Destiny 2’s Frontiers Needs to Be a Shot in The Arm in One Key Area

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 25, 2024 3 Views 8 Min Read
Destiny 2's Frontiers Needs to Be a Shot in The Arm in One Key Area



Summary

  • Season of the Wish delivered sought-after features like The Coil, weekly quests, and Pantheon, but current Episodes struggle to reach the same highs.
  • Revenant weapon scarcity and Tonics created frustration, especially without craftable weapons.
  • Frontiers aims to revamp the armor system, but it should also give players new chase loot like shiny Brave weapons.

Destiny 2 had a strange year filled with hype-driven highs and abysmal lows. Though Season of the Wish was hardly the best in the game’s history, it gave players many things they wanted, such as a great seasonal activity in the form of The Coil, then semi-free chase rewards with weekly quests, and finally Destiny 2‘s Pantheon. The Final Shape capitalized on the hype and delivered the single best expansion the franchise had ever seen, retaining players for weeks and weeks. This was unfortunately followed by layoffs at Bungie, controversial decisions regarding the game, and the disastrous launch of Revenant. Now, Frontiers is the next big thing for the game, and it needs to deliver on all fronts – especially loot.

There are several reasons why Destiny 2‘s current Episode failed to meet players’ expectations, starting with the game’s quality being arguably lower due to many bugs that affected (and some still do) the gameplay loop. Yet, one of the biggest issues was and still is how Revenant weapons in Destiny 2 are not craftable and made unnecessarily rare to get in order to promote the use of Tonics, which have been bugged for weeks. This exacerbates the need for Destiny 2 to go above and beyond with its Frontiers loot and make it worthwhile.

The Destiny 2 Steam player count is dropping to an all-time low.

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Destiny 2 Steam Player Count is Dropping

The Steam player count for Destiny 2 is dropping to an all-time low after issues affected some of Episode Revenant’s content, including the Dawning.

Destiny 2 Needs to Put Its Looter Identity First

The current system makes it so that Destiny 2 releases promote FOMO (the fear of missing out), but also don’t truly respect players’ time in a few ways. Tonics are a big example of this, as they are hard to craft in large batches because the rate at which players get ingredients is pretty low, and they mainly come from Revenant activities. However, Revenant activities can inherently be a bit long, with full Onslaught runs taking typically over one hour and awarding just a handful of randomly rolled weapons.

The problem is not necessarily that the weapons added with each release are subpar, as there are typically at least one or two that are worth chasing. Instead, the problem is that the game’s identity as a looter-shooter sometimes boils down to a few drops every once in a while, and they may not even be relevant for players. Looter games often give players rewards for defeating monsters and clearing encounters, with loot explosions on killing powerful enemies or bosses. This is why Destiny 2‘s Frontiers needs to revamp the current loot system to give players more frequent rewards that are also more meaningful.

How Destiny 2: Frontiers is Changing The Armor System

There are good signs, as Destiny 2‘s Frontiers is overhauling the armor system in big ways, such as giving players a higher stat cap and essentially no wasted stat points, as every single point counts toward benefits. This is to encourage players to keep farming armor at all levels of play, as they can acquire new rolls that can be better than what they have at the moment and also be part of a set that provides unique bonuses.

If Bungie stays true to its vision and its word, it will make impactful changes to the armor system that will most likely avoid stagnating loot as players feel that they already have the best armor they can get. While these plans sound good, they should expand to the entire game, rather than just armor. For example, the big debate regarding Destiny 2‘s craftable vs. non-craftable weapons has pros and cons for each side, and Bungie seems willing to bet more on the latter.

Why Destiny 2 Needs More Brave Arsenal-Like Shiny Weapons

This is not necessarily a bad thing in theory, as Destiny 2‘s Brave Arsenal shiny guns made a big splash when Into The Light came out, and revitalized the chase for unique loot. That’s more of what the game needs in Frontiers since even though the Brave weapons were not craftable, players were generally happy with grinding for them given the incentive of the time-limited shiny ornament. Revenant weapons, on the other hand, drop in extremely lower quantity within what is essentially the same activity, and they not only can’t be crafted, but they also don’t come in a shiny version. It’s unclear what Frontiers will bring, but this would be a great start.

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