to the Light, and to discover the truth, you'll have to explore her Throne World and complete the campaign. Complete it on Legendary difficulty for a challenging and unique experience that earns you more rewards! This expansion comes with the Vow of the Disciple raid, too. 

Player Support Report 

Goldfinger intensifies as we skim into the sun.

Known Issues List  |  Help Forums  |  Bungie Help Twitter

Riven's Wishes Weapon Crafting 

Since Riven's Wishes were introduced, we've been investigating an issue where only Forsaken Pack owners can craft weapons from Mara's inventory if they unlocked a Weapon Pattern. 

This issue is scheduled to be fixed next week with Update 7.3.5. 

Known Issues 

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Relax, Guardian, You're Scorching Them 

If it sounds silly, but if it works, maybe it's not silly at all? Anyway, you probably need some practice before trying the build this Guardian has mastered. 

Criminally effective scorch build 

 Stairs, Top Left, Eagle Doing Something 

We might be a bit obsessed with Ahamkara lately. It's your fault for making insane pieces of art like this Riven sculpture. By the way, when was the last time you did that encounter legit? 

Riven, by Leggs.obj via X/Twitter

And that's it for this week. This is the last TWID before a new wave of content arrives in Destiny 2, so take your time to prepare. More weapons are coming, more activities will be available, and that Skimmer is too good to skip. And this is only for March!  Destiny 2: Into the Light arrives in April, and we will share more details about what’s coming soon. Until then, let’s focus on Guardian Games All-Stars.  

And may the best class win!

Destiny 2 Community Team