7 Lingering Questions We Have for 'Destiny 2' After E3
The Exo Stranger will forever remain an Exo Stranger, won't she?
From the looks of it, Destiny 2 is shaping up to be a fresh entry in Bungie’s MMO-infused first-person shooter franchise, but we still have a lot of questions about the upcoming adventure.
In the first Destiny game, players protected the Last City on Earth by sealing off the Black Garden and later defeating the likes of Atheon, Crota, Oryx, and more. But as Destiny 2 opens, the player’s hero falls as the Last City is destroyed and their Light is taken, wiping the slate clean for a new adventure.
A worldwide gameplay reveal in May set up the story, and E3 2017 offered onsite players some hands-on experience with the game, but there’s still a lot that we don’t know about the next entry in the franchise.
Going into the beta slated for July, here are seven of the most pressing questions we have about Destiny 2, including everything from story elements to raid mechanics.
It looks like some kind of Taken Cabal will be in 'Destiny 2,' but what about the other enemy races?
What other enemy races will be back?
So far, Destiny 2 has prominently featured the Cabal leader Dominus Ghaul, documenting both his assault on the Tower and his hacking of the Traveler. Nothing definitive has been shown of the other enemy alien races from Destiny thus far, but it seems they’ll make an appearance eventually.
Destiny 2 Project Lead Mark Noseworthy told GameSpot, that they’re “not really detailing any of the changes we’ve made to the Hive, the Vex, or the Fallen, but they’ve each evolved. They’ve all been touched in some ways.”
It remains to be seen just how much might have changed for each of the enemy races. Especially with the Vex mainly relegated to Mars and Venus in Destiny (neither planet is currently slated for inclusion in Destiny 2), the time-transcending robots have to be introduced in new environments like the planetoid Nessus.
The same goes for the Hive, which was the primary enemy on the Moon and Dreadnaught — but they also showed up on Earth, so they might factor into the European Dead Zone. The Fallen were the most ubiquitous race of enemy aliens present in almost every environment of Destiny, and they’ll undoubtedly be back in some fashion.
How does the player’s Guardian get the Light back?
Part of the plot setup to Destiny 2 shows Dominus Ghaul hacking the Traveler, taking its Light for himself. Towards the end of the “Our Darkest Hour” trailer that debuted at E3 2017, the player’s Guardian is seen dying at the hands of the new villain.
Obviously that means the player regains access to the Light somehow — or does it mean that they discover an entirely new kind of Light? Might that explain the presence of the new subclasses?
The Ghosts are an important part of 'Destiny' lore crucial to the powers of Guardians.
What’s going to happen to the Ghosts?
If the Guardians are all indeed stripped of their Light at the start of Destiny 2, then what does that mean for their Light-powered Ghosts that grant them the power of resurrection?
Ghosts have been inconspicuously absent from any and all material revealed of the game thus far, and even though Nolan North, the voice actor behind Destiny’s Ghost, has been confirmed for the sequel, it’s currently unknown how the role of these sentient robots will impact the story.
The Hunter Arcstrider upon activating the class's new Super ability.
Will there be any more new subclasses to come?
When Destiny first came out, there were three base subclasses and an additional three more — two per main Class — were unlockable. With the massive DLC The Taken King, Destiny rounded out each Class with a subclass to match each energy type in the game. Hunter, Warlock, and Titan each had a subclass that focused on Void, Arc, or Solar energy.
With the new subclasses like Arcstrider, Dawnblade, and Sentinel, several old fan-favorites are absent altogether in Destiny 2. Defender Titan and Sunsinger Warlock might be gone forever, but if and when will Destiny 2 bring the full count of subclasses back up to nine?
What might a new Void-based Hunter look like? And what about Arc Warlock and Solar Titan?
The Titan Sentinel has a shield it can throw and smash people with.
When will Bungie reveal details about the Titan Sentinel?
The Warlock Dawnblade was heavily featured at the worldwide gameplay reveal in May and the Hunter Arcstrider was playable at E3 2017 — so when will players get a look at the Void-based Captain America wannabe that is the Titan Sentinel?
The Crucible PvP experience has been overhauled and focused on 4 vs. 4 experiences.
When will private matches and/or ranked PvP return?
In an interview with Game Director Luke Smith, it was revealed that neither private matches nor ranked PvP will appear in the game at launch. With the new focus of Crucible being on 4 vs. 4 gaming experiences, it’s unclear how that might impact new match types.
This also raises questions about if/when more competitive game modes like the famed Trials of Osiris could make a return.
Death is an important mechanic in 'Destiny' raids. What will that look like in 'Destiny 2'?
What will the “Death Penalty” Raid Mechanic entail?
In an E3 interview with Giant Bomb, Luke Smith teased that there would be a new Death Penalty mechanic in Destiny 2 during the raids.
In Destiny, allies that died during Heroic mode in any raid stayed dead until either that section of the raid was complete or everyone on the team died, resulting in a wipe. In most other activities, including Normal mode raids, players would have to simply wait out a timer that was at most 30 seconds before they could either self-revive or be revived by a teammate in close proximity.
It looks like death in the Destiny 2 raids will look completely different, but it remains to be seen exactly what a “Death Penalty” could entail.
Some of these questions might be answered during the Destiny 2 beta which kicks off in July, and the rest might have to wait until the full game is released on September 6, 2017 and later on PC.
