Destiny 2: Season of Opulence and More!
Written by Jonathan Lee, June 27, 2019. Tweet to: @Writerscube
Get Greedy with Destiny 2: Season of Opulence!
Since June 4, Bungie has unleashed upon the Destiny 2 community the Season of Opulence. And just like before, this Season comes with a challenging and highly-rewarding game mode: The Menagerie. With Opulence, we not only have new loot and weapons to acquire, but we’ve also new quest givers and bounties to further keep us engaged with Destiny 2. While I was already optimistic about Bungie’s idea of giving thematic and story-based seasonal content, there’s always a sense of unexpected satisfaction that comes with seeing how Bungie keeps pushing each Season further. (Find all the June 4 Patch Notes Here!)
In the Season of Opulence, players are able to get greedy with their loot gains thanks to the mechanics behind the Menagerie. Through bounties given by a new quest giver, you will be given a Chalice. And with that Chalice, you can use runes that will help you gain loot in the new 6-player Menagerie. By gaining new runes, you can continually power-up your Chalice before each Menagerie activity and acquire high-level loot at the end! And each rune tells you exactly what that rune will help you get, so you can actually dictate what you get.
Honestly, this is probably one of the best loot-farming events in all of Destiny. Just one round of Menagerie and my Warlock went from having a 711 highest light level in my equipment to having a 721 light level primary weapon (it was an SMG thanks to the rune I had equipped in my Chalice). I already can’t wait to try it again!
Eververse Gets a Facelift
Destiny 2 has also undergone some other updates since the end of May. Some changes were your usual nerfs and boosts to different equipment and abilities. Other changes were more noticeable. One such change was the update to the Eververse shop. Now, the Eververse looks something a bit like an improved version of Anthem’s own microtransaction store. You can see how different cosmetics look, the shop display’s more colorful and engaging, and it’s just an all-around improvement.
Banshee-44
Ah, Banshee-44. That good ol’ gunsmith that you only really visited if you had way too many weapon parts. Now, he’s a quest giver. And not just any quest giver! I’d argue he’s now one of the best because his Daily bounties award equipment mods and enhancement cores. That’s right—enhancement cores.
Banshee-44’s update grants a mainstay Tower character an added purpose. But it also grants players an easier time in upgrading their weapons and gear. This is important! It means players get to spend more time enjoying game modes and activities instead of just trying to farm for upgrade materials. This is an incredible improvement to the game’s quality of life—and I think it shows that Bungie has been listening to the community, observing how engaged players are with activities, and how players have been reacting to the Seasonal content. This brings to mind of how the Season of the Forge became a little contentious as a portion of players felt like reaching the required levels was an insurmountable challenge.
With the combination of Banshee-44’s enhancement core-dropping bounties and Opulence’s loot-heavy activities and bounties—I suspect players should no longer have this leveling issue and will be able to enjoy Destiny 2 in a more fulfilling manner.
Other Changes to Destiny 2
A fair number of exotic weapons have been affected since the June 4 update. I’m personally a little sad that my Super-charging Phoenix Protocol is a part of it, but a number of Super-generating pieces have been toned down so that it’s not so easy to fully recharge your Super while you’re performing your current Super. It’s not impossible—I’ve done it quite a few times when facing humongous mobs, but you’ll have to work a little harder.
But wait, what’s that cold chill that just ran down your spine? What about Jotunn? Rest easy, Jotunn-players. Your fusion rifle of doom is safe. In fact—it received a PVE boost with Bungie increasing the Impact and DOT damage, while reducing the Detonation damage. Altogether though, Bungie reports that Jotunn should be dealing an “overall 5% increase in total damage”.
Meanwhile, other weapons like Luna’s Howl, Lord of Wolves, and Ace of Spades have all experienced some further balancing changes. Lord of Wolves took a hit to its damage all-around. But perhaps it’s for the best because of how much a full-burst can deal when you score those hits. It’s still quite a devastating weapon and I’ve been enjoying it while tackling the Menagerie.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Destiny 2 continues to present a fantastic example of how a live service game ought to be run. Bungie’s continued to learn from its fans as it progresses through its development roadmap. Quality of life updates are keeping things in balance so that all players can continue to have fun in the various game modes. And more is still to come. Keep an eye out, folks, for the latest expansion that’s coming this Fall, September 17, 2019: “Destiny 2: Shadowkeep”. I’m pumped, folks. We’re heading back to the Moon!! Check out the trailer below!
