This Week In Destiny - 09/14/2023

This week in Destiny, we have to talk about Legendary Shards. Check your Destiny 2 inventory—it's those purple spiky things you might have in the thousands (or tens of thousands). They look like weird, sour candy, right? Maybe they taste like grapes? Or blueberries? Oh, no, that's the kind of dark thought a Hive acolyte would have, and we are also missing the point here, so let's focus a bit and recap last week's TWID before jumping to the news: 

• Final call for the Guardians for Maui fundraiser. 
• Update from our PvP Strike team. 
• Show us those Tessellation clips! 
• New ritual armor sets. 
• World First race winners interview.  

And this is the menu for today: 

• We explain the process of Legendary Shard deprecation. 
• Some new info and updates on the Crota's End raid. 
• New PvP update previews for Seasons 22 and 23. 
• Checkmate enters the Crucible Labs next week. 
• Improved Trials weapon drops for wins. 
• Tessellation shines bright in these community clips! 
• The weekly Destiny Player Support report. 
• Our latest Art of the Week and Movie of the Week picks. 

Got that? Let's go.

It's Shard To Say Goodbye 

Destiny 2 Economy team here! As many Destiny 2 players already know, Legendary Shards have long been an unstable part of the economy in Destiny 2. Some players have more than they would ever be able to spend, while others struggle to earn enough to engage with the systems that require Shards as a cost. This often made it hard to find Legendary Shard costs that would feel impactful to players, while also ensuring that the content that did require Legendary Shards could be enjoyed by all players, no matter how long, or how much they play. 

Couple the Legendary Shard wealth disparity with the fact that we have seen more than a few loopholes players have found to farm (our regards to Rahool and Eva Levante, as well as more recently to Ikora), we have made the decision that it’s time to simplify the economy by removing this currency from the game. 

For a long time now, it's been our goal to make the game easier to understand and to reduce the bloat of currencies, consumables, and items, while ensuring that players feel like their time is valued for how long they’ve spent playing the many activities across the game. Sometimes we get this right, sometimes we don’t. We always learn.  

As much as we know how bad it feels to have currencies that you have amassed over a long period of time wiped away, please know that we don’t make the decision to remove them lightly. We truly believe their removal is in the best interest of both the game and the players.  

As you will see below, we are doing our best to ensure that the removal of Legendary Shards is not a point of pain, but rather the removal of a barrier. 

Season of the [GOODBYE]

The path to a world without Legendary Shards starts in Season 23. The first thing we will do is remove all Legendary Shard costs from the Monument to Lost Lights. Glimmer, Exotic Cipher, and Spoils of Conquest costs will remain the same, with only the Legendary Shard cost changing. This should help new and returning players unlock weapons they may have missed more easily than ever before.  

Secondly, we turned our eyes towards ritual gear focusing, fully removing Legendary Shards from there as well. Starting in Season 23, non-Adept focusing will cost ritual engrams and Glimmer only. Focusing Adept weapons will still require seven wins in Trials Passages or Nightfall Ciphers. 

Here you can see the new costs: 

The Final Shard 

With the release of The Final Shape, Legendary Shards will be no longer in Destiny 2. We will be removing all the remaining Legendary Shard sources and costs from the game, which includes Collections, Trials Passages, rituals, vendor purchases, and many more. 

And to be totally clear, we will not be offering a currency exchange for stockpiled Legendary Shards. The goal in removing Legendary Shards is to make Destiny 2 a more approachable and fair experience for all players. This is why we are not raising Glimmer prices for items or adding replacement costs to things that previously needed Legendary Shards.  

Legendary Shards will also disappear from the currency bar in your Inventory. It will now only show your Glimmer, Silver and Bright Dust numbers. 

[Edit: 9/14/2023 3:06pm PDT]: We see the feedback on Legendary Shard removal regarding Glimmer and the prices of focusing. As a part of this change, we will also be increasing drops of Glimmer, ritual engrams, Iron Banner engrams, and materials of other kinds across many parts of the game.

This is an early look at the plans and final values are still being tweaked. Our goal is to put greater emphasis on earning rewards by playing Destiny the way y'all want.

Dismantle Rewards 

Dismantling Legendary (or Exotic) gear has long been the primary method of acquiring Legendary Shards. With their removal, we want to ensure that dismantling gear still feels like it gives players something back.  

Note: Actual values and drop chances are subject to change prior to launch. 

You may also note that ships and Sparrows are not listed above. This is because we plan to remove the cost to pull these items from Collections, to allow players to freely change up their style when they please without worrying about spending any of their currencies. But in doing so, we need to also remove their dismantle rewards. 

A Strange Feeling 

As Destiny 2 game director, Joe Blackburn, has mentioned, The Final Shape will see everyone’s favorite Jovian, Xûr, receive a bit of an update. We’re not ready to pull back the curtain on all of that quite yet, but just know that with the removal of Legendary Shards, Xûr will be looking for some “alternative” forms of payment for his wares. 

Crota's End Numbers, Essence Drops, And More 

Last week, we had the pleasure of interviewing Team Elysium, the winners of Destiny 2’s Crota's End World First race. Their deed will forever be remembered among the stars. Now it’s time to reflect on the rest of amazing teams that faced the Hive through the treacherous tunnels below the Hellmouth during Contest and Challenge modes. So, how about some numbers? 

Contest mode is hard, so everyone that succeeded in clearing the raid during its first 48 hours, no matter how soon or late, should be very proud. Same thing for the teams that, like mine, tried and couldn't reach the end. The first step towards success is trying, so keep up the good work and don't give up. And those still trying to get their first completion: you’ve got this! 

Improving Drops for Essences 

Essences of the Oversoul are needed to complete the Necrochasm quest and its catalyst. We have heard your feedback regarding their drop rate, and we are making some improvements when Update 7.2.0.4 arrives on September 19. 

For starters, your first full clear of Crota's End each week will now provide two guaranteed Essences of the Oversoul: the guaranteed weekly drop from defeating Crota and an additional guaranteed drop for beating each encounter in order from start to finish. 

Then, every time you do a full clear, you'll still earn that additional guaranteed Essence, so there's now a way to farm them. We are also increasing the drop rate of random Essence of the Oversoul for repeated clears of each encounter, so you can earn even more per try. 

Finally, we are adding a chance to strike it lucky and earn all of the Essence necessary to complete both the Necrochasm quest and the catalyst when taking Crota down during a full run. Just like getting the Exotic to drop in previous raids, you can now get the whole deal if fortune smiles. 

A New Challenge Approaches! 

Now that your victory over the Hive Prince is totally clear, why not challenge yourselves one more time? The first Crota's End weekly challenge will be available along with the Master difficulty starting September 19. That's next Tuesday, after reset.  

This weekly challenge will rotate every week and ask you to complete a hidden objective each time to earn a second reward when you finish a given encounter. If you are looking for more Essences to either unlock Necrochasm or its Exotic catalyst, or if you just want a chance for more Deepsight drops, this is a good way to improve your chances. 

Then you also have Master difficulty, which offers not only a higher challenge for players, but also a different kind of reward. Each week, the armor drops you get will have a particular stat focus, and if you also complete the weekly challenge on Master, you’ll get an Adept weapon. The Adept weapon you get is random but drops work on a knockout system—you will get a new one with every challenge you complete every week until you have unlocked them all. As we implemented with the Root of Nightmares Adept weapons, the Adept weapons you get in Crota’s End also allow for weapon enhancement—this will give it a weapon level, creation date, and Memento socket. Through weapon leveling and spending resources, players can deterministically modify their first two perk columns (barrel, magazine, etc.) at the Relic and enhance the traits that originally rolled on the weapon. [Edited 9/14/2023 2:30 pm PDT]

So, get ready for a more intense take on Crota's End if you are looking to score more rewards, better armor, or the ultimate versions of raid weapons.

New PvP Updates Coming in Seasons 22 and 23  

Hello from the Destiny 2 systems teams! The PvP Strike team is collaborating with several teams already working on PvP, and we are happy to start sharing some details regarding the changes players can look forward to from these groups. Some of these changes have been in the works for some time, and others are hot off the presses! We really appreciate everyone sharing their feedback last week. We’ve gathered it all up to help inform the work we do in the future. Antaeus Wards was heavily mentioned, so we decided to expedite a change we had planned for next Season. We’ll address this hot topic later in Season 22, but that is not all we have planned. 

This is Just a Tribute 

As teased previously, we've been working on a new Iron Banner mode that will go live in Season 23. Tribute is a Supremacy-based mode, where players will be able to deposit Crests at tribute stations to earn points for their team. Banking many Crests at once can trigger a Hunt phase, which activates a special tribute station and increases the value of all Crests deposited for one minute of gloriously chaotic gameplay. Take care, as other Guardians won't be the only things guarding these high-value tribute stations. Caiatl will be watching, Guardians, so let's show her what you’re made of! 

Additionally, we're bringing back a Dreaming City map: Citadel. As a part of our ongoing spawn quality efforts, a number of maps have also had their spawn locations tuned in Season 23, including Altar of Flames, Cauldron, Anomaly, and Dead Cliffs. Lastly, we’re also adding Strand-related Crucible Medals in Season 23. 

Long Live the Sandbox 

There are several other updates for weapons and armor that we'd like to shine an early light on, some coming sooner than others. 

 Coming later in Season 22 

• Antaeus Wards 
  • These will now require full class ability energy to reflect incoming damage. Reflecting damage will deplete your class ability energy.  
    • The goal is to reduce the uptime of this Exotic's effect and also make it more difficult to stack it with Juggernaut's shield. 
• Young Ahamkara's Spine  
  • We are reducing its impact on grenade uptime by making it grant energy on final blows instead of damage. 

Coming in Season 23 

• Submachine Guns 
  • We will be globally increasing the recoil on SMGs to make it more of a costly tradeoff to spec into range over stability. 
• Sniper Rifles 
  • We will be implementing a Sniper Rifle body shot nerf in the Crucible. Details to come soon.  
  • Sniper Rifles are getting a damage buff in PvE, so this will be offset by that. 
• Fusion Rifles 
  • We will decrease the Kickstart damage bonus. 
  • Damage will also fall off harder at longer ranges.  
• Airborne Effectiveness 
  • We will be increasing the airborne accuracy of Sniper Rifles and Slug Shotguns to be equivalent to pre-AE Icarus at their base values. 
• Peregrine Greaves 
  • These now only grant bonus shoulder charge damage after being airborne for a short time. The goal of this change is to ensure Peregrine Greaves users are visibly airborne to other players in order to benefit from the Exotic effect.  
  • In PvE, these will now provide significantly more bonus damage and refund your melee charge when used against Champions, Tormentors, and mini-bosses. 
• Synthoceps 
  • We are removing the extra lunge range.  
  • To compensate, we are adding improved weapon handling and reload speed when you're surrounded. 
  • We are also walking back some of the nerf to Glaive melee damage as well.  
• Plus, more Exotic armor updates coming in Season 23!

We've really appreciated all of your recent PvP feedback, and we encourage you to keep providing it. The team has been reviewing your input diligently, and our work is just getting started. Please look forward to more exciting changes coming your way soon!

Checkmate Enters the Crucible Labs Playlist 

After four weeks of crushing each other with very powerful relics, it's time for a change. Checkmate, the new modifier for Crucible game modes, will enter the Labs playlists and will be available for six weeks, starting next Tuesday, September 19. 

One thing to consider with Checkmate is that it's not a game mode, but a modifier to game modes. That's why, during its six weeks in the Labs, you'll have a chance to play all of the Checkmate variations. Each variant runs for two weeks starting with Checkmate Control, then Checkmate Survival, and closing out with Checkmate Rumble. Checkmate shakes up some aspects, but the rules of the game modes remain. 

So, let’s get acquainted with Checkmate. With this modifier, players have a small bump in health, which adjusts the time-to-kill. This is largely to give players a little more time when dueling to make an extra decision or two. Because of this, Checkmate has been tuned for this more strategic gameplay, and wherever necessary, certain weapons have been adjusted to maintain their iconic Destiny 2 action game feel. 

To further increase the importance of your decision making, we reduced the passive regeneration times for grenade, melee, and class abilities by 50% and reduced the passive regeneration rate for Supers by 40%. 

The biggest change in Checkmate, however, is that you do not spawn with Special ammo. Instead, you earn it by generating points from kills, assists, deaths, zone captures, and gathering Heavy ammo. You won’t lose points accumulated on death, and the Special ammo you earn persists through lives and rounds. Additionally, you do not drop your Special ammo on death. 

The goal with Checkmate is to provide a game mode that encourages and rewards solid decision making and gunplay skills, while still being the Destiny 2 you know today. Our internal playtests have been very positive, and we’re excited for players to finally get a chance to play it. We can’t wait to join you all in Checkmate on September 19, and as always, we’re listening to and monitoring your feedback! 

And finally, don't worry, Relic fans. You'll have another chance with the Aegis, the Scythe, and the Synaptic Spear during the last four weeks of Season of the Witch.

Win-Win Situation 

Last Thursday, Destiny 2 Update 7.2.0.3 brought a change that we feel is worth reminding you of, now that Trials of Osiris is coming back. Starting tomorrow, every match you win has a high chance of dropping one of the weapons currently available in the loot pool. That would be the regular, non-Adept version of those weapons. Here's a list of what's dropping as a reminder: 

• Igneous Hammer 
• Astral Horizon 
• Cataphract GL3 
• The Messenger 
• Unexpected Resurgence 
• The Immortal 

During this weekend’s Trials of Osiris, Igneous Hammer will be the Adept reward for those capable enough to reach the Lighthouse. Iggy has some new fancy perks, like Incandescent for scorching enemies and Keep Away and Fragile Focus for those looking to make this stat monster an even scarier one. As scary as someone throwing four javelins at your face, some would say.

Tessellation Slaps 

Last week, we asked the community to show us how you wreak havoc with Tessellation. You know, that new Exotic Fusion Rifle that not only adapts its damage type to your subclass element, but also can consume your grenade to shoot an incredibly powerful projectile that makes everything go out with a huge explosion? The one that can wipe an entire team capturing a zone, melt the toughest enemie in a Nightfall, or even break a Well of Radiance sword for an epic Trials clutch? Yeah, that one. And don't worry much about getting your grenade back; kills with Tessellation also regenerate grenade energy, so you won't be lacking in grenades.  

All in all, it’s a very handy tool, and oh, boy, did you all make that clear. Here are some of the most amazing Tessellation videos that you, our wonderful community, shared last week. And because we like you so much and we are very impressed, everyone listed below will get a Movie of the Week emblem for their efforts! 

Slowmo

Triple kill! 

Some build ideas 

Pure imagination 

Fine, I'll do it myself 

Not a fan of Sparrows? 

Mask of Bakris’ best friend 

Well, well, well 

 Many possibilities 

The Tessellation Exotic Fusion Rifle is instantly unlocked and ready to use in Season of the Witch when you pre-order Destiny 2: The Final Shape + Annual Pass.

Player Support Report 

Known Issues List  |  Help Forums  |  Bungie Help Twitter

Crota's End 48-Hour Challenge Mode Emblem Update 

Since Contest mode for the Crota’s End raid concluded, we’ve been investigating reports that some players who completed Challenge mode did not receive credit in the All For One Triumph when defeating Crota, blocking them from obtaining the Triumph and emblem. 

As a first step, we are currently creating a list of verified players who completed the Contest and Challenge modes, but who did not receive credit for defeating Crota during that timeframe. Secondly, we are adding a few server flags into the game with Update 7.2.0.4 next week that will help us check off defeating Crota and unlocking the All For One Triumph. Third, for that content to be unlocked, we’re also working on creating an additional server item that our list of verified players can interact with to get their missing items. 

We believe this endeavor, particularly step three, will take a few more weeks to complete as we start setting things up. Once we have more information and a timeline to share, we will communicate that. 

Known Issues 

While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help forum: 

• The Seasonal Challenge Round and Round We Go is not counting Orbs generated in Gambit. 
• Dead Man’s Tale intrinsic upgrades have duplicate (and incorrect) directions on how to obtain them. 
• Some weapons from Crota’s End do not always have firing audio. 
• Some players are unable to finish the Last Will and Testament mission. 
• The description for the Legend version of the Savathûn’s Spire activity incorrectly displays that matchmaking is available. 

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

One More Tessellation, As a Treat 

Hippy: Have Tessellation, will travel. With so many good clips coming in about this new Exotic that does not go easy on foes, we wanted to add just one more as an official #Destiny2MOTW winner because it’s just nifty. We like nifty things here.  

Movie of the Week: Nyan Tessellation by XuighMama 

Bruno: Oh, look, it's a remote-controlled Hunter knife. Good trick.  

Movie of the Week: Task failed successfully, by TheDaykyri 

Hold the Door! 

Timon: This is how I feel when I am the one that must dunk the chalice for the second secret chest in Crota´s End.   

Art of the Week: The secret chest, by Alikamoon 

Ivan: Even though this image is static, you can feel the action in it! Vibrant colors, moving characters, and an amazing atmosphere. Capture those zones! Congratulations, Naka187. You win the #Destiny2AOTW! 

Art of the Week: Fortress, by Naka187 

Sam: Hi, real quick, just wanted to drop in a bonus for this incredible Savathûn cosplay. 

Bonus Art of the Week: Savathûn cosplay by Kimber Prime

And we are done here, finito. Now you can now go complete Crota's End again, maybe to get more Essences to progress your Exotic quest. Or how about focusing engrams to earn more weapon patterns from Season of the Witch? Just don't forget about Eris—she needs all the tithes you can get her. And don’t skimp on the pickles (that’s what I call Hive worms).  

Funny, we started talking about purple-flavored sweets, and we’re closing in a similar manner, even if this type of food satisfies a different... craving. One a lot more ethereal and dangerous in nature. Oh, well, now I'm hungry. Any suggestions? 

Hasta luego, 

Br1