Destiny 2’s longest season still has a month to go. That’s bad news for everyone eagerly awaiting the game’s massive upcoming Witch Queen expansion, but good news for those who still need time to tie up a few loose ends. That’s especially true for newer players who may be a bit behind on the four-year old live service loot shooter.
In addition to a new season of content, the arrival of The Witch Queen on February 22 also means a bunch of old Destiny stuff will disappear, including a whole year’s worth of seasonal story missions. Some of it is worth playing before that happens, and I’ve outlined which parts to prioritize below. More seasoned players will still want to make sure they’re well positioned to dive right into the new campaign and I have a few tips for that as well.
Fortunately, Bungie is raising all players’ power level to 1350 when the new expansion goes live, so no one needs to worry about spending the next few weeks grinding. But here’s what you should spend the end of Season of the Lost doing:
Play Forsaken
Destiny 2’s best previous expansion and story arc is about to get vaulted, but in the meantime it’s been made free to all players. If you haven’t yet played through the showdown between Cayde-6 and Uldren Sov, this is your first priority. Not only is it a great campaign, it also lays the groundwork for some of the biggest moves currently happening in Destiny’s story. To start Forsaken, just select its symbol from the Tangled Shore map.
Finish the Harbinger mission
Year 4 added two wonderful exotic quests to the game. Harbinger is one of them. It unlocks after you acquire the Hawkmoon hand cannon and takes place by the giant dam in the EDZ. There’s a bit of platforming, a bit of Taken hunting, and two big arena fights. It’s one of the better missions in the game at the moment, and one you can now complete solo if you wish (though it’s better with company).
Listen to the Dead Man’s Tale
The other great exotic quest is Presage. This one you unlock by turning right at the start of the Arm’s Dealer Strike and going through a newly unlocked door that’s away from all the action and completing a few quick fights. Presage is even better than Harbinger, with strong Metroid vibes and a Raid-like puzzle mechanic that you don’t need to round up five of your friends to go experience. You’ll also get the Dead Man’s Tale scout rifle for your trouble, an extremely versatile gun in both PVE and PVP.
Complete the Splicer storyline.
Of all Year 4’s seasonal questlines, the Splicer one is the most rewarding, both in terms of guns and story beats. The final mission alone is one of the biggest inflexion points in Destiny 2 storytelling, even if it left me with plenty to gripe about as a long-time fan. Chroma Rush, the Splicer auto-rifle, is also one of the easiest to get best weapons in the game that drops with tons of great perks like Subsistence, Rampage, Feeding Frenzy, and Kill Clip.
Spend all of your gunsmith materials
Bungie recently announced that gunsmith materials, long a resource staple for sharing weapons, will be going away in The Witch Queen. So take 15 minutes and go trade all the ones you have into Banshee-44 in The Tower. Most of the weapons you’ll get in exchange aren’t worth keeping but a few are, and the rest can be broken down for Legendary Shards. Forbes writer Paul Tassi has a useful guide for which guns to hold onto during this process.
Clear out your vault
My vault has been hovering around 90 percent capacity for years now. Whenever I need room I quickly go in, shard a bunch of old junk, and then promptly dump in more junk that I’m worried I might magically start caring about sometime in the future. Witch Queen is going to bring a ton more loot and so instead of wasting time after the expansion comes out deciding whether to finally get rid of those Season of the Worthy guns you never use you should just do it now. Live in the present. Start fresh. You don’t need 400 guns.
Grab one of the best rocket launchers in the game
We’re starting to get into grind territory, but if you’ve already done everything else and want to keep playing Destiny 2, you could do worse than grabbing Ascendancy. This season’s ritual weapon, the rocket launcher is acquired by fully ranking up either Crucible, Vanguard, or Gambit reputation. That’s a lot of work if you haven’t started, but pretty easy to do if you’ve played a decent amount already this season. In addition to possibly getting some good playlist gear that will soon be rotating out of the game, your guaranteed a masterwork Legendary rocket launcher that drops with Explosive light, a perk that can do a lot of extra damage when paired with an ally who’s using Gjallarhorn
Hoard bounties
For the really dedicated diehards, you can get a headstart on leveling in The Witch Queen (which matters for both the season pass and seasonal artifact) by completing a bunch of bounties right before the new expansion comes out and then turning them in once it’s live. Reddit user BYF9 put together a full guide for how to most effectively do this, but long story short, you’ll want to start picking up weekly bounties and not turning them in. Here’s which ones to get and when.
And that’s everything. It doesn’t hurt to finish grinding out the season pass as well, and sweats can always grab the Realmwalker Title, which is one of the cooler sounding labels in recent years. Bungie’s 30th Anniversary update also has a lot of fun stuff to check out if you’re a lapsed player who’s been away for months. Otherwise sit back, take a break, and recharge before The Witch Queen. I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot.
