'Destiny 2' Season 5 Start Date, Theme, and What We Know About New Seasons

The bizarro space magic-infused world of Bungie’s Destiny 2 has seasons, but they don’t quite align to the real-life seasons like Fortnite: Battle Royale. Instead, Destiny 2 seasons align with major DLC and content updates. In the first year of Destiny 2, the release of expansions Curse of Osiris and Warmind each marked the beginning of a new Season of gameplay.

With the release of Destiny 2: Forsaken in September 2018 came the beginning of Season 4, ushering in a new era with an increased level and light level cap, along with all new weapons and armor.

The main premise behind seasons is that progress for in-game clans resets. Over time, these player groups accrue experience for their clan and unlock progressive perks, but season turnover is also when Bungie introduces major content updates in terms of DLCs, weapon balancing, and new gear.

So here’s everything players need to know about the end of the current season and beyond.

When Does Destiny 2 Season 4 End?

Destiny 2: Forsaken launched the beginning of Season 4 in September, with Season of the Outlaw beginning on Tuesday, September 4, 2018. Overall, it’s Season 4, but it might also be considered Year 2, Season 1.

In the November 8 “This Week at Bungie” blog post from the game’s developer, it was confirmed that Season 4 would end on November 27, 2018.

What Is the Start Date and Theme of Destiny 2 Season 5?

Season 4 should transition almost seamlessly into Season 5 on Tuesday, November 27, probably at the typical reset time of 1 p.m. Eastern.

Bungie’s already laid out a fairly extensive roadmap for late-2018 and early-2019. Season 5 is called “Season of the Forge” and it’s slated to reintroduce Heavy Machine Guns, more Iron Banner, and gear from “The Black Armory,” where history’s greatest weapons from the Golden Age are stored. Players will also have access to some of history’s greatest weaponsmiths in the Destiny universe. Could that mean custom-made weapons might become a thing? Maybe! Season of the Forge also includes a new Raid.

The Black Armory part of Season 5 doesn’t start until Tuesday, December 4 but Season of the Forge starts on November 27.

What Are the Pinnacle Weapons for Destiny 2 Season 5?

Every season of Destiny 2 gameplay features questlines called “pursuits” that lead to some of the best weaponry the game has to offer, hence the name “pinnacle weaponry.” Previous seasons had time-intensive, PvP-heavy questlines focusing on the Crucible to award players with weapons like Luna’s Howl and Redrix Broadsword. Season 5’s new pinnacle pursuits seem much more manageable.

In a November 21 blog post, Bungie outlined the upcoming pinnacle weapon pursuits for Season 5 and revealed there’d also be pursuits for Vanguard Strikes and Gambit. So no matter which corner of Destiny 2 players prefer, they’ll be able to work at earning the best weapons in the game.

The Vanguard pursuit grants players Loaded Question, a high-impact and arc-powered fusion rifle with a unique perk called Reservoir Burst: “When the battery is full, your next burst deals additional damage and causes enemies to explode on death.” But to get Loaded Question, players will have to get 500 Fusion Rifle kills and 1000 Arc kills in strikes and complete 40 strikes overall.

Breakneck, a kinetic precision auto rifle, is the Gambit pinnacle weapon with an interesting unique perk called Onslaught, which increases the weapon’s rate of fire increases as the player stacks Rampage. In Gambit matches, players will have to get 500 auto rifle kills, 100 auto rifle multikills, defeat 150 challenging enemies, and complete 40 matches to acquire Breakneck from the Drifter.

For the Crucible, there’s The Mountaintop, a lightweight grenade launcher that goes into the kinetic slot. But its unique perk, Micro-Missile, makes it feel more like a mini rocket launcher: “This weapon fires in a straight line and has a massively increased projectile speed.” True to the legacy of Crucible pinnacle weapons, this one’s really time-consuming.

Step 1:

Reach Glory rank “Brave” within a season

Step 2:

In the Crucible, earn Grenade Launcher final blows — 750 Total Points

Rapidly defeat groups of two or more opponents — 200 Total Points

Earn Calculated Trajectory medals — 100 Total Points

Step 3:

Reach Glory rank “Fabled” within a season

Kills, double-kills, and Calculated Trajectory medals count no matter what playlist a player is in, but Competitive progress counts much more than others. And the only place to earn Glory for Steps 1 and 3 are in the Competitive playlist anyway.

What Is the Start Date and Theme of Destiny 2 Season 6?

Part of Bungie’s Destiny 2 roadmap includes Season of the Drifter in Spring 2019 that’ll feature new gear, but most noticeably, it looks like there’ll be an entirely “new activity experience” called “Joker’s Wild” as “Gambit evolves.” Per every other season, there’ll be lots of new weapons and armor as well.

Because most of these seasons will run about three months, we reckon Season of the Drifter will start on Tuesday, March 5, 12, or even 19. (The actual first day of Spring in North America is Wednesday, March 20.)

What is the Start Date and Theme of Destiny 2 Season 7?

Bungie coyly redacted the official season title and theme for Season 7 initially, which runs in the summer of 2019. But digital listings for the Season Pass in mid-November confirmed that Season 7 is called “Season of the Shadow.”

If we had to guess, we’d assume it’ll begin on Tuesday, June 4, 11, or 18 and run until early September.

Penumbra might be the name of the “New Activity Experience” teased for Season 7. Is it another horde mode game type like Blind Well? Or some new PvE and PvP hybrid like Gambit? Something in between? Season 7 will also offer yet another new Raid.

According to Bungie developers, Season 7 is largely inspired by the Whisper of the Worm secret quest that drove fans into a frenzy in Year 1 in that the only thing released is the name Penumbra, leaving fans to dive into the ensuing mystery box on their own.

Destiny 2 is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Check out an epic Iron Banner spree from this Hunter: