Raids, Nightfall, & Trials

Luke Smith mentions early on in the gameplay premiere stream that only 50% of players in Destiny completed a raid after reaching max level. The sequel aims to change this, expanding these higher level activities to encompass all players.

Guided Games allows players to choose a clan to temporarily join up with to complete challenging activities. Clans will be the foundation of the community, opening up higher level activities to all players.

Clans are a flexible team of players that offer a reward and experience system for completing activities together. Join up with your friends, or discover new ones. With Guided Games, matchmaking is available for all cooperative activities, so you can stand together against all foes.

Crucible

Destiny 2’s Crucible is now 4v4 across all game modes, with various improvements and new modes being added, such as Countdown.

Countdown has players spawn on either Offense or Defense, and when the round ends you swap sides and roles.
The goal is to plant a bomb at the enemy base, and then defend it until it explodes.
Each round is worth one point. First team to six wins.
To revive a teammate, you must use a revive token.
Power weapon ammo is only granted to the one player who pulls it.

Open and Accessible

All activities in the world can now be launched without returning to Orbit! Patrols, ambient encounters, and chests return – and there will be much more of them. In addition, treasure maps, lost sectors, Quests, and new NPCs with side missions called “Adventures” are present.

Adventures: Shorter missions with self-contained stories for players to learn more about the Destiny 2 universe and the characters that live there.

Lost Sectors: Scattered, enemy dungeon layers throughout the world you can discover with unique boss enemies guarding treasure to earn.

Quests: Explore the wild frontier and gain unique items by completing small tasks found throughout the world of Destiny 2.

Public Events: Unique, optional, dynamic combat activities that players can join on the fly as they roam around the world solo or with up to nine other players.

In-game Map

Using the map, players can find and mark lost sectors, treasures, and other activities. You’ll be able to find Public Events easier, with icons and countdowns shown on the world map.

Four Worlds

European Dead Zone – The largest destination yet featuring a lush forest, abandoned town, a cave system below the surface, and a Red Legion military base to explore and contest.

Titan – One of Saturn’s Moons where Commander Zavala is regrouping at the hands of Ghaul. There is no land on Titan. Instead, players explore a series of Golden Age platforms surrounded by a rolling ocean.

Nessus – a strange and unstable planetoid that has been fully consumed by the Vex where players will find Cayde-6 is caught up in his own adventures in a stunning landscape of sheer walls, lush canyons, and creepy Vex caverns.

Io – A moon of Jupiter, where Ikora Rey has gone in search of answers. Io is the last known site the Traveler visited during the Golden Age, it’s now occupied by our enemies.

Story

Ghual, the Cabal leader of the Red Legion, attacks and conquers the Last City, the hub location of the first game. As a result, all Guardians lose not only their weapons and armor, but their powers too. The Vanguard are scattered and powerless, each coping in their own way. It is your goal to find and assist them.

Destiny 2’s campaign appears to be highly story rich, with many more cinematics than Destiny 1. Characters such as the Vanguard are also present in combat scenarios with the player for the first time, able to act as allies during certain parts of the story.

Humanity has fallen to an overwhelming invasion force, led by Lord Ghaul, the imposing commander of the brutal Red Legion. He has stripped Guardians of their power, and forced the survivors to flee their home. Players will venture out into our solar system to discover an arsenal of weapons and devastating new combat abilities. To defeat the Red Legion and confront Ghaul, they must reunite humanity’s scattered heroes, stand together, and fight back to reclaim our home.

Weapon Types

Instead of Primary, Secondary, and Heavy, Destiny 2 will have a Kinetic, Energy, and Power class. The Power class includes new weapon types, such as grenade launchers, as well as familiar classes like Sniper & Fusion rifles.

Energy weapons will do more damage to players in the Crucible who are using (any) Super; it doesn’t need to match element. Kinetic weapons will do more damage to non-shielded enemies in PvE.

New Abilities

Grenades and melee abilities make their return, as well as new ones. During the stream, a Warlock was seen Dawnblade, a solar Warlock super, sees the Guardian float into the air with a radiant sword, able to launch waves of energy at enemies, as well as deliver devastating melee attacks.

The Titan gets the Sentinel super, in which a void shield appears in their hand, protecting them from attack, as well as being able to be thrown Captain America style at enemies.

Finally, the Hunter’s new super, Arcstrider, causes a long electric staff to appear in the Guardian’s hand, as they flip and spin, performing graceful and powerful attacks.

Subclass talent trees are much different:

Clan Support

The original Destiny’s clans had the flaw of only being accessible from the official app or website, and not making much of a difference in the game itself. Destiny 2’s clan system allows the finding and joining of clans right from the menus, and also features a system where one (or more) members of the clan can help the entire clan earn rewards by playing events such as raids and strikes, even when other members are not present. These clans also make a big impact in finding teams for strikes and raids with the Guided Games feature.

PC

Destiny 2 is being delivered to PC players exclusively through Blizzard’s Battle.net system.

4k Resolution Support (3820×2160)
Uncapped framerate
Full mouse and keyboard support with custom key mapping
Text chat
Adjustable Field of View
Detailed PC settings screen
21:9 monitor support

10 Things We Learned About Destiny 2