Season of the Chosen is Destiny 2’s latest season and is the second one of their Year 4 content. Season of the Chosen follows up on the relatively disappointing Season of the Hunt and seeks to regain some of the trust of and increase the morale of an increasingly hesitant community. Despite not fixing every problem that the community has pointed out, the Season of the Chosen makes some good steps in the right direction in terms of loot, engaging activities and, although reused, bringing back some of the best parts of Destiny, both from the original 2014 game and recent features the community have been asking for.
Fighting the Cabal (sigh) Again
SPOILER ALERT – The Season of the Chosen’s story starts off with the daughter of a fan favorite character Calus, Caiatl, proposing an alliance with the Last City. Refusing to bow to one of humanity’s long sworn enemies and the faction that nearly destroyed it during the Red War, Zavala and the rest of the Vanguard, including us Guardians, find ourselves engaged in combat against Caiatl and her warriors. After a short questline to familiarize players with the season’s premise, the main activity opens up. The Cabal’s commanders must be fought in a Rite of Proving, a sort of ritual combat.
This is the backbone of the Season of the Chosen’s core seasonal activity: Battlegrounds. In Battlegrounds, a matchmade team of 3 Guardians fight through several waves of Cabal before engaging the boss in the Rite of Proving. The objectives to get to the boss are not particularly difficult, consisting of some ball throwing, item collection and standard fare enemy killing. Battlegrounds is much longer than the Hunts from Season of the Hunt but being able to matchmake with 2 other players rather than relying on a premade team prevents the activity from getting too difficult.
The main mechanic behind Battlegrounds is the Hammer of Proving, an item that allows players to do several things related to the seasonal loop. After clearing each Battlegrounds, the standard completion chest has a chance to drop seasonal weapons or armor. In order to guarantee a seasonal item, though, players must use their Hammer to destroy one of the bonus Tribute chests that spawn at the end of each Battlegrounds. The Hammer is charged by Cabal Gold, a new currency similar to the Lure Charges from the last season. Cabal Gold is acquired from completing any other activity in Destiny. Clear a strike, earn Gold, play some Crucible or Gambit, earn Gold, do some public events, earn Gold. This means players will quickly fill up their stash of Gold. Thus, the main loop of the season goes as such. Earn Gold, charge the Hammer, clear a Battlegrounds, earn loot. The balance between playing the seasonal activity and doing other activities is done a lot better than the Lures and makes working towards and completing Battlegrounds feel more substantial and rewarding.
A new feature of this season is the H.E.L.M. An additional hub space similar to the Tower, the H.E.L.M. is where the main characters of the season, the “new” Prismatic Recaster, and the War Table are located. There’s really not much to this location that set it apart from the Tower besides a different cast of NPCs and the vendor for accepting seasonal bounties. The H.E.L.M. features a postmaster and a vault space like the Tower, but for opening Prime engrams, the Eververse store, Vanguard/Crucible/Gambit bounties, and the other vendors, players will need to make an extra stop at the Tower as well. It’s still early into the season so perhaps not all of the H.E.L.M.’s features have opened up but for now, it seems Bungie is adding it as a building block for future storytelling. There have been requests for Bungie to integrate the H.E.L.M. with the Tower, but we’ll have to see. The H.E.L.M. at least has some interesting Easter Eggs for lore junkies. Hint: Crow might hum a familiar tune to those who are patient enough to listen in. (I’m on the moon, it’s made of cheese)
New and Returning Favorites
Let’s be real here. Bungie introducing the Destiny Content Vault should’ve been enough warning that they would bring back old content. We’ve also seen them bring back the Cosmodrome and there are plans to bring back the Vault of Glass. So, when it was announced that two of the best strikes from Destiny 1 were coming back, I saw this as a fulfillment of their promise to bring fan favorite content back while vaulting content we seemed to not be interested in (I mean, come on, who misses Escalation Protocol?) And holy moly, are they just as good as I remembered. There’s just something about old Destiny 1 strikes that sets them apart. Probably something to do with the constant waves of enemies and the diverse arenas. If Bungie can learn from why players love these strikes, maybe the strike playlist can become so much more. For now, though, I’ll be satisfied grinding out Devil’s Lair for those god rolls. And speaking of god rolls and loot…
Bungie didn’t just strike gold with these returning strikes. Fan favorite weapons and archetypes make their return with a staggering number of new weapons. Over 30 new weapons to chase, spread out over the 3 main activities (Strikes, Crucible, Gambit) and another dozen updated weapons, in fact. Destiny 1 legends such as Palindrome, new Trials gear, armor and weapons, a brand new and exciting pursuit weapon in the Salvager’s Salvo grenade launcher, and the seasonal weapons from the Battlegrounds playlist. Bungie clearly heard the cries of the community and hit us with the defibrillator of plentiful loot. And what makes it even better, the loot is worth chasing. New perks, recent buffs to underutilized archetypes, and powerful perk combinations make nearly every single one of the new weapons worth chasing. Sunsetting was always going to be a pain point for the community; no one likes getting their stuff taken away forcibly. However, if Bungie continues this trend, adding in lots of powerful and fun weapons to the game every season, I think the pain of sunsetting will slowly abide. I’ll always miss my Kindled Orchid or Breachlight, but if I am able to replace those weapons with similar ones, like the Palindrome or Brass Attacks this season, it will make the grieving process easier.
Umbral Engrams also make a glorious return from Season 11 (Season of Arrivals). Although their drop rate has been decreased from their introduction, Umbral Engrams represent such an amazing step in the right direction for Destiny. If my god roll Extraordinary Rendition is going to be sunset and made worthless in a year, at least make it easier for me to get to the fun of using a god roll, rather than suffering through hours of grinding only to end with a middling weapon that I’ll just toss in my vault and dismantle when I remember it’s there a year from now. If bringing back new and updating old weapons will make sunsetting a bit more bearable by replacing past flames, Umbral Engrams act like the dating app that makes it easier for us to meet our new loves.
On the Right Track?
This next part will be a bit more subjective and will be more of a reflection of some of the changes Bungie has made and seem to be making to Destiny as a whole.
It’s not controversial to say that Bungie has been ruffling some feathers within the Destiny community. Crucible and Gambit have been almost completely neglected for some time now, sunsetting has been incredibly controversial and divisive, and a growing concern that Destiny doesn’t have enough content to sustain players are common sentiments within the community. However, many of the changes and updates that Bungie has introduced, I think, are steps in the right direction.
Lord Shaxx and the Drifter, the two vendors for the Crucible and Gambit, have had their mode’s progression updated. Rewards for climbing Valor ranks are clearly laid out and some of the game’s endgame materials such as Enhancement Prisms, are now earnable. Previously, the most efficient way to earn endgame materials was to clear Grandmaster Nightfalls, something not every PVP player might want to invest their time into, especially if they aren’t fans of high end PVE activities. Bounties for most of the vendors have also been updated, mostly seeing changes to the way rewards are distributed. Bright Dust, Destiny’s earnable premium currency, would have required players to create 3 characters and play on all 3 to maximize their earnings. Now, new seasonal challenges and updated bounties make it easier for more casual players who might only play on one character a few times a week to earn as much Bright Dust as possible.
The new loot is also promising. Unfortunately, Bungie introduced all this loot a season too late and it feels like they’re playing catch up now. Sunsetting nuked everyone’s Vaults and inventories, making weapons and armor many have spent hours acquiring not worth using outside of the easiest of content. The vast number of new weapons added this season, especially to end game content like high end Nightfalls and Trials of Osiris, isn’t what Bungie has succeeded at. The number of guns isn’t everything. The way we earn it is much more important. Making it so that end game content almost guarantees powerful and highly sought-after weapons makes doing those difficult activities more rewarding. Adding new loot to standard activities like strikes and Crucible makes it so when a weapon drops at the end of a comp game, it’s not the 100th Seventh Seraph Carbine that drops, but a new and exciting weapon like a Frozen Orbit sniper rifle.
Bungie is taking Destiny on the right track, steering the car back onto the road. We just need to hope that this season’s changes are the trend, and not some anomaly.
Conclusion
Season of the Chosen is off to an incredibly strong start, especially given the disappointment that was the Season of the Hunt. Battlegrounds is a new and fun seasonal activity that at its worst is an easy farming method for killing enemies and at its best a fun way to grind for great seasonal gear. Hopefully, the addition of more maps to the mode and the upcoming strike over the course of the season will keep the mode fresh and exciting. The new grind of collecting Cabal Gold and smashing Tribute chests is less tedious than the Lure from Season of Hunt, with the balance between running Battlegrounds for new gear and grinding playlist activities done better.
It’s not just the new seasonal activities though. The returning strikes, new and updated loot and the return of Umbral Engrams makes the grind of Destiny fun again, the hope of not just getting a well rolled weapon but a fun weapon returning to the game. Although the Crucible and Gambit have not received as much love as the strike playlist, the new vendor updates make the grind more straightforward and allows players who enjoy those modes to still delve into end game gear grinding, without necessarily having to do activities they may not enjoy. The new weapons also make Crucible and Gambit at least a bit more rewarding for players who don’t enjoy those modes too. Bungie has put a lot of band-aids over gaping wounds this season but it’s definitely still to be seen how they plan on fleshing out two thirds of their game.
Season of the Chosen, at its worst, is a pricey loot update with a fun, albeit repetitive new activity. At its best though, and what I’d argue Season of the Chosen really is so far, is a sign from Bungie that they hear us. New gear, new weapons, both worth chasing. A fun and matchmade activity that is so straightforward any blueberry can beat it and with enough enemies to make grinding for loot easy for any returning player. Some of the best of Destiny’s past returns with thunderous applause. New and fun exotics.
Beyond Light and Season of the Hunt were controversial to say the least. Season of the Chosen, though, seems to be heading in the right direction and if Bungie keeps this up, I believe it may represent a turning point for Destiny. I don’t know how they do it, but they keep reeling me back in. I believe Season of the Chosen can and will bring you back to Destiny as well.
10/10
Check Out Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen Trailer:
For more information, please visit: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/Seasons/SeasonOfTheChosen
PC Review
My name is Matt Tran and I have been playing video games since I could remember holding a controller. I've always been a hardcore gamer growing up, from the hectic MW2 and Halo 3 lobbies, my many journeys through several Halo clans and my current exploits with my Destiny 2 clan. I love shooters and RPGs and overanalyzing every component of every game I've played, from weapon stats to ideal perks. When I have time to play other games, I currently play Genshin Impact and Star Wars Squadrons.
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